Bits 'n' Pieces

Water Use Restrictions

The Metropolitan Water District (MWD) is calling on several communities in the greater Los Angeles County region, including Long Beach, to suspend all outdoor watering for 15 days starting on Sept.  6 while urgent emergency repairs are made to a critical imported water pipeline.

MWD has called upon its member agencies, including Long Beach, Beverly Hills, Burbank, Glendale, Pasadena, San Fernando and Torrance, as well as other major water agency districts to call on their customers to refrain from outdoor watering for the 15-day period. Some agencies, including Burbank and Glendale, have already asked their residents to ban outdoor watering during this 15 day period next month.

As a result, Long Beach Water is asking customers to voluntarily comply with the request to suspend outdoor watering between Sept. 6 and Sept. 20 – or sooner if the work is completed early. As the request is for voluntary compliance, there will not be enforcement actions taken for non-compliance other than targeted reminders of the request.

Thank you for your understanding. Long Beach Water is available to answer any questions or concerns you may have by contacting Lauren Gold, by phone at (562) 355-1201, or by email at lauren.gold@lbwater.org.

Free Mobile Recess Program for Students

The Long Beach Department of Parks, Recreation and Marine (PRM) will continue offering its Mobile Recess Program for youth this fall, with a new series beginning Sept. 6 through Oct. 28, 2022.

The Mobile Recess program allows for neighborhood streets to be blocked off so that youth may have a supervised safe space for play. PRM staff provide supplies and equipment to facilitate recreation activities for youth ages 5 through 14 (grades K-8), including activities such as physical fitness, games and arts and crafts.

Beginning Tuesday, Sept. 6, people may register in person at any of the participating Mobile Recess locations, Monday through Friday, during program hours. Registration will remain open until the program reaches capacity. Space is limited and all sign-ups are available on a first-come, first-served basis.

The Mobile Recess Program will be held at the following locations this fall:

For additional information about the Mobile Recess Program and other activities for youth, people may visit LBParks.org. or call (562) 570-3150.

In-Person Council Meetings Resume

The City of Long Beach resumed in-person City Council meetings at the Bob Foster Civic Chambers on Tuesday, Sept. 6.

Council meetings temporarily transitioned to in-person/virtual hybrid format in July due to the COVID-19 surge. As cases continue to steadily decline, the city is reopening its Civic Chamber doors and looks forward to welcoming the public back in person once again.

Once the city fully resumes in-person meetings, Webex/Zoom will no longer be utilized for public participation. Individuals interested in providing public comment must appear physically in the Civic Chamber. Facial coverings will be highly recommended, in accordance with State guidance issued by the California Department of Public Health.

City Council meetings will continue to be streamed online on the city’s Granicus page and Long Beach Television’s (LBTV’s) website, cable channels and YouTube Channel.

The city has implemented various tools and services to continue to promote equitable community involvement in City Council meetings throughout the pandemic including providing real-time Spanish interpretation, and continuing the utilization of the eComment feature, which allows the public to provide comments on agenda items until 4 p.m. on each meeting day, and the submission of written comments to the city clerk at cityclerk@longbeach.gov.

For more information about Long Beach legislative meetings, visit longbeach.gov/cityclerk.

African American Scholar Program 3rd Year

The Aquarium of the Pacific is accepting applications for its African American Scholar Program. Now in its third year, the program supports African American students pursuing studies in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) fields related to the work of the aquarium. Through the financial award, inclusion in a growing community, and engagement with the aquarium, the program seeks to lower the barriers for African American students in the fields of marine science.

As part of this program, recipients are invited to connect with each other and the aquarium to explore their interests. Past recipients have been published in the aquarium’s member magazine, engaged with the public at an “Ask a Scientist” booth during Family Science Night and community events, and met with aquarium staff members to discuss education and conservation projects.

At the annual African American Scholar Program fall symposium, the scholars and program alumni will gather to present their work, meet with various aquarium departments, hear from guest panelists about careers in nonprofit, industry and government sectors and connect with high school students from the Long Beach Unified School District.

The next symposium will be held Nov. 2022. Applications for the 2023 African American Scholar Program are due by Nov. 25. The announcement of the recipients will be made at the aquarium’s 21st annual African American Festival on Feb. 25, 2023. For program details and submission guidelines, visit pacific.to/africanamericanscholar.

Hours Expanded for Pet Adoptions

Long Beach Animal Care Services (LBACS) has expanded its adoption hours, extending its weekday operating hours in the mornings and afternoons and opening one-hour earlier on Saturdays and Sundays. The public is invited to celebrate this expansion by visiting LBACS and browsing the adoptable animals during the longer operating hours.

Those interested in adopting a pet can now visit LBACS, located at 7700 W. Spring St., on the following dates and times:

10 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. – Wednesdays, Thursdays and Fridays

10 a.m. to 3 p.m. – Saturdays and Sundays

Appointments are no longer required for adoptions; visitors may enter through the animal admissions entrance. Potential adopters can also search for adoptable pets in the shelter by breed, gender and size and apply online. Residents can also get involved by making a monetary donation, fostering, adopting, volunteering, donating supplies and spreading the word about adoptable animals on social media.

More information about LBACS is available at longbeach.gov/acs.

Thrift & Vintage Celebrates 30 Years

Assistance League of Long Beach Thrift & Vintage Shop is celebrating 30 years on Retro Row in conjunction with Secondhand September! Originally located in downtown Long Beach they opened at our current location at 2100 E. Fourth St. in August 1992.

The Long Beach chapter is the largest in the national Assistance League organization with a donor base of nearly 800 members. Donations from the local community ensures the shop is always a treasure hunter’s dream!

Monies raised through sales at the Thrift & Vintage Shop stay local and are used to help support the organization as well as 11 philanthropic programs. In addition to their 2,300 square foot brick-and-mortar shop, ASLB recently launched an online store at assistance-league-of-long-beach.myshopify.com.

In an effort to raise awareness about the environmental impact of the fashion industry, they are encouraging shoppers to avoid buying new fashion in the month of September. Secondhand September is a campaign to encourage people to buy only secondhand items for 30 days.

Learn more about this philanthropic organization at https://www.assistanceleague.org/long-beach.

California Homekey Grant for Homeless

The State of California Department of Housing and Community Development (HCD) has awarded the Long Beach Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) a $30.5 million grant to create more interim housing for people experiencing homelessness.

Approximately $25.2 million will be utilized for building and modular acquisition, installation and improvements and the remaining $5.3 million for operations and services. The grant will enable the city to build 30 to 35 modular tiny homes at the Multi-Service Center (MSC) and purchase another motel for conversion to interim housing as well as to operate and provide services to the two sites through the city’s Project Homekey program.

The grant provides not only increased interim housing but also funds three years of operational support, which includes providing supportive services to help people work toward and achieve permanent housing. The modular tiny homes will be built on site at the MSC. The motel site purchase is being negotiated.

The total number of new interim housing units will depend upon the motel site selected, but the number, inclusive of the MSC modular tiny homes, is expected to top 100 units. Each unit will include furniture and linens as well as a private bathroom. Staff and security will be on-site 24/7.

The city is expected to bring the grant award to the Long Beach City Council later this fall for consideration. It will take approximately 8 to 12 months from the time the council officially accepts the grant and contracts are signed to the time the first new interim housing units would be made available for people seeking shelter.

The Health Department practices a housing first model, an evidence-based approach that lowers barriers to housing and addresses underlying causes of homelessness by providing supportive services to people while in interim housing.

Since 2020, the number of interim beds, not including the newly announced upcoming units, has increased from 60 to about 530.

In addition to the long-running winter shelter, 344 non-congregate interim housing beds via Project Roomkey and Project Homekey, plus 125 new congregate interim housing beds via the Atlantic Bridge Community, have been added since 2020. In addition to providing a safe place to sleep, these sites match people to housing options as they become available and offer supportive services to help individuals move into permanent housing as quickly as possible. The city also can shelter 40 to 60 people per night in motels.

For more information on the city’s efforts to reduce homelessness in Long Beach, people may visit longbeach.gov/everyonehomelb.

AOP Welcomes New CFO/COO & Vice President

The Aquarium of the Pacific is welcoming two new additions to its leadership team. Troy Grande joins the aquarium as chief operating officer and chief financial officer, and Jennie Dean is the new vice president of education and conservation.

The aquarium has created the new position of vice president of education and conservation to focus on its work in species conservation and learning for all audiences. Dean previously was a program director at the University of California, Los Angeles’ Institute of the Environment and Sustainability, where she oversaw programs engaging the private sector on corporate sustainability and another that consulted with island governments on sustainable development of their blue economy.

Grande comes to the aquarium with extensive experience from operational and financial leadership positions in both nonprofit and for-profit organizations across many different industries. Previously Grande served as chief financial officer of the Monterey Bay Aquarium Foundation, Roessler-Chadwick Foundation, HRG Management and The Palisades Group.

He has also worked as a portfolio manager at Seneca Capital Management, where he was one of the founders of a publicly traded residential mortgage real estate investment trust. Before that Grande held staff and line positions at Fremont General Corporation, where he served as assistant treasurer and director of investments.