Serving Bixby Knolls, California Heights, Los Cerritos, Wrigley and Signal Hill with 30,000 issues every Friday
VOL. XLI NO. 28
Your Weekly Community Newspaper
www.signaltribune.com
July 5, 2019
LB City Council moves to extend salestax increase
In this issue NEWS
Voters would need to approve the extension of Measure A.
Cory Bilicko Staff Writer
pilot program,” she said. The pilot program will last 12 months and will be funded with $220,942, according to the City’s Safe Parking Feasibility study. Shannon Parker, Long Beach Homeless Services Officer, said the program will also help families connect with case workers and other services to find permanent housing options.
The Long Beach City Council voted Tuesday night to direct the city manager to prepare an ordinance for review later this month to extend Measure A, in an effort to address financial challenges the City is facing. In July 2016, Long Beach voters approved Measure A, a 10year sales-tax increase aimed at improving public safety and infrastructure. Per a council resolution, after being raised by 1 percent for six years, the tax increase would decline by a half percent for four years and then expire in 2027. “As part of that measure, we established a five-member Citizens Advisory Committee to really review the use of the funds by the City,” said Assistant City Manager Tom Modica during Tuesday’s council meeting. “They meet about three to four times a year. They take action to determine, ‘Is the spending that the City’s doing consistent with the
see HOMELESS page 14
see COUNCIL page 14
California sees higher gas costs following July 1 tax
Gas prices also increased throughout the nation. Page 10
Man killed, bystander injured in possible gang shooting
Long Beach police officials said stray bullet struck the 17-year-old. Page 11
CULTURE
Theatre review La Cage Aux Folles closes out Pride Month with a bang.
Page 8
File photo The 2018 Long Beach homeless count revealed that 1,863 individuals experienced homelessness and 85 of them lived in their vehicles. The Long Beach City Council is aiming to launch a safe-parking pilot program in September to provide individuals living out of their cars a designated place to spend the night.
LB launching parking program for homeless people living in cars
The program will connect individuals with options for permanent housing, official says. Sebastian Echeverry Managing Editor
It is no secret the homelessness situation throughout the state is causing some city officials to scramble to find creative ways to help house transients. Some ideas that have been tossed around include motel conversions and shared housing. In the latest attempt to tackle homelessness, the City of Long Beach announced it is launching a
Sunnyside Cemetery holds breath as Long Beach weighs takeover LB City Council to vote in August on fate of historic site.
Anita W. Harris Staff Writer
OPINION A fallen hero
A letter remembering fallen Long Beach fire captain David Rosa. Page 4
safe-parking pilot program in September to give homeless families who live out of their cars a designated place to spend the night. Second District Councilmember Jeannine Pearce proposed the idea to the Long Beach City Council in 2016. A similar idea was brought forth six years ago, but it did not pass, Pearce told the Signal Tribune during a phone interview Tuesday. “We were able to secure funds from [Measure H] to go towards this
As reported in the June 21 issue of the Signal Tribune, the Sunnyside Cemetery in Long Beach may close its doors by the end of August if the City of Long Beach doesn’t agree to assume responsibility for its upkeep. That option may be one step closer to reality now that the 113-yearold cemetery has submitted a formal proposal to the City following a June 22 meeting with Long Beach Economic Development Director John
Keisler. Linda Meador, one of the cemetery’s four board members, told the Signal Tribune this week that the proposal consists of four areas: the action it wishes to see and its assets, obligations and contracts. “The obligation is obviously to the families that still have a right to have family members buried there,” Meador said. “We want those obligations to continue on.” She added that the cemetery only has two outstanding contracts, one
with the Long Beach Historical Society to hold its annual tour in October and the other with Long Beach Opera, which is planning a production at the cemetery in May 2020. In terms of actions, Meador said the board just wants the City to take over the cemetery and improve and maintain it. “John Keisler said to keep [the proposal] simple and then they’ll get into the nitty-gritty of everything,” she said. “I’ve offered to be available whenever they’d like to come to
the cemetery to see more of our records. […] So, now I’m just waiting to hear back from them.” After receiving the proposal last week, Keisler’s staff started analyzing the cemetery’s costs, benefits and liabilities to present to the Long Beach City Council in August, Keisler told the Signal Tribune in a July 2 interview. The council will then vote to determine whether the City will act to prevent the property’s closure. see CEMETERY page 15