The Weekly Newspaper of Torrance Herald Publications - Torrance, El Segundo, Manhattan Beach, Hawthorne, Lawndale, & Inglewood Community Newspapers Since 1911 - (310) 322-1830 - Vol. 6, No. 14 - March 31, 2016 Inside This Issue Certified & Licensed Professionals.......................9 Classifieds............................4 Crossword/Sudoku.............4 Film Review..........................4 Legals....................................8 Real Estate...................10-12 Sports....................................5 TerriAnn in Torrance..........6 Weekend Forecast A New Era in El Camino College Football is on the Horizon El Camino College has hired former Santa Monica College head coach Gifford Lindheim to succeed long-time coach John Featherstone. Lindheim coached seven seasons at SMC and won a conference championship each of the last five seasons. Featherstone retired last season after 31 years with the football program. Photo by Jevone Moore • Friday Sunny 65˚/54˚ Saturday Sunny 67˚/56˚ Sunday Mostly Sunny 68˚/54˚ Free Public Wi-Fi To Be Implemented Within City Hall Council Chamber By Cristian Vasquez An almost one-year-old suggestion by Councilman Mike Griffiths for city staff to study the cost of providing free Wi-Fi to the city hall council chambers was presented and approved by the city council during their March 22 council meeting. However, the council’s approval is at moment symbolic and funds were not immediately allocated in order to launch Internet service within the council chamber. “Free Wi-Fi would allow the public to electronically view materials, research information and make productive use of their time while attending City Council meetings,” states the staff report signed by Communications & Information Technology Director Richard Shigaki. “The Communications and Information Technology Department assembled the initial and ongoing costs to install and maintain a free Public Wi-Fi infrastructure within City Council Chambers. The initial cost for Internet Service Providers were prohibitive to moving forward at the time.” Under Councilman Griffiths’ June 6, 2015 directive to investigate the cost of installation and maintenance of such services, staff discovered that the initial start up fee would be an expense of $7,215 to the city while ongoing maintenance costs would be $2,909.50 a year. The Internet service level selected in the staff’s research is set at $160 per month, in addition to a 9 percent tax and is based on an estimated 20-50 simultaneous system users, on average. Research also found the lower tier of Internet service provider would serve 10-25 simultaneous users on the system at a fee of $147.15 per month. However, staff chose to present the higher tier provider and forgo the $27.25 monthly savings [$327 a year] to accommodate estimated future use based on potential growth. “Considering how much our council chamber is being used, this is a great thing to be moving forward with and I hope that my colleagues will approve this,” said Councilman Griffiths prior to the councilmembers voting on the item. “This is really for approval only but there is no funding to make it happen so it is kind of a catch 22 in that we are potentially approving it but yet we can’t move forward with it until the budgetary money is found in a future budget.” Despite the budgetary restraints to move forward, City Manager LeRoy Jackson made a note to the council on the staff report suggesting that “The City Council may consider designating this request as a high priority in the upcoming” budget process. “Concerning the relatively small amount I would hope it would be considered high priority so we can move forward with it as soon as possible,” concluded Councilman Griffiths. Council Approves Subsidizing Fees for Portable Stage Use for Relay for Life Event A recommendation by Community Services Director John Jones to subsidize fees in the amount of $770.25 for the use of a portable stage during this year’s Relay for Life was approved by the city council. The funds will made available by the City Council’s Municipal Legislative Policy Program Budget and allow the American Cancer Society to carry on with this year’s Torrance Relay for Life, scheduled to take place April 22-24 at South High School. The American Cancer Society reports that every year there are more than 4 million people in more than 20 countries raising money and awareness via the Relay For Life movement in order to save lives from cancer. The Relay For Life movement is reported to raise more than $400 million a year; the money donated at the more than 5,000 relays for life is then put to work by The American Cancer Society to investigate groundbreaking research in every type of cancer, while providing free information and services to cancer patients and their caregivers. “The American Cancer Society makes a request each year of the City Council to subsidize the fees for the use of the portable stage,” states the staff report signed by Jones. “The City Council through the City Council’s Municipal Legislative Policy Program Budget gas historically made funds available to subsidize the fees for the use of the portable stage.” The fees being subsidized by the city will pay for the cost of staff time necessary for transportation, set up and break down of the stage. The City Council’s Municipal Legislative Policy Program Budget for the 2015-2016 Fiscal Year was set at $10,000 and to date $3,970.15 has been spent, including funds to cover the subsidy for the Relay for Life, Torrance Thanksgiving Event, Columbia Park Concert and Torrance Artist Guild. “The American Cancer Society will provide the City with liability insurance and will have the required security in place for the event,” Concludes the staff report. •
Torrance_033116_FNL_lorez
To see the actual publication please follow the link above