The Weekly Newspaper of Torrance Herald Publications - Torrance, El Segundo, Manhattan Beach, Hawthorne, Lawndale, & Inglewood Community Newspapers Since 1911 - (310) 322-1830 - Vol. 6, No. 22 - May 26, 2016 Inside This Issue Certified & Licensed Professionals.......................9 Classifieds............................4 Crossword/Sudoku.............4 Armed Forces Parade....2,6 Film Review..........................2 Legals....................................8 Real Estate...................10-11 Sports....................................5 TerriAnn in Torrance..........7 Weekend Forecast Students Embrace “South Bay Promise” for Higher Education Sixty high school seniors have committed to attending El Camino College for the 2016-2017 academic year as part of the ‘South Bay Promise’. El Camino College held an orientation session to welcome these students on May 19. Jan Vogel, executive director of SBWIB, speaks at the “South Bay Promise” reception. Photo by Juan Flores. • Council Approves Commuter Transportation Consultant Services By Cristian Vasquez Torrance Mayor Patrick Furey and the City Council approved a contract to provide the city with commuter transportation [Rideshare] consulting services from July 1-June 30, 2017 in the amount of $65,520. These funds will be made available through the city’s 2016/2017 Rideshare Program Budget, which are non-general fund monies See School Board, page 3 Like Some Candidates’ Claims, the Truth is Out There By Rob McCarthy California voters can expect a barrage of campaign promises from presidential candidates as they compete in California’s delegate-rich primary on June 7. How can voters know if the candidates are giving it to them straight or spinning the facts? Well, the truth is out there. There are a couple of websites called Factcheck.org and Politifact.org that closely follow every debate, campaign speech and interview given by candidates running for president and state elected offices. Their role in the current campaign is to check the accuracy of the claims politicians make in public. Neither is affiliated with a political party or accepts corporate donations to avoid suspicion. One is run by a public university. The other is staffed by an independent-minded Florida newspaper. The Herald contacted Factcheck.org and asked how it decides which political claims to investigate, and about being fair and balanced to the candidates. “It is important for fact checkers to guard against selection bias,” said Eugene Kiely, the Factcheck.org director. “In a presidential year, we cover every debate on both sides (that included in the early going two GOP debates a night) and we cover both conventions (all the major speeches, such as the keynote address, the nominating speeches See Truth, page 3 and considered restricted dollars from AB2766 [Department of Motor Vehicles fee] that are to be used for the reduction of car emission activities. The contract was approved with Kim Fuentes who was retained by the city in 1994 as a consultant in the implementation efforts of the South Coast Air Quality Management District [AQMD] Rideshare mandates. “Fuentes was selected due to the depth of her experience in the field of transportation demand management, as well as her costeffective proposal,” indicates the staff report signed by Community Development Director Jeffrey W. Gibson. “Her experience includes working with the County of Los Angeles as the Trip Reduction Program Manager, as well as program experience with local cities and employers.” The Rideshare Los Angeles County website [http://rideshare.lacounty.gov/about/] estimates that 1.1 million people drive to work alone every day. The EPA reports that this contributes to the release of almost six metric tons of Carbon Dioxide into the environment each year. Through Rideshare efforts, cities throughout Los Angeles County aim to contribute to the reduction of said emission through the use of allocated funds. During the past year the city has seen the benefits of obtaining contractor services through several successes such as: achieving the required South Coast Air Quality Management District’s Rule 2202 Average Vehicle Ridership which was 1.50; the continued successful operation of the city’s vanpool program which registers a high level of multi-employer participation and has helped secure new leases for vanpools; the reduced program cost via the continued implementation of Metro subsidy. The city has also surveyed all employees, which expressed approval of the city’s 2015-16 Trip Reduction Program from the AQMD, as well as assisting with the ongoing support of an online tracking system that encourages additional rideshare participation while reducing city staff time. “AQMD Rule 2202 remains in effect in the South Coast Basin; thus the City of Torrance is required to comply,” states the staff report. “In addition to regulatory compliance, programs such as the City’s employee rideshare program add benefits beyond cleaner air and lower fuel consumption.” The AQMD’s Rule 2202 relates to Road Motor Vehicle Mitigation Options and presents employers with a list of options aimed at reducing emissions generated from employee commutes. The AQMD website highlights that these reductions allow cities to comply with federal and state Clean Air Act requirements, Health & Safety Code Section 40458, and Section 182(d)(1)(B) of the federal Clean Air Act. City staff listed benefits such as the reduction in traffic congestion, an increase in building the city’s public-private partnerships, an increase in employee morale, a reduction in vehicle miles traveled, a continued reduction in the city’s carbon footprint, assisting the city in reaching its strategic plan goals, building a good neighbor atmosphere with the residents, being able to retain AB2766 funds for use within the city and being able to improve the city’s economic development through heightened mobility. Also approved by the council, as a sep-arate item, was a recommendation by Gibson to authorize a purchase order with Just Rewards Friday Partly Cloudy 68˚/58˚ Saturday AM Clouds/ PM Sun 68˚/59˚ Sunday Partly Cloudy 69˚/58˚
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