Long Beach Vice Mayor Rex Richardson speaks to north Long Beach residents about local social and economic city improvements during the State of the 9th District address on Jan. 20, in the new Veterans Valor Plaza in Houghton Park.
During the third annual State of the 9th District address on Jan. 20 on the grounds of the new Veterans Valor Plaza, Richardson said the murder rate throughout the district from 2014 to 2017 dropped by 37.5 percent.
Also, the rate of residential burglaries has dropped by 41.7 percent, according to a District 9 social-impact report.
An article previously published in the Signal Tribune reported that in 2017 the murder rate citywide dropped by 33.3 percent, and gang-related murders dropped by 42.1 percent.
The vice mayor attributed the decline in criminal activities to public-safety investments and active community leaders who are in constant contact with authorities.
“People still think that north Long Beach is the north Long Beach of the 1990s, but it’s not,” Richardson said. “District 9 has registered some of the safest statistics in our entire city.”
The $1.1-million restoration of Paramedic Rescue station 12 in March last year has also helped emergency services quickly and effectively transport patients to hospitals. Measure A— a ballot initiative approved by voters to fund infrastructure and public safety services— helped restore the station to better accommodate the public.
In February last year, Richardson said, “These restorations [!] will have lower paramedic response times across the entire city, and a paramedic stationed at Fire Station 12 to serve north Long Beach, fully capable of advanced life support,” according to a 2017 press release.
At Saturday’s address, he announced that emergency response times were shortened, on average, by three minutes. Citywide, response times were reduced by 30 seconds, according to the social-impact report.
Despite the reduction in emergency-response times, it was reported that the scheduled closure of Long Beach Community Hospital will create a challenge citywide for paramedics. The hospital’s closing causes emergency transportation vehicles to have to travel farther distances to transport patients to a different hospital.
It is important to note that Community Hospital is not approved for pediatric, ST-Elevation Myocardial Infarction (STEMI), stroke or trauma patients. There will be no change in transportation times for those types of calls. The hospital is also approximately 7.5 miles away from north Long Beach.
The vice mayor also announced that various City departments will begin to crack down on illegal human-trafficking and prostitution operations taking place along Long Beach Boulevard.
During a phone interview with the Signal Tribune Monday afternoon, Richardson said the city council will work toward approving a new motel ordinance that will give “stricter and faster penalties on nuisance hotels” on Long Beach Boulevard.
Last year, Richardson proposed that the city council look into the situation.
“Prostitution and human trafficking has taken root in some of these motels,” Richardson said. “It’s just time for the City to take it more seriously.”
The vice mayor said that the City will also look into zoning ordinances that will focus on reducing the number of motels outside of the touristic zone. He said that the low traffic of tourists on Long Beach Boulevard does not justify the number of motels found in that area.
Aside from a period of low crime rates, the 9th District is also seeing an increase in community programs, according to Richardson.
The vice mayor is attempting to provide an inclusive platform for small businesses to get involved in citywide policy-making through his “Everyone In” initiative, which launched in November. The initiative aims to close the race and gender wealth gaps, increase access to capital for small-business owners and create pathways to homeownership.
As previously reported in the Signal Tribune, the city council approved a proposal for the initiative asking city officials to conduct an economic-equity study to collect data for the Everyone In initiative.
The proposal also increased resources in the General Fund for the Economic Development Department by $25,000. The increase was offset by the 1st, 5th, 6th and 9th council districts’ one-time infrastructure funds transferred from the Capital Projects Fund in the Public Works Department account.
Now in 2018, Everyone In initiative officials have hired consultants to conduct policy roundtable discussions. The first one was hosted in December, and the second one took place on Tuesday.
Richardson said the first policy roundtable went over homeownership tips, and the second one introduced capital resources for small businesses.
“It’s moving right along,” he said. “It’s one of the most exciting initiatives going on in our city right now.”
It also seems as though vacant lots in the northern community will be put to use by community agricultural programs. The urban agriculture program is designed to convert unattended, privately owned lots into urban farms.
“We’ve got a number of vacant lots that have been vacant for decades,” Richardson said. “This program allows incentives for property owners to allow community gardens to be placed on their site.”
Some of the benefits of allowing community gardens to grow on a lot can include grounds administrators to look over the garden at no extra cost to the owner and tax incentives.
The vice mayor said the city council has already adopted the program and is in the process of implementing it. The program also comes with strict penalties in the event that a vacant lot owner does not register the lot with the City. Richardson said non-compliant vacant lot owners could be fined.
In addition to urban farming, in 2016, Richardson established the Uptown Planning Land Use and Neighborhoods Strategy (UPLAN) advisory group to enact guidance for development in that area. The social-impact report states that the UPLAN helps City officials when deciding housing and commerce developments in the district.
The UPLAN helped city officials secure a $250,000 grant from the Southern California Association of Governments to kick-start the planning strategy, which will go into full effect next month.
“It’s going to address some of the things that we can do with our industrial space,” Richardson said. “It’s going to set the stage for more, and better, investments in north Long Beach.”
