City Manager's Update

City Clerk’s Office

• Opening of Application Period for Culver City Commission, Committee and Board Appointments – The City Council has created a number of Commissions, Committees, and Boards to engage members of the Culver City Community in their government.There are vacancies on the Parks and Recreation Commission (1), Committee on Homelessness (1), Landlord-Tenant Mediation Board (1 Tenant, 1 Member at Large), and the Fiesta la Ballona Committee (1). Applications for currently vacant offices will be accepted by the City Clerk’s Office until 5 pm on Tuesday, March 11. Late applications may not be accepted. Appointments for current vacancies are tentatively scheduled to be considered by the City Council on Monday, March 24. Persons not appointed during the earlier application period will be considered during a second application period for future vacancies. Details about the first application period and the second application period can be found by visiting: http://www.culvercity.org/Government/Misc/Commissions.aspx

• Poll Worker Opportunities - April 8 Election –The City Clerk’s Office invites the public to participate in the election process by becoming a paid Poll Inspector/Precinct Board Member for the Upcoming General Municipal Election, during which two Members of the City Council shall be elected. Serving as a Poll Inspector/Precinct Board Member is an important and rewarding job. To become a Poll Inspector you must be a resident of Los Angeles County, a United States citizen, at least 18 years of age, and a registered voter. Precinct Board Members must be a legal resident of the United States and be at least 18 years of age. Precinct Board Members will be paid $105, and Poll Inspectors will be paid $175. For more information and to sign up, contact the City Clerk’s Office at 310-253-5851, city.clerk@culvercity.org or visit http://www.culvercity.org no later than noon on Monday, March 3.

Community Development Department

• Bunnin Chevrolet – A permit has been issued a tenant improvement, adding 286 square feet to the existing structure and adding a 336 square feet canopy.

• Sony Pictures Entertainment – Sony Pictures Entertainment renewed its license for employee parking in the Ince Parking Structure for one additional year. Sony is reducing its number of parking spaces from 250 to 150, allowing City staff to assign those spaces to those on a waiting list.

• Topson Downs - The Watseka Parking Structure reaches its maximum capacity around noon each weekday. To alleviate this situation, 60 employees from Topson Downs were relocated from Watseka to City Hall at the same parking rate to make those parking spaces at Watseka available to others.

• Parcel B – Staff has executed an agreement to extend the Combined/Hudson DDA schedule by one year to provide time for the State Department of Finance to consider the former Agency’s Long Range Property Management Plan, which includes a request to approve the Parcel B land sale to Combined/Hudson.

• Former Fire Station – Last week, staff held a neighborhood meeting at the former Segrell Fire Station to present conceptual plans by a potential developer of the property. The neighborhood was pleased with the Spanish-style architecture.

Fire Department

• Paramedic School Graduation – On January 30 Culver City Firefighter Seth Miller graduated from Paramedic Training. Not only did he complete the rigorous training, which included the classroom, hospital, and field internship, he was also selected as the “Class Speaker.” The Class Speaker is selected by the instructors and faculty based on academics, class participation, teamwork, and leadership. Below you will find a few excerpts from emails we received during his time at Paramedic Training Institute:

I wanted to take a moment to let you know what an incredible employee you have in Seth Miller. The reason why I am writing this email is I have a student situation, and Seth has gone out of his way to help me find a solution. The situation is that one of the private students has been sleeping in his car. I just became aware of it today and asked Seth if he knew of this and could he speak to the student so I could figure out what his needs are. He spoke with this student, was very discreet, and then went to the class and formulated a solution. He came back and told me that it was taken care of. I really appreciated his help with this, his discretion, and just his compassion.

Seth Miller is our class speaker for Class 228. He really was a pleasure to have in class and I wish every student demonstrated his positive demeanor and motivation. Your department I am sure is very proud of him as he gave 110% at all times and still managed to have a bit of fun along the way. He really wanted to make Culver City Fire Department proud of him.

Can you send more like him?

The Department is very proud of Seth and knows he will serve this community well in his new position as a Firefighter/Paramedic.

• Station One Tour – On January 31 40 students from La Playa Nursery School along with 20 chaperons were provided a tour of Fire Station #1. The children and adults were shown around the fire station, got to look at the fire engine and paramedic ambulance along with all of the equipment carried. They were taught different safety tips during their tour and provided a number of demonstrations.

• New Recruit Firefighter – On January 10 one new Recruit Firefighter, Avery Burns, began his training at the Culver City Fire Training Tower. The tower training will consist of eight weeks of intensive training on a variety of skills including: the proper donning and usage of personal protective equipment; hose and ladder evolutions; building construction; roof ventilation, ropes / knots / rappelling; and EMS skills/techniques. When the candidate successfully completes his work at the Training Tower, he will be assigned to a Fire Company where he will continue to train and be evaluated throughout his one-year probationary period.

Information Technology

• WiFi Access at Veterans Memorial Building – WiFi is now available to the public inside the Veterans Memorial Building, at Veterans Park and at poolside areas at the Culver City Plunge. The WiFi service is provided by Time Warner Cable in partnership with the City of Culver City. To access the service, the public can connect to the “TWC WiFi Hotspot”. The public will be provided with two hours of complimentary WiFi access daily. Time Warner Internet subscribers have unlimited access and additional time can be purchased by non-subscribers. This project is a result of a collaborative effort between Culver City’s Information Technology and Parks Recreation/Community Services Departments and Time Warner Cable. Providing this service, including the installation of hardware components, was completed at no cost to the City as a result of this collaborative effort.

• Geographical Information Systems (GIS) Industry User Group Presentation – Staff from the City’s GIS Program gave a presentation at the first Riverside County Pictometry User Group meeting on January 21, demonstrating the City’s use of GIS technology as applied to public safety.

Parks, Recreation and Community Services Department

• Veterans Memorial Building and Rental Operations – Sony Pictures Television returned on February 5 and February 10 to shoot more scenes at the VMC facilities for the show Rake.

• Culver City Symphony Orchestra - The Culver City Symphony Orchestra presents A Winter’s Concert in Veterans Memorial Auditorium on February 22. More information is available by visiting http://www.culvercitysymphony.org.

• Culver City Senior Center – The Senior Center now offers iPad and Excel classes to CCSCA members along with Beginning, Intermediate, Advanced Computer, Email and Internet classes. Registration for computer classes is open to CCSCA members only and begins on February 25. For further information, please contact computer lab coordinator Richard Marr at 310-253-6720 or at richard.marr@culvercity.org.

• Senior Center Support Groups – The Culver City Senior Center provides two Loss Support groups, in partnership with WISE & Healthy Aging. These groups provide a safe, confidential place to grieve the loss of a loved one and an opportunity to address one’s own emotional needs. For information about this and other support groups offered by the Senior & Social Services Division, please contact Darren Uhl at 310-253-6729 or at darren.uhl@culvercity.org.

• Senior Center Fashion Show – The Culver City Senior Center presents a Golden Fashion Show on Tuesday, February 25 at 1 pm.

• Volunteer Appreciation - Thank you to the volunteers from Sony Pictures Entertainment’s SEAD group, who assisted for a second year at the Senior Center Nifty 90’s Valentine’s Day Party.

• Culver City Volunteer Information – For a quick and easy way to find out about volunteer information in Culver City, follow @CulverVolunteer on Twitter!

• The Plunge – In recent months, the Public Works Department installed new flooring in both men’s and women’s locker rooms. Public Works staff applied a new coat of paint throughout the facility and installed a variable frequency driver, which allows the Plunge to operate with a lower carbon footprint.

• Aquatics – In 2013, the Aquatics staff participated in several training sessions hosted by the Human Resources Department, including the Supervisor’s Guide to the Civil Service Rules; Organizational Risk Management; Customer Service – Creating Some WOW; Performance Management; Tools for Tense Situations; and Harassment, Discrimination & Retaliation in the Workplace. .

Police Department

• Department Promotions - On February 12 Chief Don Pedersen held a promotional ceremony and elevated Sergeant Sam Agaiby to Lieutenant and Lieutenant Ron Iizuka to Captain.

• Community Involvement - As part of the Police Department’s continuing efforts to interact with the community, Lieutenant Allen Azran was invited to speak to a group of ITT Technical Institute Criminal Justice students at the Culver City campus on February 3.

• Neighborhood Watch - On February 11 the Tellefson/Tilden Neighborhood Association held its monthly meeting. Captain Ron Iizuka attended and discussed recent crime trends; Councilmember Micheál O’Leary also attended the meeting.

Public Works

• Reminder of Water Conservation Ordinance in Culver City – In 2009, the City of Culver City passed a Water Ordinance, due to the critical importance of saving water and reducing excessive water consumption.

Included was no watering between 9 am and 5 pm (except by hand)

To report a violation, call 310-253-5555 or visit: http://user.govoutreach.com/culvercity

The complete water conservation ordinance is available at:

http://www.culvercity.org/Government/PublicWorks/EnvironmentalPrograms/WaterConservation