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The following news stories include lower case text that is in Bold and or underlined. 

This was a modification I did.  Al Benson

Hermosa Beach downtown and Pier Plaza new stories:

City of HB settles for $1.1 million - The city of Hermosa Beach has agreed to pay $1.1 million to settle a federal civil rights lawsuit by a former owner of the 705 Nite Club on Pier Avenue who had accused police of assault, false arrest and malicious prosecution.  Attorney Reginald Roberts on Wednesday morning confirmed that the settlement was brought about with the help of a federal magistrate. He declined to elaborate, stating a “non-disparagement” agreement in the settlement. Roberts said the settlement occurred on Monday.

HERMOSA BEACH, Calif. (CBS) Hermosa Beach police are warning women to avoid walking alone from Pier Plaza nightspots following two attempted assaults possibly committed by the same man who attacked a woman last year. Detectives told the Daily Breeze that they believe the man -- dubbed the "Late Night Attacker" -- was trying to rape a woman when he grabbed her as she walked on Monterey Avenue in the south end of the city early Sunday.  The victim was walking alone at 2:15 a.m. on a well-lighted sidewalk when a muscular man confronted her. The woman was able to escape by kneeing him in the groin, police said.  On July 8 about 3:30 a.m., a woman was walking home from the downtown area in a dimly lighted alley near 10th Street and Monterey Avenue when a man tried to force her into a car, the Daily Breeze reported.  That woman also managed to escape. 

View the CBS-TV Channel 2 news story on the Pier Plaza Assaults . . .

Women attacked in 3 incidents near Pier Plaza in Hermosa Beach - Police fear two late-night incidents in the vicinity of bars are the work of one man, who may have also committed a 2004 assault in the same area.  All three women were walking alone.  Police in Hermosa Beach issued a warning Thursday for women to avoid walking alone late at night from Pier Plaza bars following two attacks that might be related to a brutal assault last year.  Investigators speculate that the man -- dubbed the "Late Night Attacker" -- was attempting to rape his victim Sunday when he grabbed her as she walked on Monterey Avenue in the south end of the city.  "We don't know what the motivation for the attacks is," Sgt. Paul Wolcott said. "They haven't actually been completed but ... the intent of the attacker was for sexually assaulting the victim."

Hermosa police: Strong presence or strong hand? – As the alcohol flows on Hermosa Beach's Pier Plaza, police efforts to maintain control have brought the city under scrutiny and into court.  Hermosa Beach's party central is a cash cow for the city thanks to the bountiful sales tax revenue generated by clubs and restaurants. But Pier Plaza has recently started generating something other than money: lawsuits.  Over the past year, the city has faced 12 civil lawsuits against the Police Department, which officials say is about four times more than average. City officials say the spate of lawsuits threatens to inundate Hermosa Beach's $24 million budget. It has already spent more than $500,000 defending the lawsuits.

The downtown nobody asked for - It has taken a few years for the city to recognize the problems that its policy failures have caused in the downtown area. The plaza draws great crowds on sunny summer weekend days and weekend nights, but it is barren at other times. Rowdy nighttime crowds have drawn complaints from people living on neighboring streets. In response to fights and other violence, the city now spends a fortune keeping the peace down there. After recognizing that the downtown was becoming something no one wanted, the city not long ago declared a moratorium on new development while a volunteer community group came up with ideas on how to improve things. In the end, the moratorium was lifted, but absolutely none of the worthless recommendations have been implemented.

HB City Council summary (10/28) – Dancing to be allowed - The City Council agreed to write a letter to the ABC in support of a change in the Alcoholic Beverage Control license of TJ Charly'z to allow for dancing inside the establishment.  A memo from Police Chief Mike Lavin stated that the problems associated with this bar/restaurant have been greatly reduced since the discontinuation of dancing. Lavin believes that with a reintroduction of dancing, the same problems will arise again.

On Local Government - We have met the enemy - There has been much gnashing of teeth recently as some residents of Hermosa Beach reconsider the decisions regarding how Pier Plaza was developed. How is it, they ask, that this beautiful plaza has become the epicenter of nightly drunkenness? Why has it become the magnet for every alcohol-eligible (and some not) young person within driving distance?  The discussions of what to put on Pier Avenue went on for a long time. The history that Manhattan Beach had with its short, sad foray into the youth booze scene might have been instructive, but it was overwhelmed by the desire to take advantage of a market that none of the other South Bay cities seemed to cater to. The few voices raised in protest did so with little community support or interest.

HB City Council mulls more fee increases - The Hermosa Beach City Council took steps Monday toward doubling the fee bars and restaurants pay for patio space on city land while backing off from imposing a sewer use fee.  Although city officials have refused to put an estimate on the cost of maintaining the downtown, a close look at the city’s financing puts the cost at about $2.6 million. The figure considers that 30 percent of police, fire and road repairs are spent on the downtown scene, which raises an estimated 15 percent of the city’s property, sales, hotel and utility users’ tax.

The Easy Reader – December 15, 2005

City of HB settles for $1.1 million

by Robb Fulcher

The city of Hermosa Beach has agreed to pay $1.1 million to settle a federal civil rights lawsuit by a former owner of the 705 Nite Club on Pier Avenue who had accused police of assault, false arrest and malicious prosecution.  Attorney Reginald Roberts on Wednesday morning confirmed that the settlement was brought about with the help of a federal magistrate. He declined to elaborate, stating a “non-disparagement” agreement in the settlement. Roberts said the settlement occurred on Monday.

Hermosa Beach Police Chief Mike Lavin said the case had been settled but he did not yet know the terms of the settlement or what details could be disclosed about it.  City Manager Steve Burrell and private attorneys who represented the city were not immediately available.

Last year 705 owner Grace Roberts and her family filed an administrative claim stemming from three incidents in which officers were accused of beating up a club patron and harassing, shoving and falsely arresting the club’s part owner. (Grace Roberts is not related to her attorney.)  The claim sought $7.6 million in damages.  The allegations focused on three incidents beginning in September 2003, shortly after taking ownership of the club on upper Pier Avenue.

On Sept. 20 the club held a “foam party” and soapy water spilled into the street. According to the claim, Sgt. Kevin Averill told part owner Cecil Roberts Jr., “we don’t like people like you in my town,” “we are going to close you down,” and “I am going to do everything to shut you down.”

The club owners claimed that Averill was referring to African-Americans who frequent 705.  After nearly three hours on the scene, police arrested Cecil Roberts Jr. for allegedly offering false identification to an officer.  The claim alleges that officers did not read the part owner his Miranda rights, denied his request to speak with an attorney, and never informed him for the reason of his arrest. The District Attorney later did not file charges against the part owner.

The next incident occurred on Oct. 26 during a Hip Hop party. Sgt. Averill spotted a drunken patron on the sidewalk and stopped in front of the club. According to the claim, he informed another part owner, Grace Roberts, that he was going to “shut this place down.” He told her that ever since she took over, the place was “shit,” and advised her to get rid of her patrons saying, “I don’t like these people,” “get rid of them,” and “get rid of these troubles,” the claim stated.

Averill then told Grace Roberts, “I don’t like you,” the report stated. She told him he was being prejudiced and Averill allegedly responded by saying that he hears that “shit” all of the time and it was not going to fly, according to the claim. He then told her he was going to “watch every move she made and the next time, he would shut the club down for good,” the claim stated.

On Oct. 30, 2004 club owners met with Police Chief Mike Lavin, Lt. Lance Jaakola and Capt. Thomas Eckert, who asserted there was “no conspiracy” against 705, the claim stated.  Less than two months later, on Dec. 21, six officers threw a young black woman to the ground and hit her with batons and kicked her with their feet, the claim contended. ER

The Daily Breeze – December 14, 2005

Attempted Robbery, w/Firearm: 9:45 p.m. December 7, 3300 block of The Strand. 

The victim said he was grabbed from behind by two males who had just walked past him and trapped him between them and a wall.  One pointed a gun at his abdomen and demanded money.  When the victim said he had none, one of the males took his watch but then examined it and returned it.  Both males then ran north.  The male with the gun was described as no more that 18 years old, white or Latino, 5-foot-9, 150 pounds with a young sounding voice and wearing a black hooded sweat shirt pulled over his head and lighter colored jeans.  The other man was described as being either white or Latino and similarly dressed.  Police searched the area but did not find the robbers.

Attempted Robbery, Battery: 8:15 to 8:30 p.m. December 6, 1500 block of Pacific Coast Highway. 

A male walked up behind a woman who was waiting outside her workplace for a ride.  The suspect demanded money and searched her waistband for a cell phone.  The woman opened her purse to show the man she had nothing in hopes he would go away.  The man responded by saying, “You’re lying,” and punched her in the back off the head.  The victim said she did not get a good look at the suspect because he was standing behind her and described him as either white or Latino, 5-foot-11 and 200 pounds with a heavy muscular build and wearing a black mask, gloves ad jacket, white tennis shoes and jeans.

Assault and Battery: 1:45 a.m. November 27, Hermosa Avenue and 14^th Street. 

The victim said he had just been kicked out of the Underground and was walking around to cool off when a man yelled at him.  The victim said he yelled back and that the man, who the victim identified as an ex-boyfriend of his ex-girlfriend, punched him.  The victim said he was also kicked in the ribs several times, but did not know if it was only the ex-boyfriend or if any of his friends did as well.

The Beach Reporter - December 1-15, 2005

Hermosa Beach - Crime Watch

CHURCH WINDOWS. Two church widows were reportedly smashed between Dec. 3 at 4 p.m. and Dec. 4 at 9 a.m. One of the windows was stained glass while the other was made out of glass that was amber in color for a total value of $800. A cinder block and a red brick that were used to break the windows were found inside the church.

BATTERY. A man was reportedly assaulted by a group of men near Hermosa Avenue and 14th Street Nov. 27 at 1:45 a.m. The victim was kicked out of a nearby bar and was very upset about it. He walked around to “cool down” when he heard someone yelling at him. He was still mad so he yelled back. He then saw the main suspect running rapidly toward him who then started punching him in the face with his fists. The victim dropped to the ground and covered his head. The suspect was with five other men, and the victim wasn’t sure exactly who was hitting and kicking him.

ROBBERY / STABBING. A man was reportedly stabbed and robbed of his wallet in the 1000 block of Bayview Drive Oct. 15 between 3:30 and 3:43 a.m. The man was walking to his car parked in the 500 block of Eighth Street after going to the bars on the pier plaza. The car was parked near an apartment complex he visited earlier that day. Two men wearing dark clothing approached the man and demanded his wallet. The men then grabbed the man and tried to wrestle his wallet away but the victim fought back by grabbing it by both hands. One of the suspects hit the man who felt a pain in his lower abdomen and realized he had been stabbed. The man let go of the wallet, and the two men removed an unknown amount of cash and possibly some credit cards and dropped the wallet. The man told police that he did not see the men get into a car. He was apparently in shock when he talked to police and was transported to a nearby hospital by paramedics.

The Daily Breeze – November 30, 2005

The Daily Breeze – July 29, 2005

KCBS-TV Channel 2 News at 5 PM –

Hermosa Beach Police Issue Warning To Women - Broadcast on 7/29/05 at 5pm.

Hermosa Beach Police detectives believe the two incidents may be linked to a March 8, 2004, attack on a woman who was dragged into a stairwell and beaten. 

View the CBS-TV Channel 2 news story on the Pier Plaza Assaults . . .  You need Windows Media Player in order get the audio/video of this CBS-TV  news story reported by Paul Dandridge.

HERMOSA BEACH, Calif. (CBS) Hermosa Beach police are warning women to avoid walking alone from Pier Plaza nightspots following two attempted assaults possibly committed by the same man who attacked a woman last year.  Detectives told the Daily Breeze that they believe the man -- dubbed the "Late Night Attacker" -- was trying to rape a woman when he grabbed her as she walked on Monterey Avenue in the south end of the city early Sunday.  The victim was walking alone at 2:15 a.m. on a well-lighted sidewalk when a muscular man confronted her. The woman was able to escape by kneeing him in the groin, police said.  On July 8 about 3:30 a.m., a woman was walking home from the downtown area in a dimly lighted alley near 10th Street and Monterey Avenue when a man tried to force her into a car, the Daily Breeze reported.  That woman also managed to escape.  If you have any information related to the incidents, please call Detective Robert Higgins at 310-318-0341.

The Easy Reader - June 30, 2005

Arson suspect left profane note at the Hermosa Ave. house

A woman accused of setting fire to a Hermosa Avenue house with 11 people inside left a profanity-laced note at the scene and then sat watching from the steps of a nearby diner as firefighters put out the blaze, police said.  Nobody was injured.

The 31 year-old Carson woman faces an August 11 court date on charges of arson of an inhabited building, and burglary stemming from a separate incident in which computer equipment was taken from a 15^th Street apartment.  She has pleaded innocent.

The arson incident May 16 was touched off after the woman went to a party the night before at the clapboard house in the 1700 block of Hermosa Avenue, Hermosa Beach Police Sgt. Steve Endom said.  At some point during the party she lost her cell phone, and she returned in the early morning hours to look for it, Endom said.  She was allowed inside where she rummaged around, bothering the residents, and was told to leave, police said.

Outside, the woman found lighter fluid that had been used for a barbecue at the party and, using newspaper from a rack outside a nearby bar, she set the fire at the southwest corner of the house, police said.

The house filled with smoke and firefighters were called.  The fire was put out quickly, and a resident told firefighters that a “strange woman” with a cast on one arm had attended the party, Endom said.  On the way back to the firehouse a firefighter saw a woman with a cast on one arm sitting and watching and called police, who identified her as a suspect and arrested her, Endom said.

Police said a note found in a beverage cooler outside the house read, “You all can burn in hell.  F - - k you all.  You get what you deserve, karma is a bitch.  I hope you enjoy where you live now, burnt bitch.  Oh well, f - - k you all, especially the a - - holes who were f - - ked up.  Don’t f - - k around with this motherf - - ker.”

Investigators determined that the note was written by the suspect, Endom said.

The Daily Breeze - June 8, 2005

Hermosa Beach Police Log

Assault with a deadly weapon / battery against law enforcement officers - 7:21 pm, June 3, 00 block of Pier Avenue.  A witness told police he and the two victims – all three are sheriff’s deputies – were sitting and drinking at a table on the Sharkeez patio when a man bumped into their table, spilling beer.  The witness said they told the man to be careful and that the man flipped their table, grabbed a pitcher of beer from a nearby table and threw it at them, hitting one of the men in the head.  The witness said a Sharkeez employee asked them all to leave.  Once they did, the witness said that the man “cold cocked” the third deputy and “bounced” his head several times on the concrete and was joined by two other men in the scuffle.  The witness said that he stepped in to separate people and identified himself and the victim as law enforcement officers, to which the man replied, “I don’t give a (expletive) who he is.”  The man and his friends fled when they heard sirens approaching, the witness said.  Police later arrested the man on suspicion of assault with a deadly weapon battery and public intoxication.

The Daily Breeze – July 3, 2005

 The Aesthetic – April 21, 2005

http://www.theaesthetic.com/index.html

The downtown nobody asked for

http://www.theaesthetic.com/NewFiles/pierplaza.html

by Garrison Frost

Hermosa Beach city officials are saying that the renovation of the city's pier will be finished this July, and when they cut the ribbon on the new lifeguard towers, observation platform and Strand plaza they will probably declare their renovation of city's downtown completed.

But will it be? If by that word, they mean the end of construction, then yes, they'll certainly be done. But if completed means the achievement of the fully realized commercial and community center that everyone envisioned 10 years ago, then no, they won't even be close.

If one believes the nut graphs of just about every newspaper story on the subject, one would think that the city's downtown was nearing a state of blight in the mid-1990s when city fathers decided to turn it into a pedestrian plaza to spur new investment and interest. Things were bad, that is true, but the problem probably had more to do with policy than landscaping.

Once a thriving little downtown, the area now featured a scattered group of failing businesses clinging to life despite horrible parking and a disinterested, often hostile, city government. In lieu parking fees devastated any hope of new development. Misguided attempts to attract new visitors to the downtown – which involved closing the streets on every sunny weekend day – ultimately just hastened the demise of the downtown's retail core in favor of bars.

Nonetheless, the perception among those in power was that only when the lower Pier Avenue section of downtown Hermosa Beach was closed off would it ever turn around. In other words, if it was going to be as successful as Santa Monica's Third Street Promenade, it would need to look like Santa Monica's Third Street Promenade.

That said, it should be noted that opposition to creating a pedestrian plaza was so great that the final project didn't actually call for closing lower Pier Avenue off to cars. Even today, if one looks closely at the plaza, one can see that it was intended to serve a driving public.

Concrete bollards mark parking spaces, lines indicate traffic flow and blue lines indicate handicapped spaces. It was only after the plaza was created that city officials hastily closed off the street permanently – confirming almost immediately that the plaza would not do what it was built for.

Many would claim that the renewed interest in Hermosa Beach's downtown in the late 1990s was the result of the lower Pier Avenue renovation. Actually, by far the biggest driver of new investment in the downtown was the relaxation of rules that required any landlord changing the use of a building to pay the city for additional parking spaces that might be required from additional use.

Now, a landlord wishing to convert a clothing store to a restaurant would no longer have to compensate the city tens of thousands of dollars it would cost to create parking for those new customers. The almost immediate result of this was a building boom in the downtown, and a rapid depletion of any significant retail presence. Restaurants, but more specifically bars, sprouted like weeds because of the high rents they promised.

Say what one wants about the parking giveaway, it was the most effective of all the downtown policy changes. Locals might recall a consultant the city hired to attract so-called anchor businesses to the city, an effort that resulted in exactly no new anchor businesses.

And then there was the failed attempt of the city's planning department to do the same, which also resulted in no new anchor businesses. This last program proved untenable when existing businesses realized that their tax dollars were being used to encourage their own landlords to double their rents and drive them out.

It has taken a few years for the city to recognize the problems that its policy failures have caused in the downtown area. The plaza draws great crowds on sunny summer weekend days and weekend nights, but it is barren at other times. Rowdy nighttime crowds have drawn complaints from people living on neighboring streets. In response to fights and other violence, the city now spends a fortune keeping the peace down there.

After recognizing that the downtown was becoming something no one wanted, the city not long ago declared a moratorium on new development while a volunteer community group came up with ideas on how to improve things. In the end, the moratorium was lifted, but absolutely none of the worthless recommendations have been implemented.

While the city has proven that it can break up and pour new concrete (albeit very slowly – the pier renovation has dragged for more years), the city has never been able to do what's right at the policy level. How many meetings will the police and city officials hold with bars before realizing that this will not stem the drunken brawls? 

How long will it take the city's leaders to realize that Pottery Barn and the Gap aren't coming? When will officials develop a comprehensive parking strategy? When will it begin to take its planning function seriously?

Nonetheless, they have a new downtown and pier to point to. Certainly, we have all forgotten the cost overruns and delays that plagued both projects from the beginning – problems that have left both projects in strange shape.

The plaza is a vast blank space that functions more as the city's driveway than its living room. The plaza lacks the focal point, consistent seating and sense of enclosure that public spaces require. Sure, people go there, but the plaza itself is still more of a transitional space – a thing you walk across to get to your destination, a place to stand in line.

The palm trees look good from afar but offer little or no shade on those days when the sun could melt metal. Seating on the plaza is sparse, unwelcoming. Really, the best place to enjoy the plaza is just off of it, plunked down on one of the adjacent restaurant patios under an umbrella – confirming that while the plaza is nice to look at, it isn't much of a place to be.

Commercially, it's a single function entity. You go there to eat and drink. Head down there to go shopping and you're done in a few minutes. If you're not looking for a beer, you're heading back to your car. If it's nighttime, you run back to your car. Poorly lit and full of dark corners and always replete with surly thrill seekers, the plaza at night isn't for the meek.

What can one say about the pier renovation? Thankfully, the city managed to repair the infrastructure before the thing fell apart, but questions still remain. Will the city put a restaurant or some such thing at the end of it, or will the open plaza remain as it is?

As for the plaza at the base of the pier, we'll just have to see how that works out. It has been a long time coming – seven or eight years depending on how you look at it – since the city began planning the project. Not much of the original vision is actually going to be built. Nonetheless, it can't come out worse than the downtown plaza it will link to.

So the city fathers have their new downtown and they have their new pier. Unfortunately, the only people happy with it are bar owners and politicians beholden to them. Sure, the people who like bars have fun down there, but they would enjoy a more rounded downtown just as much, if not more.

But these capital projects were intended to do much more than create a college town bar scene. They were intended to bolster a vital commercial and community center for Hermosa Beach, and in that these projects have so far failed.

The current downtown Hermosa Beach is one that nobody asked for, and one that may prove even harder to fix than the old one.

(April 21, 2005)                                                                          

© Copyright 1999-2006 The Aesthetic

 The Beach Reporter - October 28, 2004

Hermosa Beach News

By Whitney Youngs

HB City Council summary (10/28) – Dancing to be allowed

The City Council agreed to write a letter to the ABC in support of a change in the Alcoholic Beverage Control license of TJ Charly'z to allow for dancing inside the establishment. With the support of the council, it also requested that it review the business's activity in three months and at six months. The ABC reserves final judgment on the matter but takes into consideration the position of any particular city on a certain matter. 

A memo from Police Chief Mike Lavin stated that the problems associated with this bar/restaurant have been greatly reduced since the discontinuation of dancing. Lavin believes that with a reintroduction of dancing, the same problems will arise again.

However, the council heard the pleas of the owner claiming that this prohibition is severely affecting his bottom line and agreed to write the letter supporting a change to the ABC.

In other matters - New Year's Eve - The council voted to approve the city's annual New Year's Eve celebration slated for Dec. 31 on the pier plaza. The cost to host the function is $22,500 with an additional $3,500 allocated for items such as cleanup crews and lighting.  Most of the funds are spent on the live music act, Big Band 2000, that performs jazz and swing standards from 8 p.m. to 12:15 a.m.  The affair draws thousands of locals to the downtown plaza on New Year's Eve with members of City Council leading the crowd in the countdown. Some describe the event as a miniature version of New Year's in New York City's Times Square.

 The Easy Reader – June 3, 2004

On Local Government

We have met the enemy

by Bob Pinzler

There has been much gnashing of teeth recently as some residents of Hermosa Beach reconsider the decisions regarding how Pier Plaza was developed. How is it, they ask, that this beautiful plaza has become the epicenter of nightly drunkenness? Why has it become the magnet for every alcohol-eligible (and some not) young person within driving distance?

It is that way because the same people who are now complaining, at least those living in Hermosa at the time, didn’t raise their voices while the decisions were being made. After all, these decisions were made in public. But the few who did protest looked over their shoulders and found no one behind them. The City Council and commissions saw this as supporting their ability to do as they saw fit.

They can’t really be faulted for doing so. Hermosa Beach is in a particularly difficult Proposition 13 bind. The large percentage of the population consists of renters. This means that while the residents of the city may change, the ownership of the buildings doesn’t. The city is stuck in a property tax time warp as it cannot take advantage of much of the growth in property values as other nearby cities do.

The city also is too small to have the kind of retail base that provides sales tax revenues to its coffers, such as Redondo and Manhattan have with their malls and Torrance has with its car dealerships. Hence, the interest in the revitalization of lower Pier Avenue from the dismal, dark home for bikers it was to the bright, open pedestrian mall it now is.

The discussions of what to put on Pier Avenue went on for a long time. The history that Manhattan Beach had with its short, sad foray into the youth booze scene might have been instructive, but it was overwhelmed by the desire to take advantage of a market that none of the other South Bay cities seemed to cater to. The few voices raised in protest did so with little community support or interest.

On top of this lack of interest on the part of the public was the election and reelection to the City Council of people who were clearly in favor of what has occurred on Pier Avenue. In these elections, turnout is dismally low, indicating indifference on the part of the populace. To a viewer from the outside, this provides justification, not condemnation, for what occurs every night as the police pick up the detritus of an evening at the various watering holes.

If the people wish it, they can make it so. They could attend meetings and make their concerns known. City Councils respond to people who show up. They tend to be more impassive about those who don’t. The people can change the City Council so that it has a majority on it that would not, for example, approve a new bar as one closes, or would be more proactive in approaching higher-end retail stores that might serve its upscale residents.

But my guess is that things will remain status quo. Maybe it is because most Hermosans aren’t really all that put out by the goings on at Pier Avenue. Most don’t live anywhere near it, anyway and aren’t affected all that much by it on a daily basis. And, most people aren’t all that interested in getting involved. Their own lives are too busy and becoming active is inconvenient.

They’ll leave all that “cleaning up” to the police. After all, they’re getting well practiced at it. ER

 The Easy Reader – June 10, 2004

HB City Council mulls more fee increases

by David Rosenfeld

The Hermosa Beach City Council took steps Monday toward doubling the fee bars and restaurants pay for patio space on city land while backing off from imposing a sewer use fee.

The council did not conclude discussions but appeared likely to increase encroachment fees from $1 to $2 per square foot and possibly $4 per square foot for establishments that stay open past midnight. Most heavily hit by such a move would be Hennessey’s Tavern with more than 12,000 square feet of patio space on Pier Plaza.

The effort to raise fees on nearly two dozen establishments would pump more than $100,000 -– if fees are doubled -– into the city’s $18.8 million General Fund.

Although city officials have refused to put an estimate on the cost of maintaining the downtown, a close look at the city’s financing puts the cost at about $2.6 million. The figure considers that 30 percent of police, fire and road repairs are spent on the downtown scene, which raises an estimated 15 percent of the city’s property, sales, hotel and utility users’ tax.

The city managed to balance its 2004-05 fiscal year budget – set to be approved later this month -– despite an estimated 18 percent reduction in sales tax revenue due to the likely move of the BMW dealership in September. City Manager Stephen Burrell said the car dealer might decide to keep a scaled down sales lot in its place. City officials discussed plans for a new hotel, which would make up some of the tax loss.

The city also faced a downturn in the amount of money expected from the state, by more than $360,000, as well as a $1 million shortfall in the state’s retirement plan to city employees.

Councilmen and city staff both expressed concern that not enough money was left in the capital improvement fund to pay for much needed street improvements and sewer renovations.

Also left out of the equation are two vacant police officer positions and nine other jobs in various departments.

The council was presented with different ways to find more funding including a sewer use fee, which the group turned down in part because of a recent uproar in Redondo over the same issue and because some councilmen felt the public would assume the Utility Users Tax would cover such costs.

Currently, $700,000 of the $2.4 million to be generated by the UUT is allocated for sewer improvements. The rest goes to the General Fund.

While backing off of the proposed sewer use fee, council members expressed consensus in implementing an ordinance that would require grease receptors under restaurant sinks. The public works department has increasingly been called on to address grease buildup in the city’s sewers, officials said.

In a meeting two weeks ago, the council agreed to raise parks and recreation fees across the board, a decision that put some parents back when they found the price of some of this year’s summer camps nearly doubled.

As for capital improvement projects, city officials offered a list of streets scheduled for resurfacing including Second Street, Pier Avenue, 11th Place and 20th Street, adding that many other streets also need work.

More than half of the $2.1 million Capital Improvement Fund – some $1.2 million -- is earmarked for upcoming pier renovations.

Additional public works expenditures are set to include $160,000 to upgrade sewer line pump stations, $150,000 to the Hermosa Playhouse, $80,000 to remodel the upstairs of the fire station, $80,000 to renovate the public works yard, and other allocations for various park upgrades. All total nearly $6 million.

Finance Director Vicki Copeland said the city’s top four revenue sources represent 65 percent of the General Fund -– $10.9 million -– nearly half of which comes from property taxes. Sales, Utility Users and hotel taxes account for the remaining $5.7 million.

Parking meters and fines are expected to bring in $1.2 million after expenses. The city may look to increase that figure by installing “smart” parking meters, which give a standard five minutes free and reset any time when a car vacates a spot. The move is estimated to bring in an added $1 million. One of the first sites to implement the meters will likely be in lot A south of Pier Plaza. ER

On Air Schedule for the Hermosa Beach Candidate Forums on Adelphia channel 8.

Friday, June 2, 2006

LWV at 11 AM - League of Women Voters Candidate Forum on Adelphia channel 8

HBNA at 12:30 PM - Hermosa Beach Neighborhood Association Candidate Forum on Adelphia channel 8

CHAMBER at 1:30 PM - HB Chamber of Commerce Candidate Forum on Adelphia channel 8

HBNA at 4 PM - Hermosa Beach Neighborhood Association Candidate Forum on Adelphia channel 8

LWV at 9 PM - League of Women Voters Candidate Forum on Adelphia channel 8

CHAMBER at 10:30 PM - HB Chamber of Commerce Candidate Forum on Adelphia channel 8

Saturday, June 3, 2006

LWV at 11 AM - League of Women Voters Candidate Forum on Adelphia channel 8

HBNA at 12:30 PM - Hermosa Beach Neighborhood Association Candidate Forum on Adelphia channel 8

CHAMBER at 1:30 PM - HB Chamber of Commerce Candidate Forum on Adelphia channel 8

CHAMBER at 5 PM - HB Chamber of Commerce Candidate Forum on Adelphia channel 8

LWV at 7 PM - League of Women Voters Candidate Forum on Adelphia channel 8

HBNA at 10 PM - Hermosa Beach Neighborhood Association Candidate Forum on Adelphia channel 8

Sunday, June 4, 2006

LWV at 11 AM - League of Women Voters Candidate Forum on Adelphia channel 8

HBNA at 12:30 PM - Hermosa Beach Neighborhood Association Candidate Forum on Adelphia channel 8

CHAMBER at 1:30 PM - HB Chamber of Commerce Candidate Forum on Adelphia channel 8

HBNA at 4 PM - Hermosa Beach Neighborhood Association Candidate Forum on Adelphia channel 8

LWV at 9 PM - League of Women Voters Candidate Forum on Adelphia channel 8

CHAMBER at 10:30 PM - HB Chamber of Commerce Candidate Forum on Adelphia channel 8

Monday, June 5, 2006

LWV at 11 AM  - League of Women Voters  Candidate Forum on Adelphia channel 8

HBNA at 12:30 PM - Hermosa Beach Neighborhood Association Candidate Forum on Adelphia channel 8

CHAMBER at 1:30 PM - HB Chamber of Commerce Candidate Forum on Adelphia channel 8

HBNA at 6 PM - Hermosa Beach Neighborhood Association Candidate Forum on Adelphia channel 8

LWV at 9 PM - League of Women Voters Candidate Forum on Adelphia channel 8

CHAMBER at 10:30 PM - HB Chamber of Commerce Candidate Forum on Adelphia channel 8

Tuesday, June 6, 2006

CHAMBER at 9 AM - HB Chamber of Commerce Candidate Forum on Adelphia channel 8

LWV at 11 AM - League of Women Voters Candidate Forum on Adelphia channel 8

HBNA at 12:30 PM - Hermosa Beach Neighborhood Association Candidate Forum on Adelphia channel 8

HBNA at 4 PM - Hermosa Beach Neighborhood Association Candidate Forum on Adelphia channel 8

LWV at 6 PM - League of Women Voters Candidate Forum on Adelphia channel 8

CHAMBER at 9 PM - HB Chamber of Commerce Candidate Forum on Adelphia channel 8

E-mail from Kit Bobko:

E-mail from Jeff Duclos:                                       

The Hermosa Beach Neighborhood Association

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