Tuesday, October 7, 2025
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Bicycle Pedestrian Improvement Project, Western Ave.

Reporters Desk
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Bicycle Pedestrian Improvement Project, Western Ave.

Caltrans will give a presentation to the Rancho Palos Verdes City Council Oct. 19, on the Bicycle Pedestrian Improvement Project along Western Avenue. This proposed Caltrans project would upgrade existing curb ramps to ADA standards and add bike lanes along Western Avenue from 25th Street in San Pedro, to Carson Street in Torrance. This route traverses the cities of Rancho Palos Verdes, Los Angeles, Lomita, and Torrance.

The hybrid in-person/virtual meeting will take place at 7 p.m. in McTaggart Hall at Fred Hesse Jr. Community Park and via Zoom with a very limited number of in-person attendees and COVID-19 safety protocols in place. Virtual participation is highly encouraged. The meeting will be live-streamed on the city website and televised on RPVtv Cox 33/Frontier FiOS 38.

A staff report (PDF) for this topic is available on the city website and here: https://rpv.granicus.com/MetaViewer.php?view_id=5&event_id=1699&meta_id=98123

Please submit your comments to the City Council in advance of the meeting by emailing them to cc@rpvca.gov. If you would like to provide comments during the meeting or leave a pre-recorded voice message, please complete a form at rpvca.gov/participate.

Meeting info: cvcpl.us/LFm7Zuv Staff report: ow.ly/rV0U50GqWhf

Time: 7 p.m. Oct. 19

Details: rpvca.gov/agendas

Long Beach: Participate In Commission Redistricting Meetings

Reporters Desk
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Long Beach: Participate In Commission Redistricting Meetings

Long Beach’s Independent Redistricting Commission or commission is seeking public input on a variety of draft maps released Oct. 15, showing boundary lines that could reshape each of the City’s Council Districts.

Council District boundaries are being redrawn using 2020 Census data and community input, in accordance with the Long Beach City Charter. The goal of the commission is to draw new lines with the highest probability of fair representation.

Drafts of proposed council district maps being considered are available now at https://longbeach.gov/redistricting/maps/submitted-maps/.

Members of the public are invited to participate in the process to adopt a final map by attending any or all of the commission’s upcoming meetings or writing to the commissioners at redistricting@longbeach.gov.

Commission meetings

Oct. 20 – Draft Maps Selection

The Commission will select three of the draft maps (including any revisions) for public feedback and further review

Oct. 27 – Community Feedback Hearing

Members of the public will provide testimony to the Commission on the final three draft maps

Nov.10 – Proposed Final Map Selection

The Commission will select a final draft map to move forward for adoption

Nov. 18 – Final Map Adoption Hearing

The Commission will vote on the final map The Commission’s deadline to approve a final map in time for the 2022 election cycle is December 7, 2021.

Additional meetings of the Commission may be scheduled, as needed. Any schedule changes will be published on the redistricting website. For additional information about the Commission, to view agendas, or to sign up to receive email notifications and updates, please visit longbeach.gov/redistricting.

Time: Meetings at 6 p.m. Oct 20, 27, and Nov. 10, 18

Venue: City Council Chambers at City Hall, 411 W. Ocean Blvd. Long Beach

New China Shipping Lawsuit Set For Trial In June

Paul Rosenberg
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New China Shipping Lawsuit Set For Trial In June

The China Shipping lawsuit filed in September last year is set for trial on June 24, 2022, following a status conference in late September, according to David Pettit, senior attorney at the Natural Resources Defense Council. The Port of LA’s board was briefed in closed session on Sept. 23 and again on Oct. 7, according to the published agenda.

NRDC and the South Coast Air Quality Management District both sued the city and Port of LA for approving a supplemental environmental impact report (SEIR) in a manner that violated California law, most notably by not having any means to enforce the mitigation measures meant to reduce environmental impacts.

NRDC and POLA signed a settlement agreement in 2003 in an earlier suit over the China Shipping terminal, with the port promising an EIR that would mitigate its environmental impacts. But almost a dozen promised mitigation measures were never implemented, in part because they weren’t incorporated into the terminal lease. The SEIR was intended to remedy the resulting impacts, but it, too, lacks any enforcement mechanism, in addition to a significant number of other concerns

This is only the third time that AQMD has ever filed such a lawsuit. Even rarer is the involvement of the California Air Resources Board and the Attorney General, who filed to join the lawsuit on Nov. 4 of last year. “Without enforceability, these mitigation measures are just words on paper,” Attorney General Xavier Becerra said at that time.

The administrative record establishing the factual basis for the trial has been completed, Pettit explained, so “Between now and then people will just be sitting in their offices, writing briefs.”

Meanwhile, the unmitigated pollution continues.

The Civil Liberties Champion

Terelle Jerricks
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The Civil Liberties Champion

Faisel Gill is running to replace Los Angeles City Attorney Mike Feuer and doing so on the promise of being the strongest protector of civil liberties. The primary nominating election for city attorney (along with mayor, city controller, the odd-numbered city council seats and the even-numbered school district seats) won’t be held until June 2022.

So far, Gill’s only opponent is fellow former Republican Kevin James. Prominent LGBT civil rights activist Rick Chavez Zbur tossed his hat in the ring before bowing out to run for a seat in the Assembly. This has left Mike Feuer’s record as city attorney as Gill’s opponent.

Gill has been specifically targeting Feuer’s apparent antagonism towards releasing police body cam footage to the public and his role in writing the anti-camping ordinances aimed at reducing the number of homeless encampments.

Gill came to wide attention after successfully convincing a U.S. District Court judge to remove a protective order that had kept police body-cam footage under wraps since 2019 following a domestic violence call. When police arrived, they saw Antone Austin taking the trash out from his apartment. According to Austin’s lawsuit, the police assumed Austin was the person wanted in the domestic violence report.

Austin is Black and the person who was the subject of the police call was white.

Austin questioned the two uniformed officers who ordered him to stop, and the confrontation between him and the officers became physical as Austin demanded an explanation and began to yell for help.

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For nearly two years Los Angeles City Attorney Mike Feuer fought to keep the body camera video of the arrest from the public. Independent journalist Jasmyne Cannick reported that Feuer’s office claimed in court filings that it did not want the Los Angeles Police Department video released publicly because it would “be contrary to LAPD policy and may have a chilling effect on future LAPD investigations.”

Cannick, who has broken a number of stories regarding problems in and outside of the police department, has enthusiastically endorsed Gill and has been actively promoting his candidacy.

The Political Making of Faisal Gill
Referencing the fact that he’s picked up and resettled quite a bit over the past 15 years from one side of the country to the other, he said he’s a firm believer of being involved in the community in which you live.

“I would never take the positions that I’m taking right now but I’m looking for my service to mean something,” Gill said. He lives in Porter Ranch, a northern suburb of Los Angeles. He could have ran for an Assembly seat, noting it would have been easier.

“I firmly believe wherever you live, you got to be involved in politics,” Gills said. “I tell my kids that time you’re involved in your neighborhood council.”

Though he was born in Pakistan, he was raised in Virginia. His father spent long hours driving a taxi and his mother was a homemaker.

Gill described himself as a subpar student who regularly got into fights, defending himself against schoolmates due to racial bigotry. He even became a father while still in high school.

He recounted watching his father go to work at 7 o’clock in the morning and not come back until 9, 10 o’clock at night, just driving a cab to Washington D.C. and back to their home in a Virginia township. Back then, Washington D.C. did not have meters to calculate fares. Fares were calculated by zoning.

“So you go from one zone to another and another and another. That’s how you calculated fares,” Gill said. It was common for passengers to accuse the driver of taking longer routes for a bigger fare amount.

“There would always be that tension with the passenger in the backseat saying ‘go this way’ or ‘go that way.’ My father would just say sure, sure, no problem. Which way do you want me to go? I’ll go. No problem.” Gill said he got to see this first hand when his father took him and his younger brother to work one day.

Gill noted that his father was trying to teach him that the beauty of America is that it doesn’t matter where you were born.

My father’s basic message was, you can be in the back seat giving the orders, or in the front seat taking the orders. In America, it is up to you.

Gill said that his father also explained that he may not ever be accepted by some people.

Aside from all the fees and regulations he had to pay and abide by in order to drive a taxi, Gill said his father was apolitical.

After the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks in 2001, Muslim organizations across the country determined that they had to increase Muslim participation in government, or things could get really bad for them. It must be remembered that 762 Muslims from around the country were rounded up and detained. Two-thirds of them were from New York.

Recalling the aftermath of 9/11, he recounted receiving death threats, his North Virginian neighbors looking at him and his family differently; he saw fellow Muslims deported to their home countries on no other charges than briefly overstaying their visas.

“Several times with people I knew cursed me out, called me names such as towel head and told me, ‘go home terrorist.’”

Gill recounted going on multiple interviews with the broadcast news media on the day of 9/11.

“I did my last interview at 11:30 p.m. that night from my house before I went to sleep,” Gill recounted. “My mother … my parents lived with me at the time … and my mom asked, ‘are you sure you should be that visible? It’s not a good idea because the people they are going to they’re not going to like us.’”

Gill was already active in Muslim organizations before 9/11. But after 9/11, there was a consensus among mainstream American Muslim organizations that the world had changed.

“Even before [9/11], I was, is involved in Muslim organizations, and I was involved in the late ’90s and this was before I was even in the military, there was a secret evidence going on where the Clinton ministration had put Muslims in jail without providing evidence.”

In the wake of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, the federal government rounded up 1,200 Near Eastern and South Asian immigrants, relying on rules signed into law by the Bill Clinton administration in response to the 1998 terrorist bombings of U.S. embassies in Kenya and Tanzania.

In 2003, Gill served as a spokesman for the American Muslim Council, an organization founded by Abdurahman Alamoudi to encourage Muslim political participation. al-Alamoudi was sentenced to 23 years in federal prison for bringing over one million dollars in cash provided by the Libyan government into the U.S.

He was appointed to the Office of Personnel Management as general counsel deputy in the George W. Bush administration. OPM manages the civil service of the federal government, coordinates recruiting of new government employees and manages their health insurance and retirement benefits programs. The Department of Homeland Security and its duties were split from the OPM.

After his appointment, Gill was investigated by officials in connection to al-Amoudi but was ultimately cleared by a polygraph test and allowed to resume work. However, pundit Frank Gaffney led a public campaign to discredit Gill, highlighting the brief inquiry into Gill’s AMC connections and soliciting letters from congressional Republicans calling for an investigation.

In a 2004 statement defending Gill, a DHS spokesman said: “DHS is confident that our security clearance process is effective. Mr. Gill was thoroughly vetted at several levels. Mr. Gill did not withhold information on government forms required to initiate government security clearance processing and has been cooperative throughout the process.”

Faisal Gill left the Department of Homeland Security in January, 2005. In 2014, NSA documents leaked by Edward Snowden revealed that the NSA had been spying on Gill and several other prominent Muslim-Americans beginning in 2006.

Asked whether he believes he would have been monitored by the NSA if he were not Muslim, Gill is blunt. “Absolutely not,” he says. “Look, I’ve never made an appearance or been a lawyer for anyone who’s been [associated with terrorism]. But there are plenty of other lawyers who have made those appearances and actually represented those governments, and their name isn’t Faisal Gill and they weren’t born in Pakistan and they aren’t on this list.”

Gill changed his party registration in 2007. He likes to say that he’s been a registered Democrat longer than he has been a registered Republican. It’s clear his experience during the Bush years changed him.

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Gill’s Critique of LA’s Homeless Ordinance
Despite his short time as an Angeleno, Gill is looking to make a difference in Los Angeles and be the protector of civil liberties that City Attorney Mike Feuer hasn’t been.

This is particularly important given that the city council passed a “kinder, gentler anti-homeless sweeps” on July 28, designed to restrict homeless encampments around the city.

The new rules target people who sit, sleep and store their belongings near building entrances, freeway underpasses, parks, homeless shelters, day care centers and other public facilities.

This latest ordinance is not a one-size-fits-all approach. It leaves room for case-by-case decisions that will likely lead to different enforcement in different council districts. It also means that council members with differing opinions and competing interests will wield some power over how to police certain areas of their district.

Councilman Joe Buscaino, who is running for mayor, said he is looking to enforce the new rules to their fullest and would prefer a more stringent ordinance.

Buscaino reportedly said, “If you are offered shelter, you must either move in, move along, or face a consequence.”

Councilmember Mike Bonin voted against the measure. He said that by and large, the problem is that people living on sidewalks have nowhere to go.

In an interview with the editorial staff of Random Lengths, Gill argued that the “city attorney [in Los Angeles] has been used… as a personal attorney for the city council. And that’s not how a City Attorney is supposed to [act].”

The anti-camping ordinance that was passed is the result of the city attorney writing a modified version of the ordinance that is currently the subject of the lawsuit, LA Alliance v. City and County of Los Angeles.

The lawsuit alleges that the city has not responded quickly enough to shelter individuals experiencing homelessness, which has led to unhealthy conditions on city streets, and the obstruction of free passage on sidewalks.

Gill, who has been critical of Mike Feuer’s handling of the city’s anti-homeless ordinances, noted that, “the city council, as an entity, does not have an attorney….to the extent that the city attorney is opining on policy or going out there and making policy. He or she should not be doing that.”

“To the extent that the city attorney is basically giving his opinion on whether the policy the city council is passing is legal, that’s the role,” Gill said. “When the city council is basically passing something that is illegal, the city attorney should be sure to step up and say, look, this policy is not legal according to the Constitution, state law or ordinance or city charter.”

Feuer for Mayor

James Preston Allen
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Feuer for Mayor

I recently interviewed mayoral candidate and sitting Los Angeles city attorney Mike Nelson Feuer. The longtime attorney has served at nearly every level of government except the federal level. He served as Assembly member for the 42nd district and Los Angeles City councilmember for the fifth district. Now he is running to become the next mayor of Los Angeles.

Feuer says he is running for mayor to bring strong, proven effective and experienced leadership to a city facing tough challenges. During an hour-long interview, the lionshare of that time was taken up by our discussion of homelessness, followed by bringing city government closer to the people, and policing.

While the longtime lawmaker sat with us to talk about his policy solutions for all the major issues facing our city, he was also sitting with me to make clear his progressive bonafides in the actual work he has done on the issues that matter over the past eight years he’s been city attorney and before.

On homelessness, Feuer made the case that a state of emergency should have been declared long ago, and stated that if elected, he will do just that. He said this would give the mayor additional executive authority while sending a signal to the public about the seriousness with which the city will take the crisis.

Next, he said he would consolidate all the power that the executive has. He noted that the mayor controls every city department and can solidify that authority under one accountable official to be sure that everything possible is being done. He referenced an op-ed piece he wrote about four years ago for the Los Angeles Times that if there had been an earthquake or similar natural disaster, a Federal Emergency Management Agency field general would have been here on the ground in Los Angeles and that person would have been held accountable by time frames and measures of success.

“If they weren’t cutting it, they’d be gone because we have to recover,” Feuer said. “I wrote that we have the equivalent of that natural disaster now and it’s homelessness. And no one’s in charge.”

With that said, I noted that Mayor Eric Garcetti and Gov. Gavin Newsom have said similar things only to have the same result: something less than an all hands on deck approach to a crisis. I cited the Harbor Department as an example of the kind of push back we’re seeing. Feuer said he generally agrees with me but noted that the Harbor Department is strung up by any number of state and federal laws dictating how the Harbor Department can use port property. He said those restrictions may inhibit the city from being able to use some property there for this purpose.

Outside of the Harbor Department, Feuer said that one of his top objectives as mayor “is to right away get everybody working towards the same goals and if they can’t do it, they won’t keep their jobs.”

To provide an idea of what an all-hands-on-deck solution would look like, he said he would create a strike team of leaders at the Department of Water and Power, Engineering, Planning, Housing… all the departments that had something to say about the siting and approval of housing for people experiencing homelessness and affordable housing.

“I would say we are going to cut the time within which this gets accomplished,” Feuer said. “If we don’t, you will not have a job. And it’s not because I want to be tough about it in a mean way. It’s because if we have an emergency we have to act like there are lives on the line on the streets of the city.”

To illustrate how he would operate in a declared state of emergency, Feuer noted that several years ago, before the advent of Project Roomkey (which involved hotels and motels), he advocated that the city take advantage of existing infrastructure that is motels and get them converted into housing for people experiencing homelessness.

“I was the leader of getting that to happen in City Hall. I then held town hall meetings of owners of those motels to encourage them to participate with us in this process,” Feuer said. “I said, look, I can guarantee you a hundred percent occupancy because right now even with a booming economy, that’s not what you’re experiencing.”

He said he was a fan of moving things cheaply and faster.

“That’s what an emergency requires,” he said.

Feuer believes tiny homes can be a part of the solution, but doesn’t believe the city has been innovative enough about the idea. He argues that 3D printing can build tiny homes much more cheaply and faster. He said that as mayor, he wants to be the innovator when it comes to taking action.

Feuer repeatedly argues that the body politic of Los Angeles too often are forced into making false choices in regards to addressing homelessness.

“You’re either for a humane and compassionate approach on the street or you’re for making sure our public spaces are safe and accessible with some order,” he said.

Feuer noted that editorial boards often rail against temporary solutions in favor of permanent supportive housing on the premise that every dollar is finite.

“You have to put [the money] someplace. Put it to the more biting solution and that’s a permanent part of housing, but we have an emergency on our streets right now,” Feuer said.

Feuer said the city cannot simply wait for the perfect solution down the road because if it does, the city is going to be pervaded with homelessness.

“It’s a disgrace that’s inhumane [to] people experiencing homelessness, and completely unfair to people who are housed and have businesses,” Feuer said. “We need to take into account the rights of everybody here… Let’s try to find that common ground.”

Feuer is also proposing to clean up the city with a million more hours of trash cleanup and neighborhood beautification efforts. That would mean 200 additional hours per week for every neighborhood council area in Los Angeles.

“These are issues that are not tied necessarily to people experiencing homelessness,” Feuer explained. “It’s just the city has a problem with illegal dumping and trash on the street. I mention this only because I think it’s crucial that we have pride in our city again where little kids in their neighborhoods would think, “somebody cares about me.”

When I bemoaned the lack of affordable housing in Los Angeles, and that over the past 40 years we have lowered the expectations of middle class living and our teachers can’t even afford to live close to the schools where they work. I have said in the past that the school district itself, probably with all of its extra property, should be building housing units on their vacant parcels. Feuer agreed, but said there are proposals on the table to address that very thing.

“ I completely agree with you, and that is not just some vague idea,” Feuer said. “As mayor, I want to work with the school district, because yes, school properties can be locations where we also place housing for teachers and others that is affordable.”

Opposed to Defunding Police
On policing, Feuer is opposed to defunding the police and says he is looking to get the number of Los Angeles Police Departmentofficers back to 10,000 and making some other kind of investments in reform efforts.

Feuer said we should be investing in training to assure that law enforcement deescalates violent confrontation and uses of force and expanding community partnerships when it comes to community policing, like the community safety partnership in housing projects in Watts.

Feuer favors a balancing of police reform while at the same time advocating for a display of solidarity with its police department for the things it gets right.

“I think we need to be able as leaders to identify the areas where reform is appropriate and the moments to stand up for our law enforcement officers when they’re doing the right thing. And I think that we don’t have enough of that balance today.”

On Doubling the Number of Council Districts
On bringing city government closer to residents, Feuer said as mayor, he’d pursue a charter amendment that would cut city council districts in half to about 130,000 residents. Currently, 250,000 people comprise a city council district.

Referencing the role San Pedro played in the secession movement more than 20 years ago, Feuer noted that if we had cut districts in half back then, the Los Angeles Harbor district would only include San Pedro, Wilmington and Harbor City.

“You take those three communities, they comprise about 140,000 people. That gives you a sense of a kind of local control and engagement,” Feuer said. He noted that the other thing about having smaller council districts is you have council members who are much more intimately familiar with the issues and are much more easily held accountable.

Feuer has a whole page on his website dedicated to his platform. I must admit that it reads as very thorough and well thought out. I strongly recommend RLn readers to check it out at https://mikeforla.com/.

Managing Editor Terelle Jerricks contributed to this story.

Raffaello’s Tradition Continues at New Location

RLn
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Raffaello’s Tradition Continues at New Location

By Vera Magana, Dining and Cuisine Writer

As I walked into Raffaello’s Ristorante with my friend for the very first time, we could hear such vibrant sounds through the corridors. Conversations about family and distant singing filled the air. The ambience, brick walls, and lots of locals were some of the many things that made this restaurant so inviting.

Families sitting down at the tables around us were cheering with such contentment, a welcoming feeling we thought. A traditional Italian restaurant on the quaint street of 7th in San Pedro was the main attraction for a Wednesday night.

I was pleasantly greeted by Gino Cutri, one of the three brothers who now run the restaurant after their parents opened it back in 1984. It was originally on 4th Street, only a few blocks away from where it is now and conveniently located across the street from their other location, a very elegant venue called Marcello’s Tuscany Room where they hold banquets, parties and weddings.

But before Raffaelo’s took over 457 W. 7th Street, it was the 7th Street Chophouse. It was La Conga Mexican Grill from the late 1990s to the early 2000s. The last time an Italian restaurant resided at that address was when it was Di Orio’s Italian Kitchen from the mid- 1980s to 1990s. Prior to that, it was La Conga Restaurant from 1968 to 1986.

The Cutri family purchased the building after the 7th Street Chophouse closed in 2013. The Cutri family rented the venue to restaurateur, Danielle Sandoval (yes, the one running for the CD15 city council seat in 2022), who opened Caliente Cantina Lounge but closed within a year. After being in San Pedro for the past 30 years, Raffaelo’s finally found a new home that turned out to be a seemingly minor move with such a big impact for them.

Ready for dinner, we started with the house salad. Placed in front of us was a toss of mixed greens, radish and carrots topped off with a drizzle of balsamic vinegar and a slight spoonful of parmesan. My friend took the first bite, “Simplicity at its finest! A very hearty salad,” he said while smiling with a mouthful. Next, for appetizers the lovely server recommended the calamari fritti, a portion big enough to share for two people which was nothing short from fresh, not overly seasoned, slightly breaded and oh boy, did the marinara sauce compliment the tentacles and the squid nicely.

Wanting a traditional dish for my entree, I went with an order of spaghetti and meatballs that did not disappoint. A classic, well made dish with the taste of Italy. My friend ordered vitello saltimbocca (veal topped with prosciutto and mozzarella in Marsala wine sauce). The veal, so tender, melted right into your mouth. The sides of mashed potatoes, squash, and cauliflower were the perfect add ons to dip into the marsala wine sauce. Being just the two of us we realized how reasonably priced all the dishes were, between $15 to $30.

The drinks on the menu were hard to resist, with a selection of wines for $7 a glass, I chose to go with the brut Prosecco and my friend with the delicious and boozy paloma Italiana. A paloma with Raffaello’s own take of Italy on it, topped off with Italian soda.

Before parting ways, I tried their hazelnut truffle (hazelnuts semifreddo ice cream with a liquid chocolate core, coated with praline hazelnuts and crushed meringue) to top off the amazing meal I just had. I kid you not, it was like eating a giant ferrero rocher chocolate. The semifreddo ice cream, mixed in with the hazelnuts was absolute bliss. “Nostalgic” is the best word to describe the dish as it took me back to my childhood. A true sign of tradition for me.

With its family feel and modern style, Raffaelo’s is leading Little Italy in San Pedro into the future of Italian food even with neighboring restaurants like La Bocca Felice and J.Trani’s Ristorante, they were named one of the three most popular LA area Italian Restaurants on TripAdvisor.

All there is left to do now is wait and see if there will be a third generation of family taking over and maintaining the delicious recipes. As a newcomer, I can guarantee they have a menu that will make you second guess your order due to all of their great options to choose from. It will easily entice you to come back for more.

Details: 457 W. 7th St, San Pedro, 310-514-0900.

Hours: Monday – Thursday, 11a.m. to 2 p.m., 5 p.m. to 9 p.m.; Friday, 11am. to 2 p.m., 5 p.m. to 9:45 p.m.; Saturday, 11a.m. to 9:45 p.m.; Sunday, 11 a.m. to 9:30 p.m.

Random Letters: 10-14-21

RLn
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Random Letters: 10-14-21

Pipeline Misery

Re: Oil Terminal Project Highlights Larger Issues, RLN, Sept. 30 by Paul Rosenberg

I was actually completely surprised at this article that broke last week in RL. However, I was extremely pleased that “someone” was listening and making sense of it all.

The truth is pretty clear that the port, city, county, state, and many other agencies have had a lot of control over the Petrolane/Amerigas/Rancho 25 million gallon LPG storage facility’s existence for many, many years. However, for whatever political reasons at play, no one has taken the leadership to exercise that control in the name of public safety. The port’s Valero lease has certainly been one of those levers that could have historically eliminated the high risk that this site poses to the nearby neighborhoods and communities. Our concerns for earthquake, terrorism, and antiquated 50 yr. old infrastructure have only increased due to the greater likelihood of potential for catastrophe at this site. The urgency of taking immediate action on this high risk and deadly situation is significantly amplified. “Somebody” needs to do something! But, who will?

The latter half of this article, too, needs to be acted upon. The issue of the Port’s continued policy of “rolling over” long term leases to previous tenants without competitive leasing practices should not be tolerated. Who is benefiting by this practice? This embedded port policy is rife with opportunities for corruption. The end losers in this game are the “people” of the State of California by the revenue that is lost from a lack of competitive bidding. That additional revenue could, at least in part, be used to offset the environmental damage suffered by those living in the shadow of these industrial ports. Never has the environmental damage from these ports been more obvious than at this very moment with the barrage of polluting ships sitting outside our harbors, and the extensive oil spill sitting off our coastline. These types of horrific impacts from industry are not going away any time soon. When will our government officials step up to their duty to protect? Please pick up the slack here and represent your constituencies properly. The “hands-off approach” to the port’s behavior has been embraced for far too long at great public expense.

Janet Schaaf-Gunter, Member: San Pedro Peninsula Homeowners United, INC.

Plains All American Pipeline

Plains all American Pipeline agrees to a multi-million agency settlement in March 2020 of $60 million dollars in penalties for over 105,000 gallons of oil spilled at Refugio Beach (Santa Barbara). The owner was held responsible for economic damages and criminal neglect. The pipeline in question is over 123 miles and goes into 3 different counties. The pipeline broke on May 19, 2015, and it took 5 years to reach a settlement!

The State was paid $22 million for leasing the State Land. The State Land Commission said it will cost the State $375 million to plug the abandon oil wells that feed the pipeline. This is tax-payers money!

In the meantime, Plains reported $143 million in net income in the third quarter of 2020 and held $24.2 billion in assets. If you look at all environment and wildlife damaged that was done, you wonder why the penalties were not higher?

Plains and their affiliates and partners have a history and reputation for escaping and avoiding rules and regulations. Rules do exist, but the agencies are not responsible and do not enforce the laws.

Big oil companies are willing to pay the fines, as it is just part of playing the game as it is considered part of their operating cost. They pay the fines and that gives them permission to do it again.

The most recent oil spill happened in Huntington Beach on Oct. 4, 2021, as another broken pipeline spilling 126,000 gallons of oil affecting 25 miles of prime coastline. This oil spill is from “Beta Offshore” which is a subsidiary of Houston-based “Amplify Energy.”

John Winkler, San Pedro

Government Secrecy Must Not Be the Legacy of Mass Shooting

A 2018 mass shooting at a Southern California nightclub left 13 dead, including the shooter and a law enforcement officer who responded to the scene. As the story unfolded over the following weeks, journalists covering this horrific event sought public records, including autopsy reports.

It’s the grim work of reporters to review death records and inform their readers about a community’s darkest moments. But in the case of the massacre at the Borderline Bar & Grill in the Ventura County city of Thousand Oaks, those records have remained secret.

The reason for the secrecy is unacceptable. A judge blocked their release based on the prospect of a future law change. That threatens the integrity of the California Public Records Act. Now we are asking a California appeal court to undo this alarming decision, which has kept the public in the dark for too long.

FAC, joined by the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press and the California News Publishers Association, filed an amicus brief urging the Second District Court of Appeal to rule in favor of transparency. In our brief supporting the Los Angeles Times, Ventura County Star and Associated Press, we explain that the reasoning for ongoing secrecy is simply wrong — incorrect as a matter of longstanding California law and therefore a violation of the public’s fundamental right of access to government records.

A judge granted an injunction sought by families of some of the deceased based solely on the existence of proposed legislation — legislation that never became law. Whether such legislation is good public policy — and we contend it is not and worked with press and civil liberties groups to combat a flawed bill — matters not. Injunctions cannot be granted based on a potential future law change.

Autopsy reports have long been subject to disclosure under the California Public Records Act. While there are reasons agencies may delay or deny the release of certain information or images, that’s not what happened in the Borderline case. Here, the trial judge blocked access completely and indefinitely, depriving the public of information that could shed light on the government’s actions in an unspeakable tragedy.

There are real conversations to be had about privacy versus the public’s right to know, but that’s not what’s happening in the case decided by Ventura County Superior Court Judge Henry Walsh. We hope the Court of Appeal sees that.

Read our amicus brief in the Los Angeles Times et al. v. Housley, B310585. And find more information on our website.

David Snyder, Executive Director, First Amendment Coalition

New City Program Will Respond to Mental Health Crises

Hunter Chase
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New City Program Will Respond to Mental Health Crises

The City of Los Angeles is partnering with the county to launch a pilot therapeutic van program, which will send mental health professionals to people experiencing mental health crises, instead of police and firefighters.

On Sept. 21, the Los Angeles City Council unanimously approved the creation of a memorandum of understanding between the Los Angeles Fire Department, or LAFD, and the Department of Mental Health, or DMH, to create the program, which will last for one year. Mayor Eric Garcetti approved the motion on Oct. 4. In addition, the city council approved transferring up to $2,000,000 from an unappropriated balance fund used for mental health services to the LAFD, as the vans will operate out of fire stations. One will be in Station 40, which is on Terminal Island, according to the Chief Legislative Analyst’s report on the project.

The vans will have teams of clinical drivers, peer support specialists and licensed psychiatric technicians, according to the city council’s motion.

The city council began discussing using the program in September 2020, but it still does not have an official start date.

“I wonder why it took them so long to actually start to do something,” said Doug Epperhart, president of the Coastal San Pedro Neighborhood Council.

Epperhart argued that the city’s interaction with homeless people was driving the creation of the program.

“When you have problems with homeless people, you know, addiction, mental health issues, so on and so forth, they seem to call the police first of all,” Epperhart said. “And this is one place where the police are actually … working with social services people, but it’s not even close enough.”

Laurie Jacobs, former vice president of the Northwest San Pedro Neighborhood Council, said she supports the program.

“We need less law enforcement in mental health situations,” Jacobs said.

Councilwoman Monica Rodriguez spoke about the program at the Sept. 1 meeting of the city council’s Public Safety Committee.

“This therapeutic mental health van pilot marks a substantial shift in our partnership with LA County, to deploy the very important and missing mental health resources — trained health professionals — in lieu of fire and police personnel,” Rodriguez said.

LAFD Chief Graham Everett said that the LAFD had been looking for solutions to dealing with mental health emergencies as far back as 2019.

“The problem we were trying to solve was trying to find some alternatives to the 28,000 calls a year we were going on related to mental health patients that may or may not have had a medical issue associated with their call,” Everett said.

The LAFD took about 17,500 patients to the emergency room in 2019 and has had similar numbers in 2020 and 2021. Everett said the LAFD is taking a lot of people to the hospital that don’t necessarily need to go there.

“They have a mental health crisis and they may need to go to a mental health facility, our EMTs and paramedics … it’s not within their scope of practice to do so,” Everett said. “Really we’re limited on the services that we can provide. And this association with the county provides us [with the ability] to have experts in the field of mental health, and to be out there on scene with these patients, provide them with the best possible care, and transport to the most appropriate facility.”

Everett argued that this would help the LAFD as it would allow them to keep their resources available for medical emergencies, and help hospitals as well, as it would prevent their emergency services from being as crowded as they are currently.

Dr. Steve Sanko, interim medical director of the LAFD, said that the program will have five DMH teams strategically placed around the city close to crisis stabilization centers. The Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors proposed the pilot program to DMH, then to the city.

“We would have a checklist for medical clearance to be seen by a psychiatric provider,” Sanko said. “It would be used by either the DMH therapeutic … van providers, or by LAFD members, who could then summon the therapeutic vans.”

Councilmember John Lee said that while the bases for the vans were supposed to be near mental health facilities, they did not do a good job covering his district, Council District 12.

“We still only have one in the valley,” Lee said. “We have nothing in the west valley.”

Lee said he has found another space to place a base for the program and has asked the county for help with funding, but he has not heard a response yet.

Everett said that the city needs more than five vans. He said if the pilot program is successful, it will add more.

“Even though those vans are going to be running 24 [hours per day], there’s only five of them in the city,” Everett said. “So, it’ll be an impact, but it’ll be a small impact at first.”

Rodriguez said she wanted to make sure the therapeutic van program was not duplicating another program the city council is considering — an unarmed crisis response model.

The city council approved this model 13-0 at its Sept. 15 meeting. It is based on the Crisis Assistance Helping Out On The Streets, or CAHOOTS, model used in Eugene, Oregon. That program sends a medic and crisis worker to respond to mental health crises. Neither the medic or crisis worker are cops, and both are unarmed.

Councilman Marqueece Harris-Dawson said that the motion for the unarmed response asks the LAFD and Los Angeles Police Department to analyze similar programs, including the therapeutic vans.

“I understand that there’s overlap,” Harris-Dawson said. “I want overlap. I want the problem that we have two people responding to the same thing thoroughly, because right now what we have is nobody reacting to it, essentially. Or we get from the fire department or the police department, ‘I can’t do anything unless that person harms someone or harms themselves.’ And that’s just an unacceptable solution.”

Buscaino Steps Down as President Pro Tem

Fabiola Esqueda
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Buscaino Steps Down as President Pro Tem 

Los Angeles City Councilman Joe Buscaino announced on Sept. 21 he will step down as president pro tem to focus on his run for mayor. The decision came after six council members were preparing to remove him from his post.

The motion for his removal came just days before Buscaino was quoted in a Los Angeles Magazine article degrading his colleagues. He described Council President Nury Martinez as a “disappointment” and called City Councilman Kevin de León a “scrub.”

Buscaino, who is running as a Democrat for the mayoral seat, announced his resignation during a city council meeting. The vote for his removal was scheduled for the following week.

His time in office serving the 15th District, which includes San Pedro and Wilmington, was characterized by opposition from his colleagues for his rough criminalization propositions on the homelessness crisis. Earlier this month, he introduced a ballot measure that would criminalize people who live on sidewalks and those living in homeless encampments if they turned down shelter or housing options. He planned to go against his colleagues’ recommendations if they didn’t act on his proposal — he would have to gather the 64,000 signatures needed to qualify the measure for the June 2022 ballot.

Buscaino, who was born and reared in San Pedro, is notorious for going against his constituents and apologizing for his controversial choices later. For this reason, his right-centrist views on homelessness, policing and international aid are left with much criticism from left-wing activist groups and his fellow council members.

Following the murder of George Floyd in Minneapolis, Minn., Buscaino called for the arrests of officers Derek Chauvin, Tou Thao, J. Alexander Kueng and Thomas Lane. He also showed his support for the nationwide protests. Black Lives Matter-Los Angeles and other activist groups have called for the reallocation of the police budget. But Buscaino proposed an increase in police funding and voted against cutting the Los Angeles Police Department’s budget by $150 million. Black Lives Matter-Los Angeles condemned Buscaino’s proposal.

He most recently came under fire when he tweeted his support for the controversial $1 billion funding of the Iron Dome, Israel’s missile defense system.

“Congresswoman Barragan is 100% correct,” Buscaino tweeted in response to Rep. Nanette Barragán announcing she will vote for the additional funding. “I am happy she represents us in Congress and I too support Israel!”

Buscaino is the first mayoral candidate to show support for Israel. This was after the Gaza attacks earlier this year, where Israeli airstrikes killed 212 Palestinians, including at least 61 children. The attack displaced about 75,000 people.

Buscaino, former senior lead officer of the Los Angeles Police Department’s Harbor Division, announced his candidacy for mayor in March to succeed Mayor Eric Garcetti. His opponents for the mayoral position so far are Los Angeles City Councilman Kevin De León, Rep. Karen Bass, City Attorney Mike Feuer and president and chief executive of the Central City Association, Jessica Lall. More are expected to announce their candidacy in the coming months.

The mayoral primary election is in June 2022. The two remaining candidates will be voted on in November 2022.

October Surprise Before Carson Special Election

Terelle Jerricks
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October Surprise Before Carson Special Election 

In Carson politics, It’s not unusual for mud to fly like napalm with scorched earth intentions. This week, on North Carson Speaks facebook page, scans of a marriage certificate and an affidavit was posted. In it, Carson resident Raymond Green said he was offered $30,000 to help candidate for City Clerk, Monette Gavino, attain a Green Card in 2010. Mayor Pro Tem Jim Dear has endorsed Gavino for the position from which he was recalled five years ago.

Green alleges that he was contacted by Dear, who was the Mayor of Carson at the time and offered him $30,000 to marry his friend Monette Gavino to help her obtain a Green Card. Green said Dear told him that after he weds Gavino, Dear would pay him the money. He said he agreed because Dear was the Mayor of the city and he trusted him.

Green alleges that over time Dear and Gavino moved friends of theirs into his home, while Gavino moved in with Dear. Green says he was evicted from his mobile home for allowing unauthorized people to stay at the residence. Green is silent on why he allowed Gavino and Dear’s friends to stay at the residence.

Regardless of the truth of Green’s allegations regarding the money promised to him, there is evidence that a marriage took place combined with Green’s allegations suggest a crime was perpetrated by himself and Monette Gavino.

According to court documents independently verified by Random Lengths News, Gavino divorced Greene in February 2014 and the judgement was entered by June of that same year. According to a posting made in the Carson Alliance for Truth facebook page, Gavino became a U.S. citizen in 2017.

Gavino played a significant role in the saga that resulted in Dear’s recall as city clerk in 2016 in which he was accused of abusing staff and racially charged encounters.

At the time, city staff, as reported in the city attorney’s investigation, claimed Dear and Gavino were involved in a romantic relationship and that Dear “manipulated” staff into hiring her, despite questions about her right to work. The report that was released included allegations from fellow city staff that Gavino was “mistreated in front of staff.” No details of the alleged “mistreatment” was included in the report. Aarvig’s report included the views of fellow staffers of Gavino, expressing strong disapproval of her conduct in the workplace.

Dear and Gavino both deny that they are or ever were romantically involved, and alleged that it was city staff ― not Dear ― who treated Gavino unfairly.

In 2016, Gavino accused then Mayor Albert Robles of sexual harassment she was a city employee. Gavino dropped her suit against him before she was subject to questioning under penalty of perjury.

It is this background story that made her candidacy for city clerk all the more unusual and fodder for an October surprise hit on her candidacy to become Carson’s next city clerk.

The scanned documents, if legitimate, were all acquired last month, with the initial affidavit dated Sept. 8, while a notarized affidavit is dated Oct. 7. The scanned marriage certificate copy is dated Sept. 21.

Random Lengths News reached out to Dear and Gavino via phone and by text. Neither have yet to reply to our queries. Random Lengths also reached out to the original poster of the marriage certificate scan and Oct. 7 affidavit, Kimberly Knox. She said would check with Green to see if he is willing to provide a comment. We have yet to receive a response from either Knox or Green.

Zeke Vidaurri, former Carson Commissioner and sometime-spokesman for Dear reported on the Carsonians facebook page that Dear has reported Green’s accusations to the FBI as an extortion attempt.

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