Hawthorne Press Tribune The Weekly Newspaper of Hawthorne Herald Publications - Inglewood, Hawthorne, Lawndale, El Segundo, Torrance & Manhattan Beach Community Newspapers Since 1911 - Circulation 30,000 - Readership 60,000 (310) 322-1830 - March 2, 2017 Inside This Issue Certified & Licensed Professionals.......................2 Classifieds............................2 Community Briefs...............3 Community Letter................3 Finance..................................4 Hawthorne Happenings....3 Legals................................ 6-7 Pets........................................8 Police Reports.....................3 Seniors..................................4 Sports....................................5 Weekend Forecast Friday Sunny 73˚/50˚ Saturday Mostly Sunny 64˚/52˚ Sunday Mostly Sunny 59˚/47˚ Chevron Refinery Firefighters Donate $3,000 to Local Charity Pictured left to right are: Ms. Darlene Love (representing Hawthorne Presidents Council) Robert Garris, Stephen Jolley, Alex Monteiro, Chairman of Hawthorne Presidents Council, Jae Onorato and Gabe Garcia. (Photo Courtesy of Chevron) City Council Tables Election Change, Term Extensions Indefinitely By Derrick Deane Debate about the upcoming switch to evennumbered election years and the potential extension of terms dominated much of Tuesdays Hawthorne City Council meeting. Before things got underway, Mayor Pro Tem Hadir Awad asked to pull the topic off the night’s agenda indefinitely and explained that he didn’t feel comfortable voting on it without having a full scope of the impact the ordinance might have. “I for one want to go into the community and hear what the voters have to say about us changing our election to even-numbered years,” Awad said at the start of the meeting. “There has been a lot of misinformation sent around about this change and I want to set the record straight.” Awad reiterated from the previous Council meeting that the City is legally obligated to make the change in the election cycle to evennumbered years. He added that the intention of the law is to increase voter turnout. The last municipal election had a 12 percent turnout and the numbers for the recent presidential election were even lower. “I support more voter turnout in our elections because involved voters would go a long way in protecting our city from corruption,” Awad said. Mayor Alex Vargas followed by agreeing with Awad, saying that he too had heard some concerns from the community. “There are certain things that I would like to have in front of me before I make a decision,” Vargas said. “I think there has been misinformation that has been put out there. We did not initiate this--the State of California did. Let’s make that very clear.” Vargas stated that he wanted to see election results that went further back than just the two most recent elections. He asked for the turnout results from the last four municipal elections “so that we can have some sort of statistical information” as well as all the general elections encompassed by the past four presidential contests. The Mayor also requested an estimate as to how much the City would save or incur by consolidating the municipal election with the general election. Councilmember Nilo Michelin continued his outright opposition to the ordinance, stating that it was poorly worded. “The ordinance, as it was written, was a bad idea. I don’t think that the public was confused about this,” he said. Michelin added that he felt there was a way to meet the State mandate, proposing hypothetically that the 2017 and 2019 elections could be for three-year terms instead of the usual four. Much of the opposition from residents comes from not having a say in extending the terms. It is because of this opposition, confusion and debate that the Council agreed to table the matter indefinitely. “I do not agree with allowing the Council majority the privilege of voting a one-year extension,” Hawthorne resident Alan Richards said. “If you vote in favor of this ordinance, you would be denying we the people of Hawthorne the right to make that decision.” Resident Gordon Michael Meego reminded everyone that the mayoral term had been extended from two years to four by voter approval during the previous administration. “Terms of the officials are really a legal contract with the residents of Hawthorne, so adding one or more years to an office term without voter approval would be a violation of that contract,” he said. “The Hawthorne City Council, which has an obvious conflict of interest, must recuse themselves from voting on the changes--especially where you’re increasing the term of office and defer to the voters on these decisions. If you choose to do otherwise, you will be showing genuine disrespect and absolute contempt for we the people of Hawthorne.” Others who spoke out about the matter said that it wasn’t a matter of confusion. “I think we understand that this is a law that is going to change our election cycle and I think why we’re upset is because instead of adding a year to your own terms, there are alternatives that would be better--like reducing your terms,” resident Amie Shepard said. “I think that you stating that it’s the law and it has to be this way sort of influences people who maybe don’t have access to the Internet to look these things up for themselves.” Shepard added, “I reject the argument that we’re misinformed or confused. I think we’re just angry about the fact that it got to this point and that you guys thought it would be okay to add time to your terms.” Two seats will be on the ballot in November – those for Councilmembers Angie Reyes English and Olivia Valentine (who was selected to fill Vargas’ former Council seat for a shortened term). Michelin continued to voice his opposition as the meeting closed, saying, “I’d like to congratulate the people of Hawthorne. You stopped a bad ordinance, at least temporarily. An ordinance that would allow Councilmembers to extend their present terms that they are serving is wrong. The citizens of Hawthorne knew that and there’s no confusion.” Michelin added that the State mandate required that elections must occur on even-numbered years by 2022, but “there is nothing on there about extending present terms.” Vargas closed the meeting stating that the City continues to move forward with a number of restaurants and grand openings slated. He added that plans have been submitted for the Hawthorne Mall site and that demolition has begun across the street from City Hall where two new Marriott hotels will be built. •
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