S IGNA L T R IBU N E Serving Bixby Knolls, California Heights, Los Cerritos, Wrigley and Signal Hill
Your Weekly Community Newspaper
VOL. XXXVIII NO. 42
A choice of independence Signal Hill City Council votes to hold election separate from LA County. Sebastian Echeverry Staff Writer
Elections Last month, the Los Angeles County Registrar-Recorder/County Clerk requested cooperation from nearby cities, including Signal Hill, to allow the County to supervise the March 7, 2017 elections in an attempt to host a special election for a ballot measure that addresses homelessness in the county. During the council meeting on Tuesday, Oct. 11, however, Signal Hill officials decided to conduct the elections independently from the County. Traditionally, the City hosts its elections on its own, something Councilmember Larry Forester said the City prides itself in. The council contracts with Martin & Chapman as its election consultants. In a recent email, Martin & Chapman informed the City that if it chooses to hold its election under the supervision of the County, then the consultants would lose business. A fiscal-impact report from the City indicates that the cost to hold an independent election with the help of Martin & Chapman is $49,504.53, and an election hosted by the County would cost the City $21,367.10. “I think we would lose control if we consolidate with the County,” Councilmember Michael Noll said. “We are better off than them anyway.” In a report sent to the council, the County stated that a single-ballot election would make it easier for voters. Instead of signing into two voter rosters and going to two different tables to vote, a consolidated election would have only one roster list and ballot for voters to work with. Consolidating with the County would also mean that results wouldn’t be readily available until 30 days after the election process instead of the instant results the City is accustomed to having. “There is something special about being here [on election] night,” Vice Mayor Tina Hansen said. “Getting the results in that same night is something special. I am not in favor of consolidating.” Some council members shared Hansen’s opinion, stating that the voters’ children present on election night see COUNCIL page 15
October 14, 2016
SH Historical Society hosts discussion of renovated vintage home Former occupant traveled from Utah to share her stories. Cory Bilicko Managing Editor
A 108-year-old house that has seen its share of ownership conflicts, city interventions and– more recently– a complete renovation was the topic of conversation during a presentation the Signal Hill Historical Society conducted Oct. 8. The event, which focused on the “Signal Hill Tower House” located at 2477 Gaviota Ave. in the Crescent Heights Historic District, featured Marlene Bollinger, who grew up in the home, and Rama Singhal, who purchased it two years ago and then restored it. Bollinger, who now lives in Salt Lake City, shared her memories of the house, her family and Signal Hill, and, as she recounted stories related to different rooms of the 1,252-square-foot home, Singhal discussed the renovations in those areas and the unique features he discovered during the process. One of those items was the triangular window that had been in Bollinger’s bedroom. Larry Blunden, who is president of the historical society, presented it to her as a thank-you gift for traveling to Signal Hill from Utah for the event. For the presentation, which took place at Delius restaurant, Bollinger’s grandson Parker– who is one of her 32 grandchildren– assisted her by facilitating a slideshow of vintage photos Bollinger provided. She began her talk by reading a letter her great-great-grandfather had written in 1848 to a girl he had met at an academy: “Miss Vutton, would an epistolary correspondence carried on
Photo by Alex Honeycutt
Marlene Bollinger, who lived in the “Signal Hill Tower House” at 2477 Gaviota Ave., shared stories of her childhood during an Oct. 8 meeting of the Signal Hill Historical Society.
between you and myself after leaving this place be agreeable on your part? If it would not, please frankly to thus express yourself and be assured, that... by so doing, you will not incur my disrespect or displeasure. But, on the contrary, if such a plan shall meet your approbation, which I hardly dare even hope, to me it would be the source of greatest pleasure. Very respectfully, John Barrett Ayer. P.S. I trust that you will excuse me for unceremoniously sending you this note, for I can think of no better way to communicate the contents.” Bollinger used the letter to exemplify the “rather rigid, English family
File photo
A vintage photograph shows the home located at 2477 Gaviota Ave. in the Crescent Heights Historic District of Signal Hill.
in Vermont” in which her Aunt Fy had been raised. Fy had shared stories with Bollinger, particularly of the family’s patriarch. “He was a rather severe, harsh man,” Bollinger said. “Do you know that, when you open a newspaper, some of the pages fall out? They didn’t in his house– because he made his wife stitch it on her sewing machine so the pages wouldn’t fall out.” Bollinger explained that Fy had ventured out to California from Vermont at a rather young age. “She decided that she didn’t like the farm life, that she was going to go out and see the world,” Bollinger said.
“In her days, that wasn’t what a young lady would do. But she did, and she loved nature... She was a very creative lady, and she’s the one who designed the house.” Bollinger said that many people had asked why Fy built the tower on the house. “She had a real deep love for nature. She would camp out in a tent on the beach,” she said. “She went to Switzerland and camped out. She went any place where she could be with nature. So, when she built the house, she wanted to be able to see the ocean. So, see HOUSE page 11
Courtesy SHHS
A recent photo shows the house at 2477 Gaviota Ave. after undergoing major renovations.