The City Manager’s Report is a bi-weekly collection of events and news from city hall, put together by Nachbar and staff, to keep you updated on the latest from Fire and Police, Parks and Recreation, and our city council members.
City Council Members Sahli-Wells and Small Participate in USC Executive Education Forum
City Council Members Meghan Sahli-Wells and Thomas Small completed Executive Education Forum for Policy (EXED) for Local Leaders at the University of Southern California’s Sol Price School of Public Policy (USC Price) on March 4th and 5th. This program provides a balanced approach to learning in an academic setting. EXED is designed for Local Leaders to deepen their understanding of substantive policy issues, augment their ability to leverage and increase existing public sector capacity, and foster leadership — all with the purpose of improving public administration and solving public problems. EXED achieves this by bringing together world-renowned faculty of USC Price, experienced practitioners and a dynamic curriculum to teach and reach across boundaries. Council Members Small and Sahli-Wells are pictured above with their certificates!
City Council Member Eriksson Addresses Swedish Women’s Group
On March 8th, as part of International Women’s Day, Council Member Göran Eriksson spoke at the Los Angeles Chapter of the Swedish Women’s Educational Association International, Inc. about how to run for office, what a Council Member does and how a city like Culver City operates.
Culver City Celebrates the Opening of Innovative Parking Garage
On March 10th, Mayor Jim B. Clarke participated in the Ribbon Cutting for the new automated parking garage in the Helms Bakery District, located at 8758 Venice Boulevard. This project was constructed by AUTOParkit. To access the garage, drivers enter through a traditional garage door, turn off their car, and walk a few short steps to a kiosk where they activate the AUTOParkit System. Then the driver’s car is safely whisked away by an industrial, commercially adapted high tech system. There are no attendants required with an AUTOParkit System which is self-monitored with notifications on performance, sent electronically via email, text or automated call.
CicLAvia – Culver City Meets Venice presented by Metro
CicLAvia heads back to one of its fan-favorite routes for the first event of 2017! On March 26th, Culver City, Mar Vista, and Venice will host the country’s largest open streets event! Streets will be closed to cars and open for cyclists, pedestrians, runners and skaters to use as a recreational space. The CicLAvia press event will take place at 8:30 am at the intersection of Main Street and Culver Boulevard in Downtown Culver City. Join us and pick up your free commemorative “CicLAvia is for neighbors” button! There’s more information in this report about the route, and feel free to visit the CicLAvia website to learn more!
Fire Department
Daylight Saving Time and Smoke Alarm Testing
Change your clocks and test your smoke alarms this weekend. Daylight Saving Time begins Sunday, March 12th. The Culver City Fire Department recommends testing your smoke alarms around the time you set your clocks ahead and at least once per month. Please visit the Department’s web page at www.culvercity.org/fire to learn more about smoke alarm testing and other fire safety tips.
Captain’s Academy
Fire Chief David White participated in the 30th Annual Los Angeles Area Fire Chiefs Association (LAAFCA) Captain’s Academy as the main facilitator and presenter. The Academy, held during the week of February 27th, is intended for prospective and new fire captains from agencies throughout Los Angeles County. It provides attendees with the unique opportunity to hear directly from many different fire chiefs on a wide range of topics.
CERT Refresher Skills Training
The Culver City Community Emergency Response Team (CERT) will start Refresher Skills Training for Current CERT Members this Saturday at the Culver City Fire Department Training Facility. If you are interested in “refreshing” your CERT skills, there is still space available for this Saturday and subsequent Saturdays. Check out the Culver City CERT website for details.
Interested in beginning CERT classes? Two Basic CERT Training courses will be offered in June and October 2017.
Parks, Recreation and Community Services Department
Culver City Senior Center Pet Adoption Event
A special pet-adoption event, organized by Girl Scouts Melanie Marx and Hermela Amanuel of Troop 1615, took place at the Senior Center on February 20th. Seniors were able to pet and adopt dogs and cats and learn about the health benefits of pets. Melanie and Hermela are earning their Silver Award and planned this event with The Michaelson Found Animals Foundation and Adopt & Shop Culver City. KABC-TV Channel 7 stopped by to cover the event. Thank you to the staff and volunteers who helped make this fun event a success.
Culver City Senior Center Healthcare Instruction Workshop
The Senior Center, in partnership with UCLA Health, will present a workshop entitled “Communicating Your Healthcare Instructions,” on Wednesday, May 24th. Participants will learn how to communicate their health care instructions to family and friends, how to appoint someone as a surrogate decision maker and how to review health care decision-making documents. The events will take place from 1:30 pm – 3:00 pm. Reservations may be made by calling 800-516-5323. All informational workshops at the Senior Center are open to members of the public aged 50-plus.
Culver City Senior Center and Social Services Division Tax-Aide Assistance
The Culver City Senior and Social Services Division continues its partnership with the AARP Foundation Tax-Aide for another year, offering free tax aide to the local community. This partnership has been going strong for over 20 years in Culver City. The program provides free income tax preparation to low and moderate income taxpayers with special assistance to those aged 50-plus. AARP Foundation Tax-Aide is the nation’s largest volunteer-run tax assistance and preparation service, preparing tax returns and answering tax questions free of charge throughout the country. AARP Foundation Tax-Aide is offered in conjunction with the IRS. In 2016, AARP Foundation Tax-Aide prepared over 600 returns for Culver City area residents and is already fully booked for appointments for 2017. Thank you to the AARP Foundation Tax-Aide for this partnership!
The Plunge Welcomes a New Aquatics Coordinator
The Department of Parks, Recreation and Community Services is happy to announce the hiring of Jeannine Houchen as the new Aquatics Coordinator. Jeannine has been involved in Aquatics for over 25 years, beginning her career with the City of Santa Monica in 1992 where she began as a lifeguard and later became an Aquatics Site Supervisor in 2006. Jeannine’s duties at Culver City will include the day to day operations of the Culver City Municipal Plunge, recruitment, hiring, scheduling, certifying staff and managing payroll for a staff of nearly 60 Plunge employees. She inherits a group of outstanding aquatic professionals who continue to make The Plunge one of the top-rated municipal pools in Southern California.
Police Department
Culver City Centennial Screenland 5K
The Police Department played an important public safety role in the February 26 Screenland 5K event on February 26th. Additionally, Captain Agaiby, Lieutenant Dunlap and several members from the Police Department cheered on and supported Officer Ruben Silva who ran the Culver City Centennial Screenland 5K in full tactical uniform in memory of slain Whittier Police Officer Keith Boyer. Officer Silva displayed true esprit de corps for a fallen brother officer and did an excellent job of completing the race.
Funeral Services for Slain Whittier Police Officer Keith Boyer
On Friday, March 3rd, Chief Bixby, Assistant Chief Iizuka and numerous members of the Police Department attended the funeral services for slain Whittier Police Officer Keith Boyer. The 27 year veteran of the Whittier Police Department was fatally shot on February 20th by a lone gunman while responding to a traffic collision. The service was held at the Calvary Chapel in Downey and was attended by approximately 2,000 officers from all over California, as well as from across the country. Officer Boyer was laid to rest at Rose Hills Memorial Park in Whittier.
Public Works Department
Lighting Upgrades for City Facilities through SoCal Edison’s Direct Install Program
Through Southern California Edison’s Direct Install Program, several City facilities have qualified for lighting upgrades free of charge to the City. The upgrade will consist of replacing existing fluorescent lamps (28 watts/5,000 Kelvin) to more energy efficient LED lamps (13 watts/5,000 Kelvin). The work began on March 1st and is anticipated to be completed by Friday March 10th.
The qualified facilities include: Public Services Building, Transfer Station, Fire Training Facility, Municipal Plunge, Blanco Park, El Marino Park, Carlson Park, Culver West Park, Lindberg Park, Transportation, the Police Station, all Fire Stations including the E.O.C., Senior Center, Teen Center and Veteran’s Memorial Auditorium.
OES/FEMA Approves Hazard Mitigation Plan
The Governor’s Office of Emergency Services and the Federal Emergency Management Agency have approved the City/CCUSD Hazard Mitigation Plan (HMP). The next step is to have the City Council and CCUSD Board approve the HMP by Resolution at an upcoming meeting. Once adopted, the HMP will allow the City/CCUSD to apply for pre-disaster mitigation funding to implement projects contained in the HMP. For more information visit: www.culvercity.org/hazardmitigationplan
Transportation Department
CicLAvia Culver City Meets Venice – Special Culver CityBus Service
On Sunday, March 26th, Culver CityBus Line 1, 3 and 7 will run special detours to provide service for CicLAvia For more information about CicLAvia visit http://www.ciclavia.org/. For more information about Culver CityBus detours, please call 310-253-6500 or visit www.culvercitybus.com.
CicLAvia Route:
Transportation Department Safety Awards Banquet
On March 4, 2017, City Manager John Nachbar, Transportation Director Art Ida, Transit Operations Manager Samantha Blackshire, and Fleet Services and Facility Manager Paul Condran honored the Transit Operations and Fleet Services Division employees at the Safety Awards Banquet. The best of the best for 2016 were recognized for being in full compliance with all City and Divisional rules and regulations by maintaining an excellent safety record.
I-10/Robertson/National Circulation Improvement Project
Approximately 75 stakeholders attended the March 2nd public meeting at Hamilton High School hosted by the City of Culver City, in coordination with the City of Los Angeles and Caltrans. The meeting introduced the project and presented alternatives about ways to improve the I-10 Robertson/National freeway on/off-ramps and the connections to local streets, simplify traffic movements, reduce conflicts between vehicles, public transit, pedestrians and bicyclists, and minimize traffic impacts from the Culver City Expo Station and other new developments in the area. Throughout the project, the team will be gathering public input to understand key issues and guide recommendations. To learn more, visit: http://bit.do/I-10Robertson.
Civil Service Commission Recognition
On March 1st, at the regular Civil Service Commission meeting, Electronic Fleet Services Technician, Luis Herrera and Fleet Services Technician Jason Olivera were commended for their extremely dedicated work in performing the construction inspection requirements for 18 replacement buses to the Culver CityBus fleet. The inspections took place as the vehicles were being fabricated at the St. Cloud Minnesota facility. The Federal Transit Administration requires properties that purchase public transit buses to perform specification, production and quality control audits and on-line inspections for these vehicles. Fleet Services Manager, Paul Condran recommended that both Mr. Herrera and Mr. Olivera receive an outstanding merit award for their excellent work in performing the required inspections. Their combined time spent in Minnesota was about 60 days, and because of their experience in maintaining these highly, technically advanced vehicles, they saved the City time and money as the vehicles upon delivery required very little pre-in-service inspection time. We thank Luis and Jason for their dedication to the City.
Transportation Department DBE Goal Open for Comments
The Culver City Transportation Department has presented the Revised Overall Goal for Disadvantaged Business Enterprise (DBE) participation for Federal Fiscal Years 2017 – 2019 for DOT-assisted contracts through the Federal Transportation Administration. As a direct recipient of federal funds, the Transportation Department has developed its DBE Goal of 6.97% race neutrality. Written comments will be accepted until March 17, 2017 and should be addressed to: Jane Leonard, Sr. Management Analyst, Culver City Transportation Department, 4343 Duquesne Avenue, Culver City, CA 90232.
Sidewalk Closure
Since March 1st, sidewalk access has been closed due to Ivy Station Development Construction. The closure is anticipated to remain in effect until project completion in 2019. Bus stops located in these segments of the sidewalks will be relocated, and pedestrian access to the bus stops on Robertson Boulevard and Washington Boulevard will be impacted. Please find below the affected sidewalk area. Please call 310-253-6500 for more information or visit the Culver CityBus website.
• Eastbound Venice Boulevard sidewalk between Robertson Boulevard and National Boulevard; and,
• Southbound National Boulevard between Venice Boulevard and Washington Boulevard.
Culver City Station Parking Lot Closure and Alternative Parking
Metro’s Culver City Station parking lot (between Washington, National, and Venice Boulevards) officially closed on Monday, February 13, 2017 to make way for scheduled construction on the new development, Ivy Station. The construction for the development is scheduled to last 30 months, with anticipated completion in 2019. During the construction period, parking will be available for Metro riders at the nearby Ince Parking Garage (9099 Washington Blvd.) as an alternative parking option. Parking fees at the Ince Parking Garage will be $3/day for patrons with a recently used TAP card. In response to the parking lot closure, Culver CityBus has established two temporary bus stops near the Ince Parking Garage for Lines 1 and 7. Service for these new stops will began on Tuesday, February 14, 2017. Existing bus stops at Culver/Main will not be affected. Please call 310-253-6500 for more information or visit our website.
Limited Edition Centennial TAP Cards – While Supplies last!
Centennial TAP (Transit Access Pass) cards now available for $2 at either of our two physical sales locations. Come Visit us in person at our City Hall or Transportation offices. Cards only available while supplies last. Get yours today!
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