S IGNA L T R I BU N E Serving Bixby Knolls, California Heights, Los Cerritos, Wrigley and Signal Hill VOL. XXXIX NO. 40
Weekly Community Newspaper
Green rush
www.signaltribune.com
September 29, 2017
Sebastian Echeverry | Signal Tribune
Fifth District Councilmember Stacy Mungo asks her constituents for political support during the grand opening of the Long Beach Republican Women Federated organization’s first local headquarters on Sept. 21.
‘It’s not the party of no anymore’ CJ Dablo | Signal Tribune
Adam Hijazi, co-owner of the Long Beach Green Room, opens a jar of marijuana buds in his dispensary. His store is scheduled to open this weekend.
As one medical-cannabis shop prepares to open, others may soon follow. CJ Dablo Staff Writer
Long Beach may be on the verge of its own green revolution, now that the City has developed a process for obtaining business licenses for medical-marijuana dispensaries and other businesses related to the cannabis industry. Last November, Long Beach voters passed two ordinances that regulated and taxed the cannabis industry, and earlier this year, the City announced just how medical-marijuana-related companies could obtain business licenses. The City offered priority status to applicants who were previous owners of dispensaries legally operating before the 2012 ban on medical-cannabis businesses took effect in the city. Those store owners eventually closed their shops. Five years later, applicants for a new business license now have to meet some strict requirements by the
City. Location, security, taxation and a host of other regulations are managed by different departments, and these issues require coordination from the city manager’s office before a dispensary can open its doors. Ajay Kolluri, who serves as the assistant to the city manager in Long Beach, oversees the current marijuana program and coordinates with various departments. Kolluri described the challenge of having to square the laws that Long Beach voters passed with the State’s proposed regulations on the marijuana industry. Kolluri also said that on Sept. 28, the City held a public lottery for other business-license applicants who weren’t given priority status to operate dispensaries. He noted that up to 32 business licenses will be issued to dispensaries in the city and that there was no cap on licenses for other industry-related companies that offered various services, which include cultivation, distribution and testing. Kolluri explained that Measure see DISPENSARY page 6
Major Republican organization celebrates opening of LB headquarters and works to get its party members elected. Sebastian Echeverry Staff Writer
The last time Los Angeles County voters favored the Republican party, the Olympics were in town and the first Beverly Hills Cop movie had just hit theaters. Fast-forward 33 years, and the county is now blue, despite a Republican president being in the White House. Most of the policies that President Donald Trump has implement-
ed since he took office have been highly criticized by citizens and the media. However, for Eileen Clary, legislative chairman for the Long Beach Republican Women Federated organization, Trump’s recent responses to North Korea, and his actions as commander-in-chief, are just what the Republican party needed to mobilize. “I think he is doing an excellent job talking up to North Korea,” she said. “He’s bringing the Republican party in sync so they are obligated to start moving ahead and doing things. It’s not the party of ‘no’ anymore. It’s the party of ‘move ahead’ and ‘let’s get business accomplished.’” In that spirit of getting things done, the Long Beach Republican
Women Federated (LBRWF) celebrated the grand opening of its first official headquarters on Thursday, Sept. 21. The headquarters, located in Suite 210 at 4195 Viking Way, serves as a central hub for members and volunteers as the LBRWF works to help elect Republicans running for office in Long Beach. The LBRWF invited California State Sen. Janet Nguyen, Long Beach Councilmember Stacy Mungo, Long Beach City Auditor Laura Doud and Long Beach City College Trustees Virginia Baxter and Jeff Kellogg as guest speakers for the ceremony. “It’s a great honor for me to be see REPUBLICANS page 11
Signal Hill City Council approves contract to build dog park Council also approved contracts to refurbish Hilltop Park artwork and redesign City’s website. Anita W. Harris Staff Writer
It was a night of awards at the Sept. 26 Signal Hill City Council meeting as the council approved contracts for various services– including building a new dog park– and presented prizes to the winners of the 2017 Summer Photo Contest. The council also rec-
ognized the sponsors and volunteers who made the summer concerts-inthe-park series possible. Dog park The council approved awarding a contract to build a Signal Hill dog park to DD Systems, Inc., for approximately $729,000, which includes a 10-percent contingency and requires transferring about $289,000 from the Park Development Fund to the Capital Improvement Fund. “As we’re seeing in our other capital-improvement projects, there’s been quite an escalation in construc-
tion costs, and the dog-park bids are no exception,” explained City Manager Charlie Honeycutt. Public Works Director Kelli Tunnicliff added that DD Systems was the lowest responsible bidder out of 13, and that the highest bid received was for $1.2 million. The 1.5-acre dog park will be located at 3100 California Ave., south of the 405 Freeway and across the street from the Gateway Shopping Center. Tunnicliff showed a map of the see COUNCIL page 15
The 22nd Annual
Grand Opening!
Historical Cemetery Tour
Saturday, October 28, 2017
www.HSLB.org
Tickets Available Now!
Historical Society of Long Beach