The Weekly Newspaper of El Segundo
Herald Publications - El Segundo, Torrance, Manhattan Beach, Hawthorne, Lawndale, & Inglewood Community Newspapers Since 1911 - (310) 322-1830 - Vol. 106, No. 35 - August 31, 2017
Inside
This Issue
Centennial Carnival............8
Certified & Licensed
Professionals.....................14
Classifieds............................4
Crossword/Sudoku.............4
Entertainment......................6
Legals............................ 12,13
Pets......................................15
Police Briefs........................3
Real Estate................9-11,16
Sports.............................. 5,13
Weekend
Forecast
Northrop Grumman Supports
Cousteau’s EarthEcho Expedition
This year, thanks to support from the Northrop Grumman Foundation, EarthEcho will, for the first time, include U.S. based middle school teachers in an exploration of water scarcity in Southern California
alongside Philippe Cousteau, Jr. and the EarthEcho Expeditions team. Since 2013, EarthEcho Expeditions have leveraged the rich Cousteau legacy of exploration and discovery to bring science, technology,
engineering and mathematics (STEM) education alive for today’s 21st Century learners and their educators. Photo Credit: EarthEcho. •
City Continues to Monitor
Performance as Year Rolls On
By Brian Simon
As part of long-term strategic planning and
a commitment to achieve its major objectives,
Wiseburn School Board Meets
Prior to Opening Day on Campuses
By Duane Plank
Last Wednesday’s meeting of the Wiseburn
School Board was bereft of special
presentations---which is standard for the
final meeting prior to start-up of a new
school year. The first day of classes kicked
off this week on Wednesday morning.
As the construction continues at the
new high school facility on Douglas
Street, Wiseburn Unified School District
Superintendent Tom Johnstone, who will
be retiring at the end of the school year,
said, “If we maintain urgency, if we get in
before the end of October, it isn’t that big
of a deal.” Johnstone said he was “pushing
more” to have the students inhabit the new
site at the end of September, but added,
“I don’t think that is going to happen.”
Johnstone noted two key areas at the
construction site that must be completed.
“One of them is the atrium,” he said. He
mentioned welding issues that still needed
to be dialed in, as well as the “cement
treatment to the parking lot.” Johnstone
said that there were ongoing negotiations
with the company scheduled to work on
the parking lot treatment, noting that
the contractor had initially proposed a
square-foot cement treatment bid that
was, in Johnstone’s opinion, out of line.
Negotiations are ongoing, he said.
The Superintendent said that most of
the challenges at the construction site had
the City of El Segundo earlier this year
began to provide regular reports to track its
performance in various categories. Recently,
staff released numbers for the second quarter
covering April through June. When compared
with the initial batch of results from the first
quarter, the City now has an early measuring
stick to see how it is doing—where there
has been improvement as well as what areas
might need some extra attention.
For instance, the average monthly number
of building plan checks increased from 36.3
in the first quarter up to 46.3--and the average
time to review those decreased from
12.9 days to just 8.1 days. But while overall
plan checks (including electrical, mechanical,
plumbing and grading) increased from 65 to
75 a month, those took 9.4 full time employee
(FTE) hours per review as compared to 8.1
in the first quarter. Finance Manager Joseph
Lillio attributed the extra time to receiving a
number of especially complicated reviews.
The City only processed an average of
two film permits a month in the second
quarter after four in the first, but cut down
turnaround time from 48 hours to 32 hours.
Staff also processed City contracts in 5.6 days
on monthly average as opposed to taking 7.1
days in the first quarter.
While the number of card holders, visitors
and circulation of materials all dropped very
slightly at the library during the second quarter,
attendance at programs almost doubled
from 440 to 857.
On the public safety side, the El Segundo
Police Department reported a monthly average
of 170 calls in the second quarter with
an average response time of four minutes
and 12 seconds. This versus the first quarter
averages of 127 calls per month and four
minutes and seven seconds to respond.
However in releasing crime numbers for
June 2017, the ESPD reported some good
news. Part 1 crimes were down in June by
10 percent compared to the previous year,
with notable decreases in robberies and theft/
larceny offenses. Burglaries and aggravated
See City, page 3
See Wiseburn, page 14
Friday
Sunny
90˚/75˚
Saturday
Partly
Cloudy
87˚/73˚
Sunday
Sunny
85˚/73˚