At its Nov. 20 meeting, the Long Beach City Council expressed official support of transgender people, approved two renaming actions, redeclared a shelter crisis and approved amending a resolution regarding the utilization of flight slots allocated at Long Beach Airport
Day of Remembrance
Led by 1st District Councilmember Lena Gonzalez, the council recognized Transgender Day of Remembrance.
“I want to thank the LGBTQ Center for being here today […],” Gonzalez said. “We really want to thank you very much, for not only helping us every year with Transgender Day of Remembrance at Harvey Milk Park, but ensuring that we’re bringing this to council, really, every single year to ensure that this becomes a mainstay and, really, is celebrated but also recognized within the city on an ongoing basis.”
Joel Gemino, Youth Services manager for the LGBTQ Center of Long Beach, gave a presentation on the special day, explaining that it is recognized internationally to “commemorate the lives of individuals we’ve lost to anti-trans violence.”
“In cities across the world, including Long Beach, communities will gather and speak the names of those taken too soon and too brutally,” Gemino said. “These vigils are not just gatherings in solace, but also in hope– hope for a future where this does not have to be the reality for some of our trans loved ones.”
Gemino listed various services that his facility offers to members of the community who identify as transgender.
Letter of opposition
The council approved a motion directing the city manager to send a letter of opposition to President Donald Trump, the Office for Civil Rights and the Department of Health and Human Services regarding their efforts to establish a legal definition of “sex” under Title IX that excludes transgender people. The letter will request new language in state and federal agendas, in consultation with the LGBTQ Center of Long Beach, that specifically supports transgender-inclusive policies on the state and federal levels.
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“Since two years ago, [the Trump] Administration has been dubbed as ‘the discrimination administration’ because of its constant attacks and exclusion of the LGBTQ community,” Gonzalez said. “The National Center for Transgender Equality has tracked this administration’s roughly 30 individual actions against the trans community, and what we’re asking for today is to ensure that this inclusion– not exclusion– remains on our state and federal legislative agendas and also remains a mainstay of our policy work here in the city.”
Gonzalez went on to identify numerous offenses the Trump administration has made against the transgender community.
After some discussion, including public input both in favor of and opposing the agenda item, the council voted unanimously to support the motion.
Renaming facilities
Vice Mayor Dee Andrews, who represents the sixth council district and serves as chair of the Housing and Neighborhoods Committee, recommended that the council approve renaming the Convention Center Exhibit Hall as the “Ernie Kell Hall” at the Long Beach Convention and Entertainment Center.
Fifth District Councilmember Stacy Mungo said she is pleased at the opportunity to honor the city’s first elected mayor, who died April 29, 2017.
“Many of you know that, over a year ago, when Ernie passed, there was a group of residents who approached me about naming something after him and made some recommendations on some items,” Mungo said. “I’ve really appreciated the process and the community input. I really appreciate and commend the neighborhood committee. It’s been vetted through the committee, and it has been in alignment with the city process and city policies of a year since the passing, which has allowed us to take the feedback of the residents who care very deeply about our city assets.”
The motion passed 9-0.
The council also approved renaming the Long Beach Fire Department Regional Training Center at 2249 Argonne Ave. as the “Captain David Rosa Regional Training Center.” Rosa was killed in the line of duty earlier this year.
“I’m very happy that this will go through the committee,” Andrews said. “And I’m looking forward to the ribbon-cutting ceremony– and much love for Station 10.”
That motion was also approved 9-0.
Winter shelter
The council unanimously approved a motion by 8th District Councilmember Al Austin to: redeclare a shelter crisis; suspend applicable provisions of local law, including those contained in the City’s zoning ordinances and regulations; authorize the operation of a winter shelter, for the period of Dec. 1, 2018 through March 31, 2019, inclusive; and authorize the city manager, or designee, to execute a lease, including any necessary documents and amendments, with the United States Veterans Initiative, for approximately 7,318 rentable square feet of space at 5571 Orange Ave. for use as a winter shelter.
Fee schedule
The council approved receiving supporting documentation into the record, concluding a public hearing and adopting a resolution to amend the City’s “master fee and charges” schedule by reducing selected entitlement fees and adopting new fees related to mailed public-hearing notices.
Linda Tatum, Development Services director, presented on the item.
“We feel that the proposed resolution tonight balances the direction of the council to reduce the cost of the conditional-use permit process,” Tatum said. “But we think that it also provides ample notification to the public for discretionary actions.”
Flight slots
The council adopted a resolution amending Resolution No. C-28465 with respect to the utilization of flight slots allocated at Long Beach Airport and related administrative amendments to the resolution, in accordance with the Airport Noise Compatibility Ordinance.
Long Beach Airport Director Jess Romo explained that the resolution would not affect the noise ordinance.
“This action tonight does nothing with the noise ordinance itself,” Romo said. “We know that the ordinance has been hard-fought. It is one of the strictest in the nation. Instead, what we are looking at is amendments to the resolution, which is that enabling document that helps us protect and, really, show how we will enable airlines to maximize the capacity that does exist at the airport.”
The resolution increases minimum slot-use requirements; revises definitions of flight-slot and ferry operations to provide increased flexibility to carriers; and makes various administrative amendments to facilitate continued implementation of the Flight Allocation Resolution and to update certain word and phrase references.
Second District Councilmember Jeannine Pearce remarked that having no public comment on the issue is a positive sign, considering airport matters typically draw much community attention.
“Knowing that we’ve come this far, not having public comment is one of the few times [when] I’ll say it shows how far we’ve come,” she said. “This is the least amount of people I’ve seen in this room whenever we’ve talked about the airport. So, for that, I applaud staff for their hard work and really taking your time to get it right.”
Contract amendment
The council authorized the city manager, or designee, to execute a second amendment to Contract No. 33938 with HDR Engineering, Inc., of Long Beach for engineering and architectural design services for the Shoemaker Bridge Replacement Project, to increase the contract amount by $1,751,450, for a revised total amount not to exceed $6,451,450.
Hotel workers
The council also approved a staff recommendation to request that the city attorney draft an ordinance amending Chapter 5.54 of the Long Beach Municipal Code to add hotel-worker safety provisions to the existing ordinance.
The next Long Beach City Council meeting will be at 5pm on Tuesday, Dec. 4, in the council chamber, 333 W. Ocean Blvd.
