Small Neighborhood Council Meeting Looking to do Big Things

By Joseph Baroud, Contributing Writer

The Northwestern San Pedro Neighborhood  Council Issues Committee is hosting a meeting Nov. 10 at Peck Park to discuss Mayor Eric Garcetti’s minimum wage proposal.

The committee hosted a similar meeting Oct. 22, where meeting focussed on the proposal, voter turnout in Los Angeles, various street repairs and alterations, truck’s routes to the freeway from the Rancho LPG facility and the agendas for the two subsequent meetings.

Committee members are hoping for representatives from the mayor’s office and the Los Angeles Chamber of Commerce  be present with open ears. The people most affected by the proposal are employees collecting minimum wage and the small business owners who will be paying it.

Another issue that was discussed was the low voter turnout here in Los Angeles. The city is thinking about aligning city elections with state and federal elections for convenience. The city is also proposing that the Los Angeles Unified School District host its elections simultaneously. The council also discussed the issue at an Oct. 29 meeting at the San Pedro City Hall building.

Traffic

One man in attendance commended the city’s effort in filling potholes on north Gaffey Street. But, the bike lanes definitely hit the wrong way with a lot in the community.

Community members were displeased with the city not keeping the community aware and involved road diet and bike lane installations.  They were largely resigned to the fact that the bike lanes aren’t going anywhere. They aid that more could have been done to ease traffic congestion. The council will try and take the issue to the Department of Transportation, which is responsible for implementing the lanes.

In relation to slowing traffic down, the city is thinking about putting speed bumps throughout the city. Those who were in attendance seemed to have contrasting views, but one thing everybody agreed on is that traffic will slow down throughout the city. Emergency responders will have a tougher time maneuvering through traffic and these bumps have negative impacts on a vehicle’s gas mileage because of how slow it will travel and how often the vehicle’s brakes are used.

People in support of the speed bumps though, say that slowing traffic down is exactly the goal trying to be achieved in order to reduce accidents. Moreover, the question of, “How will everything involved in the bumps implementation be paid for?” remains. This subject will also be talked about more thoroughly at the Nov. 10 meeting.

Rancho LPG

The Rancho LPG  facility tanks and the transportation of liquefied natural gas to and from the facility was the last item on the agenda. Those in attendance expressed that they would like the trucks to use  the Anaheim or Pacific Coast Highway entrances instead of the Channel Street onramp, arguing that Channel Street was too narrow for truck traffic.

For more details vist http://nwsanpedro.org