F-18 FIghter Jets over Los Altos

Five Fighter Jets to land at Long Beach Airport

The Hornets are coming! Five F-18s will be landing at Long Beach Airport this evening around 6:00 p.m. today!

If you get any good pics, the Long Beach Airport wants them at at lgbarpt@longbeach.gov so they  can share them on Fan Friday! #TGIFF

Signatures for closing Abbeyfield sought

Abbeyfield St chosen to be 4^th of July Parade Route-signatures needed

Simon Stone, a neighbor from Stearnlee street and one of the primary organizers of the up till now grassroots Los Altos Neighborhood Bike Parade, will be circulating a petition on Abbeyfield Street to have the street closed to host this year’s expanded Los Altos 4th of July Bike Parade.

A total of 66% of residents of Abbeyfield Street will need to sign a petition to close all of Abbeyfield off on the morning of July 4^th for a few hours so the parade can end at the Taco Beach parking lot.

The traditional route winding its way through the streets of the Garfield/ Stearnlee street corridor has been ditched with an expanded parade as neighbors from the neighborhoods on the East Side of Bellflower plan to join the parade.

The parade is scheduled to start at Abbeyfield and Atherton and end at the Taco Beach parking lot at  Bellflower and Abbeyfield. Taco Beach owner Kevan Vance is donating  donuts at the end of the parade.

Councilman O’Donnell’s office has signed off on the plan and has expedited the permit process.  The city requires 10 day notice for a “block party” and a 60 notice for a “parade”.

If approved, no parking on Abbeyfield will be allowed during the closure if it is approved as a "parade", if it is approved as a "block party" parking will be allowed (see applications below).  

Click on the following for more information:

Long Beach Block Party Petition Info

Long Beach Block Party Application

LB Report Parade coverage

Parade on YouTube

LBPD East Division community meeting

LBPD to hold neighborhood community meeting

Long Beach Police Department is holding a community meeting at Stanford Middle School  on Thursday June  20 at 7pm regarding crime trends, dispatcher information and other important information.

Stanford Middle School is in back of Target Store on Los Arcos in the Los Altos Center North.

 For more information please call LBPD @ 562-570-5880.

East Division Community Forum

Thursday, June 20th at 7:00 p.m.

Stanford Middle School Auditorium, 5871 Los Arcos

Schipske brings campaign to Los Altos

Councilwomen Gerrie Schipske speaks at Los Altos Eccos Pizza

Councilwomen Gerrie Schipske brought her mayoral campaign to Los Altos on Wednesday.

The 5th District Councilwomen touched on numerous topics and answered questions from around 20 residents. Topics included libraries, the budget and street and sidewalk maintenance.

Schipske appearing in Los Altos

Mayoral candidate Councilwomen Schipske

coming to Los Altos

Fifth District Councilwomen Gerrie Schipske will bring her campaign for Long Beach Mayor to Los Altos this week.

Schipske will be at Ecco’s Pizza on Wednesday June 19^th from 5 pm to 7pm to meet residents, listen to concerns and answer questions.

Last month Damon Dunn, another mayoral candidate, also appeared at a meet and greet at Ecco’s Pizza.

The Schipske meeting is being hosted by Vicki Elliot and Grace Earl.

Meet Our Next Mayor -- Gerrie Schipske

Come meet Gerrie Schipske. Share your concerns. Ask your questions.

Get involved.

Ecco's Pizza

2123 N.  Bellflower Blvd.

Wednesday, June 19

 5 p.m. - 7 p.m.

Hosted by: Vickie Elliott Vickie@vwresources.com


 & Grace Earl ge720@aol.com

No that noise was not leaf blowers cleaning all night…..

Los Altos Center South parking lot gets resealed and restriped

That droning noise that residents of the Los Altos Center Adjacent Neighborhood heard all Monday ( June 11^th) night into early Tuesday morning was not the familiar sound of leaf blowers cleaning up Jacaranda flowers all over the Los Altos neighborhood.

The noise was from crews resealing and restriping the parking lot of the Los Altos Center South (Sears and Lazy Acres lot). The crews started around 9 pm Monday and worked the whole night-as anyone who had their windows open could clearly hear. The noise carried all throughout the Los Altos Center Adjacent Neighborhoods well into Tuesday morning.

Restrictions not followed

Daily Violations of the Long Beach CUP continue at

Los Altos Taco Beach

Doors open all weekend with bar in full sight

One of the arguments the Taco Beach owner made to the local neighbors and the Long Beach Planning Commission on why he should be granted a full liquor license was that as a local business owner he would listen to the concerns of the neighbors.  He would be there- not like some out-of-town corporation that would not listen.

The Long Beach Business Journal wrote about the protests over the liquor license for Taco Beach quoting what Vance told the Planning Commission:

“Kevan Vance, owner of Taco Beach Cantina – with locations on Pine Avenue downtown and on 2nd Street in Belmont Shore – told the planning commission that it was in his best interest to make residents of the neighborhood happy and that he would work with them to address future concerns.”

When the controversy started over art work done on the side of the building at  the entrance to the neighborhood, it was however an apparently defiant Vance who told Tom Grobaty of the Press-Telegram that he would not redo the original brown surfer art that featured  a "surfer" standing on what looked to some like a pile of “feces”-but others politely described as “rocks”. Vance told Grobaty “ if someone finds an artist they like more and want to pay for a different mural, we’ll be glad to let them put it up”. 

However, that sentiment changed with nearly universal displeasure of the mural by neighbors. To Taco Beach's credit, the art was eventually changed for the better.

Now however, after being emailed by the ABC and after the city has arranged a meeting for next week to discuss the ongoing concerns with CUP violations, Taco Beach continues to violate-on a daily basis-ABC restrictions on inside alcohol related items being seen from outside and clear Long Beach CUP restrictions on the front door being closed-at all times.

The Long Beach CUP clearly states that the front door shall remain closed “at all times”.

Not just at night.

Not just when they are busy.

Not just when they feel like it.

Simple- “AT ALL TIMES”

The neighborhood did not “appeal” the Planning Commission’s allowing a full alcohol license to Taco Beach based on ALL the Planning Commission’s CUP restrictions.

Everyone knew what the restrictions were and accepted them.

It is now time for Taco Beach to follow ALL of the restrictions ALL of the time not just when they want to.

To read the Long Beach Business Journal story CLICK ON:  LBBJ

Surfs up for NEW Taco Beach surfer!

Taco Beach gets it right
 and redesigns the Abbeyfield Surfer

Taco Beach's improved Abbeyfield Surfer

After three weeks, Taco Beach replaced the "rock surfer" art on the Abbeyfield wall that

was referred to as "tacky".  

The new Abbeyfield Surfer that now stands at the entrance to the

Los Altos Center Adjacent Neighborhood has water, a surfboard with the words "Taco Beach", and crisp lines and features unlike the previous brown "dot" surfer who stood on a pile of brown rocks.

Now with door handles!

Also added at Taco Beach are real door handles ( so now the doors are closed and no longer violate the CUP/ABC restrictions) and the air conditioning is fixed.

After LACAN posted about the previous surfer, Press-Telegram columnist Tim Grobaty wrote about the controversy. In Grobaty's May 14th column he wrote:

...owner Kevan Vance is being typically reasonable about the complaint.  "If someone finds an artist they like more and want to pay for a different mural, well be glad to let them put it up" .

Whether Vance finally took a good look at the old surfer and paid to fix it, or some patron of the arts pitched in, LACAN thanks them for the improvement.

The building now looks like it belongs in Los Altos, not in TJ.

Abbeyfield new 4th Bike Parade route?

Move to ask for 4^th of July morning bike parade on Abbeyfield  
 

The 5 year traditional “spur of the moment” ( i.e. unsanctioned) Los Altos 4^th of July Bike Parade of mostly children from the Los Altos neighbors at the  Garfield/Montair axis are looking for a new "safer" parade route this year.

The proposed 2013 route is down Abbeyfield Street.  Posting on Nextdoor,  Simone Stone states that he has “filled out paperwork” to ask that people on Abbeyfield agree to a two hour closure on the morning of July 4^th to host the annual bike parade down Abbeyfield to Taco Beach. 

Violations of CUP and ABC documented

Clear violations of Long Beach CUP and California ABC restrictions as Taco Beach opens to a rocky start

The Los Altos Taco Beach opened over the weekend to a rocky start with clear violations of the Long Beach Conditional Use Permit (CUP) and the California ABC conditional license.

On Friday May 31, the owner graciously invited neighbors for the preview opening.  On Saturday June 1^st it was “friends and family” of the employees, and on Sunday June 2^nd, the Los Altos Taco Beach officially opened.

3 days of open doors violate CUP and ABC conditions

During all three days, the front doors were open, a clear violation of the Long Beach Conditional Use Permit which requires in Item 12 that the front door remain closed.    In addition, Item 3 of the California Alcohol Beverage Control conditional use permit Item 3 states that any alcohol displays (the inside bar area) and signs may not be visible from the exterior and if they are it “shall constitute a violation of this condition”.  A violation of any of the 11 ABC conditions in the conditional license is grounds for revoking the license.  The open door clearly makes the alcohol in the bar area visible to the outside pedestrians during the day, and drivers passing by on Bellflower Blvd. at night.



Alcohol visable from outside is a violation

As neighbors, and friends and families gathered around the inside bar area on Friday and Saturday night, unattended children of some of the patrons were running in and out of the open front doors, into the parking lot and along Abbeyfield and Bellflower Blvd.  well past 9 pm at night.

Parking spilled out from the full parking lot down about a block on Abbeyfield at Bellflower Blvd.  A neighbor on Abbeyfield reported an interaction in front of her house with a drunk patron from Taco Beach.  Another neighbor on Daggett reported a shouting match with college aged students in the parking lot behind the house as the family was in the back yard cooking on the BBQ.

The parking lot loitering was also a clear violation of both the CUP and the ABC license.

A waitress from Taco Beach smoking on Abbeyfield  told a neighbor that the people on the patio after the 8 pm closing were smoking.  This too is a violation of the LB CUP.

A neighborhood spokes person sent an email to Councilman O’Donnell and his staff asking for his office to step in and make sure all conditions of the CUP and ABC are strictly followed.

If the councilman’s office is unwilling or unable to intervene, neighborhood representatives are prepared to file complaints with the city authorities and the ABC.

CLICK on the link for the ABC Complaint Form:  ABC Complaint against License

Councilman O'Donnell officially announces for Assembly

Los Altos' 4^th District Councilman Patrick O’Donnell IS

running for Assembly

Los Altos’s 4^th District Councilman Patrick O’Donnell has sent out invitations for his “Kick-off” fundraiser to run for 70^th Assembly District.  They were received today in the mail.

The Kick Off fund raiser is Thursday June 13^th at the 14^th floor downtown law offices of Keesal, Young and Logan.

The O’Donnell campaign flyer asks for the following levels of contributions:

$ 4, 100

$ 2, 000

$ 1, 000

$     500

and  $ 99

Elected last year to a 3^rd four year term after saying he would stay for the full 4 years as a councilman if he won a third term, O’Donnell formed a fundraising committee for Assembly shortly after winning.

  
If O'Donnell is elected in 2014, a special election costing around $130,000 will be needed to fill the remaining 2 years of his city council term.

When running for a third term, O’Donnell in an interview with the Long Beach Business Journal that he would serve the full 4 years and not run for Assemby.

CLICK on AUDIO LINK:  O'Donnell's Statement he will serve 4 years

The interview reads as FOLLOWS:

LBBJ: ...But didn't you tell district residents that what you really wanted was to run for state assembly? Aren't you sending a negative message to your constituents?

O'Donnell: Not at all. There was a time when I looked at running [for] the state assembly. In the end, it turned out that it wasn't for me for a variety of reasons [so] I pulled out. You notice that I didn't just jump into the city council race? You notice that? Because I was walking away. Over time, a good number of folks came to me and said, "O'Donnell, we want you to run as a write-in because you've done a wonderful job [and] we want to keep you in office."

LBBJ: So the Democratic Party didn't call you and say, "We don't want you to run against Bonnie Lowenthal?" [who had first announced a run for state senate, then changed her mind and decided to stick with the assembly].

O'Donnell: No, not at all. And neither did the Republican Party.

LBBJ: If you win the reelection, will you commit to a full four-year term?

O'Donnell: If you run for four, you serve four.

LBBJ: So, you're not going to run for assembly in two years?

O'Donnell: Correct.

LBBJ: No matter what?

O'Donnell: Correct. If you run for four, you serve four.

LBBJ: As of December 31, you had about $42,000 in cash in your assembly race account. What are you going to do with that money?

O'Donnell: A good amount of that money has been sent back. I don't know what the exact numbers are.

LBBJ: It has been sent back?

O'Donnell: Not all of it but I know some of it has.

LBBJ: But you can't use it for [the] city council [race]? But you could save it for a future race.
O'Donnell: Right, but you can't use it in a city council race. I have to start anew.

LBBJ: Let's say you get reelected. In four years, would you look at a future run for state office at that time?

O'Donnell: What I've heard from a lot of people is "O'Donnell is running for this, O'Donnell is running for that." I'm not running for anything except the 4th District. My concern right now is serving and winning this election.

LBBJ: How much money do you think you'll raise for the council race?

O'Donnell: Probably about $50,000. What's interesting about this race is [if] you look at my opponents thus far – and they've been out there for a while – I was surprised at their [fund raising] numbers.

The LINK to the FULL interview can be found here:

CLICK ON: O'Donnell Interview

LINK TO LBReport.com STORY on forming O'Donnell for Assembly Committee:
CLICK ON  O'Donnell for Assembly Committee

LINK TO LBReport STORY on his announced run CLICK ON:
It's Definite: Long Beach Councilman Patrick O'Donnell Is Actively Seeking Election to Assembly in 2014; We Obtain Fundraising Invite, Here Are Its Listed Supporters