S IGNA L T R IBU N E Serving Bixby Knolls, California Heights, Los Cerritos, Wrigley and Signal Hill VOL. XXXVIII NO. 22
Your Weekly Community Newspaper
May 27, 2016
Love for the dirt
Eliminating gun violence Violent crime has increased in 2016, and LB officials are seeking solutions.
Councilmember Uranga presses to purchase controversial Wrigley Heights site.
Denny Cristales Editorial Assistant
CJ Dablo Staff Writer
It’s polluted and dusty, but a 20-acre site in the Long Beach neighborhood of Wrigley Heights has won the love from its neighbors, a real-estate developer and even the 7th-district councilmember. The trouble is, love can be so expensive, but it’s driven everyone involved to overlook the site’s problems and see potential. Seventh District Councilmember Roberto Uranga said that the property located at 712 Baker St., which is adjacent to two Cityowned parks, could be cleaned up. The land is currently owned by Oil Operators, Inc., who has expressed a desire to sell the land, which had been previously used in the oil industry to separate brine from petroleum. “It’s an opportunity here to create some open space that would be available for people to enjoy,” Uranga said in a phone interview. He acknowledged that Oil Operators are in negotiation with Integral Communities, a real-estate developer in Newport Beach. The area was part of the RiverLink conceptual plan, which sought to connect Long Beach residents to the Los Angeles River and create an integrated sys-
Courtesy City of LB
The Long Beach City Council voted last week to explore funding options to purchase a 20-acre site known as the Oil Operators Property. Previously used in the oil industry, this particular site in Wrigley Heights requires major remediation.
tem of open spaces for the city. Its 2007 report identified a key destination– an area in the southern part of Wrigley Heights, which includes the Oil Operators Property. Uranga convinced the city council last week to request that the city manager identify funding sources to purchase the property for the City to use as open space. The vote didn’t commit the City to purchase the property. The council unanimously approved the request by a vote of 8 to 0. Councilmember Lena Gonzalez was not present for the vote. Wrigley Heights resident Richard Gutmann liked the outcome of the vote, but he was also skeptical of the City’s intentions to buy the property. “It’s encouraging,” Gutmann said in a phone interview, “but we’ve had so many lies from the City over the years about this
property.” Gutmann emailed the Signal Tribune the comments he collected through his social-media interactions. Other residents echoed Gutmann’s skeptism of whether the City really intended to buy the property. Gutmann pointed out that both Michael Conway, who serves as the City’s director of economic and property development, and even Kevin Laney, a spokesman for Oil Operators, have acknowledged that the property is in “escrow” with Integral Communities. Uranga took exception to the skepticism. “I’m going to be blunt,” Uranga declared. “We don’t do anything half-assed. If we go after something, we’re doing it because we really believe in it and want it to happen.” He continued to explain that it would be “a waste of people’s
money” if they are just “going through the motions.” “I’d be wasting my time,” he concluded. “Why would I waste my time?” Oil Operators spokesman Laney said that Integral Communities is continuing with their feasibility study while the City is pursuing funding to try to purchase the property. He hesitated to comment more beyond acknowledging the interest from both parties, but he did say that the City is trying to find the money. “I believe they are going to make a diligent effort to try to come up with an offer,” Laney concluded. Celina Luna, Uranga’s chief of staff, explained that the “escrow” has been opened for Integral to do its own fact finding. Both Uranga and Luna said that
As gun violence continues to escalate in Long Beach, councilmembers are seeking proactive solutions to eliminate violent crime in the city by reaching out to the Long Beach Police Department (LBPD). Councilmembers Al Austin, Rex Richardson, Lena Gonzalez and Roberto Uranga all recently requested a report from the police department in regard to gun violence within the past year. The councilmembers hope the report will give insight into how to reduce gun violence over the next several months and what the council could do to further support LBPD on the issue. It was during the May 17 city council meeting that a 7-2 vote approved the creation of the police report, which will be presented to councilmembers within 90 days, according to 7th District Councilmember Uranga. “All crime is a crime of opportunity, and we need to make a sound investment in our communities,” Uranga said in an email statement to the Signal Tribune. “We need to inform our residents to be more aware, lock doors, see something, say something and call the police to report suspicious behavior.” In 2014, Long Beach ended the year with a 40-year low in violent crime, said LBPD Deputy Chief Richard Rocchi at the May 17 city council meeting. He noted, however, that in 2015 and 2016, violent crime began to “rebound.” Statistically, the city has experienced a 13.1-percent increase in violent crime through April, a 42-percent increase in
see PROPERTY page 13
see GUNS page 9
Signal Hill City Council adopts an 8-percent water rate increase Two motions for a commemorative brick policy were voted down. Sebastian Echeverry Staff Writer
Water rate ordinance The Signal Hill City Council voted 4 to 1 to adopt an 8-percent
increase to the water bill during its May 24 meeting. Councilmember Edward Wilson was the only member who voted against it. The rate was first introduced during the May 10 city council meeting. At that meeting, the council listened to the concerns of individuals who opposed the water rate increase. According to the Signal Hill Department of Public Works,
a rate increase is necessary in order for the City to keep control over its water system and not have a third party control the water. During the May 24 council meeting, Wilson voted not to adopt the rate because he believes it is not the most efficient choice for residents. “I find it very difficult to vote to increase a rate that would be more [money taken] from someone’s
pocketbook,” he said. Wilson said the 8-percent rate increase compounds up to a 48-percent increase in a span of five years. Language policy The city attorney and staff proposed that the city council have a language policy for the Memorial Brick program at Hilltop Park. In the recent past, the city received a request to have an “offensive mes-
Monday, June 20th
sage” engraved on a brick, and since then the program has been put on hold. The incident drove the City to create a policy. The proposed policy submitted by staff offers 20 commemorative phrases rgulate what can be written on the bricks. Vice Mayor Tina Hansen did not agree with the policy. see COUNCIL page 15
Monday, August 15th
Signal Hill Park - 2175 Cherry Ave Activities start at 6:30 p.m. Movies begin at dusk
Movie and popcorn are FREE! Sponsored by