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Long Beach Herald 03-02-2023

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Vol. 34 No. 10

MARCH 2 - 8, 2023

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Firefighters get thousands in overtime pay By JAMES BERNSTEIN jbernstein@liherald.com

Deliah Roberts/Herald

For murder, 25 years to life Tyler Flach, 22, of Lido Beach, was sentenced to 25 years to life on Tuesday for the 2019 murder of Oceanside High School student Khaseen Morris. Flach will begin serving his sentence at the upstate Fishkill Correctional Facility.

Long Beach’s highest-paid employee in 2022 wasn’t the city manager or the city attorney, but rather a professional firefighter, Sam Pinto, who earned about $375,000, including his base pay and overtime. “I understand the shock people feel when they hear this,” Pinto, 38, who is also president of the Long Beach firefighters’ union, said. “I understand the optics when the public sees city employees making white-collar salaries.” But Pinto, a third-generation Long Beach resident who has been a professional firefighter

for 17 years and was a volunteer for four years before that, said this week that the city’s 16 professional firefighters are making hundreds of thousands of dollars in overtime basically because the department is badly understaffed. “There’s no other community in America that has as much risk as we do, with our population and high-density buildings, and that is so under-served,” Pinto said. Long Beach has a population of about 35,000, a number of nursing homes, and dozens of apartment buildings. A Garden City developer, Engel Burman, is in the process of adding to the Continued on page 19

Long Beach to stop footing the bill for some special events By BRENDAN CARPENTER bcarpenter@liherald.com

The Long Beach City Council has decided that non-city sponsored special events will no longer get a financial free ride. The city has covered the costs of police overtime and emergency services for a number of special events over the years, but at its meeting on Feb. 21, the council approved changes in the permitting process for individuals, groups and organizations planning to hold such events. The city will no long absorb the cost of these events as it seeks to reduce the burden on taxpayers. Those interested in hosting

an event will now be required to apply to the city clerk at least 45 days in advance, and pay a $100 fee. If the event involves alcohol, the fee will be $500. Councilman Roy Lester questioned the processing fees. “I don’t quite understand paying $500 when you might not get a permit,” Lester said. “It seems to me there should be metrics where we should be able to determine whether a permit should be issued or not beforehand, so people don’t go in and hand over money blindly.” Corporation Counsel Rich Berrios, who, since last week’s meeting, has resigned, planning to move to Florida, said that

T

here are no criteria for considering the application for a special event.

RICH BERRIoS

Former corporation counsel application fees are just processing fees. When an application fee is paid, it doesn’t just disappear, he said. Instead, the application is evaluated by every department that will be involved with the event, including police, fire, parks and other city units.

“Yes, these fees are upfront nonrefundable, but it’s not like it just gets dumped in,” Berrios said. “There are no criteria for considering the application for a special event.” The city describes a special event as any athletic, entertainment or filming event, or a demonstration or other organized gathering that involves the use

of streets, sidewalks, parks or other city property. These events include concer ts, parades, boardwalk fairs and festivals, community gatherings, marathons and foot and bike races or tours, as well as volleyball, like the popular Michelle O’Neill Volleyball Tournament, which raises money for cancer Continued on page 5


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