Signal
ST3420 - October 19_Layout 1 10/18/12 5:35 PM Page 1
Images from the “Afterlife” exhibit, which opens Oct. 20 at Greenly Art Space See p. 11 for more
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Vol. 34 No. 20
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october 19, 2012
SERVING BIXBY KNOLLS, CALIFORNIA HEIGHTS, LOS CERRITOS, WRIGLEY AND THE CITY OF SIGNAL HILL
Signature drive continues for Long Beach-area residents and schools encouraged to start prepping for ‘The Big One’ proposed initiative to require two-thirds vote for taxes Your Weekly Community Newspaper
Sean Belk/Signal Tribune
Nick Diamantides/Signal Tribune
Signal Hill residents Al and Elizabeth Wise (far left) and Bob Mendoza (far right) discuss the proposed Taxpayer’s Right to Know and Vote initiative with one of its proponents, former Signal Hill City Councilmember Carol Churchill, at Hilltop Park on Wednesday morning. Churchill says she goes to the park often to collect signatures on the petition to place the initiative on the ballot of a future Signal Hill election.
Nick Diamantides Staff Writer
Signal Hill Community First– the group pushing for an initiative that would require two-thirds voter approval for certain taxes, fees and assessments in Signal Hill– is still busy gathering the signatures of registered voters for a petition to place the initiative on the ballot. Meanwhile, one of the group’s leaders, former Signal Hill City Councilmember Carol Churchill, asserted that city officials either do not understand what the initiative would require or are deliberately misinterpreting the language of the proposed law in order to persuade voters to not sign the petition. The deadline for placing the proposed initiative– called The Taxpayer’s Right to Know and Vote– on the March 5, 2013 ballot was Oct. 12, but the group has until Dec. 21 to collect enough signatures to place it on a future ballot. According to Becky Burleson, assistant to the Signal Hill city manager/deputy city clerk, Community First filed a Notice of Intent to Circu-
late Initiative Petition on June 25, 2012. “According to state law, in order to place the initiative on the ballot, they have 180 days to collect 553 signatures of registered voters,” Burleson said. “That amounts to 10 percent of the people who were registered to vote in Signal Hill on June 25.” Burleson explained that if Community First turns in 553 valid signatures (verified by the Los Angeles County Registrar’s office) by Dec. 21, the initiative will be placed on the Signal Hill ballot for the June 2014 statewide primary election. “That is the next regularly scheduled election in Signal Hill,” she added. “However, if they collect the signatures of 15 percent of the voters by Dec. 21, the initiative could be placed on a ballot for a special election before June 2014.” “Our group never had the goal of qualifying for the March ballot,” Churchill said. “We asked Becky to provide us with all the election dates and cutoff times so that we could create a calender, but our goal has
70th District - State Assembly
together:
• We can build our golden State • We can rebuild our economy on the principles of free enterprise, hard work and innovation
Vote Nov. 6
562-888-1598 info@marthafloresgibson.com vote4martha@twitter.com facebook.com/marthafloresgibson
Paid for by Martha Flores-Gibson for State Assembly 70th, 2012 ID#1343123
www.marthafloresgibson.com
Sean Belk Staff Writer
Southern California is due for a major earthquake, one that may knock out power for days and cause wide-
spread destruction, according to emergency-preparedness officials and experts, who alerted Long Beach-area residents and schools to start preparing for “The Big One.”
It was almost two decades ago when the 6.7-magnitude Northridge earthquake devastated the greater Los Angeles area, collapsing freeways,
Loss of redevelopment casts shadow over Signal Hill’s affordable-housing program
see PREPAREDNESS page 14
CJ Dablo Staff Writer
Signal Hill city officials at Tuesday’s Council meeting mulled over a dilemma: how to keep up with the State’s requirements to provide affordable housing in the city, especially after California’s legislators dismantled the redevelopment program that was created for that very purpose. Councilmember Michael Noll summed up the problem another way. “Kind of a double standard,” Noll said, “where the requirement is to build housing…[with] one hand of the State saying we need to build affordable housing and the other hand takes it away.” The Signal Hill Redevelopment Agency (RDA) was created in the 1970s to eliminate blighted areas and create affordable housing. The challenge to pay for affordable housing extends beyond Signal
Weekly Weather Forecast
see PETITION page 18
Vote for Martha Flores-Gibson
Alvarado Elementary School Principal Brett Geithman directs the staff and student body during the fifth annual Great California Shakeout Thursday morning. The school in Signal Hill joined thousands across the state that participated in the annual earthquake drill designed to prepare Californians for “The Big One.”
CJ Dablo/Signal Tribune
At Tuesday’s Signal Hill City Council meeting, Central Basin Municipal Water District Board Director Phillip Hawkins (center) presented Water Hero awards to Councilmember Larry Forester (left) and the City of Signal Hill. Mayor Tina Hansen (right) accepted the award on behalf of the City.
Hill’s city limits. Other cities throughout California are also winding down the affairs of their own redevelopment agencies that have
October 19 through October 23, 2012
Friday
Saturday
Sunday
Monday
Tuesday
Partly sunny
76°
Low clouds, then sun
Lo 57°
68°
Low clouds, then sun
Lo 61°
68°
Clouds, then sun
Lo 62°
71°
Low clouds, then sun
Lo 56°
Lo 56°
71°
This week’s Weekly Weather Forecast sponsored by:
now been dissolved. State lawmakers eliminated the redevelopment program last year, and Signal Hill see COUNCIL page 15
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