The Weekly Newspaper of Torrance Herald Publications - Torrance, El Segundo, Manhattan Beach, Hawthorne, Lawndale, & Inglewood Community Newspapers Since 1911 - (310) 322-1830 - Vol. 7, No. 25 - June 22, 2017 Inside This Issue Calendar of Events.............3 Certified & Licensed Professionals.......................2 Classifieds............................6 Community Briefs...............2 Crossword/Sudoku.............6 Legals....................................7 Real Estate...........................8 Sports....................................3 TerriAnn in Torrance..........4 Weekend Forecast Lundquists Make $32 Million Gift to Torrance Memorial Craig Leach, President and CEO, Torrance Memorial Medical Center; Melanie Lundquist; Richard Lundquist; Mark Lurie, MD, Cardiology; and Barbara Demming Lurie celebrate the Lundquist couple’s latest gift of $32 million to the medical center. This brings the Lundquists’ total donations to a historic $100 million. In conjunction with the gift announcement, Melanie and Richard Lundquist announced the renaming of the Torrance Memorial’s Lundquist Cardiovascular Institute to the Lundquist Lurie Cardiovascular Institute. Photo Provided by Torrance Memorial Medical Center. • Graffiti Removal, Bus Stop Maintenance Receives Fourth Amendment By Cristian Vasquez The Torrance City Council on Tuesday approved a fourth amendment to the City’s agreement with Graffiti Protective Coatings, Inc. for the removal of graffiti removal services School Board Votes to Continue Supporting Project Lead The Way By Cristian Vasquez Members of the Torrance School Board at this week’s meeting unanimously approved the Advanced Manufacturing and Engineering Technology Linked Learning (AMETLL) Consortium Grant award for the 2017-2018 school year. The grant, in the amount of $93,000, will allow Torrance Unified School District to continue providing support for the Project Lead the Way (PLTW) High School Engineering and Gateway to Technology (GTT) programs. “For the past two years, Torrance Unified School District has been partnering with El Camino College in a grant sponsored by the Advanced Manufacturing and Engineering Technology Linked Learning Consortium, a regional collaborative (which includes Long Beach City College, El Camino College, Los Angeles Harbor College, Cerritos College and Pasadena City College) focused on the development of a rigorous academic program integrated with career-based learning and real world workplace experiences,” states the staff report. This four-year grant, 2014-2015 to 2017- 2018, will help support PLTW programs at Torrance High School, North High School and South High School. PLTW high school courses are University of California A-G (UC requirements) approved. They also offer college credits via Friday Partly Cloudy 68˚/62˚ Saturday Sunny 71˚/63˚ Sunday Sunny 76˚/64˚ See School Board, page 7 until October 31, 2017, and bus stop maintenance services. For the graffiti removal services, the City agrees to spend $126,400 while maintenance for bus stops are set to cost $33,600. Funding for both services is available through the City’s 2017-2018 General Services Operating Budget (Graffiti Removal Services) and its Transit Enterprise Fund Operating Budget for the latter. “I just wanted to thank staff,” said Councilman Mike Griffiths. “This graffiti project that the City has been doing is probably one of my absolute favorite projects that the City does. I think it sets Torrance apart from many, many cities around us.” In 1989 the City launched its contractor graffiti abatement program that has since been considered one of Southern California’s most successful. Unlike other graffiti abatement programs that rely heavily on citizens reporting incidents of defacement, Torrance’s program emphasizes that the contractor actively seek out and remove the acts of vandalism. Furthermore, the City also seeks removal of graffiti an initial solution rather than simply painting over the affected area. “The abatement contractor is responsible for removal of all graffiti visible from a public street or thoroughfare within the City of Torrance, including City parks and park interior restrooms,” states the staff report signed by General Services Director Sheryl Ballew. At the moment the contractor’s response time is within 16 working hours, or eight hours for City-initiated requests, and four hours for emergency call-outs. For the past 10 years Graffiti Protective Coatings, Inc. has been providing what staff described as “exceptional” services. Staff also reported numerous positive comments received from residents regarding GFP’s professionalism and fast response times. “The fact that you can rarely see graffiti around our city is a tribute to how well this project works and I fully support it,” Griffiths added. Through the bus stop maintenance program, the contractor is responsible for emptying trashcans twice a week. In addition, safety checks of all trash receptacles and benches must be conducted, as well as emergency service requests (unlimited), at no extra cost to the City. As of January 1, 2015, graffiti abatement became subject to prevailing wages. Prevailing wages, as defined by the California Department of Industrial Relations (DIR), determined “that the general prevailing rate of per diem wages for a particular craft, classification, or type of worker is uniform throughout an area--the director issues a determination enumerated county by county, but covering the entire area.” See City Council, page 7
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