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S erving B ixBy K nollS , C alifornia H eigHtS , l oS C erritoS , W rigley Vol. 32 No. 48
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Your Weekly Community Newspaper
At interactive workshop, locals give budget-deficit solving a try
May 6, 2011
Community honors former CSULB president and Congressman Steve Horn with memorial Rachael Rifkin Staff Writer
CJ Dablo/Signal Tribune
Tim Patton, a field representative for Assemblymember Bonnie Lowenthal, manually tallies how a state deficit of $19.4 billion (the projected deficit in five years) would have been affected if the state implements the policies recommended by the community members participating in last week’s budget workshop. (Inset) Participants used a remote-control device to make their choices during the budget meeting. CJ Dablo Staff Writer
So, how hard is it really for California to fix its budget deficit problem? About 120 people showed how it could be done Thursday night, April 28 at the Expo on Atlantic Avenue in Bixby Knolls during an interactive budget workshop. The event, sponsored by Assemblymembers Bonnie Lowenthal, Warren Furutani and Isadore Hall, III, offered a chance to educate local constituents on how negotiating the state budget works. “You’re going to have the chance to look at the numbers we look at,” Furutani said of the workshop, but he warned moments later that the process was not going to be an easy one. “We’re going to have questions and discussions and debate,” Furutani said. “You all will want to holler at us. [But] we’re not afraid. We’ll holler right back at you.” The interactive budget workshop, produced by Next 10, a nonprofit, non-
partisan organization, allowed the group to vote on more than a dozen questions relating to the budget. Using what looked like a television remote control with five buttons, participants looked at major budget issues and voted on how they felt California’s budget should be cut and if taxes should be increased or extended. Before they voted on a key item, Sarah Henry, program director for Next 10, offered a brief explanation of the budget items along with a short explanation of the budget impact. Next 10 gave a projection of how these choices would affect the deficit. The voting results were projected instantly on a large screen at the front of the auditorium. How much should California support UC and CSU schools? About 33.1 percent of the respondents said to cut funding to these school systems by $500 million each and increase tuition to make up for the loss. That would reduce the deficit by $1 billion. see workshop page 8
Paying tribute to the leader many cite as the man responsible for Cal State Long Beach’s transformation into a university, various members from the greater Long Beach area were in attendance at Cal State University-Long Beach’s Carpenter Performing Arts Center last Saturday. Friends, family, local figures, politicians and former coworkers were there for a memorial honoring the university’s past president– former Congressman Steve Horn, who had passed away from complications with Alzheimer’s disease on Feb. 17 at the age of 79. At the event, the university brass ensemble band performed in honor of Horn’s early musical aspirations –he had played the French horn before switching to studies in political science– as speakers described significant stages of his life: As a legislative see horn page 7
Neena Strichart/Signal Tribune
Naomi Rainey, president of the Long Beach branch of the NAACP, shares the story of a time when Steve Horn extended a kind gesture to her.
City furthers water-recycling efforts with ‘Laundry to Landscape’ program Stephanie Raygoza Editorial Intern
In conjunction with the Long Beach Office of Sustainability and the Water Department, the City of Long Beach will soon be implementing a pilot graywater program through which a small number of households from each district will be selected to undertake approved graywater systems. Spearheaded by Seventh District Councilmember James Johnson and passed in March, the “Laundry to Landscape” Graywater System programs take graywater discharged from laundry machines and reuses it to water gardens and landscapes rather than being discharged. Second District Councilmember Suja Lowenthal and Fourth District Councilmember Patrick O’Donnell have also backed the program. “Efforts like this program can help
us fundamentally change the way we look at water as something precious to be conserved and reused when possible, as opposed to something cheap that can be wasted or disposed of,” Johnson said in a press release on his website. Graywater is classified as dirtier than potable, or “white,” water but cleaner than sewage water or “black” water. In previous years, state law discouraged the use of graywater. However, in August 2009, the State Plumbing Code was revised to encourage its use throughout the state. In addition, Senate Bill 1258 directed the Department of Housing and Community Development to devise new graywater standards for residential properties. “It is estimated that by using indoor water for landscapes, overall potable water use could decline by 14 to 40 percent,” Johnson disclosed in the program proposal. “Such savings
would represent a fundamental shift in Long Beach’s demand and continue our reputation as a national leader in conservation.” The program would utilize a particular type of graywater system that does not require a local permit and works by means of the clothes washer systems in single-family residencies only. Although the application process is still being finalized, residents will soon have the chance to enter the contest in hopes of being selected to receive the graywater system professionally installed for their property. The water department will provide funding and installation is being completed by the Office of Sustainability Green Job Trainees with the guidance of a professional plumber. According to Sustainability Coordinator Larry Rich, four winners will see water page 7