The Weekly Newspaper of El Segundo
Herald Publications - El Segundo, Torrance, Manhattan Beach, Hawthorne, Lawndale, & Inglewood Community Newspapers Since 1911 - (310) 322-1830 - Vol. 107, No. 32 - August 9, 2018
Inside
This Issue
Certified & Licensed
Professionals.....................14
Classifieds............................4
Crossword/Sudoku.............4
Film Review..........................6
Legals....................... 12,13,14
Letters...................................3
Pets......................................15
Police Briefs........................3
Real Estate.....................7-11
Sports.............................. 5,13
Weekend
Forecast
Friday
Sunny
82˚/70˚
Saturday
Sunny
78˚/68˚
Sunday
Partly
Cloudy
77˚/67˚
ESFD Helping Out Up North
As of the beginning of the week El Segundo Fire Department Engine-31 was deployed on the Mendocino Complex in Lake County and Battalion Chief-31 was deployed on the Carr Fire in Shasta County.
ESFD personnel continued to defend homes and protect property despite the extreme fire behavior, elevated temperatures and fatigue. Photo: ESFD.
Department Heads Hope to Score
Big on Budget Surplus Monies
By Brian Simon
With the news of a hefty, one-time budget
surplus for the 2018/19 fiscal year potentially
to the tune of $6.8 million, the El Segundo
City Council will have the good problem of
deciding where and how to spend the extra
dollars. Some possibilities include earmarking
the monies towards up to $3 million in
capital improvement projects, pension liability
pay-downs to carve away at the City of
El Segundo’s most glaring long-term debt,
and an employee engagement/recognition
program aimed at boosting morale, recruitment
and personnel retention. Additionally,
City department heads crafted their own
wish lists of items they would like to see
funded to bolster the services they provide.
The Council will consider the requests on a
case-by-case basis this month as the group
prepares to adopt the next budget that will
kick in on October 1. So far the Council
heard pleas from five departments, with the
rest to follow on Aug. 13 during the next
budget study session. Here is an overview
of the initial set of asks.
The City Clerk’s Office hopes to secure
$14,000 to reconfigure its open space area
to redistribute desks (with modular furniture)
evenly to accommodate three full-time employees.
The project would entail installing
a Dutch door with a small counter. Another
$12,000 would provide a central outside
location in the City Hall quad for a standalone
kiosk for public notices related to
City business.
The Clerk’s Office also asked to hire
a consultant ($8,000) to develop its own
department strategic plan and $20,000 for
another consultant to review each individual
City department’s record-keeping/destruction
to determine best practices policies going
forward. Related to that is an additional
$30,000 ask for updated records-related Laserfiche
software. “We’re probably keeping
more records than we’re legally required,”
City Manager Greg Carpenter said.
For his own office, Carpenter hopes to
upgrade the Economic Development Manager
to the position of Deputy City Manager
(an increase of about $18,500 annually) to
assume the expanded role of managing both
economic development activities and Citywide
communications and public information.
Along with that came proposals for two
new positions: A full-time Economic Development
Coordinator ($90,000 to $128,000
per year) and Communications Management
Analyst/Senior Management Analyst
($120,000 to $140,000). Carpenter described
the latter individual as ideally “a more
seasoned professional” and noted that the
new hires would address areas that “have
See Budget Surplus Monies, page 14
Council Calls a Scooter Timeout
By Brian Simon
Electric scooters are no longer allowed
in town until further notice. So voted the
El Segundo City Council on Tuesday night
as the members (Mayor Drew Boyles
recused himself from the discussion due
to a business conflict) expressed concerns
about safety, liability and parking, among
other items. Though not a permanent ban,
the moratorium intends to give scooter
firms that want to do business here the
opportunity to come up with an operational
game plan that works for El Segundo.
On July 17, the Council directed staff to
develop a pilot program to allow motorized
scooter services to operate within the
community. This came a month after the
company Bird without warning dropped
off 30 of their vehicles around town. A
Bird representative addressed the Council
that night and mentioned revenue-sharing,
programs to hand out free helmets and
provide user education, and a pledge to
put the City of El Segundo on its insurance
policy by the following morning.
Since that time the situation became
further complicated with the arrival of
another outfit (Lime) that brought 50 of
their own scooters to El Segundo two
weeks ago. City staff discussions with
both firms hit roadblocks, particularly
in the insurance area. “[Bird and Lime]
pushed back in ways I’m not comfortable
with,” City Attorney Mark Hensley said,
indicating that the companies were only
willing to offer $1 million in coverage
when “it should be closer to $4 million.”
See City Council, page 15