Serving Bixby Knolls, California Heights, Los Cerritos, Wrigley and Signal Hill with 30,000 issues every Friday
VOL. XLII NO. 9
Your Weekly Community Newspaper
www.signaltribune.com
In this issue
LB Council Recap: Long Beach budget manager reports General Fund surplus
NEWS
Council also discussed tenant protections, cultural center and parking for food trucks.
Meth and opioids in Long Beach: Health Department releases opioid-addiction death report from 2014 to 2018
Daniel Green Production Manager
Page 8 Courtesy City of LB
A map from the City of Long Beach’s DataLB showing the city’s cannabis dispensary, cultivation, distribution, manufacturing and testing locations.
Long Beach accepts $914,000 to promote equity in cannabis industry LBUSD Superintendent-Selection Forum draws concerns, praises from local residents Page 10
CULTURE
Anita W. Harris Staff Writer
The Long Beach City Council voted Tuesday, Feb. 18 to accept a $913,991 grant from the California Bureau of Cannabis Control (BCC) to support the city’s Cannabis Social Equity Program (CSEP). Councilmember Al Austin expressed support for accepting
the grant, noting that any time the State offers close to a million dollars, it’s wise to accept. “Social equity is extremely important, particularly as we look at new, emerging markets,” Austin said. The council had approved the CSEP in July 2018, as part of an ordinance on adult-use cannabis businesses, to promote equal opportunity in that industry.
Sebastian Echeverry Managing Editor
Page 9
In an online blog post (which can be viewed at https://bit. ly/2HJqPER) dated Feb. 13, multiple Polytechnic High School students alleged their teacher, identified in the post as Libby Huff, called a student the N-word and “put her hands on many of us students on multiple occasions.”
The Long Beach Unified School District (LBUSD) told the Signal Tribune that the teacher in question was originally put on paid administrative leave on Jan. 31 following an investigation into a complaint the district received. Following that investigation, the teacher returned to the classroom on Feb. 12. In the blog post,
Specifically, the CSEP intends to make business-ownership and employment opportunities accessible to low-income individuals and communities negatively impacted by the prior criminalization of cannabis. The grant stems from the California Equity Act of 2018 allocating $10 million to jusee CANNABIS page 14
students claimed that some did not feel comfortable and walked out of her class. On Feb. 14, the district placed the teacher on paid administrative leave again and is currently investigating the “newly received complaints.” “The school district is not at liberty to provide details of such see POLY HIGH page 14
“I Endorse Juan Ovalle for City Council!” - Councilwoman Rae Gabelich (Retired) THE QUESTIONS TO ASK YOURSELF ARE: • Are we SAFER than we were 8 years ago, when Councilwoman Gabelich left office? • Are our precious TAX DOLLARS being spent more wisely than they were 8 years ago? • Do we have a nearby FIRE STATION for emergency dispatch, as we did 8 years ago? • Are the PARKS and TREES greener and healthier than they were 8 years ago? We know the answers are NO. That means Al Austin has to go. It’s TIME FOR CHANGE.
At its Feb. 18 meeting, the Long Beach City Council discussed Food Trucks, an update on the proposed African American Center, a cannabis ban and the ordinance on nofault evictions. Budget Performance Report
Grant will help low-income and marginalized residents open cannabis businesses.
Poly High teacher on paid leave after allegations of racial slurs, physical-disciplinary action surface online Made with love: Couples share what inspired their Long Beach eateries
February 21, 2020
The city council voted to receive and file the Fiscal Year 2019 Year-end Budget Performance Report. Budget Manager, Grace Yoon, said that the City’s general fund reported a surplus of approximately $7.98 million. Yoon added that the surplus is less than 1.5% of the General Fund, but that it is larger than in past years. Yoon contributed the surplus to an assortment of factors including what was described as “unexpected one-time revenues, general positive economic growth, and sales tax, as well as proactive management of the budget to generate departmental savings.” Yoon continued by saying that the budget staff is determining ways to include one-time revenues, such as construction materials and equipment into the budget. In see LB COUNCIL page 15
Juan
valle
for City Council
LET’S ELECT AN ADVOCATE, NOT A POLITICIAN Let’s send another dedicated neighborhood advocate, like Rae Gabelich, to represent us downtown! VOTE CENTERS OPEN SAT., FEB. 22 (8am-5pm daily): Closest Location: Community Center, 851 Via Carmelitos www.JuanOvalleForCouncil.com Paid for by Juan Ovalle for City Council 2020 (ID# 1419219)