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"Eclexia," mixed-media work by Kurt Hantzch For more on this artist, see page 10
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Serving BixBy KnollS, California HeigHtS, loS CerritoS, Wrigley and tHe City of Signal Hill
Your Weekly Community Newspaper
VoL. 33 No. 50
May 18, 2012
Aquarium’s new exhibit includes penguins rescued in Brazil At SH Council meeting, residents of
Catalina Drive lobby for parking zone
Photo by Diana Lejins
Penguins have existed on Earth for more than 50 million years, but today’s environmental issues are threatening their future survival. The Aquarium of the Pacific’s new June Keyes Penguin Habitat opened to the public on May 17 and will allow visitors to get up-close with these animals and learn what can be done to help them. The permanent exhibit is home to the first penguins in the Aquarium’s collection and will include a crawl-in space where visitors can feel as if they are in the exhibit with the animals. The new habitat will feature Magellanic Penguins, educational exhibit panels, and interactive touch screens that allow visitors to learn more about penguins and issues affecting their survival. Some of the birds in the Aquarium’s new habitat were rescued near Rio, Brazil and deemed non-releasable to the wild because of health issues. Scientists speculate that these birds ended up stranded north of their normal range in search of food because of issues such as climate change and overfishing. Two short films about penguins, a children’s program, a penguin guest speaker series, and the Penguin Animal Encounter are also part of the new exhibit.
Outgoing Councilmember Gabelich calling for utility tax increase on November ballot Michelle Lecours Contributing Writer
With an imminent reduction in Long Beach police and fire crews resulting from city budget cuts, outgoing 8th District Councilmember Rae Gabelich is calling for a utility-users tax increase on the November ballot to preserve safety and other services in the city. “I think that we owe it to the public to let them have the opportunity to decide how they want their city to look and to be cared for and what kind of public safety services to be offering,” Gabelich said. “The mayor disagrees with me. He uses his mega words and says that it’s a bad comparison, a juxtaposition, to say that it isn’t a good thing.” The revenue shortfall Long Beach is feeling will affect many of the city’s services. “The fire department has got to cut anywhere from 1.5 to 4 million dollars next year,” said Gabelich. “How are they going to do that? Obviously, the
push is going to reduce fire from a fourman truck to a three-man truck. And if you talk to the firemen, I believe they should be the voice we listen to in terms of safety for the residents who are being assisted by them.” The police department may have to eliminate one of its four substations to endure the budget cuts they will face. In addition to police and fire, other departments will lose financial resources and programs upon which residents rely. For instance, the Parks, Recreation & Marine Department will also see a reduction in services. “We are not just going to be reducing maintenance or maintenance crews, we are going to be cutting recreation programs,” said Gabelich. “The public will feel the crunch in that respect.” Fourth District Councilmember Patrick O’Donnell prefers reform to a utility-tax ballot measure. “Where I come from is that the public wants to see more reforms take place before we
move towards supporting a new tax,” O’Donnell said. “[Residents want] reforms associated with cost savings. They want to see city government become as efficient as possible. We’re working on that, and I think we’ve done a pretty noble job over the past few years making tough decisions.” Outsourcing some of the city’s services is a strategy 3rd District Councilmember Gary DeLong believes is the answer. “We should outsource our towing operation, we should look at outsourcing our trash pickup, we should look at outsourcing street sweeping,” DeLong said. “There are millions and millions of dollars to be saved by doing that.” Gabelich acknowledges that raising utility tax is not the only answer but it’s the simplest. “There’s not only utilityusers tax (that can be cut), but that is the easiest one,” said Gabelich. “The example that really sends the message home see TAX page 14
CJ Dablo/Signal Tribune
Diana Lara of Food Finders speaks to the Signal Hill City Council about the needs and vision of her food rescue program. CJ Dablo Staff Writer
Only about seven homes have been built on a small stretch of Catalina Drive in Signal Hill, and their owners are pressing to limit parking on the private street. On May 15, the Signal Hill City Council voted to authorize the city’s police department to enforce the California Vehicle Code on Catalina. Allowing the police department to enforce the code is one major step to establishing a preferential parking zone on Catalina, but the issue will be discussed at length in a public hearing that the Council has now set for June 5. Parking issues might be inevitable in a 2.2-square-mile city that has a population of more than 11,000 residents. Councilmember Ed Wilson noted Tuesday night that the issue tends to come up regularly. “I think we’ll always have issues with parking,” Wilson concluded. Since a significant amount of the
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street is already zoned in red for a fire lane, there is only about 240 feet of available parking left for the residents, according to Public Works Director Steve Myrter. Catalina Drive homeowners say that even though they are forced to pay to maintain the private street, residents from Hill Street and Ohio Avenue have been parking near their homes, according to a petition signed by all the affected homeowners. A preferential parking zone will allow homeowners to have three residential and two visitor passes to park on the street. The apparently united group of homeowners made it clear through a spokesman that the effort to establish preferential parking is not just about the limited available parking for the residents and their families. The parking issue also speaks to the homeowners’ need to protect the ambiance of the neighborhood. Steve Ruszak, a board member of the Promontory Eastbluff Homeownsee COUNCIL page 7