Floor plan of new Signal Hill public library currently under construction. The Signal Hill City Council approved a library capital campaign at its April 24 meeting that would create a legacy wall in front of the library entrance and naming opportunities for its rooms.
Library campaign
Though the new Signal Hill public library currently under construction is fully funded, the council approved a capital campaign, in partnership with the The Signal Hill Community Foundation (SHCF), that could generate up to $1,000,000 in additional funds.
Aly Mancini, community services director, said that though library basics, such as books and computers, are currently covered by the City’s budget, the additional funding will enhance its equipment, materials, programs and services over the next 10 to 20 years. Examples include laptops to check out, iPads to teach from and a 24-hour vending machine for books and other materials.
The campaign includes two types of contribution opportunities: purchase of space on a 19-foot “legacy wall” at the entrance of the library and naming opportunities for its areas and rooms.
Mancini said that legacy-wall opportunities begin at $1,000.
“The legacy wall recognizes individuals, groups, organizations and business who have made significant financial contributions to the library,” Mancini said. “The wall will feature clear acrylic tiles engraved with donor names, intermingled with photographs [!] depicting life in Signal Hill.”
Naming opportunities for high-level corporate and community sponsorship range from $5,000 for a public computer to $100,000 to name the community room. A plaque with a name of the donor’s choosing will be installed in perpetuity on a wall outside the room or area selected.
“Naming opportunities allow individuals and businesses to name various areas and spaces within the building in exchange for a large one-time donation or annual ongoing donations,” Mancini said.
SHCF will serve as financial host of the funding effort, with the City’s finance director serving as its board treasurer. A third-party accountant will also help ensure proper oversight and management of the funds.
SHCF will produce a 12-page brochure and eight-minute video informing the community about the sponsorship opportunities.
Hansen suggested that one use for the funds could be purchasing Chromebooks for students who don’t have such technology at home since they now use Chromebooks in the classroom.
“We don’t know what’s coming in the next few years as far as trends in library services,” Mancini acknowledged. “There may be things that come up that we simply don’t have in the budget and that we could lean on this funding for. [!] It gives us some room to grow in this amazing facility.”
Mayor Tina Hansen (left) and Public Works Director Kelli Tunnicliff (right) introduce Halie Simmons (center), new administrative assistant with the Public Works department, at the April 24 Signal Hill City Council meeting.
Matthew Faulkner, executive director of the Community Hospital Long Beach Foundation (CHLBF), presented on the status of the hospital and efforts to save it from closing due to seismic-activity concerns.
Faulkner gave a brief overview of the situation, explaining that the Reservoir Hill Faultline runs through Community Medical Center and that its operator, MemorialCare, said it would cease operations due to seismic conditions as of July 3.
The City of Long Beach, which owns the property, is interested in bringing in a new operator for the site, he said.
“Currently, the City of Long Beach is entertaining offers from about 10 different suitors to operate the facility,” Faulkner said, adding that it has until June 30, 2019 to address the site’s seismic concerns.
CHLBF is most concerned about salvaging the hospital’s emergency services, which he said are in a seismically safe zone and structurally sound.
The hospital’s emergency services treated 27,460 patients in 2016, or 75 per day, he said, and about 30,000 in 2017.
“There is a higher demand for emergency care than there has ever been,” he said.
In addition, Faulkner noted that the hospital sees about 6,000 behavioral-health patients per year and 5,000 pediatric patients.
“Unfortunately, when MemorialCare made their determinations on the seismic [threat], they did so in a way that did not necessarily include stakeholder, community and civic input,” Faulkner said. “We’ve been in this scramble for the last six months to come up with solutions.”
He said that architects are working to see what can be retained of the existing building and that the City has hired a firm to fully assess the 8.7-acre site. He hopes his foundation will hear from the City about possibilities for new operators by May 15.
The foundation, he said, has also created a community task force and conducted a consumer survey, which indicated that the community overwhelmingly supports continued emergency services, especially since the alternative, MemorialCare, has the 12th-longest wait time for such services in the state.
“That’s why our focus as a foundation has been about the emergency department,” Faulkner said. “When you have an experience, as a resident, and you live close to the hospital, and you work your way to the emergency room at some God-forsaken hour and you’re able to get [!] attended to and cared for immediately, it is a difference between life and death.”
To solicit help, the foundation has also created a website called Save the ER.
“What we’re really trying to do here is just build awareness in our community of the fact that we’re losing these critical-care services and how do we collectively as a community solve that issue,” he said.
Faulkner noted that MemorialCare may be more concerned about investing in its own compliance with making sure its facility is stable, given the state mandate that such work has to be done by 2030.
“You realize that, as an investment, Community Hospital may not have been their highest priority,” he said. “I wish they had, perhaps, paid attention to the feelings of the community because I think they kind of lost touch with how concerned everybody was about this.”
Faulkner said he hoped the hospital will continue operating for at least the next couple of years, despite pressure to use part of the site for housing.
“I know our mayor and our members of city council are also looking at uses such as affordable housing, market-rate housing [and] senior housing,” he said. “We have a huge need for student housing.”
Faulkner said that a structural engineer determined that the chance for a rupture on that fault in the next 30 years was less than one-third of one percent.
“As one of our doctors said, ‘Would there be greater casualty if you remove the ER in the hospital than if you had a seismic event there and you had a number of casualties?'” Faulkner said. “Over a period of time, his argument was, there would be more loss of life by not having the services there.”
Business spotlight
Hansen gave Hue Nguyen, owner of Signal Hill restaurant GD Bro Burger, a certificate of appreciation during the council’s “small-business spotlight” and invited him to speak on behalf of his business.
“We started as a local gourmet food truck in Orange County,” Nguyen said. “We were fortunate enough to be asked to compete on The Great Food Truck Race on the Food Network.”
Nguyen said he works with young entrepreneurs interested in the food business, such as those at Browning High School in Long Beach and California State University, Long Beach.
“It’s really about getting these young students to understand the grind and the grit that it takes to build a business and a brand,” he said. “A lot of them think that they have these great ideas and it’s just putting their product out there. But they don’t understand that there’s a lot of underlying growing pains.”
Nguyen said that GD stands for “globally delicious.”
“We’re really known for our signature, flavorful, global experience with our burgers,” he said. “We take a lot of pride in the prep work that we put in everyday into making fresh, quality ingredients to present to our guests. [!] It’s not just about the food, but it’s about the emotional connection you get with our culture and our staff.”
Councilmember Edward Wilson affirmed the difference between GD Bro Burger and similar establishments.
“It’s not a burger place,” he said. “It’s a gourmet burger place.”
Hansen introduced Halie Simmons, new administrative assistant with the Public Works Department.
“Halie has a degree from Concordia University, Irvine, in industrial organizational psychology,” Hansen said. “She has worked in a variety of local government agencies, including the City of Newport Beach and the Orange County Sheriff’s Department, as well as privately held companies.”
In light of Older American Recognition Day, Hansen also recognized Planning Commissioner Rose Richárd as Signal Hill’s 2018 Outstanding Older American.
“The Outstanding Older American Award puts a spotlight on the role older adults play in sharing their experience, wisdom and understanding, and passing on that knowledge to other generations,” Hansen read from a proclamation.
Mancini shared that Richárd started volunteering with the City after working as a contracts manager for the Long Beach Unified School District and a reading tutor at Signal Hill Elementary School.
“Rose Richárd has served with the City of Signal Hill for over 20 years,” Mancini said. “She started volunteering as a police volunteer in the ’90s and then moved to the Civil Service Commission in 2005. She currently serves as the chair of the Planning Commission. [!] She serves in almost every single city event.”
The next Signal Hill City Council meeting will be a user-fee study workshop on Tuesday, May 1, at 6pm. The next regular meeting will take place Tuesday, May 8 at 7pm in the council chamber at 2175 Cherry Ave.
