The Weekly Newspaper of Manhattan Beach Herald Publications - El Segundo, Manhattan Beach, Hawthorne, Lawndale, & Inglewood Community Newspapers Since 1911 - Circulation 30,000 - Readership 60,000 (310) 322-1830 Vol. 8, No. 11 November 6, 2014 Inside This Issue Certified and Licensed Professionals...................6 Classifieds............................2 Community Briefs...............2 Finance..................................6 Food.......................................5 Looking Up...........................2 Pets........................................7 Politically Speaking............4 Weekend Forecast Pier to Pier Friendship Walk Raises $1.1 Million For Special Needs Members of The Friendship Circle took center stage at the SKECHERS Pier to Pier Friendship Walk. The walk raised over a million dollars for children with special needs and education. See more photos, page 3. Photo by Desert Rose Photography. South Bay Cities Council of Governments: Providing Programs, Saving Money By Brian Simon While there are many benefits to autonomy, collaboration with one’s neighbors can pay also major dividends. Such is the case when it comes to the South Bay Cities Council of Governments (SBCCOG)—a 19-year-old joint powers authority comprised of 16 municipalities (plus Los Angeles County) that work together to advocate for regional projects and programs they would be hard-pressed to implement through individual efforts alone. As just a few recent examples of its ongoing mission to protect overall South Bay interests, the SBCCOG negotiated with utility partners to assure policies and actions are fair to cities, advanced city sustainability programs, lobbied the Public Utilities Commission to put the spotlight on South Bay infrastructure reliability programs, and prevented the South Bay Highway Program (SBHP) from paying for a $100 million Crenshaw Rail Project overrun. The SBCCOG also provides cost-effective programs that save cities money now and in the future—with energy efficiency and transportation two of the major focus areas outlined in the agency’s 2014/15 work program. On the energy side, cities working with the SBCCOG have realized significant general fund savings over the last five years through various utility incentives that also improve the environment by reducing greenhouse gas emissions. Just looking at the Herald Publications group of cities (El Segundo, Hawthorne, Inglewood, Lawndale and Torrance), those municipalities reported combined annual savings of nearly $500,000.and reduced emissions by over 2,100 tons collectively as a result of SBCCOG collaboration. Other regional offerings include energy audits and advice, training, energy action plans, energy leader programs, holiday light exchanges, municipal direct installs, and quarterly reports so each city can monitor energy efficiency. Municipal direct install—a program for government and non-profit facilities that can cut energy costs by up to 30 percent through on-site energy audits and installation of energysaving equipment—has already provided well over $200,000 in combined upfront cost and annual savings for Hawthorne, Lawndale and Torrance. El Segundo and Inglewood also recently joined this program and expect to shave some of their yearly expenditures as a result. Water conservation programs include Cash for Kitchens, California-friendly landscape training workshops, highefficiency toilet exchanges, water reliability educational presentations, and water leak detection (El Segundo and Inglewood were two of four cities receiving grants totaling $408,000 to address this issue). The SBCCOG also collaborates on climate action plans for the individual cities. On the transportation side, the SBCCOG fosters the application and funding processes for $906 million in Measure R (the countywide half-cent sales tax passed by voters) monies earmarked for the SBHP. This led to over $5 million in Measure R monies allocated for completed transportation projects in El Segundo (Maple Avenue to Parkview Avenue improvements), Hawthorne (Rosecrans arterial improvements) and Torrance (Maple at Sepulveda intersection improvements) over the last couple of years. In 2014/15, Measure R will subsidize $25 million for 11 highway projects in Torrance alone, with another $4 million-plus to cover nine total projects in El Segundo, Hawthorne and Lawndale. Blending transportation and energy efficiency, the SBCCOG has put an emphasis on promoting the electric vehicle movement, with current programs in place for battery (BEV) and plug-in (PEV) cars and efforts to secure additional funding for PEV readiness as well as for an NEV (neighborhood electric vehicle) large-scale project and non-profit demonstration. The SBCCOG also orchestrated the Car2Go vehicle-sharing program now operating in El Segundo and Torrance. “The COG’s interest in EVs and non-traditional transportation such as car sharing and NEVs comes from research showing that in the South Bay most trips--other than the commute trip to work--are less than three miles,” said SBCCOG Executive Director Jacki Bacharach. “This makes them too long to walk and too short for transit. Also, while biking is encouraged, not everyone can bike… so other alternatives are of interest.” Bacharach, who oversees the SBCCOG’s day-to-day operations and a staff of 13 employees plus several consultants, added that much of the organization’s funding comes from grant dollars. “Another key area of success noted in our work program is that we leverage our dues with outside funding, raising 10 times the amount of funds from dues,” she said. SBCCOG also provides training and networking opportunities for city staff members, during which department heads meet to discuss issues of mutual interest and learn from one another. As examples, the new Social Media Working Group and the Senior Services Working Group recently launched. “Discussions at these meetings focus on what cities need to know and how they can do better for their constituents from working together,” said Bacharach, who added that the SBCCOG’s main networking event is its Annual General Assembly that is next scheduled for February 15 of next year. It is a fullday program with speakers and discussion See SBCCOG, page 4 Friday Sunny 79˚/58˚ Saturday Sunny 78˚58˚ Sunday Partly Cloudy 75˚/58˚
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