Like many other cities, Long Beach has faced several financial challenges in recent years. While many residents struggled with a difficult economy, our city government also suffered from the recession. Revenues stagnated from sources such as property taxes, while pension and other costs increased. The result was projected budget deficits extending years into the future, with the potential to seriously harm quality of life here in Long Beach.
Rather than hide from these challenges, we faced them head on. We looked at how we could be more efficient with our resources, asking every city department to cut its costs. We worked with the police and fire associations to negotiate historic pension reforms that will reduce future cuts to public safety. Nonetheless, even with our efforts to increase efficiency and control costs, we had to enact painful cuts to services to live within our means.
Today, our fiscal discipline has resulted in a leaner city government, more focused on delivering core services, like public safety and sidewalk maintenance. This discipline has reduced, but not eliminated, ongoing deficits. So, one may ask– where do we go from here? What constitutes “good government” in these lean times?
First, I believe we must stay the course and maintain the fiscal discipline that has allowed us to manage these challenges so far. We need to figure out how to reform pensions for the remaining employee groups with which we have been unable to reach an agreement, so that we can reduce cuts to vital services. We must resist the temptation to irresponsibly dump current costs onto future generations through budget gimmicks, or to endlessly defer maintenance and other necessary investments that only cause our problems to dramatically increase in the future. We should continue to follow our financial policies, so that our ongoing bills do not exceed our ongoing revenues available to pay them.
Second, we must be honest with our residents. Budget deficits in the coming years will require us to cut valued services to maintain a balanced budget. We will have to ask all city departments to spend less, and we will have to ask our residents to understand the choices we face. Budget reality means that avoiding cuts in one department can only mean deeper cuts in other departments– for example, avoiding reductions in recreation programs might result in a reduction of library hours.
Finally, we need to continue to seek ways to deliver services to our residents as efficiently and effectively as possible. For example, we need to explore how new technology may help us fight crime by lighting dark areas of our city without increasing our electricity bills. While it will be difficult to acquire new parkland, we should be relentless in seeking grants and other opportunities to create access to open space we already own– such as the 40-plus acre California Gardens property owned by the City for over 100 years.
Long Beach is a great city, and our brightest days are yet to come. By facing our financial challenges directly, honestly, and prudently, we will emerge from these challenges both a better and stronger city.

Johnson can be reached at district7@longbeach.gov.

Over the past two weeks I have written about the gang problems that are endemic to Long Beach and have plagued our city for years. This is the third part of my three-part report on where we stand in our battle with street gangs.
While the gang problem is growing in some communities (a 40-percent national growth in gang members over the last three years, according to FBI statistics), Long Beach is making momentous progress. Last year, LBPD announced that gang murders and gang-related shootings dropped 53.8 percent and 13.5 percent, respectively.
But we have many miles yet to go.
I told readers the stories of two gang members who made headlines in 2011. Bryan Soriano-Gutierrez, an active gang member– and just 18 years old– was shot multiple times and left to die on a central Long Beach sidewalk around midnight on one August night. Soriano-Gutierrez was murdered four weeks after I met him while I was on a ride-along with LBPD.
The same day Soriano-Gutierrez was killed, in a courtroom in downtown Long Beach, jury selection began in the murder trial of Tom Vinson, the gang member accused of killing high-school student Melody Ross. That jury found Vinson, 18, guilty of murdering Ross. Vinson, who claimed he was aiming at members of a competing Long Beach gang, was sentenced last month to spend the next 155 years in prison.
These personal stories have resonated powerfully with people. Gang life kills real people. There are two common fates of those who join a criminal street gang: death on the streets, or life in prison. These fates are sadly and poignantly illustrated by retelling the stories of Vinson and Soriano-Gutierrez.
My office does not prosecute murder cases, but we have a significant role in fighting gangs by initiating gang injunctions that prohibit certain “public nuisance” activity associated with gangs. Working closely with LBPD, my office has handled over 200 gang prosecutions in the past 18 months, directing our efforts at the most active and dangerous gang members. FBI statistics say gangs are responsible for about half of all violent crimes in most jurisdictions, and up to 90 percent in some cities, so targeting gangs is an efficient use of resources.
The fight against gangs does not stop there, however. That is only the beginning. Police and prosecutors need to keep looking at ways to stop gangs from their most destructive goal– the recruitment of kids.
My office launched an initiative aimed at truancy prevention because gangs recruit kids who are not in school. Some studies suggest the primary age for getting “jumped” into street gangs is 11 to 15 years. Gangs, especially in neighborhoods where a gang presence has existed for multiple generations, prey on truants and dropouts.
One study estimates 80 percent of gang members are school dropouts. Of the most active gang members in Long Beach, I am confident well over 80 percent of them dropped out of school. Vinson and Soriano-Gutierrez almost certainly fall into this group.
Keeping kids in school not only keeps them off the streets, but it makes it harder for gangs to recruit them. It also gives kids the possibility of a future, a future that does not include death on the streets or life in prison.
More and more studies are showing a strong correlation between teenage truancy and juvenile delinquency, and these studies are compelling. As many as 75 percent of all truant high-school students will eventually drop out of school. In California, a staggering three-fourths of all prison inmates are high-school dropouts.
The California Department of Education identified truancy as “the most powerful predictor of juvenile delinquent behavior.” The Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention reports that truancy correlates with substance abuse, criminal activity, and gang involvement. For many juveniles, all three of these things– substance abuse, criminal activity, and gang involvement– are entirely interrelated.
If that was not enough reason to focus on keeping kids in schools, studies also suggest dropouts are more likely to become the victims of violent crimes. In San Francisco, a 2010 study looked at murder victims under the age of 25 and found that 94 percent of them were high-school dropouts. That means kids who drop out of school are not just more likely to commit crime, but they are statistically at higher risk to be found on the business end of a loaded gun.
My three-part column on fighting gang violence has come to an end. I wrote this to remind all Long Beach residents that gangs are a community problem, not just a problem affecting a few areas. This is high-stakes business. If you think for a moment that gang members only kill other gang members, just remember the tragic death of Melody Ross.
The Gang Life does not need to perpetuate itself. Indeed, there is hope, and police and prosecutors, working with school officials and community-based organizations, have come a long way. We still have a long way to go. We need to keep our targets set on the most active gang members through gang injunctions, while keeping kids in school and out of gangs through truancy programs. One day at a time, one child at a time.
This strategy is not exciting, nor will it yield big headlines. However, when I read the headlines created in 2011 by the murder of Bryan Soriano-Gutierrez, or the murder conviction of Tom Vinson for killing of Ms. Ross, the most important headlines are ones I am seeking to prevent.

Comments may be sent to prosecutor@longbeach.gov.

The City of Signal Hill has a long history of redevelopment successes. The Agency was created in 1974 to deal with the blight created by 70 years of oil field operations and to induce development in order to create a tax base for the City. The Agency is the financial engine that has assisted the City in creating financial stability and has led to the development of our wonderful community.
The oil field created soil contamination, irregular lot sizes, pipelines that are no longer in use and wells that needed to be abandoned. The Agency was instrumental in creating the Signal Hill Auto Center, which commenced in 1989 and now encompasses six dealerships and involved land consolidation, demolition and soil remediation to make the center possible. The Agency’s ability to assemble property, clean it up and market it led to the development of Town Center East, West, and North, which include Costco, Home Depot and Fresh & Easy. Not only do the Auto Center and Town Centers generate sales-tax dollars, which allows the City the ability to provide a high level of service to its residents, they generate many private jobs. The Agency also played a crucial role in the development of the hilltop homes. The Agency has also been responsible for the development of six affordable housing projects, such as Las Brisas I and II.
In light of these successes and those successes of the other 400 agencies across the state, the Legislature passed two pieces of legislation in its 2011-12 session that would eliminate agencies (ABx1 26) unless agencies made payments to the State (ABx1 27). The California Redevelopment Association, together with the League of California Cities, sued the State as to the constitutionality of these laws and their violation of Proposition 22, passed by the voters in November 2010 to prohibit future “raids” from redevelopment. The worst-case scenario occurred, and the California State Supreme Court ruled that ABx1 26 was constitutional and that ABx1 27 was unconstitutional.
The Supreme Court decision was announced on Dec. 29, 2011, and all agencies will cease to exist on Feb. 1, 2012. The law provides for a successor agency to work with an oversight committee to dissolve the agency of its assets and property. In the meantime, Signal Hill’s Redevelopment Agency will have to cease its property clean-up program, including the program to re-abandon leaking oil wells. There were other projects in the works, including the development of additional retail, that will be terminated.
Agencies and cities alike, along with supporters of redevelopment, will be working with the California Redevelopment Association and the League of California Cities, along with members of the Legislature, in the coming months to determine if there is a way to reinvent redevelopment in California. Redevelopment and economic development are crucial for Signal Hill and its ability to continue to be “the little City that could and did.”

Last week, I wrote about the death and devastation that follows the Gang Life. Gang membership typically leads to only two outcomes: a sudden, violent death on the streets, or a slow death behind bars.
I told the story of one particular gang member, Bryan Soriano-Gutierrez, 18, who I met when I was on a ride-along with Long Beach police officers. He sold and used methamphetamine (meth), but you couldn’t tell right away by talking to him. He had a straight, brisk stride when he walked up to the officers I was with. He spoke with a confidence and energy that you would associate with almost any 18-year-old.
Bryan Soriano-Gutierrez, as it turned out, would be murdered four weeks after I met him. He was shot dead by an unknown assailant at midnight a few blocks from where we met. While at a glance he might have looked like almost any other 18-year-old, his decision to join a gang would separate Soriano-Gutierrez from others.
More recently, I was talking to a friend of mine about meeting Soriano-Gutierrez and the circumstances of his death. My friend lives in Long Beach, but in a neighborhood closer to the Orange County border than the central Long Beach streets where Soriano-Gutierrez lived and died. My friend’s jaw dropped. Sure, he lives in Long Beach and, of course, he hears about the occasional shootings, but he does not associate such actions with his Long Beach.
I’ve seen others react the same way. They think Long Beach is two separate cities, one an urban jungle where, according to news reports, there are shootings, robberies, drug dealings, and other miscellaneous mayhem. In contrast, the other Long Beach where my friend lives has well-kept suburban neighborhoods, safe parks and clean streets.
This vision of separateness is really just an illusion. The truth is that Soriano-Gutierrez’s Long Beach is also my friend’s Long Beach. Anyone who thinks of Long Beach as A Tale of Two Cities is off by one.
In last week’s commentary, I also talked about the tragic and heartbreaking murder of Melody Ross, a high-school student who had absolutely no gang involvement. She was shot by a gang member named Tom Vinson, who was convicted of her murder and sentenced to serve 155 years in state prison.
Many people know that Melody Ross’s murder was part of the motivation for me to run for city prosecutor. Like many parents who read about Ross’s murder, my reaction was one of anger, and since I have two daughters, one who will soon be a high-school student, my anger was quickly followed by concern. I decided to return to the City Prosecutor’s Office (where my legal career began as a deputy city prosecutor) in order to help make a difference in our city.
I am proud that my office, working closely with LBPD, is aggressively targeting the most active gang members through gang injunctions and other actions. We are going after gang leadership because doing so ensures our limited resources are directed at those most responsible for street violence. Also, aiming at the most active and violent gang leaders interferes with the ability of gangs to recruit new members.
Why is that important? Because gangs are now recruiting kids as young as 12 years old. Gang leaders know they need to recruit kids at a young age because virtually every day in LA County another gang member is murdered or sent to prison for life. One thing is clear– we will not be able to control the growth of gangs unless we stop gang recruitment of kids.
I am also proud of our new Parent Accountability and Chronic Truancy (PACT) program, which targets kids and their parents when kids commit crimes or skip too much school. Under a new state law, kids in grades K–8 who miss more than 10 percent of the school year without any excuse are deemed “chronic truants.”
Studies show that chronic truants are less likely to earn a high-school diploma, more likely to become victims of crime, and, not surprisingly, chronic truants are front-line targets for gang recruitment. Gangs take to school dropouts like sharks to small fish.
Because we are one city, and because gang violence has the potential to affect any one of us and any time, it is time that Long Beach focused on the gang problem like never before. Timing is critical, not just because of the reported rise in gang activity nationwide, but because the state’s budget cuts are causing the early release of criminals from jail. LA County will be hit harder than other counties.
Those who think gang crime is someone else’s problem need to think again. I hope this commentary, and the one I wrote last week, will help people understand the gang problem for what it is– a citywide issue. Our gang injunction program, which suppresses and disrupts gang activity, and our PACT program, which makes it harder for gangs to recruit kids, are only a small part of what needs to be done in Long Beach.

In March of 1933, a massive 6.3 earthquake destroyed more than 70 schools and severely damaged another 120 in my hometown of Long Beach. Dozens more schools outside of Long Beach were also damaged and destroyed.
As a direct result, and only 30 days after the earthquake, the state Legislature passed the Field Act, which put into place some of the nation’s first seismic building standards for public schools.
The Act also mandated that the state Department of General Services– through its Division of the State Architect (DSA)– oversee and certify the design and construction of public K-12 schools and universities statewide. The DSA is tasked with making sure that every public school construction project in California meets all building, safety and accessibility codes.
Unfortunately, that system of oversight pioneered by the Field Act has broken down, and thousands of schools statewide are at potential risk of everything from minor structural issues to major safety problems.
In April, based on longstanding concerns regarding the division’s efficiency, I called for an audit of the DSA. The findings, issued Dec. 8 by the State Auditor’s office, both confirmed my fears and magnified them.
The audit uncovered a massive backlog of more than 16,400 completed school projects statewide– more than 2,000 in the last three years alone– that remain uncertified by the DSA.
The audit also found that DSA rarely uses its enforcement powers to halt projects with violations, and in virtually all cases, the thousands of uncertified schools are currently open and operating.
The state auditors also found evidence that in at least some recent cases, required DSA inspections are either not being done, or are being done infrequently.
Most disturbing, the state auditors discovered an antiquated and ineffective system of documentation in use by the DSA.
The DSA filing system is so bad that it is virtually impossible to determine how many projects are uncertified for structural issues or for fire and safety issues. Or how many schools remain uncertified for minor problems and how many face serious problems.
Imagine a database of more than 16,400 case files with no way to search by type or severity of violations. This has also led to a system where it is nearly impossible for DSA or anyone else to prioritize which backlogged projects must be dealt with first.
In the meantime, these uncertified schools, and the thousands of students that use them, remain at possible risk. This situation is untenable, unacceptable and, if uncorrected, has the potential for disaster.
It is critical that the recommendations of the State Auditor’s office addressing the issues they found within the DSA be implemented immediately. It is also imperative that the Legislature maintain diligent oversight to ensure the rapid implementation of these corrective measures.
Since the Field Act was enacted nearly 80 years ago, not a single life at a California public school has been lost during an earthquake. While this is an enviable track record highlighting the importance of proper government regulation, we cannot allow such significant safeguards and protections to suffer from inattention.

By affixing his name to a small package of education bills last month, Gov. Jerry Brown sent a signal to parents and teachers alike that bullying– in the school yard or on the Internet– is unacceptable, and the grownups are going to do something about it.
Bullied kids are more likely to suffer from anxiety and depression. They often develop behavior problems and underperform in school. Sometimes, they give up and drop out of school altogether. Way too many of them are bullied mentally, verbally and physically almost on a daily basis.
In short, bullying is toxic. So we need to get bullying out of our schools in the same way we had to get lead out of our paint. We simply cannot allow something so poisonous near our children.
Even if you have little sympathy for bullying’s young victims, it’s obvious to everyone that an atmosphere of threat and intimidation can undermine all of our best efforts and can make it harder for us to prepare the next generation to compete in the world marketplace.
It’s a national issue, and it’s about time. Bullies are no longer confined to the school yard or the street corner. They now have at their command all the tools of social media and the digital age. School kids can be stalked online and terrorized in their own homes any time of the day or night.
These predators have new tools to harass and hurt. So school districts need new tools to deal with the problem.
One new law that will take effect on New Year’s Day is AB 746, which extended the definition of an “electronic act” to include posts on a social-network site. This should be a valuable new tool for the prevention of bullying, and brings the law up to date with the realities of our children’s lives.
Other laws seek to foster a peaceful, positive learning environment on campus. AB 1156 will expand the definition of bullying, linking it to academic performance as well as requiring school personnel to take bullying prevention trainings. AB 9 will put school safety first by creating strong and clear anti-harassment policies and programs that currently either don’t exist in most schools or do not specifically include the issue of bullying.
The governor’s actions are supported by a program that’s focused on the solution to the problem of bullying. PeaceBuilders is a science-based, research-validated program which decreases aggressive and violent behavior and reduces suspensions, referrals and disciplinary action. In 600 sites throughout California, PeaceBuilders increases school attendance and improves test scores and academic achievement by creating a welcome and safe environment where children can focus on learning and teachers spend less time disciplining their students and can focus on teaching them.
A recent Harris Interactive survey showed that both parents and children worry more about the dangers of bullies than illegal drug use and believe there should be more resources available to students who experience bullying in schools. Programs that focus on how to prevent bullying before it starts are the key to decreased aggressive and violent behavior, reduced suspensions, and reduced referrals and disciplinary action.
I am a strong advocate for a child’s right to a safe, high-quality education. I’ve been extremely impressed with the strides made by schools which have implemented anti-bullying programs and embraced a philosophy of turning school into a safe, peaceful and productive place to be. It is just these kinds of healthy environments– shored up by making AB 1156 and AB 9 law– where we can foster our children’s well-being and education, and where bullies have no power.
The governor should be commended for signing these bills, and for demonstrating his continued support for a positive learning environment for all students.

Bonnie Lowenthal represents California’s 54th Assembly District.

The Long Beach Unified School District (LBUSD) has long been lauded for its excellent school music programs. Starting in third grade, students were able to study the violin or cello, and in the fourth and fifth grades, they could also choose a woodwind instrument. Many of these budding musicians went on to play in Long Beach’s award-winning middle- and high-school bands and orchestras.
Many studies have been done showing the positive effects studying a musical instrument has on the mind, including improved memory, concentration, and abstract reasoning skills. Which is why, as a Long Beach parent, I was dismayed to hear that this year, LBUSD would be cutting back on its music programs for elementary-school students.
The reason? A class-action lawsuit filed by the American Civil Liberties Union in 2010 against the State of California over “public school academic fees,” for things like field trips, transportation, classroom supplies, art materials, and music instrument rentals. One Long Beach school, the California Academy of Math and Science, was specifically named by the ACLU in its report “Pay to Learn: An Investigation of Mandatory Fees for Educational Activities in California Public Schools” for its offense of “charging students fees for physical education uniforms that they are required to wear.” The ACLU states that these fees violate the California Constitution guaranteeing children a free education and discriminate against the poor.
Because of this climate, and a corresponding California Assembly Bill 165 aiming to codify the principles of the lawsuit, the LBUSD restructured its music programs for 2011: instrumental music education for all third graders has been suspended, fourth graders are limited to violin only, and fifth graders can choose between strings and “advanced woodwinds.” Participants at each school are chosen by lottery. Twenty violins will be supplied at each school for children to share, but they will not be able to take the instruments home, according to LBUSD Music Curriculum Leader James Petri.
In this era of severe budget cutbacks to public schools, is this the right time for such a lawsuit? According to an article on LBUSD’s website, nearly 1,000 violins are needed for fourth and fifth graders at a cost of about $265,000; 275 trumpets are needed in fourth and fifth grades at a cost of about $126,000, and “the school district also needs cellos, flutes, clarinets, saxophones and trombones.”
A student’s right to having free textbooks and teachers is definitely worth a fight. But playing an instrument, playing on the football team, being a cheerleader, going on a field trip– can we really expect public scho­­ols to shoulder the entire costs of these programs when they can barely afford to retain the instructors? Is it really unreasonable to require parents to pay for team uniforms their child will be wearing, or to rent an instrument their child will be blowing into?
It would appear that Governor Brown agrees. He vetoed AB 165 on Oct. 8, stating that the bill “goes too far” and “takes the wrong approach” in addressing student fee issues. The ACLU lawsuit, which was stalled pending the outcome of AB 165, will now move forward.
In the meantime, the cuts to the local elementary music programs have already taken place.
No one wants a child to be left out of an activity because they can’t afford to pay the fees. However, scholarships or booster funds can be made available for those who truly can’t afford them. While the intentions of the ACLU are to ensure that no one is left out, if the schools can’t ask parents to pitch in somewhere, it becomes more likely that everyone will be left out.

The Long Beach Unified School District is accepting instrument donations. Call (562) 997-8175 to donate instruments, or bring instruments to a collection day scheduled for 9am to noon Saturday, Nov. 5 at the Teacher Resource Center, Room C, 1299 E. 32nd St., in Signal Hill.

The little orphaned, homeless and nameless park mentioned in “Thoughts from the Publisher” in last week’s Signal Tribune was put in by the City of Long Beach as part of a new bicycle path and green belt space called the P & E Right-of-Way Park. The new park is composed of two sections. The first section, which was shown in the photograph printed in that issue, is located between Martin L. King Jr. Avenue and Lemon Avenue, and the second section, when completed, will be between Orange Avenue and Walnut Avenue.
As a park commissioner for what we often say is the “best park system in the country,” it pains me to see what happens when something in one of our parks goes wrong. The vandalism to this small park is an example of what happens when a park opens without full partnership of all of the various offices, departments, agencies, community groups and neighbors working together to make it a success.
Since opening the park in June, the park department has had the following problems with the location:

• Over 150 (and counting) sprinkler heads have been stolen or broken at the location. Crews have had to be on site almost every day since June to repair or replace the sprinkler heads.
• Park benches have had graffiti removed at least once a week, with four complete bench repaints. The most recent repaints were last Friday morning. Unfortunately, the paint was not even dry before the benches were tagged that same night, requiring another full repaint.
• The lighting in the park has been a challenge for various reasons. However, we may have worked out a solution with the manufacturer that may have resolved the issue.
These are just a few of the challenges that this park is having. But it seems obvious to me that the community needs to work together to find a way to overcome the few people that are ruining it for the others.
Here are just a few suggestions:
Clean up the alley next to the park. Let’s find a way to get some funding directed to a new paved alley. The current state makes the beautiful park hard to get to and hard to see.
Clean up the wash behind the park. I don’t even want to guess what is living or possibly not living in that wash. It looks as if it has not been cleaned in a very long time. I am told that the drainage is maintained by the LA County Flood Control District, and I am not sure how often they come out to check it, but it’s definitely not enough. Let’s hold a waterway clean-up.
Develop a park watch program with the local community. I saw several apartment buildings that face the park, along with a large Cambodian community center/temple next to the park. Perhaps they want to adopt the park.
Hold a grand-opening event in conjunction with the 6th Council District Office– Dee Andrews. Perhaps a community that celebrates together may work together to keep it clean and safe. A soft opening, in my opinion, does not help garner ownership.
I will continue to provide updates as new information is available. Perhaps someday soon we can add this park to the growing list of “true” community parks in our city.

Stephen Wallace, senior advisor for policy, research, and education at SADD and author of the book Reality Gap: Alcohol, Drugs, and Sex–What Parents Don’t Know and Teens Aren’t Telling, has experience as a school psychologist and adolescent counselor. For more information about SADD, visit sadd.org.
For more information about Wallace, visit stephengraywallace.com . To find Liberty Mutual’s Parent/Teen Driving Contract, go to LibertyMutual.com/TeenDriving.