Neighborhood Councils Move to Become Public Voice on Port Projects
By Paul Rosenberg p. 3
ACE
Arts & Culture
Ethereal, Eclectic Band— Panther Heart—Says Farewell By Greggory Moore p. 11
The Local Publication You Actually Read
By Terelle Jerricks, Managing Editor
Photo by Phillip Cook
When Paul Tanaka, the former undersheriff of the Los Angeles County Sheriffs Department sat down for an interview with Random Lengths News, the question I wanted to ask was, ‘Why are you running?’” Not because I needed him to talk immediately about the reforms he would enact, but because Tanaka was the second most-named person responsible in the 2012 Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors Citizen’s Commission on Jail Violence report at the Men’s Central Jail. Tanaka began answering that question without the context of the commission report, focusing instead on where he and Sheriff Lee Baca parted ways and became arch rivals before Baca’s retirement in January.
By Andrea Serna, Arts and Culture Writer Has homelessness become an accepted standard on the streets of America? All too often, Americans accept the existence of homelessness as an intractable part of life and that nothing can be done about it. As a result, more fortunate Americans become blind to it. However, two Port of Los Angeles High School students decided to pick up a camera and investigate the problem for themselves. What resulted is a full length documentary called Hope for Our Own: An LA Story. POLAHS Students Bring Hope for the Homeless/ to p. 15
February 21 - March 6, 2014
POLAHS Students Bring Hope for the Homeless
Tanaka Makes His Case for Sheriff/ to p. 6
A screen capture from Hope for Our Own: LA Story.
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Community Announcements:
Harbor Area
Committed to independent journalism in the Greater LA/LB Harbor Area for more than 30 years
Linda Matlock Breathes New Life into Toberman Neighborhood Center By Terelle Jerricks, Managing Editor
February 21 - March 6, 2014
Serving the Seven Cities of the Harbor Area
Toberman Neighborhood Center has taken on a new spirit these days. Inside every building on Toberman’s campus are placards or picture frames with the words, “Commitment to Learning,” “Constructive Use of Time,” “Social Competencies,” “Positive Values,” “Positive Identity,” “Support, Empowerment” and “Boundaries and Expectations.” They hang on the walls like reminders of what everyone’s ultimate goal is at Toberman. Another thing that’s different is that the staff is palpably happy and excited. That’s not to say they were previously unhappy and lethargic. It’s just that their current disposition feels infectious and contagious—and that’s a good thing. This new spirit at Toberman apparently has come from the elevation of Linda Matlock as the permanent executive director at the start of the new year. “I love what I do,” Matlock said. “Everyday. Every single day I go home I feel like I’ve helped somebody.” Originally hired as a consultant and grantwriter at the tail end of former Executive Director Gloria Lockhart’s tenure, Matlock was
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Linda Matlock was appointed the permanent Executive Director of Toberman Neighborhood Center in January 2014. Photo by Terelle Jerricks
theoretically only supposed to work part-time. But her versatility and skill sets quickly caused Matlock’s role to evolve into other roles such as authoring the 111-year-old social service organization’s strategic plan and later, developing
San Pedro Convention & Visitors Bureau Hosts Volunteer Training
Toberman’s After School Academy, a component of which she became the director. “I absolutely love it here,” Matlock said. “I love what we do. I love what we stand for and who we stand up for. This is an amazing organization. People just don’t know all that we do.” Matlock has a doctorate in organizational development and educational leadership. Combined with her 38 years of experience in education, she has become an experienced hand at helping organizations run better. “In my doctoral studies program, one of the things we learned for an organization to thrive—the skills and steps—first you must have a mission,” Matlock explained. It can’t be just words on paper. It has to be actions. “Second, you have to have a vision,” she said. “You have to know long term where you’re going, but you have to share that with the entire community you serve. If it is not a shared vision, then it is just my vision and when I go away, it goes with me.” Matlock explained that Toberman’s vision was to become a one-stop-shop where families have their needs met. “Underlying that, is a philosophy and this is where the mission becomes an action rather words on a page,” Matlock said. Toberman Search Institute’s called the 40 Developmental Assets. These assets Matlock explained, are building blocks that children, young people and families need to become successful in life. The more of these assets they have, the better they will achieve in school, the less apt they are to engage in detrimental, nonproductive behavior. The Search Institute, and education think tank divided these assets into categories, “External” and “Internal.” These two categories are divided by four subcategories. External Assets includes Support, Empowerment, Boundaries and Expectations, and Constructive Use of Time. Internal Assets includes: Commitment Matlock/ to p. 17
The San Pedro Convention & Visitors Bureau will conduct a volunteer training program, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Feb. 22, at the Marymount California University Waterfront Campus in San Pedro. The program covers the bureau’s procedures, volunteer opportunities and basic information about the Harbor Area’s History and geography to enable volunteers to answer visitors’ frequently asked questions. A second part of the training focuses on maritime knowledge, terminology and information about the Port of Los Angeles. Training will include a visit to the San Pedro Visitors Center and a tour of area hotel properties. There is a $10 registration fee for the training. Details: (310) 729-9829; training@SanPedroCVB. com Venue: Marymount California University Waterfront Campus Location: 222 W. 6th St., San Pedro
USS Iowa Plankowner Tribute Wall Official Unveiling The Pacific Battleship Center & Guests of Honor: Congresswoman Janice Hahn, Navy Vietnam War veteran, William Stephens and Pacific Battle Center president, Jonathan Williams, invites the community to the unveiling of the IOWA Plankowner Tribute Wall, which will be followed by a birthday celebration of the USS Iowa. Starts at 10 a.m. on Feb. 22. Details: jperez@labattleship.com or (310) 7208228 Venue: Dockside Plaza - Battleship IOWA Location: 250 S. Harbor Blvd., San Pedro
Broadway Visioning Study
Residents and businesses with an interest in the activation, pedestrian safety and planning of Broadway between Alamitos and Redondo Avenue are encouraged to attend the last of three community workshops to hear recommendations from consultants at RSAUSD/UTILE for community consideration, from 10 to 11:30 a.m. Feb. 22, at the Bixby Park Community Center in Long Beach. In December, stakeholders received a presentation from RSAUSD/UTILE on possible improvements to Broadway and provided feedback to Councilmember Lowenthal, City staff and the architect . To view the presentation from the Broadway Visioning Study meeting #2, please go to www.longbeach.gov/district2/. Ultimately, this vision plan will accomplish a few things: 1) Inform city staff of the community’s priorities for projects and funding 2) Enable the community to focus on long term goals 3) Provide the basis for grant applications to MTA and other fund sources Venue: Bixby Park Community Center Location: 130 Cherry Ave., Long Beach Community Announcements/ to p. 5
Port Communities Struggle to Find a Voice By Paul Rosenberg, Senior Editor
Nine months after Harbor Commissioners abolished the Port Community Advisory Committee, there are finally serious stirrings in the direction of creating a successor organization—two of them, in fact. “PCAC’s dissolution left a vacuum for public input into what’s going on in the port,” said Carrie Scoville, a member of Central San Pedro Neighborhood Council’s Port Committee, who represented the council on the PCAC. “So the neighborhood councils have stepped forward with an initiative to form a new type of community organization…. In the meantime, another group is also forming, it’s my understanding, and that’s going to be a private group organization that is going to be focused on reading EIRs (environmental impact reports) and reporting comments to the port.” “Informally there have been small groups in various places around town, restaurants, meet and discuss what this group would look like. And then we’ve had more formal groups like the neighborhood council committees,” said Frank Anderson, chairman of Central’s Port Committee. His committee had crafted a motion to present at Central’s February board meeting, “but we still had some concerns about the adequacy of it,” Anderson said. In addition to stating support for the establishment of “a joint committee of the Harbor Area Neighborhood Councils” to review and comment on POLA projects, it also said: It is our intention that this committee will regularly liaison with the Port of
Los Angeles Environmental Management Division throughout all stages of proposed projects, from a pre-[California Environmental Quality Act] publication stage to project finalization and mitigation condition oversight. It is expected that the official spokesperson of this committee shall have regular standing on Board of Harbor Commission agendas, and that [the Port of Los Angeles] will support this committee’s efforts with the free exchange of information necessary to investigate and optimize community impacts. “We thought it maybe needed to be fleshed out a little more with input from other neighborhood councils.” Anderson said. So the motion was pulled and he plans a meeting to gather that input. “I want input from all the affected stakeholders or groups,” he said. He hopes to have a new proposal ready for the March meeting. Meanwhile, Coastal San Pedro’s Port Committee unanimously passed a resolution simply saying the council “supports the formation of a working committee” with membership by appointment “of the various Harbor Area Neighborhood Councils.” It had been expected to go to the full neighborhood council on February 18, but due to a mix up, it was not placed on the agenda. It will be taken up at the March meeting. There’s been another source of impetus on this front: the port itself—but with a decidedly more nebulous, less open to the public approach. Even
Coastal San Pedro Neighborhood Council president, Dave Behar with Muriel Olguin during the dedication ceremony at the John and Muriel Olguin High School in 2013. File photo.
before the port disbanded PCAC, in early 2013, it tried to form a much narrower organization, a “Neighborhood Council President’s Committee” defined in a memorandum of understanding, which it circulated to local neighborhood councils. The city attorney nixed the proposal as illegal, under the city charter MOUs with more than one neighborhood council must include all of them. However, since then, an informal meeting of area neighborhood council presidents has been established with the port—a quasi-public process not run under Brown Act rules, presided over by Cynthia Ruiz, POLA’s deputy executive director of external relations. Two presidents pleased with this process— Linda Alexander of Central and Dave Behar of Coastal—appear to be enthusiastic supporters of
a similar approach. “It’s all about positive progress working in collaboration, in positive collaboration with the port,” Behar said, noting that it “was born out of the neighborhood council presidents.” “The five neighborhood council presidents, the other night, in this focus group, were all very positive in their interaction with the port,” Alexander said. “We’re not looking at a group to have a negative approach, that, ‘Oh, what are they trying to do?’ but a positive one.” Alexander and Behar were both critical of PCAC. “This has nothing to do with PCAC,” Behar said emphatically. “It’s not another PCAC. It’s not a PCAC II. In fact, it’s exactly what it’s not,” But in the very next breath Behar sounded like he was reading from a description of PCAC. “It’s a working group, a working committee that helps provide inputs on DEIRs and EIRs that come forth from the port,” he said. Alexander was more nuanced. “We’re concerned that some people were very distressed, their experience has lead them to be very distrustful of the port, I guess, and some of us don’t have that same feeling,” she said. But the neighborhood council port committees are full of former PCAC members. Scoville and Anderson are just the tip of the iceberg. And Scoville is quite welcoming of new participants with a more optimistic attitude. “OK, but let’s also not be naïve,” she said. “The port doesn’t want this to happen. The port wants a community group that they can use as a [public relations] organ for them. That’s [what] The Struggle to Find a Voice/ to p. 19
The Local Publication You Actually Read
Jim Lewis February 21 - March 6, 2014
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Seaside Pharmacy Closes its Doors After 125 Years in Business
First it was Williams’ Book Store; then it was Ante’s Restaurant and now, it’s Seaside Pharmacy that is closing. The pharmacy will close its doors on Feb. 27. Joe Seibert, the fifth owner of Seaside Pharmacy in its 125 year history, sold the prescription records to CVS after 5 years watching his profit margins shrink due to myriad of factors. “Part of it is the reimbursement rates the third party providers are offering are shrinking,” Seibert explained. “The cost of goods is increasing, expenses are increasing. Mail order has an impact—having your prescription mailed to you for a reduced co-pay amount, so there’s less out-of-pocket [expenses] by the patient doing that versus going to the retail pharmacy.
So that hurts the business that way.” CVS offered employment to Seaside workers who would have otherwise had to look for jobs elsewhere. Seibert noted that most of his staff has been with Seaside for 9 years or more. “I’m 60,” Seibert said. “I still got a few years left to live life or work or both. I’ve worked since I got out of pharmacy school in 1977. I worked hard, but it seems I’ve been working harder now than I did back then. It just didn’t seem like the right direction to me.” Seaside Pharmacy opened on Sixth and Beacon in 1889 and has moved to five different locations in its 125-year history. This old pharmacy will be missed.
February 21 - March 6, 2014
Serving the Seven Cities of the Harbor Area
Seaside Pharmacy proprietor, Joe Seibert. Photo by Terelle Jerricks
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Community Announcements:
Harbor Area from p. 2
GDB Replacement Project Work
Eastbound Ocean Boulevard Lane Closure One lane will be closed on the State Route 47 on-ramp to eastbound Ocean Boulevard, from 7 p.m. to 5 a.m. through Feb. 22 as part of the Gerald Desmond Bridge Project. One lane will remain open at all times. Southbound Harbor Scenic Drive to Pico Avenue Ramp Closure The on-ramp to Pico Avenue from southbound Harbor Scenic Drive is closed until April 1. Follow detour signs to Harbor Plaza. Southbound Harbor Scenic Drive Lane Closure Southbound Harbor Scenic Drive is reduced to one lane between the southbound Interstate 710 and the Pico Avenue exit, which is closed. Anaheim Street Lane Closure (POLB) The project has shifted, from 7 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. weekdays, to the two northern lanes of Anaheim Street. Traffic on Anaheim Street remains reduced to two lanes in each direction from the L.A. River to 9th Street. Limited access will be allowed via side streets. Use Harbor Avenue, Santa Fe Avenue or East I Avenue to cross Anaheim Street.
Get Covered by Covered California
Do you need help enrolling in a health care plan? You can receive assistance with Covered California enrollment by attending the following enrollment workshops Feb.24 to 27, from 2:30 to 6 p.m. Information available at www.lahc.edu throughout the month of February at the Los Angeles Harbor College Seahawk Center. What You Will Need to Enroll: 1. Current Income of all family members on the application (Tax Return, W2, recent pay stubs, etc.) 2. Copy of US Citizenship and residency status 3. Legal resident card or Certificate of Naturalized Citizenship 4. Copy of Social Security Number and Date of Birth for each family member in the household 5. Applicant’s California ID or Driver’s License Details: (310) 233-4651; www.lahc.edu Venue: Los Angeles Harbor College, Northeast Academic Hall (NEA), Room 126 Location: 1111 Figueroa Place, Wilmington
Climate Action Fair
Shell Carson Revitalization Project
For former Long Beach Rescue Mission leader, Jim Lewis, running for Long Beach District 3 is not a career move, it’s a calling. “A Proverb says, ‘Seek the welfare of the city…for in its welfare you will find your welfare,” Jim Lewis said. “For those who are passionate about community, and want to see it flourish, their service and calling are inseparable.” Lewis, who works as a development officer at Mission Aviation Fellowship and as a nonprofit and corporate consultant, said he was motivated to run for city council after completing his master’s degree in Global Leadership from Fuller Theological Seminary, about two years ago. But this is not Lewis’ first attempt. In 2000, Lewis ran for a state assembly seat for the Coachella Valley. He also had announced his run for a part-time city council position in Palm Desert but did not end up filing his candidacy because he was entering into a capital building campaign in a rescue mission in Palm Desert, where he was the CEO. “It was a combination of these campaigns and my subsequent organizational service that led me to recognize my desire for a graduate program in Global Leadership,” Lewis, 59, said. “I wanted to be a better leader and to build into those who served with me…. Then, I ran on principle, not with any expectation of winning. I am much more invested in Long Beach than I was when I ran previously.” The candidate has lived in Long Beach since 2006, when he took over as president and chief executive officer of the mission. He’s lived in District 3 for about 7 years. “I have a passion for community and a desire to serve,” is his campaign slogan to reporters. While Lewis considers himself pro-business and fiscally conservative, he has a special concern toward social and community issues. While many may consider this a dichotomy, Lewis affirms that his conservatism shapes his service. “It provides the model for what I see as reciprocal and interdependent services that are required to see successful outcomes in social service,” he said. He’s been involved with the Long Beach Homeless Coalition, Leadership Long Beach, Long Beach Prayer Breakfast, the Long Beach Chamber of Commerce’s Government Affairs Committee and the Long Beach Gang Reduction, Intervention, Prevention Taskforce. That said, in his role as president and CEO, Lewis believes he’s used his views of what helps, rather than what enables individuals, setting policies and parameters for programs, fundraising and communicating with the public and donors. So far, Lewis has garnered the endorsement of Long Beach First Lady Nancy Foster, a mental health advocate, Jean M. Benson, a council member and mayor in Palm Desert, Signal Hill Councilman Larry Forester and former Long Beach Vice Mayor Val Lerch. He’s even garnered the endorsement of educator and former running mate Lionel Gatley. According to his campaign
Long Beach City Council candidate for District 3, Jim Lewis. File photo.
disclosure statement for 2013, Lewis raised about $5,249 in campaign in monetary and nonmonetary contributions, of which he had spent about $3,781 by the end of that year. “I have raised the most funds of 4 candidates from people who live and/or work in Long Beach, and 45 percent more than the fifth candidate,” he wrote in an email. “That is indicative of my personal investment and relationships in this city. People know that I am committed to Long Beach.”
Public Safety
If elected, Lewis wants to restore funding to fire and police that has been lost through budget cuts within the past several years. He particularly hopes to restore the gang unit within the police department. Other issues he is concerned about are related to equitable allocation of development funds Lewis/ to p. 17
February 21 - March 6, 2014
The 448-acre Project site is the existing Shell Carson Distribution Facility. The site is about one mile west of the Alameda Corridor, a 20-mile railroad express line that connects the ports of Long Beach and Los Angeles to the transcontinental railway network. The site is about 10 miles north of the Long Beach and Los Angeles ports and 16 miles southeast of Los Angeles International Airport. On Feb. 10, a Notice of Availability was released to the public indicating the city has prepared a Draft Environmental Impact Report for the Shell Carson Revitalization Project Specific Plan. The DEIR is available for a 45-day review and comment period, which ends on March 26. Any comments provided should identify specific environmental concerns related to the proposed project and must be submitted by 6 p.m. on March 26. Carson will host a joint workshop with the Planning Commission and Environmental Commission regarding the DEIR as part of a special meeting for both commissions on Wednesday, March 12, at 6:30 p.m. in the Helen Kawagoe Council Chambers at Carson City Hall. Details: http://ci.carson.ca.us Venue: 20945 S. Wilmington Ave., Carson
By Zamná Ávila, Assistant Editor
His campaign priorities include fiscal responsibility, infrastructure, community, public safety, jobs and economic development, and education. Lewis supports limiting compensation and benefits to something that is more congruent to the private sector. Where possible, Lewis supports project labor agreements that insure that a certain percentage of workers are drawn from Long Beach for local development projects. However, too many projects have restrictive funding and he would like to see more training in basic trades. Unlike other candidates, Lewis believes in providing equitable incentives for businesses to locate in the city, such as limited tax incentives. He said he wants to search for other incentives of economic growth and jobs. He also wants to streamline the permit process and make code enforcement more equitable, such as variances in zoning.
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Come join hundreds of families and students and learn why climate change is personal, from 11 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. March 1, at the Wilmington Athletic Complex. Marchers will then travel up Wilmington Boulevard to Exposition Park in Los Angeles. The free event includes booths, crafts, games music and speakers. The Port of Los Angeles is hosting the kickoff for the Great March for Climate Action, the largest coast-to-coast climate march in American history. Details: http://j.mp/GreatMarchWU, http://j.mp/ GreatMarchRSVP Venue: Wilmington Athletic Complex Location: 1650 S. Figueroa St., Wilmington
Nonprofit CEO Answers Call for Long Beach District 3 Race
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from p. 1
February 21 - March 6, 2014
Serving the Seven Cities of the Harbor Area
Port to Test New Clean-air System for Ships The Port of Long Beach will fund testing of a new air pollution-control technology for docked cargo ships, thanks to a Long Beach Board of Harbor Commissioners’ agreement approved Feb. 12. Under the pact, the port would rely upon regional air quality authorities to oversee a demonstration project to thoroughly assess both the safety and the pollution-reducing effectiveness of a mobile, bargemounted emissions control system to capture and treat ships’ smokestack emissions. The new system could provide an alternative to shore power, allowing ships to run their engines to produce the power they need for lighting, communications, pumps, refrigeration, etc. The “Alternative Maritime Emission Control System” or “AMECS,” diverts a docked ship’s emissions into an air-pollution filter-and-treatment device. A Rancho Dominguez-based company, Advanced Cleanup Technology Inc. or ACTI, developed the AMECS technology. Under the agreement, the South Coast Air Quality Management District will supervise the testing on behalf of the port, with Harbor Department staff oversight. The port has been working with ACTI since 2006 on demonstrating the technology. An earlier, wharf-mounted version was often called “sock on a stack” due to the large bonnet that was lifted by crane and placed over the smokestacks to capture emissions. The new system is mounted on a barge and uses a direct connection to a vessel’s exhaust outlets. The AMECS demonstration project is contingent upon full execution of a contract and agreement among the parties. The port will fund the total project cost of $2,063,624. Harbor Commission approval of the project’s budget was granted in July 2013. The port has succeeded in dramatically cutting air pollution sources since 2005. Diesel particulate pollution is down 81 percent, and sulfur oxide pollution is down 88 percent. However, the port is committed to reducing its environmental impact further, and is pursuing a “zero-emission” or pollution-free goods-movement system.
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LA County Workers Approve New Contract LOS ANGELES—On Feb. 12, more than 55,000 Los Angeles County workers represented by SEIU Local 721 just voted to approve a visionary new labor agreement with Los Angeles County management. Tens of thousands of Los Angeles County workers voted by a huge margin — more than 95 percent —to approve the contract. Voting started three weeks ago and ended at 5 p.m. Feb. 12. The contract covers LA County nurses and healthcare workers, social workers, eligibility workers, parks recreation workers, public works crews, janitors and others who dedicate their lives to public service. Here’s a brief summary of what SEIU 721 LA County members achieved in this contract. Reforms to benefit children: • The county will hire 450 additional social workers by Oct. 1. • Social worker caseloads will be reduced based on the hiring plan • Training and education will be improved and social workers will be given more flexibility to do their jobs. • Rideshare expansion: The county will contribute an additional $200,000 per year in rideshare subsidies to encourage carpooling and public transportation use, making for a greener county. • Income Security: County workers, who haven’t received a raise in five years, will get a 6 percent salary increase within 12 months News Briefs/to p. 17
Tanaka Makes His Case for Sheriff “Lee Baca [and I] had our differences,” Tanaka explained. “They were largely philosophical in leadership and management. A chasm started to grow, especially in the last year-and-a-half or so. I saw the department going in a direction that I felt was getting further and further away from the mission of what we cops do for a living…. We fight crime and take the bad guys off the street. They keep the community safer. Whether it is in San Pedro, Compton, Gardena or Antelope Valley,” he said. The Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors formed the commission the previous year with a mandate “to conduct a review of the nature, depth and cause of the problem of inappropriate deputy use of force in the jails and to recommend corrective action as necessary. The report ultimately characterized the department’s command staff as an emperor with no clothes surrounded by yes-men, beset with organizational dysfunction and a culture of impunity. Tanaka said he largely agreed with the report’s assessments and recommendations, but he vehemently disagreed with the report’s characterization of him as some sort of charismatic cop beloved by the most aggressive ones. Tanaka grew up in Gardena and graduated from Gardena High School in 1976. He was a part of the Japanese American community that settled there following World War II. Tanaka recalled a period when Japanese Americans made up 25 to 30 percent of Gardena’s demographic make up. “Of course, it just slowly whittled down
Gardena Mayor and candidate for Sheriff Paul Tanaka at Feb. 11 City Council meeting. Photo by Phillip Cook.
almost with the exception of myself, at least from my age range. Everybody else that left are my friends’ parents,” he said. Tanaka graduated from Loyola Marymount University earning a bachelor of science in accounting. In his third year, Tanaka took a sociology class as an elective. “One of the class requirements was to go on a ride with a local agency,” Tanaka recalled. “I just happen to go on a ride with the sheriff department.
I just took an interest in what I saw and what they were doing to help folks, and that’s what really piqued my interest. So when I graduated on Saturday, on Monday I was enrolled in the police academy.” Tanaka served as a police officer with the El Segundo Police Department for two years before lateraling over to the sheriff’s department in 1982. Almost from the moment he became sheriff’s deputy, Tanaka’s career was a steady climb to the top, breaking barriers along the way. After holding various line assignments in patrol, custody, and serving as recruitment deputy, Tanaka was promoted to sergeant in 1987 and sent to work at Lynwood Station. That turned out to be a defining moment in Tanaka’s career, shaping his views about discipline, people management and deputy cliques. Baca promoted Tanaka to commander in 2001 and assigned him to the Office of the Undersheriff as one of the commanders of the department. In 2002, Tanaka was promoted to chief, charged with directing the Administrative Services Division. In 2005, Baca appointed Tanaka to assistant sheriff, becoming the first Asian-American ever to be named assistant sheriff in the department’s history. In 2011, he was appointed undersheriff, a post he served until he retired in August 2013. While getting promoted up the sheriff department’s chain of command, Tanaka was elected to the Gardena City Council in 1999 and served there for several years before running and winning the mayor’s seat overwhelmingly in 2005. He won his third term as mayor in 2013.
Tanaka and Community Policing
Knowing Tanaka’s biography is pretty important in understanding his views on police culture and how to address departmental dysfunction. We asked Tanaka if he was familiar with Connie Rice’s book Power Concedes Nothing Without a Demand or any of Erwin Chemerinisky’s published work on the Los Angeles Police Department. He has a copy of Rice’s book sitting on the shelf (unread) and he seemed only familiar with Chemerinisky in passing. So when we asked if he believed in community policing and whether the Sheriff’s continued on following page
Tanaka and the Report
Tanaka’s name is featured as prominently in the commission’s report, which was highly
critical of Tanaka’s leadership and his role in promoting an aggressive police culture within the department. When asked about this, Tanaka didn’t mince words about the report’s findings. “I’m implicated [in this study] because people have made it a point to point that out, suggesting that I was involved,” Tanaka said. “When you look at the study, when it all began—the period, ‘08, ‘09 and ‘10—I didn’t have responsibility for the jails,” he noted. “I had responsibility for patrol and investigations countywide. “When I was in charge of the jails for the brief period from ‘05 to ‘07, we didn’t have those problems, because we had people that were there,” Tanaka said. “And again, it goes to leadership,” According to the commission report, Baca faulted his senior staff for failing to keep him fully informed about the problems in the jail. The commission agreed without absolving him of responsibility. The commission noted the chain of command failed to address excess force problems even when the Men’s Central captain raised concerns as early as 2006 and again, when a commander of the jail raised the issue in 2009 and 2010. When he was confronted with these passages, Tanaka admitted to Random Lengths that trouble was brewing in 2006, but that he instituted changes to address the issue. “I went down there to meet with them, because that is part of our obligation when you have over 200 employees expressing vocally their dissatisfaction,” Tanaka recalled. “It turns out that the captain, the commander of the station, was going to rotate everybody out every two months to different jobs to break up the subgroups that he believed were cliques.” “Nobody can plan their life,” said Tanaka, recalling his conversation with the captain. “That is a National Labor Relations nightmare….You cannot do that to people. “‘What is the problem?’” he asked the captain. “He said a handful of problem employees. And I said, ‘You’re a captain. You don’t mass punish an entire facility of 650 deputies because you’re afraid to take on a handful of deputies. If they are the problem, get rid of them.’ But there was a genuine fear it seemed on his part, and on the part of the staff, to take on these problems to deal with these individuals.” The commission, however, saw the problems at the Men’s Central Jail in 2006 as being more about the permissiveness of excessive force and deputy cliques within the department than labor code infractions and captains failing to lead. The commission reported comments that Tanaka made in 2006 in a meeting with the
supervisors at the Men’s Central Jail following his dressing down of the captain who tried to institute shift rotations. The commission reported of the incident: Several witnesses told the commission about a meeting Tanaka held with supervisors at Men’s Central Jail (MCJ) in 2006, after he had vetoed the captain’s proposal to rotate deputies among jobs to address the problems of excessive force and deputy cliques. The witnesses reported that Tanaka called supervisors who tried to maintain discipline at jail “dinosaurs,” and told them that they needed to “coddle” the deputies and leave them alone. At one point in the meeting, he berated a supervisor for purportedly referring to the deputies as “gang members” and harshly shut down the captain’s attempt to respond to his criticisms. Tanaka maintains that he has never condoned, encouraged or tolerated the use of excessive force by sheriff’s deputies. From his interview with the commission and his comments to this paper, one gets the impression that excessive force is only perpetuated by a few bad apples and that the existence of deputy cliques—sworn officers mimicking the behaviors of gang members—is more the stuff of urban legend than department reality. The commission cited a parallel incident that occurred a year later at the Century Station in which Tanaka reportedly encouraged deputies to be aggressive. The commission said of the incident: In a memorandum to the Chief of Region III, the Captain of Century Station documented a talk that then-Assistant Sheriff Tanaka gave at the Station in June 2007, at a time when the Station was in the throes of dealing with a group of deputies who called themselves the “Regulators.” At the meeting, Tanaka reportedly instructed the deputies to “function right on the edge of the line” and “be very aggressive in their approach to dealing with gang members.” He has neither disputed nor provided an explanation for these comments. There are two issues here that should be highlighted. The first concerns Tanaka’s alleged instruction to deputies to “function right on
the edge of the line.” The Commission report suggests that Tanaka subscribes to the notion that law enforcement officers sometimes operate in a gray area and that he had never fully or consistently explained what this meant. When we asked him to explain the “gray area” comment, his reply was the following: “I’ve never preached anything, I’ve never stated, nor have I ever... nobody who has ever Tanaka/ to p. 10
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Department needed a consent decree to its change the culture, Tanaka prefaced his reply by recalling his experience the first time he served on Gardena’s city council in 1999. “I remember going on a ride [along with an officer] and a little kid…gave the officer a one finger wave,” Tanaka recalled. “And I said, is this what the community thinks about our cops? We’re changing that.’” Tanaka noted that attitudes aren’t changed over night, particularly when a city’s demographic is 85 to 95 percent people of color. “So the first thing we did, I told the [Gardena] city manager, before I became the mayor [in 2005] ‘I know my role: My role is not to tell you what to do. You’re the boss, but that chief has got to go,” referring to Chief Michael J. Skogh. “So we brought in an African American chief,” Tanaka said, referring to former Gardena Chief Rod Lyons. “And we kind of settled down the community and we settled down especially the officers. And right after that, we started to change.” He explained that they formed a citizens’ advisory panel to give local residents a voice and suggested that they ensure the inclusion of people who would be most critical of Gardena’s police department. “Don’t put a bunch of softies in there— people who will say what you want to hear,” Tanaka said. “You really need to hear what is going on because we have to have a culture change here in this organization…. Rod Lyons did a fantastic job. In fact, we did a polling...we were going to get an initiative on something, but we got a 92 percent favorable rating. Police chiefs never get that.” There are two things that can be taken away from this response: 1. Tanaka has the basic skills necessary to navigate identity politics. 2. He believes police problems are human resources problems. The Los Angeles Police Department, following the 1992 riots, later tried Tanaka’s prescription for its ingrained problems, too. Two African American chiefs later, the Rampart scandal broke and the department found itself under a federal consent decree. Tanaka takes credit for Los Angeles County’s precipitous drop in crime from 2007 to 2010, when he was in charge of sheriff patrol. But then again, nearly everyone has been experiencing falling crime rates, a phenomenon that makes one wonder if its due to better policing or something else.
February 21 - March 6, 2014
7
Fluff and Fold Should Refer to Your Laundry Knowing the difference between PR and reporting in the digital era James Preston Allen, Publisher
February 21 - March 6, 2014
Serving the Seven Cities of the Harbor Area
Today we are inundated with messages— email, text, video and infomercial solicitations. An endless supply of bloggers, social media hucksters, hired PR gurus and political mouthpieces sending out a steady rain of unfiltered or highly filtered messages to sway you this way or that. Much of this “digital rain” comes from the users, as on Facebook or Yelp, who provide unpaid content. Facebook, especially, has become such an obsessive-compulsive adopter of content that many users are either turning off their accounts or abstaining from their use of this medium. Last month a Princeton University team of researchers released a study that projects that Facebook will lose 80 percent of its peak users base in the next 3 years. Because of technological advances easing communication to masses of people online, politicians have been producing their own social media messages and e-newsletters. (They even create local publications like the Long Beach Post, all with the intent of shaping public opinion from their perspective.) It is not surprising then that there is some distrust of this media and often some argument over who it serves. It even calls into question the definition of the Fourth Estate and what role it should play in a democracy, in which its traditional role was to watch the other three estates of government—the administrative, legislative and judicial. In the past, people depended on independent news media to be the watchdog against government corruption and abuse. But as we have seen over the past 40 years, the number of independent newspapers and media companies has dwindled, leaving behind mostly consolidated media corporations, like Fox News or Rupert Murdock’s News Corp, which now form a kind of media monopoly of the news. As author Ben Bagdikian wrote in Media Monopoly, in 1983 there were 50 corporations that controlled the majority of the news in America. Now there are just five, as explained in his follow-up book The New Media Monopoly: Time Warner, Disney, Murdoch’s News Corp., Viacom (formerly CBS) and Bertelsmann of Germany. These are names we all recognize. They control the newspapers, radio, TV and films. And then, there are corporations like Live Nation Entertainment, which was formed
8
after the merger of Live Nation and Ticketmaster, which have come to control a huge number of live performance venues and ticket transactions. Corporations such as these only compete with a few other large corporations like Anschutz Entertainment Group, the controlling interest of L.A. Live and Comcast. The concentrated control of live concert venues is just one more part of the greater media monopoly occurring in North America—a monopoly that is controlling our culture. Yet, in between all of these power mergers and media consolidations, there are still a few thousand independents left and we still stand for something very important in the life of communities like this one. In fact, the majority of independent publication belong to the Association of Alternative Newsmedia, a trade group to which we belong to here at Random Lengths. Contrary to what some may think, it really does matter who owns the media and that there are a variety of perspectives from which to derive one’s own perspective. The most important role that an honest publication can play is that of a distiller of the chaos caused by the digital rain— whether it’s political blogs, advertising driven drivel or propaganda—and provide the reader with a modicum of truth. This, I believe, is our bond with you the reader and it is a dedication driven by what we believe is in the best interest of the common good. To this end, content does matter. Content that has been investigated, reported, edited—filtering out the irrelevant from the relevant—to give you what’s known to be fact as opposed to rumor, gossip or just repeating some badly written public relations piece. And believe me, there is plenty of bad public relations writing going on these days that tries to masquerades as journalism. In the end you must ask yourself the same question that I’ve had to wrestle with over the past 34 years I’ve been publisher, and that is what is the media’s role—to turn our readers into mindless consumers or into better informed citizens? The answer to that is to make better informed citizens and more knowledgeable consumers. Anyone who has read this paper more than once knows that. However, I also acknowledge the role of a vibrant and locally centered economy that supports the vitality of this community as well. I do not see any conflict between our shop local promotions and our Publisher/Executive Editor James Preston Allen james@randomlengthsnews.com
“A newspaper is not just for reporting the news as it is, but to make people mad enough to do something about it.” —Mark Twain Vol. XXXV : No. 4
Published every two weeks for the Harbor Area communities of San Pedro, RPV, Lomita, Harbor City, Wilmington, Carson and Long Beach. Distributed at over 350 locations throughout the seven cities of the Harbor Area.
Assoc. Publisher/Production Coordinator Suzanne Matsumiya info@graphictouchdesigns.com Managing Editor Terelle Jerricks editor@randomlengthsnews.com Assistant Editor Zamná Ávila zamna@randomlengthsnews.com
independent editorial positions. What I do challenge are publications on every level that sell their editorial coverage and claim it’s not prostitution or the offering of regular free column space to politicians who are quite capable of communicating on their own.
This phenomenon has becomes an unholy form of collusion between government and the press which leans towards propaganda and eventually corrupts both the pawn and the master. You do have a choice in this, especially locally. You do have a voice in this. Let me hear from you!
Bring on the Wheels
By June Burlingame Smith, CSPNC Port Committee, former PCAC co-chair The Port of Los Angeles has big plans to expand its container business, develop a new “Ports O’Call,” and create a new marine research institute at the southern end of its San Pedro Waterfront. How will goods and people access all this growth? Cars. Trucks. Busses. The electric car line. Some faster bus service to Union Station downtown. But NO light rail or Silver Bus Service down the 110 corridor to the port area (it ends at Artesia). Why not? Because the political will to see that adequate public transportation to serve one of the economic giants of the city and state has not been strong enough. It’s time to change that. And the muscle to see that this comes about rests with the local Neighborhood Councils, our Councilman Joe Buscaino and his close buddy, Mayor Eric Garcetti. The time is right. Future economic development for the port and the downtown sections of Wilmington and San Pedro will further strain the already overburdened car and truck patterns to those
Columnists/Reporters Lyn Jensen Carson B. Noel Barr Music Dude John Farrell Curtain Call Lori Lyna Hirsch-Stokoe Food Writer Andrea Serna Arts Writer Malina Paris Culture Writer Calendar 14days@randomlengthsnews.com Photographers Terelle Jerricks, Betty Guevara, Slobodan Dimitrov, Diana Lejins Contributors Greggory Moore, Danny Simon, June Burlingame Smith
Cartoonists Ann Cleaves, Andy Singer, Matt Wuerker Advertising Production Mathew Highland, Suzanne Matsumiya Advertising Representative Mathew Highland reads@randomlengthsnews.com adv@randomlengthsnews.com Editorial Intern Joseph Baroud Display advertising (310) 519-1442 Classifieds (310) 519-1016 www.randomlengthsnews.com
communities. Increased rail patterns have been proposed, but there are court challenges to those, and the pricing for rail has not negated the need for more trucks. There are no plans for increased public transport that will adequately serve the wished for business development. The port has just started altering the egresses and ingresses to the 110 and 47 freeways to expedite truck traffic, or at least diminish the confusion now caused by lane crossing, but it does nothing to alleviate the increased volume of traffic that all the new future developments already approved or in the planning stages. The renovations to the 110 Freeway do not include addressing the very dangerous curve that trucks have to navigate at the C Street exit into Wilmington. And, to fully address the port’s truck and passenger car traffic problems, this exit, too, must be redesigned. If enough truck traffic is taken off the freeway before Harbor Boulevard, the path to getting to a new Ports O’Call will be smoother, but it raises the question of how much more truck traffic will continued on following page Random Lengths News editorial office is located at 1300 S. Pacific Ave., San Pedro, CA 90731, (310) 519-1016. Address correspondence regarding news items and news tips only to Random Lengths News, P.O. Box 731, San Pedro, CA 90733-0731, or email to editor @randomlengthsnews.com. Send Letters to the Editor or requests for subscription information to james @ randomlengthsnews.com. To be considered for publication, all Letters to the Editor should be typewritten, must be signed, with address and phone number included (these will not be published, but for verification only) and be kept to about 250 words. To submit advertising copy email adv@randomelengthsnews.com or reads@ randomlengthsnews.com. Extra copies and back issues are available by mail for $3 per copy while supplies last. Subscriptions are available for $35 per year for 27 issues. Random Lengths News presents issues from an alternative perspective. We welcome articles and opinions from all people in the Harbor Area. While we may not agree with the opinions of contributing writers, we respect and support their 1st Amendment right to express those opinions. Random Lengths News is a member of Standard Rates and Data Reporting Services and the Association of Alternative Newsweeklies. (ISN #0891-6627). All contents Copyright 2014 Random Lengths News. All rights reserved.
RANDOMLetters Palos Verdes Body Shop
Coffee and Conversation
Education in California is about to experience big changes. California is one of the 45 states that have adopted what are known as common core standards. The idea of the new standards is to bring some consistency to education from state to state and to better prepare students for work they’ll be expected to do in college and in their jobs. What are the benefits of the Common Core? What are the challenges in the implementation? Will it enable students to more successfully compete in our global economy? To make you a Common Core expert the local League of Women Voters invites you to a free “Coffee and Conversation” 10 a.m. to 12 p.m. Feb. 8, at the Peninsula Central Library in Rolling Hills Estates to meet those on the front line. The panel includes the Superintendent of the Palos Verdes Unified School District (PVUSD) Walker Williams; PVUSD Director, Curriculum and Instruction (including Common Core), Joan Romano; experienced Common Core teachers from the Los Angeles Unified School District Janet Reed, Cathy Skubik and Julieanne Harmatz, two of whom have received Common
from previous page
Access
Did you know that your hardearned money could be subsidizing your doctor’s or lawyer’s car insurance? Or that just because you didn’t go to Harvard or Yale you might be paying higher premiums? You’d never know, in fact, because the surcharge isn’t disclosed on your premium bill. That’s why I joined with major consumer and citizen organizations in California earlier this week to petition Dave Jones, California’s Insurance Commissioner, to stop insurance companies from basing insurance premiums on the kind of job you have, or your schooling. When I wrote Prop 103 in 1988, California insurance companies were running roughshod over consumers. Rates were set arbitrarily and insurance companies were raking in the profits. But voters put an end to unfair discrimination and enacted a law that required companies to base rates primarily on your driving safety record. Other authorized factors have to relate to the risk of a car accident. Your occupation and education level are unlawful factors, yet the Department of Insurance has permitted some companies to go ahead. Twenty-five years after Prop. 103 consumers have saved $102 billion, yet still the battle continues. I know everybody says the economy is getting better but I don’t agree— this is no time to start raising auto insurance premiums on the people who can least afford it. Harvey Rosenfield Boston, Mass.
However, this nascent NC group has not established a clear purpose or organizational structure that would allow it to work with the port, the mayor and the councilman to truly have a “voice” in what happens in the Harbor Area. All of the Harbor Area Neighborhood Councils need to be involved, and they should hold a serious conversation with the real movers and shakers in the port, city council and mayor’s offices. There should be one topic of conversation to begin with: increased public transportation to the Harbor Area. The approved Environmental Impact Report for the Ports O’Call redevelopment includes parking structures along the bluffs under Harbor Boulevard, which will allow better use of the flat land adjacent to the waterfront. These structures must be built, but what also needs to be done is making sure that the traffic flow to these structures is possible and smooth. Without the political and logistical support from all entities working together, we citizens will be left with a bifurcated attempt to address a transportation issue that is central to all our success and happiness.
The Republican Party has officially targeted my race. In fact, just a few days ago the Republican Party opened up their campaign headquarters right in the heart of Long Beach. Their objective: Take back what we worked so hard to get in 2012. This is now a serious race, and I will need to double my efforts over the coming months to ensure that my campaign has everything it needs to stay strong. This is where you come in.
It was a distinct honor to have your help in 2012, whether it was contributing to my campaign or volunteering at events (or both!). Without your help, I would not have been given the opportunity to work for you in Congress—defending our environment, fighting for fair wages for all workers, supporting comprehensive immigration reform, and working to take special interest money out of politics. Now is the opportunity to continue building upon our work the past year. There is still so much to do.
There are just about 100 days until the Primary Election. The Republican Party is gearing up for a fight on June 3rd, and we must be able to fight back. Rep. Alan Lowenthal Long Beach Send Letters to the Editor to james @ randomlengthsnews.com or addressed to 1300 S. Pacific Ave., San Pedro, CA 90731.. To be considered for publication, all Letters to the Editor should be typewritten, must be signed, with address and phone number included (these will not be published, but for verification only) and be kept to about 250 words.
February 21 - March 6, 2014
go through Wilmington instead. There are no easy solutions. Currently, any time there is a highly successful waterfront event, and even on regular cruise ship days like Friday afternoons, the Harbor Freeway gets backed up to the refinery in Wilmington, and sometimes even the entire Vincent Thomas Bridge is snarled. There are no plans to include an exit to Pacific Avenue in San Pedro plan to get trucks out of the port in better time does not address the problem of getting traffic into the port in better time. This is a serious omission. Recently, several Neighborhood Council (NC) presidents have been formulating plans for a new local NC organization to interface with the port on issues deemed relevant to the neighborhoods. Since the destruction of Port Community Advisory Committee this past May, there has been no overall vehicle for the common folk affected by the port’s business to come together to discuss impacts and potential benefits from the port’s business.
You are subsidizing wealthy peoples’ car insurance
Targeted by GOP
The Local Publication You Actually Read
Response to M. Alexander’s Letter to the Editor dated Jan 24-Feb. 6, 2014 edition, THE PALOS BODY SHOP. It’s been said that it’s impossible to fight city hall, and sadly, this stands true with the Los Angeles City Council District 15. A major building problem regarding the district’s archaic business zoning laws has been brought to the council’s attention, but those who have complained have been shoved under the bus, by the council, referring to these laws as “Being grandfathered in” when in fact, they are doing nothing more than protecting business owners who are destroying the peace and quiet that could be had in some of District 15’s neighborhoods. For instance, in response to M. Alexander’s Letter to the Editor, Jan 24 – Feb. 6 edition, the writer is exactly correct. The Palos Verdes Auto Body Shop on the corner of 11th & Palos Verdes streets (1106 S. Palos Verdes Street) has a paint bay, but when they bring in too much work, they do much of their paint spraying out in the open air, forcing their neighbors to breathe in toxic lacquer based sprays that are spewed into our air, not to mention the extremely loud noises they make with their grinding and sanding—sanding and grinding— grinding and sanding…Sometimes this noise pollution goes on for hours leaving close neighbors with headaches and sanding dust all over their properties. Listening to one’s own television is an impossibility. There is no consideration by the City Council that the apartment building right next door to them has been designated for disabled Americans, many with lung ailments such as Severe Asthma, COPD and Emphysema. The LAPD has been
called on numerous occasions and they say they can’t do anything but they advise us to contact the Councilman’s office and urge them to have the offending property rezoned. The Bureau of Automotive Repairs had to suggest to the Body Shop not to leave their dumpster against the fence opposite their neighbor’s windows, causing much of their trash to be carelessly tossed over the fence onto the neighbor’s balconies. M.E.Gray San Pedro
Core training through Teacher’s College, at Columbia University in New York. During the panel discussion, we invite your insights and questions. Mitch Harmatz San Pedro
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Tanaka
February 21 - March 6, 2014
Serving the Seven Cities of the Harbor Area
from p. 7
10
worked with me will ever tell you it was ok to work in a gray area as it’s generally thought of in a nebulous area on the outside of the line of the gray. “This is what I used to tell deputies, and I gave this speech hundreds of times, ‘This is the line, it’s the line of the law, it’s the line of policy, it’s the line of whatever you see on this side of the hand... this is the line you learn when you were just 5-years-old. Don’t cross the line. You can work anywhere within this area because the law says you can and society says it’s ok so lets call it...and I made a mistake and I even told them that. I used the wrong color. This is black, this is white, because that’s our job There is no in between. Then there’s this working area as long as.... In some places I called it the ‘green area.’” The commission seemed to frown upon the fact that Tanaka only tried to clarify his remarks just before his commission testimony. For his part, Tanaka noted that this issue was not brought up until five years after he gave the speech, though it was a speech he says he has given hundreds of times. The other issue that should be highlighted is that of deputy cliques and Tanaka’s lax attitude towards them. That may be due to his own life experiences as a member of the Lynwood Station Vikings in the late 1980s. He described the Vikings as being little more than a station moniker that is used as a form of friendly station identity and bonding; a moniker used for when they have their departmental softball tournaments and charity events. This is what he said to Random Lengths: First of all, there’s no clique, OK. It was our station moniker. If you find an old picture of the sheriff’s in the archives, there’s a picture of Sheriff Block and all of us there in either our baseball or running uniform with a banner on the wall that said Lynwood Vikings. Firestone had Pirates, Norwalk had Wolverines. We had an intramural teams that played softball, it was mostly involved with the Baker[sfield] to Vegas relay. At some point in the ‘90s or ‘80s there was a case involving Darren Thomas, who sued the department, and in front of an African American judge, Terry Patter, had all of these defendants and someone brought up a white supremacist group. One judge made that statement and the rest is history. Do you know who the lead defendant was in that case? A female African American deputy sheriff. She is not a white supremacist and I was not a party to that case. I worked at that station and I also worked at other stations that had other affiliations. Don’t you think that if the Vikings symbol was so bad, do you think we would have Vikings charities or the Minnesota Vikings? To put Tanaka’s comments into context, the Lynwood Sheriffs station gained notoriety after having a class action civil lawsuit filed against it in 1991. Seventy-five Lynwood residents joined the suit testifying to the existence of a white supremacist cell operating with official knowledge out of the Lynwood sheriff’s station, as well as patterns of deputy shootings, torture, beatings and harassment. The lawsuit produced numerous accounts of bullying-to-hazing-type pranks. In one account, deputies shot a dog and tied it under their commanders’ car; in another account deputies smeared feces on a supervisor’s engine. There
Sheriff Lee Baca’s retirement in January created space for newcomers to change the culture at the department. File photo.
was the map of Lynwood in the shape of Africa, the racist cartoons of black men, the mock “ticket to Africa” on the wall. U.S. District Judge Terry Hatter, who presided over the case, concluded that many deputies were engaged in racially motivated hostility against blacks and Latinos. In 1996, the department was ordered to pay $7.5 million to 75 alleged victims of excessive force in the area the Lynwood station policed and spend $1.5 million for mandatory training.
The Kolts Report
The Kolts report, a commission headed by Superior Court Judge James G. Kolts, charged with investigating the sheriff’s department in 1991, never found conclusive evidence that the Vikings were a white supremacist cell within the Lynwood sheriffs station. However, it found that there was a core of deputies that closely identified with the Vikings station moniker, and that these deputies engaged in the behaviors reported in the Thomas v. County of Los Angeles Sheriffs Department class-action lawsuit. Tanaka became a tattooed member of the Vikings after he was promoted to sergeant and assigned to the Lynwood station in 1987—a year before he was named in a wrongful-death suit stemming from the shooting of a young Korean man. The department eventually settled for close to $1 million. In a 1999 Los Angeles Times exposé on sheriff department cliques, “The Secret Society Among Lawmen,” a sheriff’s department spokesman was quoted as saying Tanaka had the tattoo removed. “Paul doesn’t have anything to say about [the tattoo],” Sheriff’s Department spokesman Capt. Doyle Campbell said. “It is perceived by some in a way that was never intended. He’s having it removed. He wants it behind him.” When Random Lengths asked about the tattoo, Tanaka admitted that he still had it. “There’s differing philosophies, and I thought about it...you know when I got it…you know it is not a symbol that stands for something bad and certainly when I got it. It was no secret. It was just our station moniker. And over time if you remove it, what do people say, ‘ah...it was because it was bad.’” With all of his baggage, whether from his past or these current investigations—the latest being the cloud over his head regarding his role in the FBI informant Anthony Brown controversy— people aren’t asking if he’s the answer to the sheriff’s department’s problems. Observers are asking why is he running for the seat at all?
Long Beach band Panther Heart finished its Panther Heart Defeats the Dire Wolf, part 2 this past January. The sculpture at center was created by the band and some of their fans.
By: Greggory Moore, Long Beach Columnist Panther Heart hasn’t been much like other bands in Long Beach. First there’s the size of their lineup and the numerous instruments in play. Then there are the ethereal, wordless, sprawling sound tapestries and the concepts behind them. Add in the fact that they create at such a deliberate pace that they’ve been at work for years on
a project they’re only halfway through, rarely playing live more than a couple of times per year, and Panther Heart is a bit of an musical outlier. It’s not a modus operandi that suits everyone, and it’s partly responsible for the band’s major lineup change. Of the nine members who saw through the multiyear completion of Parts 1 and 2 of the four-part Panther Heart Defeats the Dire Wolf, only drummer Ryan Serrano and founder/multi-instrumentalist Christopher Lyles remain.
And with six new members in the fold, the time is ripe for putting Dire Wolf on the back burner and embarking on a new endeavor. But first, a bit of history. Panther Heart was born out of a 2008 solo show featuring Lyles on looped lines of harp and accordion, his freeform music complemented by his paintings and projections. Soon friends in the Long Beach music scene took enough of an interest to come aboard, evolving Panther Heart’s music into a more elaborate—though still pretty much whisper-quiet—sound. That changed somewhat in early 2011, when the
ACE: Arts • Cuisine • Entertainment ACE • Art, Cuisine, & Entertainment
Music for Meditating on Human Interconnectedness
Panther Heart Continued on page 16.
February 21 – March 6, 2014 February 21 – March 6, 2014
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Entertainment February 21
Michael Session Sextet The Michael Session Sextet will perform, at 8 p.m. Feb. 21, at Alvas Showroom in San Pedro. Details: (800) 403-3447; www.alvasshowroom. com Venue: Alvas Showroom Location: 1417 W. 8th St., San Pedro War Tribute Band The War Tribute Band will be playing at Godmother’s Saloon from 9 to 10 p.m., Feb. 21. No Admission. Details: (310) 833-1589; www.godmotherssaloon. com Venue: Godmother’s Saloon Location: 302 W. 7th St., San Pedro
A Slice of Pedro, New York Style By Lori Lynn Hirsch Stokoe, Food Writer and Photographer
H
February 22
Annual Barbershop Harmony Show: The Not so Great Gatsby The South Bay Coastliners is hosting its Annual Barbershop Harmony Show at 2 and 8 p.m., Feb. 22 and at 2 p.m., Feb. 23. Come to the show to enjoy an evening of harmony and fund in this annual barbershop show. Admission is $25. Details: www.coastliners.org Venue: James Armstrong Theatre Location: 3330 Civic Center Dr., Torrance Rendition Rendition will be playing at the Godmother’s Saloon from 9 to 10 p.m., Feb. 22. Details: (310) 833-1589; www.godmotherssaloon. com Venue: Godmother’s Saloon Location: 302 W. 7th St., San Pedro Joellen Lapidus and the Ballona Gypsies Joellen Lapidus and the Ballona Gypsies are performing at Crafted, Port of Los Angeles from 2 to 5:30 p.m., Feb. 22. Details: (310) 732-1270; www.craftedportla.com Venue: Crafted, Warehouse 10 Location: 112 E. 22nd St., San Pedro
Independent And Free.
Richard Sears, Laura Davey Pianists Richard Sears and Laura Davey will perform, at 8 p.m. Feb. 22, at Alvas Showroom in San Pedro. Details: (800) 403-3447; www.alvasshowroom. com Venue: Alvas Showroom Location: 1417 W. 8th St., San Pedro Bob Malone Los Angeles-based pianoman Bob Malone tours with rock legend John Fogerty, and continues a successful solo career. His sound is a one-of-akind hybrid of rock and New Orleans rhythm and blues, delivered with high-energy vocals and piano. Bob returns to the Annex with full band. Starts at 8 p.m. General admission is $20 in advance and $25 at the door. Details: www.grandvision.org Venue: Grand Annex Location: 434 W. 6th St., San Pedro Calendar continued on page 14.
February 21 – March 6, 2014
Philie B’s proprietor, Philie Buscemi.
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Philie B’s Sicilian Rice Ball Special
e could have opened his New York Style pizzeria anywhere, but he chose 6th Street in Downtown San Pedro. Philie Buscemi (pronounced boo-SHEM-ee) believes in this town. Born and raised in San Pedro, a graduate of San Pedro High School, Philie is proud and honored to invest in our downtown. He assures us that the money he makes in San Pedro will be reinvested here, in a pay-it-forward fashion. Where other restaurateurs and businesses are supportive of each other, he’s excited about the future of 5th, 6th, and 7th streets. He believes he opened Philie B’s at the right time and sees his restaurant becoming a staple. And he envisions more Philie B’s locations in the future. Long hours of operation, fast free delivery (on orders more than $15) and a dedicated enthusiastic staff show Buscemi’s commitment to the community. Locals can get a fabulous slice of New York Style pizza — quick and easy, then walk back to work. Union workers and longshoremen find Philie B’s hours fit their schedules and lunch breaks. Late-night revelers can stop in for a killer meatball sub after last call. It’s a place with a real neighborhood-y feel. And that’s not by accident, Buscemi wanted his eatery to feel like Old Brooklyn. But imagine his surprise to find a gorgeous old brick wall under the building’s plaster only after he began construction. Days of scraping finally revealed the red brick, which gives that vintage New York ambience. An open kitchen was important so that customers can see the food is made fresh, they can experience the pizza guy shaping the dough and putting love into each pie. The pizza is authentic New York-style, the dough is neither spongy nor bread-like — the crust is thin and cooked to perfection. It is essential that the core ingredients: dough, cheese and sauce be high quality. Buscemi’s favorite is the “White Pizza,” made with smooth ricotta, soft mozzarella and sharp Philie B’s continued on page 16.
San Pedro’s Original ArtWalk— Fine Dining • Live Music Special Performances • Food Trucks! Studio Gallery 345
“FOR THE LOVE OF MARDI GRAS” FEBRUARY-MARCH 2014. Pat Woolley and Gloria D Lee present artwork reflecting the love of all things ‘Mardi Gras’. works on canvas and paper; books and small works. Open 6-9 pm on 1st Thursday and by appointment: for more information call 310.545.0832 or 310.374.8055 • 345 W. 7th Street San Pedro
The Loft Gallery
L.A. Assemblage Group Loft Artists: Candice Gawne, Carol Hungerford, Sam Arno, Daniel Porras, Murial Olguin, Jan Govaerts, Anne Marie Rawlinson, & Nancy Towne Schultz. • Open First Thursday 6–9 p.m. Open Saturdays & Sundays 2-5 p.m. • 401 S. Mesa St. • 310.831.5757
Michael Stearns Studio 347
Transvagrant and Warschaw Gallery
ex-cerpt: remains through March 9 Craig Antrim and Ron Linden Selections from SPACE+Substance curated by Kathy Zimmerer for the University Art Gallery, California State University, Dominguez Hills, CA. This exhibition sponsored in part by the San Pedro Arts, Culture and Entertainment District and the San Pedro Chamber of Commerce. (310) 600-4873 • 600 S. Pacific Ave., San Pedro
Advertise Here for As Low As
$35
per Month!
(310) 519-1442
Otto Tratoria coming soon
ACE: Arts • Cuisine • Entertainment
Love and Other Considerations Michael Stearns Gallery 347 presents a juried exhibition “Love and Other Considerations”. Over 30 artists from the Harbor area display paintings, sculpture and photography in this reflection on love and loss. After nearly 12 years working in his Long Beach studio and operating Gallery 33 on Broadway, Stearns brings this annual exhibition to San Pedro. Michael Stearns Studio 347 is located at 347 W. 7th St., San Pedro. For further information please visit www.michaelstearnsstudio.com or call 562.400.0544.
February 21 – March 6, 2014
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Calendar from page 12.
February 23
3-ish 3-ish will release its CD, at 4 p.m. Feb. 23, at Alvas. Details: (800) 403-3447; www.alvasshowroom. com Venue: Alvas Showroom Location: 1417 W. 8th St., San Pedro
February 28
February 21 – March 6, 2014
Independent And Free.
Janet Klein, Her Parlor Boys Experience an amazing night of obscure, naughty and lovely tunes from the 1910s, ‘20s and ‘30s. Janet Klein and her band, The Parlor Boys, treat you to spirited tunes. Starts at 8 p.m. Tickets are $20 in advance and $25 at the door. Details: www.grandvision.org Venue: Grand Annex Location: 434 W. 6th St., San Pedro Calendar continued on page 15.
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Which Way Now for the LB Arts Council? By Andrea Serna, Arts and Culture Writer
F
or John Glaza, executive director of the Long Beach Arts Council, the last day on the job was Feb. 14. In 1976 Long Beach established the Arts Council with the goal to respond to the needs of the growing local arts community and to develop cultural resources. Throughout the years, the Arts Council has experienced many challenges, primarily associated with the uncertain state of the economy and unreliable sources of funding. They have also faced criticism from local artists for neglecting to focus on their stated mission. Glaza, a consultant in organizational development and strategic planning, was hired two-and-a-half years ago as interim director to assist the Arts Council following the resignation of Craig Watson. After a failed yearlong search to find a permanent replacement for Watson, Glaza agreed to take on the position of executive director. Today, the Arts Council is in a much better fiscal position than when he arrived. Watson left the Arts Council of Long Beach following the reduction of city funding from the annual budget, the loss of funding from the California Redevelopment Agency. Oh, and there was that recession.
Under Watson, the arts council staffing was cut back to a skeleton crew. Mayor Bob Foster slashed arts funding, not only for the Arts Council, but also for the Long Beach Museum of Art, with whom he had a very public feud. At dispute was a $400,000 bond that Foster claimed the museum owed to the city for the new building on the museum property. Foster threatened to withhold all funding to the city-owned museum. The daunting test for Glaza has been to find a way to get the organization back on its feet. Glaza’s many strengths were incorporated in rebuilding a stream of funding for the organization. It appears that Glaza accomplished what others before him could not, which is to cut the arts council’s dependence on Long Beach. Traditionally the Arts Council received more than half of their funds from the city. As funds increase from outside sources, reliance on the city has diminished. Key accomplishments were grants from the California Community Foundation and the Parsons Foundation. These two grants qualified the organization for $150,000 in matching funds from the National Endowment for the Arts. Their endowment grant was the largest prize awarded in Southern California this past year. Much of the
Long BEach Arts Council outgoing Executive Director John Glaza. File photo.
money is earmarked for a pet project titled “A LOT.” A LOT is as much a community booster project as it is an artist’s project. Empty lots around the city are transformed temporarily into performance sites for dance, music and art. Though they boast three fine museums, a symphony and many theaters, street art and pop up galleries have dominated the city for too long. Much of that problem is a throwback to the Redevelopment Agency funding of empty store fronts. For several years, each time an art exhibition appeared in a store window it signaled the loss of another business. Marco Schindlemann, the board president for the Arts Council, states his optimism for the future of the organization. “We are in the transformative stage,” Schindlemann said. “We are finishing up a new strategic plan. We really want to facilitate for artists to advocate as a promoter for artists and arts communities within Long Beach. Our goal is to create Long Beach as a destination for the arts. “ Schindelmann said that the council is focusing on board development in order to make this happen. “I had one-on-one interviews with each of the board members to see how they felt they could help move forward with this dynamic objective,” he said. “We are reassessing everything. Also, I found that at board meetings [that] the one thing we did not talk about was art.” Schindlemann feels it is key for the board to advocate the interest of artists and represent the interests of different art forms. And, he has instituted a monthly President’s Report on Art. “We are not interested in being in competition with artists or other organizations,” he said. “There was a perception that the council was not making their presence known as an advocate of the arts.” Former Board President Kamrin Asadi praised Glaza. “When John came in, financially, the organization was not in good shape,” Asadi said. “Since John came the council is in much better shape. The Arts Council has established an endowment from our own investment. Part of that investment creates money that can go back into the micro grant program.” The micro grant program is a bright spot in the Arts Council. In the past year about 30 grants — $1,000 to $1,500 — were awarded to artists and arts programs throughout the city. Because of this investment, the funds are not tied to traditional grant cycles. This has stabilized their cash flow LB Arts Council continued on page 15.
Continued from page 1.
POLA Students Bring Hope for the Homeless
Riley Beres, photo courtesy of the Beres family.
Monica, a peer counselor at a homeless shelter speaks to feeling “at home” on the streets. “The rats don’t discriminate against you,” she
Community/Family February 21
LGBT Center Movie Night The Long Beach Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Center will be hosting movie night at 7 p.m. Feb. 21. Those attending may bring their own movie and the feature will be chosen by the audience. The suggested donation is $5, but nobody is turned away. Refreshments will be included. Details: (310) 328-6550; www.southbaycenter.org Venue: South Bay Center Location: 16610 Crenshaw Blvd., Torrance
February 22
South Bay Quilters Guild 2014 Quilt Show: Wish Upon a Star The South Bay Quilters present the South Bay Quilters Guild 2014 from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., Feb. 22 and from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., Feb. 23. View more than 200 member quilts and garments on display in the Quilt Gallery and browse through many quilting supplies from your favorite vendors. A miniature quilt Continued from page 14.
LB Arts Council and enables the awards to be granted throughout the year. “The organization right now is going through a makeover,” Asadi said. “There is a strategic plan drafted, which is the result of months of research and community meetings. Within that strategic plan are major shifts for the organizations role in the next four or five years.” Asadi also stated that marketing partnerships are being sought with other arts organizations within the city. The objective is to cut the reliance on unpredictable funding from the city. “Creative economies are the future,” he said. “Any healthy city wants to have arts and culture embedded within their city. We have symphony, we have opera and we have the entire infrastructure. Unfortunately, this argument has not been accepted by our friends in city hall.” Asadi and many others in the arts community are eagerly looking forward to the municipal elections which will change the face of the city; a new mayor and five new city council seats to Long Beach. The hopes are for a receptive city government with an appreciation for the arts. In the meantime, John Glaza has left the Arts Council with a few more dollars in their bank account. Whoever replaces Glaza will lead a more stable organization that will hopefully lead Long Beach beyond its reputation as a platform for emerging artists and towards the destination for arts it has always hoped to become.
February 22
South Bay Comedy Jam Hang out with Memphis Will and friends at the South Bay Pavilion every second and fourth Saturday. Admission is free, starting at 5 p.m. Tips and proceeds will benefit Last Time Entertainment Details: (818) 392-9565 Venue: South Bay Pavillion Location: 20700 Avalon Blvd., Carson Alumni Baseball Game A San Pedro High School alumni baseball game is scheduled for 11 a.m. Feb. 22, at the SPHS baseball field. Details: (760) 866-1949 Venue: SPHS Location: 1001 W. 15th St., San Pedro
February 26
15th Annual Dance Collaboration Effort The Torrance Unified School District is hosting its 15th Annual Dance Collaboration Effort at 7 p.m., Feb. 26 and 7 p.m., Feb. 27. Watch the students of the TUSD participate in dance programs and congregate for this annual dance event. Ticket prices are yet to be determined. Details: www.torrancearts.org Venue: James Armstrong Theatre Location: 3330 Civic Center Dr., Torrance
March 2
Muller House Museum’s First Sunday Series The San Pedro Historical Society presents Mona Dallas Reddick as part of their First Sunday Speaker Series. The topic of the talk is titled, “The Great Pt. Fermin Slump: Early Accounts of Sunken City.” Admission is free. The talk starts is from 1:30 to 2:30 p.m. Tours of the house will be given at 3p.m. Details: sanpedrobayhistoricalsociety.org or email: sanpedrohistory@gmail.com. Venue: Muller House Location: 1542 S. Beacon St., San Pedro
Theater/Film February 20
Handel’s Opera Acis and GalaTea Musica Angelica presents Handel’s Opera Acis and GalaTea at 7:30 p.m., Feb. 20. This is a classic story about love, jealousy, rage and power. Ticket price ranges between $35 and $75. Check website for different showtimes. Details: www.musicaangelica.org Venue: Theatre Center Location: 300 E. Ocean Blvd., Long Beach Hope for Our Own: An LA Story Hope for Our Own: An LA Story, documenting homelessness in the region, will be showing at 6 p.m., Feb. 20. The documentary portrays the city’s homeless and their daily struggle. This is a free event, but attendees are asked to bring canned food, socks, toiletries and anything that could be donated for the cause. Details: (310) 548-2493; www.grandvision.org Venue: Warner Grand Theatre Location: 478 W. 6th St., San Pedro
February 21
Golden Like Girls A theater production team books, “The Golden Girls” for a reunion show, which sold out only to realize that three of the four original members are dead. What to do? what to do? Eureka! We will do the roles ourselves and nobody will be the wiser, right? Well, you be the judge and watch the hilarious antics these Golden Guys get themselves into. Get ready for The Golden Like Girls to unravel on stage. Runs through Feb. 23, Fridays and Saturdays at 8 p.m. Sundays at 2 p.m. Details: (310) 773-4964, www. thesanpedrotheatreclub.com Venue: San Pedro Theatre Club Location: 624 S. Pacific Ave., San Pedro What a Drag What a Drag will be performed at the Long Beach Playhouse at 8 p.m., Feb. 21 and 22. This follows Calendar continued on page 16.
February 21 – March 6, 2014
Director of Family Services at Harbor Interfaith Services, Shari Weaver, screen capture from Hope of Our Own: LA Story.
March 1
Charmaine Clamor Charmaine Clamor gained recognition as the Queen of Jazzipino, blending jazz and Filipino traditional music. Her range has grown to include a stunning mix of jazz standards, with touches of blues and gospel. Clamor will be performing selections from her recently released album. General admission $20 in advance and $25 at the door, Cabaret table seat is $25 in advance (subject to availability). Cafe Deck VIP $30 advance bar ticket with drink service (limited to 15 people). Details: www.grandvision.org Venue: Grand Annex Location: 434 W. 6th St., San Pedro
auction will take place at 1 p.m., Feb. 23 and an opportunity quilt will be raffled off at 4 p.m. Admission is $8 and no charge for children younger than 10. Details: (310) 781-7171; www.southbayquiltersguild. org Venue: Torrance Cultural Arts Center Location: 3330 Civic Center Dr., Torrance
ACE: Arts • Cuisine • Entertainment
The project started out with a visit to a local homeless shelter to deliver canned goods. Sixteen year-old directors Riley Beres and Jimmy Deshler agreed homelessness was a topic that needed to be illuminated. “Our hope right now is to get it into film festivals so it can be seen.” Beres said. “Our ultimate goal is to have it screened in other schools so it can become an education piece for our generation” Beres believes that many people are simply uneducated about the topic of homelessness. Her film goes a long way towards enlightening us on the topic. Although she and Deshler live in San Pedro, they took it on themselves to visit homeless shelters throughout Los Angeles. Faceto-face interviews conducted with people, many of whom spent years on the streets, reveal the many causes of homelessness. The well-crafted film opens with a street poet cautioning us to be careful of what we plan for our lives, because plans can go awry. Most of those interviewed on the street lived productive lives, which fell apart following a divorce, job loss or other life crises that prevented them from maintaining a home of their own.
said. “Eventually the abnormal becomes very normal…. I pitched a tent on 5th and Crocker and became very comfortable on the street.” A few of the individuals interviewed in the film will be familiar faces to San Pedrans. People we pass each day, standing in front of the 7-11 asking for a handout. Others interviewed have stories that almost any of us can relate to. Brigette tells us how she ended up in deep depression following the sudden death of her son in a car accident. Her depression led to her inability to work. “I had a meltdown and I ended up losing everything,” she said. She eventually spent five years living on the streets. “Skid Row is not downtown LA,” she explained. “It is wherever you lay your head for that moment. That is Skid Row.” Beres says she learned a lot from the people she interviewed. “I learned that there is so much more to life than we believe it to be,” Beres said. “It may take some self-evaluation, but there is always hope. If you just stick in there and you believe in yourself, you can get yourself out of any kind of situation.” “The most common story is economic turmoil, and not knowing how to get out of it…. Losing a job or missing a payment on your house, any kind of economic loss is the most common theme.” Families and children are the highest growing number of homeless on the streets. Some shelters, such as Harbor Interfaith Center in San Pedro have daycare centers so the parents can be free to seek employment. According to the Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority, there are 60,000 people living on the streets in Los Angeles County. Of that number, one-fifth have been homeless for more than a year. Many are veterans and runaways. Hope for Our Own isn’t Beres first go at directing and producing film. A budding actress, comedian and model, Beres has directed and produced three web series episodes and a short film. As homelessness affected members of her own family, she created this documentary. She became even more compassionate and focused on this complex subject while visiting Hope of the Valley Rescue Mission as an honorary youth board member of Children in Film. Jimmy Deshler is an actor, best known for his role as “Rafe” on ABC’s General Hospital and has made other co- and guest-star appearances on Criminal Minds and Disney XD’s Kickin’ It. He makes his directing debut with Hope For Our Own. Beres and Deshler were assisted by editor Nik Peter. Peter states he always wanted to help with the problem of homelessness and saw this as an opportunity to make a difference . Details: http://hopeforourown.wix.com/ hopeforourownla Venue: Warner Grand Theatre Location: 478 W. 6th St., San Pedro
Calendar from page 14.
15
Calendar from page 15. the story of Rose, a young drag queen, on a neverending journey to find her identity. This story challenges the audience to think about their own lives and who they surround themselves with. Tickets start at $12. Details: (562) 494-1014; www.lbplayhouse.org Venue: Long Beach Playhouse Location: 5021 E. Anaheim St., Long Beach The Music Man Musical Theatre West presents The Music Man at 8 p.m., Feb. 21 and throughout the month. The story is about a con man who deceives a boys’ band by promising to counteract the possibility of a pool table coming to River City. His persuasive pattern fools everybody, except two local librarians. Tickets begin at $17 and range up to $92. Check website for different showtimes. Details: (562) 856-1999 ext. 4; www.musical.org Venue: Musical Theatre West Location: 4350 E. 7th St., Long Beach The Missing Picture The Art Theatre presents The Missing Picture at 7 p.m., Feb. 21. The director, Rithy Panh, uses clay figures, archival footage and his narration to recreate the atrocities of Cambodia’s Khmer Rouge committed between 1975 and 1979. Admission is $11 for adults and $8 for children and seniors. Check website for other showtimes. Details: (562) 438-3723; www.arttheatrelongbeach. com Venue: Art Theatre Location: 2025 E. 4th St., Long Beach
March 1
Much Ado About Nothing Much Ado About Nothing will be showing at the Long Beach Playhouse at 8 p.m., March 1. The story follows two couples, one’s disdain for love and one whose rendered speechless by theirs. Two princes will attempt to persuade the shattered love birds of their longing for each other while dissuading the other couple of theirs. Admission begins at $12. Details: (562) 494-1014; www.lbplayhouse.org Venue: Long Beach Playhouse Location: 5021 E. Anaheim St., Long Beach
Art
Independent And Free.
February 23
Bridging Dreams Southbay Contemporary presents Bridging Dreams: Art by People with Disabilities, through Feb. 23. The exhibit features paintings, sculpture and installations from First St. Gallery in Claremont, Harbor View House in San Pedro and A Window Between Worlds in Venice. Details: (310) 4 2 9 - 0 97 3 ; www. southbaycontemporary.com Venue: Southbay Contemporary Location: 550 Deep Valley Dr., #151, Rolling Hills Estates
March 3
Reflecting on Charles Darwin The James Griffith Revolution presents Reflecting on Charles Darwin, March 3 through April 3, at the El Camino College Art Gallery in Torrance. The exhibit includes paintings, drawings and video installation. An opening reception is scheduled from 7 to 9 p.m. March 6 and an artist lecture is scheduled for 1 p.m. March 11. Details: (310) 660-3010 Venue: El Camino College Art Gallery Location: 16007 Crenshaw Blvd., Torrance
March 4
February 21 – March 6, 2014
Artful Days: Caravaggio and his Followers This lecture, from 12:10 to 1 p.m., will cover the evolving style of painter Michelangelo Merisi o Amerighi Caravaggio. Admission is free. Details: (310) 618-2326 Venue: George Nakano Theatre Location: 3330 Civic Center Dr., Torrance
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Philie B’s
Pecorino-Romano cheeses. Extra virgin olive oil adds a fruity note, while torn basil adds bright garden freshness. He loves how the three cheeses complement each other. Also wildly popular, is the Sicilian Rice Ball Special, where orange-sized arancini are stuffed with meat and mozzarella then deep-fried. The rice balls are then topped with melting ricotta and mozzarella and finished with his mom’s marinara sauce. Buscemi put a lot of energy into his Philie’s Cheese Steak recipe, after all, it is named for him. Top angus sirloin is griddled with caramelized bell peppers and onions, topped with melting white American cheese and served on their special rolls, which are baked fresh at Buscemi’s Bakery. Another coincidence — the owners of the bakery are no relation to Philie and his family, however the name is a holdover from decades ago when the baker for Philie’s parents’ old restaurant, Buscemi Pizza, bought their pizza place. He opened a bakery, keeping the Buscemi name. The baker then sold the bakery to the current owner, whose son Sergio is now Philie B’s pizza chef. The restaurant can cater a large party with their pizza, subs and salads but also cater to a solo individual wanting an affordable slice of great pizza and a soda in a casual, hip environment. “You’re only as good as your employees,” says Buscemi. His goal is to make every customer happy and he cannot do that alone. He treats his employees like family — with respect. He is a firm boss who makes work fun. That special relationship insures the best quality food and the best service. In addition to the serendipity of finding red brick behind an ugly plaster wall, Buscemi also got lucky hiring his first cook. When it was time to hire his staff, Buscemi met Mike, a recent graduate of a culinary school in Italy, who had just moved to Pedro two weeks prior. The restaurant opened this past October. They look forward to obtaining a beer and wine license to attract sports fans on game days. Buscemi and his family are loyal USC supporters and would love to offer a place for like-minded fans to cheer on their team. Grateful for the opportunity to serve San Pedro, Buscemi anticipates a long delicious New York-style relationship with downtown and beyond. Details: (310) 514-2500, http://philiebs.com Location: 347 W. 6th St., San Pedro Lori Lynn Hirsch Stokoe blogs about food, wine and entertaining at Taste With The Eyes www. tastewiththeeyes.com and tweets as Tasteblog at https:// twitter.com/tasteblog.
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Panther Heart introduced standing-room-only crowd at Zephyr Vegetarian Café to an expanded lineup and a broader, at times even muscular sound, along with the band’s most expansive visual element to date. But this was nothing compared to an EXPO Arts Center audience got in June 2012, when the band debuted Part 1 of the Dire Wolf saga, Legend of the River Ghost. As explained in the program notes that night, the Dire Wolf story takes place in an ancient forest, where a traveler drifts into the wrong territory and is drowned by fearful residents. His soul becomes trapped in the river, from which a wolf drinks and is then driven to murderous madness by the pained spirit it has imbibed. The concept came to Lyles from a frequent encounter with a woman in his Willmore District neighborhood. “I don’t know what her deal was, but she was always angry,” he says. “I’d smile and try to say hello to her every time, but she wasn’t having it. She just had this anger in her eyes, [behind which] you could was a lot of pain. And I’d see the way she interacted with her children, cussing them out and treating them like shit. Then I’d see her children treating other children like shit. It became this cycle. So when does the hate stop? [The Dire Wolf saga] is about how sometimes we do hurtful things to each other that get passed on.” In October, Panther Heart released Part 2, The Hunters, and on Jan. 31 they debuted the music live in front of 150 people at the Cultural Alliance of Long Beach space in the Bungalow Building. It was the typical Panther Heart audiovisual spectacle, but it was also a farewell for this Panther Heart lineup. Which brings us to the retooled band’s new project, Panther Heart and the Undenying Connectedness of All Beings, which Serrano explains is based on “a social experiment, where [various] couples of (I guess you could say) different degrees of relationship have been brought in to participate in this ‘study.’ Chris basically interviewed each member of the couple. Some [of the couples] were partners, some were friends, some were acquaintances—different types of relationship. Each member of the couple was interviewed [alone] on the nature of their relationship and then the pair was placed together to express themselves to each other non-verbally with glitter and paint, in their underwear. We watched the films and derived from each couple dominant themes based on what they said and how they behaved.” Now the band is in the project’s writing stage, giving sonic expression to what they extrapolated from their experiment and “playing off the unique aspects of each relationship to build unique songs,” after which they will edit the film to complement the completed music.
Lyles and Serrano say the new lineup is in “the awkward stage” musically, still building the rapport the former lineup displayed. Plus, with several of the new members committed to other projects—for example, Daysmel Muniz plays guitar with Mr. Moonshine, while Ellen Warkentine continues to be involved with getting LOLPERA (“an epik opera about LOLcats”) out into the world—getting the ball rolling is likely to come at typical Panther Heart pace. “A lot of people who are in the group now have been kind of leading their own projects and not necessarily done anything this conceptual,” Serrano says. “[…] It takes a while to cultivate a synergy with the conceptual nature of this kind of project.” Panther Heart not being an all-consuming project suits Lyles and Serrano. Serrano’s plate is full with non-musical projects like Foodscape Long Beach, the Earth Steward Collective, a fledgling Long Beach grocery co-op, and cultivating his own ecological landscape design business specializing in permaculture. For his part, eventhough Lyles has forsaken all non-arts employment, his plan is to be in the Boston area for four months beginning in May, then, perhaps, an eventual move to Montreal. Panther Heart will continue to play by its own unique rules. But however things fall out, Lyles and Serrano are determined that the band’s Undying Connectedness project will see the light of day and feel the band’s shift into sunnier territory will be rejuvenating. “So much of the nature of [the Dire Wolf] project is tragedy and death, about observing the detrimental effects of cultivating hate, looking at how it’s literally eating away and killing positive aspects of our psyche and our being in how we interpersonally relates,” Serrano says. “This new project is really about embracing and celebrating these connections […] that people make. So in a way it’s about the amplification of those things that in the other project we’re talking about getting killed. In this project we’re looking at all those positive attributes that people are sharing with each other. Sometimes there’s negative, too, but we’re looking at what it is that sparks a relationship, what it is that draws people together, these cords/chords that are tethering people together. The nature of a relationship is harmonic and multilayered. You have this beautiful symphony that’s unique to each interpersonal dynamic that you go through in life.” What does all that sound like? Keep abreast of Panther Heart via their website and Facebook pages to find out. Mr. Moonshine— http://www.mrmoonshine. com/ Website —http://pantherheart.com/
from p. 5
Lewis and activity throughout the city. A lot of former Redevelopment Agency funds bought blighted properties in North Long Beach, but there were few redevelopment projects that got started. So, there are numerous empty lots that—without a corridor business plan—may wind up back being liquor stores and undesirable businesses that are currently allowable in the zoning. He sees inequities in the demographic of those seeking services in the city. For example, in homeless services, the percentage of Hispanics and blacks receiving service is inversely proportional to the overall demographic. Another issue of concern is the lack of safety vehicle access in the congested Belmont Shore and Naples area. “My concern is for the parking on the narrow streets and alleys,” he said. “When I drive through these areas, I can’t imagine a fire truck getting through safely and quickly. Should we investigate alternative equipment that could navigate these streets more easily?” Other issues include traffic planning for the future development on Pacific Coast Highway and Second Street. He also wants to tackle above ground utility congestion through clean up and undergrounding.
Infrastructure
Consensus
from p. 2
Matlock
to Learning, Positive Values, Social Competencies, and Positive Identity. It was these objectives that were reinforced on Toberman’s walls and classrooms. “Kids like ours, who live in poverty and in difficult situations and experience violence, they don’t always have all of these [developmental assets],” Matlock explained. “So, the first thing I did was say we need to select a model that is nationally and internationally known, that has research behind it, that says if you do this, it will work. The next thing was, everyone on the staff—everybody: the bus driver, the clerk, the teachers, the board members, myself (I happen to be the trainer), everyone here has been trained,” Matlock said. Matlock described the Search Institute’s framework as a strengths-based approach to helping families help themselves. “I say this to people all the time,” Matlock said, “‘We can’t continue to do it for them, we have to do it with them.’” Matlock saw Toberman’s mission, with almost a missionary’s zeal, as helping struggling families reinvent themselves so that they become “a family of achievers, people with skills, people who graduate from high school and people who get good jobs. “We have to provide the opportunity, the resources, and the programming,” Matlock explained. “The family, they provide the energy, the motivation, the desire and the time. You put that together and you have a perfect storm. So everybody is trained on this. And that was the first thing I put into place.” Another added value of this approach is that progress is measured in meaningful ways—ways that make it easier to show existing funders and potentials funders that Toberman is succeeding in accomplishing its mission. However, this isn’t the only area in which Toberman feels different. Matlock has made marketing Toberman’s programs and its legacy a top priority. Among the items on Matlock’s to-do list is setting up a booth at the downtown San Pedro weekly farmer’s market and search opportunities to work connect and collaborate with the community in ways that will allow
Toberman staff to talk about the programs it offers. “Having people talking about the programs and being visible, I know that is a strategy that works,” Matlock said. “Right now what people say, ‘Oh yeah, you’re from Toberman. What is it that you do? ‘ What we want them to say is, ‘Toberman? Ah, yes, we know what you do and we want to help you.’ Different message.” Another project Matlock is spearheading is the launching of the Legacy event in October 2014. Essentially, Matlock has organized a staff to search the archives for children who matriculated through Toberman from the 1930s to the present. “We’re beginning to collect photographs. we’re gathering information and we’re going to invite the alumni to this event,” Matlock said. She hopes to film the event and turn it into a documentary to show people just exactly what this 100-year-old organization has been doing all of this time. “It’s very exciting,” she said. Though Matlock loves history, her motivation for documenting Toberman’s history came out of practical necessity while she was putting together the strategic plan. She recalls talking many conversations with people in the immediate community only to find how unfamiliar they were with Toberman’s work. “So, the thinking behind doing the Legacy event, getting out a regular newsletter, printing documents like this [a flier listing Toberman’s key community programs], being open to meeting with the press and the community is all about trying to get people to have a deeper understanding of what I do because for a period of time it just didn’t happen,” Matlock explained. Matlock recalled a Rotary breakfast meeting she recently attended at which the emcee said, “It is so nice to see people from Toberman back again, after asking Toberman representatives to stand for recognition. “I thought, where have they been? Where did they go?” Matlock comically said. “It was like we came to life,” Matlock said. “I had people giving me their cards, telling me, ‘I really want to talk to you...I really want to connect with you. I am so glad that you are here.’” The atmosphere is different at Toberman. It’s as if a breath of fresh air has blown in and folks are just starting wake up to Toberman.
and maintain quality health care coverage.
LB Commission Appoints New Environmental Planning Director
LONG BEACH—On Feb. 13, the Long Beach Board of Harbor Commissioners announced the appointment of Heather A. Tomley as the director of environmental planning. She will be charged with leading Green Port environmental initiatives. Tomley has been serving as the Long Beach Harbor Department’s acting director of environmental planning since July 2013. She will report to the managing director of environmental affairs and planning, Rick Cameron. Tomley, originally joined the Harbor Department as an environmental planning associate in 2005, was promoted to environmental specialist and then senior environmental specialist in 2006 and assistant director in 2008. She is on leave and is scheduled to return March 17 to her new role. As director of environmental planning, she will lead the division most directly responsible for the port’s signature environmental programs: the Green Port Policy and the San Pedro Bay Ports Clean Air Action Plan. The division coordinates programs to improve air, water and soil quality, preserve wildlife habitat and integrate sustainability into port practices.
Buscaino Advances $10 Million Sidewalk Plan
LOS ANGELES—Councilman Joe Buscaino announced that he advanced a $10-million sidewalk repair plan, during a special Public Works and Gang Reduction Committee hearing Feb. 6. The proposal, put forth in a joint report from the city administrative officer, and the Public Works bureaus of Street Services, Engineering and Contract Administration would divide the money evenly among three repair priorities: The first third ($3.33 million) will be spent on locations where past claims and lawsuits have been filed in high pedestrian use areas, an additional third will be spent along iconic streets citywide and the final third would be allocated equally among the 15 council districts for a 50/50 program. All construction would be performed by private contractors, with the Bureau of Engineering overseeing the program and the Bureau of Contract Administration inspecting the work to ensure it is up to city standards. The Bureau of Street Services estimates 4,600 miles—40 percent of sidewalks—are in disrepair and will require an estimated $1.5 billion to fix. Historically, most sidewalks were constructed by real estate developers as new housing tracts were built, and thereafter, state law mandated that repair was the responsibility of the adjacent property owner. Developers also planted street trees at the same time, and had long favored the Indian laurel fig (ficus) tree because of their hardiness and rapid growth rate. In 1973, facing an angry backlash of homeowners, who received citations ordering sidewalk repair, the city council passed an ordinance that exempted the property owner from that responsibility if the damage was caused by the growth of tree roots. The council never adequately studied the cost implications of this policy, and within two years, a backlog of repairs developed that has grown exponentially in the 40 years that followed the policy shift. Buscaino added a provision to require at least 5 percent of the work to go to contractors that hire at risk youth and young adults, and requested the city administrative officer investigate the feasibility of creating a tax incentive program for businesses that proactively undertake sidewalk repair.
February 21 - March 6, 2014
Lewis sees himself as a consensus builder. He believes he could bring civility back to the council. He is critical of about members who post negative blogs after something did not go their way in the council. “Unless it is a flagrant issue of breakdown in protocol, the council should speak with one voice,” he said. “The voters will make a difference in the culture of the next City Council and in Long Beach. We need a council with a common mission: to make appropriate policy, trustworthy appointments, building consensus, and an “In what way can we?” attitude. “I believe I am the best candidate to represent Long Beach and the Third District and Long Beach,” he said. “My skill of listening and objectively analyzing issues and the intended and unintended consequences of our decisions is a key component of a leader.”
Signal lights have finally been installed and turned on at the San Pedro intersection of 11th and Gaffey, and none are happier than the proprietors of the Omelette and Waffle Shop, located at that intersection. Omelette and Waffle shop co-owner, Mona Sutton highlighted during the FEb. 13 signal-light ceremony three car accidents involving pedestrians since the start of the new year. LA City Councilman Joe Buscaino, who used to Omelette and Waffle Shop Mona Sutton with Councilman Joe Buscaino be a Lead Officer with the celebrated the signal light installation at the Gaffey and 11th Street Los Angeles Police Harbor intersection. Photo by Terelle Jerricks. Division conducted a sting operation wearing a Santa Claus suit while crossing sting. He said we should look to efforts around the the pedestrian cross walk to help slow traffic along country that are aiming to building walkable, livable, the stretch of roadway fed by the 110 Freeway. and workable cities. He recalled many near hits while conducting the
from p. 6
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Not unlike the other candidates running for District 3, Lewis sees the upgrade of the Naples seawalls and the adjustment of the breakwater as important considerations. However, unlike other candidates, he does not want to alter the configuration of the breakwater. Because not only does it not belong to the city, but also the Army Corps of Engineers only will examine recapturing the ecosystem and not the wave action. Although the Department of Defense has the last word on any change of the breakwater, he believes the current ecosystem would be disrupted. He believes the water quality issues in the ocean have more to do with the river run-offs, rather than the lack of currents. “Our No.1 priority should be to protect property in the peninsula and Belmont Shore,” he said. “We do not want a return to flooding up to 2nd Street as was common before the breakwater (people were known to row boats up the streets.) Property values would plummet, reducing property tax revenue, and the cost for flood insurance would more than quadruple.” Instead, he would like to start a discussion on the alternatives for expanding the use of the breakwater for energy and environmental uses.
Gaffey Street Intersection Finally Gets a Signal Light
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Fictitious Business Name Statement File No. 2013253321 The following person is doing business as: The Sepulveda Home,1138 W. Sepulveda Street, San Pedro, CA 90731, Los Angeles County. Registered owners: The Sepulveda Home LLC, 1138 W. Sepulveda Street, San Pedro, CA 90731. Articles of Incorporation: 201135110057. This Business is conducted by a Limited Liability Company. The date registrant started to transact business under the fictitious business name or names listed above: November 2008. I declare that all information in this statement is true and correct. (A registrant who declares as true information which he or she knows to be false is guilty of a crime.) S/. Susan Portillo, Owner. This statement was filed with the County Clerk of Los Angeles on Dec. 11, 2013. Notice--In Accordance with subdivision (a) of section 17920. A fictitious name statement generally expires at the end of five years from the date on which it was filed in the office of the county clerk, except as provided in subdivision (b) of section 17920. were to expires 40 days after any change in the facts set forth in the statement pursuant to section 17913 other than a change in the residence address of a registered owner. A new fictitious business name statement must be filed before the expiration.The filing of this statement does not of itself authorize the use in this state of a
continued on following page
FICTITIOUS BUSINESS & LEGAL FILINGS from previous page fictitious business name in violation of the rights of another under federal, state, or common law (see section 1411 ET SEQ., Business and Professions code). Original filing: 12/23/13, 1/9/14, 1/23/14, 2/6/14, 2/20/14 Fictitious Business Name Statement File No. 2013246108 The following person is doing business as: Playground Fitness,528 S. Pacific Ave, San Pedro, CA 90731, Los Angeles County. Registered owners: Jamie Burton, 2211 S. Grand Ave., #1, San Pedro, CA 90731. . This Business is conducted by an individual. The date registrant started to transact business under the fictitious business name or names listed above: N/A. I declare that all information in this statement is true and correct. (A registrant who declares as true information which he or she knows to be false is guilty of a crime.) S/. Jamie Burton, Owner. This statement was filed with the County Clerk of Los Angeles on Dec. 2, 2013. Notice--In Accordance with subdivision (a) of section 17920. A fictitious name statement generally expires at the end of five years from the date on which it was filed in the office of the county clerk, except as provided in subdivision (b) of section 17920. were to expires 40 days after any change in the facts set forth in the statement pursuant to section 17913 other than a change in the residence address of a registered owner. A new fictitious business name statement must be filed before the expiration.The filing of this statement does not of itself authorize the use in this state of a fictitious business name in violation of the rights of another under federal, state, or common law (see section 1411 ET SEQ., Business and Professions code). Original filing: 12/23/13, 1/9/14, 1/23/14, 2/6/14, 2/20/14
Fictitious Business Name Statement File No. 2014020793 The following person is doing business as: Otto Trattoria, 301 W. 6th Street, San Pedro, CA 90731, Los Angeles County. Registered owners: San Pedro Group, 555 W. 9th Street, San Pedro, CA 90731. This Business is conducted by a corporation. The date registrant started to transact business under the fictitious business name or names listed above: N/A. I declare that all information in this statement is true and correct. (A registrant who declares as true information which he or she knows to be false is guilty of a crime.) S/. Gregory J. Wilson, president. This statement was filed with the County Clerk of Los Angeles on Jan. 27, 2014. Notice--In Accordance with subdivision (a) of section 17920. A fictitious name statement generally expires at the end of five years from the date on which it was filed in the office of the county clerk, except as provided in subdivision (b) of section 17920. were to expires 40 days after any change in the facts set forth in the statement pursuant to section 17913 other than a change in the residence address of a registered owner. A new fictitious business name statement must be filed before the expiration.The filing of this statement does not of itself authorize the use in this state of a fictitious business name in violation of the rights of another under federal, state, or common law (see section 1411 ET SEQ., Business and Professions code). Original filing: 02/06/14, 02/20/14, 03/06/14, 03/20/14 Fictitious Business Name Statement File No. 2014020791 The following person is doing business as: Violetica De Mil Colores Flowers, 819 S. Pacific Ave., San Pedro, CA 90731, Los Angeles County. Registered owners:
Bridgette Contreras, 956 W. Crestwood Ave., San Pedro, CA 90731. This Business is conducted by a corporation. The date registrant started to transact business under the fictitious business name or names listed above: N/A. I declare that all information in this statement is true and correct. (A registrant who declares as true information which he or she knows to be false is guilty of a crime.) S/. Bridget Contreras. This statement was filed with the County Clerk of Los Angeles on Jan. 27, 2014. Notice--In Accordance with subdivision (a) of section 17920. A fictitious name statement generally expires at the end of five years from the date on which it was filed in the office of the county clerk, except as provided in subdivision (b) of section 17920. were to expires 40 days after any change in the facts set forth in the statement pursuant to section 17913 other than a change in the residence address of a registered owner. A new fictitious business name statement must be filed before the expiration.The filing of this statement does not of itself authorize the use in this state of a fictitious business name in violation of the rights of another under federal, state, or common law (see section 1411 ET SEQ., Business and Professions code). Original filing: 02/06/14, 02/20/14, 03/06/14, 03/20/14 Fictitious Business Name Statement File No. 2014024899 The following person is doing business as: It’s Showtime Movie Memorabilia & Antiques, 741 S. Pacific Ave., San Pedro, CA 90731, Los Angeles County. Articles of Incorporation: C0797011. Registered owners: Kraakevik Corporation, 15915 Ventura, Blvd., Ste 303, Encino, CA 91436. This Business is conducted by a corporation. The date registrant started to transact business under the fictitious business name or names listed above: N/A. I declare that all information in this statement is true and correct. (A registrant who declares as true information which he or she knows to be false is guilty of a crime.) S/. George Woytovich, vice-pres. This statement was filed with the County Clerk of Los Angeles on Jan. 30, 2014. Notice--In Accordance with subdivision (a) of section 17920. A fictitious name statement generally expires at the end of five years from the date on which it was filed in the office of the county clerk, except as provided in subdivision (b) of section 17920. were to expires 40 days after any change in the facts set forth in the statement pursuant to section 17913 other than a change in the residence address of a registered owner. A new fictitious business name statement must be filed before the expiration.The filing of this statement does not of itself authorize the use in this state of a fictitious business name in violation of the rights of another under federal, state, or common law (see section 1411 ET SEQ., Business and Professions code). Original filing: 02/20/14, 03/06/14, 03/20/14, 04/04/14 Fictitious Business Name Statement File No. 2014022161 The following person is doing business as:Spirit Cruises & Yacht Charters, 2. Spirit’s Boardwalk Cafe & Grill,1200 Nagoya ?Way P-21, San Pedro, CA 90731. Los Angeles County. Ports O’Call Berth 77 P-21, San Pedro CA 90731. Registered owners: Jayme Wilson, 43 - 61st Place, Long Beach, CA 90803. This Business is conducted by an individual. The date registrant started to transact business under the
fictitious business name or names listed above: 1984. I declare that all information in this statement is true and correct. (A registrant who declares as true information which he or she knows to be false is guilty of a crime.) S/. Jayme Wilson, owner. This statement was filed with the County Clerk of Los Angeles on Jan. 28, 2014. Notice--In Accordance with subdivision (a) of section 17920. A fictitious name statement gener-
ally expires at the end of five years from the date on which it was filed in the office of the county clerk, except as provided in subdivision (b) of section 17920. were to expires 40 days after any change in the facts set forth in the statement pursuant to section 17913 other than a change in the residence address of a registered owner. A new fictitious business name statement
from p. 3
Struggle to Find a Voice
Nonetheless, Smith noted, PCAC’s record of positive contributions was impressive. “About 85 of its recommendation were agreed to or used in some way by the port out of 105 or 3,” she said. “That’s a pretty darned good record.” What’s more, things didn’t turn out so well when PCAC was ignored, she pointed out, citing the examples of Trapac and BNSF Railway Co.’s Southern California International Gateway project, both of which faced legal threats, with SCIG’s still pending. “They ignored us,” Smith said. “They don’t listen….And, they go ahead and they do the same piecemealing that they’ve been doing forever. And then, they’re doing the waterfront piecemeal.... One silo at a time, one projected at a time. In the EIRs it works nicely for them, because then they don’t have to do overall effects. And, that’s where they get into trouble, time and time and time again.” The China Shipping Co. lawsuit could also be added to that list—except that it began before PCAC was created. PCAC was supposed to put an end to all that. The record Smith cites indicates that it did—as long as the port took PCAC seriously. But the port’s revisionist history stands everything on its head and blames all its problems on PCAC. But as Smith suggests, the real problem is the port’s ambivalence—approving more than 80 percent of PCAC’s motions on the one hand, but crippling it as an organization on the other. Scoville added more detail on this score, recounting how the port had failed to act on PCAC requests to change its bylaws to make it more effective. This meant the port could then turn around and complain that PCAC had become outmoded. Consequently, several activists said that any new body needed to have the power to rewrite its bylaws as needed without port approval. The other point Smith raised—piecemealing—also is crucial, and is directly related to traffic concerns tied into Ports O’ Call renovation and waterfront development more generally.
Project-by-project planning, which fails to adequately address cumulative impacts creates more problems than it solves, critics say. Bringing everything down to earth, Smith shifted focus to an immediate community concern. “I would dearly love to see them get their act together,” she said, “And what I want them to concentrate on is public transportation. I think it’s a perfect project for everybody to come together on—the port, the council office, the mayor’s office—to say, ‘We need light rail down here.’ We need, maybe the silver line to be extended. “If you’re going to have a redone Ports O’ Call, and all of these wonderful things that we’re going to plan. If you don’t have good public transportation, forget about it.” Another way of putting this, more broadly, is: you need a problem-oriented focus before you can get to a successful solution-oriented one. Otherwise, the problems become insurmountable. That’s what the long-term PCAC members seem to be saying. Are their views really the problem? Or the solution? That is the question before the Harbor Area today. There’s far more agreement lurking beneath the surface than much of the recent back-and-forth might suggest. For example, Alexander cited the need for outside expert advisors, based on the model of Community Redevelopment Agency’s design review panels. Richard Havenick, a long-time PCAC activist, said, “I have no interest in recreating PCAC,” but he is interested on keeping in mind what worked—and expert support as well as broad participation is all part of that package. This underlying agreement between Havenick and Alexander is just one case in point. The more one looks at actual issues, the more agreement tends to surface as the facts become clearer. The PCAC proved this point in the past. A wellcrafted successor could do it again—if people are willing to fight for it. 19 February 21 - March 6, 2014
we’ve experienced so far. I don’t expect that to change.” Peter Warren, chairman of Coastal San Pedro’s Port Committee is another longtime PCAC member working to create a new organization. And their views are substantially more nuanced and sophisticated than their critics give them credit for. For one thing, they point out that port-PCAC relations experienced a period of high productivity and success, but that the port itself undermined the partnership. “PCAC is something that worked, despite all the talking points and spin doctoring,” Warren said. “It had staff. It had a route to the Board of Harbor Commissioners. They participated through a member.” Although he wasn’t part of PCAC at the beginning,Anderson notes, “They had a good working relationship with the Port of Los Angeles. The port itself provided experts who would come in and provide background for the various committee, like the [Environmental Impact Report] Subcommittee, the Master Plan [sic—Coordinated Plan] Subcommittee, so forth. And then somewhere along the line, the relationship soured.” June Smith—a member of Coastal’s Port Committee who served as parliamentarian and then co-chair of PCAC—had a more precise analysis. “The PCAC actually worked very, very well, after we ironed out the transition problems in the beginning when Hahn first started this, and [Port Commissioner] Camilla [Townsend] took it on, trying to craft something,” Smith said. “There was huge resistance from the port and we had to work through procedures, which we did over a couple of years.” This was all undermined “when Villaraigosa replaced everyone on the Harbor Commission, and essentially told them he didn’t care about PCAC and concentrate on Wilmington and cut San Pedro loose, cause it’s Hahn territory.” It’s worth noting that in 2001, Villaraigosa and Hahn had both pledged to create an entity like PCAC, but by 2005, Villaraigosa’s views had clearly changed.
must be filed before the expiration.The filing of this statement does not of itself authorize the use in this state of a fictitious business name in violation of the rights of another under federal, state, or common law (see section 1411 ET SEQ., Business and Professions code). Original filing: 02/20/14, 03/06/14, 03/20/14, 04/04/14
The Local Publication You Actually Read
Fictitious Business Name Statement File No. 2014020792 The following person is doing business as: Vintage Edge Jewelry, 1621 W. Wycliff Place, San Pedro, CA 90732, Los Angeles County. Registered owners: Heather Lynn Hovard, 1621 W. Wycliff Place, San Pedro, CA 90732. This Business is conducted by an individual. The date registrant started to transact business under the fictitious business name or names listed above: N/A. I declare that all information in this statement is true and correct. (A registrant who declares as true information which he or she knows to be false is guilty of a crime.) S/. Heather Lynn Hovard. This statement was filed with the County Clerk of Los Angeles on Jan. 27, 2014. Notice--In Accordance with subdivision (a) of section 17920. A fictitious name statement generally expires at the end of five years from the date on which it was filed in the office of the county clerk, except as provided in subdivision (b) of section 17920. were to expires 40 days after any change in the facts set forth in the statement pursuant to section 17913 other than a change in the residence address of a registered owner. A new fictitious business name statement must be filed before the expiration.The filing of this statement does not of itself authorize the use in this state of a fictitious business name in violation of the rights of another under federal, state, or common law (see section 1411 ET SEQ., Business and Professions code). Original filing: 02/06/14, 02/20/14, 03/06/14, 03/20/14
Fictitious Business Name Statement File No. 2014020795 The following person is doing business as: Los Trucking, 941 Bloomwood Rd., San Pedro, CA 90731, Los Angeles County. Registered owners: Rafael Juan Carlos Perez, 941 Bloomwood Rd., San Pedro, CA 90731. This Business is conducted by an individual. The date registrant started to transact business under the fictitious business name or names listed above: N/A. I declare that all information in this statement is true and correct. (A registrant who declares as true information which he or she knows to be false is guilty of a crime.) S/. Rafael Juan Carlos Perez. This statement was filed with the County Clerk of Los Angeles on Jan. 27, 2014. Notice--In Accordance with subdivision (a) of section 17920. A fictitious name statement generally expires at the end of five years from the date on which it was filed in the office of the county clerk, except as provided in subdivision (b) of section 17920. were to expires 40 days after any change in the facts set forth in the statement pursuant to section 17913 other than a change in the residence address of a registered owner. A new fictitious business name statement must be filed before the expiration.The filing of this statement does not of itself authorize the use in this state of a fictitious business name in violation of the rights of another under federal, state, or common law (see section 1411 ET SEQ., Business and Professions code). Original filing: 02/06/14, 02/20/14, 03/06/14, 03/20/14
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February 21 - March 6, 2014
Serving the Seven Cities of the Harbor Area