| Air Force Base | Hyperion | Recreation |
| Airport | Infrastructure | Schools |
| Development | Main Street | Seniors |
| Fiscal Policy | Public Safety | Traffic |
I am running for re-election to serve the citizens of our community by being an active member of our City Council. In the past I have provided prudent judgment and guidance to the community of El Segundo in helping to formulate, develop & implement public policy. I listen well to diverse opinions on all issues and make informed decisions that reflect the community’s best interests.
All citizens, both residential and business, deserve to have their views considered. Communication is the solution to bringing any two groups together. Open and respectful discussions of the issues allow common ground to be found. Elected bodies have a responsibility to publicly discuss the community’s issues and concerns. These traits served me well during my previous terms on City Council.
I will build upon my history of respecting and seeking the input of all citizens and look forward to the opportunity to serve you again.
Though currently not in jeopardy, we must be vigilant in supporting the retention of our Air Force Base. The Air Force Base provides a major economic engine for many businesses and residents. As I learned from our successful retention efforts when I was Mayor, the key to a successful retention is a coordinated campaign of local chambers, cities, counties, and businesses. This comprehensive campaign must incorporate all levels of elected officials including congressional representatives and senators. I worked diligently at keeping the Air Force Base from being closed in past rounds of base closures and I will continue in this effort if/when it is needed in the future.
For the past 30 years, I have worked to prevent negative impacts upon El Segundo from LAX. Any additional development or expansion at LAX is unacceptable and I will make every effort to prevent this from happening.
With the landmark 2005 settlement agreement, El Segundo received enough money from Los Angeles World Airports (LAWA), which runs LAX for the City of Los Angeles, to sound insulate every eligible home in our city, and we have tripled the number of homes insulated each year.
The settlement also requires the airport to downsize the number of passenger gates it operates to a total of 153. No other airport has ever been forced to limit its passenger capacity this way and it is a truly historic achievement.
But much is left to be done.
We must remain vigilant against any increased noise or other environmental impacts on our city. That kind of vigilance, and the help of concerned citizens, got the FAA to change navigation procedures at the airport in 3 months instead of the normal 12-month timeframe. This has helped reduce noise in the northwest residential area.
We must equalize the burdens of being an airport neighbor by making changes to the north side of LAX, even though some residents of the City of Los Angeles object to this. We have offered a proposal which will equalize the distribution of jumbo jet flights at LAX without increasing impacts on any airport neighbors. We must see that it is put in place.
And, of course, we must continue to monitor and report to the FAA every early turn an airplane makes over our city to improve safety and reduce noise in El Segundo. That is why we installed a state-of-the-art video camera system so that the FAA can discipline pilots who violate the early turn rules.
Prior to this settlement, when I was Mayor, I was able to get an agreement to allow LAX to pay for residential sound proofing in El Segundo. Unfortunately, Los Angeles changed administration and the agreement was rescinded. We then filed a lawsuit against LAX and El Segundo received over $1 million for residential soundproofing.
Plaza El Segundo has brought great stores to El Segundo along with a rise in sales tax revenue. For more information on this topic, please see the "Fiscal Policy" portion of this web page.
An update of the specific plan is essential for studying revitalization options for Smoky Hollow. The west end of Smoky Hollow is a great place for incubator industries, and small businesses must be encouraged to develop in this area.
Additionally, retail traffic in Downtown El Segundo can be improved by allowing offices above retail shops. This will attract foot traffic from employees and customers of the offices and suppliers. In order for this to succeed, we will need to review the available parking and update as necessary to meet the new influx of customers, employees and suppliers.
We implemented a completely new General Plan in 1993, which set development levels in different areas of the city. These development levels have served us well. We must be careful not to exceed these standards and to carefully evaluate them in light of the new Circulation Element. Development east of Sepulveda will always be a double-edged sword. While it brings great corporations and their employees to our city, it also adds to the traffic burden. From my previous experience on the council, I have a good understanding of our land use policies. This background will enable me to make sound decisions about important issues as they arise. Land use decisions affect the community well into the future.
The continued financial stability of El Segundo is an important issue given the rampant budget shortfalls at the state level. It is important to have a stable business community to keep revenues at a level necessary to support our public safety, parks, other city services and education.
I supported attracting retail tenants with strong name recognition to the undeveloped site at Sepulveda and Rosecrans to increase customers and sales tax revenue to El Segundo. To this front, we succeeded at bringing in 36 high revenue stores with additional stores coming soon. These stores not only bring convenient shopping options to the El Segundo residents, they also provide El Segundo citizens with entertainment options close to home. These additional tax revenues increase our ability to fund our city projects and programs.
I have many years of experience with creating balanced budgets in difficult times. Through fiscal responsibility and sound management, our city can be regarded as El Segundo de Nada – Second to None.
Relations with the Hyperion sewer plant have come a long way since the days when I co-founded the Hyperion Citizens Committee which acted as a liaison between plant management and residents of the west side. Currently, the management seems to understand the problems of El Segundo residents. However, the plant continues to evolve and I have made sure that as it does, the needs of the local citizens remain a primary concern for plant management.
It is now time to prioritize our residential streets. This involves repairing and resurfacing our streets on an ongoing basis. Timely attention is necessary in order to save costs in the long run.
The Sewer Master Plan has shown just how much work remains to be done in the future. The water system is also in need of improvement in several areas. In some cases, these systems are well over 50 years old. I feel that our infrastructure is extremely important and must be maintained. With a tight budget this will be difficult but we must find ways to do it.
I will continue to draw upon my long history of involvement in downtown El Segundo issues and supporting the character of downtown. I have a proven track record in providing options, alternatives and improvements including moving the utilities underground at no cost to the city and securing state resources to help enhance downtown. Additionally, retail traffic in Downtown El Segundo can be improved by allowing offices above retail shops. This will attract foot traffic from employees and customers of the offices and suppliers.
Main Street needed revitalization and the project produced a beautiful street, but sections of the plan were flawed. The “bump-outs” (the parts of the sidewalk that contain the new landscaping and stick out into the street) on Main Street removed too many essential parking spaces. I also do not believe the parking garage financing was in the citizens' best interest. Though I agree that it is wonderful having a good market in our downtown, having the city pay more than $1.1 million as a down payment and over $200,000 a year until 2037 is not financially prudent. I believe a parking structure could have been built for business parking at Grand & Standard on city owned property with some of the monies allocated to the Main Street revitalization. This location for a parking structure would also have allowed the Fire Station to have a rear entrance for the trucks, thus reducing some of the congestion on Main Street.
Public safety is important to all who live in El Segundo. Although we are one of the safest cities in the area, we must be ever vigilant. Due to the potential terrorist targets such as the Air Force Base, Chevron, LAX, Hyperion, and large corporations, we must be prepared. This is why I have always been active with several security and safety oriented groups:
As I have done in the past, I will work with our local public safety officials to ensure our city continues to be a safe, secure, and prepared community. My background, experience, and my desire to keep the citizens of El Segundo safe will be seen in the decisions I make while on the City Council.
Recreation is an important part of life in El Segundo. During the past few years, we have increased our recreation programs & improved our recreation facilities. We have improved our golf course (both the tees and the driving range) and the golf course restaurant should be upgraded soon. The George Gordon Clubhouse has been recently updated, including adding additional safety features to keep all of our citizens out of harm's way. Many of our fine parks had the playground equipment upgraded for the safety and enjoyment of our children. Some of these parks include the Recreation Park older kids & younger kid play areas, Candy Cane Park, Kansas-Holly Park & Sycamore Park. All these updates, in addition to the wonderful programs that our parks and recreation put on, helps make this a great city. I will help ensure that these projects continue for the benefit of all of us.
Although schools are not part of city government, they are an important part of our community. I have worked with our school district in finding new and innovative ways to aid the schools. We started the City-School library affiliation and joint facilities use agreements while I was previously on the City Council.
The City-School library affiliation agreement has the City operating the libraries in the 4 schools, allowing the school district to save their money and have a quality library program for each school.
The joint use agreement allows the City to use the various School facilities when not in use by the school district and the school district can use city facilities.
Nancy and I also support the schools by being charter members of the El Segundo Education Foundation's Superintendent's Roundtable.
Senior citizens are an important part of our community. That is why I supported the voters using the excess Gann fund in the early 1980's to build the Park Vista Senior Housing building. Keeping this facility in top shape is important. The addition to Joslyn Center during my previous term created more space for the seniors' dances and activities.
Concerns have been raised about providing a local senior assisted living facility and I have coordinated the development of a site plan for such a facility. The potential lease would bring additional revenues to the school district.
After I was recently elected, I ensured that the traffic circulation element of our General Plan was revised. Prior to this, the city had spent more than 4 years and $350,000 without the completed circulation element. During my initial tenure on the council, the entire General Plan of the city was completed in less than one year and this included a new circulation element.
This circulation element was needed to show how much traffic is predicted in the future and to suggest construction projects that could aid in relieving this additional traffic. It also needed to be in place before Douglas and Nash Streets could be returned to 2-way streets (will be completed later this year) and ways could be found to mitigate peak hour traffic (such as computerized signal synchronization). Douglas and Nash were changed to one-way streets to satisfy CalTrans requirements related to the onramp to the 105 Freeway. The traffic problems CalTrans predicted in that area never materialized and convenience and safety have been compromised. We were also able to complete the Douglas Gap Closure Project allowing another corridor for El Segundo residents and employees to travel into our city.
Committee to Elect Carl Jacobson ID # 840773 708 Bungalow Drive, El Segundo, CA 90245