May 22, 2020 | Vol. XLII No.22

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Serving Bixby Knolls, California Heights, Los Cerritos, Wrigley and Signal Hill with 30,000 issues every Friday

VOL. XLII NO. 22

Your Weekly Community Newspaper

www.signaltribune.com

May 22, 2020

Sanctuary LB Coalition cosponsors proposed VISION Act

In this issue CULTURE

The proposed act would protect immigrants behind bars.

Call to artists for PHOTOVARIOUS exhibit by MOLAA and the Long Beach Creative Group Page 5

Kristen Naeem Staff Writer

City of Long Beach

On Tuesday, May 19, the Long Beach City Council met via teleconference to discuss the effects of the COVID-19 crisis on the City’s budget. The council also discussed an extension to the eviction moratorium it passed in March.

LB Council considers extending the eviction moratorium

COMMUNITY

The city council voted to approve a potential extension to the eviction moratorium, along with a new open streets program. Daniel Green Production Manager

St. Mary Medical Center begins delivering meals for Project Angel Food Page 7

Opinion

At its May 19 meeting, the Long Beach City Council discussed a proposal for an open street program, an extension for the eviction moratorium, protections for workers and the City’s financial future. Eviction Moratoriums The City Council voted to have the city attorney draft an emergency ordinance that would

extend the eviction moratorium and tenants’ length of time to pay back past rent. The orders issued by the Council would extend the moratorium by 60 days, and allow for the Council to consider an extension two weeks before the ordinance would expire. Additionally, the ordinance would extend the period residents have to pay back the rent to July 31, 2021. The moratorium was initially passed in March and suspended

rent for tenants who were unable to pay due to financial hardship related to the coronavirus. The order extended included rent from March to May, and had a sunset date of May 31. Tenants would then have until November to become current on back rent. The Council also asked the city attorney to return with the best ways to protect tenants from harassment from landlords. see LB COUNCIL page 4

Queen Mary generated nearly $94 million for Long Beach in 2019, new report states

The report comes amid the Queen Mary’s current closure due to the COVID-19 pandemic and Urban Commons’ recent scrutiny over failure to pay its TOT to the city Anita W. Harris

Thoughts from the new Managing Editor Page 3

Staff Writer

Los Angeles real-estate developers Urban Commons, operators of the Queen Mary since 2016, issued a novel report last week created by research consultants Beacon Economics assessing the financial impact of the

venerable ship docked in Long Beach. Now a public attraction featuring hotel rooms, dining establishments, bars and special events, the Queen Mary generated $93.7 million in “economic output,” or value, for the city last year, according to the report. The Queen Mary had 1.5 mil-

lion visitors in 2019, hosting 50 events with 360,000 participants who spent over $46 million in Long Beach, the report states. Most of that spending went to food and beverages, followed by accommodations and local transportation. see QUEEN MARY page 5

The Sanctuary Long Beach Coalition is cosponsoring the VISION Act, Assembly Bill 2596, introduced by California State Assembly Members Rob Bonta and David Chiu, to prevent the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation (CDCR) from transferring inmates to the custody of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) after they’ve finished serving their sentences in jail or prison. Bonta and Chiu introduced the Voiding Inequality and Seeking Inclusion for Our Immigrant Neighbors (VISION) Act to the California State Assembly on February 20. The act was further amended in assembly on May 4. Sanctuary LB and other immigrant rights groups advocate that immigrants should be entitled to the same rules of release and parole as citizens, and should not be detained further by ICE after being granted parole or release from CDCR. “Once a Californian has paid their debt to society, and earned their release from our state prisons or jails, they should be released back to society rather than funneled into immigration detention and deportation,” Bonta said in a press release. see VISION ACT page 7


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