Long Beach Talks, City Listens

Long Beach residents voiced their concerns about city governance at the inaugural Long Beach Listens, a series of monthly meetings the City Council vows to hold throughout the city.

At Monday’s meeting at the West End Community Center, Council members Fran Adelson, Len Torres and Scott Mandel and City Manager Jack Schnirman listened to residents' talk about issues both universal to the city and specific to its most western neighborhood. These included everything from sanitation pick-up schedules to rebuilding the wall destroyed by Hurricane Irene at Magnolia playground to clogged sewers on Maryland Avenue. Most concerns, however, centered on enforcement issues, especially related to traffic. 

Victoria Flynn, who lives on West Broadway in the shadows of the Allegria Hotel, is concerned about some people who patronize the establishment to drink on weekends. “They just get in their cars and drive off and no one really seems to care,” Flynn said. “... During the summer, it’s just outrageous, every Friday and Saturday night there are drunks just spilling out on the street, screaming and yelling.”

Acting Police Commissioner Michael Tangney was on hand to explain police enforcement of various laws, including bicyclists who ride on sidewalks, particularly children. “We have one inherent problem with bicycle enforcement,” said Tangney, who previously ran the city’s traffic enforcement division. “You can’t enforce it on anyone under 16, because under 16 you’re a child and can’t get a summons.”

Tangney noted that moving violations in the past year have increased more than 101 percent. “There were more than 700 violations this year, just in January,” said Tangney, who said that an average of more than 65,000 cars travel on Long Beach’s roads daily.

Torres said the City Council will propose a safety commission at Tuesday’s meeting to address motorists who speed, run red lights and stop signs, and other traffic issues such as the use of forthcoming bike lanes.

West End resident Richard Papetti wants the city to step up enforcement to address problems surrounding Irish Day, the parade and fair that attracts tens of thousands of revelers to West Beech Street each October.

“A major concern in the West End is the wild alcoholic celebration that comes with this,” said Papetti, who decried the public intoxication, urination, fornication and vandalism that he and other residents encounter during this event.

Rick Hoffman, president of West End Neighbors Civic Association, pointed out that repairs to storm-damaged West End beaches entrances are still pending, and he called a proposed bathroom at Georgia Street playground an “imperative” in the West End.

“It’s a necessity for the children and families,” Hoffman said of the people that use the playground in summer.  “... It’s wrong to ask a merchant to let families use their bathrooms while they are conducting business.”

While Schnirman attempted to explain the city’s financial woes in simpler, more digestible language, after the council declared a fiscal emergency at Feb. 7 meeting, and talked about projects that the city expects will bring in more revenue, Torres addressed questions about grants for the city. He said these grants address issues such as playground upgrades, youth programs, environmental issues and boardwalk refurbishment.

Resident Gary Pollakusky suggested posting a list of the grants on the city’s website. “It would be very useful for folks to know what the city is working on,” he said.

Both councilmen John McLaughlin and Michael Fagen were absent at Tuesday’s meeting.