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Lawndale 06_05_14

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 - June 5, 2014 Hawthorne Police Department Officers Awarded Medals of Valor Two of the Hawthorne Police Department’s finest were honored at the Medal of Valor 2014 Award luncheon on May 29. Officer Sean Judd (left) received the Distinguished Service Award and Reserve Officer Dr. Joe Nakagawa was honored with the Sustained Superiority Award. The award recipients are selected by senior officers in their departments and the primary distinction is the imminent threat of great bodily harm or loss of life to the officer, a colleague or a citizen. See story on page 3. Photo by Charlene Nishimura. Lawndale Council Meets With Five Members After Six Months By Nancy Peters On Monday, June 2, Daniel Reid was administered the oath of office as the fifth member of the Lawndale City Council following his appointment at the meeting on May 19. Seven applicants initially applied for the appointment to the City Council and although Mayor Robert Pullen-Miles nominated another applicant, his fellow elected officials chose Reid in a vote of 3-1 when the mayor cast a dissenting vote in May. The meeting proceeded with several presentations, calendar items for approval, and public hearings, as well as appointments to commissions and committees. But none of this was accomplished without some negative comments from a citizen during oral communications and several votes that prove Lawndale can have a controversial Council. Significant agenda items were: the passing of the ordinance to exempt noise regulations for city and school events; the increase in fines for parking violations so Lawndale is no longer subsidizing parking violations when payment is made to the county and state; two contract approvals for crossing guards and Public Works crew uniform rental and cleaning service; and the passing of the Municipal Budget for fiscal year 2014-2015 which begins on July 1, 2014. The public hearings held were then followed by approval resolutions that allocate a grant from Federal Criminal Justice Grant Funds to the Youth Parade in 2015 and the Fireworks Suppression program and for a grant application to be submitted for funds from Supervisor Mark Ridley-Thomas’s program for Park Grant Funds to be allocated, if granted, toward a new Teen Center. These grant funds could range from $20,000 to $1,000,000. The purchase of new holiday decorations for Hawthorne Boulevard and the Civic Plaza was approved as presented by the Parks, Recreation and Social Services Commission (PRSSC). The expenditure will come from the Commission, not the General Fund of the city. Bids will be gathered and the process will begin and end in the PRSSC in time for the purchases to be made for the 2014 holiday season. Appointments were made for the City Council members to represent Lawndale at various county agencies and commissions. California Contract Cities: Reid, Delegate, and Council member Larry Rudolph and the mayor, Alternates. California Joint Powers Insurance Authority: Mayor Pullen-Miles, Delegate, and Council member Pat Kearney, Alternate. Centinela Youth Services Board of Directors: Rudolph, Delegate, and Kearney, Alternate. County Sanitation District No. 5 of Los Angeles (LA) County: the mayor as Delegate and Mayor Pro-Tem Jim Osborne as the Alternate. League of California Cities, LA County Chapter: the mayor will continue as the Delegate and Reid will be the Alternate. South Bay Cities Council of Governments (COG): Osborne will continue as the Delegate and the mayor and Reid will be the Alternates. At the last Council meeting a new Planning Commission had been appointed; however, the five-member Commission was still in need of one appointee, The Mayor’s motion to appoint a fifth member, Wanza Tolliver, the choice of the mayor, was defeated by a vote of 1-2-2, with Reid and Kearney dissenting and Osborne and Rudolph both abstaining from the vote. The Planning Commission will continue to meet with a four-person quorum until the mayor chooses another appointee. The PRSSC had five members appointed, effective July 1, 2014: Lou Alston, Shirley Cuevas, Erica Harbison, Madonna Sitka, and Daniel Urrutia. The Beautification Committee was appointed from the 10 applications received for the 10 open positions. These are Paul Aasness, Joan Concklin, Antoinette de Laine, Charmaine Doty, Karen Escamilla, Olga Sierra Gonzalez, Cesar Jaime, Judy Oldziewski, Veronica Silva, and Sandra Silva. Mrs. Doris Hofmann, widow of the late Mayor Harold E. Hofmann, was presented with a plaque naming her the Lifetime First Lady Emeritus of the City of Lawndale. Mayor Pullen-Miles made a presentation to the Rotary Firefighter of the Year, Captain Eugene Tachiyama, a 23-year veteran of the LA County Fire Department. The South Bay COG named the City of Lawndale a Platinum Level Energy Leader for Conservation, one of only seven cities in the county to achieve this level. Lawndale reduced energy consumption by 34%, well above the 20% that would be the Platinum Level minimum. In the Public Safety report, the Sheriff’s Department asked for the public’s assistance in locating two suspects who were involved in a shooting on May 19 at Benny’s 19th Hole Saloon. Call (310) 219-2750 if you have any information about this incident. Also the Lawndale Sheriff’s Traffic Office continues to saturate the city to find vehicle code violators and issue citations. In the two weeks from May 19 to June 2, 45 citations were written for failure to stop at STOP signs, cell phone usage and unlicensed drivers on the city’s streets. This patrol will continue throughout the city of Lawndale over the next months to issue tickets and fines to those who continue to break the law while driving. In other business, the Lawndale Cable Usage Corporation met and the annual budget for 2014-15 was adopted. It was pointed out that the Cable TV Department is in need of a new van and is seeking any assistance from citizens who may have knowledge of good deals. The next meeting of the Lawndale City Council will be on Monday, June 16, at 6:30 p.m. • Inside This Issue Calendar...............................3 Classifieds............................3 Certified & Licensed Professionals.......................4 Hawthorne Happenings....3 Food.......................................8 Legals.............................2,6-7 Police Reports.....................7 Seniors..................................2 Sports....................................5 Weekend Forecast Friday AM Clouds PM Sun 69˚/59˚ Saturday AM Clouds PM Sun 69˚/60˚ Sunday Sunny 73˚/61˚


Lawndale 06_05_14
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