Friday Newsletter 01-14-11a
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Gerrie SchipskeFriday Newsletter 01-14-11a
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Gerrie SchipskeFriday Newsletter Friday
Better Than We Thought
January 14, 2011
City of Long Beach Memorandum
Working Together to Serve
Date: January 14, 2011
To: Mayor and Members of the City Council
Patrick H. West, City Manager
From: Suzanne Frick, Assistant City Manager
Subject: Friday Newsletter
2010 in the Rearview Mirror
Earlier this week we released our “2010: Year in Review” newsletter. We are
making sure to distribute this among all members of our City family. Given the
financial constraints of this year, you, as a legislative body, accomplished a great
deal!
Martin Luther King Parade
Tomorrow marks Long Beach’s own 23rd Annual Martin Luther King, Jr., Peace
and Unity Parade and Celebration. This is a very significant event, attracting
thousands of spectators, followed by a carnival and community festival at Martin
Luther King Park. The parade begins at 10:30 a.m. This caps off a variety of
events sponsored through Councilmember Andrews for Peace Week.
State Budget
As you can imagine, there has been a lot of drama among all municipalities in
California regarding the state’s budget. We are drilling down as much as
possible to see where else the city could be impacted beyond Enterprise Zones
and the Redevelopment Agency. Just as a side note, we are being contacted by
many area cities to get the “Long Beach take” on the state budget. This is
primarily because we have a “Tom Modica” and most cities don’t! I can’t praise
Tom and his team enough on keeping abreast of what’s going on in Sacramento.
Website Launch: Understanding City User Fee and Charges
We are proud to announce the launch of the City’s User Fee and Charges Website
on January 18, 2011. The City of Long Beach will be one of only two major
California cities to offer an interactive website for fees and charges to its residents.
Visitors to the City’s website will be able to search for building permits, recreational
programs, and a host of other services provided by the City…..This new website is
the result of efforts by 15 departments to provide this information to Long Beach
residents in a simple and easy to access manner. In conjunction with the Fee
Hotline, 570-FEES, the website is intended to enhance local government
transparency and better serve the needs of Long Beach residents.
January 14, 2011
Page 2
Carnegie Cornerstone
The old granite cornerstone of the original 1908 Carnegie Library located on
Pacific (now Lincoln) Park has been returned to the Main Library. It has been
placed in the "Memorial Garden" area off the Lower Level Auditorium Lobby.
Plans for a reception are in the works, and efforts to redesign the garden are
underway by the Long Beach Public Library Foundation.
A Carnegie Library is a library built with money donated by Scottish-American
businessman and philanthropist Andrew Carnegie. More than 2,500 Carnegie
libraries were built in nine countries between 1883 and 1929. When the last
grant was awarded in 1919, there were 3,500 libraries in the United States,
nearly half of them built with construction grants paid by Carnegie.
Our Carnegie Library was built using $30,000 awarded by the Carnegie
Corporation of New York in 1907. This cornerstone was laid on September 4,
1908; the library we have today was already being planned in 1972 when the
Carnegie library was damaged by an arson fire and ultimately demolished. This
was when the cornerstone was probably moved to the Public Service yard for
safekeeping, and was rediscovered after the recent property exchange.
Memos to the Mayor and City Council
We sent up the following memos to the Mayor and City Council this week:
• Study Sessions: Long-Range Financial Outlook and Planning
• Worthington Ford
• Analysis of Eliminating Bicycle Registration Requirement
• Department of Long Beach Gas and Oil 2011 Calendar
• City User Fee and Charges Website Launch
• Transient Occupancy Tax – Online Travel Companies – Update
• Information – Proposed Medical Marijuana Tax
• November 2010 Monthly Investment Portfolio Report
• Changes in City Communication Services
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