Good morning and welcome to Monday Morning Coffee! Grab your cup and let’s get to your weekly briefing of what’s on the agenda for local government and business leaders. Get this in your inbox every Monday by signing up at lbpost.com/newsletters.

City meetings

In Long Beach, sometimes there simply aren’t enough ambulances to go around. 

According to statistics provided by the Long Beach Firefighters Association, the city has less than half the national average of city ambulances per resident. We’re outpaced by nearby Torrance, Redondo Beach and even the city of Los Angeles, where a typical ambulance covers about 10,000 fewer residents. 

In response, Long Beach in 2023 launched its 10th ambulance team during the “Peak Load” hours of 8 p.m. and 8 a.m. to act as relief in Downtown, Alamitos Beach, Belmont and the central neighborhoods of Lincoln and Poly High. Firefighters touted the program as a success — handling triple the nationally averaged call volume  — though under the calculable lens of city budgeting. Following a reduction in days, the Rescue 2 Peak Load Unit is at risk of running out of money. 

At its 5 p.m. meeting Tuesday, the Long Beach City Council will look at ways to pay for the pilot program permanently — if not expand it — with some already saying it’s high time Long Beach addresses the problem that was first raised by civic leaders in 2005. 

Elsewhere on the docket, the council will look to consider entering an agreement with the Los Angeles Police Department to curtail illegal street racing, approve the estimated $457,000 purchase of all-terrain beach cleaners and receive an audit report on the city Proposition H, which generated about $2.9 million last fiscal year, used to fund staffing and programs for city police, fire and mental health professionals. 

Long Beach Mayor Rex Richardson will also review his trip to Sacramento on Feb. 10 to join the Big City Mayors Legislative Advocacy Delegation. 

Elsewhere in the county, the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors at its 9 a.m. meeting Tuesday is expected to order five clinicians and five caseworkers to rotate between the 10 “highest need” libraries in Los Angeles, providing services as needed. Supervisors will also vote on a food delivery ordinance that will set a new fee cap and hear 2025-26 budget presentations from six county departments. 

The Long Beach Harbor Commission and Signal Hill City Council will not meet this week. 

Business events and information

  • The Long Beach Public Works Department is hosting a virtual town hall Wednesday with updates about an urban planning project along First Street in Downtown. Starting at 6:30 p.m., officials will list the coming improvements to the one-way street that runs between Lincoln Park and the East Village Arts District and already incorporates a meshwork of metro stops, bus lanes and complex crossings. Improvements could include new walkways, avenues of palm trees and ramps to newly elevated Metro Blue Line stops. Following the end of public input this month, officials want to permit work by the end of spring and begin construction this fall. Residents can RSVP in advance here. For more information, visit the city’s public works website here.
  • A $57.4 million state program will fund the purchase of zero-emission cargo machinery and harbor craft at the Port of Long Beach, officials said in a release Friday. Officials will explain more about the program and how they intend to spend the money at an informational workshop on March 13 from 2 p.m. to 4 p.m.
  • What place do you know of in Long Beach where you can drink local craft beer, bet on raffle prizes, get a few new clients and even get some air time to parley with your local city leaders? Probably some, but not many. The Long Beach Chamber of Commerce and Small Business Council are hosting a networking expo Thursday, opening a space where small businesses can have face-to-face time with policymakers and industry experts that help shape Long Beach. Also, there will be appetizers. The expo will be on March 6 from 4 p.m. to 6:30 p.m. at the Greek Orthodox Church in The Betty. (5761 E. Colorado St.) For more information, or if you would like to register, visit here.

ICYMI — California and national news

  • ‘Experiential’ retail surges as landlords try to lure customers back to the mall (L.A. Times)
  • Long Beach now has the largest eSports lab in Southern California (Long Beach Post)
  • Why some EV buyers are getting their tax returns rejected this year (LAist)