Updates on Recent Stories

LBFD-City Negotiations on Minimal Manning Continue

The City of Long Beach and International Association of Firefighters Local 287, the union representing the Long Beach Fire Department, met to negotiate a new minimal staffing agreement on Monday, Sept. 13. A second meeting is scheduled for Wednesday, Sept. 22, according to City Manager Charles Theofan.

"One of the fundamental principles of collective bargaining is that neither side is supposed to divulge what transpires in negotiation," Theofan wrote to Patch in an email on Monday. "So all I can say is that we met, I would say there was some progress, and we will meet again next Wednesday."

The LBFD and city agreed to met after the Sept. 7 City Council meeting, when several firefighters and their supporters questioned and challenged Theofan about his decision to enact a new policy on minimal manning that took effect Sept. 1.

Bulkhead Reconstruction to Start in Six Weeks

Kevin Mulligan, Long Beach's commissioner of Public Works, confirmed on Monday, Sept. 13 that the reconstructive work on bulkhead in the Canals neighborhood will start in about six weeks, as reported in "Deteriorated Bulkhead in Canals Slated for Reconstruction."

Mulligan said that the $1.5 million project will start at the canal on State Street and Doyle Street and continue throughout the winter as the reconstruction work moves eastward to the other canals.

"Typically with bulkhead you can work through the winter," Mulligan said. "Certainly we will get State Street and Doyle Street done in a timely fashion before we have to worry about the canals freezing over."