Bits 'n' Pieces

Auditor to Review Queen Mary Lease Agreement

Long Beach City Auditor Laura Doud announced that she is commencing an audit of the City’s lease agreement with Urban Commons to operate the Queen Mary. The purpose of the audit is to ensure that the city received all revenues owed.

With this audit, the City Auditor’s Office will complete a more detailed analysis of Urban Commons’ recently released 2017 and 2018 audited financial statements of the Queen Mary. Additionally, in light of the initial public offering (IPO) on the Singapore Stock Exchange by Urban Common’s Eagle Hospitality Trust, the audit will reconcile the audited financial statements and the financial information contained in Eagle Hospitality Trust’s investor prospectus related to the Queen Mary.

City Auditor Doud notified Urban Commons and city management of her intent to conduct this audit in partnership with a forensics accounting firm.

“The iconic Queen Mary has for generations been a significant and meaningful part of our city’s history, but the ship has gone through some very challenging times,” said City Auditor Doud. “Since I was first elected to this office, I have tracked the Queen Mary’s developments, voiced my concerns about the progress of capital improvements as well as city oversight of the ship, pushed for reporting transparency, and conducted a number of audits of the Queen Mary. This latest audit is a continuation of our work to ensure good stewardship of this historical asset.”

The upcoming audit of the Queen Mary’s financials and lease compliance will be the sixth audit of the Queen Mary conducted by City Auditor Doud. The previous audits recommended improvements concerning asset management, capital improvements, internal controls and accounting, tenant contract compliance, and the city’s oversight of the lease agreement.

Winter Shelter Opening

The United States Veterans Initiative, a nonprofit organization located in Long Beach, will be the provider for the 2019-2020 Winter Shelter Program for Service Planning Area 8 (southern LA County). The shelter, located in West Long Beach, will operate through Mar. 31, 2020. The site is currently under construction, with Dec. 7 as the intended opening date, but it could open sooner if construction finishes ahead of schedule.

The shelter will operate between the hours of 5 p.m. and 7 a.m. seven days a week. In the event of rainy weather, these hours may be extended by the operator. The shelter is a closed facility; once checked into the facility, participants are required to stay on site until 7 a.m.

All participants must be transported to and from the shelter from the designated pick-up/drop-off areas located throughout the city; no one will be admitted if they walk up to the front door of the shelter on their own.

There are three pick-up locations, two of which are in Long Beach: 14th Street Park (14th Street and Palmer Court near Long Beach Boulevard) and the Multi-Service Center (1301 W. 12th St.).

Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority, the administrative authority responsible for selecting the winter shelter operator, selected the United States Veterans Initiative as the operator through a release for proposal process; this is the third year of a three-year contract. On Nov. 12, City Council voted to adopt a resolution authorizing the operation of a winter shelter in West Long Beach.

Other local year-round shelters in Long Beach include the Samaritan House and Lydia House, operated by the Long Beach Rescue Mission, and Project Achieve and Elizabeth Anne Seton Residence, operated by Catholic Charities of Los Angeles.

Throughout the year, staff from the City of Long Beach Health and Human Services Department’s Homeless Services Division and its community partners canvass Long Beach daily, engaging people who are experiencing homelessness and offering emergency shelter, transportation, access to service providers and opportunities for housing. The city also leads the Long Beach Continuum of Care, which collaborates with multiple partners, including business and neighborhood associations, nonprofit and faith-based agencies, and medical and educational institutions to proactively address homelessness.

The Multi-Service Center, which serves as the coordinated entry for homeless services citywide, serves about 13,000 individual contacts per year, linking individuals to comprehensive services including shelter services, connection to mainstream benefits, mental health, medical care, employment, childcare, veteran benefits, housing linkage, prevention services and access to mail service and shower facilities.

The Multi-Service Center also serves as one of the primary access points to the Winter Shelter Program and facilitates shower services for shelter attendees.

The first phase of the Atlantic Avenue Bridge Housing Community, the city’s year-round shelter and permanent supportive housing community, is expected to open by June of 2020.

Long Beach Reads One Book Returns

Long Beach City College Foundation and Long Beach City College will bring actor and activist George Takei’s latest novel to the community

The popular Long Beach Reads One Book program has been revitalized after a six-year hiatus. The New York Times Bestselling graphic novel “They Called Us Enemy” by actor, author and social justice activist George Takei was selected to kick-off the reactivation of Long Beach Reads One Book. The months-long program will conclude with a huge community event with Takei at LBCC.

Founded in 2002, Long Beach Reads One Book is a community-focused cultural project designed to bring people together, foster community, and to raise the enjoyment of literacy by encouraging everyone in Long Beach to read the same book at the same time. The Long Beach Public Library Foundation organized this annual citywide effort until 2013.

“They Called Us Enemy” is a graphic memoir recounting Takei’s childhood imprisoned within American concentration camps during World War II and his firsthand account of those years behind barbed wire, the joys of childhood and the terrors of growing up under legalized racism, his mother’s hard choices, his father’s faith in democracy, and the way those experiences planted the seeds for his astonishing future.

“Ours is a people’s democracy with the capacity to do extraordinary good but we are also fallible human beings. There are still a shocking number of people who are unaware of the time during World War II when the U.S. Government robbed their own citizens of due process and wrongly locked families behind barbed wire because they were of Japanese descent,” said Takei.

“It greatly concerns me as I listen to the political rhetoric from some of our government officials today and realize that we still have not learned the lessons history taught us. I’m proud that we can use my graphic memoir as a way to engage and educate a huge number of people about the atrocities that our own government made so we never repeat the mistakes of the past,” he noted.

Over the next few months, residents are encouraged to read “They Called Us Enemy.” Takei’s book is available for purchase at Gatsby Books in Long Beach, major retail and online bookstores, and at both LBCC Viking Bookstores at the Liberal Arts Campus and Pacific Coast Campus. LBCC students can also borrow the book from the LBCC Libraries at both campuses where a limited number of books will also be available.

The return of Long Beach Reads One Book will close with a community book event with Takei at Long Beach City College on March 19, 2020.

Citywide “one book” programs began in Seattle in 1998 followed by Chicago in 2000. Long Beach is credited as the third major U.S. city to establish such a program. The first book chosen for the Long Beach project was “Tuesdays with Morrie” by Mitch Albom. The author came to Long Beach for a book discussion that was held at LBCC with more than 500 attendees, including many high school and college students.

Library Pilots Social Work Internship Program

To better meet the needs of patrons of the Long Beach Public Library (LBPL) who may be experiencing homelessness, mental illness or have substance use challenges, LBPL is partnering with the Department of Health and Human Services to explore models of integrating social work into its existing services.

With support from the Health Department’s Trauma and Resiliency-Informed Long Beach (TRI-LB) initiative, LBPL now has two Master’s in Social Work students from California State University Long Beach (CSULB) and the University of Southern California (USC) who are working as interns to connect LBPL patrons with social services including mental health care, legal support, food security benefits and housing resources.

“Our city’s libraries are vital to connecting communities, including our most vulnerable populations, to social work services that may lead to permanent housing or critical other services,” said Mayor Robert Garcia.

Integrating social work and libraries has been successful in other large urban public library systems. The primary role of the social work interns is to build trust with all library patrons and ultimately connect them to critical resources if needed. While the interns will not be providing individual case management, their clinical social work experience provides support within a welcoming environment to these individuals who may be in need of resources.

The social work interns are based at the Mark Twain Library and Billie Jean King Main Library. The pilot project is anticipated to end in May 2020. Upon completion of the pilot, project outcomes will be evaluated to determine the viability of a more comprehensive social work program at Long Beach Public Libraries.

LB Named Top Digital City

For the ninth consecutive year, the City of Long Beach has been named a Top 10 Digital City in a survey conducted by the Center for Digital Government, a national research and advisory institute focused on information technology policies and best practices in state and local government. Long Beach was recognized for its efforts to build modern technology infrastructure and efficient foundational systems; innovate to protect public safety using technology; and improve public engagement through open data and enhanced payment systems.

The designation was based on the city’s progress in implementing the vision to build a robust, cost-effective and fully integrated Smart Digital City,

New Dermatologist

Laser Skin Care Center Dermatology Associates has announced that the practice is expanding its team. Young Kwak, MD, a board-certified dermatologist and fellowship-trained mohs surgeon practicing general, surgical and cosmetic dermatology is now one of LSCC’s providers of seven physicians.

A member of several nationally-recognized groups, including the American Academy of Dermatology, American Society of Dermatologic Surgery, American College of Mohs Surgery, and the American Medical Association, Dr. Kwak is an experienced mohs micrographic surgeon specializing in dermatology, treatment of skin cancers, cutaneous reconstructive surgery, and more.

The founders of the practice – Dr. Bryna Kane and Dr. Edward Glassberg, who have provided dermatologic care for over 30 years – shared that the addition of Dr. Kwak is a reflection of the practice’s commitment to providing every patient with the highest level of care and access to the most qualified team of doctors. 

County Adds 61,700 Jobs

The seasonally adjusted unemployment rate in Los Angeles County remained unchanged over the month at 4.4 percent in October 2019 from a revised 4.4 percent in September 2019 and was below the rate of 4.7 percent one year ago. Civilian employment increased by 10,000 to 4,892,000 in October 2019, while unemployment increased by 2,000 to 227,000 over the month. The civilian labor force increased by 13,000 over the month to 5,120,000 in October 2019. (All of the above figures are seasonally adjusted.) The unadjusted unemployment rate for the county was 4.5 percent in October 2019.

The California seasonally adjusted unemployment rate was 3.9 percent in October 2019, 4.0 percent in September 2019, and 4.1 percent a year ago in October 2018. The comparable estimates for the nation were 3.6 percent in October 2019, 3.5 percent in September 2019, and 3.8 percent a year ago.

Between September 2019 and October 2019, total nonfarm employment in Los Angeles County increased by 38,100 to reach 4,615,300.

Government employment reported the largest month-over increase of any sector with an addition of 13,000 jobs. The gain for October was concentrated in local (up 8,400) and state (up 5,700) educational services. These additions were offset by declines in local government excluding educational services (down 1,400).

Educational and health services added 10,000 jobs, 62 percent of the additions were in private educational services (up 6,200). Health care and social assistance also contributed to this sectors month over growth (up 3,800).

Other industries posting month-over gains were: trade, transportation and utilities (up 6,700), leisure and hospitality (up 3,600), professional and business services (up 2,900), financial activities (up 2,100), construction (up 1,400), and other services (up 700).

Over the month Information lost 2,000 jobs. The bulk of the employment decline was concentrated in motion picture and sound recording (down 2,100).

Between October 2018 and October 2019, total nonfarm employment in Los Angeles County increased by 61,700 or 1.4 percent.

Educational and health services expanded by 34,600 jobs over the year. Health care and social assistance (up 30,200) accounted for 87 percent of the employment growth with the majority concentrated in social assistance (up 18,700). Educational services also contributed to the expansion (up 4,400).

Leisure and hospitality payrolls added 12,100 jobs. More than half of the expansion was in food services and drinking places (up 9,800). Construction grew by 9,700 jobs. Growth was spread across specialty trade contractors (up 5,700), construction of buildings (up 2,700), and heavy and civil engineering construction (up 1,300).

Other sectors recording year-over expansions were: professional and business services (up 7,900), manufacturing (up 4,200), trade, transportation and utilities (up 2,400), financial activities (up 1,100), government (up 1,000), and other services (up 200).

Information (down 11,500) was the only industry sector to post a job reduction. The bulk of the employment loss was concentrated in motion picture and sound recording (down 12,600).