Drug Companies Responsible for Drug Cleanup

Water quality is seriously impacted by the millions of gallons of prescription medicines that are dumped or peed into our toilets. Most water treatment systems cannot effectively remove these medications and that is why the County of Alameda has made the pharmaceutical industry liable to take back unused drugs so that they do not wind up in our water systems.

Apparently the Supreme Court agrees with Alameda that the drug companies have to fund and manage drug take back programs. The court allowed a local ordinance to stand which make pill makers pay for drug disposal.

I worked with Long Beach early on to develop a program with Memorial Medical Center. But the fact remains the Long Beach program is only done once a year and people have medicines they need to dispose of year round.

Long Beach Health Department should now step up and develop a program with the pharmaceutical industry to get rid of unused medication. Meanwhile, please do not flush your pills down the toilet.. You can put them in a coffee can and place wet coffee grounds on top of them. It will destroy them and you can tape the top of the can and place in the garbage.

• High Court Won't Hear PhRMA's Appeal Of Drug Cleanup Law
• Drug Take-Back Laws Stand, Pave Way for More EPR Laws
• Supreme Court Says Locals Can Make Pill-Makers Pay For Drug Disposal

Related articles

Tell the City to Put the American Flags Back

 Memorial Day, 2015 --

It was a sad sight driving down Clark Avenue today, Memorial Day, to see the empty brackets on the light poles lining Clark Avenue, from Wardlow Avenue to Carson Street. (Also a little embarrassing since the TV crews were there to tape the Memorial Day activities and the flags should have been prominent on this day of all days.)

Without explanation, the City of Long Beach had removed the two dozen United States flags that hung for the past three years on light poles.The flags were originally purchased by me when I was Councilmember for the 5th Council district where the area sits.

Clark Avenue was the ONLY street in Long Beach to display the US Flag and the flags were placed there because of the proximity to the military memorial at Rosie the Riveter Park (at Conant and Clark) and Vets Stadium. The flags had been replaced twice since they were installed and were in need of replacement by the current Councilwoman Stacy Mungo.



Contact the City Manager, Pat West at patrick.west@longbeach.gov and stacy.mungo@longbeach.gov and tell them to put the flags back. If need be, I will personally raise the money to pay for the flags.

Related articles

• Memorial Day at Rosie the Riveter Park

City Hall Neglects To Remind Residents About Important Military Memorials in Long Beach to Visit on Memorial Weekend

Okay. The Mayor's Office did put out a press release reminding residents that Monday is Memorial Day. The release also told readers to click onto a Los Angeles Times link about the "14 men" from Long Beach who died in service after 9/11.

But what the Mayor failed to remind folks is that right here in Long Beach we have two important military memorials which you can visit.

The first is the Rosie the Riveter Park at Conant Street and Clark Avenue. Not only does it contain wonderful information on the contributions of the women who worked on the home front making the planes at Douglas Aircraft that helped win the war, but it also features a military memorial wall and flags representing all the military services and POWs. The memorial is aptly inscribed: "All Gave Some. Some Gave All."

And while the Mayor's Office mentions 14 Long Beach men who died in military service after 9/11, there are actually 15. I know because I made certain that each of them have a memorial banner hanging on the light poles in Rosie the Riveter Park as part of the Long Beach Hometown Heroes Project I started in 2011.

The men not only are remembered with a banner but you can listen via cellphone as you walk the park to a narration about their lives.

These men and their lives can be viewed at: www.lbhometownheroes.com. 

Down at City Hall we also "remembered" the families who bear the continued sacrifice of their loss. We installed a Gold Star and a Blue Star flag outside of City Hall, making Long Beach the first city to do so.

Take a moment this weekend to stop by Rosie the Riveter Park or City Hall and reflect about these brave men and women.

Council Should Pass a "Taxless Tuesday" Instead of "Meatless Monday"

Yes folks, it was an interesting and very important discussion this past Tuesday in City Council. 

No, it wasn't about restoring services in the police and fire departments. 

And no, it wasn't about the declining oil revenues and the increasing costs of water facing the City.

It was about supporting a movement to encourage residents to go vegetarian by passing (on a 7-2 vote) a resolution to encourage residents to observe "Meatless Mondays."

"Meatless Mondays" isn't the most original idea to come along since many people already have stopped eating meat, either because they can't afford it or they believe eating less meat is healthier.

Having a City Council weigh in on something as personal as what people eat is strange, considering the many serious issues facing the City.

Drafting the resolution took staff time and so did the Council discussion. It will come back to Council for yet another vote. All this time could be put to better use.

For instance, how about passing a "Taxless Tuesday" resolution that pledges that local government will stop looking for ways every Tuesday to tax residents and instead focus on making City government more efficient and frugal?

The next city budget will arrive in a few months filled with increased fees and perhaps additional cuts to service. And you will hear chatter about increasing the utility user tax to make up for short falls. 

Then ask the Mayor and Council why it can spend a million dollars to obtain a Bloomberg grant that won't generate any additional revenue to the City but added more staff to the city payroll.

Ask Council why City employees (more than 5000) still don't clock in and out of work but are allowed to fill in their own time sheets.

Question why real performance measures are missing from budget documents and why the Council won't put the City Manager on notice that he either reports them or is replaced.

The Council needs to get busy with the real business of local government: fiscal reform and performance management.

Stop the theatrics or as Shakespeare wrote" sound and fury signifying nothing."

Related articles

• Meatless Mondays
• Long Beach City Council Approves 'Meatless Mondays,' But Not Everyone's On Board
• 
  

Key Staff Bailing from Long Beach

Several key staff are leaving the City of Long Beach. 

Kevin Wattier, Executive Director of the City's Water Department announced his retirement after 14 years of service. Wattier is credited with guiding the department during difficult water issues but butted heads with city officials over its taking millions in "pipeline fees" without taking the matter to the voters. As a result of the fee, the Water Department began charging city departments for water -- which has severely impacted the budget of the Parks and Recreation Department which oversees parks, golf courses and street medians.

Apparently City Hall is about to lose the Director of Human Resources, Debbie Mills. Mills who came up through the ranks in the City, was appointed Director in 2010. She and her staff sat at the bargaining tables when council demanded that employee unions and associations begin paying their share of pension costs. Staff recommended that in turn, all employees be given a salary increase.

Mills and her staff should soon have to begin negotiations again for the numerous labor union contracts are set to expire.

An ad on line, points out that her replacement will be paid up to the low $200,000 range. Only five years and a BA are required. (What no certification as an HR Professional which is required by most companies that employ 6,000 employees?)

Parks, Recreation and Marine Department head, George Chapjian announced he is leaving to become Director of Community Services for Santa Barbara County. Chapjian only worked in the Long Beach position since 2011. His department budget and staffing have been slashed to the bone since he first took his job. Talk around city hall is more cuts are planned as the new mayor and council have to deal with reduced revenues and increased expenditures.

City Clerk Larry Herrera-Cabrera retired late April after commuting to Long Beach from San Clemente since 2002. Larry tried to bring many modernizations to a department that had been previously plagued with problems. Some cities actually elect the City Clerk so that he/she can be totally independent from the mayor and council. The City council appoints the Clerk in Long Beach.

WRD is Drowning in Scandals

One of the main reasons I ran for a seat on the Water Replenishment District was because I thought it needed to be "cleaned up." 

Water Districts are governmental agencies that are notorious for not getting a lot of scrutiny from the public. Dare say most people don't even know they exist let alone what they do.

In the past week, WRD has been exposed for two troubling situations -- spending over $5 million dollars suing local cities and today a story about one of its past board members (who I trounced in the election) alleging sexual harassment by another board member while on a junket to Washington, DC.

Oh, and let's not forget there was some alleged hanky panky by yet another board member last year or that apparently some WRD electeds were involved in funding a campaign to defeat Signal Hill Councilmembers who dared refused to pay up when WRD assessed the city.

What galls me about charges of sexual harassment between and by elected officials is that anyone elected or appointed to a commission in California must take mandatory training on how to prevent it.  So did these two ever go to the training? And how much is it going to cost WRD...I mean the taxpayers to settle this lawsuit?

With the current water crisis now on the front page, let's hope these agencies get a closer look so that the public can put a stop to their money going down the drain.

Related articles

• Carson Mayor Accused Of Trying To Sexually Assault Woman In DC Hotel Room
• Daughter Of Late Politician Mervyn Dymally Suing Carson Mayor For Sexual Harassment

Stinky Water Back in Long Beach for Awhile

I can always remember the smell of the water that came out of the taps in my Grandmother's home on Santa Fe Avenue in the Gold Star Manor. It was the same smell that was at family friends' homes on Easy Avenue. The smell of rotten eggs  -- hydrogen sulfide.

The smell is back in Long Beach. I asked the Water Department why and here is the official response:

The LBWD's Groundwater Treatment Plant went back into service Wednesday, April 22, 2015 after being out of service for annual maintenance. Some of the local wells that are treated at the groundwater plant have low but detectable levels of hydrogen sulfide, and some customers may have a higher degree of sensitivity to this “rotten egg-like” odor.  Hydrogen sulfide is not harmful. LBWD is working on blending the groundwater with purchased treated water to make it more palatable. This issue should be resolved by May 11, 2015. If a customer has any other questions relating to their water, please contact our Water Quality Lab at 562-570-2482

Glad to read that the hydrogen sulfide isn't harmful...although take a look at the linked article below. Now that I know where the smell is coming from I can stop blaming my dog...

Related articles

• Well Water At Home
• Study shows that augmenting a gas naturally in our bodies fights RSV infection
• Link between Deaths and Hydrogen Sulfide Pollution