Inside
This Issue
Calendar of Events.............3
Certified & Licensed
Professionals.......................7
Classifieds............................3
Entertainment......................2
Food.......................................5
Hawthorne Happenings....3
Lawndale..............................4
Legals............................. 4,6,7
Pets........................................8
Weekend
Forecast
Friday See School Board, page 5
Sunny
78˚/70˚
Campaign to Simplify Voting is
Going Strong in the South Bay
By Rob McCarthy
If voting is such a privilege, why did
so many registered residents skip the June
primary? The absentee rate hovered near 75
percent in some South Bay communities.
El Segundo had a modest turnout -- 39
percent -- for a primary election with no
local school bond issues to decide. Still, 61
percent of El Segundo citizens who were
eligible to cast ballots remained silent about
the finalists in the fall for Governor, the State
Assembly and Senate, and the Congress.
In Inglewood, Hawthorne and Lawndale,
citizens had school bond measures to decide
that affect homeowners’ tax bills and the
quality of public education. The turnout
in those communities was 25 percent or
less, despite the kind of pocketbook issues
that drive interest and participation
on Election Day.
So, why did so many people forgo their
right to weigh in on these important questions?
Knowing that property values are
connected to school test scores, Hawthorne
residents had money riding on the outcome
on June 5. So did voters in Lawndale,
where 42 took the time to vote. Inglewood
decided a city charter amendment about
local elections.
Los Angeles’ County officials have studied
voter turnout for almost a decade and
think they understand why the majority of
eligible voters aren’t engaged in summer
See Voting, page 5
Saturday
Sunny
81˚/69˚
Sunday
Partly
Cloudy
80˚/69˚
The Weekly Newspaper of Inglewood
Daily News on a Weekly Basis - Herald Publications - Inglewood, Hawthorne, Lawndale, El Segundo, Torrance & Manhattan Beach Community Newspapers Since 1911 - Circulation 30,000 - Readership 60,000 (310) 322-1830 - July 26, 2018
Career Pathways Grads Honored
Mayor James T. Butts, Jr. congratulates the third class of 40 formerly incarcerated adults from South Bay Workforce Investment Board’s Career Pathways 180 Job Preparation Academy in cooperation
with the Los Angeles Central Parole District and California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation on July 13. Succeeding the ceremony, graduates interviewed with employers at a job fair held at
the Inglewood One-Stop Business & Career Center. Photo: SBWIB.
School Board Commends Workers
Regarding Facility Improvements
By Haleemon Anderson
Maintenance and Facilities was represented
by 13 staff members at last week’s meeting
of the Inglewood School Board. The group
of staff members and managers received
commendations from the Board for a year of
unprecedented improvements and enhancements
district-wide. “These are the people
who are making it happen,” said Board
President Margaret Turner-Evans.
Chief Business Official Eugenio D.
Villa reported on the process. “We have
just completed over $6 million in facilities
maintenance,” he said. “We have another $30
million in improvements starting in the next
six months. It’s a complex and sophisticated
process. We are trying to build out our capacity
rather than hiring more construction
managers.”
Multiple projects have been completed,
according to a written report available at
the meeting. Portable buildings have been
demolished and removed at Monroe K-8,
Bennett-Kew, Oak, and Payne elementary
schools. Monroe expects to receive Los
Angeles World Airports (LAWA) funding
to continue building new classrooms, with
a projected completion date by the end of
this year.
New playgrounds have been installed at
Bennett-Kew and Highland. Oak Elementary
hopes to receive a new playground within
weeks. Construction to modernize Oak restrooms
and provide ADA upgrades will start
next year, using LAWA funds.
At the high schools, improvements are
also in the works. Leased portables at the
old City Honors site have been removed.
The pool at Morningside will be painted
and repaired, with improvements due to be
completed by September, with modernization
plans expected to begin next year.
Bobbie Hill, from Concordia, the development
firm that prepared the report, said
Inglewood Unified School District estimates
that it will have $130 million in facilities
funding “from several sources,” including
LAWA and Measure GG – as well as from
developer fees coming from the NFL stadium
development in Inglewood.
State Administrator Thelma Melendez de
Santa Ana said the repairs to the pool and
bleachers offer a great opportunity for the
high schools. “We hope to attract middle
school students back to their local high
school,” she said.