Signal Hill’s next municipal election is less than three months away, and the deadline to file as a candidate was Dec. 3. Incumbent Councilmembers Larry Forester and Tina Hansen are running for reelection and facing only one challenger– Matt Simmons. Incumbent City Clerk Kathee Pacheco and incumbent City Treasurer Emerson Fersch are running for reelection unopposed.
Pacheco explained that, in order to run for public office in the city, a person must be a resident of Signal Hill and obtain at least 20 valid signatures of registered Signal Hill voters on a nominating petition. She added that candidates must pay a minimum fee of $25 to have their name appear on the ballot but that a candidate’s statement and photograph would require an additional charge.
Pacheco was first elected as Signal Hill City Clerk in April 1993 and is now seeking her fourth term in office. “Personally, I have enjoyed serving the residents of Signal Hill as the City Clerk, and I look forward to another four years of service,” she said. Fersch, who was first elected in 2003, is seeking his third term in office. “I have been serving in this capacity for eight years now, and I feel that I have added value to the position,” he said. “And it’s a way for me to serve the community that I live in. We have a very unique investment portfolio, and I am very proud of it.”
Forester, who is now serving as vice mayor, was appointed to the City Council in 1998 to replace then-Councilmember Gerard Goedhart, who resigned midterm because he had moved out of the city. Forester was then elected in 1999, 2003 and again in 2007. “I am completing my third term on the Council and am running for a fourth term on March 1,” he said. “I have spent 12 years watching the city grow and develop. It is going through tough financial times right now, and I want to help guide it through these times and see some other projects, like our new library, move forward.”
Forester said that he believes this is not a good time to bring a newcomer to the Council. “I understand the City, its finances, its means and lack of means,” he said. “During this critical financial period that our entire country is going through, I feel that somebody with my history in the City is needed to continue the operation. To bring somebody new in at this time would not be effective for the City.”
Hansen, who is seeking her fourth term in office, also explained why she is running for reelection. “I feel grateful to represent a city of such diversity,” she said. “I am excited about all of the changes that have taken place during my time on the Council and the fact that we have housing for all income levels, parks, trails, public art, infrastructure maintenance and a strong business presence, as well as being fiscally conservative.”
Hansen added that she wants to continue serving the community to accomplish even more, such as the funding and development of a new library. She agreed with Forester that the residents of Signal Hill need experienced leaders to help the City move through ongoing fiscal challenges that will exist for the foreseeable future.
Simmons said he believes there is a growing unrest in the city and that many people feel that City Hall is not responsive to their needs and concerns. “I want to provide everybody in Signal Hill with a voice,” he said, explaining that he has already put effort into doing so by starting a blog called signalhillvoice.com.
Simmons acknowledged that in many respects the members of the current City Council have done well in running the city. “But I think they could do a better job,” he said. “A lot of people that I talk to feel that the City lets some issues drag on and on and does nothing to resolve those issues. If you look at the last election for City Council, in this city of more than 10,000 people, only a few hundred people voted.”
He insisted that the voter apathy is due to a sense that, no matter who is elected, the local government will never be responsive to the needs of the people. “My goal is to get more residents involved in the City,” Simmons said.
Pacheco also expressed concern over the apparent apathy among Signal Hill residents. “I want to encourage everyone who is not registered to vote to do so prior to February 14,” she said. “And I want everyone to remember to go out and vote on March 1.” Pacheco noted that municipal elections held when there are no national or statewide elections usually have a very low voter participation. “Sometimes our local elections do not have a good turnout,” she said. “I would really like to see more people exercising the privilege of being able to vote.”
Pacheco said the City has budgeted $20,000 for the March 1, 2011 election.

Though some welcome the prospect of restoring the Long Beach shoreline to its original splendor, others oppose it, citing the potential peril it would create for homes along the peninsula.

By Nick Diamantides
Staff Writer

Imagine waves rising as high as six feet and water so clean you can see the ocean floor at four feet deep. Imagine surfers and tourists flocking to Long Beach to enjoy the pleasures on an almost pristine coast. As far-fetched as that might sound today, those scenes could be reality for future generations.
About 100 people, including several local, state and federal government officials, gathered at Bluff Park Tuesday morning to celebrate the beginning of a study that could help restore the Long Beach shoreline to much of its original splendor. The audience attended to witness the signing of the agreement between the City of Long Beach and the US Army Corps of Engineers to work together on the second phase of a study to determine the feasibility of reconfiguring the Long Beach breakwater and taking other measures to restore the ecosystem of the East San Pedro Bay, which encompasses the Long Beach shoreline.
According to Tom Modica, director of government affairs for the City, the study will cost about $8.3 million and take four years to complete, and the City and the federal government will share the study’s cost equally.
“Today we celebrate another milestone as we continue to improve the water quality along the coast of Long Beach and throughout all of the beautiful bay,” said Long Beach Mayor Bob Foster, and he thanked Long Beach City Councilmembers Patrick O’ Donnell and Rae Gabelich for asking the Council to approve the agreement. Foster stressed that the study is going to take several years to conduct and no actions will be taken until after the study has been completed.
The mayor also explained that once the Army Corps receives federal funds, then scientists, researchers, city staff, Army Corps staff and experts in the area will take an in-depth look at the bay with the following objectives in mind: restoring the marine ecosystem, improving recreational water quality, increasing recreational activity along the shoreline, and preserving the infrastructure and properties along the bay.
“When the study receives funds to proceed, we will be hosting several public outreach meetings,” Foster said. “This will be an open, transparent process, and we hope the community actively becomes engaged and joins us in this study.”
After Foster’s comments, Colonel Mark Toy spoke. Toy became commander of the Army Corps of Engineers’ Los Angeles District on July 1, but he had been briefed on issues pertaining to the breakwater and the upcoming study even before assuming command.
“The signing ceremony provides an opportunity for the leadership here in the Corps and in the City of Long Beach to publicly acknowledge our partnership agreement and to start the feasibility study,” he said. “We believe that every study, permit, and project that we do in the LA District is done with the goal of taking care of people. That is our goal with the East San Pedro Bay Ecosystem Restoration Feasibility Study.”
Toy noted that he had recently taken a boat tour of the bay to help him understand more about the challenges that would be involved in a restoration project. “The study is going to evaluate a multitude of alternatives to improve the ecosystem as a whole,” he said. “Our study will investigate opportunities to provide ecosystem restoration, water quality and recreation improvements to the near-shore area of the city of Long Beach.”
Echoing Foster, Toy stressed that while scientists and engineers consider the possibility of removing all or part of the breakwater, keeping the shoreline protected will be a very important aspect of the study. “It will seek to protect the homes of the people who reside along its shore,” he said. “It will also strive to allow the city’s great maritime industry to continue to function profitably.”
After the signing ceremony, Seamus Innes, secretary of the Long Beach Chapter of the Surfrider Foundation, said he welcomed the study and hoped it would be a step toward restoring the shoreline to what it once was. “We would like the breakwater sunk so we could have waves back in Long Beach so people can go to the beach and enjoy themselves,” he said. He added, however, that his organization also supports an alternative that would prevent shoreline erosion and allow the port to continue its profitable operations.
Another member of Surfrider, Robert Palmer, explained that many people do not realize how wonderful the Long Beach shoreline was before the breakwater was built. “In 1938, the very first international surfing contest was held right here in Long Beach,” he said. “In those days, the Los Angeles River would deposit sediment on the ocean floor creating a shallow shelf. When the waves came over that, they really came up and some of them were six feet tall.”
In spite of Foster’s and Toy’s assurances about protecting shoreline properties, Alamitos Peninsula residents Penny and Bill Brush are adamantly opposed to any breakwater modifications that would increase the size of waves along the Long Beach shoreline. The Brushes attended the Bluff Park ceremony carrying signs saying “Save the Breakwater.”
“If there was extensive wave action, that would put us back to where we were in the 1930s,” she said. “There would be a great peril to property the entire length of the peninsula and downtown.”
Signal Hill Vice Mayor Larry Forester was also at the signing ceremony. “This ecosystem study is very important to all the cities that have storm watergoing into the LA River,” he said. “It’s going to not only look at the bay, but all the water that is going into the bay. It will help us decide what we can do to work with Long Beach to make the ecosystem better.”
Modica noted that federal funding for the study is on hold until Congress decides what to do with the federal budget. “At this point, no one knows when the study will begin,” he said.

Signal Hill Police Department Interim Police Chief Roy Campos says his number-one priority is to ensure public trust.

By Nick Diamantides
Staff Writer

Roy Campos is enjoying his stint as the interim chief of the Signal Hill Police Department (SHPD). A little more than three weeks ago, the Signal Hill City Council unanimously agreed to hire Campos to replace former Chief Tom Sonoff, who had resigned to become chief of the La Habra Police Department.
“When the City of Signal Hill contacted me to ask if I would be willing to become interim chief until a permanent chief is hired, I felt very honored,” Campos said. “In the law-enforcement community, the SHPD has one of the best reputations in all of Southern California.”
Campos began his career in law enforcement in 1977 as a police student worker for the Los Angeles Police Department while earning his degree in criminology. Later, he worked for the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department before the Downey Police Department hired him as a patrol officer in 1979. Continuing his education, he earned a bachelor’s degree in criminal justice in 1985 and a master’s degree in public administration in 1989 from Cal State University, Long Beach.
He stayed with the Downey Police Department for more than 30 years, advancing through the ranks to become its chief. He served in that position for four years before retiring in December 2009.
“Downey has about 120 sworn police officers, and when you add the civilian employees, it has about 225 people on staff,” he said. “The city has a population of around 115,000.”
Signal Hill has a population of just fewer than 11,000. The SHPD has about 37 sworn officers and about 13 civilian employees.
Campos said that, although Signal Hill is considerably smaller than Downey, his approach to running the police department will remain the same. “My number-one mission for this city is to maintain and ensure the public trust,” he said. “We’ve seen the public trust destroyed in Bell and other cities where there has been corruption and mismanagement, and I want to make sure that the residents of Signal Hill keep trusting their police department and their city as they have for many years.”
Furthermore, Campos said he wants to keep the police department functioning as smoothly as it did during the years that Sonoff was chief. “We’ve got to create the safest city that is possible,” he said. “The residents, the businesses look to us to keep the city safe, and that is what we do.”
According to Campos, an important part of keeping the city safe is for the police department to always have open, respectful communication with the public. “I want to be sure that all of the employees of the Signal Hill Police Department– not just the sworn officers, but the civilian employees as well– treat people with respect,” he said. “Whether it’s an officer on patrol, or the dispatcher on the phone, or the records clerk at the window, and whether they are talking with a victim, a witness or a suspect, they must always treat people with respect and dignity. That can go a long way in helping the police department and the community meld and understand each other.”
Campos said that, in the short time he has been interim chief, he has not had time to pore over local crime statistics, but he has noticed that auto burglaries and auto thefts currently seem to be the most common crimes in Signal Hill. “Signal Hill is a tremendously safe city, and that is because our officers and civilian employees work very hard,” he said. “It’s also a reflection of Tom Sonoff’s leadership.”
Campos also praised the City Council and city manager for their many years of strong support for the SHPD, and he stressed that, without that support. the department could not be nearly as effective as it is. “Even the public works department helps control crime by removing graffiti quickly so that it doesn’t mount and fester,” he said. “The community services department also helps with all the youth programs and activities that keep youngsters from ever getting started in criminal activities in the first place.”
Campos said his impression of Signal Hill is that it is a tightly knit community where people look out for each other, which also helps keep crime down. “We get reports from people telling us about suspicious activity,” he said. “We take all those reports very seriously and dispatch our officers to check them out.” He added that he hopes even more people will take the time to call the police when they see what looks like a possible crime in progress.
The interim chief also noted that he has been well received by the members of the City Council, the city manager and all department heads. “I am feeling that they have confidence in me and, by golly, I am going to give them and this city nothing but my best, 100-percent effort,” he said.
Campos said that for the past three weeks he has been taking the time to individually meet with every officer and every civilian employee of the SHPD. “I wanted to meet all of them one-on-one, shake their hand and look them in the eye,” he said. “There is no way I can ask my people to treat the public with respect and dignity if I don’t first treat all the employees with respect and dignity. That’s why I am taking the time to talk to each one of our employees.”
The City of Signal Hill is in the early stages of recruiting for a new police chief. Campos said he will probably serve as interim chief until mid-April of 2011. “I am honored to serve as interim chief until a permanent replacement for Tom Sonoff is found,” he said. “It’s really a privilege to be part of a team of such hard-working people.”
Campos lives in the city of Walnut with his wife, Jeanie. They have two adult children: Marisa, 24, and Michael, 23.

Eighth District Councilmember Rae Gabelich also discussed the upcoming repaving of Long Beach Boulevard and the City’s new smart-phone app that lets citizens report problems to the appropriate City departments.

By Nick Diamantides
Staff Writer

Mostly bringing glad tidings of good things happening during the holiday season, 8th District Councilmember Rae Gabelich hosted another of her “Community Coffees” last Saturday morning. About 20 people attended the event at Avila’s El Ranchito Restaurant, located at 5345 Long Beach Blvd.
Gabelich began her presentation by inviting everyone to donate unwrapped toys that will be given as holiday gifts to the hundreds of children that live in the Carmelitos Housing Community, located off of Orange Avenue just north of Del Amo Boulevard. Gabelich and her staff are coordinating the toy drive with the help of several businesses, including El Ranchito, Café Bixby, Nino’s Restaurant, The Factory, Bella Cosa, Capretto, Pixie Toys and Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf. “If you are able to, please donate an unwrapped gift in the collection box here at El Ranchito or (the other businesses involved in the drive),” Gabelich said. “There will also be a box at the Expo Building for the First Fridays in December, or you can drop them off at my field office. Donations will be accepted until December 21.”
Next, Gabelich shared the good news of the soon-to-begin repaving of Long Beach Boulevard between Del Amo and the 710 Freeway. “This project, funded by the Redevelopment Agency, includes grinding and an entire new layer of asphalt, as well as new landscaped medians, new trees, bus shelters, lighting and other streetscape improvements,” she explained.
The construction is expected to last up to eight months. “There will certainly be some inconveniences while traveling along Long Beach Boulevard during construction, but the final result will be well worth it,” she said.
Then, moving to another topic, Gabelich reminded the attendees that recently the Long Beach City Council asked the city attorney to make some changes to the city’s medical marijuana facilities ordinance. “The most controversial of these changes is adding an additional buffer requirement of 1,000 feet from parks,” Gabelich said. “This will possibly disqualify nine collectives that had advanced in the permitting process through the lottery.”
At that point in Gabelich’s presentation, Mary Hinds, who is a board member of the Long Beach Library Foundation, asked why the City Council could not also prohibit medical marijuana collectives from being less than 1,000 feet from a library. “We had to come up with a formula that works,” Gabelich said. She explained that regulating the collectives is under the purview of the City’s business-license division, which is understaffed due to budget cuts, and the City expects more lawsuits to be filed against it pertaining to the way it is regulating the collectives. Gabelich noted that adding one more regulation to the ordinance would be too costly for the City.
“We are on a slippery slope,” Hinds responded. “Property values go down in the vicinity of marijuana collectives, and children see marijuana use as something that is not so bad.” She added that she wishes that only the health department could issue the necessary doctors’ recommendations for medical marijuana use.
Noting that medical marijuana issues could be debated all day, Gabelich moved on to other topics, including the DeForest Wetlands Restoration Project. She told the attendees that last month the City received the final grant funding necessary to begin work on the project, which will cost a total of $7 million.
The project will reestablish a wetland in the 34-acre flood-detention basin that runs just east of the Los Angles River between Del Amo Boulevard and DeForest Park to the north. Construction on the project will probably begin next summer.
During her presentation, Gabelich also discussed proposed changes to the City’s wireless facilities ordinance (lbds.info), a new “Go Long Beach” smart-phone app, through which residents can report problems to the appropriate city department (golbcity.com), and upcoming events for the holiday season.
The first of those events is the holiday version of First Fridays in Bixby Knolls, which starts with a Christmas Tree and Menorah Lighting Ceremony at 6pm, on Friday, Dec. 3 in the parking lot of Nino’s Restaurant at Atlantic Avenue and Roosevelt Road. “At the conclusion of the program, at 6:30, the Big Red Bus will be on hand to take you, or you can stroll, to all the festive scenes and music on Atlantic,” Gabelich said.
Two other special holiday events are scheduled at Rancho Los Cerritos. On Sunday, Dec. 5, the Rancho will host a free open house showcasing 19th Century Christmas traditions with costumed volunteers, and Victorian Era wreaths and ornaments. The event will include toy making, storytelling, a piñata for kids, live music and refreshments.
The second holiday event at the Rancho requires the purchase of tickets and will take place on Saturday, Dec. 11 and Sunday, Dec. 12– the annual Navidad in Early California Candlelight Tour. “Focusing on 1850s Christmas, this living-history program will explore the blending of Mexican and early American-Christmas customs,” Gabelich said. “For information or to purchase tickets, you can visit RanchoLosCerritos.org.”
Toward the end of her talk, Gabelich introduced Blair Cohn, executive director of the Bixby Knolls Business Improvement Association, to the audience. Cohn gave a brief description of the December 3 First Fridays event and invited everyone to attend. “There will be cider stops and music of all kinds everywhere,” he said. “There will be activities for kids to do, and things for adults: art, music and entertainment of all kinds.”
Gabelich also introduced Long Beach Airport Director Mario Rodriguez to the audience. Rodriguez briefly described the various airlines that provide service at the airport and spoke about upcoming improvements to the facilities. Rodriguez noted that the groundbreaking ceremony for the new airport terminal will be Wednesday, Dec. 22.
After Rodriguez spoke, Gabelich introduced Long Beach Police Sergeant Dan Barkwill, who told the attendees that residential and automobile burglaries were on the rise in the police department’s north division area. Barkwill encouraged residents to keep their cars locked with the windows rolled up and to not leave any boxes, bags, envelopes or valuable items in their automobiles. He also warned residents to keep windows and doors shut and locked in their homes and to report all suspicious persons or activities to the police.
At the end of the meeting, Gabelich took questions and comments from the attendees, some of whom expressed concerns about graffiti, gang violence, parking and problems associated with skate parks.

On Friday, Nov. 19, the Board of Directors of the Water Replenishment District (WRD) unanimously declared a water emergency that will impact the amount of water its customers– including the Cities of Long Beach and Signal Hill– can hold in reserve. WRD manages the water pumping rights of 43 cities in southeast Los Angeles County, which have a combined population of approximately four million people. Three of those cities– Cerritos, Downey and Signal Hill– strongly oppose the water emergency declaration.
“District staff has received formal requests to declare a water emergency from 21 pumpers representing 55 percent of the water-rights holders in the Central Basin,” said WRD General Manager Robb Whitaker, in his November 19 report to the board. “Additionally, the Central Basin Water Association and the District’s Technical Advisory Committee have both recommended such a declaration.”
Early in the hearing, WRD Senior Engineer Jason Weeks outlined the reasons why the declaration was necessary. “Because of persistent drought and the unavailability of imported replenishment water, groundwater levels have been declining for the past several years,” he said. During his approximately 20-minute PowerPoint presentation, he noted that a monitoring well used as an indicator for the need to purchase replenishment water has caused concern among WRD officials. “Water levels in this well have dropped to levels not seen since the drought of the late 1970s,” he said.
Referring to a 1991 court judgment, Whitaker explained how the water emergency declaration will help WRD replenish the aquifers. “The declaration of the water emergency invokes a provision of the groundwater pumping judgment that allows the creation of a drought carryover account,” he said.
Even before WRD declared the water emergency, pumpers could carry over up to 20 percent of their annual allotment of water to the next year, but carryover could not accumulate in successive years. Whitaker explained that pumpers still have the right to carry over 20 percent of their unused water rights in a given year, but now the water emergency gives them a one-time option of carrying over an additional 35 percent of unused water rights for a total of 55 percent in a given year.
“If a pumper has the right, and they think they are going to lose it, they will generally pump the right because groundwater is the least expensive form of water in our area,” Whitaker said. “If they can carry that over to a subsequent time period, some of them will be willing to do that. By carrying it over to later, our hope is that the Basin will have recovered much more by then and the Basin will be in better shape to sustain that pumping in the future.”
The three cities objecting to the declaration of a water emergency are concerned that allowing cities a one-time carryover of 35 percent of their allotment will cause water rates to rise for cities that need more than their allotment in a given year. Before the water emergency, WRD sold unused pumping rights at low rates to cities that needed more water. In addition, cities could sell their 20-percent carryover to other cities that needed that water in a given year. Now, some cities will be able to keep the rights of up to 35 percent of a year’s water allotment for several years, and sell those rights if they wish to do so.
“The declaration of a water emergency is creating a fictitious storage of water, which will enable some cities to say, ‘I have it, you don’t. How much will you pay me for it?’” said Signal Hill Vice Mayor Larry Forester. “So it’s going to create a market for this water with water rates going up.”
Vince Brar, assistant city manager for the City of Cerritos, also spoke at the WRD hearing, and he read excerpts from a nine-page letter he had sent to WRD on November 18. “The enclosed materials from official reports, available to WRD, and expert analysis show that conditions of natural and imported supplies have improved significantly and no water shortage emergency currently exists,” he said.
Brar noted that the letter cites reports from the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California (MWD) describing improvements in imported water supplies for the region. (MWD is the state agency that sells water from other regions to local water agencies.)
According to Brar, MWD reports show increases in MWD’s own stored water, increases in Northern California state water storage projects, increases in the Colorado River Water Supply and decreases in demand for water in Southern California due to conservation efforts. Brar also noted that a recent court ruling could lead to the availability of more water from the Sacramento River Delta.
“Based on my experience as a civil engineer and water resources professional, I do not believe that the recent reports indicate a drought or water emergency necessitating the action recommended by WRD staff,” Brar said. “Instead, the reports indicate an improvement in imported water supply.”
Brar also referred to reports that show a recent trend of above-average rainfall that will improve native water supplies in the Central Basin.
James Glancy, director of water resources for the City of Lakewood strongly disagreed with Forester and Brar. “According to statements made by the opponents at the WRD hearing, it is obvious they are confusing the lasting drought effects of low groundwater levels with surface water drought status and rainfall,” he said. “The groundwater levels are still very low, a situation that the WRD action will help to remedy.”
Glancy also pointed out that during the Water Emergency declared in 1977, cities did not sell their one-time carryover to other cities and most of that water is still in the ground. Kevin Wattier, general manager of the Long Beach Water Department, also firmly disagreed with Brar and Forester. “We strongly support WRD’s declaration of a water emergency,” he said. “It is the right thing for WRD to do for their customers, to enable them to efficiently manage their water supplies and provide a reliable water supply to their customers in the future.”
Representatives of the three protesting cities seemed to hint that a future lawsuit against WRD pertaining to the declaration of a water emergency was possible.­

The damaged pipeline is owned by British Petroleum, which has hired private contracting companies to repair it and excavate the soil.

By Nick Diamantides
Staff Writer

A City of Long Beach Parks and Recreation department crew accidentally ripped open an underground pipe carrying diesel on the afternoon of Thursday, Nov. 11, spilling about 1,500 gallons of the fuel at the location of a planned community garden.
The site, owned by the City of Long Beach, is part of a 50-acre parcel running south from the southwest corner of Spring Street and Orange Avenue. The City had considered developing a sports park there, but that plan was abandoned due to budget reductions.
Meredith Reynolds, a spokesperson for the City, explained what the parks crew was doing there last week. “The work on the site included weed and brush removal by the City’s maintenance staff, who were assisting in clearing the surface of a half-acre area in preparation for an approved urban farm on the property,” she said. “The urban farm is on hold pending clean-up activities.”
The pipeline is owned by British Petroleum (BP), which hired private contracting companies to repair the pipe and excavate the soil. “It’s a 10-inch pipeline primarily used to transport diesel fuel,” said Walter Neil, spokesperson for BP Refinery in Carson. “The pipeline goes from Carson Refinery to our Hyens Terminal at 5905 Paramount Boulevard, Long Beach, but it is also connected to our Hathaway terminal at 2350 Obispo Avenue, Signal Hill.”
According to Neil, the pipeline is part of BP’s “69 System,” which includes four pipelines capable of moving as much as 60,000 barrels of product per day. (There are 42 gallons in a barrel of oil.)
He said it is difficult to determine how much diesel normally passes through the damaged pipeline in a day, but it was not in operation when it was hit by the crew’s heavy equipment. “It was in a static condition, so the only pressure in the line was due to the product in the line,” he said. “We anticipate that about 35 barrels of diesel fuel spilled out after the break.”
Neil said that, in compliance with state code, the pipeline is four feet below the surface, but he didn’t know how many years ago the pipeline had been installed. “I think the crew got a little aggressive and went a little deeper than anyone had anticipated,” he said. “The real issue is that we had talked about the pipeline being in that area with the people doing the work long before this happened. They knew the pipeline was there.”
Neil explained that a contracting company hired by BP has removed all the dirt saturated with diesel and is storing it in bins until its proper disposal. The company is also collecting soil samples, which will be analyzed in a laboratory to ensure that all traces of the diesel spill have been removed.
According to Neil, after the accident, the pipeline itself was sealed upstream and downstream from the break, and all the fuel that was remaining in those sections was pumped out. Then, after also removing all vapors from the line, crews removed the broken area and welded in a new section connecting the severed sections. Neil said he does not know when the pipeline will be in operation again. “We want to make sure we have done everything safely and correctly before we put it back into use,” he said.
Nelson Kerr, acting manager for the City of Long Beach Bureau of Environmental Health, said the bureau’s hazardous materials division, which is on call 24 hours a day seven days a week, responded to the spill half an hour after it was reported. Kerr noted that although the City of Long Beach is taking the event very seriously, the spill is considered small and crews will only have to excavate about three feet below the pipeline to remove all contaminated soil. He added that the accident was reported immediately, and all proper precautions were taken thereafter. “This should be cleaned up within one or two weeks, and clean soil will be used to fill in the excavated area,” he said.
Seventh District Long Beach City Councilmember James Johnson said he is pleased with the way city staff handled the incident. “The park and recreation staff was there, and they created a berm to limit the amount of square footage the diesel was able to contaminate, and then very quickly the fire department was on the scene to make sure there was no fire risk and no danger to the public,” he said. He added that, soon after the fire department arrived, a contractor came and pumped out the diesel that had collected in the berm and removed it from the property. “Now the city is going to be analyzing the soil and seeing what we can do to make sure it is safe in the long run,” he said.
Johnson echoed Reynolds’s remarks about the urban garden, but added that, even before the contamination, the plan called for bringing in soil and establishing raised vegetable beds.
Neil said it is too early to know yet who would be incurring the cost of the repair and soil remediation. “At this point, the cost is secondary,” he said. “Our main focus is to get the work done safely and get the line back in service. After it’s done we can sit down and figure out costs.”
Several contractors are on site doing the work, all supervised through BP Pipeline Division.

From left, Deputy Chief J.J. Craig, Chief Jim McDonnell and Public Information Officer Nancy Pratt at last week’s media briefing.

By Nick Diamantides
Staff Writer

Imagine getting a text message or an email from the Long Beach Police Department (LBPD) to inform you that the helicopter buzzing over your neighborhood is part of a search for an armed-robbery suspect hiding somewhere on your street. One day in the not-too-distant future, such communications will be commonplace, according to Long Beach Chief of Police Jim McDonnell.
The chief and some of his key administrative staff conducted a media briefing with about 10 reporters last Thursday, Nov. 11 in a conference room at the downtown police headquarters. During the meeting, McDonnell, who was sworn in as chief eight months ago, stressed that the LBPD is hoping to improve its communications with the news media and with the general public.
“We look to be able to build on already very good relations with the community around the city and to be able to get the community more engaged,” he said.
The chief noted that there is a widespread misconception among many people who do not live in the city that all of Long Beach is riddled with a high crime rate. “It’s unfortunate that in our poorer neighborhoods where the gang issues are most prevalent that we have a continuation of repeat crimes, and we are working hard to make all of our neighborhoods in the community safer,” he said. McDonnell stressed, however, that the chances of being a victim of crime in most neighborhoods, tourist areas, and shopping districts are very minimal.
The two-hour discussion with reporters focused on various issues, including the need for the media and the general public to get timely, accurate information on police activities. McDonnell explained that, as part of the LBPD’s effort to reach that goal, the department recently adopted the Nixle system. “It’s a software that is available primarily for public safety focus,” he said. “It will be free to us to use. It’s a subscription service. People can sign up to be notified of significant incidents that occur.”
According to McDonnell, when residents and business owners sign up for Nixle messages, they can request to be informed of police activities in the immediate vicinity of their street address, their neighborhood, their entire ZIP code area or the entire city.
He noted that the LBPD’s Nixle system is not fully developed yet, but, when it is, the LBPD will be able to send out messages to those who sign up, much like reverse 9-1-1, that will inform them of significant police activity, crimes, and dangerous situations in the area of their interest. “With reverse 9-1-1, we can send messages out to home phones,” he said. “With Nixle, we can send text messages to cell phones, email messages, or whatever media they sign up for. We can tell them, ‘Okay, we have a search for a robbery suspect in a certain area, and we have a perimeter set up, and the helicopter is above. If you see anything or hear anything in your yard, call us to let us know.’”
McDonnell said that when people are able to find out quickly why a helicopter is overhead or why a section of a particular street has been cordoned off, the police and the general public will be able to work together better. “That changes the whole dynamic of being inconvenienced (by helicopter noise) to being part of the solution,” he explained, adding that Nixle also covers the activities of the Los Angeles Police Department and the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department.
He noted that the LBPD is working on its Nixle transmissions to make them as timely as possible, but it needs more work. “We are trying to (develop) a real-time crime center that will operate under our Emergency Communications and Command Center (on Redondo Avenue),” he said, adding that he hopes that at some point in the near future all public and private surveillance cameras in the city will be connected to the Emergency Communications Center through the Internet. He explained that such connections would greatly enhance the LBPD’s ability to apprehend criminals. “It’s in its infancy now,” he said. “It’s not being done this way anywhere else in the country to my knowledge, but the capability, I believe, is there, and it will only get better over time.”
McDonnell added that once the real-time crime center is up and running, its staff will have access to police activity throughout the city and will have the time and ability to be able to transmit Nixle messages quickly and to respond to media inquiries about what is going on.
McDonnell noted that the LBPD is now working with private security firms throughout the city to come up with a database as to what businesses have cameras. “It’s up to them to cooperate or not, but I think it is in their interests to do so,” he said. “What we would require would be a modem on the camera so that we, through an IP address, could tap into that without running cables to the Command Center.”
In addition to outlining the high-tech communications and surveillance advancements, McDonnell told the reporters that he wants open and honest communication between the media and the LBPD in an atmosphere of cooperation. “For us to be adversarial is counter to the interests of what the people of Long Beach need,” he said. “That’s why it is so important for us to continue to talk and be honest with each other.”
The chief invited reporters to come up with ideas on how the LBPD and other city officials and could make information more readily available to the news media. He noted, however, that some information pertaining to police investigations, witnesses and other protected information cannot be shared with the media.

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Lt. Alex Avila, Long Beach Mayor Bob Foster, Officer Chris Zamora, Poli­ce Chief Jim McDonnell, Seventh District City Councilmember James Johnson, and Long Beach City Prosecutor Doug Haubert at Monday’s press conference detailing the North Side Longo and Sureño Gang Injunction.

By Nick Diamantides
Staff Writer

A recently issued court injunction now makes it possible for the Long Beach Police Department (LBPD) to arrest certain gang members in North Long Beach for simply demonstrating their gang affiliation publicly. On Monday afternoon, city officials had a press conference at the downtown LBPD headquarters to publicize the injunction and outline some of its terms.
The conference began with comments from Mayor Bob Foster, who praised the LBPD and City Prosecutor’s Office for the hard work they put into obtaining the injunction. “We expect, and people deserve and demand, that they can walk around Long Beach, that they can work, play, visit our parks, go to work, go to school without fear of being victimized by one of the most violent and notorious criminal street gangs in this area,” the mayor said. “We will not tolerate criminals who target innocent people.”
Expanding on Foster’s comments, Police Chief Jim McDonnell explained that gang activity in the city is far more organized and complex than most people realize. He noted that a gang known as the Sureños acts as an umbrella group linking most Hispanic gangs in Southern California to the Mexican Mafia. McDonnell noted that while the Sureño name is not familiar to most citizens, their criminal activity is– including murder and the distribution of illegal drugs and firearms, among other crimes.
A gang injunction is a court order that typically names specific members of a particular gang, restricting their activities to a specific area known as a safety zone. The injunction makes it a misdemeanor offense for a gang member named in that injunction to associate in public with other known gang members and sets a curfew for those named gang members. It also increases the potential for a gang member to be charged with other crimes, resulting in longer prison sentences.

Display showing tattoos that identify gang members and items associated with gang activity.

McDonnell noted that the new injunction specifically targets members of two gangs, North Side Longo and Sureño, but it has a broader approach than most other injunctions because it takes into account the organized and hierarchal nature of Hispanic gangs. He explained that, if compared to a corporation, the Mexican Mafia would be the board of directors and the Sureños would be the employees that conduct the day-to-day activities. “This injunction targets Sureños committing crimes in the North Long Beach area, focusing on Hispanic gangs from all over Southern California, not just Long Beach-based gangs,” McDonnell said. “Members of some of the most violent and organized gangs from throughout LA County have been served on this injunction. Local Long Beach gang members, particularly from North Side Longo, are also targeted.”
He noted that the North Side Longo and Sureño Gang Injunction was signed on Sept. 16 of this year in Los Angeles County Superior Court, but the work on the injunction began in 2008 after an increase in gang-related crime in the safety zone. “These crimes range from graffiti to hate crimes to narcotic sales, robberies, shootings and murders,” he said.
McDonnell said that he and city officials believe the injunction is the first of its kind and on the cutting edge of gang suppression. “There are 107 gang members named, 53 have been served already with 54 pending service,” he said. “Nineteen of those are already in state prison.” He added that more gang members will be added to the list as the LBPD obtains documented evidence proving their gang membership.
The chief noted that the gang injunction has resulted in two arrests so far. “We are determined to ensure the safety of the people of this city and particularly the residents of the community within the safety zone,” McDonnell said. “This is another tool that our department can use to combat crime and ensure that the community can feel safe from people who have a lifestyle of preying on others.
City Prosecutor Doug Haubert, who spoke next, explained that this is the fourth gang injunction obtained by the city and perhaps the most significant one because it names the Sureños, a growing criminal organization that encompasses some of the most violent gangs in the region.
Haubert told the audience that while violent and other serious crimes are not commonplace in Long Beach, gang criminal nuisance activities occur all too frequently in the city. These include graffiti, drinking in public, breaking into abandoned buildings, loitering in public places and intimidating the public. “Members of these gangs want to terrorize the neighborhoods and commercial districts where they operate,” he said. “They congregate outside schools, in parks, in alleyways and storefronts, trying to claim these areas as gang territories.”

Map showing the area addressed by the gang injunction announced Monday

Haubert noted that gang injunctions have been repeatedly upheld by the courts because they target activity directly associated with criminal conduct or activity that amounts to a public nuisance.
Haubert explained that a violation of any term of the injunction can result in a misdemeanor prosecution and a six-month sentence in Los Angeles County Jail and up to a $1,000 fine. He noted that, under the terms of the injunction, served gang members: may not possess an open container of alcohol while in public view; may not possess, sell or be under the influence of illegal drugs or be in the presence of someone who is; may not possess any deadly weapon, discharge a firearm or remain in the presence of someone who does; may not engage in graffiti activities or possess spray paint or other graffiti marking tools; may not obstruct the passage of a person or vehicle on a public right-of-way; may not loiter or display gang signs or flash gang symbols in public places.
“North Long Beach belongs to the hard-working men and women who call it home,” Haubert said. “It belongs to the business owners whose investments are helping revitalize North Long Beach. It does not belong to gang members, and by our action today we are doing everything in our power to make sure it never does.”
The area of the injunction’s safety zone runs north from Del Amo Boulevard and extends to the northern, eastern and western boundaries of Long Beach.