Lawndale Tribune AND lAwNDAle News The Weekly Newspaper of Lawndale Herald Publications - Inglewood, Hawthorne, Lawndale, El Segundo, Torrance & Manhattan Beach Community Newspapers Since 1911 - Circulation 30,000 - Readership 60,000 (310) 322-1830 - May 29, 2014 Lawndale Leaders Attend Peace and Social Justice Conference Nonprofit directors, local and religious leaders, students, and other citizens of Carson and Lawndale gathered to sign a nonviolence treaty in support of social and religious consciousness. The event was sponsored by Heavenly Culture, World Peace and chaired by Mr. M.H. Lee. Photo credit: HCWP. See story on page 2. Hawthorne Council Splits Votes as Meeting Held Minus Mayor Brown By Nancy Peters Mayor Chris Brown did not preside over the Tuesday meeting of the Hawthorne City Council; he was excused for personal reasons from the evening’s activities. His absence meant that several votes failed, since the fourmember dais does not agree on many things for their city and split votes 2-2. In the Consent Calendar, two items were called out of order for discussion, as their topics involved expenditures of city funds when the financials for the city indicate that spending needs to be closely monitored. An incentive package drafted for consideration would set up a program for new and/or existing businesses to have certain requirements waived, such as sales taxes or Utility Users Taxes for a short period of time to entice companies to open in Hawthorne. These incentives were written with a cap that would give authority to the City Manager to execute incentives with less than $25,000 in total for all incentives being considered. Mayor Pro-Tem Olivia Valentine requested that the cap be lowered to $15,000, which is the maximum amount which the City Manager may use to make everyday operational purchases for the city. However, Council member Alex Vargas stated that he preferred the resolution not include any incentives that would give authority to the City Manager, but would all include approval by the City Council regardless of totals. After discussion, both options were considered. The first motion lowered the cap to $15,000 for the authority of the City Manager. The vote was taken and was 2-2, with Vargas and Council member Nilo Michelin casting the dissenting votes. The second motion was made for Vargas’s option of no incentives without City Council approval and the City Manager having no authority to make deals for any amount. When that vote was taken, it also failed with a 2-2 vote, this time Vargas and Michelin voted in the affirmative, with Valentine and Council member Angie Reyes- English voting with the dissenting ballots. The second item pulled for discussion was a resolution written and seeking approval for a policy curtailing the use of cell phones and other electronic equipment during meetings, other than the equipment for the meetings and for exclusive use for city business of any equipment issued to the elected officials, restricting use for personal reasons of that equipment. The discussion included how much would the purchase of tablets or laptops for City Council use save in paper, staff time, or other ways. The City Manager explained that the purchase was in the approved budget for the current fiscal year, and cost savings and efficiency improvement would save a minimum of $150,000 a year. Michelin stated that he didn’t see a cost benefit in the purchase and he was not in favor of electronic equipment for the City Council. Reyes-English praised the purchase as bringing Hawthorne in line with the 21st century and with so many other jurisdictions that handle their city business in as many paperless ways as possible. The vote was called and Michelin and Vargas voted “No” with Valentine and Reyes-English voting “Yes” for the purchase and use of electronic equipment for the City Council at meetings. However, the motion for the actual resolution on the table and on the agenda for the use of electronic equipment during meetings failed for lack of a second to the motion. A resolution was approved in support of the more than 250 Nigerian kidnapped girls and condemning the actions of those involved in the kidnappings. The second reading of an ordinance was approved to set standards for apartment development in the city with amendments to the parking regulations within any apartment development, following a public hearing wherein one request by a citizen resulted in the wording of the ordinance including the elimination of any Recitals mentioned in Section 1 of the ordinance. In the City Manager Consent Calendar approval for ACCO Engineered Systems was approved for the updating of all systems for HVAC in City Hall. This was the opened bid for $298,111 held publicly at the last meeting. Also, the request for the Environmental Impact Report (EIR) for the Downtown Hawthorne Boulevard Specific Plan was approved, however, Michelin cast the only dissenting vote for this EIR despite the need for the report in order for the MIG Consultants plans to be considered. The consideration for a pocket park at 129th Street and Hawthorne Boulevard was delayed by a vote of 3-1, with Reyes-English dissenting on the delay, while the others agreed that the design and installation of a park was not necessary until after the Hawthorne Boulevard construction is complete and should not be done in conjunction with the construction. The request for an expansion of duties for the City Treasurer was postponed, as there is no job description that delineates the Treasurer duties. Valentine requested a legal confidential before the next meeting with a job description based on what surrounding cities do in this instance. Valentine called for a vote on this discussion item, with Reyes-English abstaining since she did not agree that a vote was necessary to give the staff direction on an item. A request was made of the City Manager to report on how many code enforcement violations have been written in that last six and a half years and how much has been collected in fines. The report should also include the type of training staff receives and how they are kept informed on ordinances and resolutions that effect their enforcement for non-compliance. The City Manager reported that a Finance Director has been hired and he will be introduced at the next Council meeting. The meeting was adjourned in memory of Beverly Robinson a citizen volunteer who was very active in city events and regular attendee of City Council meetings. The next meeting of the Hawthorne City Council will be on Tuesday, June 10 at 6 p.m. when the first draft of the budgets for fiscal years 2014-15 and 2015-16 will be presented. • Inside This Issue Calendar...............................3 Classifieds............................3 Certified & Licensed Professionals.......................4 Hawthorne Happenings....3 Food.......................................8 Finance..................................4 Legals.............................2,5-7 Police Reports.....................3 Sports....................................5 Weekend Forecast Friday Sunny 73˚/58˚ Saturday Sunny 72˚/57˚ Sunday Sunny 72˚/59˚
Lawndale 05_29_14
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