Archive for the ‘News’ Category

by Mark McDermott

 A property deal that would have involved a land swap between the city and the school district has fallen apart.

As a result, the district may lose out on lease revenue equal to the salaries of 16 teachers and the city must seek a new location for the police station it hopes to build.

Both sides attribute the collapse, in part, to the district’s properties being substantially devalued because of Measure DD’s passage two years ago, an argument dismissed by the slow growth initiative’s leader.

Redondo Beach Unified School District officials said this week that negotiations – which have taken place over the course of several years – have now ended.

District officials believed the outlines of a deal were in place that would have given RBUSD control of the Franklin Community Center and increased the city’s rent at 200 N. Pacific Coast Highway from $48,000 to $300,000 annually.

The city issued a formal offer last month, however, that included the land swap but only increased rent at 200 N. PCH to $90,000.

The school board in closed session last week rejected that offer.

Board president Todd Loewenstein expressed disappointment at the city’s counteroffer.

“Frustrated would be an understatement,” he said. “I really did think we were very close, in terms of negotiations. In my view, if nothing changes, it’s done.”

“Essentially, what it amounts to is we are finished negotiating,” said board member Carl Clark.

Assistant city manager David Biggs said the city is still hopeful a deal can be worked out.   

“The city is still willing to do a transaction, based on fair market value of our respective holdings,” Biggs said. “We believe our offer reflected that.”

The two properties in question are part of an array of properties whose use by the city and school district were contingent on the two parties coming to an agreement. The city leases two former school sites that the district has declared surplus – 200 N. PCH and 320 Knob Hill. The former houses the police detective bureau (in addition to the Redondo Beach Chamber of Commerce, which pays $8,000 in rent annually). The latter houses the Knob Hill Community Center and the city’s Recreation and Community Services department. The 200 N. PCH expires in June of this year and the Knob Hill lease is month-to-month.  

The city also has a 99-year lease on the former Franklin school site, which currently houses a community center, a preschool, and the Redondo Beach Playhouse. Under the proposed land swap, Franklin would have reverted to the district, which planned to move the South Bay Adult School there. The Adult School’s current location at the former Edison School on Inglewood Avenue, would have been leased commercially.

The district has endured millions of dollars in state educational funding cuts and hopes to increase lease revenue as a means to offset those loses. RBUSD just this week issued layoff notices to 16 teachers. The district hoped to generate an additional $550,000 to $600,000 in new lease revenue through its proposed deal with the city.

“That is 10 to 12 teachers right there,” Loewenstein said. “Looking at it from the city’s perspective, giving up Franklin – that property isn’t a great thing for them, and paying $300,000 for 200 N. PCH, a great piece of property kitty-corner  from City Hall, which gives them flexibility for the future, for 99 years…That is a terrific deal for them.”

Loewenstein said the district would have had to spend at least a million dollars in upgrades at Franklin and Edison in order to do so, but he said that the proposed deal would have represented a “win-win” for the city and the school district. He said accepting the city’s offer would have been financially irresponsible.

“We are not willing for a couple years of very small increased revenue to make a bad decision for the long term health of the district,” he said. “It would be ruinous. Accepting a deal where we are making $30,000 extra a year, juggling around a lot of things and spending $1 million…It just doesn’t make sense.”

The city, meanwhile, hoped to retain use of 200 N. PCH both for its current use and possibly for future use as a new police station. The building’s location, near the main police station and City Hall, make it a natural fit, particularly if the city eventually pursues the building of large new public safety facility. Both its police and fire stations are nearly 50 years old and considered badly outdated.

Biggs acknowledged that “small group” negotiations had discussed a deal that would have paid the district $300,000 per year for the PCH property. But he said the City Council never approved such a deal, and that ultimately the city believed its offer would have enabled the district to maximize lease revenue through private development of Franklin or Edison.

“We are both working to serve the same group of citizens,” Biggs said. “So to me, as one public agency to another, our thought has always been they should look to maximize income from a third party user, rather than another public agency, because that is just  a zero sum game….Especially during this time when we are both having to cut positions and our employees are taking wage and benefit cuts. And the reason we want 200 N. PCH is to increase public safety to the entire community.”

The crux of the disagreement was over just how much the property is worth. When negations began in 2005, the district, based on real estate appraisals, sought $796,800 in annual revenue from the PCH property. A more recent appraisal has downgraded the value of the property 40 percent. The drop resulted largely from the passage in 2008 of Measure DD, a “slow growth” initiative that requires a citywide vote on significant zoning changes in Redondo. According to the district’s appraisal – which also factors in the general downturn in the real estate market – 200 N. PCH’s current market value as a rental is $510,000 annually, including its adjacent 148-spot parking lot, or $320,000 without it.

Clark said that the district had historically rented to the city below market value but could no longer afford to do so.

“We have engaged, over the years, in sweetheart deals with the city, and that has been fine and dandy,” Clark said. “But we are at a point now where we need more than sweetheart deals. We need cash. And 50 cents on the dollar or less just doesn’t work anymore.”

The district’s appraisal, conducted by Parkcenter Realty Advisers, values Franklin at $4.3 million and 200 N. PCH at $6.3 million including the parking lot or $4 million without it.

Biggs said the city’s own valuation placed the two properties much closer in value and that the city’s offer represented fair market value. He also noted that the district’s continued use of the parking lot factored into the  valuation.  “Their assessment of what the parking would cost was, I think, underestimated,” Biggs said.

A draft agreement prepared by the district earlier this year would have ceded use of the parking lot upon the city’s construction of a new facility at 200 N. PCH, but would have allowed continued shared use of the lot until that point. The district also sought the right to build a new parking structure on part of current parking lot.

Councilman Steve Aspel said that 200 N. PCH’s property value has been damaged by Measure DD more than the appraisal shows. The appraisal shows DD’s impact as reducing the property’s value by $5.1 million.

“We didn’t support DD, but that devalued the property,” Aspel said. “I am sympathetic with the schools because I don’t want them to go broke and I still have a kid there, but just because somebody feels a property is worth a certain amount doesn’t mean it is worth that…If we paid them more than what we think the property is worth, then we are giving away public money, and you can’t do that. I truly wish it was worth what they think it is worth.”

Jim Light, the head of “slow growth” group Building a Better Redondo and a chief proponent of Measure DD, dismissed the notion that DD devalued the property.

“Any valuation that included high density residential uses was risky speculation at best and ignored the political climate,” Light said.

The unraveling of the potential 200 N. PCH deal could have many repercussions. Loewenstein said the district will consider refurbishing 200 N. PCH for classroom use. The city, meanwhile, had hoped to extend its lease at Knob Hill for at least a few more years as part of the deal, and now must consider finding new homes for both its detective bureau and its Recreation and Community Services department.

Biggs said the city had several “fallback” options, including moving the recreation department to Aviation Park, developing new facilities at the Franklin site, and possibly housing police detectives in trailers on the City Hall campus while working towards long-term plans of building a new police facility.

“It’s not the most desirable outcome,” Biggs said. “But we do have alternatives…We were trying to craft a win-win scenario that worked beyond the economics of revenue generation for the district. I think that is the hallmark of any successful negotiation – being able to have something that works for both sides – and we just have not been able to find that right formula yet.”

Loewenstein agreed with the goal but expressed little hope a successful formula could be found.

“We really wanted to be able to find a point where both parties would win – where they would have property to build a new police station and we would be able to bring in revenues to the district to help offset cutbacks we’ve had from the state,” Loewenstein said. “We’ve spent years on this now. It’s incredibly frustrating. I have personally spent a lot of time dealing with this. I kind of wash my hands of it.” ER

Fifth-grade teacher Chris Miko of Meadow Elementary was laid off last week after earning a prestigious NASA fellowship earlier this year. Photo by Andrea Ruse

by Andrea Ruse

Meadows Elementary fifth-grade teacher Chris Miko is one of 40 educators, chosen from among 2,000 applicants nationwide, to receive a National Aeronautics and Space Administration fellowship this year.

He is also one of 19 teachers in the Manhattan Beach Unified School District who was pink-slipped last Wednesday. The termination notices were based on seniority.

“I didn’t know for sure where I was on the list,” Miko said. “I was just crossing my fingers hoping to be high enough up, but alas.”

During his three years as a teacher – all of them at Meadows – Miko, 32, has started a science club, fostered new technologies into classrooms and started a habitat restoration program run by pre-teens.

“He is a phenomenal teacher and motivates his students in all subjects, not just science,” said Connie Harrington, principal of Meadows Elementary School. “Part of his attraction is that he’s so into it. He throws off a certain energy and the students sense it.”

“He’s totally into the science factor,” said Katherine Pasterczyk, one of Miko’s fifth-graders. “Because he’s really into it, it makes me want to be into it too.”

Miko’s students can tell you dozens of facts about both science and their teacher, including how to build a robot or a rocket, that the Ballona Wetlands in Playa del Rey are home to a number of endangered species and that Mr. Miko’s three heroes are Albert Einstein, Walt Disney and Jim Hensen. They know that one day Mr. Miko hopes to host a TV show from the moon, wants to be the first person on Mars and that his favorite band is “They Might Be Giants.” He’s also into bobbleheads, the Lakers and telling paranormal stories.

His students will tell you that they don’t want their futures to be decided by politicians.

They also know that Mr. Miko won’t be returning to Meadows next year.

“The kids were really bummed out,” Miko said. “Of course, they were upset, but I told them things will all work out and everything will be okay.”

Growing up, Miko dreamt about becoming an astronaut. His curious mind led him to disassemble then reassemble the first computer his parents ever brought home, along with TVs, stereos, an electric drum kit and any other electronic device he could get his hands on.

“When I was bored, I’d just get Dad’s screwdriver out, open something up and check it out so I could see what was inside and how it worked,” Miko said.

He had dreams of launching into outer space, but Miko also felt a passion for teaching.

In 2007, he received his B.A. in Liberal Arts and teaching credential from California State University Northridge. He was hired at Meadows that same year as a full-time teacher with a science specialty. He began making additions to the school’s program right away.

“There were so many students interested in science and we were so limited on time to cover all the standards,” Miko said. “So I started the after-school science club.”

There were 25 students in the GoEcoKids Club at first. Now there are about 50, including Miko’s former students who have moved onto sixth and seventh grade. Students in the science club volunteer on a year-round restoration project at the Ballona Wetlands, where they are in charge of running monthly waste clean-ups and educating volunteers.

Last summer, Miko started a science camp where students learned about chemistry, robotics and environmental science.

Miko inspires his students as much inside the classroom as outside, using a combination of hands-on projects, songs, story-telling and YouTube to get kids fired up about learning.

“Before Mr. Miko, I thought science was boring,” science club member Kevin Glasser said.

“It just sounds more fun when Mr. Miko teaches it,” fifth grader Noelle Davidson said. “He knows the answers to everything. And he never gets tired of you asking him lots of questions.”

The numbers appear to agree.

“We’ve had studies focus on scientific education for a number of years especially in elementary science,” said Carolyn Seaton, MBUSD’s Executive Director of Educational Services. “While there are a lot of variables, it’s pretty evident what Chris’s teaching, combined with the addition of a science specialist, has done for students at Meadows. Science scores went up a good amount last year.”

However, last March Miko was one of 84 teachers who received a layoff notice when cuts in state funding forced the school district to shave $4 million from its $50 million budget. In June, emergency contributions from the Manhattan Beach Education Foundation and the city allowed Miko to stay employed at Meadows this year.

“Teachers with less seniority are the ones that are affected,” Seaton said. “Newer ones like Chris are among the first ones to be laid off during budget cuts. Fortunately, he was able to be brought back last year.”

Last summer, Miko was one of 18 teachers worldwide to attend a week-long seminar at NASA’s space camp in Alabama, where he participated in professional development workshops in math and science and, like real astronauts, trained for zero gravity conditions.

“That was a blast,” Miko said. “We were put in teams to fly the space shuttle simulator. It was like a dream come true.”

In November, Miko travelled to Africa with Grove of Hope — an organization set up by NASA-affiliated scientists — to provide Moroccan schools with science and technology programs. Over six days, Miko taught astronomy workshops to 1,000 Moroccan children per day in three cities.

The following month, Miko learned about the prestigious NASA fellowship from a former student who encouraged him to apply.

“They looked at what teachers do and how they do it in the classroom,” Miko said. “They wanted teachers who go above and beyond for their students. Some of the people selected have been teachers for more than 20 years.”

In January, he began the year-long program, intended to develop highly qualified educators in STEM — Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics — subjects. He will also earn credit towards a master’s degree in STEM from Columbia University in New York.

“He definitely deserves it,” fifth grader Elizabeth Luck said. “He’s always talking about going to space.”

Although Miko won’t actually be blasting off, he will participate in an online cohort of 40 teachers integrating NASA research with education.

“He’ll gain quite a bit of individual knowledge,” Seaton said. “The whole idea is then to share that information about the latest scientific technologies with colleagues.”

Miko said that Superintendent Bev Rohrer expressed deep regret as she personally handed him a layoff notice last week.

Unless the district finds a way to meet next year’s $1.5 million shortfall, Miko will not be bringing the knowledge he gains from NASA back to Meadows.

While a $4.1 million donation from the MBEF saved roughly 35 teaching jobs last week, president

Erika White said the organization will not be running an additional fundraising campaign this year to save more jobs. City officials likewise said they are not able to make a cash contribution to the district this year.

“This year, it doesn’t seem like there’s enough support for another last minute save,” Miko said.

“People are tapped out financially and have done all they can do. At this point, it seems more final than it did last year.”

Miko plans to apply with the district for a position at Manhattan Beach Middle School or Mira Costa High School. He also has hopes of one day opening a science charter school of his own.

“It’s been my dream for many years,” Miko said. “Especially since I don’t know how long my time is here.”

He still plans to hold his second science camp this summer where camp-goers will learn to build computers from old parts.

No matter where Miko ends up next year, he will leave behind a class full of future veterinarians, dancers, teachers, singers, zoologists, Disney imagineers, inventors, engineers, and authors who all think science is cool.

Just how cool?

One day after the bell rang and students from Miko’s class scattered to go home, a boy ran back in the classroom with an intent look on his face.

“Wait,” the boy called to his friends. “Mr. Miko, do we have science club today?” ER

by Andrea Ruse

A man in a pickup truck exposed himself to a lone woman walking near an elementary school last Friday, while a male passenger in his vehicle watched.

The two men pulled up to the victim, a nurse at Grand View Elementary School, at 10:30 a.m. on Grandview Ave. near 24th St.

The driver remained in the truck as he fondled himself in front of the woman, while the passenger smiled at her, according to Manhattan Beach Police Officer Stephanie Martin.

“It’s odd that there were two people in the car,” Martin said. “I can’t think of a time when that’s happened. It’s usually just a lone occupant.”

“It’s hard to tell if this is just two guys goofing around thinking this was funny,” said Carolyn Seaton, Executive Administrator of Educational Services. “It seems that usually to be the loners. It could have been a sick practical joke.”

The victim immediately fled to the school and called police.

“She had the presence of mind to get the last three digits from their license plate,” Seaton said.

Martin said that the victim was visibly upset and shaken, but unharmed. It appeared no children were present during the incident, according to police and school officials.

The investigation is ongoing. Police have no suspects.

“We’re concerned because two men could certainly take over a lone person if they come back around,” Seaton said. “We’ve got to work together as a community to find these guys and get them into custody.”

The driver is described by police as white, age 18 to 40 years old, 5-foot-10, 160 to 170 pounds, with long “salt-and-pepper” hair in a ponytail.

The passenger is described by police as white, age 18 to 40 years old, 5-foot-10, 150 to 160 pounds, unshaven with short, dirty blonde hair and blue eyes.

Both were last seen in a white, relatively new, Toyota pickup truck, possibly a Tacoma, with a black rubber panel along its side, a black bed liner and a license plate number ending in “684.”

The driver of the vehicle is wanted by the MBPD on indecent exposure charges.

Anyone with information regarding this incident can contact Det. Sgt. Brian Brown at (310) 802-5100. ER

Mira Costa junior Darius Smith attended an annual drama club kickoff party last September at a classmate’s home. Smith, who passed away last week, was described by friends as happy, friendly and outgoing. Photo by Madison Swart

by Andrea Ruse and Austin Siegemund-broka

Students and teachers at Mira Costa High School are mourning the death of junior Darius Smith who, according to the Los Angeles County Department of Coroner, took his life last week.

Friends described Smith as happy and outgoing — someone whom everybody seemed to know and like.

“Darius was a very sociable person,” Mira Costa senior Jessica Clemens said. “He never put anybody down and he was always friendly even if he didn’t know you well. He is surely going to be missed.”

Police responded March 10 at 10 a.m. to the Redondo Beach home where Smith lived with his parents. According to the coroner’s report, a relative found Smith deceased in his bedroom. The cause of death was suicide by asphyxiation, said LACSC Lt. Fred Corral.

Redondo Beach Police Sgt. Phil Keenan said that investigators did not find a note.

“He didn’t seem to have any real issues,” Keenan said. “He seemed to be a well-adjusted kid. It was pretty surprising – usually, you see telltale signs. From talking to his family and friends and neighbors, there did not appear to be any of those telltale signs.”

Costa Principal Julie Ruisinger announced the tragedy to the faculty in an early morning meeting last Thursday. Teachers told students during second period and Ruisinger sent out an email to parents that afternoon. School officials arranged to make counselors available to grieving students on campus all day.

“We knew…you really have to take the time to prepare those students and let them know what’s happened,” Ruisinger said. “We wanted to let all the students know at the same time so if anybody was upset they could come down here. It’s not even just to talk to a counselor either, it’s just to be with other people who feel the same way as you do.”

Mira Costa junior Darius Smith passed away last Wednesday. Photo taken from a Facebook page set up in Smith’s honor

Smith, 17, transferred during the last school year from Bishop Montgomery High School in Torrance to Mira Costa, where he was involved in the drama program and Improv Club.

“I just remember the last scene we did together,” said freshman Maiya Dworkin, who shared drama class with Smith. “It was about an Irish Valentines’ Day, and I was his love interest. His name was Seamus and mine was Charlotte, so every time I’d see him after that, he’d say to call him Seamus and he’d call me Charlotte. He was just such a nice, happy, funny person.”

On a “R.I.P. Darius Smith” Facebook page, Smith is described as happy, outgoing, friendly and “always smiling.” Some comments noted how he loved animals, his favorite Pokemon shirt, playing pool and chewing gum.

Friends were stunned that a young man who seemed so upbeat met such a tragic end.

“You were the most outgoing kid at our school,” said student Sean Judge on Smith’s Facebook page. “I’ve never seen someone look as happy as you did every day.”

Junior Sydney Haley, who helped organize a bonfire to be held next week in Smith’s honor, befriended him shortly after he transferred to Costa.

“He was constantly happy,” Haley said. “He didn’t let anyone in enough to show he was having problems.”

It is not uncommon for family and friends to be unaware that loved ones are struggling emotionally, said Dr. Moe Gelbart, director of Gelbart and Associates, a Torrance-based mental health practice.

Suicide accounts for 12 percent of all deaths between the ages of 15 and 24 annually, according to the Centers for Disease Control. Teens and adults in that age range — in addition to people over age 65 — show the highest suicide rates. In 2007, the CDC reported that 14.5 percent of U.S. high school students had seriously considered and 6.9 percent had actually attempted suicide during the previous year.

“There are not necessarily higher rates of suicide in the South Bay,” Gelbart said. “But kids here are dealing with different kinds of issues, like intense school pressure and performance pressure.”

Certain signs — such as a sudden drop in grades, drug and alcohol use, and a teen becoming socially withdrawn and isolated– are indicative of deeper issues that need to be addressed, according to Gelbart.

He said that friends and family of a loved one who expresses intent to harm him/herself or to not be alive should immediately seek help by calling 911 or take the person to an emergency room or local psychiatric hospital, such as Del Amo Hospital.

“The key thing is for adults to take very seriously any thought, words, or actions from their child about suicide,” Gelbart said. “It has to be dealt with seriously and instantly evaluated by a psychologist or psychiatrist who specializes in the appropriate age group.”

A comment left on Smith’s honorary Facebook page suggests that he may have indicated he was struggling emotionally.

“Darius, all I have left to say is that I thought things had turned for the better with that conversation I had with you,” a friend wrote. “I thought it meant you would meet a much different end. I just wish that it hadn’t been the last conversation we would have together.”

Many Mira Costa students say the death has brought them together in remembering Smith.

“We’ve all grown a lot closer through this experience, and I found myself introducing myself to total strangers, just so we could talk and be there for one another,” senior Russell Sperberg said.

“His death was a terrible tragedy, but it really put things into perspective.”

“He was so full of light, and that light touched those around him,” sophomore Elizabeth Griswold said. “He affected so many lives in such a positive way, and I had no idea how much of a difference one person could make until Darius was gone.”

A bonfire will be held in Smith’s honor March 29 from 6 p.m. to midnight at Dockweiler Beach in El Segundo. Attendees are encouraged to bring snacks and entertainment.

If you or someone you know is experiencing depression or thoughts of suicide, please contact one of the following people/organizations recommended by Manhattan Beach Unified School District: Dr. Gelbart and Associates (310) 257-5757; Melissa Kay at (310) 745-7605; Jackie Mills at (310)318-1408; or The Gathering Place (310) 374-6323. ER

Manhattan Beach’s controversial sand dune at Sand Dune Park was closed last August. Photo by Andrea Ruse

March of the Dune

Citizens for Outdoor Recreation and Exercise (CORE) will hold a “Free the Dune” rally Sunday at 2 p.m. to demand the city reopen the controversial sand dune at Sand Dune Park as a workout facility.

The dune was closed by the city last August after a decade of neighbor complaints about heavy traffic through the small neighborhood in which the dune is located. The city has long haggled over how the dune should properly be used and voted at a January City Council meeting to end workouts on the dune.

Proponents of reopening the dune as an exercise facility have maintained that the dune offers a unique workout that cannot be found elsewhere.

“Sand Dune Park is a beloved treasure of our city and an inspiration to outdoor enthusiasts young an old,” said Bill Hory, president of CORE. “We came together and formed CORE and “Free the Dune” when we realized we could not sit idly by and let peaceful exercise literally become a crime in our parks. We are holding this rally to demonstrate voter’s strong support for freeing the dune.”

T-shirts will be made for the event, which is intended to be a peaceful, family-friendly demonstration.

The rally will take place at 26th St. and The Strand.

“Assuming the crowd is peaceful, we may or may not then march to the dune as a symbolic action,” Hory said.

For more information, contact Jake Rome at (310) 429-6693 or visit www.sanddunepark.com.

Free waste disposal

Residents can dump their old batteries, fluorescent light bulbs, TVs, monitors, computers, VCRs, stereos, and cell phones at Northrop Grumman this Saturday at no charge. Unused pharmaceuticals, antifreeze, car batteries, used motor oil, paint and pesticides may also be dropped off.

The disposal service is part of a free countrywide roundup aimed at collecting household hazardous and electronic waste in an eco-friendly manner.

“The improper disposal of household hazardous waste poses a public health threat,” said Manhattan Beach Mayor Mitch Ward. “By participating in these free, convenient

Roundups, we are able to help do our part to avoid serious pollution problems that could result if these items end up in our landfills or down our storm drains.”

The roundup will be held in the M5 Building Parking Lot of Northrop Grumman at the corner of Aviation Blvd. and Marine Ave. from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m.
Up to 15 gal. or 125 lbs. of waste per vehicle will be accepted.

For more information, visit www.888CleanLA.com. ER

Black smoke billows over North Manhattan from during a burn off at El Segundo’s Chevron Refinery Tuesday. Photo by Kevin Cody

by Andrea Ruse

A large plume of black smoke from the Chevron refinery in El Segundo spread out over the ocean Tuesday morning.

The smoke was the result of a controlled burn off from a safety flare, according to Lily Craig, External Affairs Manager at Chevron. The burn off started at 9:20 a.m. and lasted for approximately 20 min.

“Our facility lost an air compressor which provides instrument air to several process units,” read a statement released by Chevron. “This situation resulted in an upset to our fuel gas system which resulted in fuel gas being sent to a safety flare.”

Generally, flares are used to burn off excess fuel produced during the refinery process.

But they’re also triggered by equipment break downs. These flares cause the flame to be larger than usual as it burns leftover fuel in the equipment line.

El Segundo Fire Battalion Chief Breck Slover said there were no safety issues regarding the burn off. ESFD is investigating the cause of the machinery malfunction.

“There are no environmental or health hazards associated with burn offs,” Slover said.

For more information, call (310) 615-5342. ER

A shrine with flowers, votive candles and a photo with the words ‘R.I.P. Alejandro’ overlooks the spot where a worker died in a construction accident. Photo by Robb Fulcher

by Robb Fulcher

Cal-OSHA officials said a contractor should have gotten a state excavation permit for shoring that was being performed when a worker was buried and killed at a large building under construction near South Park. The contractor said he had city permits, and did not know whether Cal-OSHA’s contention about a state permit was correct.

The worker, 29-year-old Alejandro Valladares of Hawthorne, plunged head-first into a hole at the construction site last Wednesday morning, coming to rest with only one of his feet above ground as loose soil collapsed around him. Coworkers tried unsuccessfully to free him, and he quickly perished.

The Los Angeles County Coroner’s Office said Valladares died of suffocation. 

An initial report from Cal-OSHA inspectors contended that a state permit was required for shoring work at the 8,000 square-foot building at Cypress Avenue and Sixth Street, because the hole the worker fell in was more than five feet deep, said spokeswoman Krisann Chasarik. Investigators estimated the hole into which Valladares fell was 15 feet deep.

The contractor, Dave Shaw of Shaw Engineering and Construction, said he did not know whether it was correct that he needed a state permit for the work.

“That I’m not sure about. I know we have permits to do everything we are doing there from the city, and we get inspections on everything we are doing,” he said on Monday. “I’m not sure if that’s a requirement. I don’t know if Cal-OSHA requires that, separate from the city. We had a [city] permit to shore on that job, and that’s what we were doing.”

Hermosa’s acting building director, Bob Rollins, confirmed that city permits had been secured for the project.

Cal-OSHA investigators cited an imminent safety hazard and stopped work at the site, where Shaw is building a field office for his 34-year-old company.

“We were in the middle of the process of shoring, and had holes that were still open,” Shaw said.

He said the holes would be filled and Cal-OSHA would return to inspect that work. Cal-OSHA, the California Occupational Safety and Health Administration, is responsible for investigating workplace accidents.

‘Living hell’

Cal-OSHA and Shaw continued to investigate how the accident happened. 

The initial report from the state investigators stated that Valladares was standing on a piece of plywood placed over the fork attachment of a Caterpillar Bobcat, about six to eight feet above the hole, using a hand-held driver to push a beam down into the earth, Chasarik said.

“Apparently the vibration that he was making caused the plywood to slide off the fork, and he fell headfirst into the hole below him,” she said.

Shaw said the exact nature of the accident was still being investigated. He said he was told that Valladares was not standing on plywood, but instead was standing on a three-foot by 12-foot platform on top of the Bobcat forks. He was told the accident occurred when the forks fell of off the tractor, rather than the platform slipping off the forks.

“I’ve heard several versions,” he said.

“I have not talked to each individual employee…Exactly how it happened, we’re still trying to figure that out,” he said.

Shaw was not at the worksite when the accident occurred, but hurried there from Redondo Beach. 

“Me, my superintendent, everyone on the crew, we’ll all be second guessing ourselves for the rest of our lives. What if we did this, what if we did that? What if I didn’t build the building? It’s been a living hell for all of us,” he said.

“For the life of me I can’t figure out how it happened,” Shaw said.

Shaw said the accident was the only one of that magnitude in the company’s history.

“The only other ones were a couple of back injuries and some stitches,” he said. “I’ve been working in Hermosa and Manhattan since 1976. We’ve done the majority of concrete work there for 34 years.”

Shaw, who maintains company offices at Malaga Cove, said his two-story Hermosa field office, with underground parking, will contain additional company offices and other offices for lease.

The last construction death in Hermosa occurred about six years ago when a worker fell from scaffolding at a partially-built home on the walk street portion of Eighth Street near The Strand.

‘R.I.P. Alejandro’

At a spot overlooking the hole into which Valladares fell, a shrine had been erected with flowers, votive candles and a photo of a handsome, goateed man with the words “R.I.P. Alejandro.”

Shaw described Valladares as “a great guy” who had worked for the company for about nine years, and lived in Hawthorne with a sister, a brother, two nieces and a nephew.

“This is a devastating situation,” Shaw said.

“We’re a big family. We have about 35 employees, two of them from the start in 1976, and others on through all the years. We all know each other and we work together. Definitely this is a family business. Everybody is devastated by this,” Shaw said.

“There’s a lot of support for each other. Every night there is a vigil at his house in Hawthorne,” Shaw said, shortly before leaving to take part in the vigil.

Shaw was helping with arrangements for a burial that will take place in Mexico, where Valladares’ mother lives. Services also were held this week in Hawthorne and Compton.

Sewage spill

The accident occurred about 10:30 a.m. Wednesday, March 10. Los Angeles County Urban Search and Rescue workers, along with firefighters from all three beach cities and Torrance, and public works employees from all the beach cities, worked for about two and-a-half hours to extricate Valladares’ body.

City officials said a sewage line connecting a nearby duplex to the city’s system came loose, either during the work at the construction site or during the recovery of the body, causing raw sewage to seep onto the site.

City crews waited a number of days for Cal-OSHA to clear them to go onto the site, to repair the sewer line and clean up the mess.

Former City Councilman Bob “Burgie” Benz was critical of the city’s handling of the sewer break, saying officials should have turned off the water to the duplex and moved the occupants into a hotel until the sewer repair could be completed. City officials countered that the spill was confined to the closed-down construction site and did not pose a health threat while they waited to clean it up. ER

by Robb Fulcher

The Hermosa Beach City School Board has moved to ax 10 full-time teaching positions at the beginning of the next school year, unless more money is found to save the positions.

For several years running, the school board has handed formal layoff notices to teachers in the spring, to meet a state-mandated deadline. Then, each year so far, parents and other community members have managed to forestall most of the cuts by raising as much as $1.5 million, covering about 10 percent of the schools’ operating budgets.

The layoff notices approved by the board last week cover seven full-time teachers and numerous part-time positions whose hours are equal to three more full-time positions. The cuts would save about $500,000.

The layoffs were approved by a 4-1 vote with Board President Lisa Claypoole dissenting, who objected most strenuously to the elimination of the technology director’s position.

On the chopping block for next year are seven full-time kindergarten-through-fifth grade teaching positions, one full-time science teaching position, a half-time middle school art teaching position, a half-time middle school technology teaching position, and part-time teaching positions in computer skills, global studies, Spanish, speech, reading, technology and life skills.

Previously, layoff notices for the current school year were mostly withdrawn when more money was found. The school board cut, and later restored, programs including physical education, middle school enrichment classes, a third-through-fifth-grade science lab position, a technology director, and a secretary at Hermosa Valley School.

But educators axed both schools’ music programs, cut the hours of library aides at both schools, and made cuts in a class-size reduction program for early grades. That program, which partially subsidizes some teacher salaries, used to ensure no more than 20 students per class in kindergarten through third grade. With the cuts, the number of students per class rises to 25. ER

by Robb Fulcher

An ambitious effort to prepare the community for emergencies will be launched 10 a.m. Saturday at City Hall, and scads of volunteers will hit the streets from there to spread information door-to-door, like modern Paul Reveres, throughout the town.

“The Boy Scouts of America are right. The single most important thing we can do to protect ourselves, our families, our neighbors, and friends in the event of a disaster like the earthquake in Haiti, Hurricane Katrina, and the tsunamis that devastated Southeast Asia is ‘be prepared,’” stated a letter to city council members about the project.

The Residential Emergency Preparedness Awareness Campaign, coordinated by the Hermosa Beach Emergency Preparedness Advisory Commission, aims to get information packets to each household, and also to conduct a brief four-question survey to determine residents’ level of preparedness.

The four questions are:

– Are you signed up for Code Red [the city’s automatic phone notification system]?

– Do you own a pet and is the pet registered? 

– Do you have sufficient food, water and medicine to last you and your family 72 hours?

– Do you know what radio stations to tune into in the event of a disaster?

The information will be used to develop a picture of residential emergency preparedness in the city, organizers said.

The campaign is sponsored by the City of Hermosa Beach, Beach Cities Health District, California Water Service Company, and Consolidated Disposal Service.

The grassroots distribution effort involves volunteers from Hermosa Beach Neighborhood Watch, Leadership Hermosa Class of 2010, Beach Cities Health District, CERT emergency response volunteers, Hermosa Beach council members and commissioners, Kiwanis, middle and high school service clubs, and El Camino College students.

“Collating events” to prepare the information were held by with Hermosa Valley Builders Club members, Key Club and Circle K members from Redondo Union and Mira Costa high schools, and members of Leadership Hermosa Beach.

The Hermosa Beach Emergency Preparedness Advisory Commission’s official mission is “to educate and prepare the public to survive, endure, and recover from a natural or manmade disaster.” ER

by Robb Fulcher

Julian Katz, who spearheaded Hermosa’s Bicycle Master Plan, and Todd Dipaola, founder of the South Bay Bicycle Coalition, will be honored by the VOICE organization as 2010 Environmental Heroes.

Katz and Dipaola will be honored at the South Bay’s 18th annual Earth Day Concert and Celebration Saturday, April 17 at Polliwog Park in Manhattan Beach. The presentation will take place on the main stage at noon.

Katz is a Hermosa Beach Public Works commissioner who spearheaded the effort to create a Hermosa Beach Bicycle Master Plan.

“He continues to be vigilant in leading the city to deploy the plan, as evidenced by the ‘sharrows’ on Hermosa Avenue, the first of their kind in the L.A. area,” said Kaye Gagnon Sherbak, president of VOICE (Volunteers and Organizations Improving the Community’s Environment).

The arrow-like ‘sharrows’ were painted on Hermosa Avenue earlier this year to encourage bicyclists to use a full lane going each way, if they need the space for safety.

“Katz also is a founding member of the South Bay Bicycle Coalition, and his work has been an inspiration to us all by demonstrating what is achievable with hard work and dedication,” Sherbak said.

Dipaola is the founder and chair of the South Bay Bicycle Coalition, established last year to provide advocacy and education for “a more bike-able South Bay.”

“We salute Todd and his organization’s effort for advocating carbon footprint-friendly transportation and recreation,” Sherbak said.

For more information see greenervoice.org. ER