Street sweeping (Item #9) is only one of two items on the regular agenda. The other item, Item #10, is setting up a citizen finance committee.

Street sweeping was discussed at the April 16 and May 7 meetings, and staff was asked to return with at least one other alternative. If you include leaving it as it is without parking enforcement, there are now five alternatives.

• Move to bi-weekly sweeping
• Move to the alternate side of street sweeping
• Combine the above options: sweep one side of the street one week and the other the next (this alternative seems to be both workable and sensible, saves money, and reduces the burden on residents, a win/win situation)

The current system is expensive, unnecessary, and a burden on residents. Most streets in the city do not need to be swept weekly at a cost of $800,000. According to staff figures, bi-monthly sweeping would save 32% or reduce the cost to $545,000. The current system is burdensome because cars must be moved weekly to a different part of the city for 5 hours, and workers cannot park near residences.

Alternate side parking allows cars to be moved across the street (not on streets where parking is only permitted on one side). The proposed alternative #4, in addition to a 23% savings, would make life easier for those who rely on street parking.

One thing not addressed in this proposal is the 5-hour length of time that parking is restricted: in Brea, it is 2 hours, and in Long Beach (Belmont Shores) (check on Google Street Views).

There will be a cost of $350,000 for new signage, but that should be made up in savings in a couple of years.

At the last meeting, the Council voted to extend the Walk on Wilshire (WoW) until the second October meeting. Essentially, Councilmember Whitaker supported reopening the street to through traffic but was “not willing to pull the plug” quite yet and voted to extend the closure until October. Twenty-six people spoke, the majority in favor of keeping the WoW closed to traffic and used for open space. Councilmember Jung favored opening the street, while Dunlap recused himself because his father is part owner of Villa Del Sol. It is not clear what happens in the next 90 days, either on the part of the staff or the public. There was a table at the Thursday market with a petition asking for support of the WoW.

In other news:

Matt Truxaw is now running in District #1 against Fred Jung.
Jan Flory is now running in District #2 against Nick Dunlap.
There are three candidates in District #4: Vivian “Kitty” Jaramillo, Linda Whitaker, and Jamie Valencia.