S IGNAL T RIBU NE Serving Bixby Knolls, California Heights, Los Cerritos, Wrigley and Signal Hill with 30,000 issues every Friday
VOL. XL NO. 42
Your Weekly Community Newspaper
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IN THIS ISSUE COMMUNITY ‘Groundbreaking’ expansions to come
Yes
Measure
AAA
No
October 12, 2018
City hones in on three approaches to short-term rental ordinance for council review Options remain in drafting process, public provides feedback at community workshop. Paige Pelonis
Page 6
Aquarium of Pacific welcomes new sea lion, Chase Mammal expert talks to Signal Tribune about how the critter is integrated into the facility.
Page 15
NEWS Council OKs contract to assess environmental impact of Heritage Square
Public input will also be factored into process.
Photo illustration by Sebastian Echeverry, Denny Cristales, Barbie Ellisen | Signal Tribune
Long Beach elected officials say the four measures they have placed on next month's ballot will lead to "a better Long Beach." Several local grassroots community groups claim the reasons given for the measures are unfounded. This week, the Signal Tribune focused on information about Measure AAA. Part 2 next week will focus on the other three measures.
A plan for a better city... or a power grab? Measures would change city charter regarding city auditor’s purviewand authority.
Cory Bilicko Staff Writer
Next month, Long Beach residents will have the power to give even more power to the current and future elected officials of the city, thanks to four measures the mayor and city council have placed on the ballot for voter consideration. AAA, BBB, CCC and DDD– all charter-amendment measures that Mayor Robert Garcia and City Auditor Laura Doud have proposed and that the city council approved unanimously– are “good government” moves, according to abetterlongbeach.com, the website for the Mayor Robert Garcia and City Auditor Laura Doud Committee to Support Good Government Measures AAA BBB CCC DDD. The measures aim to “make Long Beach’s government
more effective, efficient, and ethical,” according to the website, which also refers to the measures as “smart reforms that create a more open and responsive city government.” But those are unfounded claims, according to some local community groups that have joined together in slamming all four measures. In late August, the Long Beach Reform Coalition (LBRC) announced its formation as an alliance of grassroots organizations aiming to inform the citizenry on those measures. As reported in the Signal Tribune last month, Ian Patton, the principal of Cal Heights Conservancy (which led the unsuccessful effort to recall 2nd District Councilmember Jeannine Pearce earlier this year), said his coalition is hoping to “be out there for ‘the little guy.’”
Patton and his group are not alone in their plan to serve as watchdog for the city’s residents. People of Long Beach (POLB) is yet another grassroots organization with its eyes on those propositions. Carlos Ovalle, POLB’s executive director, has been critical of all four measures in public meetings and on social media. The Signal Tribune last week reached out to the mayor, the city auditor and all nine councilmembers by sending questions about the measures to at least two email addresses per district office, as well as following up with phone calls to several of those offices. Only one council district office responded, but not with answers to the questions. see MEASURE page 10
Multimedia Editor
Nearly every member of the public who spoke at the final short-term rentals (STRs) workshop Oct. 10 indicated that the three draft options for a new STR ordinance in Long Beach presented by the City still had room for improvement. The well-attended workshop– according to 8th District Councilmember Al Austin– included a review of feedback given from the public at the previous two workshops. It also included a look at additional outreach efforts and introduced drafts of three potential options for addressing the issues surrounding STRs in Long Beach. These three options, likely after additional revision over the course of the next month, are on the agenda for the Nov. 13 council meeting. “I think it’s a little early for me to commit to a position on this right now,” Austin told the Signal Tribune. “I’ve been watching this issue for some time, and I’m respecting the process. Obviously, I’m consee ORDINANCE page 13
(Literally) Walking the walk Local small business owner to walk with hope at Alzheimer’s event in her mother's memory. Paige Pelonis Multimedia Editor
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LB eliminates fee for online-utility payments Charges also to be eliminated at select CVS, 7-Eleven stores. Page 7
Research says it happens to someone in the U.S. every 65 seconds. For some, it’s a grandfather. For others, it’s a grandmother. Sometimes, it’s a sibling. Sometimes, a friend. For Tori Kormanik, it was her mother, Shirley Marie Schreiber, who faced Alzheimer’s disease for several years and died two years ago in September.
“So, I’m still gettin’ used to the idea,” Kormanik said. “It’s so weird, it’s so strange. It’s such an odd thing to see.” Kormanik, owner of Burnin’ Beak pepper jelly in Long Beach, said her mother was diagnosed just before Christmas several years ago. “I remember my mother saying, ‘You know, I went to the doctor, and he told me, ‘You have dementia,’” Kormanik said. “And she said, ‘Well, I’m almost 80 years old.’ She didn’t want to admit that that was
A variety of LATE-STARTING CLASSES begins Oct. 22
happening. Which, who does?” The Alzheimer’s Association reports that someone in the U.S. develops the disease every 65 seconds, one out of three seniors dies with Alzheimer’s or another form of dementia and more than five million Americans are living with the disease. For Kormanik, her mother was her first up-close experience with Alzheimer’s. “It seems to snowball,” she said. “So, it starts out slow, and then it see ALZHEIMER’S page 14
Courtesy Tori Kormanik
Pictured above are Tori Kormanik (left) and her mother, Shirley Marie Schreiber (right). Kormanik is walking in the 2018 Walk to End Alzheimer’s in honor of her mother, who fought the disease for years before she died in 2016.