june 24-july 7, 2014 section a

June 24-July 7, 2014 lbbusinessjournal.com

HealthWiseLess MeansMore WithMinimallyInvasive SurgerySee Page 22

The College

Of Business

Administration

At CSULB

Int’l Collegiate Busine

ss

Strategy Competition

See Page 4

� By MICHAEL GOUGIS

Contributing Writer

L ed by the tech and IT sec-tors, California’s unemploy-

ment rate dropped to 7.6 percentin May, with the state generating340,200 new jobs in the past 12months and hovering on thethreshold of recovering all of thejobs lost since employmentpeaked in 2007, state economicofficials announced June 20.With rebounding entertainment

and construction employment andsolid growth in container traffic at

the ports, Los Angeles County’sunemployment rate dropped to aseasonally adjusted 8.2 percentfrom 10 percent a year ago,according to data released bythe California EmploymentDevelopment Department.Following on the news that as

of last month, the nation as awhole has recovered all of thejobs lost during the recession,local experts called the reportpositive and a reflection of steadyyear-to-year job growth in a widevariety of categories. “This is a very good report,” said

Dr. Robert Kleinhenz, chief econo-mist of the Los Angeles EconomicDevelopment Corporation.At the current rate of recovery

(Please Continue To Page 6)

Long Beach Business Journal2599 E. 28th Street, Suite 212Signal Hill, CA 90755-2139562/988-1222 • www.lbbusinessjournal.com

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OnlineHarassmentNew Study: MostOccurs ThroughFacebook� By SAMANTHA MEHLINGER

Staff Writer

O ne quarter of adults in theUnited States experience

online harassment, and the major-ity (57 percent) are women,according to the results of anearly June online survey titled“The Rise of Online Harassment.”

(Please Continue To 3)

PoliticalWireReviewing TheMayoral RaceAnd The Votes� By GEORGE ECONOMIDES

Publisher’s Perspective

C ontrary to what was previ-ously reported in another

local newspaper, Robert Garciadid not lose City CouncilDistricts 6, 7 and 8 to DamonDunn during the June 3 electionfor mayor, and the 6th District(primarily Central Long Beach)did not have the highest voterturnout. In fact, the 6th Districtonce again earned the distinctionof having the lowest turnout –less than 11 percent.The June 6 story in the Press-

Telegram claimed the 6th Districthad a turnout of 24.4 percent andcalled the district a “battle-ground” for the mayoral race, list-ing Dunn as having received2,501 votes with votes still to becounted. Actually, fewer than2,400 people voted in the dis-trict – for both candidates com-bined – with Garcia receivingnearly 54 percent of the vote.

Women In Business Profiles

Two of these women are new Long Beach entrepreneurs and two havebeen established in the city for years and are expanding their opera-tions. See their stories on Pages 15 and 16.

Jobs ReportState Economy Continues Rebound

PADNET Opens Satellite Office At WE Labs In Honor Of The Late Markus D. Manley PADNET, the Public Access Digital Network in Long Beach, has opened a satellite office in honor of Markus D. Manley, thefounder of WE Labs who unexpectedly passed away in March at age 39. The satellite office is located within WE Labs at 235

E. Broadway, 8th Floor. “WE Labs is a perfect fit fora PADNET satellite location as both organizations arecommitted to helping people manifest their creativevisions,” said Lisa Mastramico, PADNET’s director.“Markus was an amazing force in the Long Beachcommunity.” PADNET is a program of the Long BeachCommunity Action Partnership and, according to aspokesperson, “offers high quality media tools andtraining to empower residents to create local news,information and entertainment.” WE Labs, founded byManley in 2012, was envisioned by him to be a “col-laborative creative center for entrepreneurs, techies,artists and nonprofit organizers.” Pictured at the newsatellite office are, from left, Manley’s mother, MaryCharles; Robbie Brown, co-owner and co-founder ofWE Labs; and Mastramico. WE Labs may be reachedby calling 562/264-5883. (Photograph by theBusiness Journal’s Thomas McConville)

� By BRANDON FERGUSONStaff Writer

F ollowing runoff contests onJune 3, the two remaining

city council seats were filled with1st District Councilmember-electLena Gonzalez, current field

deputy for the district, and 5thDistrict Councilmember-electStacy Mungo, a Los AngelesCounty budget officer andreserve deputy sheriff. According to an unofficial

report by the city clerk’s office,Gonzalez beat candidate MisiTagaloa with 60.7 percent of thevote, while Mungo overcame astrong challenge by Carl Kemp,who garned significant endorse-ments from unions and formercity offiials. Mungo earned 54.5percent of the vote. Both incoming officials spoke

with the Business Journal abouttheir constituents’ concerns, cur-rent city issues and their plansfor office.

Lena Gonzalez Gonzalez, like most other

incoming city officials, saidcrime is a pressing issue facingher district. But she said some-thing else is on her constituents’minds: parking. “Parking isalways a concern,” Gonzalezsaid. “In downtown [LongBeach], it’s always the numberone thing.” She explained that during her

first 100 days in office, shewould like to explore solutionsto this perennial problem. “We’dlove to create some stronger[parking] policies. I think wehave some opportunities forparking permits in some areas

Councilmembers-electJune Runoff Winners Lena Gonzalez And Stacy Mungo Discuss Their Plans And Priorities

� By SAMANTHA MEHLINGER

Staff Writer

F or some real estate devel-opment companies, the

years of the Great Recessionappear to be behind them – itseems that nearly every monthbuilding plans are submitted tothe City of Long Beach for every-thing from industrial buildings,

medical offices, and new retailcenters to multi-family housingprojects. Here is a brief look atmany of the larger projects under-way or planned in the city.

Industrial And OfficeIndustrial developments in

Long Beach continue at Sares-Regis Group’s Pacific Pointedevelopments, which encompass

Development UpdateNew Commercial, ResidentialProjects Planned Across City




1_LBBJ_June24_SectionA_LBBJ MASTER LAYOUT 6/22/14 7:45 PM Page 1

INSIDE THIS ISSUE2 Long Beach Business Journal June 24-July 7, 2014

3 Newswatch7-Oil, Gas Tax Dies In Senate Committee10-Lucille’s Opening At 2nd/PCH Today, June 2410-San Pedro Artist Van Hamersveld Hired By Topaz11-State Revises Proposed Regs For Oil, Gas Well Stimulations12-International Trade News In Brief12-Downtown Harbor, Square Unveiled At L.A. Waterfront

15 Women In Business18 Election Results

18-City Attorney Parkin Doesn’t Skip A Beat18-PoliticalWire continued from Page 119-Councilmembers-elect continued from Page 1

20 In The News20-Long Beach Commercial Real Estate Council Luncheon20-Long Beach Area Chamber Of Commerce Annual Gala

22 PerspectiveRealty Views Shared Responsibility Mortgages – Can TheyWork? By Terry RossEffective Leadership Judging, Injustice, Collecting, GossipAnd Piling On By Mick UklejaHealthWise Less Means More With Minimally InvasiveSurgery By Les Edrich, M.D.Trade And Transportation Sustainable Freight By Tom O’BrienBusiness Law The Limits Of Protection Offered ByLiability Insurance By Tom Ramsey

Section BFocus On The Hospitality And Tourism Industryand semi-annual Meeting Sites Guide

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ooops!• A story announcing that Linda Drummond has beeninstalled as the new president of the Assistance League ofLong Beach incorrectly stated the group has an chiropracticcenter. It’s an in-house orthodontic center.• A photo/caption announcing the opening of Bridges ofHealing in Bixby Knolls showed the incorrect website. It’swww.BridgestoHealing.net.

1_LBBJ_June24_SectionA_LBBJ MASTER LAYOUT 6/23/14 5:28 PM

NEWSWATCHJune 24-July 7, 2014 Long Beach Business Journal 3

Assistant CityManager FrickLeaving For

Ketchum, Idaho� By BRANDON FERGUSONStaff Writer

Assistant CityM a n a g e rSuzanne Frickannounced onFriday that she isleaving the Cityof Long Beach toserve as CityAdministrator forKetchum, Idaho. Frick began her

career with LongBeach in April2005 as the city’sdirector of plan-ning and building

before being promoted to assistant citymanager in December 2007.She has spent more than two decades as a

public servant, including 22 years with theCity of Santa Monica, 11 of which sheserved as director of the planning and com-munity development department. “It is a very difficult decision for me to

leave Long Beach. But I have always had aspecial place in my heart for the City ofKetchum,” Frick said in a statement,adding, “My experience in Long Beach hasbeen nothing short of incredible, and I amconstantly impressed by the professional-ism, dedication and ability of City of LongBeach employees.”City Manager Patrick West expressed

sorrow at Frick’s departure. “We are losingone of the city’s very best today, but I wishSuzanne all the best as she pursues herdream. This city has benefited tremen-dously from Suzanne’s passion, dedicationand talent,” West said in a statement.According to a story by KMVT Channel

11 in Idaho, Frick was chosen from 84applicants. Her salary will be $160,000, farless than what she is being paid here.Ketchum is located east of the state capital,Boise, and south of Sun Valley.Frick’s final day will be August 1. West

said that he hopes to appoint her replace-ment before her last day with the city. �

Mayor-elect GarciaSets Up Website For Transition


As the new city council prepares to besworn in on July 15, Mayor-elect RobertGarcia continues to move forward with histransition efforts. According to a press releaseissued on June 19, Garcia launched a transi-tion team website providing links for peopleto apply for jobs in the mayor’s office and tosuggest city commission appointments. Garcia also plans to launch a mayoral

fellowship program, drawing from students

who attend Cal State Long Beach, LongBeach City College and other localschools. According to the transition teamwebsite, mayoral fellows take on a varietyof tasks including policy research and com-munity engagement.“I am committed to hiring a talented and

innovative team to work in the mayor’s officeand to recruit highly qualified commission-ers who love our city,” Garcia said in a state-ment. “I encourage anyone who is interestedto visit the website and inquire about ourjobs, fellowships and commissions.”On June 5, Garcia announced the forma-

tion of his transition team, a group of 17community members headed by attorneyand former mayoral candidate Doug Otto.The team makes suggestions for themayor’s staffing decisions and appoint-ments and has met to discuss the mayor-elect’s priorities, including economicdevelopment and open government. Formore information, visit the transition teamwebsite at www.robertgarcia.com. �

Long Beach City HallNews In Brief


Rapid Medic Deployment –An attemptat the June 10 city council meeting byCouncilmember Al Austin and three othercouncilmembers to delay implementation of


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NEWSWATCH4 Long Beach Business Journal June 24-July 7, 2014

the Rapid Medic Deployment model (RMD) was unsuccessful.Austin, along with Councilmembers Gerrie Schipske, PatrickO’Donnell and Steven Neal supported a motion calling for theRMD to be considered during the Fiscal Year (FY) 2015 budgetdiscussions. The RMD program replaces one firefighter-para-medic on each city ambulance with less expensive EMTs. Theremaining firefighter-paramedics are then to be moved toengine companies. Fire Chief Mike DuRee said the programsaves the department $1.4 million dollars, while union leaderssaid it puts sworn firefighters out of work. Speaking before thecouncil, Rex Pritchard, president of Long Beach FirefightersLocal 372, said that with no current budget shortfall, the pro-gram is unnecessary. “This was a solution to a budget deficit wehad two years ago that we no longer have today. The need tobring forward, when we’re on budget this year, and cut swornfirefighters at a time when we don’t have that need anymore, Ihope we take hesitation in that,” he said. Councilmembers SujaLowenthal, Gary DeLong, Dee Andrews and James Johnsonopposed Austin’s motion leading to its defeat. Currently, imple-mentation of the RMD program is scheduled for July 10.Council Considers Placing Fire Captain On Lifeguard

Vessels – The city council voted 8-0 at the June 10 meeting toreceive and file a letter from Fire Chief DuRee regarding hisplan to provide additional fire fighting training for lifeguards.His letter explained that lifeguards have been injured while bat-tling maritime fires and added that he plans to design an 80-hourcourse for lifeguards that goes beyond current training. DuReewrote that he plans to put a fire captain on Rescue Boat #2 dur-ing the training period to assist two lifeguards already assignedto the vessel. At the end of the training, the captain is removed.In another letter to the council, B. Chris Brewer, president of theUnited States Lifesaving Association, wrote that placing fire-fighters on lifeguard vessels is expensive and reduces the ves-sels’ capacities. “Lifeguards are recruited, screened and regu-larly tested for aquatic skills,” Brewster wrote, adding, “No fire-fighters are recruited for those skills. Modifying job duties foremployees recruited for separate skills creates substantial chal-lenges and limitations, including labor issues.”Council Approves Transfer Of Agreements From Oxy To

California Resources Corp. – On June 10, the city councilvoted 8-0 on multiple agenda items transferring agreementsfrom Occidental Petroleum Corporation (Oxy) to CaliforniaResources Corporation. Oxy is in the process of creating theCalifornia Resources Corporation, which is set to own all ofOxy’s existing Long Beach operations.Smart Gas Meters – On June 10, the city council voted 8-

0 authorizing City Manager Pat West to enter into agreementswith several companies responsible for supplying andinstalling smart gas meters at Long Beach and Signal Hillproperties. The agenda item also authorized West to enter intoa memorandum of understanding with Laborer’s InternationalUnion of North America Local 1309 to provide Long Beach-focused resident hiring and training for the project, known asthe Advanced Metering Infrastructure (AMI) project. Fundingfor the $22 million project comes from the city’s gas fund andfrom gas revenue bond issuance. Companies tapped to pro-vide services include Sensus USA Inc., Harris Utilities,Utility Partners of America and Utiliworks.Children’s Maritime Foundation – On June 10, the city

council authorized City Manager West to enter into a permitwith the Children’s Maritime Foundation (CMF) allowing theorganization to use docks and slips in Rainbow Harbor. TheCMF operates the tall ship American Pride, which is used forhistoric interpretation and environmental education tours. Thepermit allows for an “in-kind” credit program to offset CMF’sdock fees. The permit is granted for a five-year term with onetwo-year renewal option at the city manager’s discretion.City Awarded $924,000 For Park Restoration – Willow

Springs Park is slated for upgrades thanks to a $924,000 stategrant funded with Proposition 84 money. According to a June11 city press release, the money is earmarked to build trails,plant trees and re-establish native vegetation. In a statement,7th District Councilmember Johnson expressed excitement atthe project as it moves forward. “When complete, this parkwill be the largest park space developed in Long Beach sinceEl Dorado Park opened in 1952,” he explained. Proposition 84provides funding for community green areas that reduce

energy consumption, conserve water and improve air quality.In addition to new trails and foliage, the 12-acre WillowSprings Project also includes an outdoor classroom and a sys-tem of bioswales and ponding areas to divert storm water.City To Acquire Former Army Base –The city council voted

8-0 at its June 17 meeting to authorize City Manager West toaccept the transfer of the former U.S. Army Reserve Centerlocated at 3800 E. Willow St. The property, formerly known asSchroeder Hall, was declared surplus under the 2005 BaseRealignment and Closure Act provisions. The building is tohouse an east division police substation, and facility plansinclude locker rooms, showers and a gym. Fifth DistrictCouncilmember Schipske expressed appreciation for the citymanager’s efforts to acquire the building. “It’s going to save thecity a tremendous amount of money because we’re going to havean eastside police station where we don’t have to pay rent. I thinkit’s going to be a valuable asset for the community,” she said.Location Agreement Program –On June 17, the city coun-

cil voted 8-0 to authorize City Manager West to enter into a 20-year location agreement with Dion and Sons Inc., the masterdistributor for Shell Oil Products U.S. in Southern Californiathat provides fuel and lubricants to the ports of Long Beachand Los Angeles. City businesses that generate more than $50million annually can apply for the Location AgreementProgram (LAP), which allows the city to remit a negotiatedportion of the businesses’ generated sales tax for an agreed-upon period of time. In order for businesses to qualify for theLAP program, they must have a sales office in Long Beachand plans to consolidate other sales into their Long Beachlocation. Dion and Sons, which operates four additional distri-bution facilities around Southern California, has plans to con-solidate management and sales operations into its Long Beachheadquarters. Under the proposed agreement, Dion and Sonswould receive 65 percent of the annual sales tax only after thecity receives a base of sales tax equaling $490,000. In a letterto the mayor and city council, the department of financialmanagement said the city would benefit from increased rev-enue. “After consolidation of Dion and Sons sales, the city isexpected to receive significantly more revenue from Dion andSons than if no agreement was in place.”City Authorizes Purchase of $1.4 Million In Insurance

Policies – On June 17, the city council voted 8-0 to authorizeCity Manager West to purchase a series of insurance policiestotaling slightly more than $1.4 million in premiums. Thepolicies provide coverage for municipal liability, airport lia-bility and aircraft liability. The city’s casualty broker, Aon, isto purchase the policies.Animal Impound Agreement Extended – On June 17, the

city council voted 8-0 to extend its agreements between LongBeach’s Animal Care Services Bureau (ACS) and the cities ofCerritos, Los Alamitos, Seal Beach and Signal Hill to provideanimal impound services. The agreement is scheduled to lastfor two years, from July 1, 2014, through June 30, 2016. Thecompensation schedule for FY15 is expected to bring a total of$606,243 to the general fund. The FY16 compensation sched-ule adjusts according to the change reported in the Bureau ofLabor Statistics’ Consumer Price Index up to eight percent.Sections of 55th And Louise To Be Converted To One Way

Streets –Also on June 17, the city council voted 8-0 to approveconversion of 55th and Louise Streets between Linden Avenueand Long Beach Boulevard to one-way streets. The vote comesseveral years after a traffic study led to implementation of one-way traffic on 56th and Ellis Streets between Linden and LongBeach. Before voting on the item, 8th District CouncilmemberAustin urged support from fellow councilmembers. “We canreally improve traffic flow in a neighborhood that desperatelyneeds it,” he said. The estimated cost of labor and materials toinstall the traffic control is $10,000.Billboard Ordinance Adopted – Following a staff recom-

mendation, the city council voted 8-0 on July 17 to adopt anordinance regulating billboard advertising. Aimed at reducingblight, the ordinance implements a “cap-and-replace” pro-gram. This means that a company interested in creating a newelectronic billboard is required to take down eight existing,non-compliant billboards. Non-electric billboards require theremoval of six billboards. Companies who don’t have theinventory to meet take-down requirements are eligible tocome to different terms with the city, provided the companiescan prove it’s infeasible to meet the take down ratios. �

BA Hosts The 50thAnnual InternationalCollegiate BusinessStrategy Competition Three teams of undergraduate and graduate

business students brought home four trophies fromthe 50th Annual International Collegiate BusinessStrategy Competition. Participating teams ran a

virtual company in directcompetition against three tofour other teams over aperiod of five simulatedyears. During that time theyreviewed recent and histori-cal financial and operatingreports to make marketing,operating and financial deci-sions for both domestic andforeign operations. The competition involved

a remote phase of 10 weeksand a second, on-site phase which was held inAnaheim on April 24-26. A total of 33 teams from22 universities from the U.S., Canada, China, andEngland were divided into seven groups of four tofive teams (called “worlds”) as they vied for tophonors in two categories: Best Written Reports andBest Overall Performance. During the remote phase, students submitted a

Strategic Business Plan and made company deci-sions for three simulated years (12 fiscal quarters).Upon arriving in Anaheim for the intensive on-sitephase, the teams submitted an annual report of theirmost recent year of operations to the judges. Overthe next two days, they completed two more years (8quarters) of decisions and met with the judges twice,with the final meeting being a formal presentation. Judges are business executives with extensive

professional experience in strategic planning, mar-keting, product research and development, soft-ware development, mergers and acquisitions,investments, commercial real estate, banking, pub-lic accounting, among others. The judges servedas the companies’ “simulated” board of directorsand queried student managers about their companydecisions and performance. Participating in the competition allows students

to apply what they have learned in the classroom toa simulated real world in which they, as managers,are responsible for their company’s performance.According to Jared Fisher, an MBA participant,“The ICBSC placed me in a situation in which Isaw how different divisions of a business fittogether and how they affect the others.” Studentsalso appreciate the opportunity to network with stu-dents from other US and international universities.This was the fourth year that the College of

Business Administration has hosted the ICBSCwhich is the longest running, most comprehensivebusiness competition open to business students.(The College of Business Administration at Cal

State Long Beach is an AACSB accredited business

school that provides undergraduates and MBAs with

the knowledge and skills necessary to be successful in

their careers and to propel the economic development

of our region.) �

By Annette Lohman,Ph.D., AdministrativeDirector of the ICBSCand Faculty Advisor to CSULB Teams

City Hall News In Brief(Continued From Page 3)



(a 2.3 percent increase in jobs over the past12 months), the number of jobs inCalifornia will exceed its 2007 employ-ment peak in the next several weeks.And even allowing for a slower rate of

growth over the next six months, the statewill generate enough new jobs to drop theunemployment rate to about 7.2 percent,the figure at which most economistswould consider an indication of anexpanding economy.With nearly 15.5 million people employed,

California in May reported having only18,000 jobs less than it did in July 2007, andis second only to Texas in the number of newjobs generated in the last year.

While the unemployment rate still isn’tat the level economists say is typical of ahealthy and growing state and local econ-omy, it is worth noting that Kleinhenzsaid that employers – particularly thosewho need high-trained employees forhigher-paying jobs – actually are startingto report difficulties in filling positions inSouthern California, particularly in theaerospace sector.Los Angeles County has been generating

new jobs at a rate of about 2.0 percent peryear, although it has been lagging behindthe strong technology and IT sector that isbased in the Silicon Valley and the SanFrancisco Bay area.The county, which had 4,287,500 people

holding jobs at its pre-recession December2007 peak, reported 4,193,300 job-holders

in May, Kleinhenz said. The health care,administrative support and wait services,leisure and hospitality all reportedincreases, and construction employmentincreased by 8.1 percent, he said.This is significant in the context of a

hesitant real estate market, where “con-struction and real estate activity is some-

what uneven this year. The supply situa-tion continues to be quite lean. There’ssome concern about interest rates, eventhough they are still near historic lows,”Kleinhenz said.Even with concerns about the real estate

sector, construction jobs are growing in thecounty and in the state at a rate that out-strips the rest of the country, he added.“Even construction, in a sector that con-

tinues to cause us concern, is registeringsome of the biggest percentage gains in thecountry,” he said. And in Los AngelesCounty, he added, “We’ve seen some prettyhefty gains in construction employment.It’s still adding jobs at a faster clip than thenation as a whole.”Another local sector that has rebounded

is the entertainment industry, in particularthe motion picture and sound recordingindustry, which is centered in SouthernCalifornia. At this time last year, Californiahad 31 percent of the nation’s jobs in thosetwo sectors; this year, that number hasgrown to 40 percent.The increase in container traffic at the

ports of Long Beach and Los Angeles isindicative of the improving employmentenvironment. Statewide increases intransportation and warehousing arelinked to the approximately 5.0 percentincrease in container volume at the ports.While California has lost some high-pro-

file corporate headquarters in recent

businessmadepersonal

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Jobs Report“There are more positive signs today by

far than there were. Even still, the level of

confidence isn’t where we’d like it to be.”

Robert A. Kleinhenz, Ph.D.Chief Economist

Los Angeles Economic Development Corporation

A Historical Look At The Long BeachUnemployment Rate

May of each year except for 2014 since data by city

has not been released

Year Rate2014 (April) 8.4%

2013 10.2%

2012 11.9%

2011 13.0%

2010 13.4%

2009 12.2%

2008 7.4%

2007 5.0%

2006 5.2%

2005 5.8%

2004 7.2%

2003 7.4%

2002 7.4%

2001 5.4%

2000 6.0%Source: California EmploymentDevelopment Department



months, Kleinhenz pointed out that thoseactivities are “nameplates,” compared tothe overall economy, and those companiesstill rely on a vast array of subcontractorsthat are based in California and in SouthernCalifornia in particular.The aerospace sector, he said, is actu-

ally looking for engineers to fill high-paying jobs, largely in private aviationand areas like the development of dronetechnology. And at least some of thereduction in aerospace headcount, hesaid, can be attributed to improvements inthe technology of production and manu-facturing that have eliminated the needfor employees.“We have a pretty vibrant aerospace

industry here in 2014,” Kleinhenz noted.For Southern California, economists feel

that an unemployment rate of about 7.4percent indicates a healthy and growingeconomy, so there is more work to do ingenerating new jobs, he said. Statewide, economic weaknesses include

an over-reliance on part-time employeeswho want full-time work. However,Kleinhenz said recent data showing adownturn in U.S. worker productivity his-torically has been followed by an upturn infull-time employment figures, as full-timeworkers are more productive than part-timers. Kleinhenz said he expected the per-centage of full-time workers to increaseover the next 12 months.And there still is a lack of confidence in

the overall economy, Kleinhenz said.“There are more positive signs today

by far than there were. Even still, thelevel of confidence isn’t where we’d likeit to be,” he said.In the past 12 months, employment

increases were reported in the followingsectors statewide, according to state EDDdata:• Mining and logging;• Manufacturing;• Trade, transportation and utilities;• Information;• Professional and business services;• Educational and health services;• Leisure and hospitality;• Other services; and• Government.The increases took place in two pay

regions, Kleinhenz said – entry-level posi-tions and higher-skill levels. Those are jobsthat typically require a bachelor’s degree orhigher level of education.Overall, those nine sectors added

356,400 jobs from May 2013 to May 2014,the data shows.Two sectors – manufacturing and finan-

cial activities – posted losses of 16,200jobs over the past 12 months, EDD dataindicated.According to non-seasonally adjusted

data, Marin County posted the lowestunemployment rate in the state at 3.8 per-cent, with Imperial County posting thehighest at 21.1 percent. In SouthernCalifornia, Orange County posted a 4.9percent unemployment rate, Riverside andSan Bernardino counties registered an 8.0unemployment rate (as did Los AngelesCounty, compared to its seasonally-adjusted rate). Ventura County showed a5.9 percent unemployment rate, SanDiego County 5.8 percent, and KernCounty 10.1 percent. �

Oil, Gas Tax Dies InSenate CommitteeReferred To As A ‘Killer Bill’By California Chamber


Staff Writer

A state assembly bill that would haveimposed a severance tax on oil and gasoperators for the privilege of extracting oiland gas resources in California failedwhen it was held in the State SenateAppropriations Committee on May 23. The California Chamber of Commerce

labeled Senate Bill (SB) 1017 a job

killer due to the increased costs it wouldhave imposed on the oil and gas indus-try, amounting to a 9.5 percent tax on theaverage price per barrel of oil and a 3.5percent tax on the average price per unitof gas. “We hope the reason SB 1017 was held

in committee is due to the fact that legis-lators understand the bill would have costjobs and hurt our economy,” JenniferBarrera, CalChamber policy advocate,told the Business Journal via e-mail.Before the bill failed, local oil industry

professionals told the Business Journalthe it would have negatively impactedtheir business by increasing productioncosts and reducing hiring capabilities.The Western States PetroleumAssociation, which represents many large

oil companies in California, opposed thebill as well.The bill’s author, State Sen. Noreen

Evans, has authored similar legislationnearly early year for the past several yearsto impose taxes on the oil and gas industryto fund education. She told the BusinessJournal last month that oil and gas opera-tors’ concerns about the bill were mostly“red herrings.”“The proponents of the oil tax bill that

was submitted in Sacramento this year aredeliberately misrepresenting theCalifornia situation on taxation on oil,”said David Slater, COO and executive vicepresident of Signal Hill Petroleum. Slaterpointed out that there is already a state taxon oil production in California called anad valorem (property) tax. �



Douglas Park and other land adjacent to theLong Beach Airport. In terms of squarefootage, new industrial and office develop-ments in this area make up the city’s largestcommercial developments.On June 4, Mercedes-Benz USA

(MBUSA) began construction on its newWest Coast regional facility on a one mil-

lion square foot property, located on the52.2-acre lot that used to house the Boeing717 commercial aircraft manufacturingfacility. The company signed a 15-yearlease with Sares-Regis, and the property’splans include a Vehicle Preparation Center(VPC) for automobiles shipped into thePort of Long Beach and MBUSA’sLearning & Performance Offices, accord-ing to a company statement. Mercedes Strategic VPC Operations

Manager Ted Boudalis estimated the com-pany’s new facility would be operational inthe first quarter of 2015.Across the street from the Mercedes-

Benz’s project, on the southeast corner ofLakewood Boulevard and Conant Street,Sares-Regis Group plans to develop a newindustrial project called Pacific PointeEast. Plans submitted to the Long BeachPlanning Commission call for three indus-trial buildings “intended for light indus-trial, light manufacturing, warehouse,office and/or research and developmentland uses.” Building sizes are 118,000square feet, 144,000 square feet and232,000 square feet.Amy Bodek, director of Long Beach

Development Services, said the develop-ment’s environmental impact report hasbeen certified and the city has approved siteplans. Sares-Regis may now either con-struct the buildings to suit specific tenantsor “build out the core and shell for thebuildings and then find tenants to move inand do tenant improvements later,” she said. “With the success of the first two phases

of Pacific Pointe, we hope to continue toinvest in the City of Long Beach anddevelop another quality projects attractingnew companies to the thriving Long Beacharea,” Zoe Solsby, director of corporatecommunications for Sares-Regis, told theBusiness Journal.On the west side of Lakewood

Boulevard, commercial property develop-ment continues at Douglas Park, where twomedical office buildings are under con-struction. Two local medical groups pur-chased the buildings, which measure38,000 square feet and 52,000 square feet.Developer Urbana Development, LLC esti-mated the buildings should be completedby December. “We are anticipating the firsttenants being in there and open for busi-nesses in January,” said Richard Lewis,managing member of Urbana.Also within Douglas Park, CBRE, Inc.

recently sold a 3.5-acre parcel of land toShimadzu Precision Instruments, a com-pany specializing in medical and aerospaceinstruments. Shimadzu constructing a55,000-square-foot building and relocatingfrom Torrance.

RetailWestside Long Beach may soon be

home to a new retail development. In earlyJune, the California State University, LongBeach (CSULB) Research Foundationbrought to the planning commission anenvironmental impact report and site plansfor demolishing buildings on a 9.88-acreparcel at its Technology Park and replacingthem with a new 122,500 square-foot retailbuilding. Plans indicate one or two tenantsmay occupy the building. “The intent of this project is to expand

retail shopping opportunities in WestLong Beach,” according to a city staffreport. It would also generate about 250on-site jobs, the report stated. MoTidemanis, director of property develop-ment for the CSULB ResearchFoundation, told the Business Journal hecould not yet share details about potentialtenants or a construction timeline.In East Long Beach, the environmental

impact report (EIR) process continues fora retail development by Taki Sun, Inc.called Shoppes At 2nd + PCH, located atthe site of the SeaPort Marina Hotel. “TheNotice of Preparation for the new draftEIR was circulated, and the time framefor initial comment on the scope of thedraft EIR closed in mid April,” Bodeksaid. She estimated a draft EIR would beavailable for public comment by late sum-mer or early fall. Conceptual plansinclude retail, office and restaurant usesas well as a movie theater.At Marina Pacifica, which is located

just across 2nd Street from the plannedShoppes At 2nd + PCH, a retailer maysoon replace the big box vacancy left byLoehmann’s departure in January afterthe chain filed for bankruptcy. MitchellHernandez, the CBRE, Inc. associatehandling leasing for the property, told theBusiness Journal that the location attractsan “endless amount of interest,” adding,“Ownership is negotiating with severalparties.” He said an agreement should befinalized within 90 days.

Multi-FamilySeveral multi-family developments are

underway across Downtown Long Beach.

The Downtown Long Beach Associates (DLBA), a nonprofit organization overseeing downtown’s business improvement district, recently held an informational cocktail mixer for real estate brokers about creativeoffice space development opportunities in the downtown area. DLBA staff showed brokers and potential tenants renderings of ongoing and proposed creative office space projects in Downtown Long Beach inthe hopes of attracting further investment. Guests enjoyed drinks on a rooftop beer garden at Pine Avenue’s latest restaurant, BO-beau kitchen+rooftap. The speakers in the foreground are Toliver Morris (left),DLBA economic development committee member and leasing manager of Landmark Square, and Kraig Kojian (right), DLBA president and CEO. (Photograph by the Business Journal’s Thomas McConville)


Development Update


The majority still need f inal cityapproval, according to Bodek, includingthe 222-unit project at 245 W. Broadwayand two new adaptive reuse projects thatwould convert the former SecurityNational Pacific Bank building at 110Pine Ave. and the Ocean Center buildingat 110 W. Ocean Blvd. into apartments.Construction has started on other

multi-family projects, including the adap-tive reuse of the former City Hall Eastinto a 156-unit mixed-use residential andretail project called Edison Lofts. At 707E. Ocean Blvd., a building has beendemolished to make way for The Current,the first of two luxury rental towers.“They are in the process of mobilizingtheir contractor and we expect them tobreak ground in the next couple ofmonths,” Bodek said of the developers.Slightly further inland, Urban Village, a

mixed-use development with 129 market-rate apartments at 1081 Long BeachBlvd., is scheduled for completion inAugust. In May, developers Urban Pacific

Multi-Housing LLC and Pacific PartnersResidential announced another multi-family development in downtown. The30-loft building at 6th Street and ElmAvenue is being built over groundworklaid for a previous development thatnever moved forward. “That gets rid ofwhat was a blighted construction site. Itadds new investment in that area of down-town,” Bodek said. “They are finalizingtheir building plans and will be startingconstruction very soon; I’d say probablyin the next six weeks,” she added.Lennar Multifamily Communities has

proposed another multi-family project onOcean Boulevard at a site it has owned

since around 2007 or 2008, according toBodek and Ryan Gatchalian, Lennar’spresident of Southern Californiaurban/multi-family development.“Originally it was going to be condos.During the recession we put it on ice forawhile, and now we’re redesigning it andbringing it back as apartments,”Gatchalian explained. Lennar has submitted preliminary plans

for the property at 150 W. Ocean Blvd. tothe city, Bodek said. Gatchalian saidplans include 216 apartments availablefor lease and “typical apartment ameni-ties” such as a pool and clubhouse.Lennar is partnering with IntergulfDevelopment Group on the project.“We’re hoping to start [construction] inspring of next year,” he said.After a modified project design for a

hotel and residential development at the

site of the Beach Plaza Hotel on OceanBoulevard was denied by the CaliforniaCoastal Commission in April, developerSilversands Properties USA is movingforward with previously entitled plans.The design by local architectural firmStudio One Eleven includes 40 hotelrooms and 56 residences. MikeMurchison, a representative forSilversands, said the developer is meetingwith city staff over the next several weeksto review approved entitlements and pre-pare to submit a demolition permit for theexisting hotel onsite. “Assuming all goes well with the city

process, we will start with demolition inthe next several months following appro-priate submittals and the constructionwill commence shortly after that,”Murchison said. He estimated construc-tion may start in late fall. �

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www.longbeach.gov/purchasing

www.longbeach.gov/pw/towing/auction.asp

HUD Section 3 ProgramThe City of Long Beach Section 3 Program provides economic and employment

opportunities to low-income residents and businesses. More information is located on the City’s Purchasing website.

Bidder RegistrationRegister with the City of Long Beach at www.longbeach.gov/purchasing to receive noti�cations of bid opportunities. Additional details on upcoming

bids and how to register can be found on the website.

Small Business Enterprise ProgramTake advantage of the City of Long Beach Small Business Enterprise (SBE) Program. To learn more about becoming a part of the SBE Program and

certi�cation process, visit the City’s Purchasing website.

Solar Power Purchase Agreement RFP PW 14-054 7/30/14Rehab of Access to Taxiways R-6957 7/23/14 Shoemaker Bridge Replacement RFQ PW 14-033 7/17/14Improvement of Magnolia R-6971 6/25/14

Topaz In San Pedro Incorporates Local Art At Its Rebranded Office TowerSan Pedro artist John Van Hamersveld, well known for his Endless Summer poster of 50 years ago, hasbeen selected to develop a special installation as part of a curated arts program for Topaz, an 11-story,292,540-square-foot office tower at 222 W. 6th St. on the San Pedro Waterfront. According to a state-ment, the art program, named TopazArts, is being commissioned and curated by building owner JupiterHoldings “to enhance the work environment and experience for tenants and visitors alike.” A Jupiterspokesperson said the company is “dedicated to supporting the local arts community and is workingclosely with the San Pedro Art Association on securing additional art exhibits at the property from otherlocal artists.” Van Hamersveld’s piece will be a 10-foot by 20-foot art installation that is a new additionto his “Waterworks” Collection. It will be featured in the building’s lobby. Hamersveld has designed morethan 300 famous album covers including the Beatles’ Magical Mystery Tour and the Rolling Stones’ ExileOn Main Street, to the classic posters for Jimi Hendrix, Eric Clapton, and the Pinnacle Dance Concerts.In addition, he has designed corporate logos including Fatburger and Contempo Casuals, as well as theofficial poster & 360-foot-long mural for the 1984 LA Olympic Games. Jupiter Holdings LLC, based inNewport Beach, was founded by Ed St. Geme in 1997. “We are trying to help create the ‘next wave’in San Pedro and this piece will be representative of that,” said St. Geme. “It’s a great way to add anartistic element to our multi-million dollar capital improvement program.” (Photo provided by Topaz)

Lucille’s Smokehouse Bar-B-Que Opening At2nd/PCH Today, June 24Craig Hofman, president of the HofmanHospitality Group (HHG) based in Signal Hill,points to the signature picture for his FlyingPig Lounge located within his popular Lucille’sSmokehouse Bar-B-Que restaurants spreadthroughout California, with two in Nevadaand one in Tempe, Arizona. Today, June 24,Hofman is opening his latest Lucille’s at 6257E. 2nd St., previously home to a Hof’s Hut,also owned by HHG. At the same time, heclosed the Lucille’s located on 2nd Street inBelmont Shore. The first of 19 Lucille’s openedin 1999 at Long Beach Towne Center. Thenew Lucille’s at 2nd Street and Pacific CoastHighway is open daily for lunch and dinner.Online orders and reservations are acceptedat lucillesbbq.com or call 562/434-7427.Pictured June 19 are employees and otherworkers putting the finishing touches on thenew Lucille’s (Photographs by the BusinessJournal’s Thomas McConville)



State RevisesProposed RegulationsFor Oil And Gas Well

StimulationsPublic Meeting In

Long Beach On July 17


Staff Writer

The California Department ofConservation released revised proposedregulations for well stimulation treat-

ments used in oil and gas production onJune 13. The revised regulations addmore detailed requirements related toreporting seismic activity near stimulatedwells, neighbor notification of well treat-ments, permit applications for well treat-ments and oil and gas operators’ publicdisclosure notifications of well stimula-tion treatments.Senate Bill 4, signed into law by Gov.

Jerry Brown last September, mandatedthe creation of notification requirementsfor oil and gas operators using well stim-ulation treatments to increase rock forma-tion permeability. The revised regulationsare now in a 45-day comment period,which closes on July 28, and go into

effect on January 1, 2015. The CaliforniaDepartment of Conservation is hosting apublic meeting on July 17 from 4-7 p.m.at the Long Beach Convention &Entertainment Center, 300 E. OceanBlvd., where oral comments on the regu-lations are accepted.The revised regulations address a con-

cern oil and gas industry professionalsexpressed to the Business Journal last fallwhen the proposed regulations were firstreleased. They noted acid stimulation treatments

are often used to simply clean out wellbores rather than loosen natural resourcesin the earth for extraction. The revisionsaddress this issue by including a differen-

tiation between well stimulation treat-ments and treatments used for “routinewell cleanout work.” A calculated acidvolume threshold was also altered tomore accurately reflect the acid concen-trations used in well stimulation treat-ments as opposed to routine cleanouts.Revised notification regulations would

require oil and gas operators conductingwell stimulation treatments to notifyneighbors in English and Spanish. Thesenotifications, among other topics, letneighboring individuals know about theirright to request water well testing beforeand after oil and gas well stimulations.Another change relates to tracking seis-




International TradeNews In Brief


Staff Writer

Port Of Long Beach Named World’sGreenest Port – The Port of Long Beach(POLB) was recognized as the world’s“Best Green Seaport” thanks to a poll of

freight transportation service professionalsconducted by Cargonews Asia, a shippingtrade publication. The port received thehonor at the 28th Annual Asian Freight &Supply Chain Awards in Shanghai on June17. Long Beach Board of HarborCommissioners President DougDrummond called the designation “anhonor.” According to a press release fromPOLB, the award is given to ports that meetcertain environmentally-friendly require-ments: “demonstrated compliance with

green freight transport regulations andenvironmental standards; investment ingreen initiatives, technology and actionplans; incorporation of environmentalrequirements in strategic planning; use ofpolicy on reducing fuel emissions fromfreight handling operations; and ongoingtraining of staff in green initiatives and inmeasures to lower carbon footprints.” Overthe past 10 years, the port has implementedvarious green programs, including itsClean Trucks, Green Flag Vessel SpeedReduction and Technology Advancementprogram. “The Port of Long Beach hasmade great strides in reducing air pollutionand improving water quality, and we arecommitted to doing even more,”Drummond said in a statement.POLB Cargo Volumes Increase – The

Port of Long Beach’s cargo container vol-umes increased by 2.7 percent from May of2013 to the same month this year, the portannounced on June 16. With almost599,509 twenty-foot equivalent unit (TEU)containers coming through the port, thiswas the busiest May for POLB since 2007.Imported containers increased by 2.3 per-cent from last May, while exports experi-enced a slight 0.3 decrease. Empty contain-ers made up the largest increase, with a 7.1percent bump to 140,368 TEUs, accordingto the port. In the past five months, totalcontainer traffic has increased 1.3 percentover the same period last year.Port of Los Angeles Cargo Volumes

Increase – From May 2013 to the samemonth this year, total container trafficthrough the Port of Los Angeles (POLA)increased by 8.2 percent, the portannounced on June 16. In total, 689,141TEUs of cargo traveled through POLA inMay. Imports increased by 7.75 percentfrom May of last year and exportsincreased 2.3 percent. Empty containersrepresented the largest increase in con-tainer traffic at 15 percent. Overall con-tainer traffic at POLA increased 8.2 per-cent in the first five months of 2014 com-pared with the same period the prior year.

POLB Harbor Commission SupportsBusiness-Friendly Incentives – At theJune 13 Long Beach Board of HarborCommissioners meeting, the board gaveinitial consent to two incentives meant toattract business to the port. Through onepolicy, the Port of Long Beach would granta $5 per container unit award to shippinglines for each loaded container they bringto Long Beach and ship via on-dock rail.Not only does this policy use a monetaryincentive to encourage shippers to bringcargo to the port, it also encourages themto use rail to ship goods, which eliminatessome truck trips on local roads, accordingto a port statement. Through another incen-tive, the port would waive dockage fees tocargo ships that slow down and plug intoon-shore power or use other “approved pol-lution cutting technology at berth,” aPOLB press release stated. This policyencourages the use of cleaner power withthe goal of reducing air pollution caused byships in the POLB harbor. By implement-ing these incentives, the port would lose$3.3 million to $4.9 million per year, but byattracting new business the policies shouldoffset the loss, port staff estimated in astatement. The harbor commission wasscheduled to cast final votes on these itemsat yesterday’s (June 23) meeting.POLB Launches Customer Website –

The Port of Long Beach announced thelaunch of its new Customer Portal website onJune 16, created in a partnership with Ignify,Inc. Any port customer with a valid e-mailaddress may use the portal, which providesaccess to payment history, invoices, leaseterms and other documents in one onlinelocation. The system allows customers toprint invoices and pay them online withoutadditional charges. Security features on thewebsite allow users to customize and restrictemployee access. To request use of the site,send an e-mail to [email protected] with thesubject line “Customer Portal AccessRequest,” and include your name, companyname and telephone number. �

Downtown HarborAnd SquareUnveiled At L.A.Waterfront On the morning of June 20, the Portof Los Angeles unveiled the newDowntown Harbor and Town Squareat the L.A. Waterfront on HarborBoulevard in San Pedro, between 5thand 6th Streets. The plaza and har-bor, pictured, are adjacent to PortsO’Call Village and the World CruiseCenter. The harbor, converted from aparking lot, encompasses 1.2 acresof waterfront between Fire Station112 and the Los Angeles MaritimeMuseum and now provides free four-hour dockage for recreational boats.The plaza features decorative LEDlights, palm trees, an amphitheater,items from the Maritime Museum andart deco pathway bollards along thewaterline. A public art installationcalled “The Ship Chandler” by MarkDion is also located in the plaza. In astatement, Los AngelesCouncilmember Joe Buscaino, whosedistrict includes San Pedro, said theproject was completed on time andcame in $4 million under budget. The project started in March 2012 with a $32 million budget. L.A. Harbor Commission President Vilma Martinez said in a statement, “The completion of DowntownHarbor is a major step as we continue to enhance the L.A. Waterfront experience for residents and visitors.” (Photograph provided by the Port of Los Angeles)

mic activity – under the proposed rules,oil and gas operators would have to mon-itor the California Integrated SeismicNetwork for earthquakes of magnitude2.0 or greater within a five-mile radius of“five times the anticipated fracture lengthfrom each point of fracture” afteremploying hydraulic fracturing. Thisprocess, commonly known as “fracking,”involves pumping water, sand and otherchemicals into rock at high pressure tocrack the rock formation, allowing easieraccess to oil and gas.The earthquake-related regulations

were included due to concerns that frack-ing may cause seismic activity. A Januaryreport on the U.S. Geological Survey’s(USGS) website explained that the “num-ber of earthquakes has increased dramati-cally over the past few years” in areas ofthe United States where fracking and theinjection of wastewater – a byproduct ofoil and gas production – deep into theearth have become common. However,the report noted, “USGS’s studies suggestthat the actual hydraulic fracturingprocess is only very rarely the directcause of felt earthquakes.” Wastewaterinjections, however, have been shown toinduce earthquakes, the report stated.Following the release of the revised

regulations, Western States PetroleumAssociation (WSPA) President Catherine

Reheis-Boyd issued a statement in sup-port of the drafted revisions. “California is continuing down the path

towards a comprehensive and robust set ofregulations that will protect the state’s envi-ronment while ensuring hydraulic fractur-ing can be conducted safely and with greatefficiency,” she stated. WSPA representedmany oil and gas companies in Californiaand other western states. Reheis-Boydadded that WSPA continues to review theupdated draft, but so far finds “it appears tobe in line with the Department ofConservation’s and the Department of Oil,Gas and Geothermal Resources’ commit-ment to transparency and collaborationwith the industry and public.”Department of Conservation Chief

Deputy Director Jason Marshall told pressin a follow-up to a media conference callon June 17 that of the 150,000 commentsreceived in the comment period for theoriginally proposed well stimulation regu-lations, the oil and gas industry’s com-ments “expressed support for the depart-ment’s pragmatic and balanced approach tothis rulemaking.” He added that their com-ments “tended to be technical in nature.”As a result, “The department made someadjustments to definitions and criteria inthe proposed regulations to provide indus-try with flexibility on some technicalrequirements and to minimize delays,”Marshall said. �


Oil And Gas Well Regulations Revised By State



Lincoln Park Strategies, Rad Campaignand the blog craigconnects sponsored thenationwide survey of 1,007 individuals. Most online harassment occurs through

Facebook, according to the survey – 62percent of those harassed said they werevictimized on the popular social media site.Facebook had nearly a 40 percent lead overthe second highest source of online harass-ment, Twitter. Six other social media plat-forms were cited as forums where harass-ment occurs online, as was e-mail. Sexualharassment was the most common type ofweb-based harassment reported.Since women experience the most online

harassment, businesswomen might alsowant to take note of the second most com-mon type of harassment on the web – slursabout professional character and ability.Twenty-eight percent of people who expe-rienced online harassment said it fit thiscategory. Allyson Kapin, partner and co-founder

of Rad Campaign, a firm providing web

management and online marketing to non-profit organizations, was one of the mindsbehind the survey. “I had an interest in conducting the poll

because I was personally seeing a rise inonline harassment when it came to peoplein my community, who were women intechnology and journalists,” she told theBusiness Journal by phone fromWashington, D.C. Kapin is also the founderof Women Who Tech, a project connectingwomen in technology across the globethrough online summits and panels. Active social media users may have

noticed increased discussion of online andface-to-face harassment of women after ayoung man who had posted YouTube dia-tribes against women went on a shootingrampage in Isla Vista, killing six people. Theevent sparked a social media outcry in whichusers on platforms such as Twitter andInstagram used the hashtag #yesallwomen todiscuss the harassment and mistreatment ofwomen. The discussion went viral and waswidely covered by national media when itgenerated more than one million tweets.


Online Harassment




The survey also provides data on thetype of harassment both women and menare experiencing – information whichKapin said has been largely unavailableuntil now. When she began her research, she real-

ized more data was available about onlinebullying of children and hardly any datahad been collected on online harassmentof adults. “There has been very littleresearch done on online harassment. Ithink our [survey] is probably one of themost extensive polls that has been doneabout this in recent years,” she said.Stefan Hankin, president of Lincoln

Park Strategies, who spoke from D.C.with Kapin, noted the same lack of onlineharassment research. “Let’s start havingthis conversation around some actual dataand not guess what is happening,” he saidof the impetus for the survey.Other key findings in the report, avail-

able online at www.onlineharassment-data.org, were that 67 percent of thoseharassed knew their harasser, 52 percentof women and 40 percent of men underthe age of 35 reported some harassmentand of those who know someone who hadbeen personally harassed, 65 percentknew a woman who had been harassed.The report also examined the prevalenceof online harassment across racial groupsand political parties.“We wanted to raise the public profile

of online harassment,” Kapin said. “It isdestroying people’s lives, not just emo-tionally but professionally as well,because [other] people are witnessing this[harassment] online in a very public way,”she explained. “It is happening on theirFacebook and Twitter profiles, which arevery public to friends and colleagues atcompanies.”Of those who reported experiencing

online harassment, 38 percent reported ithurt self-esteem, 29 percent were fearfulfor their lives, 20 percent reported beingafraid to leave their homes and another 20percent were concerned about implica-tions for their careers. Hankin noted thepercentages in the survey do not add up to100 percent because respondents wereallowed to respond with multiple answersto each question.Because 62 percent of web-based

harassment occurs on Facebook, theBusiness Journal reached out to the com-pany for comment. Matt Steinfeld, aFacebook communications manager,pointed out, “If you took any 1,000 peo-ple in a room, a larger proportion arelikely using Facebook” than other socialmedia platforms. He wondered if the sur-vey’s results reflected this likelihood.“We ran linear regressions of Facebook

usage and the amount of time people havespent on Facebook. We found there wasno correlation,” Hankin said. Linearregressions are equations measuring therelationship between variables. Kapinpointed out that if Steinfeld’s logic was

sound, e-mail should have come out asthe top mode of harassment because peo-ple use it more than Facebook. Yet, e-mailcame in as the third most-reported modeof online harassment.“I wouldn’t want anyone to take the

numbers and say it’s all Facebook’s fault,”Hankin stressed. ‘But, clearly, since mostof this is happening on Facebook, I wouldargue it has a high level of responsibilityto try to be on top of this.”Sgt. Patrick O’Dowd, head of the Long

Beach Police Department’s (LBPD) violentcrimes division, said his office most fre-quently sees online harassment cases asso-ciated with Facebook and e-mail. Thedepartment currently handles about eightcases of online harassment per year,O’Dowd said. In these cases, “we haveseen a majority of women” as the victims,he noted. He estimated that in about 80 per-cent of cases, the victims knew theirharassers.The small number of cases LBPD han-

dles may be attributable to the fact that,according to the survey, only about 12 per-cent of adult Americans who experienceharassment online report it to local lawenforcement. Half of those harassed com-pletely ignored the intrusive behavior, tak-ing no action. “Maybe it is because the victims don’t

think it rises to the level of a criminalinvestigation,” O’Dowd said of why so fewpeople report online harassment. So whatdoes rise to the level of criminality?“Obviously if there are criminal threatsbeing made . . . [and] if they [harassers]are threatening specific violent actions andthe suspect doing the threatening has theimmediate capability of carrying throughthose threats, that would certainly qualifyfor a criminal investigation,” he said. Simple arguments or one-time negative

comments aren’t issues O’Dowd recom-mends reporting to the police. “People have first amendment rights and

they are allowed to speak their minds, andif someone doesn’t like what they are say-ing, I wouldn’t suggest that that type ofthing needs to go through the policedepartment.” He noted that the violent crimes divi-

sion handles 6,000 cases covering allmanners of violent crimes per year withonly six detectives – that’s 1,000 cases perdetective. “Certainly we want to investi-gate criminal activity, but if something isnot criminal we don’t have the resources,or really I don’t think it is appropriate forus to become involved in people’s per-sonal lives if it is a simple argument.”Some social media platforms, such as

Facebook, give users the option to reportcontent they feel is inappropriate or abu-sive; however, those platforms do little toproactively prevent online harassmentfrom occurring. Facebook does have a web page that

outlines community standards and barsthreats of violence, self-harm, ongoingbullying or harassment and hate speech,among other behaviors, but it is typicallyup to the user to report occurrences.Depending on the type of behavior,Facebook may recommend the reporterconsult with friends on how best to com-bat the issue, suspend an offending users’account or even refer the issue to law

enforcement. When asked if Facebookwas considering ways to more proactivelycombat online harassment, Steinfeld saidhe did not have a response.To further reduce online harassment,

Kapin suggested social media platformscould issue a code of conduct as part oftheir terms of service. She also noted thathaving social media companies explain toharassers whose accounts are suspendedwhy their behavior was inappropriate mightalso help curb web-based harassment.Hankin hopes to delve into the causes

and effects of online harassment in fur-ther research. “We have two-thirds ofpeople saying they knew their harasser,and clearly these events don’t just happenafter 5 p.m.,” he said, explaining that hehopes to investigate how much of onlineharassment is workplace related. Kapin noted that as more employees

work virtually and more public relationsemployees represent their companiesonline, businesses themselves might haveto start considering ways to combatonline harassment.

Lowenthal PushesBill To ProvidePrivate SpaceAt Airports ForNursing Mothers


State Assemblymember BonnieLowenthal, who represents Long Beach,Signal Hill, Avalon and parts of SanPedro, is sponsoring a bill requiring air-ports to provide private space for nursingmothers to breastfeed. While legislationis already in place requiring employers toprovide these areas, such spaces are rarein airports. Currently, San FranciscoInternational Airport is the only one inthe state to offer nursing spaces with atotal of 14 – one in each terminal.“Now more than ever, California moms

are traveling as part of their jobs, and thisbill helps them balance their commit-ment to breastfeeding their children withthe demands of their careers,” Lowenthalsaid in a statement.AB 1787 requires California airports

with one million emplanements each yearto provide a private space with a chair andelectrical outlet. The space could not bepart of a bathroom. Long Beach Airporthas approximately 1.5 million enplane-ments per year and the bill, if passed, willapply.“Currently we have a family restroom,

in each concourse that is a private, singlerestroom for family needs.” AirportPublic Affairs Officer Kerry Gerot toldthe Business Journal in an email. “Theairport would comply with any futurelegal requirement mandated in the finallegislation.”Lowenthal’s bill passed the assembly on

May 28 and will next be considered bythe senate appropriations committee onJune 30. �


Online Harassment


WOMEN IN BUSINESSJune 24-July 7, 2014 Long Beach Business Journal 15

Women-Owned Businesses In Long Beach Reflect Statewide Growth� By SAMANTHA MEHLINGER

Staff Writer

Women-owned business continues to be a major contributor to our state and regionaleconomies, with 1,107,000 women-owned firms employing 983,000 people in California,and about 432,000 women-owned businesses employing 394,600 people in Los AngelesCounty, as of the end of 2013. The figures were cited in American Express OPEN’s annualState of Women-Owned Business Report.Statewide, women-owned businesses generated an estimated $197,680,500 in sales last

year. In L.A. County, they sales were $86,818,100.The women business owners interviewed in this edition of the Business Journal’s

Women In Business quarterly focus illustrate a nationwide trend – that women-ownedbusinesses are growing, and at a rate 1.5 times faster than the national average, accordingto American Express OPEN. Two of the professional women in this section opened new businesses in Long Beach

in the past two months, while another two are expanding the footprint of their businesseswith new locations. All hope to continue growing their businesses, either by bringingmore jobs to the city or offering online sales.

Born Free Children’s Boutique – Marina Hernandez191 Park Ave., Long Beach

562/342-6993 • www.bornfreeboutique.com

Marina Hernandez’s quest to seek out natural products for her child inspired her to opena store where mothers may find a variety of organic, ecofriendly children’s goods.

As a former teacher for the Los Angeles and Long Beach Unified School Districts,Hernandez has a passion for working with children. She has taught for a few years at anafter school program with offices on 2nd Street in Belmont Shore. While working withlocal families and seeing many mothers strolling down 2nd Street, Hernandez realizedBelmont Shore needed a baby boutique with an eco-friendly twist, she said.“The whole inspiration pretty much is my daughter,” Hernandez said about the impetus

for her new shop, Born Free Children’s Boutique. Her daughter, who is nearly two, hassensitive skin, which caused Hernandez to seek out organic products as alternatives tomainstream brands. As a result, she stocks her store with natural, sustainable goods suchas those from The Honest Company, which makes nontoxic products in environmentally-friendly packaging. Born Free Children’s Boutique opened on Park Avenue in Belmont Shore on May 1.

While Hernandez said business could be “much better,” she reflected, “I think it is goingreally well considering we have just been open a month.” Word of her business seems to bespreading – some customers recently visited the store because they read about it on a blogfor mothers, she noted. Plus, the foot traffic from adjacent 2nd Street helps, she added.There seems to be strong demand for eco-friendly, natural products, Hernandez

observed. Most parents who come into her store already know about and are seeking theproducts she carries, she said.As she navigates life as a new business owner, Hernandez said her greatest challenge is

“finding time to move my business forward and also finding time for my personal life.”Between juggling two jobs and her roles as wife and mother, finding that time is some-times challenging. Her role as a mother also plays into her vision for the future of Born Free. In addition

to starting an online store to accompany her brick-and-mortar location, Hernandez wants“to offer classes for parents, like a sign language class or a nursing class . . . That is impor-tant for me as a parent,” she said. She hopes she can partner with local organizations suchas Long Beach Memorial Medical Center to make those dreams a reality.

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WOMEN IN BUSINESS16 Long Beach Business Journal June 24-July 7, 2014

Sage Salon And Spa – Susan WeinsteinSage Salon And Spa: 4240 E. 4th St., Long Beach

Sage Salon On Anaheim: 4126 E. Anaheim St., Long Beach562/346-4772

Susan Weinstein’s hair styling career inspired her to open a salon where hairdresserscould choose the hours they work and build up clientele in a welcoming environment.

She now owns two salons in Long Beach – Sage Salon And Spa and Sage Salon On Anaheim.Weinstein began cutting hair in Long Beach in 1989 and has been dreaming about open-

ing a salon for 10 years, she told the Business Journal. She came close to realizing her dreamabout a decade ago, but when she found a location in Seal Beach she realized a beauty sup-ply store would better suit the neighborhood’s needs. When the lease on that location expiredin 2011, Weinstein closed the beauty store to pursue her original passion for salons. A vacant office suite on 4th Street became available just as the lease on Weinstein’s

beauty supply store expired. She rented it, seeing an opportunity to custom-design hersalon in the bare space. “It was affordable and I saw lots of potential when I walked intoit,” she recalled. “I took my time designing it and picking out what I thought would makea great atmosphere.”About a year after Weinstein opened Sage, she leased out the rest of the building.

Originally, she was the only hairdresser at Sage. After expanding, “I have about 18 hair-dressers at that location,” she said.Stylists at Sage have “complete freedom” to “sell their own products, make their own

hours, [and] come and go as they like,” Weinstein said. “They all have a key to the build-ing. They all have their own businesses. I don’t do anything but collect the rent and makesure they have a nice, clean atmosphere.”In February of this year, Weinstein opened a second Sage location on East Anaheim

Street. “I enjoy the challenge of opening up a place in a neighborhood that could reallyuse a more elegant, fun kind of salon,” she said. She opened the second location simplybecause she “loved the challenge” of starting up a new salon. Six stylists are employed atthat location. Both Sage shops offer hair and nail services, skin care and massages.“My biggest challenge right now is making sure that I am able to bring business into

the salons,” Weinstein said. Advertising to attract clientele and make people aware of thesalons is always a challenge, she said. Weinstein hopes to open more salons in the future.

Yellow 108 – Lauren Lilly1105 E. 3rd St., Long Beach

562/491-6400 • www.yellow108.com

After years of working in sales and marketing in the natural products industry,Yellow 108 founder Lauren Lilly saw the companies she worked for ultimately

close their doors and decided to use her industry knowledge to strike out on her own. “We kind of learned through the mistakes of watching CEOs and owners . . . not being

involved in the day to day,” Lilly said of herself and Yellow 108 co-founder Jody Rollins.

“They were also ecological companies that weren’t necessarily as ecological as they couldbe. We just saw how we could take things to the next level,” she added.Since founding Yellow 108 in 2010, Lilly’s sustainability-focused accessories company

has saved 20 tons of textile materials from landfills. “Everything we do is salvaged and recycled materials,” Lilly said of Yellow 108’s line

of hats, sunglasses and napkins. “We work directly with textile mills to take their scrapsand waste. We repurpose it into our line,” she explained. Yellow 108 does not dye or washtextiles to alter the fabric. “We salvage in the raw form to keep as ecological as possible.”Whole Foods Market was the starting point for Yellow 108, approving the sale of the

new company’s products in five of its stores in 2010. “We sold the line to Whole Foodsfrom first run of samples, and it was really the mission and the idea that they liked themost,” Lilly said. Now, Yellow 108 products are approved for sale in every Whole Foodsstore in the U.S., Canada and the United Kingdom. The products are also available onYellow 108’s website.

“We have had extremely rapid growth. We have more than doubled our business everyyear since we launched,” Lilly said. In order to grow her business by its own financialmeans, Lilly said the company never takes on bank loans. “We invest our profits back intoour company so we can only grow as much as our profit allots,” she explained.The biggest challenge to move Yellow 108 forward is “making sure I am thinking about

the bigger picture at all times,” Lilly reflected. “A decision you make today could affectyou a year from now or two years from now.”In August, Yellow 108’s Long Beach showroom is moving to a historic building, which

is currently undergoing construction and restoration, on Long Beach Boulevard betweenBroadway and 3rd Street. In the future, Lilly said she hopes to base Yellow 108’s manu-facturing in Long Beach. Currently, the company manufactures its products at three loca-tions, two in the U.S. and the other in China.

Yesterday’s Memories Village – Cindy Matranga4143 Norse Way, Long Beach

562/676-8515

Retired kindergarten teacher Cindy Matranga’s passion for collecting antiques blos-somed into a business when she opened Yesterday’s Memories Vintage in Long

Beach on June 7.Collecting vintage items started out as a hobby after Matranga’s early retirement in 2011,

but soon grew into a second career. “I have always loved antiques, and as my children gotolder and I was able to afford them, I started buying and trading with people,” she recalled. It wasn’t long before she began selling 1950s-era hats and gloves on eBay and on a neigh-

borhood Facebook page. When that was successful, she began collecting and selling vintageevening wear, sweaters and beaded purses as well. “Before I knew it, I had a full-blown busi-ness,” Matranga said. Her successful enterprise began to supplement her retirement income.Matranga waited for about two years to open a shop on Norse Way in Northeast Long

Beach while hoping for a vacancy. When retail space recently became available, shesnapped it up. “I think it is a cute neighborhood. It is kind of retro,” she said of LakewoodVillage, home to the liberal arts campus of Long Beach City College.Opening Yesterday’s Memories Vintage allowed Matranga to expand her inventory. The

store carries vintage mid-20th century furniture, housewares, clothing and other goods. “Ihave some shabby chic stuff, and I have a rack of vintage clothes for some of the young col-lege students that come through here,” she said. The prices are “pretty reasonable,” she noted. Although the store has only been open less than a month, Matranga said she already has

a consistent stream of customers, and business has been going well. The other businesseson Norse Way and on adjacent Village Road have been welcoming, she added.“Making sure people know we are here and we are in business” is the biggest challenge

to move her business forward, she said. “It is such a small store and the street is kind oftucked away in a community,” she explained. “That is my biggest challenge: making surepeople know where I am and what I am selling. Getting the word out.”As with many new business owners, Matranga’s focus for the future is making sure

Yesterday’s Memories Vintage is financially stable and is able to survive its first few yearsof business. She added, “My goal is to be financially fluid and be able to support myselfthrough this.” �


ELECTION RESULTS18 Long Beach Business Journal June 24-July 7, 2014

City Attorney Charles Parkin

Doesn’t Skip A BeatAfter Election WinSeeks Audit On Workers’ CompSection To Ensure ‘Best Practices’


Following a hard-fought election culmi-nating in a runoff victory over a sittingcouncilman, City Attorney Charles Parkinis being sworn into office July 15.

Since Parkin hasbeen with the cityattorney’s office for15 years and took overfor former CityAttorney RobertShannon who retiredlast July, he is wellprepared. In fact, in arecent email to theBusiness Journal, hesaid he’s already mak-

ing changes at the city attorney’s office,including hiring staff to replace recentretirees and reviewing operations toimprove efficiencies and save tax dollars.“Having served as the city attorney for

the past year I have already made somechanges in the office including the promo-

tion of Monte Machit to assistant cityattorney,” Parkin stated. He furtherexplained that he has requested an audit ofthe workers’ compensation section “toensure we are using best practices to mon-itor and process cases while delivering therequired benefits at the best possible cost.”Parkin said that his office is handling a

number of issues, many of which arescheduled to appear before the city coun-cil, from an electronic cigarette ordinanceto the Belmont pool rebuild.“In addition, we are very busy in litiga-

tion handling approximately 210 cases,”Parkin wrote, citing a list of issuesincluding claims of police misconductand public records act suits.Parkin easily defeated his challenger,

7th District Councilmember James

Johnson, in the June 3 runoff election,receiving 61.3 percent of the vote. Parkinexpressed gratitude to those who sup-ported him, adding that he is excitedabout the future.“I look forward to working with Mayor-

elect Garcia and the city council on themany issues facing Long Beach. This isan exciting and historic time in LongBeach. I hope by continuing to providequality legal services, the office of thecity attorney can contribute to the futureof Long Beach,” he said. �

Long Beach Business Journal

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A political consultant used by the news-paper stated that the two campaigns“decided to make a fight out of one of themore diverse parts of the city.” But the factis, in citywide races, little attention is givento districts which historically have a lowvoter turnout.We don’t usually critique another news-

paper’s articles, after all we all make mis-takes (we have a couple of “ooops!” onPage 2), but election results should bereported accurately. (Yes, writers shouldalways strive for accuracy no matter thestory.) The article also reported that Dunnhad received 3,218 votes versus Garcia’s2,674 votes in the 8th District. Yet, onlyaround 4,500 people voted in the district.Following are some facts we gleaned

from reviewing all of the precincts:• Mayor-elect Garcia won eight of the

nine council districts, losing only the 5thDistrict (Northeast Long Beach). Dunnwon the 5th District handily, receivingmore than 56 percent of the vote.• It appears the vote count was

extremely close in three of the nine dis-tricts. Garcia won the 9th District (NorthLong Beach) by roughly 20 votes, the 3rdDistrict (Southeast Long Beach) byaround 40 votes, and the 8th District(Bixby Knolls/North Long Beach) byfewer than 75 votes. Those are all approx-imate numbers.• The Downtown area and neighbor-

hoods north and east of downtown provedto be the difference in the election. Garciawon the 1st District (where he has servedas councilman since 2009) by more than700 votes, receiving 63 percent of votescast. He did even better in the 2ndDistrict, receiving 68 percent of thenearly 5,000 votes cast. Combined, thosetwo districts gave Garcia an edge of justover 2,500 votes. Garcia won the electionby 2,145 votes.• The 3rd and 5th Council Districts

(nearly 24,000 votes combined)accounted for just over 45 percent of allvotes cast for mayor.• The combined votes in the 1st, 6th

and 9th Districts totaled around 8,250 –that’s out of nearly 70,000 registered vot-ers. That is why candidates for citywideoffice do not spend a lot of time or moneyin those three districts. • The citywide turnout was 20.77 per-

cent, according the city clerk’s office.The 5th District had the highest percent-age of registered voters turn out witharound 33.5 percent. The 3rd District wasnext with more than 32 percent, followedby the 7th District (West Long Beach,Wrigley and California Heights) with


PoliticalWire


ELECTION RESULTSJune 24-July 7, 2014 Long Beach Business Journal 19

more than 21.7 percent, and the 4thDistrict with just over 20 percent. • Approximately 2,000 more people

voted by absentee ballot than went to thepolls to vote: 51.9 percent to 48.1 percent.Prior to Election Day, it was expected

that a low voter turnout would be helpfulto Dunn. It didn’t work out that way.Why? It appears Dunn did not have agood Election Day get-out-the-voteeffort. A Business Journal writer walked

into Garcia’s election headquarters on theFriday before Election Day and saw twodozen people making phone calls. Dunndid not have a headquarters office.Dunn also did not have the social media

savvy of Garcia, who, along with sup-porters, used the Internet successfully toget voters to the polls.In the end, several factors led to

Garcia’s victory, beyond running a bettercampaign. Dunn spent a whole bunch of

his own money – roughly $900,000 –which turned off some voters whothought he was buying the election (weheard from many people who told usthat’s why they were voting for Garcia).Dunn did not have roots firmly plantedin the city, having moved to Long Beachin December 2011. While he wasinvolved in several organizations, that’snot the same as being involved in theneighborhoods, serving on task forces,

testifying at city council meetings, vol-unteering for beach cleanups, etc. Hewas – and is – unknown to the vastmajority of residents.But don’t dimiss Damon Dunn, who’s

only 38 years old, quite yet. He proved avery capable and knowledgeable candi-date who came very close to being thenew mayor. If he stays in Long Beach ashe said he will, expect to hear his name ina future Long Beach campaign. �

that in the past have been overlooked,” shesaid. Another priority for Gonzalez is the port.

She explained that she plans to workclosely with the port’s executive directorand commissioners, and has been in con-tact with the neighboring city council dis-trict to discuss port issues. “Meeting withCouncilmember Suja Lowenthal in the 2ndDistrict, I think she and I can work on somereally good policies together and also shinea light on a lot of the job opportunitiesavailable [at the port],” Gonzalez said. But even more pressing an issue is per-

haps the city’s multi-billion dollar budget,which Gonzalez and the other coun-cilmembers are set to decide on soon afterbeing sworn in. When asked about tacklingthe issue straightaway, Gonzalez said herexperience working for currentCouncilmember Robert Garcia – nowMayor-elect Garcia – has prepared her.“I've been pretty well informed with thebudget having worked on it,” Gonzalezsaid, adding, “I work with our parks budgetand our public works budget. I can see theeffects of the cuts and what happens.” Gonzalez said that while budget deci-

sions are tough, she hopes to find addi-tional ways to fund the things important toher community. “It’s finding other funding opportunities

like grants and CDBG (CommunityDevelopment Block Grant) funding andgetting more creative on that side for moreof our fun pet projects, and our parks pro-grams and figuring out fiscally how we canput ourselves into a better position,”Gonzalez explained. While Gonzalez said she has chosen her

chief-of-staff as well as an individual toinfluence legislative issues, she added thatshe’s not prepared to announce names.As for the future, Gonzalez said she's

excited to take office. “I have a lot of ideasalready, and I’m ready to put them in placewith a good staff and a good team,” she said.

Stacy MungoWhen discussing crime issues within

the 5th District Stacy Mungo said her dis-trict has experienced a couple of daytimehome burglaries in recent weeks. Inresponse, she plans to set up two taskforces with business community volun-teers to focus on community developmentand neighborhood watch. “Some of the brokers and realtors in the

area have already stepped up and saidthey want to support neighborhoods bybeing the eyes and ears while people areat work,” Mungo said, adding, “Even onecrime is too many.”

Since winning the election, Mungo hasprepared for the early September councilvote on the budget by meeting with the citymanager’s office and other councilmembersand councilmembers-elect. “We’d all like todiscuss the civic center project and theBelmont pool. We’re talking about one-timeexpenditures for things like turf on fields sothat ongoing maintenance costs arereduced. We can put some of those commit-ted dollars into repairing our streets andsidewalks more completely,” Mungo said.

She added that she is well prepared todeal with the budget after taking office,thanks to her work as a budget officer forLos Angeles County. Though she has yet to make any final

staffing decisions, she said she is currentlyreviewing resumes. “One thing I’m defi-nitely strong on is my commitment to bringin paid and unpaid interns from local uni-versities. Southern California has a wealthof talent, and individuals need to be put towork,” Mungo said, adding that she plans to

keep her office accountable to residents. “Iwant residents to know that the 5th Districtis accessible, honest and transparent. We’regoing to start off on a foot of inclusion.” Long Beach’s new city councilmem-

bers – including Suzie Price, RobertoUranga and Rex Richardson covered in theJune 10 issue of the Business Journal – aresworn in on July 15, as is Mayor-electGarcia, City Attorney Charles Parkin, CityProsecutor Doug Haubert and CityAuditor Laura Doud. �

Stacy Mungo, councilperson-elect for the 5th District, is pictured with fellow members of the Junior League of Long Beach, an organization of volunteers work-ing to improve the community: from left, Debra Bein, Heidi Cook, Holly Henderson, Mungo, Kim Bryan and Allison Anderson. Mungo said she’s committedto creating a safer community, including the formation of more neighborhood watch programs. (Photograph by the Business Journal’s Thomas McConville)

Lena Gonzalez, 1stDistrict councilmem-ber-elect, is picturedat the corner ofPacific Avenue andAnaheim Street. Shesaid that a lack ofparking is an ongo-ing issue for districtresidents and busi-nesspeople, and thattackling it is one ofher top priorities. Shealso wants to find cre-ative ways to gener-ate funds for districtneeds. Gonzalez eas-ily defeated herrunoff opponent inthe June 3 election,garnering more than60 percent of thevote. (Photograph bythe Business Journal’sThomas McConville)

Councilmembers-elect

Gonzalez, Mungo



IN THE NEWS20 Long Beach Business Journal June 24-July 7, 2014

Pictured on the bottom row from left are members of the Long Beach Commercial Real Estate Council Board of Directors: Chris Barbieri; Brian Russell; MikeSoutar; Randy Jones; President Kelly Dent; Mark Sokolowski; Todd LaPlante; Myles Helm; and Arnie Garfinkel. On the top row far left is Richard Rizika, man-aging director, CBRE, and moderator of the event panel, with panelists, from left: Sondra Wenger, first vice president, CIM Group; Robert Tarnofsky, directorof real estate, Continental Development Corp.; Gregory Ames, managing director, Trammell Crow Company; Alan Pullman, AIA, senior principal, StudioOne Eleven; and Tony Shooshani, president, ETC Real Estate Services.

Long Beach CommercialReal Estate Council Annual Luncehon MeetingThe Long Beach Commercial Real Estate Councilheld its annual meeting June 11 at the WestinLong Beach. More than 200 people attended tohear a panel of speakers discuss new trends inurban development.

From left, Randy Gordon, Long Beach AreaChamber of Commerce; Kraig Kojian,Downtown Long Beach Associates; and BillTownsend, Inco Company.

Tom Heller, left, and Scott Huntly are with theApartment Association California SouthernCities, based in Long Beach.

International City Bank’s Ron Wilippo, left, andAlexander Rodriguez.

From left, CBRE’s Justin McMahon, Chris Gentzkow, Tim McMahon, Annika Riphagenand Mitchell Hernandez.

From left: Derek Burnham, Burnham Planning & Developmemt, with Lee &Associate agents Sean Leippman, Garrett Massaro and Brandon Carillo.

From left, Andrew Mitrosilis of Appraisal Pacific; Mike Muetzel of SpectrumCommercial Lending; Ted Douglas of Appraisal Pacific; and Dean Haidl ofSpectrum Commercial Lending.

From left, Curt Yaworski, EnvironmentalManagement Group; Ann Doherty, ODICEnvironmental; and Nick West of Barry SlattMortgage.

Photographs by the

Business Journal’s Thomas McConville


IN THE NEWSJune 24-July 7, 2014 Long Beach Business Journal 21

Long Beach Area Chamber Of Commerce Annual GalaAbout 750 people attended the Long Beach Area Chamber of Commerce 123rd Gala June 12 at the Long Beach Convention Center Ballroom. The evening also honored the health care industry as DianaHendel was installed as 2014-15 chair of the Chamber Board of Directors. Hendel is the CEO of Long Beach Memorial Medical Center, Miller Children’s and Women’s Hospital Long Beach, and CommunityHospital Long Beach. She replaced outgoing chair, LaDonna DiCamillo, regional vice president of government affairs for BNSF Railway Company.

Chamber chairs – past, presdent and future – surround Randy Gordon, who in April celebrated his 20th year as president and CEO of the organization. Pictured fromleft are: Past Chair LaDonna DiCamillo; current Chair Diana Hendel; past Chairs Lori Lofstrom, Dave Dedinsky, Jay Davis and Mark Gray; Gordon; past Chairs MikeWalter, Blake Christian and Jim Gray; Chair-elect Kristi Allen; and past Chairs Joseph Prevratil and Lou Anne Bynum.

Councilmember-elect Stacy Mungowith her boyfriend, Kurt Williams.

Assemblywoman BonnieLowenthal with Mike Walter of Walter Pyramid fame.

From left, Chamber Chair Diana Hendel with Thomas Salerno ofDignity Health St. Mary Medical Center and Chamber Chair-electKristi Allen of the Hotel Maya.

From left, Blake Christian of HCVT; Bruce McRae of UPS; andRobert Garey of Cushman & Wakefield.

From left, Ron Gastelum, Marianne Venieris, Nancy Becker andRandy Gordon.

Immediate Past Chamber ChairLaDonna DiCamillo with her hus-band, Dennis.

Photographs by the Business Journal’s Thomas McConville

Long Beach AreaChamber OfCommerce 2014-2015 Board Of DirectorsENA ALCARAZ

State Farm Insurance KRISTI ALLEN

Hotel MayaJAVIER ANGULO

Walmart StoresJOHN BAKKER

City National BankTHOMAS BERG

JetBlue AirwaysWILLIAM BETTISON

Enterprise Rent-A-CarKATHY BOYER

TMK Dental Management dba/Village Dental Center Building

RUTH CANLOBO

DENSO Products & Services AmericasDEBORAH GOLIAN CASTRO

Creative ProductionsSTEPHEN D'AGOSTINO

Hyatt Regency Long BeachKENNETH DAMI

Tesoro Refining and MarketingHILDA DELGADO

Southern California EdisonJON DEUSENBERRY

United Parcel ServiceLADONNA DICAMILLO

BNSF Railway CompanyIVONNA EDKINS

DeVry University Long BeachJEFF EVANS

AES AlamitosSTEPHEN FAICHNEY

Valero EnergyTHOMAS FIELDS

TCT Enterprises

JOHN FREEBORN

RK PropertiesDIANA HENDEL

Long Beach Memorial MedicalCenter/Miller Children's & Women’sHospital Long Beach/Community HospitalLong BeachTED HILDRETH

Opus BankKEN HOUP

UHS Insurance AgencyCRAIG IMA

WindesPHIL JONES

Coldwell Banker Coastal Alliance RealtyGAIL KODAMA

Charter CommunicationsJIM MCCLUSKIE

Moffatt & NicholBILL MCFARLAND

OXY Long BeachMICHAEL MILLER

International City Bank

MITRA NOVIN

The Boeing CompanyELOY OAKLEY

Long Beach City CollegeANTHONY OTTO

Long Beach Container Terminal JOSHUA OWEN

Ability/Tri-Modal Transportation ServicesANDY PEREZ

Union Pacific RailroadKENT PETERSON

P2S EngineeringRON PIAZZA

Piazza Family RestaurantsDEBRA RUSSELL

Signal Hill PetroleumPAM RYAN

Renaissance Long Beach HotelDAVE SAKAMOTO

Farmers & Merchants BankTOM SALERNO

St. Mary Medical Center

CLAY SANDIDGE

Muni-Fed EnergyDOUG SHEA

INCO CommercialWAYNE SLAVITT

MobulMICHAEL SOLT

California State University, Long BeachPHIL STEUBER

Alta Service/Foodcraft Coffee ServiceTRAVIS TAYLOR

AECOMLESLEY WILLE

Kaiser PermanenteSouth Bay Medical CenterSHENUI WEBER

Long Beach City College, CollegeAdvancement & Economic DevelopmentNICK WORTHINGTON

Worthington FordJIM ZEHMER

TABC/Toyota


PERSPECTIVE22 Long Beach Business Journal June 24-July 7, 2014

W hen it comes tosurgery, physi-

cians work with theirpatients to develop themost appropriate treat-ment plan to help getthem back on their feetas fast as possible.Minimally invasivesurgery is one optionthat results in less painand a quicker recoverytime compared to tra-

ditional surgical methods. Minimally invasive surgery is available in a

variety of medical specialties, including gynecol-ogy, surgical oncology, general surgery, cardiacsurgery orthopedic, and other subspecialties. Forpatients, the benefits of minimally invasive sur-gery are numerous, including the elimination of alarge incision. The precise movements result insmaller incisions, which means less scarring, lesspain, shorter hospital stays and a quicker recov-ery compared to traditional surgery. Whether it is robotic-assisted surgery, laparo-

scopic surgery or thoracoscopic surgery, sur-geons are equipped with the latest technologyand training to provide optimal care tailored toeach patient. Robotic-Assisted SurgeryUsing robotic-assisted surgery, surgeons have

improved visualization, dexterity, precision andcontrol, while only making small 1 - 2 cm inci-sions. Controlled by the surgeon, and assisted bya highly trained surgical team, each movement ofthe surgeon’s hands is translated into precise,real-time movements by the robot. Exact preci-sion is possible because of the robot’s “wrists,”which provide surgeons with natural dexterityand a range of motion far greater than even thehuman hand. Surgeons are able to performsmaller incisions to reach often hard-to-accessareas of the body. Additionally, the robot’s viewing system pro-

duces high-definition, 3-D images, allowing thesurgeon to see inside the patient in unprece-dented detail. Laparoscopic SurgeryLaparoscopic surgery is available for a number

of surgical procedures. During endoscopic orlaparoscopic surgery, small incisions are made foran endoscope or laparoscope (a tiny camera con-nected to a video cord) and surgical tools to beinserted into the body, like the abdomen or pelvicregion. By watching a monitor, the surgeon is ableto see inside the body to perform the surgery. Thoracoscopic SurgeryThoracoscopic surgery is a technique used to

diagnose and treat problems in a patient’s chest.Through small incisions, surgeons insert a thora-coscope (a tiny video camera connected to avideo cord) and surgical tools into the patient’schest. By watching a monitor, the surgeon is ableto see inside the body to perform the surgery.What Minimally Invasive Surgery is Right for You?What type of surgery – traditional, laparo-

scopic or robotic – depends on a patient's partic-ular condition, general health and physician rec-ommendation. Your physician and surgeon willwork with you to determine the best treatmentoptions to fit your unique health care needs. (Les Edrich, M.D., is the medical director of

the minimally invasive and robotic surgery pro-gram at Long Beach Memorial.)

If you judge people, you have no time to love them. – Mother Theresa

The fact is, no matter how much we thinkwe ‘shouldn’t’ judge, we are so condi-

tioned to do so that without increasing our self-awareness, we will not only judge one anotherbut we will continually judge ourselves andeven our judgments!In order to begin gently upping our aware-

ness, it is useful to make a clear distinctionabout what constitutes a judgment (as opposedto an assessment or distinction, both of whichare essential in the process of making deci-sions and moving towards goals).Here’s the distinction that I use, based on

the work of Barry Neil Kaufman:1 A judgmentis any evaluation of something as being good,bad, right or wrong.First the obvious. We all have weaknesses and

strengths. And all of our strengths have a shadowside. We can help one another with these errors injudgment, inconsistencies, and down right stupidbehavior. How? When we approach others know-ing our own proclivity for bad behavior, weapproach them with humility. This turns judg-mental thinking into helpful feedback. We disarm

the defensive. The recipient is more receptive andthe results are more productive. Now, it’s up to theother person to respond. Our part is not to addpoison to the well. Without this humility thetemptation is to engage in injustice collecting.When we judge we are essentially setting

ourselves up as moral arbiters, claiming weknow best what the world is supposed to be like.Not only is this a trifle presumptuous, it createsan environment where conflict and violence areboth natural and ongoing.An attitude of humility is an antidote. It’s an

antidote to gossip, back biting, injustice collect-ing, or what is referred to in football as pilingon. In extreme cases we can put a person or agroup into a virtual box. That becomes our def-inition of who they are. That often times definesthem on a personal level. We are then able toadd or subtract certain characteristics as we feelappropriate. This becomes the person’s or thegroup’s definition. The ability to sustain thatidentity rests on the observer’s ability to keepthem “other.” If we get too close then the defin-itive lines begin to fade. We see that we havemore in common than we thought. I once heard a story that supplies an example

of how we can error in our outlooks and atti-tudes toward others.A young couple moved into a neighborhood.

Their next door neighbors were Don and Alice.One morning as they were eating breakfast, Alicelooked out her window seeing her young neigh-bor hanging out her wash to dry. She observedthat her neighbor’s laundry wasn’t very clean.Alice said to Don, “Our young neighbor doesn’tknow how to clean her clothes.” Don, reading his

paper, didn’t say a word. This went on for sometime and Alice observed the laundry from herkitchen window while making the same com-ment. Don as he had done each time before,didn’t say a word. Several weeks later, Alice, toher surprise, looked out the window and saw afresh, clean row of wash hanging out drying.Alice said, “Don, look! Our neighbor has finallylearned how to clean her laundry. I wonder whotaught her?” Don said, “Sweetie. I might have ananswer. I got up early this morning and washedthe windows.” Then Don said, “I guess we finallylearned how to clean the windows.”We all look out our own windows, and much

of what we observe is reflected through our ownlooking glasses. How are your windows looking?Edward Wallis Hoch said,There is so much good in the worst of us,And so much bad in the best of us,That it hardly becomes any of us,To talk about the rest of us.2

In other words, it would be wise to focus onour own windows before we worry about some-one else’s dirty laundry.Here’s an exercise:Let go of at least one judgment today. You can

do this by converting it to the opinion or prefer-ence behind it, or even by letting go of defend-ing it. If you like how it feels, let go of more.Even letting go of just one judgment a day canlead to a tangible increase in your sense of hap-piness and well-being.

1Barry Neil Kaufman, “Happiness Is A Choice”,

Ballantine Books, 1994.2Edward Wallis Hoch, Marion Record (Kansas).

17th Governor of Kansas.

(Mick Ukleja is the author of several books,a coach, keynote speaker and president ofLeadershipTraq, a leadership consulting firm.Check his blog at www.leadershiptraq.com.)

� EFFECTIVELEADERSHIPBy Mick Ukleja

Judging, Injustice, Collecting, Gossip And Piling On

Less MeansMore WithMinimallyInvasive Surgery

� HEALTHWISE

By Les Edrich, M.D.

There is no doubt that a policy of liabilityinsurance provides important protection

against claims based on a rather broad spectrumof actions or omissions. However, as illustratedbelow, there are limits to such protection.Over a 30-year span, Linda Reinoso and her

husband, Edgar, owned and managed a signifi-cant number of apartment buildings. During thattime, there was also a history of problems withgovernmental entities concerning the conditionand operation of the buildings.In May 2003, Linda and Edgar acquired a 48-

unit apartment complex in Lancaster, known asthe J-3 Apartments. By the following Septemberor October, the City of Lancaster issued a Noticeof Code Enforcement Corrections with regard tothe condition of the complex. The noticedescribed general dilapidation of the units, infes-tation of insects, vermin and rodents, inadequategarage storage, lack of proper water and heat,and dampness of the apartment units.By January 2005, the focus shifted to a civil

action by the J-3 Apartments tenants against Linda,Edgar and their management company concern-ing habitability deficiencies. In this lawsuit, thetenants sought damages in excess of $10 million.In response, Linda and Edgar tendered the

defense of the tenants’ civil action to their insurer,Axis Surplus Insurance Company. Axis agreed torepresent them, but under a reservation of rights.This response by Axis allowed Axis to investigate

(or even defend) the J-3 Apartments tenant claimsto determine whether coverage applies (in wholeor in part) without waiving its right to later denycoverage based on information revealed by itsinvestigation. Subsequently, the J-3 Apartmentstenant lawsuit was settled for just over$3,000,000.00, with Axis contributing$2,162,500.00 toward the settlement. Axis alsofooted the cost to defend the lawsuit.Axis then initiated an action against Linda,

Edgar and their management company to recoverthe $2,420,000.00 it spent to defend and settle theJ-3 Apartments tenant lawsuit. At the trial of theAxis lawsuit, the evidence painted Edgar as thesource of the problems with the J-3 Apartments.The trial court found that Edgar was an involvedand informed owner who insisted on managing theproperty in a manner that led to poor living condi-tions for its tenants. Although the evidence showedthat Linda’s participation in the management ofthe J-3 Apartments was not at the level of Edgar’s,the trial court nevertheless found that Linda wasmore than a ministerial bill payer: She was not aninnocent insured entitled to the benefits under theAxis insurance policies. The trial court awardedAxis most of its defense costs and settlement con-tribution. The judgment was against Linda, Edgarand their management company.Linda appealed, claiming that she should not

be liable at all, and certainly not jointly liablewith the remaining defendants for the trialcourt’s judgment.First, as to whether Linda was entitled to cover-

age under the Axis insurance policies: The Courtof Appeal first stated the general rule that policycoverage for the consequences of accidents doesnot include coverage for intended, deliberate andanticipated consequences of acts. It determinedthat there was substantial evidence at trial thatLinda, as a co-owner of the J-3 Apartments, knewof the conditions at the J-3 Apartments and howthe apartments were being managed and thus

expected the tenants to suffer injuries. Althoughher role was limited, she was involved in manag-ing the apartments. She paid the bills for it. Shewas aware that Edgar had twice been prosecutedfor and pleaded no contest to charges concerningdeficiencies in other properties. Some five monthsafter Linda and Edgar purchased the J-3Apartments, she was aware that the City ofLancaster issued the Notice of Code EnforcementCorrections concerning substandard conditions ofsome of the units at the J-3 Apartments. Such evi-dence supports the trial court’s finding that Lindaknew of the conditions and how the apartmentswere being managed. She was therefore not enti-tled to coverage under the Axis insurance policies.Second, with regard to allocation of the Axis

judgment: Although the trial court made no spe-cific finding on the point, Linda concluded thatthe judgment was “joint and several “against herand Edgar. The practical effect of joint and sev-eral liability empowers Axis to try to collect itsentire judgment against one, all or any combina-tion of the defendants. If Axis were to singleLinda out to collect its judgment, Linda couldseek contribution from Edgar. Taking this tackwould have no effect on the efforts of Axis to col-lect its judgment. Apparently Linda did not findthis to be a practical solution. The Court ofAppeal decided substantial evidence existed tosupport an implied finding of joint and severalliability, notwithstanding the fact that the trialcourt did not make a specific finding on thispoint. It determined that there is no evidence thatLinda’s liability should not be joint and severalwith Edgar. She was a co-owner of the propertyand she participated in its management.In a footnote, the Court of Appeal noted that

Linda and Edgar sold the J-3 Apartments for aprofit of $3,800,000.00, “an amount thatexceeded the settlement payment.”The judgment of the trial court was affirmed.The case is entitled Axis Surplus Insurance

Company v. Reinoso. It was decided in 2012.(Tom Ramsey is a Long Beach attorney who has

specialized in business law for more than 41 years.He may be reached at [email protected].)

The Limits Of Protection Offered By Liability Insurance

� BUSINESS LAWBy Tom Ramsey


PERSPECTIVEJune 24-July 7, 2014 Long Beach Business Journal 23

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W ith housing decidedly in astagnant state during this

spring-summer selling season, andeconomists predicting more of thesame for the foreseeable future, it isno wonder in some circles we are see-ing “outside of the box” ideas beingoffered to try and rekindle the robusthousing market that helped fuel theeconomy prior to 2008.A recent Wells Fargo Economics

Group report, Housing Chartbook,doesn’t paint a picture of a housingmarket that is going to blossom on thecurrent path anytime soon. It notedthat most markets in the US are“wildly out of balance” from inflatedhome prices driven by investor pur-chases last year, as well as exception-ally tight inventories that are wellahead of any improvement in demand.The report adds that the “lack of a

rebound in home sales this spring hasreinforced our view that there wasmore than harsh winter weather behindthe recent slide in home sales andmortgage applications,” and that theroad to housing recovery will belonger – and much bumpier – than ear-lier expected.

The Economics Group commentedthat a 70-basis point rise in mortgagerates coupled with a 6.2 percent risein prices resulted in a 17.1 percent

jump in monthly principal and inter-est payments for new owners.Consumer confidence in purchasing anew home within six months fell inMay to 4.9 percent, below the 12-month moving average of 5.7 percent.Overall economic growth will also

hamper housing growth, according tothe group from Wells Fargo. RealGross Domestic Production isexpected to rise just 2.0 percent in2014, with new home sales and sin-gle-family housing starts expected torise much more slowly than that. Thegroup forecasts that new home saleswill climb 8.4 percent to 465,000units, while single-family housingstarts will climb 10.9 percent. Newhome prices will moderate, rising just2.6 percent to $276,000 in 2014.

The question becomes what can bedone under these circumstances torecharge the housing market. In a newbook, House of Debt: How They (andYou) Caused the Great Recession, andHow We Can Prevent It FromHappening Again, authors Atif Mianand Amir Sufi take a 36-year old the-sis by long-time MassachusettsInstitute of Technology economistCharles Kindleberger and combine itwith another idea that is not exactlynew, to present an interesting conceptin these days of an unsettled economy.According to Kindleberger, an eco-

nomic (or housing) bubble can’t existwithout massive debt, and his 1978work – Manias, Panics, and Crashes: AHistory of Financial Crises – dissectedfamous economic disasters throughhistory. Before he died at the age of 92in 2003, Kindleberger was fearful of abubble in the housing market, accord-ing to a 2002 Wall Street Journal pro-

file of the economist.Mian and Sufi take this premise that

economic disasters are almost alwayspreceded by a large increase in house-hold debt and, to prevent the next disas-ter, say society should change the termsof debt contracts to make them moreflexible – hence less harmful than the$10 trillion in U.S. home equity thatwas lost during the Great Recession.Their idea of a Shared Responsibility

Mortgage program where both thehomeowner/borrower and lender sharethe risk and profits of a volatile housingmarket is bold, but has elements ofshared equity and investor programsthat have been tried or available formany years on a very limited basis.What they are advocating is somethingon a larger, mainstream scale thatwould cut the risk for the borrowerwhile sharing some of the appreciation(or deflation) with lenders.“Had such mortgages been in place

when house prices collapsed, theGreat Recession in the United Stateswould not have been ‘Great’ at all,”Mian and Sufi argue. “It would havebeen a garden variety downturn withmany fewer jobs lost.”Although this idea probably makes

too much sense for regulators and iscertainly being looked at as far-out bymany observers, it does have merit.This is one scenario on how it couldwork: If an index of home prices in ahome’s ZIP code fell, say, 30 percent,then the borrower’s monthly paymentof principal and interest would alsofall 30 percent. That’s not achieved bystretching out the length of the loan;the mortgage would still get paid offover 30 years. Financially speaking, itwould be equivalent to getting a

reduction in principal.If prices recover, payments go back

up, but never above the originalamount. Lenders would ordinarilycharge a higher rate for that protec-tion, but Mian and Sufi calculate thatthey would be willing to forgo abump on the rate if they were givensome upside potential: five percent ofany capital gain the homeowner getsupon selling or refinancing the house.It would, some economists say,

mostly end foreclosures, which devas-tate poor neighborhoods. Families losetheir home when the price they can getfor it is lower than what it would costto pay off the mortgage. With a shared-responsibility mortgage, when thevalue of the house goes down, so doesthe cost of paying off the mortgage.The reason: The loan’s worth becomesless to the lender. Imagine that ahome’s price goes down 30 percentand the payment automatically goesdown by the same amount. Then abanker who was owed $100,000 willaccept $70,000 for a loan payoff.Reducing foreclosures in this way ben-efits the entire neighborhood sinceforeclosed houses bring down sur-rounding property values.One of the advantages of a shared-

responsibility mortgage is that itmakes those painful but essentialwrite downs of principle automaticand part of the original contract,which would lead to a huge stream-lining for the mortgage industry. It iscertainly an idea worth looking at.(Terry Ross, the broker-owner of TR

Properties, will answer any questionsabout today’s real estate market. E-mail questions to Realty Views at [email protected] or call 949/457-4922.)

� REALTY VIEWS

By Terry Ross

Shared Responsibility Mortgages – Can They Work?

Vol. XXVII No. 12

June 24-July 7, 2014

The Long Beach Board of HarborCommissioners preliminarily

approved two incentive programsdesigned to bring cargo to the port byhelping to reduce the cost of comply-ing with environmental measures.The first of the two programs waivesdockage fees for ships that reducespeeds as they approach the ports anduse shoreside power or other pollu-tion-cutting technologies at berth.The second program will offer a $5-per-container incentive for cargo thattravels by on-dock rail – and not truck– from the port. The local ports have taken the lead

in developing programs like these thataccommodate growth in trade whileaddressing the impacts of freight onlocal communities. They have to inorder to remain competitive but stillsecure their “social license” to oper-ate from elected officials and the pub-lic. As a result, the ports have found away to gain some credibility in a dis-cussion of sustainable growth. Too often however, the sustainabil-

ity movement excludes freight fromthe planning process. The problem isthat this may actually make creatinglivable and sustainable communitiesmore difficult. Like other uses thatare considered to be integral to sus-tainable living (including open space,quality residential environments andtransit), freight needs dedicated urbanspaces, like those for loading andunloading, to avoid negativelyimpacting the quality of life for resi-dents and businesses alike. Early in his first administration,

President Obama developed a sus-tainability model that tied infrastruc-ture investments, especially trans-portation investments, to housing,land use and the environment. Themodel came with a set of livabilityprinciples to guide federal fundingprograms, policies, and legislation.The principles include enhancingeconomic competitiveness and mak-ing targeted investments that buildupon strategies like transit-orienteddevelopment, mixed-use develop-ments and land recycling. Neitherprinciple references the need toincrease capacity for freight move-ments. Similarly, smart growth prin-ciples have coalesced around mixeduse development, compact buildingdesign, walkable communities,preservation of open space, and pub-lic transit but without addressing thatrole that freight plays in providing thegoods and services that help to make

a community livable in the first place.At the state level, Senate Bill (SB)

375 requires California’s 18 metro-politan planning organizations toalign regional transportation, housingand land use plans and to prepare aSustainable Communities Strategy(SCS) to reduce the amount of vehi-cle miles travelled in the region.While SB 375 does not target thetrade and transportation sector, theimpact on goods movement is great.Like the national livability and sus-tainability principles, at the morelocal level where the SCS is devel-oped, freight is rarely part of thevocabulary of urban sustainability. Itshould be. Compact building designand a concentration of activity gener-ate freight and pedestrian conflicts,slow the movement of freight, andresult in congestion, pollution, noise,excess energy consumption, andgreater accident risks for pedestrians,bicyclists and passenger cars. Smartgrowth may also require more fre-quent and concentrated deliveries andpickups. Denser urban environmentslike those considered desirable innewly revitalized urban cores alsogenerate significant trips tied to serv-ice delivery (trash pickup, mainte-nance services, etc.) but with limitedparking and loading facilities andcompetition for scarce road, curb andsidewalk space. When cities respondby limiting truck size or access, it inturn impedes freight movements.Toolkits for sustainable develop-

ment also rarely incorporate freight.

In fact, traffic calming solutions likeroundabouts and pedestrian-friendlyenvironments with limited (or prohib-ited) vehicle access actually constrainfreight movements or displace trafficto other and in some cases less directand efficient routes. Inadequate load-ing and parking facilities result inillegal double parking which in turnincreases local street congestion andincreases travel times for both passen-ger vehicles and trucks.

Zoning and planning standards fornew residential and commercialdevelopments may provide an oppor-tunity to create new parking and load-ing spaces that accommodate freight.But redevelopments or infill develop-ments may, on the other hand, createnew problems. In infill developmentswhere freight-related land uses suchas warehouses and railyards alreadyexist, the implementation of a desiredsmart growth or sustainable plan cancause encroachment on freight landuses and introduce new conflictswhere none existed. The problems are challenging but

not intractable. As the ports – and theirsupply chain partners – have proven,it’s possible to move goods in an envi-ronmentally sustainable manner. But itfirst requires accepting the notion thatfreight is part of the solution.(Dr. Thomas O’Brien is the interim

executive director of the Center forInternational Trade and Transportationat CSULB and an associate director forthe METRANS Transportation Center, apartnership of USC and CSULB.)

� TRADE ANDTRANSPORTATIONBy TomO’Brien

Sustainable Freight?


june 24-july 7, 2014 section a

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