Staff Writer
At its May 9 meeting, the Signal Hill City Council appointed Keir Jones as the new city clerk, replacing Robert Copeland, who had been elected as a councilmember in March. The council also agreed to allow conference calls by applicants at its next meeting to appoint representatives to three commissions, and to allow materials prepayment for the new stormwater capture facility at Long Beach Airport.
City clerk
After a heated interview process, insurance agent Keir Jones gained three councilmember votes over two for retired CPA David Hopper, to become Signal Hill’s new city clerk. The position had become vacant in March after former city clerk Robert Copeland’s election to the council, with his duties assumed in the interim by Deputy City Clerk Kim Boles.
Jones’s appointment is for two years, after which a municipal election will be held to select a candidate for a full four-year term.
In addition to increasing transparency and ensuring compliance, Jones said he intends to bring new energy to the position and encourage more public participation by relatively younger citizens.
“It’s a lot about how we communicate and making sure that we’re reaching them where they are,” he said of how to foster this interest. “Whether it’s Facebook [or] Snapchat today, tomorrow it could be something else, but letting them know about the opportunities that present themselves by being engaged with the City.”
In answering councilmember questions, Jones further emphasized the importance of social media. “We don’t have a great hashtag for Signal Hill,” Jones stated, referring to a Twitter message tag. “Little things like that help tie people together to find information.”
The main concern that councilmembers interrogated Jones about was his commitment to the position to ensure stable continuity and preserve institutional knowledge, given Jones’s recent run for city council and previous bid for city treasurer.
Jones answered that he currently has no plans to run for a council position should a seat become available in two years.
“I would plan on serving as city clerk for as long as the city would re-elect me,” he said. “Other opportunities might arise [!] but today that is not the case.”
When pressed with a direct question by Mayor Edward Wilson about whether Jones would run if a councilmember’s seat opened up in two years, Jones replied that he would.
“If one of them decided not to run, I would look at running again,” he said.
After considering each applicant’s record and statements, and despite Hopper’s emphasis on his dependability and career commitment to procedure and fair process, the council appointed Jones to the position, with Wilson and Councilmember Lori Woods supporting Hopper, and Vice Mayor Tina Hansen, Councilmember Larry Forester and Copeland favoring Jones.
[aesop_image imgwidth=”300px” img=”https://signal-tribune.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/Screen-Shot-2017-05-11-at-3.57.36-PM.png” credit=”Photos by Anita W. Harris | Signal Tribune” align=”right” lightbox=”on” caption=”Mildred Wallerstein (center) at the May 9 Signal Hill City Council meeting, where she was presented by Mayor Edward Wilson with a proclamation recognizing her as Signal Hill’s 2017 Distinguished Older American.” captionposition=”right” revealfx=”off”] At its next meeting on May 23, the council will conduct interviews and make appointments for representatives to three commissions: the Civil Service Commission, Parks and Recreation Commission and Planning Commission. The council agreed to allow conference calling for applicants who cannot physically attend the meeting.
Materials prepayment
City Manager Charlie Honeycutt explained to the council that, due to recent rainy weather, construction of the Los Cerritos Channel Sub-Basin 4 Stormwater Capture Facility— Phase 1 was about two months behind schedule. However, Caltrans’s funding of the $11-million project includes $6.5 million that needs to be spent by the end of June. Therefore, staff was asking the council to authorize a change-order for prepayment of concrete, reinforcing steel and hydrodynamic separators that pull items out of stormwater before it enters the retention basin.
“We have to expend the funds earlier than we normally would,” Honeycutt said, though he assured the council that there would be no cost implication of this prepayment.
In answer to Copeland’s concern about any risk associated with the pre-purchasing, Honeycutt stated that at least some of the materials would be kept with the suppliers until needed and there would be no risk of loss.
The council approved the change-order allowing for prepayment.
Presentations
Acknowledging May as National Distinguished Older American month, Wilson presented a proclamation to Mildred Wallerstein, recognizing her as Signal Hill’s 2017 Distinguished Older American.
“[She] is a tried and true city volunteer,” Wilson said of Wallerstein, who is approaching her 100th birthday. “She helps with the Friends of the Library and has volunteered at many of our community events, such as Spring Fest, Halloween Carnival and Holiday Outreach. She spends time folding newsletters for the active adult program, and always participates in community meetings, workshops and task groups.”
Reading from the proclamation, Wilson affirmed the important contribution of older Americans.
“We urge every citizen to take this month to recognize older adults [!] as powerful and vital citizens who greatly contribute to our community,” he read, followed by enthusiastic applause for Wallerstein from the attending audience.
“This is a very nice community to move into,” Wallerstein stated. “I’m very honored.”
Wilson also presented a proclamation to Signal Hill Police Officers Association representative Steve Noble in recognition of National Police Week.
“National Police Week pays special recognition to the law-enforcement officers who have made the ultimate sacrifice in the line of duty while selflessly serving to protect the public,” Wilson read from the proclamation.
Wilson specifically acknowledged the loss of two such Signal Hill police officers: Ralph Gardner in 1980 and Anthony “Tony” Giniewicz in 2011, after having been paralyzed in a 1985 shooting.
[aesop_image imgwidth=”300px” img=”https://signal-tribune.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/Screen-Shot-2017-05-11-at-3.57.30-PM.png” align=”left” lightbox=”on” caption=”At the Signal Hill City Council meeting on May 9, Mayor Edward Wilson (left) presents Signal Hill Police Officer’s Association representative Steve Noble (right) with a proclamation recognizing National Police Week.” captionposition=”left” revealfx=”off”] Honeycutt then presented the council with information on EDCO’s bulky item pickup service scheduled for May 15 to 19.
“City Hall has received an increasing number of [!] residents who are really concerned about their neighbors leaving unwanted items out on the curb or in the alleyways,” Honeycutt said.
Besides the two bulky-item pickup programs per year scheduled by the City, Honeycutt said residents could arrange two additional pickups by calling EDCO.
Councilmember reports
During new business, councilmembers reported on their recent activities in Sacramento and at municipal assemblies.
Woods attended a meeting with State Assembly member Patrick O’Donnell along with several community residents at local establishment Roxanne’s to discuss technology education for students.
City treasurer Larry Blunden reported on taking Forester’s place in a GLBT (gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender) caucus during a recent trip to Sacramento to work with other politicians on a municipal guide to transgender issues in the workplace.
Blunden, Forester and Wilson also attended a Southern California Association of Governments (SCAG) general assembly (paid for by SCAG) during which Blunden learned about using data to manage cities and rode in a driverless vehicle, which he said couldn’t yet be used in Signal Hill.
“It doesn’t do hills,” he said. “The batteries just can’t go uphill.”
Forester and Wilson discussed touring the San Andreas Fault in advance of the SCAG assembly, learning that while a shift in this fault happens on average every 160 years, it has been over 300 years since the last one.
“We’re way overdue,” he said of a potential large earthquake. “That ties in with last year’s disaster preparedness series.”
Wilson said he also participated in a workshop on the replacement of American white-collar jobs by robots and cheaper professional labor overseas. He shared with meeting attendees and councilmembers a video presented at SCAG called “Slope of the Curve” made by Working Nation, a nonprofit advocacy group. The video included a statistic estimating that 47 percent of the American work force may be replaced by automation in 20 years.
Though Signal Hill is a small city, Wilson suggested that it too might be affected by the need to maintain jobs and the consequences of adopting technology, which were discussed at the SCAG workshop.
“We had breakout sessions trying to address what looks like international concerns on a local basis,” he said. “Because all of this is affecting all of us every day.”
The next meeting of the Signal Hill City Council will take place Tuesday, May 23, at 7pm in council chamber at 2175 Cherry Ave.
