June 13, 2019 Page 3
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June 16
HAPPY
Father’s
DAY
From all of us at Herald Publications
Vargas Proposes Transitional
Housing for Homeless Veterans
By Derrick Deane
Hawthorne is taking matters into its own
hands. Mayor Alex Vargas offered up a solution
for homeless veterans in Hawthorne
at last Tuesday’s City Council meeting.
The Council enthusiastically supported the
mayor’s proposal for developing transitional
housing at the City-owned property at 14115
Cordary Ave.
“My recommendation is for the Cordary
property to be designed and landscaped as
an RV park possible,” Vargas said. “Some
of you have heard of the container home
complexes that are out there, or a building
– there’s many options for our staff to
look at to see what we can do for homeless
veterans. People who just need a little help
to get back on their feet. It’s meant to be
transitional. It’s not meant to be something
permanent and the property and the project
would be under the full control of the City
of Hawthorne.”
In terms of funding the project, Vargas
directed City Manager Arnie Shadbehr and
his staff to explore grants and other resources
to use on the project. He added that it would
be ideal to have an onsite manager and resource
counselor. “Somebody that is going
to be able to offer the resources to these
people,” Vargas said of the onsite manager.
“Maybe have them track the progress in
terms of these individuals getting medical
help, searching for work… just making sure
they’re moving along a prepared path for the
individuals that are there.”
Obeying laws and maintaining cleanliness
would be mandatory for tenants of the
property. “We need to make sure they aren’t
using substances and making sure the area
is clean, that there’s good behavior. There
will be some challenges, but that’s why we
do our part to help them move in a certain
direction,” Vargas said.
Vargas added that the idea popped into
his head during some recent engagements
with various veterans groups such as
Wounded Heroes. “There are certain veterans
that I see out on the streets that might
need some help,” he explained. “We’ve
got to remember though that not everybody
is going to want to participate. That’s okay.
We have to give them the opportunity. We
always talk about, ‘Hey why don’t these
developers come and build some senior
housing or housing for the veterans?’ and
we never get any takers so I said, ‘We have
a property that we own. Let’s us as a city
do something about it.’”
The property measures about one acre and
according to Shadbehr, the number of units
that could be placed there would depend on
what the Council decides to do. “We can
work on the preliminaries, but it is up to the
City Council as to what kind of density you
want to see there,” Shadbehr said. He noted
as an example, that if the property were to be
developed into an RV park, once the design
has been completed, they would know how
many RVs can be accommodated there.
“I think Hawthorne would really put a
feather in their cap if they put together a
project like this specifically for veterans,”
Councilman Mike Talleda said. “There’s a
strong veterans presence in this city and I
would love to be a part of that evolution.”
A recent report states that there has been a 6
percent increase in homelessness in the South
Bay and a 12 percent increase in Los Angeles
County. “I think this is very timely for us to
be attacking this problem and I would like
for us to work with the South Bay Council
of Governments because they are very much
interested in providing homeless services for
veterans or any homeless persons,” Mayor
Pro Tem Olivia Valentine said.
Councilman Hadir Awad added that any
ideas coming from this proposal should be
passed along to the Hawthorne Veterans Affairs
Commission for their input. “This is an
incredible opportunity for the City to step
up on an issue like this,” Veterans Affairs
Commission Chairperson Kyle Orlemann
said. “I would like to see us move forward
on this. There are a lot of good ideas and
some additional ideas that our commissioners
have been working on. A lot of the work
that needs to be done to establish that kind
of housing has already been under discussion
by a number of different organizations.”
Orlemann added that there is a federal
oversight board involved in developing housing
for homeless veterans as well. She pointed
out that there is Measure H money available
to fund a project like this. “People who are
administering those funds are people that I
have long-term working relationships with,”
Orlemann said. “Rather than reinventing
the wheel, if we can work with City staff
and say this is what is available and this
is what the needs are, this is what the City
can bring to the table, I think we can come
up with something that will be absolutely
remarkable. I am a million percent in favor
of pursuing this.”
In the end, Vargas said it was time for
someone to step up and lead the way. “We’ve
waited too much for other people to come in,”
he said. “This is a culmination. Developers
are the ones who build a city and create a
city, but then there are some that degrade a
city and make it less than what it should be.”
Vargas identified the RFK Building on
118th Street as one property the City has
been trying to develop. “We’ve sent groups
and groups over to [them] and they don’t
want to consider anything,” he said. “We
brought up this idea about senior housing
and veterans housing and [they] pushed back
on it, so there has been alternatives. At this
point, to wait for people to do something,
I think we just need to take the bull by the
horns…” •
Film Review
The Test & the Art of Thinking:
The (In)Significance of the SAT
Staff Writer for Cinemacy
A test that determines whether a high
school student’s college dream is attainable
or out of reach should be the best
indicator of academic achievement, right?
But what if that’s not the case, and this lifechanging
exam doesn’t actually represent true
ability or potential for success in a specific
college setting?
In the new documentary The Test & the
Art of Thinking, director Michael Arlen
Davis paints a vivid picture of how the
SAT has been used more as a gatekeeper
for elite universities than as an avenue for
college applicants. Yet even with the widespread
dissatisfaction of this tool, it doesn’t
appear that things will be changing any
time soon.
Through interviews with SAT tutors,
college admissions board members and
students themselves, The Test & the Art of
Thinking asks the question of what really
constitutes intelligence. By today’s standards,
we know that cognitive intelligence is
only one predictor of a student’s ability. However
kinesthetic, artistic, emotional, and even
musical intelligence – all extremely relevant
to future success – go relatively unmeasured.
The consistent word used to describe SAT
questions seems to be “irrelevant” and even
SAT tutors themselves go on record to say
that they teach students how to outsmart the
test’s trick questions rather than prepare them
to reflect and summarize what they have
actually learned.
The Test & the Art of Thinking is an
85-minute overview that thoroughly delves
into the origin and evolution of this 3-4-hour
exam that has now become a billion-dollar
industry of tutors, coaches and prep courses.
This raises the additional question of financial
means being tied to test scores. Sadly, the
film is another reminder that our country’s
educational system has many broken parts and
we need to agree on how we can prioritize
learning in order to make the necessary and
positive changes. Hopefully, this will start with
finding more appropriate ways for schools
to both measure and value a child’s ability
to think, reason and create.
Not rated. 85 minutes. Available to stream
on Vimeo. •
The Test & the Art of Thinking. Courtesy of Abramorama