The Long Beach City Council meeting on Tuesday was another of those “wake-me-in-the-wee-hours-when-it’s-over” affairs, coming under the tape at just over four hours.
So in the interest of our readers, I will now attempt to distill down last night’s heady brew into something a little more refined and palatable. Something on the order of taking Hamlet and condensing it down to the Gilligan’s Island version.
Following the opening credits, the Skipper, otherwise known as Val Lerch last night (Mayor Bob Foster was absent), felt it important to let all the veterans in the audience know that President Obama has signed an executive order allowing veterans to salute while performing the pledge of allegiance, thus indicating their service. Of course he waited until after the pledge to mention this. And far be it from the Skipper to let such a statement focus solely on others. Lerch managed to get in that he would be saluting the flag from now on, as he was a veteran. But we already knew this from the episode where the Skipper was sleep-walking and dreaming of his days in the war and trying to turn the radio into a transmitter.
To make this easier on everyone, I think we’ll just skip right to the “meat” of the meeting–the discussion on a draft ordinance regarding medical marijuana dispensaries. The item was saved to the end of the meeting, but consumed nearly three hours of time.
After numerous comments by the public and much discussion at the dais, the council members by a vote of 9-0 approved what was in essence the ordinance drafted beforehand by City Attorney Bob Shannon, albeit with some important changes. The draft, with the approved amendments, must return to the council as a second draft for another vote.
Shannon ‘s draft ordinance sought to set standards by which medical marijuana dispensaries could be operated within the city. The number of dispensaries in the city have grown, by some accounts, to between 50 and 60.
While federal law prohibits the growing and dispensation of marijuana–a controlled substance–California voters approved allowing medical marijuana to be dispensed. However, it has fallen to local government entities within the state to develop their own procedures for regulation the dispensaries.
The changes approved by the council to Shannon’s draft included: removing a restriction that only 18 dispensaries could be located in the city; allowing dispensaries in business/residential mixed-use areas; allowing dispensaries within 1,000 feet of libraries and parks; prohibiting identification, under patient privacy, of people using dispensaries; providing a grace period for existing dispensaries to comply with any ordinance that is approved; and allowing dispensary patients to cultivate marijuana in their homes.
The ordinance still prohibits dispensaries from being located within residential areas or within 1,000 feet of licensed child-care facilities, playgrounds, schools, youth centers and/or other dispensaries. The ordinance would also limit the dispensaries to operate only between 10 a.m. and 8 p.m. The approved ordinance also restricts distribution of marijuana to members of the dispensaries only and bans the production of “edible” marijuana products. Dispensaries under the ordinance would also be limited to having no more than four pounds of marijuana at the dispensary location.
Now if you really want to get to the nitty gritty of the council meeting, then read on brave traveler for the rest of what the council decided Tuesday.
The first item of the night saw the council agree to sell just over 10,600 square feet of city-owned property at 1652-1660 West 15th St. to a “long-time eastside business” for industrial redevelopment. While the city agreed to a sale price for the city property of $371,675, it cost the Redevelopment Agency just over $1 million to acquire and process the property, for a net loss on the deal to the RDA of $674,280. The sale also gives the new owners, the McFadden Family Trust, ownership of the entire city block between Santa Fe Avenue and Canal Avenue and bordered by 15th Street on the north and Cowles Street on the south. The Trust also owns one-quarter of the city block immediately south of Cowles Street .
The next item saw the council give approval to a business named Pizza Pi located at 649 E. Broadway, for a short-term permit to allow entertainment (without dancing by patrons). The business hopes to have karaoke, belly dancing performances and other live music.
Following several comments from the public on various subjects, the council turned to the six items on the consent calendar, which passed unanimously without discussion. These items included referring just over $5 million in recent claims against the city to the City Attorney’s office; approval to execute a annual $275,000 contract for maintenance and repair service for various vehicles in the city fleet; a contract extension through December, 2010, for work to restore a stream at El Dorado Nature Center; acceptance of just over $140,000 in federal grant funds to be used for Ramona Park improvements; approval of a person-to-person liquor license transfer for Muldoons Saloon at 5646-48 Paramount Blvd.; and, approval to receive and file the minutes of the Civil Service Commission’s Oct. 21 meeting.
So, less than 20 minutes into the meeting and the council had already moved on to the regular agenda, which this week contained 13 items.
First up was a motion to request a report from the City Manager in three weeks on staffing and service levels at the city’s 9-1-1 call center. However, City manager Pat West indicated that city hall staff had already prepared something for presentation, at which point the council agreed to amend the agenda item to include an immediate discussion of the staff report at the next Public Safety meeting.
Lerch then moved and received consent, to move the next item, the medical marijuana item, to the end of the meeting.
With this approved, the council moved on to the next item–approval of a contract with SCE for the implementation of the 2010-2012 Energy Efficiency Partnership Program.
During the vote on this item, Councilmember Gabelich asked to return to the 9-1-1 report, which was approved following approval of the SCE contract.
Gabelich sated that the call center report showed that staffing levels have remained consistent over the past five years, but that their remain six budgeted yet vacant positions at the center.
“What caused the drop in the response times, when we fell under the standards during the summer?” asked Gabelich.
Police Department Deputy Chief J.J. Craig, head of the police Support Bureau, said that the cause goes back to the call center’s implementation of wireless 9-1-1 in November, 2008. Prior to this implementation, 9-1-1 calls from cell phones were routed to the California Highway Patrol before being transferred to the city call center. The implementation was phased in, with the city taking over calls from different cell service providers at roughly one per month until march, 2009, when all providers were routed directly to the city call center. While expected by the LBPD, the traditionally higher call period of the summer months caused the response times to dip below the state standard for wireless 9-1-1 calls.
“Since that time…once the summer months were over and with some adjustments to staffing that we made, we are back over the state standard,” said Craig. The Deputy Chief also said that the department is continuing its efforts to fill the vacant call center positions.
Gabelich pointed out that from October 2008 to October 2009, there has been just over a 68 percent increase in 9-1-1 calls to the center. Gabelich said she was concerned that given the increase in calls and the still vacant positions, that perhaps the transfer of wireless calls to the city call center was implemented too quickly and that she was hopeful the vacant positions would be filled quickly.
The council then returned to the regular agenda, approving contract amendments to the tune of $380,000 with various One-Stop Career Center Service Providers in support of the Workforce Investment Network’s
employment services.
The council next approved the receipt of $400,000 in state funds and $100,000 in federal funds to implement a local Clean Energy Workforce Training Program and to execute a contract with Long Beach Community College District in the amount of $390,000 to provide training services.
The next item saw the approval of contracts, paid for from just over $1.2 million in federal monies, with various “institutions of higher learning” to provide classroom and skills upgrade training for vocational programs.
Council members next approved the change of a 100-foot stretch of Oregon Avenue behind Jesse James’ West Coast Choppers shop to West Coast Choppers Place .
The next item saw the council approve the acquisition by the City manager’s office of office space for the City’s 8th Council District field office at 5641 Atlantic Ave. The move, according to Gabelich, will save the district more than $27,000 a year.
The next item, composed of three separate motions and all approved unanimously, concerned the receipt of certain findings related to the Central, North, and Downtown Redevelopment Project Area Funds.
Council members then approved the issuance of revenue bonds by the California Statewide Community Development Authority to benefit New Hope Home, L.P. in an amount not to exceed
$9,000,000. The funds will be used to finance the acquisition and rehabilitation of New Hope Home, a 140-unit affordable senior rental housing complex, located at 1150 New York St . The project was originally approved last year, but according to the City Manager, the downturn in the economy caused it to be shelved temporarily.
The last of the previously moved regular agenda items saw the approval of a recommendation to authorize the City Manager to execute all documents related to the widening of Pacific Coast Highway at Second Street.
One ordinance motion, concerning landscaping standards for public right-of-way, was also approved unanimously before the council returned to the skipped item–public comment and discussion of a draft ordinance on medical marijuana dispensaries.
Ironically, Skipper Lerch, noticing that the meeting had only run about 40 minutes, chimed in with, “Now if we hurry up we can be out of here by 6 o’clock.”
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