Gavin McKiernan, president of the Long Beach Neighborhood Foundation’s board of directors, served as moderator for the Wrigley Association’s March 5 candidate forum.
Answering questions on issues that pertain particularly to the west side of Long Beach, all five residents seeking to represent the city’s 7th council district were in attendance at the Wrigley Association’s March 5 candidate forum.
The incumbent and four challengers presented their opinions and ideas on topics ranging from 710-Freeway expansion to the Southern California International Gateway (SCIG) railyard.
From the stage at the Veterans Park Community Center before a full-capacity crowd, Oscar Delacruz, Jared Milrad, Chris Sereno, Kevin Shin and incumbent Roberto Uranga responded to questions from Gavin McKiernan, president of the Long Beach Neighborhood Foundation’s board of directors, who served as moderator for the event. McKiernan presented questions that attendees had written onto cards prior to the start of the forum.
McKiernan asked the candidates to share their thoughts on the Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority board of directors’ recent vote on a measure to modernize the 710 Freeway. Eleven of the 15 board members had voted unanimously to amend and then adopt improvement project Alternative 5C, a $6-billion project that adds truck-bypass lanes to the freeway around the 405 interchange, pursues funds for zero- or near-zero-emission trucks, removes nonconforming trucks and adds bike and pedestrian bridges. It also includes funding for health-benefits programs for communities near the 710, including air filters for schools, senior centers and hospitals.
Shin said expansion will result in the displacement of residents, congestion and more pollution because more trucks will pass through residential areas. He added that roads that already exist but are underutilized— such as the Alameda Corridor— should be used to divert truck traffic.
“I think a lot of folks would want the 710 Freeway to be improved. It certainly could use resurfacing. It certainly could use a lot of improvement,” Shin said. “But I don’t think an expansion is the way to go.”
Uranga explained the three alternatives the Metro board had considered before its vote and then said that, because the port is growing, there’s more traffic.
“The 710 Freeway cannot handle all that as it is,” Uranga said. “Make an improvement on it— it’s not going to help. So, we have to look at creative ways of being able to expand the 710 Freeway with having a minimal impact on the residents.”
Delacruz said he believes expansion of the freeway should be undertaken only at minimal cost and if residences are not affected.
“When they start taking out their properties because of eminent domain, they may be losing some of the interest in that project,” he said.
Milrad said the issue is why his campaign has laid out a detailed platform after listening to thousands of residents in the area. He said he opposes widening the freeway because it is bad for a community that already has twice the national rate of chronic childhood asthma.
“We have met children as young as 5 years old who are struggling to breathe right here in our own community,” he said. “I think that is fundamentally wrong in the United States of America. We can do better for those kids and those families.”
Sereno said expanding the freeway will not solve any problems. He instead suggested creating different entries and exits to and from the ports, as well as building roads through the area where oil refineries are, to take advantage of the available land there. He said he has also pondered the idea of creating an underground rail system to transport containers.
McKiernan asked the candidates to share their thoughts on the proposed— and controversial— SCIG, a $500-million freight-transfer railyard that would allow trucks to drop off containers from the docks to trains that would transport the cargo to other states. Two years ago, a California Superior Court judge ruled that the Port of Los Angeles and Burlington Northern Santa Fe (BNSF) violated the California Environmental Quality Act in their analysis of the project, requiring a new environmental-impact assessment before the port and BNSF could continue with its development.
“Do you think we should be fighting it?” McKiernan asked the candidates. “Why or why not? And what would you do as council person to take leadership on this issue?”
It was Uranga’s turn to respond first, and he said that, when he first joined the city council four years ago, SCIG was a major issue.
“The City [of Long Beach] entered into a lawsuit against the City of L.A. and a few other companies because we didn’t want the expansion,” he said. “In fact, the BNSF Company […] didn’t want to negotiate with the City of Long Beach to mitigate some of the concerns. Ninety percent of the project is in L.A., but Long Beach would get 100 percent of the effects. So, of course, we went into a lawsuit.”
Uranga said the City of Long Beach tried to negotiate projects that would install more air conditioners into homes for residents on the west side, as well as focusing on better windows, improved air flow and less pollution.
“I think that we should continue this fight until the very end, until we get a project that’s going to respect Long Beach and address the issues that affect most of the people in the west side of Long Beach,” Uranga said. “That’s what we need to do, and that’s what we will continue to fight for.”
Delacruz chose to pass on responding about the project.
“I will not make any comment on that one because that issue is not very clear to me,” he said. “So, I will pass it on to the other candidate. Thank you.”
Milrad said he opposes the SCIG project because it will add to congestion and pollution.
“On a related issue, that’s why I’ve committed to not take any money from oil companies,” he said. “And I think it is disappointing that the councilmember has taken over $1,500 from oil companies. I don’t think that’s right. I think we need to make sure we’re standing up for the community and putting, frankly, our money where our mouth is.” (Uranga later criticized Milrad for taking money from hotel developers and owners who do not support the protection of hospitality-industry workers.)
Sereno said he is opposed to any project that will add to contamination of the air.
“I don’t know what the answer is for this,” he said. “I’ve thought about collaborating with the oil companies to work out a deal to where, if they’re going to contaminate our air, maybe they’d be more likely to build some type of […] negotiation trade-off. Other than that, I don’t know a whole lot about the topic. But those are a couple of my thoughts.”
Shin said the fight against SCIG should absolutely continue.
“BNSF has made a whole lot of promises,” he said. “They tried to provide what they claim were benefits, but the reality is that most of what they tried to provide were too minimal and the pollution impacts— especially for our residents on the west side— were going to be too severe. There’s no reason for them to continue to go down this path because there are opportunities for updated technologies. There are things that they should be doing to provide mitigation.”
Shin added that voters should not elect a candidate who says he will fight against pollution, but rather one, like himself, who has a proven record of doing so.
The primary nominating election will be Tuesday, April 10. More information is available at longbeach.gov/cityclerk/elections.
