Hear And See Transcript Of What This Long Beach Resident Told City Council About Crime Where He Lives And What He Wants Council To Do About It
Mr. Gordon spoke during the period for public comment on non-agendized items on July 22, 2014.
To hear Mr. Gordon's testimony, click here.
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Mr. Gordon: ...I live in the 2nd district. I'm on the 700 block of Rose Ave. I've lived in Long Beach for 23 years, approximately half of my life. To paraphrase Vice Mayor Lowenthal earlier, I'm not feeling the prosperity of the 41-year low in violent crime. No Councilmember spoke in response to Mr. Gordon's testimony. Mayor Garcia thanked Mr. Gordon and called for the next speaker. A few hours prior to the Council meeting, Vice Mayor Lowenthal issued a release (reported by LBREPORT.com here) in which she stated that as incoming chair [chosen by Mayor Garcia] of the Council's Budget Oversight Committee, she "strongly endorses" Mayor Garcia's budget recommendations. [This is prior to holding meetings of her Committee on the budget and making recommendations which she indicated she'll do.] Earlier that day, Mayor Garcia announced his budget recommendations, which don't propose restoring police or fire services for taxpayers that were cut by majority voted actions of previous Councils (that included Garcia.) (LBREPORT.com coverage of Mayor Garcia's budget recommendation is coming separately.) Mayor Garcia (while a voting Councilmember from May 2009-mid July 2014) and Councilmembers Lowenthal, O'Donnell and Andrews are the four remaining incumbents who in Sept. 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012 and 2013 voted for budgets that collectively cut the largest number of LBPD officers for taxpayers in the more than 100 year history of the City of Long Beach. [In 2012 Lowenthal was reelected by a roughly two to one margin; Andrews had no challenger; O'Donnell was elected to a third four-year Council term in June 2012 with the endorsement of the LB Police Officers Association and support from organized labor; he's now seeking an Assembly seat.] Vice Mayor Lowenthal appeared to know Mr. Gordon's testimony was coming. A few minutes before he spoke during the Council's public comment, Lowenthal acknowledged that some parts of the city that she called "hot spots" hadn't benefited from city officialdom's frequently cited 41-year lows in violent crime. Vice Mayor Lowenthal asked City Manager Pat West if city management (i.e. LBPD administration) will be prepared to discuss details of those "hot spots" during budget sessions and City Manager West said yes. [A Council session on LBPD and LBFD budgets is currently scheduled for Aug. 12.] Mayor Garcia's choice to chair the Council's Public Safety Committee is newly elected 3rd dist. Councilwoman Suzie Price. She hasn't indicated if she'll be holding meetings of her Public Safety Committee on the public safety impacts of the management/Foster/Garcia proposed FY15 budget. Further to follow on LBREPORT.com.
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