Herald Publications - El Segundo, Hawthorne, Lawndale & Inglewood Community Newspapers Since 1911 - (310) 322-1830 - Vol. 1, No. 2 - September 12, 2019
Inside
This Issue
Calendar of Events.............3
Certified & Licensed
Professionals.......................6
Classifieds............................2
Food.......................................5
Hawthorne............................3
Lawndale..............................4
Inglewood.............................5
Legals.................................6,7
Letters...................................2
Pets........................................8
Weekend
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Featuring the Weekly Newspapers of Hawthorne, Inglewood and Lawndale
SBWIB Bio-Flex Students Wrap
Up Their Training Program
South Bay Workforce Investment Board Bio-Flex students at at Protomer Technologies have completed their training & graduated! Pictured are the interns along with Jack Hale, Bio-Flex/Intern manager.
Photo: SBWIB
Residents Give Thumbs Up to City
Management in New Poll Results
By Rob McCarthy
Hawthorne residents like how the city is
being run, and they’d be even happier with
more parking and knowing there’ll be money
in the future to pay for essential public services.
That’s the consensus of a survey of
registered voters done right before summer.
A polling firm asked nearly 400 registered
voters how satisfied they are with the current
city management and the services to residents.
Both English- and Spanish-speakers from a
cross-section of neighborhoods and political
views had positive things to say.
The results indicate that the City Council
and staff have Hawthorne going in the right
direction. By a landslide, 78 percent of residents
expressed confidence in how the city
is being managed. The future looks bright
both citywide and from the neighborhoods,
where 70 percent of residents gave a thumbs
up to their local neighborhood councils. “This
was probably the highest percentage of right
direction I have seen in a city in this state,”
John Fairbank of fm3research told the City
Council Aug. 24 during a presentation about
the poll results.
Pollsters with fm3research also measured
residents’ satisfaction with the city services.
Fire protection received the highest overall
satisfaction rating, with 75 percent of residents
saying they approved of the Los Angeles
County Fire Department. It received a 5
percent disapproval rating. Close behind was
police protection with 72 percent approval.
Residents say the 911 emergency response
system is the service they value most in
Hawthorne. The 911 system and its operators
got a 68 percent approval rating in the
survey. People appreciate the work being
done by graffiti removal crews, yet the survey
indicated the public thinks more can be
done to remove the handiwork of taggers.
Two-thirds of the residents are pleased with
the graffiti removal efforts, while 20 percent
said they were not.
The survey results pointed to an overall
satisfaction with City Hall and the Council,
but it also revealed a list of issues that Hawthorne
residents find unsettling. Four rose to
the top of the list: lack of affordable housing,
a lack of parking, homelessness and crime.
Residents in the survey said they feel safe
during the day. It’s the nights that worry
them, they say.
Street gangs, violence and drug trafficking
within the comnunity is another major concern
among residents. So are protecting local water
supplies from contamination, and pollution
from cities and county areas that flows to the
ocean and trashes the South Bay beaches.
Residents admitted they are concerned about
money, specifically the sources of revenue to
continue to run the city and fund essential
services. Three in four voters want the city
to secure more funding, including 38 percent
who called the need “strong.”
Traffic and street repair merited a mention
in the survey results, with 50 percent of
residents calling traffic an extremely or very
serious concern. That ranked slightly above
climate change and extreme weather as a key
contributor to quality of life in Hawthorne.
Affordable housing for middle-class families
and a shortage of parking are considered
an extremely serious problem by 44 and 41
percent of the residents surveyed. Home burglaries
and car thefts made the most pressing
list of local issues, with 54 percent of survey
takers labeling these types of property crimes
an extremely or very serious issue.
The public parks are generally well
maintained, people said. Six in 10 people
surveyed approve of the way local parks
are being maintained, with 23 percent not
happy with the upkeep. Potholes and street
repairs generated the highest unfavorable
rate at 39 percent.
The City Council in March approved the
contract with fm3research for the public
opinion polling. The survey cost just under
$25,000 and was Hawthorne’s first time
using the pollster whose clients include the
California League of Cities. •