Vice Mayor Andrews stressed that he favors community involvement in dealing with the issues and indicated a community meeting may be forthcoming involving the police and community members, coordinated with his Council office and the 1st dist. office of Councilwoman Lena Gonzalez [who may exit the Council in the coming weeks if she's elected to the state Senate in ballots cast for counting June 4.]

LBREPORT.com provides on-demand access to audio of our June 3 afternoon telephone conversation with Vice Mayor Andrews, which he conducted from his City Hall office and delivered in his familiar rapid-fire stream-of-thoughts style.

To hear it, click here.

[Scroll down for further.]

Regarding calling a special Council meeting to deal with the shootings, Vice Mayor Andrews said the City Council "doesn't have a magic wand to wave and stop people from shooting at each other. If we did, we would have done this many many years ago." He said that "as a community, we have to get involved." He left unclear if the next regularly scheduled Council meeting will or won't include an agenda item to seek options to restore the field anti-gang unit and stopped short of supporting it, at least for now. "I think it's something we can look into" he said, and added that the Police Chief hasn't asked for it and neither have his constituents. He said he doubts the Council will have time to deal with it on the next agenda [June 11] but indicated "down the road" there will be "things that we are going to be able to agendize" and repeatedly stressed that the community needs to get involved, not just the police.

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As to what should be done now, Vice Mayor Andrews indicated he's spoken with the Police Chief and will sit down with Councilwoman Gonzalez to "organize a community meeting with the police department and the community to get to the hearts of the issues that have really created these incidents and that's the way I think we're going to solve a lot of these issues by putting community pressure on these kids to stop this violence. It always starts at home .no matter how you look at it...If we get our community involved, then we'll be able to let the kids know we're there; we're going to protect our community one way or the other, with the police, with the community and with those individuals that are there to help us out..."

Vice Mayor Andrews said: "I think we as Council people, we have a duty to get out there and let this community know that we're really serious about keeping our community safe...This has been a situation that just happened. It rose up out of nowhere but I really think we can solve some of these situations..."

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When LBREPORT.com noted that 6th Council district residents and business have endured a disproportionate number of shootings and asked why he believes that's extended as long as it has, Councilman Andrews raised the issue (without explicitly saying so) of the recent video-recorded fight near Poly High. [As previously reported by LBREPORT.com, LBPD has arrested, and the District Attorney has formally charged, an 18 year old with felonies including attempted murder plus a gang allegation.] Vice Mayor Andrews said: "Kids are going to be kids, no matter how you look at that, you have to understand. I think the fights a lot of things probably on schools days and just escalates outside of that...if it happens on school [property] we ought to let the individuals know, we ought to someone know before it gets outside of school, this is something that don't happen every day..."

Vice Mayor Andrews continued: "Gangs are down; killings are down but like I say gun shootings are up and this is something I really would hope we'd be able to get a handle on...The killings are down but the shootings are up....I'm not looking at this as being a big old gang situation, a gang problem. It's an incident that happened and I think if we get on it soon enough we're going to be able to stop this. nip in the bud before it gets out of hand...I need for our community, we need to say something. If they see something, instead of posting it on social media, if you see something, say something. Don't go and post it on social media; that's how things I think really gets out of hand before we can be able to nip some of these things in the bud."

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Vice Mayor Andrews, first elected in March 2007, was re-elected in 2008, 2012 and [via a write-in] in 2016. and in May announced he will seek re-election in 2020. The 6th district spans Central LB's Poly High/LBCC neighborhood, part of Wrigley and part of Cambodia Town. Andrews' re-election bid has been endorsed by LB's Police and Firefighter unions, Council incumbents Austin, Mungo, Price and Supernaw and former Mayor Foster among others.

As separately reported by LBREPORT.com, Vice Mayor Andrews has an early challenger in the 6th dist. race: Suely Saro has launched a campaign and begun fundraising in the race. Ms. Saro recently announced the endorsement of prominent LB Cambodian-American community figure Charles Song. On May 21, she spoke with LBREPORT.com in a telephone conversation that we webposted in on-demand podcast form in a report at this link.

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In recent LB shootings (person-hit shootings plus "no-person-hit" shootings):

• May 7: Man shot/wounded at Market St./Pine Ave. (8th district, LBREPORT.com coverage here.)

• May 10: no-person-hit shooting, 1000 block of Minerva Park (2nd dist., LBREPORT.com coverage here)

• May 10: Man shot/wounded inside a business in the 4900 block of LB Blvd. (8th dist., LBREPORT.com coverage here)

• May 11, no-person-hit shooting in the 800 block Daisy Ave. (rounds hit unoccupied vehicle and building, LBREPORT.com coverage here).

• May 11, man shot/wounded in 900 block of Daisy Ave. (LBREPORT.com coverage here.)

• May 11: Triple-victim shooting on Andy St. (LBREPORT.com coverage here)

• May 11: Person shot/wounded in the 200 block of E. Artesia Blvd. (LBREPORT.com coverage here.)

• May 12: 600 block E. Esther (Poly High Area), casings found, no person(s) hit; LBREPORT.com coverage here.)

• May 12: Shots fired at bicycle rider, 4900 block LB Blvd. (LBREPORT.com coverage here.)

• May 14: Shots fired at two men in parked vehicle, 3000 block Santa Fe (LBREPORT.com coverage here.)

• May 18: Six People Shot (Woman Dies + 5 Adults Wounded), 1500 block W. PCH (LBREPORT.com coverage here.)

• May 20: LB Has TWELFTH Shooting Crime Scene Within Two Weeks: Someone Shoots At Woman Driving On MLK Ave. Near 11th St. (6th dist.) (LBREPORT.com coverage here.)

• May 22: LB Has THIRTEENTH Shooting Crime Scene Within 15 Days: Man Struck By Gunfire Walking In Hellman Neighborhood, 800 block Cerritos Ave. (1st dist.) (LBREPORT.com coverage here.)

• May 27: LB Has FOURTEENTH Shooting Crime Scene In 20 Days: Man Is Shot/Wounded Mon Nite Near Front Door Of Addams Elementary School (200 block E. Plymouth St., 8th Dist., (coverage here)
• May 30: LB Has FIFTEENTH Shooting Crime Scene Since May 7, Central LB Shooting (2300 Elm b/w LB Blvd./Atlantic, 6th dist.) Is Fatal, Leaves Man Dead, Coverage here

• May 30: LB has SIXTEENTH shooting Crime Scene Since May 7: NLB Shooting Misses Hitting Person Driving Area South St./Paramount Blvd. (border 8th/9th dists., coverage here)
• May 31: LB has SEVENTEENTH shooting Crime Scene Since May 7: LB Has SEVENTEENTH Shooting Crime Scene In 24 Days: Man Is Shot At Midday, 400 block E. 17th (Near Linden b/w Atlantic/LB Blvd., 1st Council Dist.)coverage here)

• LB Has EIGHTEENTH Shooting Crime Scene Since May 7: Multiple Vehicles Struck By Gunfire, 17th/Locust (1st Council Dist.)

As previously reported by LBREPORT.com, following recommendations by then-Mayor Bob Foster, the LB City Council (which included then-Councilman Robert Garcia) erased over a period of years starting in 2009 (entering FY10) 208 budgeted citywide deployable police officers (over 20% of LB's citywide deployable level) including the elimination of LBPD's field anti-gang unit.

Under Mayor Garcia, despite LB voter approval of a June 2016 sales tax increase ("Measure A") now bringing City Hall over $50 million more annually, LB's current City Council has restored only 22 of the budget-erased officers, leaving LB without 186 officers (including a field anti-gang unit) that it previously had but no longer has. (LBRPEORT.com special coverage, here.)

For a continually updated chart showing LB shootings/homicides by Council district click here. To see details on LB's police and firefighter levels for taxpayers, click here.

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