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Council Will Vote Nov. 20 On Mayor-Suggested Committee Recommendation To Name Convention Center Exhibit Hall For Former Mayor Kell

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UPDATE: As seen LIVE, the City Council voted 9-0 at its Nov. 20 meeting to approve the item as agendized below. 5th dist. Councilwoman Stacy Mungo spoke in support. Mayor Garcia reiterated the points made in his Oct. 15 letter, including support from the LB Convention and Visitors Bureau, detailed below.
(Updated Nov. 17, 2018 from November 14 report) -- Mayor Robert Garcia's proposal to name the LB Convention Center's Exhibit Hall for the late Mayor Ernie Kell will come to a City Council vote -- now scheduled for Tuesday Nov. 20 -- following a unanimous Nov. 13 voted recommendation of the Council's Housing & Neighborhoods Committee.

The Council will also consider a recommendation from the Committee to name LBFD's Regional Fire Training Center (2249 Argonne Ave., dist. 4) to honor LBFD Capt. David Rosa, shot to death in June 2018 while responding to a downtown residential high rise fire.

On the item regarding Mayor Kell, Committee member Daryl Supernaw made a substitute motion that recommeended naming the Convention Center's Exhibit Hall fthe "Ernie Kell Hall" (instead of renaming the El Dorado branch library) and forwarded the Convention Center recommended to the full Council on a 2-0 vote (Supernaw & Austin "yes," Andrews arrived moments after the vote, said he was delayed, voiced support for Committee action.

Two residents spoke in opposition to the recommendation: Ann Cantrell (5th district) and Anne Proffit (2nd dist), Ms. Cantrell thanked Councilman Supernaw for his substitute motion to leave the El Dorado branch library's name as it is, but she and Ms. Proffit both noted that then-Councilman Kell was on the Council when it allowed "crackerbox" apartments to displace single family homes. (The Council's action at the time was opposed by residents but supported by developers and City Hall planners; it left neighborhoods in and around downtown with damaging density impacts including a chronic lack of parking.)

Following public testimony, Committee member Austin read the text of an Oct. 15 letter from Mayor Garcia citing Mayor Kell's leading role in expanding LB's Convention Center:

[Garcia Oct. 15 letter] Recently I have had discussions with the Kell Family and representatives of the Convention and Visitors Bureau (CVB.) The CVB would like your committee to consider naming the Convention Center Exhibit Hall the "Ernie Kell Hall." The Exhibition Hall faces Pine Ave. and is an iconic building and the centerpiece of the Long Beach Convention and Entertainment Center.

Mayor Kell's widow Jackie Kell and the Kell family also support this naming. Councilmembers Jeannine Pearce and Stacy Mungo support this request as well.

We look forward to your committee hearing this request in a timely fashion in order to properly honor former Mayor Kell.

[Scrolldown for further.]




The Convention Center recommendation sidesteps unpleasantness triggered by a May 23, 2017 agenda item from 5th dist. Councilwoman Stacy Mungo, approved by the City Council 8-0, to waive a city policy (details below) to rename the El Dorado branch library the "Ernie and Jackie Kell Neighborhood Library."

The Mungo agendized item triggered opposition from some ELB residents to which Mungo responded with a May 18, 2017 release saying "Long Beach residents will have the opportunity to weigh in on the Kells' legacy and the community they helped to build over the course of their service to the city of Long Beach." The release also noted that the City had taken up similar measures in the past, including renaming its Terrace Theater after former Mayor Beverly O'Neill.

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The Council's May 2017 voted action referred the item to the Housing & Neighborhoods committee, which voted 2-1 on July 11, 2017 (Supernaw dissenting) to delay action on the issue for a year. (Supernaw had made a substitute motion to "receive and file" (take no action on the item) that he said would effectively widen the scope of public facilities beyond the library for consideration in renaming to honor the Kells, stressing this would allow finding the best location.) At the time, Committee members Austin and Supernaw both said they regretted the way the matter had been handled, and all three Committee members agreed some public facility in the city should be named to recognize the Kells.

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As reported by LBREPORT.com in May 2017, a Celebration of Life for Mayor Kell brought a capacity crowd to the LB Yacht Club with current and retired city officials and residents crediting him for multiple City Hall actions that helped form present-day Long Beach. For LBREPORT.com VIDEO coverage of that event, click here. Among those speaking at the event (after arriving late) was Councilwoman Mungo, who said she planned to bring a proposal forward to name a then-unnamed location to honor former Mayor Kell, which then triggered the resulting chain of events.

Councilwoman Mungo didn't attend the July 2017 or November 2018 Committee meetings.

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