Photos by Keeley Smith.
Long Beach Mayor Robert Garcia, Vice Mayor Suja Lowenthal and Councilwoman Suzie Price clustered around a sign blanketed in white at 4th and Junipero this morning, giddy with excitement.
Each took a turn at the podium situated near the sign, detailing the lengthy process spearheaded by Lowenthal in 2006 to change the inconvenient street sweeping times in the densely populated, parking-challenged neighborhood of Alamitos Beach.
“This will cause significant increases in the quality of life for lots of folks,” said Garcia, noting that they would not have to move their cars at 3:50AM or 4:00AM to avoid a parking ticket during the previously established 4:00AM to 8:00AM street sweeping window.
“I’m thankful the city did things right and conducted a study,” said Lowenthal. “It took almost a decade.”
Before unveiling the new, shiny street sweeping sign, Price reinforced the purpose of street sweeping, noting its effects on the city’s water quality. However, the council noted that convenience was important to residents, and keeping people as energetic as possible was a local government priority when it came to reducing the street sweeping window time and assigning new hours, no earlier than 8:00AM, throughout the neighborhood.
“We’ve received only positive feedback [regarding the new street sweeping times],” said Price.