Lawndale Tribune 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 - November 7, 2013 Inside This Issue Calendar...............................2 Classifieds............................3 Food.......................................5 Hawthorne Happenings....3 Legals............................. 2,6,7 Pets........................................8 Police Report.......................2 Sports....................................4 Weekend Forecast Friday Partly Cloudy 76˚/55˚ Saturday Sunny 72˚/55˚ Sunday Partly Cloudy 66˚/55˚ AND lAwNDAle News Record-Breaking Amount Raised for Children, Education The Skechers Foundation’s 2013 Pier-to-Pier Friendship Walk earned $1 million for children with special needs and education. With presenting sponsor Nickelodeon, Skechers President Michael Greenberg and celebrities Jimmy Kimmel, Brooke Burke-Charvet and Tommy Lasorda, the fifth-annual walk also saw a record 10,000-plus walkers, making it the largest event of its kind for these causes in Southern California. Photo by Will Hartman. Council Decides on Special Election as Election Tiebreaker, Not Unanimous By Nancy Peters The Lawndale City Council instructed the Assistant City Clerk on Monday, Nov. 4 that in the event of a tie in the next Municipal Election, scheduled for April 8, 2014, the tiebreaker should be in the form of a special election. The vote for this decision, however, was by a majority of 3-2, with Councilmembers James Osborne and Larry Rudolph both voting in the negative. Osborne explained that if there is a tie, and pointed out that there has not been one since 1984, then the decision could be by the flip of a coin or whatever manner the Council may decide to pursue. But his opinion was motivated by the fact that any special election will cost the City a minimum of $48,000. On the other hand, Councilmember Robert Pullen-Miles explained that his decision to vote in the affirmative is because the electorate has a right to be part of the decision to break the tie that could exist and not be subject to a coin flip to decide one of the Council members to represent their best interests from the dais. The Council voted unanimously to appoint Assistant City Clerk Pam Giammario as the Election Official for the April 8, 2014 Municipal Election. The election will choose two Council members, the Mayor and City Clerk. The Council seats currently occupied by Rudolph and Mayor Pro-Tem Pat Kearney are up for election. Of course, if Rudolph and Kearney choose to run and no other citizens cast their hats in the ring, the election will not include Council seats. In other business on the consent calendar, the Council approved the staff request to Caltrans to extend the Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with the City for the Inglewood Avenue Widening Project, which should have had a “sunset” in June 2013 in order for the Caltrans-required environmental studies to be accomplished. Also, due to a gasoline station on the southwest corner of Inglewood Avenue and Marine Avenue, mitigation of the area will need to be completed due to the right-of-way for the widening project at that intersection. A specific set of Caltrans guidelines and an ISA checklist must be adopted by Caltrans. In addition, the project scope of work requires a National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) air quality technical study--not an Environmental Impact Report. The study will no doubt be returned with extensive comments from Caltrans and the NEPA. None of the requirements were completed prior to June 2013 and the extension to June 30, 2014 was necessary. Another extension will be requested next year to extend the project to June 30, 2015, as only one-year extensions are granted at a time by Caltrans. The Community Services Contract classes taught by Joshua Duncan for martial arts and for performance dance classes provided by Orange County Dance Productions, Inc. were approved for additional compensation above the contracted $9,500 per calendar year. Since the opening of the Lawndale Community Center in January 2012, many classes have increased enrollment and classes have been added. Existing contracts provide for instructors to be compensated by 70 percent of the class revenues, with the remaining 30 percent retained by the City. The Council approved an increase from the $9,500 to $15,000 for Duncan and $18,000 for the performance dance classes. The amendments are written that the compensation will “not exceed” the new amounts requested. The 70-30 percent split will remain the same, and no additional cost will be incurred by the City as revenues will increase. The Firmona Avenue Storm Drain Project completion was approved for the amount of $441,627.72, which is less than the original contract amount of $444,572. During the project scope of work, utility conflicts increased the contract costs. The project was funded in part (52.23 percent) by a grant from the Environmental Protection Agency through the assistance of Congresswoman Maxine Waters. The street drainage along Firmona Avenue from Manhattan Beach Boulevard to 162nd Street will be improved with the 1,660 linear feet expansion from 18-inch to 36-inch reinforced concrete pipe, catch basins and appurtenant work. All project plans and specifications were met. During the oral communications portion of the meeting, the citizen who originally suggested purchasing new strands of LED lights for the street light poles along Hawthorne Boulevard, which will be decorated for the upcoming holidays with large lighted decorations and the strands, thanked the Council and the City Manager for acting quickly to make the purchase based on the research turned over to City Hall. The Sheriff’s Department offered its safety report. The arrest of a young woman student at Lawndale High School was made on Oct. 23 in connection with a posted comment on social media that she intended to “shoot up” the school. A search warrant was issued for her residence and computers were seized. Since she is a minor (under the age of 18 years), her name will not be released. Currently, the charges are for criminal threats and intent to do harm to other persons. The school was assigned a sheriff’s deputy to be on duty the day of the posted threat to ensure the safety of all students and faculty. A dead body was discovered in a vehicle on 159th Street and Prairie Avenue on Oct. 26 after the Sheriff’s Department received reports of shots fired. The Homicide Bureau is conducting an active investigation into this murder. The Lawndale City Council will meet again on Monday, Nov. 18, at 6:30 p.m. • The vote for this decision, however, was by a majority of 3-2, with Councilmembers James Osborne and Larry Rudolph both voting in the negative.
Lawndale 11_07_13
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