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"Not true, African-American voters are voting the same as Americans." ~Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell after being asked about Republican voter supression.
Winner of Fourteen LA Press Club Awards from 2012-2018. Serving Cerritos and ten other surrounding communities • January 21, 2022 • Vol. 36, No. 5 • loscerritosnews.net
Metro Board to Select Route and Terminus for Light Rail Line in Southeast L.A. County By Brian Hews
Photo by Brian Hews Photo from city of Cerritos.
HOUSING AT IRONWOOD? An aerial view of Ironwood nine golf course. Asm. Garcia has been carrying a bill to allow golf courses like Ironwood to be converted to housing developments.
Asm. Garcia Wants to Turn Muni Golf Courses Into Housing By Tom White Special to HMG-CN
Last February, Assemblywoman Cristina Garcia (D-Bell) introduced a bill that would strip municipal golf courses statewide of their protections as public parks and pave the way for their conversion into housing developments for lowincome families. Almost a year later, the bill is
still working its way through the assembly. It targets golf courses in high-density areas with few parks, and the bill would render them exempt from the Public Park Preservation Act and the California Environmental Quality Act. The bill, formally known as AB 672, was introduced Garcia, who argues that municipal golf courses are an inefficient use of government funds.
“In my district, the City of Bell Gardens, one of the most densely populated and park poor cities in LA County, is expected to build hundreds of new housing units in the near future,” said Garcia. “AB 672 is a sensible and creative public policy answer to the housing and open space crisis and puts our tax dollars to better use in communities like mine.”
See GARCIA page 12
Stormwater Project Completion Opens Mayfair Park LASD: Homicides Jump 94% in LA County By Brian Hews
The innovative project will help the state towards its stormwater capture goals, so the City secured total funding for the project from California. A large underground reservoir has been installed underneath Mayfair Park. It will store
Homicides and auto thefts jumped during a two-year period in areas patrolled by the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department, according to Sheriff Villanueva. Villanueva said Wednesday during a news conference that from 2019 to 2021, homicides increased about 94% and grand theft auto increased 59%. The sheriff says part of the dramatic increase in crime stems from the pandemic. Villanueva said the approximately 94% increase in homicides is "unique to Los Angeles County - I think throughout the entire United States it's probably one of the biggest jumps ever."
See MAYFAIR page 12
See CRIME page 7
OPEN FOR LOBS: The Lakewood Council is all smiles at the ribbon cutting celebrating the opening of Mayfair Park. By Brian Hews
Mayfair Park is now fully reopened after its tennis courts and ball fields were closed to build an environmentallyfriendly stormwater capture project and underground reservoir.
Metro is planning a new light rail line that will run between Southeast L.A. County and downtown Los Angeles known as the West Santa Ana Rail. The Metro Board of Directors is scheduled this month to select a route for the initial segment — between the city of Artesia and the A Line’s Slauson Station . The initial segment would include nine WSAB stations and a new C Line (Green) station at I-105 where riders can transfer to and from the C Line (Green). Riders will be able to transfer to the A Line (Blue) — which riders can take to and from downtown L.A. Metro staff is also recommending further study of
the Slauson-to-Union Station segment to identify and refine a route that is cost effective to help accelerate delivery of the project. The Board considered this item first in the Metro Board’s Planning and Programming Committee on January 19 next is the full Board meeting at 10 a.m. on January 27. In a letter to the board Cerritos indicated that, even though Bruce Barrows rejected the idea years ago, they want a Cerritos station to be located between Gridley Road and Studebaker. The city indicated Alternative One, Design Option Two, but Metro is looking at the Slauson to Union which cuts Cerritos out.
See LIGHT RAIL page 12
CITY WATCHDOG
Cerritos Spent $184,000 on Legal Fees in December By Brian Hews An examination by Hews Media Group-Community News of Cerritos’ legal fees paid in December shows that the city used five different high-powered law firms and paid them a staggering total of $184,000. The City also paid two consulting firms $40,000 in December. The Irvine-based Rutan and Tucker was the big winner for December, paid nearly $120,000. HMG-CN cannot examine actual billings due to a California Supreme Court ruling a few years ago. Rutan and Tucker is the firm that refused to fulfill HMGCN’s request for Cerritos Mayor Pro Tem Chuong Vo’s texts and emails related to the Torrance Police’s text scandal, declaring that the request was too burdensome. The next law firm, Abram and Roy, was paid $33,000 in December; Abram and Roy specialize in real estate transactions, but so does Rutan and Tucker. The third firm to step up to the trough was Colantuono, Highsmith & Whatley, PC. Col-
antuono has five offices, the closest office to Cerritos is in Pasadena. Colantuono specializes in representing local governments in a number of areas similar to Abram and Rutan. The Tustin-based firm of Hartzog and Cabrill took in $10,000 for December; Hartzog specializes in traffic engineering; maybe the city is talking about taking out the traffic islands. Finally, Cerritos’ former law firm, Aleshire and Wynder, was paid $8,000, a far cry from the city’s new law firm, Rutan and Tucker. Two consulting firms took in a total of $40,000, HMG-CN does not know if the firm are retained. The City paid $30,000 to R-3 Consulting Group to talk trash; R-3 is a solid waste management consulting firm. No word if the city could have talked to its current trash hauler, CalMet, for free. West Hollywood-based Cerrel was paid $10,000 to talk about choo-choos, specifically the West Santa Ana Light Rail project running from Artesia to
See CERRITOS page 7