City Council is dark this week so I thought I might actually talk about a few things scheduled to come up during the next meeting on April 7.  
   
And in an effort to keep the column fresh, I thought I might even try to cover more than a single item–I know, I know, what a novelty, eh? 
  
You also may want to read on for the historical value of this column–somewhere in the following screed I am going to give a shout out to City Hall for a well-reasoned decision. However, I warn you that is it capped with some preemptive criticism, so it is up to you to pull out the little gem of happenstance and save it for posterity as you will.
  
First, in case anyone was wondering what City Hall had in store for April 18, it appears that they want us all to be celebrating C-17 Day. The Council is set to vote on a resolution setting aside the third Saturday of this month in honor of the giant military cargo plane and the employees that build it in Boeing Long Beach plant. Given that the current government contract for supplying the plane runs out in August of this year, a well-planned family picnic to celebrate what is likely the last milestone of Long Beach’s near century of aviation history may be prudent.
  
The Council will also consider a resolution next week in “Support of Keeping the United States Postal Services Facility Located at 2300 Redondo Avenue Fully Operational.”
  
Certainly, a laudable notion given that the USPS facility is looking as endangered as the Naval Station was shortly before it disappeared. However, in lieu of a resolution, a few bucks spent on some Washington, D.C. lobbying might be more prudent. Maybe in addition to the C-17 “task force” that City Hall formed years ago to “save” the cargo plane, we need a USPS team to “save” the Redondo facility. Then again, considering how well the C-17 team’s efforts panned out (see note about end of contract above), maybe City Hall should just stick with hiring more professional lobbyists.
  
As things usually go, the Council also plans to take up several things next week that have moved across the dais previously, including a new formulation for how city funds are allocated for sidewalk repair. In the past, each Council district received an equal amount of money each year, $250,000, from the coffers specifically for sidewalks. During the March 17 meeting, a new formulation was proposed that would allocate $100,000 each year to each of the nine districts, with the remaining $1.8 million being distributed to each District based on need.
  
Long Beach has 1,160 miles of city sidewalks, and according to a presentation by the Mayor’s office last summer, 161 miles (just under 14 percent) still need to be replaced. The presentation, part of Mayor Foster’s failed attempt to rally voters behind an infrastructure measure, quoted a January 2007 Public Works Department document that said it would take $45 million to replace the 161 miles of substandard sidewalks in the city. Mr. Calculator tells us this works out to $53 a foot.
  
An interesting side note: in the presentation, created in late July 2008, the cost of fixing the sidewalks (and based on previous Public Works documents) was given as $45 million. However, nearly three weeks before this presentation was first shown, City Hall had released a study showing the actual amount required was 11 percent higher, or $50 million. Mr. Calculator says this higher amount breaks down to $59 a foot, or about $14.80 per linear foot of average four-foot-wide sidewalk.
  
Oddly enough, next week’s agenda item still references the older $45 million estimate to fix the needed 161 miles of city’s sidewalks. Evidently Mr. Right Hand and Mr. Left Hand are still not speaking at City Hall.
  
Next week, the Council will affirm the actual amounts based on the new sidewalk spending formula. Not surprisingly, the more residential Districts (3rd, 4th, 5th, 7th, 8th and 9th) will receive the higher need-based amounts, while the 1st, 2nd and 6th Districts will all receive less than they did under the old formula. Councilmember Andrews’ 6th District will take a notable hit, losing more than $100,000 a year for sidewalk repairs under the new formulation. According to the Public Works Department, the 6th District only has 2.64 percent of the city’s substandard sidewalks.
  
Councilmember Schipske’s 5th District, the largest in the city, will take the largest cumulative slice of the sidewalk pie at $465,000 a year (including the $100,000 base amount). The rest of the Districts sort out on the list in this order, with the total amounts they will receive including the base amount: 8th ($430k), 3rd($379k), 7th ($368k), 4th ($300k), 9th ($262k), 2nd ($187k), 1st ($158k), and 6th ($147k).
  
It is worth noting that the agenda item does not say that this is a one-year allocation. It indicates that this funding formula will apply until the sidewalks are fixed, which according to the Public Works’ priorities and these new funding levels could take anywhere from just under 8 years for the 6th District to just over 19 years for the 5th District.
  
Now I promised to proffer a compliment, so here it is: the Council is set to vote on an item that will see the refurbishment of the “Planet Ocean” mural on the exterior of the Convention Center Arena building. The mural, originally painted by artist Robert Wyland in the early 1990s and featuring a sweeping view of ocean life replete with whales, is one of the more iconic fixtures of the downtown shore area. It is also pretty faded and in need of a facelift.
  
Most amazingly, the project will not cost the city a dime. If City Hall coordinated this project, they should all receive a hearty pat on the back.
  
The Wyland Foundation has offered to provide a team of artists to refurbish the painting, Home Depot has offered to provide the materials, the Convention and Visitors Bureau is picking up the tab for housing the artists for a couple of weeks, and the Convention Center will pick up some preparatory costs.
  
The refurbishment effort, if approved, is set to begin in mid-April and be completed before Earth Day on April 22.
  
Lastly, I also promised I would not let any compliment go without a preemptive criticism, so here it is: I am not holding my breath to see the public relations outreach the city will do to take advantage of the refurbishment, despite the agenda item noting the opportunity. Having been in the news business, I know this type of story sells itself–great visuals, work being done for the benefit of the community, and a strong “green” theme. But you have to let the media know about it. However, as is typical of past City Hall efforts to bring attention to positive things done to enhance the image of the city, I expect little more than an article or two in the local publications. In reality, this would be a prime opportunity for City Hall to at least briefly put the city in the national spotlight, which can never hurt when you are trying to do things at the national level like, oh, I don’t know, save a postal facility. As I said, I’m not holding my breath.