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S erving B ixBy K nollS , C alifornia H eigHtS , l oS C erritoS , W rigley Vol. 32 No. 24
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Your Weekly Community Newspaper
November 19, 2010
A SignAl Tribune exCluSive realtors, veterans and airline employees join Habitat to build SH city attorney working pro bono to help homes for needy lb families bell citizens recall their controversial officials Cory Bilicko Managing Editor
Thanks to the work of Habitat for Humanity of Greater Los Angeles (HFH GLA), South Bay realtors, local veterans, and Delta Airlines employees, several needy Long Beach families will soon be moving into new homes.
For the second year in a row, members of the South Bay Association of Realtors volunteered with HFH GLA to build a house in Long Beach for families in need of homes of their own. The Long Beach build site consists of four homes, one of which will be compliant with the see habitat page 13
Photo by Jennifer Davis
Wendy Castillo, a St. Mary’s Hospital employee, will reside in her new home with her mother and 6-month-old baby.
Steven Piper Staff Writer
After the recent City of Bell scandal, during which it was revealed that council members were earning more than $100,000 and a city manager was making in excess of $800,000, Bell citizens were enraged that their officials lived up to the common stereotype that all politicians are corrupt. As a testament to the positive potential of his profession’s position in local politics, Signal Hill and Lawndale City Attorney Dave Aleshire is working pro bono for BASTA, a grassroots citizens group that has taken the lead to recall corrupt Bell officials. “It is a little payback for our profession,” Aleshire said. “Will the public see this as an isolated, aberrational situation? Or is the public going to say, ‘Oh, there they go again. That just shows you, they’re all corrupt.’” By helping Bell citizens take their city back, Aleshire hopes to change the blanket impression that all city officials are pursuing their own self-interests. In Spanish, “basta” can mean “stop” or “enough,” and, as an acronym for that city’s purposes, it stands for the “Bell Association to Stop the Abuse.” The group meets on Wednesdays every other week in
Neena Strichart/Signal Tribune
Signal Hill and Lawndale City Attorney Dave Aleshire is working pro bono for BASTA, a grassroots citizens group that is trying to recall corrupt Bell officials.
a local mosque. With more than 80 members among its ranks, it did not take long for Bell residents to organize after learning of the criminally large salaries that their city council
members and city manager were earning. Enraged citizens showed up at the Nov. 1 council meeting (the see bell page 12
City crew accidentally rips open underground diesel pipeline; damage minimal Nick Diamantides Staff Writer
A City of Long Beach Parks and Recreation department crew accidentally ripped open an underground pipe carrying diesel on the afternoon of Thursday, Nov. 11, spilling about 1,500 gallons of the fuel at the location of a planned community garden. The site, owned by the City of Long Beach, is part of a 50-acre parcel running south from the southwest corner of Spring Street and Orange Avenue. The City had considered developing a sports park there, but that
plan was abandoned due to budget reductions. Meredith Reynolds, a spokesperson for the City, explained what the parks crew was doing there last week. “The work on the site included weed and brush removal by the City’s maintenance staff, who were assisting in clearing the surface of a half-acre area in preparation for an approved urban farm on the property,” she said. “The urban farm is on hold pending clean-up activities.” The pipeline is owned by British Petroleum (BP), which hired private contracting companies to repair the
pipe and excavate the soil. “It’s a 10inch pipeline primarily used to transport diesel fuel,” said Walter Neil, spokesperson for BP Refinery in Carson. “The pipeline goes from Carson Refinery to our Hyens Terminal at 5905 Paramount Boulevard, Long Beach, but it is also connected to our Hathaway terminal at 2350 Obispo Avenue, Signal Hill.” According to Neil, the pipeline is part of BP’s “69 System,” which includes four pipelines capable of moving as much as 60,000 barrels of
Stephen Strichart/Signal Tribune
see pipeline page 4
The damaged pipeline is owned by British Petroleum, which has hired private contracting companies to repair it and excavate the soil.