At Tuesday night’s Signal Hill Council meeting, officials adopted the 2011-2012 budget with one bragging right– a humble projected surplus that totals just over $41,000. But even though city officials celebrated a balanced capital and operating budget for the upcoming fiscal year, they also acknowledged that they were waiting to see whether their redevelopment agency had much of a future.
California’s budget problems could have an immediate effect on the agency that’s been responsible for managing abandoned oil wells and cleaning up neighborhood blighted areas to create affordable housing and other major city projects. State lawmakers have taken additional steps to eliminate the Signal Hill Redevelopment Agency (RDA) and other redevelopment agencies all over California, or at least force a significant financial burden on these agencies.
“This budget I’ve been real nervous about because I don’t know what the state of California is going to do,” said Councilmember Michael Noll.
State lawmakers passed two bills that affect the redevelopment agencies. One bill would effectively dissolve redevelopment agencies, or, if redevelopment agencies can’t be shut down, another bill would require RDA agencies to pay a large amount to benefit schools.
According to City Manager Ken Farfsing, under this second piece of legislation, Signal Hill would be required to pay approximately $3.87 million in 2011–12, and about $1 million annually thereafter, and, Farfsing warned, it’s money the RDA does not have.
It is not known whether Governor Jerry Brown has taken a specific position on whether he will approve either of the two bills affecting redevelopment; however the governor has on numerous occasions called for an end to redevelopment agencies. The state has also not yet adopted a budget to close a budget deficit projected to be in the billions of dollars.
Several cities criticized their local state representatives for passing the two bills that could cripple redevelopment agencies. During the City Council meeting, Mayor Larry Forester did not shy away from specifically blasting California Senator Alan Lowenthal for his role in supporting the bills.
“Your blindness to the realities of local government, your record of burdening our communities, our residences, our businesses with costly and ineffectual regulations and laws, and ultimate abandonment of redevelopment do not look like representation,” said Forester, reading an open letter to Lowenthal from the Signal Hill mayor and other mayors from several cities in the region.
The City would have to revise its budget if redevelopment ended, but in addition to the threat to the city’s redevelopment agency, City officials acknowledged there were other economic uncertainties that would affect Signal Hill’s local budget. According to a City staff report, retail sales were down in April, there may be a reduction in Community Development Block grant funding, and there are “shortfalls” in the city’s employee pension plans, City officials arrived at a budget surplus that is projected to be more than $41,000 because they were able to rely on other funds to cover a significant difference in revenues vs. expenditures. Revenue projections for the upcoming fiscal year added up to more than $16.4 million while expenditures for the city are predicted to total almost $17.2 million, according to Finance Director Maida Alcantara, who presented a report at the City Council meeting. This year, they did not rely on monies from the Economic Uncertainties Reserve Fund to help balance the budget. To close the City’s own budget deficit and make up for that difference of more than $761,000, the City transferred money from several sources including the gas tax, traffic safety funds, and public employee benefit/retirement funds.
“There is not a lot of wiggle room in this particular budget,” Councilmember Ed Wilson acknowledged.
The next City Council meeting is Tuesday, July 5 at 7pm in the Council Chambers.

A young cadet in front of one of the cannons that distinguished the SCMA, in a photo taken in 1945.

From 1924 to 1987, a private school in Signal Hill had a mission to instill the duties of citizenship, the value of teamwork, the importance of the rights of others, and the formation of good social habits, which were embodied by its motto that prioritized character over career. Its students wore uniforms every day, and their discipline could be observed in their academics, or perhaps during a dress parade. They were the cadets of the Southern California Military Academy (SCMA).
When the academy closed its doors 23 years ago, it was the end of a historic era in the local education system.
Classmates, teachers, and staff of the academy, however, will be able to reminisce about their school days at a reunion on Saturday, July 24 from noon to 4pm at Signal Hill Park.
Kirk Schenewark, of SCMA’s class of 1985, is coordinating the event. “While the group will be small, we hope to build it over the years to come into a reunion consisting of alumni from as far back as possible in an effort to bridge the generational divide and maintain the esprit de corps and memories of the Southern California Military Academy,” Schenewark said. “Thanks to social networking sites such as Facebook and Classmates.com, a new resurgence of alumni has surfaced.”Any ex-SCMA community members interested in attending the event should RSVP as soon as possible. “We are requesting that people send $10 with their RSVP and also bring food to the event,” Schenewark said. The $10 fee will help pay for tables, chairs and other event supplies. The ex-cadet also said he can use additional volunteers and donations to make the reunion a success. Any alumni memorabilia, of course, will also add to the event’s success.
A group called The Cadets of The Southern California Military Academy has been created on Facebook to bring the disbanded alumni back together. There are close to 190 group members, and Schenewark has been using the website to coordinate planning efforts as well as to take RSVPs.
The institution was located at the corner of Cherry Avenue and 21st Street. It regimented and instructed youth, from pre-kindergarten all of the way through their senior year in high school.
With instruction in the standard disciplines, such as biology, English, and even piano classes, the school offered additional lessons in traditional military drill exercises and ceremonies. Chains of command were established, allowing the students to rise through the ranks and take on more responsibilities. There was even an enlisted corps and an officers corps of students.
According to an email from Schenewark detailing the history of the academy: “Through this system of reward and discipline, cadets attending SCMA learned to adopt the academy motto ‘Character before career’ into their lives.’” As attendance slowly declined, the school was forced to shut down and the historic buildings were demolished, making way for a new era of education.
What had been the Academy’s grounds is now the location of Long Beach Unified School District’s Alvarado Elementary School.

More Information
facebook.com/group.php?gid=41285426878&ref=ts
scmareunion@gmail.com

In a unanimous vote during its May 4 meeting, the Signal Hill City Council adopted a resolution expressing its opposition to Proposition 16, which will appear on the ballot in the statewide June election. “Proposition 16, sponsored by Pacific Gas & Electric Company (PG & E) would amend the state constitution to require a two-thirds city electorate vote for a city to replace a privately owned electrical utility with a municipal utility or community-wide clean electricity districts known as Community Choice Aggregators (CCAs),” said City Manager Ken Farfsing.
Farfsing told the council that the proposed initiative was authored, sponsored and funded solely by PG & E as a way of securing a monopoly on electrical power in Central and Northern California in the areas where it now operates. “To date, PG & E has spent nearly $30 million promoting Proposition 16, and it is estimated the company will ultimately spend over $50 million prior to the election in June,” he said. “Existing municipal utilities are concerned about Proposition 16, since they may not be able to seek new power sources without costly public elections that would require two-thirds majorities.” He stressed that such “super majorities” are always difficult to obtain.
“If passed, Proposition 16 would impact the ability of existing publicly owned electric utilities to expand electricity service beyond their current boundaries and existing customer base, including annexation areas,” Farfsing said. “There is also concern that the initiative contains a poorly worded provision that may force existing utility companies to conduct a vote to add a new customer within the utility’s service area. The courts may need to decide the intent of the provision with rate payers picking up the legal expenses.”
Farfsing noted that the required two-thirds vote would make it more difficult for municipalities to form either their own utility companies or CCAs, which are a way of providing more green power than most traditional utilities. “Some cities desire to establish solar arrays, biofuel facilities, and wind farms to diversify their power sources,” he said. “Signal Hill considered forming a CCA based on the impacts of the disastrous state deregulation plan in the late 1990s.”
Farfsing told the council that PG&E is engaged in a deceptive advertising campaign promising the voters that passing Proposition 16 would protect them from risky government decisions to enter the electrical generation business. “The Los Angeles Times reported that in reality the proposition would cement PG&E’s monopoly at the taxpayers’ expense,” he said. “An argument can be made that voters are losing rights, as the state’s constitution would now set a perpetual two-thirds vote requirement for all future attempts to establish public power agencies.”
Before the council voted on the matter, Mayor Ed Wilson said he agreed with Farfsing’s analysis. “It’s something that was underneath the radar, but it would have a huge impact on people’s lives,” he said. “If a company has a monopoly, and citizens don’t have an option, they are going to pay and pay.”
In a separate action, the council unanimously approved a $34,038 contract with CivicPlus, a company based in Manhattan, Kansas. The company will provide website design and hosting for the city beginning sometime next week.
The city’s website has crashed several times since January, and Signal Hill’s most recent website host, Planetwide Hosting and Design, recently announced its plan to go out of business. Deputy City Manager Charlie Honeycutt told the council that CivicPlus will provide the city with a temporary website beginning next week and the company expects to have the permanent website developed and online by September.
The next meeting of the city council is scheduled for 7pm on Tuesday, May 18 in the Council Chamber of Signal Hill City Hall.

In spite of strong opposition from some neighboring residents, The Palms, an adult club featuring partially nude dancers opened in Signal Hill last night (April 29), on Palm Drive near Willow Street. Signal Hill resident Maria Marino, who is spearheading opposition to the club, recently spent a few hours knocking on doors with a petition requesting that the Signal Hill City Council order the club to move to a different location. She noted that she was able to collect 80 signatures in a very short time. “I only knocked on doors of homes near the club,” she added.
Marino spoke at the Council’s April 20 meeting during the portion that invites public business from the floor that was not on the agenda, during which time she explained that residents fear that some of the club’s patrons will be sexual predators who could victimize women and children in the club’s vicinity. “We should not have to restrict our children’s freedom to enjoy their neighborhood for fear of encountering a sexual predator,” she told the council. “What are you thinking?”
Marino also noted that, in her opinion, parents should not have to explain to their young children what a nude dance establishment is. “This is a discussion most normal parents would prefer to postpone as long as possible,” she said. “When I went around collecting signatures, a lot of mothers complained that they were hoping their children were not going to ask what this club is.”
Marino said there was a third reason the residents who live near the club are opposed to it– the potential hazard to pedestrian and vehicular traffic at the blind intersection of Palm Drive and Obispo Avenue. “Making a left turn at this intersection is dangerous enough now without adding to it the additional traffic, which may include judgmentally impaired patrons coming from The Palms,” she said. “Are we safe? This will be the ever present question in our minds.”
Marino stressed that she is not hoping to stop the club from opening but wants it to be farther away from any residential areas. “I oppose the business being so close to our homes. I oppose the business so close to a community that has so many women and children, and I am very concerned about the traffic hazards it will create,” she said.
Signal Hill City Manager Ken Farfsing said that, although he and other city officials understand the residents’ concerns, the United States Supreme Court– over the course of several decades– has severely restricted the authority of local governments to regulate adult clubs. “The Supreme Court prohibited cities from banning adult businesses,” he said. “Cities can [only] require compliance with public safety conditions, such as providing security guards, security cameras and other mitigations.”
Farfsing also noted that the city cannot increase the required distance between such clubs and residences. “The Supreme Court set the standards for the location for adult businesses,” he said, explaining that in several court cases the court established the maximum distances that cities can require between adult clubs and homes, schools and churches. “Signal Hill is a small community, and this limits our flexibility,” he added. “The business is located in an industrial zone, over 1,000 feet from residences.” (The Court determined the 1,000-foot distance.)
Marino, who is a realtor with Century 21 Beachside Associates, acknowledged that The Palms is located 1,042 feet from the nearest residence, but she said that is not enough. “As a realtor, I can say that our property values will decrease,” she said. “Years ago, the people at City Hall were proud of what they were developing in our area and how Signal Hill was growing into a good place to raise families and invest in real estate, but now it seems to be going in the opposite direction when they allow a nude bar to open up so close to residential neighborhoods.”
Marino said she did not know what course of action the residents would take next, but they would keep pressing for the club to relocate.
Asked if relocation is a possibility, Nicole Lynch, a spokesperson for the club, said, “We are very good business neighbors, and we want to be good members of this community, and we are always open to listening to new ideas.”
Relocating the club, however, would not be an easy task. According to another spokesperson for the club, Steve Whitmore, the owners have invested more than $300,000 in renovations of the building on Palm Drive. “The reason why they picked the area is because they think it is one of the nicest areas in Signal Hill,” he said. “It was the most suitable for their purposes.”
Meanwhile, according to Lynch, club owners took the unusual step of inviting those opposed to it to come to its opening night. “We want everyone to see the environment we are offering, which is safe, secure adult entertainment,” she said. “We hope the community will come to the opening and see for themselves. The critics are very welcome.”
Contacted by phone Tuesday evening, Marino said she was not even aware that the club was opening on Thursday, and no one had invited her. She added that even if she was invited, she would not go.
When the owners of The Palms first proposed the club to the city more than
a year ago, their plan was that the club would not serve alcohol, feature total nudity and be open to patrons who were at least 18 years old. Several months ago, the owners changed the club’s planned operations to include the serving of alcohol, which would preclude anyone under the age of 21 from entering. The entertainment venue was also changed from total nudity to partial nudity.
“The whole idea is to have a nightclub that is elegant and that serves drinks,” Whitmore explained. “The owners want luxury and relaxation to be the
main focus.”
Once the plan changed, the owners were able to get an alcohol permit from the state Alcohol Beverage Control Department, which acts independently of municipal governments.
Lynch noted that, aside from the entertainment, during this time of economic recession the club will create 100 new jobs. “We are accepting job applications as we speak,” she said. “Jobs are for bartenders, waitresses and maintenance personnel, to name just a few of the openings.” Lynch can be contacted at (661) 510-5221.

Signal Hill Planning Commissioner Jane Fallon received a Volunteer Merit Award from the California Parks and Recreation Society District 10 on Wednesday, April 21. Fallon has been an active member of the Signal Hill community since she moved to the city in 1991.
Currently, she serves the city as a volunteer at several events such as the Halloween Carnival, Spring Fest, Breakfast with Santa and Concerts in the Park. Fallon is a founding member of the Friends of Signal Hill Cultural Arts, which supports free art experiences for residents. She also dedicates her time to the American Liver Foundation, Oasis Lakewood and the Signal Hill Historical Society.

Gary Weinberger was recently recognized by the Signal Hill City Council as Outstanding Older American for his dedication to community service in the city. Weinberger has been referred to as a “silent giant” who has quietly and consistently provided service to Signal Hill during the past 13 years with more than 6,000 hours of volunteer service.
His volunteer hours have been spent in service with the Signal Hill Police Volunteers, Cleanup on the Hill, and Signal Hill Community Volunteers, as well as dedicating his time to City of Hope, the National Diabetes Association, and the American Cancer Society.
Weinberger is a supporter of the Signal Hill Police Officers Association and has served as a civil service commissioner. He will be recognized by the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors Fourth Supervisorial District on Wednesday, May 19.

For many years, the residents of the Wrigley Heights area have been pressing the City of Long Beach to purchase an approximately 20-acre site known as the “Oil Operators Property” and to convert it into a passive green space. For a variety of reasons, including budget restraints, the City has not been able to buy the land, which is located west of the corner of Golden Avenue and Baker Street. Meanwhile, many of the residents in the area have become angry and distrustful of Oil Operators, Inc. (OOI), the company that owns the land. Over the years, the company has proposed several developments on the site, which would have thwarted residents’ wishes to have a park developed there. Furthermore, rumors have abounded that OOI is secretly allowing the dumping of toxic liquid waste on the property.
During the April 19 monthly meeting of the Wrigley Area Neighborhood Alliance (WANA), OOI President Trent Rosenleib explained what the company is and what it is doing with the land. About 40 people attended the meeting, which took place at the community center of Veterans Park.
“Oil Operators was incorporated in 1926,” he said, explaining that all OOI members are representatives of the oil and gas companies that operate in the area, and a small oil/gas company employs him. “We are an all-volunteer organization– we have no paid employees,” he stressed. “Our only function is to gather the water that is produced with oil and gas operations.” He noted that water is a byproduct of oil and natural gas extracted from the ground.
“We gather water from member wells in Signal Hill and Long Beach, and this is funded entirely by the members,” he said. “We don’t have any revenue-generating activities.”
Rosenleib explained that presently OOI is gathering water from oil and gas wells throughout Long Beach and Signal Hill and transporting that water through a system of pipelines to a central processing facility in Signal Hill. After the water is processed, it is transported by more pipelines to the Long Beach Harbor where it is re-injected deep under the ground as part of enhanced oil-recovery operations. “When we are not able to send it there, we discharge our water into the L.A. County sanitation system using the permits that we have with them,” Rosenleib said. “Although there is a little bit of oil in the water OOI processes, the company does not generate any hazardous waste in its current operations.”
He added that the site near Golden Avenue is the most visible part of Oil Operators and it was previously used to treat the oilfield-produced water.
“We transitioned out of that site in the late 1990s and started gathering all our water at the facilities located in Signal Hill,” he said.
Rosenleib told the audience that he was aware of the bad publicity surrounding OOI and he came to dispel false rumors and assure the community that the company cares about the health and well-being of the residents who live close to the 20-acre site. “To the best of our knowledge, Oil Operators never used that property to bury hazardous waste,” he said. “We don’t know of any buried hazardous waste that is there.” He added that OOI has never operated oil wells on the property and there are no abandoned oil wells there.
“Oil operators has only accepted approved non-hazardous waste at our site,” Rosenleib insisted. “Oilfield-produced water is deemed a non-hazardous byproduct of the production, and it is exempt under certain government regulations.”
Rosenleib also noted that OOI currently operates four groundwater-monitoring wells on the property, samples water every three months and submits water analysis results to the regional Water Quality Control Board.
“Since 2004, we have an active land-farming operation going on toward the south end of the property,” he said. “We add water and nutrients to the soil, keeping it tilled so it gets plenty of oxygen, which allows the soil to bioremediate in place.” He explained that bioremediation is the natural process whereby bacteria consume oil and its byproducts and convert those substances into harmless nutrients that can be absorbed by plants. Quarterly reports of the bioremediation process are also submitted to the Long Beach Health Department.
Rosenleib said in February 2010 the Water Quality Control Board required OOI to develop a plan for increased studies of the soil and groundwater. “The plan was submitted to the Board at the end of March, and we are waiting for the board to either approve or modify the plan,” he said. “It was not requested, but we will also be doing a soil vapor study to see if there are any vapors migrating from our site and impacting the neighborhoods.” He added that the studies will likely result in more clean-up actions at the site.
After his presentation, Rosenleib asked the audience for questions and comments. At that point, Wrigley Heights resident Julie Curtis stood up and challenged Rosenleib. “I don’t want any of you in this room to think that it’s this beautiful, glorious picture that he is presenting,” she said. “Take it with a huge grain of salt. Look into it. It’s not what he is saying it is.”
Curtis claimed that she has lived in the area since she was a little girl and she remembers when several local manufacturing companies had a regular habit of dumping toxic chemical waste on the site.
“I understand the passion that all of you feel,” Rosenleib said in response. “Oil Operators will do what needs to be done on the property.”
WANA board member Joan Greenwood added, “If the additional studies show that there are toxic substances present, they will be dealt with.”