To Tow or not to Tow, who asked the question?

The City of Long Beach is the only City that operates its own towing service; the division is comprised of over 40 city employees and 5 sub-contracted tow providers to assist with the overflow. The City only tows at the request of the Long Beach City departments, the Police Department and parking enforcement being the most frequent users. The Towing Division does not do private property tows and the public cannot find them in the Yellow Pages or towing at the request of a private party. Presently, the City of Long Beach Towing and Lien Sales Division contributes close to $3 million to the general fund, after it pays its overhead costs such as fuel, maintenance and personnel.


Last month, Financial Services issued a Request for Proposal (RFP) for City Tow Services, a service already available in the city, a service that is not losing money, pays for itself and contributes $3 million dollars to the general fund a year!


So who asked Financial Management to issue an RFP if no vote was taken at the council, no discussion was held at the Budget Oversight Committee, and no outcry from its primary customer, the LBPD was received? In fact, a petition was signed by Police and Public Work's employees asking the city not to contract out towing. So with this opposition and lack of outcry for a towing RFP, why do we have one?


Let's consider the fact that towing services can be a lucrative business. It can also be rife with corruption. Recently, a LB City Auditor's report stated that no abuse was present in the Long Beach towing operations but that it was possible given the amount of money that exchanges hands. So ..... a large amount of money exchanges hands and the city wants to contract out that service?


Great..... we know how the city provides scant oversight on all its contracts and MOU's (i.e. LB Museum of Art, Queen Mary, etc.). It would seem logical, then, to recommend that we tighten our controls, maintain our Long Beach City employees and keep our Long Beach-based tow sub contractors and keep the towing business in house and out of the hands of LA conglomerates: Hands that will certainly be handling our money if we allow the towing RFP to move forward. More to come.......

Gender, Race and the Politics of Speaking Up

The Long Beach City Council and the staff of the City is getting to look less and less like the people it serves. When I came on the council I was one of seven (7) women, and after I leave there will be only three (3). Although the council doesn't quite look like our founding fathers, there is still some concern. Even our management staff, given the first hired, first laid off scenarios and a rash of retirements in anticipation of pension reform, is not reflective of a city workforce we worked so hard to diversify.
This is a concern because as we go into another tough budget year we will have difficulty connecting with those who will be hurt the most by the budget and resulting service cuts. Yet at last weeks budget meeting there was little or no discussion from the council. Admittedly the presentations from the department heads were cursory in nature and lacked specifics but save for Gerrie, Rae and myself, the rest of the council was without questions. Do we really think that lack of discussion implies a united Council in agreement with management and our Mayor or is it a reflection of the Councils to come where meaningful dialogue and pointed questions are seen as a disruption?
In my view, discussion is needed for a clearer idea of our cities funding priorities. As our City
Council becomes more and more homogeneous, there may be less and less dialogue. Does speaking up result in the fear of being thrown out of the "club" if you were never in it in the first place? Perhaps that is the real value of a diverse body. Let's hope that the community demands a public discussion of our difficult decision making process regarding the budget by all parties and not depend on a few to raise their voices. Unanimity is an asset in management but can be a liability in leadership.

Good Times Ahead

The June 8th election is over and although I am disappointed in the outcome, I am energized and excited about the potential for some exciting times ahead for me and for the City that I love so much. I believe that the people of Long Beach are ready to address the real challenges ahead with creativity, compassion and a sense of purpose. Although many of us have been through some tough economic times, it is in these tough times that the most change is made. I stand ready to work by your side to bring us all back to greatness.
My last council meeting is July 13 however I will be available to my constituents until July 19th. Thank you for a wonderful ride and don't forget that every vote counts, every action matters and one person can make a difference.
I will be updating you on what I feel are issues we all need to know about and perhaps learn a thing or two from my colleague Gerrie about blogging and some pointers from LBReport and Dave Wielenga about writing the truth about the city in a way that motivates and informs. Thanks for the good times but the best is yet to come!