LB City Girl

CAN I SAY I DON’T LIKE O’DONNELL’S SNOW DAY? OR IS THAT CATTY?

2012-02-04T17:23:00.000-08:00

Have you seen My Cat From Hell? I adore that show. The scenes of the cats violently acting or hissing in the corner make me laugh. I can’t understand for the life of me why I find the show so darn entertaining, but I’m sure one of the biggest reasons is that the featured “cat whisperer” is such an unlikely looking candidate for the job. He’s super hip, with an awesome hat and tattoos, ironic facial hair and glasses, and he carries a guitar case that has been converted to a briefcase when he shows up to deal with unruly cats.
Maybe what I like most about Jackson Galaxy is that on the surface you’d judge him to be kind of a tough guy, but when you see him in action with kitties he is obviously a soft and kind-hearted soul—able to tame even the most savage felines.
Yeah, so? I feel like one of those feral felines right now.
Why? It’s not just because Nodal Seismic is cruising by my neighborhood for the second day in a row faux-earthquaking my house a bit and freaking out my cat,* but also because I am fired up about Long Beach City Councilmember Patrick O’Donell’s Snow Day –and not in a good way either! Seriously, how much does this event cost the city’s taxpayers?

A quick google reveals that in previous years it cost between $13,500 and $15,000 dollars, with about $6,000 coming directly from the 4^th District Councilman’s budget and another several thousand coming from Partners of Parks. Which you know—is the city of Long Beach’s money, right? Our money. Anyway I guess snow days are worth it—obviously if the kids can’t go to the mountain it makes sense to bring the mountain to them. None the less, I wonder in today’s age of budget cuts if our city has its priorities in the right place—apparently we want snow, not cops. I can see the logic, having cops can be a real liability when they do stuff like shoot people unnecessarily. Snow doesn’t shoot people.

Maybe snow days seems silly to me because I grew up in the Chicago area. There a snow day was a real cause for celebration, it meant no school! But now-a-days I live in Long Beach for a reason—mostly because it does not snow here.

*Disclaimer: In fact the shaking only lasted about ten minutes and was no more earthquake like than a heavy truck driving by on the main street.

Reposted at www.GreaterLongBeach.com http://tiny.cc/j6s0q

Only Business Friendliness Will Sooth My Raging Grannies

2012-01-24T17:22:00.000-08:00

Today’s lead story in the Press-Telegram lead story breathlessly announces Downey’s big Tierra Luna Marketplace development. It’s been two weeks since the Downey City Council approved the area’s newest collection of chain stores, but the P-T is ex-cited! Way to rub it in.

In Long Beach, fans of proposals for 67-mile monorails and 12-story hotels at Second+PCH are feeling a bit jealous, and they quickly resume their moaning about how come we can’t get any business-friendly deals. Like that time someone proposed putting a movie studio in the old McDonnell-Douglas plant, remember that? Or that time Long Beach and Downey were vying for Tesla Motors to move into their competing old Boeing properties, remember that? At least we both lost out on Tesla.

But this time the winner and loser are obvious, and the jealousy in Long Beach comes straight from the hard fact that we can’t seem to find a way to generate the 3,300 mostly retail and part-time and non-benefitted jobs that Downey claims will be created at Tierra Luna Marketplace.

Tierra Luna will replace Downey Studios, which the P-T article says has lost $13 million over the last few years. That’s right, $13 million. Reading that, I started to feel better. The thought occurred to me that maybe Long Beach hadn’t been so silly not to jump at a pie-in-the-sky plan like Long Beach Studios. I kept reading, trying to find the part of the story that explained how Downey Studios lost that $13 million. Nowhere. Thank God for Google.

I put “Downey Studios” in the search engine, a gazillion things came back and the seventh one down was this fascinating Los Angeles Times article by Richard Verrier—“Health Complaints Linked to Former NASA Site in Downey”—detailing the illnesses that movie industry workers claim they caught due to the toxic conditions at Downey Studios. The conditions became widely known throughout the film industry as the “Downey Flu.” I’m gonna guess that business at Downey Studios wasn’t improved by producers worried about the risk of lawsuits from their employees.

It turned out that workers at next-door Kaiser Permanente were reporting the same mystery symptoms and illness. The story I found about this was titled “How an L.A. Suburb Became One of the Most Toxic Towns,” and when I read it I was surprised to see someone named Mario had commented. For further reading on the topic just google “Downey Studios Lawsuit.”

There is good evidence that protests from workers’ rights groups and the families and friends of people who worked at Downey Studios may have influenced Tesla Motors’ decision to put its production line in Northern California. At least the Raging Grannies like to think so. They paid a visit to Downey Studios and Kaiser Permante, too. If you dare, Google that!

Of course, the official line from Downey officials isn’t to explain but to blame Tesla’s founder, Elon Musk, who is accused of being deceitful for backing out of his “promised deal.” They say the land out there is all cleaned up. No question at all. Definitely.

Maybe I’m not so jealous after all.

Oh, by the way … Tierra Luna? Silly name.

Recipes for Success

2012-01-22T10:34:00.000-08:00

I love trying good recipes, so when I heard Dan Pressburg not only had a Famous Fritatta, but also that he’d be serving it at the Meet the Candidates Brunch he holds every election year at his historic North Long Beach home, I simply could not pass up the opportunity to educate myself about the people running for local offices this year.

I showed up fashionably late—mostly owing to a dead car battery—to find the place packed. My fast scan of the living room spotted Bill Pearl of LBReport.com, set up and streaming live reports of the event on the Internet from a couch in the corner. I like Bill. But I love frittata. I kept my eyes moving. It didn’t take long.

Oh, what a frittata! Oh, how hungry I was! I could hear that frittata calling my name! But between me and Dan Pressburg’s “Famous” was a room full of people whose hands I must shake.

I did some calculations, and determined that my success depended on a simple equation: speed verses distance verses how much frittata Dan Pressburg had made. That meant I had to travel light. Yet I also realized that in a house full of politicians there might not be a secure place to stash my purse. Another fast assessment, then a strategic move, and … I was gone—my purse sitting in the field of view of Bill Pearl’s camera, which would get footage of anyone who tried any funny stuff.

The first candidate I encountered was Daryl Supernaw, who’s running for the 4th district seat on the Long Beach City Council. Unfortunately, I had to be polite to him—despite my low blood sugar—since he happens to be a neighbor of mine. By the time I escaped, my stomach was growling. Fortunately, I barely know Al Austin and Lillian Kawasaki, who are competing to replace the termed-out Ray Gabelich in the 8th district seat. After briefly shaking hands, I turned to find myself—in front of that frittata.

It was delicious! But this presented another challenge: I had to get the recipe! Next stop, Dan Pressburg.

Alas, between me and the man of the deservedly Famous Frittata was the imposing figure of Val Lerch, the former 9th district councilman who now works as a field representative for Congresswoman Laura Richardson. The guy is a talker! Truthfully, his stories are delightful—the one about how he met his wife is practically miraculous—but I was on a mission to acquire that Famous Frittata recipe. I was also very thirsty.

Under that guise, I headed toward the kitchen, grabbed some orange juice, then cornered Pressburg and began to talk frittata. He kept trying to talk about the importance of redevelopment, but I was persistent. We went on that way awhile, until I finally had to insist: I wanted the recipe.

Pressburg tried to act as if his frittata were no big deal—I hate it when cooks do that—but I stayed on point until he finally agreed to surrender the Famous Frittata’s secret ingredient:

He finally divulged that it had bisquick in it.

This is actually rather revolutionary for me. I’ve been making fritatta for years and not once have I ever used bisquick. I asked for more details. According to Mr. Pressburg, the recipe has “eggs, lowfat milk, mushrooms, spinach, artichokes, and zuchinni” in addition to the bisquick. He also made two versions: one that had tofu (yay!) and one with turkey. He told me to google the recipe and the best I could find matching his decription was at http://www.cooks.com/rec/doc/0,1626,158184-226204,00.html. He noted it was a lot like ‘Dump Cake” and asked me if I’d ever had that…delightful man, that Mr. Pressburg! None the less, it’s my opinion that despite the fact Mr. Pressburg said he would be forthcoming with his famous recipe, he is still keeping it to himself!

Returning to the politicos, I was delighted to meet Jane Ballantyne, a 5 year resident of the 2^nd District. My impression of her is that she is very energized and committed to the idea of taking this council seat . Her story is interesting in that she decided to run and found enough support in the community to gather her signatures and complete her paperwork within the last 48 hours of the election filing deadline. I asked her opinion on medical marijuana and the Second and PCH project and her measured answers were that she was still researching these topics. She also pointed out that her own activism relates to her council area and that she was learning more about other parts of the city. Fair enough.

And finally the moment I’d truly been waiting for: my show down confrontation with John Watkins, that crazy tea party candidate from the 4th. I couldn’t wait to ask him what the heck he’s thinking. And then he turned out to be totally reasonable, despite the fact that I can totally imagine him in a police officer’s uniform. According to Mr. Watkins he is not and never has been a member of the Tea Party. Early reports to that effect were based on the fact that he “liked” their facebook page. In fact, he says, “I’m a coffee drinker, not a tea drinker!” And this is good news indeed.

Choosinga candidate in the 4^th is going to be difficult. Unlike most elections, the voters in the 4th have a choice of candidates who are reasonable and have genuine concern for the community. Conversations with both Mr. Supernaw and Mr. Watkins reveal that both plan to run positive campaigns based on the issues. They both seem to have mutual respect for each other as well. Both were hoping to see Patrick O’Donnell run for higher office, and agreed that Mr. O’Donnell could have easily beat Bonnie Lowenthal.

And before I left I heard the most charming love story from a man with real staying power: Val Lerch. He related to me the day he fell in love with his wife of 41 years. …..

By the way, Joe Mack, Val Lerch wants the $20 you owe him.

24 hours in Long Beach Developments

2012-01-11T07:22:00.000-08:00

I’m finding myself with too many things to write about! First there’s the Mayor’s State of the City address, and then the fact that the 2^nd and PCH folks aren’t giving up after all, and now we have a new Downtown Long Beach Master Plan to wonder about!

Like most of you, I skipped the mayor’s speech in favor of the season premiere of Hoarders on A&E. I agree this episode was truly disgusting. The guy had cats—like, about 70 of them—living in the ceiling and walls of his house. Some of them were dead so long they were like cat shingles. Ugh! My favorite line of the show was when the psychologist lady asked the hoarder guy, “How does someone end up with so many dead kittens?” and I was totally wondering the same thing.

Anyway, back to the city council chamber:

Sneaky how David Malmuth reintroduced the 2^nd and PCH project when no one was looking-- I love that rascal!

But let’s talk about what was actually on the council’s agenda, shall we?

In reviewing the literature for the new “Downtown Long Beach Plan,” I noticed mention of a “sky tram” that will connect the Queen Mary with the downtown. Something tells me the “Island of Long Beach” people are going to be disappointed to hear this!

More importantly, other folks are upset about the “gentrification” of downtown Long Beach. Low income housing advocates are concerned this plan will oust 20,000 low income residents. It’s true that’s unfortunate, but some aspects of the downtown plan are really kind of nice. As much as I disapprove of a twelve story building on the east side of Long Beach, I am in favor of a rich urban environment downtown.

This plan is actually in accordance with SEADIP’s original master plan. Our city needs one strong downtown, with supporting satellite neighborhoods that offer diversity to our residents. A sustainable city reduces commute times. If Long Beach can offer middle class suburban homes within a very short driving distance, or bus or bike ride to a thriving downtown business area our city will do better economically.

The biggest down side to the new master plan? Developers will no longer to need to obtain EIRs to build in the new master planned Long Beach. … and the worst part is that the parking requirements will be “reduced.” If you thought parking was already difficult downtown you’d better get a bike.

There Can Only Be One "First"

2012-01-08T09:12:00.000-08:00

What is a good beauty pageant without a bit of controversy?

This year it seems like everyone and their sister wants the “first gay beauty queen” title. But we know there can only be one “first.” I personally am a bit tired of feel-good contests where everyone comes out a winner. I used to do this with my kids, when one would lose at the game of “Sorry” I’d always explain, “ No Honey, you aren’t the looser, you are the last winner…” but let's face reality: there can only be one “first.”

We here in Long Beach were feeling pretty smug about being well on our way to wrapping this one up—after all, our own lovely Jenelle Hutcherson ( previously featured—first-- in GreaterLongBeach.com ) is competing in Miss California USA at Donald Trumps' request as Miss Downtown Long Beach-- when suddenly we came across an article in the Huffington Post where in Jenn Kennedy claims Mollie Thomas of West Hollywood is California’s first openly lesbian beauty contestant.

What? It’s just like West Hollywood to try to hone in on our action. Sure, Mollie Thomas is smokin’ hot looking and even has some pretty cool socially aware ideas, but let’s face it she can’t be the “first” out lesbian contestant when there already was one.

After an extremely brief analysis of the facts, and consulting Justin Rudd, Miss Long Beach's Pageant master; I have determined that in fact, Jenelle Hutcherson is the first openly out Miss California USA contestant for the following reason: according to the LA Times, this is Mollie Thomas’s first contest, but Jenelle Hutcherson previously competed in Miss Long Beach as its first openly lesbian contestant. Rudd's response? He said, "As far as I know, Jenelle was the first openly lesbian pageant titleholder when she entered my Miss Long Beach pageant back in Nov. There could have been other out women in pageants, but I have never known of them."

There it is then. I was going to spend A LOT more time on this, but I am in the middle of cooking up some Portobello-Bellpepper-Habanero Jack Quesadillas right now. Besides if you google “first lesbian beauty contestant” the results overwhelmingly weigh in for Jenelle.

http://www.shewired.com/lifestyle/2012/01/05/jenelle-hutcherson

http://tinyurl.com/7gsgnkm

2011-12-30T08:04:00.000-08:00

The only way to make sure people you agree with can speak is to support the rights of people you don't agree with.

--Eleanor Holmes Norton