Uptown Gazette 2-17-12

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By Stephanie MinasianSTAFF WRITER

Tucked in an area between Spring and Willow streets, and California and Orange avenues is a little slice of Long Beach heav-en. Surrounded by Signal Hill is the California Gardens — a city-owned 48 acres of land and hills that once served as an origi-nal source of drinking water for Wilmore City and the American Farm Colonies from the 1880s to 1930s. Seventh District City Coun-cilman James Johnson is host-ing monthly tours of the area for

residents on every third Saturday. The next tour is at 10 a.m. this Saturday. “The need for recreation op-portunities and open space con-tinues to grow in the northern, central and western portions of Long Beach,” Johnson said in a release. “California Gardens is an opportunity to develop 40 acres of city-owned land into a natural oasis the whole region can enjoy.” During the 1930s and ’40s, the land was used for oil purposes, and the water department relo-cated. The land has an original

Tours Return On LandFor California Gardens

(Continued on Page 18)

Neal Starts Phase III District PlanBy Stephanie Minasian

STAFF WRITER

This month kick-started Ninth District City Councilman Steven Neal’s third phase of the “Build-ing a Better Ninth District” pro-gram, with the theme “Partner-ship, Progress, Possibility.” The program will run from now to Dec. 31, 2012. Neal said he hopes to continue the efforts that started in the fi rst and second phases of the pro-gram, including the expansion of a weekly District 9 e-news-letter, the District Captain pro-gram and quarterly community assemblies. “My offi ce decided that we were going to use a community


—Gazette photo by Stephanie MinasianALL IN THE PLAN. Ninth District Councilman Steven Neal talks about his Building A Better Ninth District plan.

By Jonathan Van DykeSTAFF WRITER

The City Council unanimously voted Tuesday to receive a plan that could po-tentially revive the Long Beach Police Department Police Academy — with the caveat being that the plan work within the city’s diffi cult fi scal constraints. The item will request City Manager Pat West’s offi ce to prepare information on a multi-year plan, within budget con-straints, for funding a police academy. That plan would be received by the City Council during its fi rst look in March into next year’s fi scal budget (which begins in October). “We should do this within a fi scally re-sponsible way and have all our informa-tion in place,” said First District Council-man Robert Garcia, who also is chair of the council’s Public Safety Committee that recommended the action. A Police Academy typically is a six-month program to train new recruits, Long Beach Police Chief Jim McDon-nell said. During the academy, recruits are taught how to operate under guide-lines established by the California Peace Offi cer Standards of Training. He said that a somewhat standard class might in-clude a sergeant and four tactical offi cers to supervise 50 recruits. It has not been determined how many offi cers would be included in the future plan. This year, the LBPD had fi scal room for 852 budgeted offi cers and had 825 actu-ally working — there were 1,020 offi cers

AcademyWill WaitOn Report

—Gazette photo by Harry SaltzgaverTOUGH QUESTION. Eighth District City Council candidates Al Austin, right, and Lillian Kawasaki concentrate on a question Sunday during a forum sponsored by the North Long Beach Community Action Group.

By Harry SaltzgaverEXECUTIVE EDITOR

Two candidates for the Eighth City Council District seat began the process of defi ning themselves to the electorate on Sunday at a candidate forum sponsored by the North Long Beach Community Action Group. Al Austin and Lillian Kawasaki are vy-ing for the chance to follow Rae Gabelich, who is stepping down after completing two terms in offi ce. A third candidate, Gustavo Rivera, did not attend the forum. The two-hour session was attended by about 75 people and featured questions from a panel of journalists as well as from the audience. Kawasaki repeatedly em-

phasized her experience with government — she has worked for Los Angeles for 35 years, including stints as general manager of the Community Development Depart-ment and assistant general manager of the Department of Water and Power. Austin, a labor union representative, emphasized community involvement and a focus on neighborhoods. Both candidates said they supported re-starting a Long Beach Police Academy, but Kawasaki said she would want to know more about long-term budget issues to in-sure trained offi cers could be kept on staff. Austin said the need is great and should be addressed immediately. “I understand the concept of proportional

budgeting,” Austin said, “but I believe we must prioritize public safety… It is very important that we get this academy now.” When asked how she would deal with pension reform in light of the fact that she has a large pension coming from her career in Los Angeles, Kawasaki said that she had paid into the pension for more than 30 years. She added that she agreed pension reform was necessary, however, and said she would be able to work on that issue. Austin said he had worked with public employees for the last eight years, and that they had not created the fi nancial situation. But, he said, he thought he could facilitate negotiations about pension reform when

Austin, Kawasaki Try To Sway Voters

(Continued on Page 11)(Continued on Page 18)

PAGE 2A | GAZETTE NEWSPAPERS | February 17, 2012GAZETTE COMMENTARY

By Luciano Gonzales I have to agree with the Jan. 20 editorial. No one likes to feel as though they’ve been left out of the conversation. I sense, though, your editorial is positioned essentially in favor of new ideas that extend the co-operation between all modes of transportation on the street, concerned with motorists’, bi-cyclists’ and pedestrians’ mutual safety, and you also seem keenly interested in raising the poten-tial for business; all at the same time. And apparently that’s what the city seems to be attempting, albeit to the chagrin of some resi-dents, including yourself, who feel they’ve not been adequately

informed of the developments. Personally, I don’t blame you. The parklets are a great idea as an attempt to transform the community landscape into a vi-brant conversation that gives new meaning to being on the street. Regarding “sidewalk impedi-ments,” I think pedestrians are re-silient in their ability to maneuver around obstacles on the sidewalk when moving at slow speed and

the idea that wait staff and cus-tomers could potentially create a barrier to sidewalk access sounds more like a great measure of the success in moving toward a more exciting community experience than something we should be concerned about in terms of im-pediments. Cars and drivers are moving along down the street together, right now, every day, and painting sharrows on the road simply does one thing and one thing only; it provides an awareness to drivers that sharing the road is not just a good idea but a practice that in-sures safety for everyone — cy-clists, drivers and pedestrians.


Can we dream the impossible dream? Yes, I went and saw “Man of La Mancha” last weekend. It may just be the best thing I’ve seen Musical Theatre West do in the 15 years or so I’ve been associ-ated with them. It is going to win a ton of awards, and should sell out the entire run. But enough gushing. I want to talk about that incredible signa-ture song. I fear it is more than just co-incidence that as Davis Gaines was nailing the signature song, two venerable arts institutions in Long Beach were cutting staff, including decisions to go without executive directors. Is a vibrant, healthy arts community in Long Beach an impossible dream? The Long Beach Playhouse, which has been around since 1929, reorganized its staff — and went from 12 to six full-time em-ployees in the process. Frankly, that probably needed to be done. I hate seeing anyone lose a job, But 12 full-timers did seem a bit of a stretch for a community theater company. Neither of the professional troupes in town have anywhere near that number of employees (except when a major production is being mounted). The appointment of Andrew Vonderschmitt as the producing artistic director — as opposed to the executive director — makes sense, too. It puts the emphasis of his job on the productions, and in reality means the Playhouse gets sort of a two for one, with a lead-

er who also does the grunt work of putting on plays. Bottom line (pardon the pun), the decision was driven by fi nan-cial reality as much, if not more, than artistic integrity. The money just wasn’t there. Ditto for the Arts Council for Long Beach’s decision to suspend its search for a new executive di-rector. John Glaza has done, and will continue to do, yeoman’s work as the interim director. But he thought he would be out of a job by now — the search had gone on for three months and was down to fi nal interviews. But the executive committee of the umbrella arts organiza-tion came to the realization that there might not be enough left for an executive director to direct. Government support for the arts group has been on the decline for several years, and the death of the Redevelopment Agency — and the resulting demise of the Per-cent for Art public art program — dealt a crippling blow. Now the Arts Council must regroup and attempt to reinvent itself. For the last 35 years, it has acted as an advocate for all Long Beach arts and as the con-duit for government support for those arts. Other services — arts education outreach, marketing

and technical support, even some programming — have ebbed and fl owed depending on fi nances. Advocacy and regranting were the constants. Half of that reason for the Arts Council’s existence is on the verge of disappearing. So what is the organization to do? Can we dream the impossible dream? Vonderschmitt mused that his playhouse would always face fi nancial challenges — it was community theater, after all. The same can be said for all art. The symphony, the ICT and MTW, the museums, the art galleries, individual artists — all face the challenge of fi nancial survival on a daily basis. Yet they continue to dream the impossible dream. And they fi nd their Dulcinea in the board mem-bers, patrons and fans who help support them. Why does it matter? Why should Long Beach’s artistic community continue to fi ght the unbeatable foe, to try when their arms are weary to reach the un-reachable star? Because we need them to. Be-cause without the arts we, like Al-donza, will be without a glimmer of hope in a dark, dreary world. We must continue to dream the impossible dream, and support those dreamers who make it their quest. Because the world, our world, will be better for this.

There are some dedicated, tal-ented and caring teachers in the Long Beach Unifi ed School Dis-trict — people who go the extra step to see that their students “get it.” There also are some teachers who are putting in their time, doing the minimum, waiting for the next summer vacation and/or retirement — people who blame students and parents when results aren’t forthcoming. We’d like to see both types of teachers given what they deserve — more resources and better pay for those getting the job done, and a boot in the rear to get mov-ing or get gone to those not get-ting the job done. It’s called accountability. This is not a new issue. For de-cades, good teachers have toiled for low pay and less respect, try-ing to prepare the next genera-tion to succeed in an increasingly complex world. They, like many labor forces, ultimately union-ized to protect themselves and better the lot of the individual. Unlike many other labor forces, those teacher unions were able to essentially dictate protection for their members in the form of ten-ure. In most districts around the country today, once a teacher re-ceives tenure (and it usually only takes three years in a district to get that designation) they have to pretty much commit a felony to lose their job. And even that isn’t always the case, as the recent “retirement” of the Miramonte Elementary School teacher in Los Angeles attests. More important, at least to us, is the teacher who simply doesn’t get the job done. You probably had one or more of them — the teachers who assigned reading assignments, then never dis-cussed the subject matter; the “copy the material on the board and study it,” without explana-tion types; those history teachers who let “Patton” and “Spartacus” roll in a darkened room; the math teachers who couldn’t explain the algebra equation, let alone help someone else understand it. We say again, these teachers are not the majority. Most educa-tors work hard and do their best. Some are superstars whose pas-sion is translated to students on a daily basis. But, just like one great teach-er can turn a child around, it can take just one bad teacher to stop a student’s education in its tracks. And once it happens, it is extremely hard to undo. We’ve been reminded of that again this week with the release

of likely new entrance eligibility requirements for California State University, Long Beach. While anyone who truly wants a college education and is willing to work to get it still will be able to avail themselves of the College Prom-ise, one misstep can mean years of delay. Worse, that bad teacher in Algebra One might mean your child may never get to that col-lege-required pre-calculus level. So what’s to be done? School districts in other parts of the country are experimenting with signifi cant bonuses and pay in-creases for teachers who have proven themselves to be out-standing. But that takes money. Merit pay long has been a top-ic of discussion, but one usually spiked by the unions. Their argu-ment, and one with some valid-ity, is that the criteria for merit pay inevitably will be either the subjective opinion of an adminis-trator or based and test score re-sults that puts a teacher’s fate at the mercy of the quality of their students. And the emphasis on improving test scores has proven to be a source for cheating at the worst and teaching to the test at the best.

Still, we need to fi nd a way to make teachers accountable for the jobs they do. Moreover, that should be true for the 20-year veteran just as much as for the fi rst-year rookie. So how can it be done? How about students ranking their teachers, at least in high school? What about parent surveys? Yes, we know not every par-ent is involved in their child’s education, and some high school students would turn rankings into popularity contests. But at least there would be some feedback, some accountability. Teachers, what do you think? How would you like to be judged; how would you like that so-and-so who passed the unprepared student on to you to be judged? Parents? Students? This dialog is way overdue. We can continue to talk about lack of money and lack of resources, but bottom line, teaching needs to happen. How can we make the people responsible for that teaching be accountable, good and bad? Tell us. Please.

Teacher AccountabilityKey To Good Education

“We need to fi nd a way to make teachers

accountable for the jobs they do.”

Keep Dream Of Art Quality Alive

Give City Bicycle Plan Chance

February 17, 2012 | gazette newspapers | page 3

Why wait? Sharrows raise awareness and have proven to reduce accidents between cars and bicycles. Per-haps Long Beach hasn’t yet accu-mulated all the numbers, but stud-ies around the country, and around the world, support the notion that there’s an increase in safety when sharrows are present. Everyone supports safety; the pursuit of safety is one of the basic tenets engrained in the American psyche that makes our country great. Bicycles will continue to oc-cupy sidewalks as long as people fear for their safety on the streets. The times they be a changing; eventually we will see fewer peo-ple riding bikes on sidewalks as the streets become safer as driv-

ers come to realize community thoroughfares are also built with people in mind. Provide safe ac-cess and the people (on bicycles) will come. I believe the numbers are being accumulated and tallied (I was personally involved in that effort) and should be made public as money becomes available to per-mit the studies to continue. Yes, as money permits. It costs money to make improvements and it takes money to conduct studies. I expect to see favorable num-bers and I’m happy to see that the developments are apace as well. It would be sad, and inexcusable, not to undertake simple, inexpen-sive projects that have worked well in other communities sim-ply because we’ve not yet accu-mulated the numbers ourselves. There are countless projects all

over the country, just like the ones in Long Beach, that have created enormous favorable outcome for richer community experiences, vibrant business growth and safe-ty on the streets. People who like to ride bikes around town are happy to hear

that others, such as yourself, “like bicycles riders and do think it’s a good idea to get more people to ride bikes.” There’s plenty of data to sup-port the city’s efforts. As I stated earlier; those numbers are abun-dant all across the country and

around the world. Long Beach is putting the numbers together too. I bet we’ll all be happy because the numbers will tell us we’re on the right track.Luciano Gonzales is the director of Bikeable Communities (Long Beach).

(Continued from Page 2)

Bicycle Plan

It’s traditionto the editor,

Terry McQuaid could not be more wrong when he writes that “polygamy...falls out of the tra-ditional definition of marriage” (“Our Mailbox,” Feb. 10). Indeed, polygamy is extremely common throughout history, is explicitly approved of in the Bi-ble, and wasn’t illegal in most the United States until well after the Civil War. Rather than a burden being on proponents of equality to show why polygamy won’t be the next to be legalized (which I person-ally have no problem with), the burden is on those who cite “tra-dition” to defend their view of marriage — but choose only the traditions they like, while ignor-ing the rest. If it’s “tradition” that should guide us, then we ought to bring back dowries, arranged mar-riages, teen marriages, legally mandated virginity, mandatory parental consent at any age anti-miscegenation statutes, and — obviously — polygamy. As to incest: Since the point of marriage is to create a family, marriage between siblings makes no sense; they are already a fam-ily. But indeed, incest is quite traditional in the Bible, in Euro-

pean Royal lines, and elsewhere. And I can’t see how it’s anyone’s business but the two consenting adults involved. Here’s an idea: Let everyone enter into civil unions with any-one they want — up to some reasonable limit, like four or five people. Could be your sister, your roommates, your spouse, your kids, your uncle, your horse — whatever. Then you get insurance benefits, visitation, tax benefits, etc. No discrimination, no mar-riage necessary. Leave marriage to religious and spiritual groups. Any objections?

John tecumsehsignal Hill

Page 4 | gaZeTTe NeWSPaPeRS | February 17, 2012

By Jonathan Van DykeStaff Writer

the Queen Mary will again celebrate all things Scottish in an event that has more than 10,000 people attend during the week-end. the 19th annual Scottish festi-val and Games will take place this weekend, with dozens of events to

entertain residents and celebrate Scottish ancestry. “the Scottish festival started here primarily because it (the ship) has that heritage when it was built on the river Clyde (in Scot-land), so we celebrate that history once a year with this event,” said Steve Sheldon, director of enter-tainment events.

each day there will be opening ceremonies and then at noon, there will be a Grand Parade around the exterior of the event. festival attendees can expect bag-pipe bands, Scottish clans, High-land dancing, athletic games, sheepherding, evening concerts,

historical reenactments, firing demonstrations, Scotch whisky tastings and authentic food and ales. “the event is really unique in that it offers a very wide vari-ety of activities,” Sheldon said. “Where else can you see hammer-throwing and sheepherding while listening to bagpipe bands and eating fish and chips?” the athletic events will include weight for distance, hammer throw, tossing the caber and a dart competition. “there will be more than 40 Scottish clans displaying at the event, with representatives to share their ancestry,” Sheldon said. “it’s a great way for people with Scottish backgrounds to come and learn about their an-cestral culture and participate in some traditions that aren’t very common here in the states.” New for this year, there will be an interactive children’s zone with a bounce house, petting zoo, trackless train and an art zone. Children will be allowed to inter-act with Border Collies and other sheepherding breeds. at 7 p.m. tonight, friday, Scotch master ron Pearson will lead a single-malt Scotch whisky tasting for $25. at 7:30 p.m., also tonight, Men of Worth will com-bine Scottish music and comedy for a $15 concert. at 8 p.m. on Saturday, Plaidpalooza featuring Los angeles Scots Pipe Band will perform for free at the Queen Sa-lon. at 8 p.m. Sunday, there will be an informal Ceilidh Piping Competition at the Observation Bar. there also will be DJs during both days who will be showcas-ing a modern twist on traditional Celtic music and the ship itself will go the other direction, offer-ing the Scottish Heritage Center that was started in 1983. “this is one of the biggest events we host and it has one of the most loyal followings in all of the events the Queen Mary pro-duces,” Sheldon said. “attendees look forward to it year after year and we strive to improve it each year for an even better experi-ence.” for more information and for tickets, visit www.queenmary.com. tickets can be purchased for one or both days and in con-junction with a room at the Queen Mary.

Queen Mary Goes Back To Scottish Roots With Festival

—Photo courtesy Wright On CommunicationsGUIDE DOG. A sheepherding dog shows off his craft in front of a crowd during a past Scottish Festival and Games at the Queen Mary.

WHAT: Scottish Festival & GamesWHEN: 8 a.m.-9 p.m., Feb. 18, 19WHERE: Queen MaryCOST:$12-$26 (depends on age and day)

February 17, 2012 | GAZETTE NEWSPAPERS | PAGE 5


third time’s the charm. after a third round of discus-sion, and with every member present, the City Council voted to enact a citywide ban on medical marijuana collectives — although the council allowed for some wig-gle room by declaring an exemp-tion for 18 collectives that had gone through the city’s previous process. the City Council delayed a possible ban of collectives Jan. 17 because Vice Mayor and Second District Councilwoman Suja Lo-wenthal was absent — that was after a December delay because first District Councilman robert Garcia was absent. the council was pressed into action because a court late last year had struck down its law that attempted to regulate medical marijuana col-lectives. Since then, the California Su-preme Court has decided to take a look into the issue. its deci-sion is not expected for another 14 months, City attorney robert Shannon estimated. Until then, the City Council had to decide whether it wanted to ban collectives outright or con-tinue forward with what Long Beach Police Chief Jim McDon-nell and Shannon said was a blur-ry jurisdiction that could not be enforced. “We’ve tried to do the right thing when it comes to this issue and it is an extremely complex issue,” Garcia said. “there is no question that there are bad neigh-bors causing major crime issues in front of some of these dispen-saries. and that is at the front of this discussion as well.” Ultimately, Garcia offered the motion that passed. that law eliminates Long Beach’s medical marijuana ordinance 5.87 and in-stead puts a ban in its place. the caveat is that there is exemption language for the 18 collectives that made it through the city’s permitting process. Many of the members who were supporting the motion said that they wanted to work with those collectives that had been working with the city “in good faith.” the motion that passed 8-1 (eighth District Councilwoman rae Gabelich dissenting) will al-

low the exemption for six months, but also will allow the council to revisit the exemption within 120 days — where it could increase the extension, do nothing or limit the extension. the point of the language was to allow the Long Beach Police Department to start enforcing the ban against collectives that were never a part of the initial permit-ting process — rogue collectives, as many officials described them. “What it allows us to do is that we basically go from about 55 collectives that are out there, of which 30 or 35 are illegal, and re-duce that number over the next six months to the 18 that were part of our legal process,” Garcia said. Mayor Bob foster and several others described the exemption as a “wind down” period for those

collectives to prepare for possible closure and try to recoup any ex-penses — but the City Council did leave the door open for an ex-tension of that time period. Gabelich initially asked for the time period to be until the Supreme Court came back with a decision, but she eventually withdrew her motion. Lowenthal proposed language — which was given to her by Long Beach Col-lective association lobbyist Carl Kemp — that would issue a mor-atorium and use zoning laws to go after problem collectives, but that did not gain much traction with Shannon or the council, so it was withdrawn. the law is being declared im-mediately (with a second reading next meeting), and McDonnell, Shannon and City Prosecutor

Doug Haubert said the vote would allow them to go after problem collectives right away. Haubert said he had about 100 misde-meanor criminal cases pending before the Pack ruling struck down Long Beach’s law. Shannon added that the quickest way to en-force the new ban likely would be

through his office and with civil injunctions. an important component of the exemption was stated that the new law did not shield those 18 collec-tives from federal prosecution — marijuana is illegal in all forms federally — and the city was not condoning those 18 collectives.

Council Approves Pot Co-op Ban; 18 Exempt


By Ashleigh OldlandEditor

When he first decided to sell Gene’s retail chains and retire, Gene Lentzner said he planned to spend his days leisurely playing golf — he laughs now when he re-calls how it only took two weeks for him to get tired of spending every day on the green. “Golf was my favorite thing for recreation, but not as a way of liv-ing,” Lentzner discovered. “So i focused my energy elsewhere … becoming more heavily involved

in nonprofits — soon i was serv-ing on 10 to 12 nonprofit boards at a time, particularly those in-volving human relations because i have experienced discrimination in my life.” Lentzner will be the featured speaker during the California Conference for Equality and Justice 21st Annual interfaith/in-tercultural Breakfast next thurs-day, Feb. 23, at the Long Beach Convention Center. the event celebrates Lentzner’s 90th birth-day this year, and he is planning

to share his life story — from his time as a young man grow-ing up as the only Jewish boy in a predominantly italian/Catholic neighborhood in St. Louis to his time serving in World War ii lib-erating the survivors of the Nazi death camps. As one of the nonprofit orga-nizations Lentzner became in-volved with during his retired years, Lentzner served as presi-dent of the CCEJ for three con-secutive terms in the early 1980s. Back then, the CCEJ was known as the National Conference of Christians and Jews, and the or-ganization had no office and few programs. Lentzner helped grow the CCEJ, which today has an an-nual budget of $1.5 million and boasts more than 300 human rela-tions programs. Lentzner is passionate when it comes to reaching out to minority groups and finding ways to elimi-nate discrimination in all forms.

He said he embraces diversity, es-pecially when it comes to educat-ing youth, and says that although the United States has come a long way, there’s still a lot of work to be done in human relations. “in my time, i’ve seen great progress, and people can no lon-ger discriminate without hav-ing a backlash against them,” he said. “But there’s still more to be done… there’s still a per-sistent group that doesn’t accept Jews… there’s still discrimina-tion against people of color and people who are gay or people perceived to be from the Middle East.” For a Jew who grew up being bullied for his religion, and for someone who witnessed the hor-ror of Nazi death camps, Lentzner has channeled the pain he felt when being bullied or when wit-nessing the way Jews and others were treated in Germany into something positive. “it is painful to think that you are considered below the level of a human being,” he said. “that stays with you. You start to ask yourself, how to i make myself as human as everyone else. How do you change minds?” Even after the war, Lentzner said he experienced discrimina-tion in America. in the 1950s when Lentzner, his wife Ann and the couple’s two children moved from St. Louis to California, he said it was difficult to find an apartment to live in because many landlords posted signs that read: “No dogs, Jews or colors wanted here.” “discrimination was open and

legal to doing housing and work,” he said. “it was a part of my life for a long time … even here in America, where my parents were immigrants and believed this was the greatest place in the world. America stood for everyone being on the same level, a place where everyone could succeed, … but my wife and i couldn’t get an apartment because we were Jew-ish.” once they eventually found a place to live, the Lentzner family purchased a 15-foot wide store on Pine Avenue called Gene’s (named after it’s previous owner, a woman named Eugenia). “We ran it for two years, and then we expanded to two stores and eventually we had 26 stores in California,” Lentzner said, adding that his success in the retail busi-ness was somewhat of an accident and surprise since he had gotten a master’s degree from Harvard so that he could work in another field. “i had gone to Harvard business school on the Gi Bill and thought i would be eligible to work at any corporation of America. 100% of -my class was employed after graduation except me — i couldn’t get a job because Jews weren’t al-lowed at the country clubs where a lot of business was done.”

Gene Lentzner Marks 90th For CCEJ


GENE LENTZNER


By Harry SaltzgaverExEcutivE Editor

Long Beach will be forced to decide soon whether to accept title to Schroeder Hall, the former Army National Guard center on Willow Street east of Grand Av-enue. tuesday night, the city coun-cil met in closed session about the building’s fate, which has been slated for several years to become the next East division police sub-station. the city applied to re-ceive the 5.5-acre property as part of the base reuse process. A decision was prolonged for more than 18 months while a provision requiring part of the value of the property go towards services for homeless people. rather than serve the homeless directly at Schroeder Hall, the city proposed adding a clinic run by Mental Health America next to the city’s Health and Human Services headquarters facility on

Grand Avenue, across the street from Schroeder Hall. that plan caused protests from a residents’ group saying they feared men-tally unstable homeless people wandering the neighborhood. it appeared in February 2010 that alternatives had been ex-hausted, and city officials pre-pared to take ownership of the property. But as a March trans-fer approached, questions were raised about availability of about $3.5 million in a redevelopment Agency bond to be used to refur-bish the center. that money since has officially disappeared with the state dismantling of redevel-opment agencies. “i don’t know exactly what the status is now,” Fifth district councilwoman Gerrie Schipske said Monday. the property is in the Fifth district. “that’s why we’re meeting. But without the funds to rehabilitate the building, we shouldn’t accept the prop-

erty. When we accept it, it means MHA could move forward with its plan. “We would have to do the cEQA (california Environmental Quality Act) work. But if we turn it down, the Army could offer the whole site to homeless services.” Police department officials long have coveted the Schroeder Hall property to create a new home for the East division. that division was the first to have its own substation when it moved into the former AAA office on Los coyotes diagonal in 1993. But the building was small from the beginning, and lacking the amenities of the West and North subdivision stations. “the building is inadequately sized, particularly compared to the new stations,” said Braden Phillips, administration bureau chief. “the locker rooms and the briefing room are very small. it was a typical office building, but

we’re using it 24/7. it wasn’t de-signed for that.” the city has the Los coyotes building leased through the end of october. that lease likely will be extended no matter what action the city takes on Schroeder Hall. “Even if we get Schroeder Hall, i don’t think the East division could make it in there (before

the lease expires),” Police chief Jim Mcdonnell said Monday. “We might be able to move Youth Services in there, and end that lease.” Mcdonnell was out of town Monday at a training class, but was back in time to attend tues-day night’s meeting, including the closed session.

Schroeder Hall Decision In Limbo Due To Money

Looking back on the 1950s, Lentzner said he never would have believed that someday he would be living in Park Estates and sitting on nonprofit boards as an advocate for African Ameri-cans and cambodians as well as hospitals such as St. Mary Medi-cal center. He said he doesn’t care about being the “token” in the group, rather he chooses non-

profit boards to join because he believes in their mission. For more about Lentzner, and to hear his story in person, details about the interfaith/intercultural Breakfast are available at www.cacej.org. tickets to the event — which was originally scheduled to take place at the Hyatt regency Long Beach but moved due to union concerns — are $38 each. the event takes place on Feb. 23 at the convention center.


Lentzner



By Harry SaltzgaverExEcutivE Editor

unprecedented popularity — and continued budget cuts from the state — has caused califor-nia State university, Long Beach, officials to revamp entrance re-quirements in a way that will im-pact the ground-breaking college Promise. that college Promise, signed on March 20, 2008, by the heads of cSuLB, Long Beach city college and Long Beach unified School district, guaranteed a col-lege education to all LBuSd stu-dents who met minimum require-ments. But that guarantee to get into cSuLB could be significantly watered down if the cSu Board of trustees accepts a new major-based set of criteria being pro-posed by cSuLB officials. that college Promise was the extension of the seamless educa-tion approach in place for the last decade through the Long Beach Education Partnership. tuesday, cSuLB vice-Provost dave dow-ell presented the proposed new admissions criteria to members of the partnership. “this proposal remains true to our values,” dowell said. “it em-phasizes major-specific criteria for admission… it is our mantra that we graduate students with highly-valued degrees, and we will continue to do that.” dowell said that campus-wide, about 55% of all people enrolled ultimately get a degree from cSuLB. that number must in-crease, he said, and the new ad-mission criteria will be designed to bring in students with the high-est statistical chance for success in their chosen field. that could directly impact about 10% of the LBuSd stu-dents currently eligible for ad-mission. those students meet the minimum criteria, but typically require a year of remediation classes simply to qualify for col-lege-level courses to begin accu-mulating credit toward a degree. “We will continue to admit all local freshmen and transfers who have a reasonable expectation for completing a degree,” dow-ell said. “it appears now that that would mean about a 10% decline at the bottom of the scale. Last year, there were 1,790 local ad-missions, so that means about 179 total… At that low band, we’re only seeing about a 20% comple-tion rate.” dowell emphasized that the university wasn’t abandoning its promise or the students who no longer would qualify for direct admission to cSuLB. those students would be re-ferred to Long Beach city col-lege, where they could get the classes needed to meet the uni-versity requirements. transfer students from local community colleges (orange coast community college also qualifies as a local feeder college) would have to declare a major and be on track with prerequi-site courses. LBuSd students with higher admission indexes (a combination of grade point aver-age, placement and SAt scores) could still enter as undeclared, but would have to pick a major much more quickly.

“We recognize we have respon-sibility in this, too,” dowell said. “currently, there are not clear guidelines about the preparatory classes necessary for majors. that means we get students who lack the preparation. Now, with the emphasis on GPA, students don’t take the hard classes to keep the GPA up. “What this all means is we’ve had well-prepared non-local stu-dents we’ve had to turn away in favor of local students who’ve met minimum criteria without a real chance of completion.” in addition to providing clear-

er guidelines for requirements, cSuLB is committed to help-ing LBcc and LBuSd prepare classes to meet those guidelines, dowell said. A new set of classes at the high school level is being designed now that could even take the place of passing college placement tests. When one educator charged that the new guidelines would eliminate the local preference implicit in the college Promise, dowell disagreed. He said local high school students still would qualify for admission at a lower level than non-local students. in

addition, qualified transfer stu-dents would be guaranteed ad-mission into impacted programs while non-local students with the same qualifications would be re-quired to submit to competitive ranking, with no guarantee of ad-mission. dowell said his enrollment committee has made the recom-mendation to forward the new

plan to the cSu chancellor’s of-fice. there will be three public hearings before March 16, one at city college, one at orange coast community college and one on the cSuLB campus. those meetings have not been scheduled yet. More information is expected to be available soon on the cSuLB website, at www.csulb.edu.

CSULB Plans To Change Admission Standards



there’s an old adage that ev-erything tastes better when it’s made with love. And that’s certainly true if you ask the staff at the Mental Health America of Los Angeles, which operates out of the MHA Village in downtown Long Beach. A step inside the MHA building on Elm Street, and the aroma of baking cookies and brownies permeates the air — it’s the smell of the Vil-lage Cookie Shoppe owned and operated by the nonprofit MHA as a way to provide employment skills to people with mental dis-abilities. No cookie-cutter formula, what the bakers put into their work at the MHA Village comes back tenfold because proceeds from cookie sales are reinvested back into the MHA’s service programs — meanwhile, those working in the kitchen are learning basic job skills, such as showing up on time, being cleaned up and ready to work, how to interact with oth-ers on a team and finding that they are able to produce quality baked goods. “Even though we use the same sugar and butter as everyone else, the way in which we mix them, and the love that’s in them, that’s what makes our cookies unique,” said Susan Hagar, the general manager of the Village Cookie Shoppe as well as the MHA Vil-lage’s deli 456 and catering ser-vices. Hagar has overseen the Cookie Shoppe and other food services — the deli is open to the public for breakfast and lunch and ca-tering services are available for private events anytime — for the

past 16 years. in that role, she works directly with employees who suffer from various mental illnesses such as bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, severe depression and more as those employees overcome obstacles and learn workplace skills that can be ap-plied to jobs throughout the Long Beach community. typically about 50% of the participants in the Cookie Shoppe and other work-based programs at the MHA are able to find job placement in the community. For Lorenzo Benavidez iii and Jose Bonilla, who have staffed the Cookie Shoppe for the past

few months, working at the MHA Village has been an opportunity to learn about baking cookies and so much more. “i love cooking food for peo-ple,” Benavidez said. “Although i’ve worked at hotels and restau-rants before, i’ve never had the opportunity to bake something, and i never learned the value of teamwork before working here.” Bonilla, who had never worked in the food industry before com-ing to the MHA, said working in a restaurant is now his dream job. “i’ve learned how to cook,” he said. “i’ve never had experience in the kitchen before, but i want to pursue a job… i enjoy mak-ing people feel happy through the stomach.” Established in 1924, the MHA is a non-residential program for people recovering from mental illness. dave Pilon, president and CEo of MHA, said the focus of the program is helping mentally ill people realize their potential to be productive parts of the com-munity. Many MHA members are peo-ple who may have a history of homelessness or hospitalization, Pilon said. After getting help through the MHA, 75% of those

Mending Mental Health With Love

—Gazette photo by Ashleigh OldlandYUM. Lorenzo Benavidez III and Jose Bonilla make cookies for the Mental Health America of Los Angeles’ Cookie Shoppe.



empowerment model to legislate,” Neal said. “We try to involve the public in as much as we possibly can. Our whole goal is to bring as much information, share with the community and involve them as much as we can.” The objective of Phase III is to become the most accessible coun-cil office in the city, according to Neal, and to build and maintain the positive relationships and partnerships in the community, on top of finding new ways to pull resources to assist residents in the Ninth District. The continuous effort will push residents to become more con-cerned with their neighborhoods, including an augmentation of the S.T.A.R. Task Force (Sidewalks, Trees, Alleys, Roads) program. The program calls for more residents to be engaged in their neighborhood infrastructures, ac-cording to Neal. Phase III is aiming to address the unemployment issue of resi-dents, and Neal said he wants to find a way to bring a resource fair to help those facing unemploy-ment connect with various enti-ties. “We’re working with the Work-force Development Department

to bring some more employment opportunities,” Neal added. “Last year, we had the Job Summit, and that was our first attempt… This will be a follow-up to that. I want to call this one a resource fair, where we can help people with their resumes. We believe that Long Beach, because of our size and our influence, we should be a leader in Southern California. We should be a leader in recovery as we come out of the downturn.” The Ninth District also was the recent recipient of a $1 million grant from Kaiser Permanente to invest in the Healthy Eating Ac-tive Living (HEAL) initiative for the next three years. The city’s Health Department was granted the money because of its role as the coordinating agen-cy of the Coalition for a Healthy North Long Beach, which is comprised of nearby community groups looking to promote health for those living in the areas. Neal said he hopes to create more safe green spaces for Ninth District residents to take advan-tage of for the health and recre-ation benefits. The program also would bring entertainment, such as festivals and concerts “When you look at all of the work that the Health Department does, they’re a huge benefit to the city,” Neal said. “They are an as-

set because they bring money into the city, with most of their mon-ey coming from grants. We’ve chosen to partner with them as much as possible, because when you look at childhood obesity or some of the medical challenges that people in the north have, it seemed natural that we would work with the Health Department and any community partner that was out there to address these kinds of problems.” HEAL is brainstorming new programs and services for the project until the fall, when it plans to start moving forward. It will work with five North Long Beach settings, including schools, clinics, parks and open spaces, corner stores and neigh-borhoods. Neal added that Phase III also would work to highlight residents’ talents and culture, by working to create new opportunities to show-case the work of local artists.

in 2009 before large budget cuts. There is estimated officer attri-tion of 30-40 each year. Many crime statistics in the city saw an increase last year af-ter trending down for the good part of the last decade. The LBPD also is expected to have to deal with about $6.8 million in budget cuts for fiscal year 2013. “I want to make sure finan-cially, that once we go down this path, that is something we are go-ing to be able to maintain,” Ninth District Councilman Steven Neal said. According to Fifth District Councilwoman Gerrie Schipske, the approximate cost of an acade-my that has been given to the City Council in the past was between about $1 million and $2 million each year. While stating her de-sire to get an academy started as

soon as possible, she noted that any new recruits will be coming in at a lower pay than the retirees and at a lower retirement pension formula — thus starting the move toward eventual savings for the Long Beach Police Department. McDonnell said he’d prefer to keep the academy in Long Beach and under LBPD guidance, when asked about whether recruits could be sent elsewhere in the immediate metro area for train-ing. “These are people who are go-ing to be your major asset for the next 30 years, so if you have the opportunity to bring them in on the front end and train them in the way you want to train them … that is the optimal,” he said. “We’re (one of) the largest agen-cies in the county. For the smaller agencies, they don’t have the op-tion to do that, but if they did, I believe they would have their own academy as well.”


Ninth District(Continued from Page 1)

Academy



The Long Beach NAACP will observe Black History Month with “Black Women in Ameri-can Culture and History” at 3:15 p.m. Sunday, Feb. 19, at Ernest McBride Sr. Park, 1550 Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd. According to the NAACP, the women selected have helped change Long Beach and have helped their friends and families in addition to the community. The honorees are: Sister Ge-

rard Earls, Macy Herrington, Tra-cy Young, Philomene Seymore, Delores Husband, Verda Lyons, Sandy Bazant, Bonnie Harris, Chan Hopson, Lillian Herrera, Mary Wright, Antoinette Greer, Marilyn Overby, RN PhD, Kara Williams, Jessica Castillo, Joan Swain, Deboria Sutton, Gloria Jones, Jean Wilson, Zion Smith, Florence Warren and Sharon Mc-Nealy. Visit www.lbcanaacp.org.

NAACP Honors Black Women In History

members who were homeless are able to find housing, and the MHA reports a 65% reduction in the hospitalization of its mem-bers. Paul Barry, executive director of the MHA Village, said the suc-cess of the program is that it en-courages its members to stop fo-cusing on their illness. Currently, the MHA Village has about 450 members using its services — all members live in the Long Beach area. “We want people to accomplish goals outside of their illness,” he

explained. “We do things like job placement, reconnecting these people with their family, helping them go back to school and other-wise showing them they that can contribute or assist others.” Because the MHA Village wants its members to have a qual-ity experience when working at the deli, bakery or other jobs at the Village, Barry said only the finest ingredients — and a few trade secrets — are used for cook-ing. “The quality of our cookies is on par with Mrs. Fields,” he said. “We want our members to be proud of what they are making. A quality product translates into

a quality experience. We want them to feel proud enough to say they can do something else and have pride.” Barry added that the holiday season and Valentine’s Day are typically busy times of the year for the Cookie Shoppe (selling more than 15,000 cookies around Christmas time), but he hopes the community will continue support-ing the MHA Village year-round by purchasing cookies at the Vil-lage or online and using the Vil-lage’s deli and catering services. For details about MHA Village or the Village Cookie Shoppe, visit www.VillageCookieShoppe.com.


MHA Village

By Jonathan Van DykeSTAFF WRiTER

Organizers of the Rainbow Harbor Mardi Gras 2012 said they wanted to create an event that was as diverse as the city. To that end, the Mardi Gras event will feature elements from Venetian and Brazilian culture, as well as the more traditional New Orleans flair. At the center of it all will be the parade at 3 p.m., which begins at the Aquarium of the Pacific and moves toward Shoreline Village. “We’ve got everything from samba dancers, to Capoeira danc-ers, to reptiles, local businesses, costumed revelers, a jazz band, nonprofit organizations and a pi-rate — it literally runs the gamut,” said Logan Crow, executive direc-tor of Long Beach Cinematheque and Mardi Gras organizer. Leading the parade as king and queen will be Peter and Bianca Sovich, who own Bianca’s His-toric Costumes. They will lead a nine-person group they’re calling

Krewe of Rex. There are about 20 group entries for the parade so far. “i’ve designed all new cos-tumes,” Bianca said. “i’m dying from sewing so much. We’ve bought all sorts of beads to throw out and we’ve been to New Or-leans, so we take this very seri-ously.” Bianca said the Krewe will in-clude crown symbols and there will be a jester who “is off the charts,” she said. Outside of the parade, the all-day event will take place mainly at Shoreline Village, but there will be gondola rides from noon to 2 p.m. at Rainbow Harbor. “We’ll have music going on

all day long at Shoreline Village, with a couple different stage ar-eas,” said Maureen Baker, prop-erty manager at Shoreline Village. “Everyone is welcome to join in. We’ll have the great community parade around the Mardi Gras theme. Businesses or even indi-viduals can join it if they want to put on a mask or a cape and come down.” Besides the various bands and merriment at Shoreline Village, there also will be a children’s area. Youngsters who attend will be able to get their faces painted, take home a balloon animal or decorate a mask. There will be authentic Mardi Gras food choices like gumbo, king cake and beignets. Once the event ends at 7 p.m., there will be after parties at Stefano’s Pizza and 33 Degrees. More information and parade en-try forms are available at the web-site www.RainbowHarborMardi Gras.com.

Mardi Gras Merges Diverse CulturesWHAT: Mardi GrasWHEN: 1-7 p.m., Satur-day — 3 p.m. paradeWHERE: Shoreline Vil-lage/Rainbow Harbor/Aquarium of the PacificCOST: Free



“Will you still get your stick-er?” Gloria Wynn joked after fin-ishing up a trial on the city’s new e-slate voting machines.

Wynn, who has vision impair-ment, was able to use the machine without anyone’s assistance — it has a special function that gives audio commands. it will be used for the primary elections here in

april — the first use in any city in Los angeles County. “i think the city of Long Beach has always been progressive in its voting systems,” City Clerk Larry Herrera said Monday, as he

showed off the technology to the Disabled resource Center. “the next logical step is to provide in-dependent voting to persons with disabilities. it’s a small step, but it is an important step.” Of the 88 cities in Los angeles County, 60 conduct their own mu-nicipal elections, including Long Beach. Until 2006, the city had an independent contractor, but since then, Herrera said his of-fice has been working on improv-ing the city’s voting capabilities in-house. the e-slate voting ma-chines already are being used in Orange County. “i’m hoping that this is the wave of the future for the city of Long Beach,” he said. the machines can be used by anyone, but they are particularly helpful to those with disabilities. “although it’s a small step, it doesn’t matter to me if one per-son more votes or 100 people vote on this using the access aspects of this device,” Herrera said. “at least for those who have never

voted privately or independently, this will be a first step.” During the demonstration, peo-ple with sight, hands and motor disabilities were able to use the device. Headphones and voice commands can help, there were special buttons for those who could not use their hands easily and the device also lends itself to the sip and puff device for people who can’t use their hands at all. the device is electronic and it lays out the ballot like one would see it on a traditional paper ballot, but the voter can actually go back and change his or her choices be-fore finalizing and sending in the vote. the city spent about $24,000 on each of four machines that of-ficials will set up at City Hall for the early voting period (March 12 through april 3) and the emer-gency voting period (after early voting and through election day). the City Clerk’s Office is even offering free ways to get people

Technology Helps Disabled Vote In Elections


—Gazette photo by Jonathan Van DykeCASTING A BALLOT. Vincent Johnson, who is the AT/IT coor-dinator for the Disabled Resources Center, tests e-slate voting.


to City Hall for early voting. Herrera said he initially was looking at spending some elec-tion budget money on electronic poll books, but decided the city

would benefit more from provid-ing this new way to vote. There are about 270 polling stations in the city, so adapting the technology citywide might take a while, officials said. “People who have disabilities, they still want to be independent

and they want to keep their dig-nity,” said Dolores Nason, execu-tive director of the Disabled Re-sources Center. “And being able to vote can be a big part of that.” For more information, call the City Clerk’s office at the phone number 570-6489.


Voting

—Gazette photo by Harry SaltzgaverMystery author Jan Burke talks last Thursday at the Long Beach Historical Society’s newspaper archives dedication, as the Press-Telegram’s Tom Hennessy (seated) and Rich Archbold listen.

DAILY HEADLINES

A program of Jewish music and entertainment featuring the Klezmer group Mostly Kosher begins at 2 p.m. Sunday, Feb. 19, at First Congregational Church, 241 Cedar Ave. The format of the show recre-ates a live radio program with the feel of Jewish life in the Depression-era Lower Eastside

of New York. The audience will be encouraged to dance to upbeat Klezmer melodies and Yiddish tangos. There is no admission, but a freewill offering will be taken. The Klezmer band also will provide special music that day at the 10 a.m. worship service at First Congregational.

Jewish Program Recreates Radio



Before ron “tater Salad” White goes on stage, he pre-pares by pouring himself a glass of scotch and lighting a cigar — the action mirrors the gruff-yet-smooth style of comedy White has become famous for. Holding onto that cigar or glass of scotch started out as a way for White to relax and control the movement of his hands during performances, but it has become a signature for the comedian who is set to perform Saturday at the terrace theater in Long Beach as part of his “Moral Compass tour.” White is one of the top three grossing comedians in the United States, he said, and is perhaps best-known for his role on the “Blue Collar Comedy tour” and “Blue Collar Comedy tour: the

Movie,” where he shared the stage with Jeff Foxworthy, Bill Engvall and Larry the Cable Guy. He’s also released successful solo albums, starred in his own televi-sion comedy specials and writ-ten a book that landed him on the New York times Best-Seller List. the material he uses comes from life experiences, White said. He doesn’t use topical mate-rial and he’s not afraid to throw a few curse words into the mix, so he doesn’t encourage bringing youngsters to his performances. “You know, i live life and re-port back, that is all,” he said sim-ply. “All my stuff comes from life experience, not television… i’m a storyteller who lives life and re-ports it back.” there’s plenty of material to draw from in White’s life. tater Salad is a husband with a

college-aged son, whom he lov-ingly refers to as “tater tot.” the comedian also is a texas native who grew up in a small town and worked in the window business before he began the comedy club circuit. He’s been touring for 26 years nonstop, he said, and hit 140 cities last year. “it all shaped me,” White said about his life. “My uncle was a preacher with a triple doctorate, and i used to like to listen to him preach and that is where i got my cadence on stage.” White prides himself on his ability to simplify jokes and get to the point quickly, and thrives off of making his audiences scream and laugh the entire time he is on stage. “i will gut the crowd like a catfish and leave them breathing hard,” he said. the show is at 7 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 18, at the terrace theater. Visit the office or call (800) 745-3000. tickets are $46 to $56.

Blue Collar White Comes To Terrace

the Long Beach Convention & Entertainment Center and SMG announced the appointment this week of a new general manager. Charles Beirne, who first came to Long Beach on a temporary basis as the interim general man-ager, was promoted to maintain the position permanently. during his time as interim general manager, Beirne has overseen the development of the Center’s $20 million renovation. As general manager, he also will oversee day-to-day operations and lead a staff of 110 full-time employees and 350 part-time em-ployees. According to a press release sent this week, Beirne has fallen in love with the Convention Cen-ter and the city’s warm, close-knit community. “What really sold me on Long Beach was a great team and fa-

cility, with a lot of cutting-edge improvements that are happen-ing,“ Beirne said in the release. “i’m excited to help elevate the Center to a five-star complex and be a part of something you don’t see happening in other places.” Before coming to Long Beach, Beirne was the regional general manager of the Atlantic City Convention Center and was re-sponsible for operations and fi-nancial oversight for the Atlantic City Convention Center, Historic Board Walk Hall and Wildwoods Convention Center. during this time, he also served as the inter-im general manager of the irving Convention Center in texas. Steve Goodling, president and CEo of the Long Beach Con-vention & Visitors Bureau, said Long Beach’s Convention Cen-ter is fortunate to have a general manager of Beirne’s caliber. “We all look forward to work-ing with him as we continue to hit even higher benchmarks in sur-passing customer expectations in terms of service and experience,” Goodling said in a release. “this is already being noted in the con-vention planning community and is one of our main competitive advantages.”

—Ashleigh Oldland

Long Beach Convention CenterNames Beirne General Manager

CHARLES BEIRNE


Merger Cancelled Merger plans have been called off between Long Beach-based Windes & McClaughry account-ing and consulting fi rm and the San Francisco-based Burr Pilger Mayer, Inc. (BPM). Together, the two companies would have made up the largest fi rm in the state, but the plans for the merger have been called off, according to a release sent this

week sent from Windes & Mc-Claughry. “We believed that combining both fi rms was the proper strate-gic direction, but, unfortunately, we could not come to an agree-ment on all of the key issues,” John Di Carlo, Windes & Mc-Claughry managing partner, said in a release. “We have the utmost respect for BPM and their profes-sionals and have developed great

relationships with them over the past six months.” A BPM managing partner, Steve Mayer, shared similar sen-timents. “We are disappointed that we are not able to combine these two fi rms,” he said in a release. “Both organizations worked diligently toward a merger. We just came a little short of the goal line. We wish the Windes team the best and expect to continue to work together on client opportunities.” With 86 years in business, Windes & McClaughry has 18 partners and more than 140 em-ployees in four offi ces located

in Long Beach, Irvine, Torrance and Los Angeles. Windes & Mc-Claughry offers a full range of ser-vices and focuses on the needs of both publicly traded and privately held businesses, exempt organiza-tions, qualifi ed retirement plans, and high-net-worth individuals. For details, visit www.windes.com.

Breath Of Fresh Air Bringing new men’s fashions, shoes and accessories to Pine Av-enue, Oxygen Clothing opened late last year in downtown Long Beach. Owner Youssef Kasfa said busi-ness has been good at the shop,

which boasts bright orange and yellow walls and sells a variety of casual fashions for men — both popular brands and local brands are sold at the store. Kasfa, who has long worked in the fashion industry, said he was looking for a space like the one at 517 Pine Ave. to start his own business. He said the store caters to a diverse crowd and the prices are diverse as well, with special sales happening regularly. For details, call 951-5636 or email [email protected]. Hours are from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. Sunday-Thursday and 10 a.m. to 9 p.m. Friday and Saturday.

A fi ve-month search for an executive director for the Arts Council for Long Beach has ended without the position being fi lled. The council’s executive com-mittee voted Monday to leave the post vacant for now, according to board president Larry Rice. Interim Executive Director John Glaza will continue in that posi-tion indefi nitely, Rice said. “We just felt that a lot of un-answered questions had come up since we began the search,” Rice said. “The committee decided this was the most prudent way to do it. It didn’t make sense to bring someone on and completely re-design what we are with so much unknown.” The Arts Council, formerly known as the Public Corpora-tion for the Arts, has been the umbrella organization for the arts for 35 years in Long Beach. The most recent executive director, Craig Watson, left the organiza-tion last October to become ex-ecutive director of the California Arts Council. The Dec. 20 state

Supreme Court ruling allowing a state law to stand that ended the city’s Redevelopment Agency has also ended the Percent for Art public art program the Arts Council has administered for the city since its inception. The RDA contracted with the Arts Council at a cost of $116,000 a year for that work, but declined to renew the contract last fall, waiting for a fi nal ruling on the fate of redevel-opment in the state. That program now is in the past. City support for the Arts Council, most of which was used to pro-vide grants to other arts organiza-tions, also has declined precipi-tously in the last decade, down to $354,300 this fi scal year. “We plan now to convene a council of our grantees,” Rice said. “We’d like to get their help

in charting our future course, to see what we should be.” Also in the wings is a Blue-print for the Arts study complet-ed nearly a year ago by an Arts Council task force. That report should see the light of day some time in March, Rice said. It cur-rently is in the mayor’s offi ce.

Arts Council Leaves Executive Director Position Vacant “We’d like to get help in charting our future

course.”—Larry Rice

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ESTATE PLANNING


the International Machinists Union’s contract was up in 2013. Gabelich’s legacy was dis-cussed, with Austin saying he would continue to emphasize

getting the Eighth District’s fair share of the city’s resources while focusing on neighborhoods in the district. Kawasaki praised Ga-belich’s role in the revitalization of the Bixby Knolls business cor-ridor. “I would continue to support

the revitalization of the business corridors,” she said. “Rae has done great work there. If any-thing, I would do more. I know about stimulating the economy and creating jobs.” After Austin emphasized sev-eral times that he wanted to serve

the Eighth District and that he had lived there for more than a decade, Kawasaki asked why he had run for the Sixth District City Council seat in 2007. Austin had moved into that district and chal-lenged Dee Andrews for the seat vacated by Laura Richardson. “I ran from a desire to serve,” Austin said. “I did live in the Sixth District for a year. I’ve lived in the Second District and the Fourth District, too… I have deep roots in this community.” Austin pointed to his endorse-ments from Gabelich as well as the police and fire unions, along with his community involvement, as his primary assets in the cam-paign. Kawasaki said that she would be a fulltime council mem-

ber and that she would be able to “hit the ground running” with a full understanding of the way the government works on the first day. “I know how the process works,” she said. “I know how to solve problems, because I’ve done it. I have a track record.”

Author and Historian John Thomas will be honored as Preservationist of the Year at the Long Beach Heritage 2012 Awards Gala, which begins at 7 p.m. Thursday, Feb. 23, on the Queen Mary. In addition to being the co-author of two books, Thomas has worked to preserve historic buildings and continues to raise the profile of the history of Art Deco in Long Beach. Thomas is president of the Art Deco Society of Long Beach and has chaired the Long Beach Redevelopment Agency board and has been on the board of directors of the Long Beach Historical Society. Also being honored are: The Lafayette Home Owners As-sociation, Craig and Christine Bouma for their 1936 Spanish Revival Home, Todd and Ra-nae Saunders for their 1958-59 mid century modern home, Matt and Krysta Leaver for their mid-century ranch style home, the firm of Hugh Gibbs and Donald Gibbs Architects, Linc Housing, the California Heights Neighbor-hood Association and the Long Beach Symphony Orchestra. The evening begins with a si-lent auction at 5:30 p.m. Tickets are $115. Call 493-7019 or visit www.lbheritage.org. The Queen Mary is at 1126 Queens Highway.

PreservationistsEarn Awards

1909 Artesian well on one side, where they tapped for fresh water in the middle of the original wa-ter basin. Over the years, plans have been made for the site, such as car dealerships or flattening the hills to build soccer fields, but have mainly been untouched by the public. Since Johnson came to office, he has been working to develop a way to bring the public out to the land, and said he hopes to create hiking trails so the public can en-joy nature and exercise. “The proposed park at Cali-fornia Gardens is located at the highest accessible point in Long Beach, offering a 270-degree

view of the Pacific Ocean to Pa-los Verdes to the mountains and downtown Los Angeles,” he add-ed. “After more than 100 years of city ownership, the time has come to start opening this prop-erty to the public to enjoy this natural open space in the middle of our city.” The gardens boast endangered plants and birds, and two wet-lands, which Johnson said he is looking to restore. A four-acre park on the top of the property is in the works now. Those interested in touring the California Gardens with Johnson and other residents should meet at the parking lot, located at ap-proximately 2755 Orange Ave., on the west side of street, just north of the city cemetery. For details, call 570-7777.


Garden Tours


Candidates“I ran from a desire

to serve.”—Al Austin

“I know how the process works.”

—Lillian Kawasaki


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Documents

Uptown Gazette 2-17-12