| (Feb. 26, 2021) -- Feb. 25 Zoomed "Community Update/Town Hall" conducted by 8th district Councilman Al Austin discussed various topics with no mention of CD 8's 12 shootings (10 with persons hit, 2 with casings found) since Jan. 1.) Cd 8's total is second only to adjoining CD 9/Richardson, which has had 14 shootings (a homicide, plus 11 shootings with persons hit and 2 with no persons hit but casings found.)
CD 8's shootings occurred in the northern (traditional NLB) portions of the Council district adjoining CD 9. When combined the shooting totals in LB's two mainly working class NLB neighborhoods now exceed Central LB's current total (CD1 + CD 6 = 21.) LB's more affluent areas have few or no shootings, which LBREPORT.com has called a chronic inequity (a "tale of two cities."). Austin was re-elected to a third term in 2018 (avoiding a write-in under Charter Amendment BBB that he supported) and was endorsed by the Long Belch police officers union (LBPOA) and Mayor Robert Garcia; The Council's action wiped out 22 officers restored after LB voters approved the 2016 Measure A sales tax increase on top of 180+ officers defunded between 2009-2015 and not restored. In March 2020, Austin narrowly outpolled Reform Ticket candidate Juan Ovalle and went on to defeat organized-labor backed Tunua Thrash-Ntuk in a November runoff. Richardson, handily re-elected to a second term in 2018, was chosen in by a Council majority in 2020 as the body's Vice Mayor for the next two years. . |
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