BY NICK DIAMANTIDES
Staff Writer
Rae Gabelich’s informal meeting with Long Beach residents last Saturday proved that some people really care about what’s happening in the city. Gabelich, who is the Long Beach City Council member representing the city’s 8th District, conducts the meetings, which she calls “Community Coffees,” once a month to inform her constituents about what is going on in the district and to allow them to voice their concerns.
About 35 people attended the May 10 meeting, which took place from 10 a.m. to noon at the North Long Beach Branch Library.
Gabelich began by noting that the Long Beach Redevelopment Agency had recently approved the plan for a Marshalls department store to be constructed in the Bixby Knolls Shopping Center. Gabelich has been working with city officials for about two years to bring the nationally recognized store there as part of a plan to revitalize the shopping center and all of Bixby Knolls.
Next, Gabelich shared the good news of the official opening of the Dominguez Wetlands, a project planned and developed by the county just east of the Los Angeles River between Del Amo Boulevard and Del Mar Avenue.
“If you haven’t seen it yet, this is a wonderful time to go,” she said. “The wildflowers and numbers of birds are spectacular.”
The councilwoman added that work has also begun on another open-space project in North Long Beach, on 51st street, close to the Dominguez Wetlands. Known as the 51st Street Greenbelt.
“It’s part of the Port of Long Beach’s Harbor Arbor program,” Gabelich explained. “They have cleared what was a patch of land that was weeds and a dumping ground, and started the work on creating a greenbelt with new trees.” She added that her office and other city officials are looking for ways to fund playground equipment to create a neighborhood park there.
Continuing with the theme of revitalization efforts in North Long Beach, Gabelich reminded the audience that the building that once housed M&M Soul Food on the corner of Cherry Avenue and Market Street was demolished last month.
“Work is now underway for the new Walgreens on that site,” she said.
The councilwoman also asked audience members to participate in the 8th District Vision Committee process, which will create a plan for what will happen in the 8th District during the next decade.
“The first meeting for the committee is Wednesday, May 21 at 6:30 p.m. at the LBPD North Division Community Room,” she said. “If you are interested in participating, please let me or my staff know.”
Turning to another subject, the councilwoman explained why (at the May 6 council meeting) she voted against contracts that increased the salaries of city firefighters and a large block of employees belonging to the IAM union.
“I believe that our employees deserve to be well paid and do outstanding work,” she stressed. “But I could not vote for the contracts until we had a discussion about where the money was going to come from to pay for these contracts.”
Gabelich and Councilman Gary DeLong were the only ones who voted against the contract with employees represented by IAM, and only Gabelich voted against the firefighters’ contract. “Going into 2009, we’re already going to be $16 million in the hole,” she explained. “When you add the $5 million for the new contracts, the city is going to have a $21-million budget deficit.” The councilwoman noted that the shortfall is going to lead to cutbacks in programs and services throughout the city.
Winding up her presentation, Gabelich invited residents to meet at 142 E. Ellis St. from 8 a.m. to noon on May 17 for the next neighborhood cleanup. She also urged everyone to attend the annual Bixby Knolls Dragster Expo and Car Show, scheduled for July 12 from 3 p.m. to 9 p.m.
Later, Gabelich answered questions and listened as residents expressed their concerns about streets that needed repaving, neighborhoods where too much water collected during rains, streets that did not have adequate lighting at night, and the dumping of trash, furniture and appliances. Gabelich referred the residents to appropriate city departments, explained that city budget woes mean that some problems are going to take a long time to solve and added, “If you make your phone calls and don’t get the response you need, call our office.”
When the councilwoman was done, Lt. Michael Lewis of the Long Beach Police Department gave a brief description of the crime picture in North Long Beach. He noted that violent crimes have decreased in the past year and police response times are improving. Lewis also answered questions for a few minutes, and he closed by urging residents to report all suspicious activities and people to the police.
“You guys are our eyes and ears,” he said. “We can’t be on all the streets and alleys at once.”
