Riviera Homeowners Association

Come the early hours of Sunday, September 21, the streets of the Riviera might be abuzz with the sounds of thudding running shoes and whooshing bicycle wheels. A “World Cup Triathlon” is being negotiated with the city of Torrance, and we may be eyewitness to a doozy of a sport spectacular. A mailer recently went to many Riviera residents (click here to see it) recently describing the proposed route.
In addition, the City Council will hear more about this proposal and be able to take comments from residents, so whether you’re for or against the idea, come to tomorrow’s City Council meeting at 7:00pm to learn more or let your voice be heard. We’ll continue to keep you updated through the summer as events unfold. For more information:

• City staff report on the proposal
• Daily Breeze article

City Candidate Q&A redo

Once again, we remind you of the answers provided to our candidates’ questionnaire  by mayoral and city council candidates.  And once again your webmaster apologizes, this time for omitting from our last edition the answers provided by candidate Tim Goodrich (who was first to respond).  The complete Q&A is available hereand hopefully serves you as a useful guide for the upcoming June 3 election.

Airport noise update

At last week’s Airport Commission meeting , a representative from WebTrak (the City’s new online flight tracking system), appeared and explained why the system is not working.    Staff is to report back to the Commission next month (June 12) on options to get the system to work.  If they cannot get it to work, they will not be able to enforce the rule against “early left turns” over the Riviera or training on the south side of the Airport.  Also, the Commission seemed pleased with the format and content of the new Quarterly Noise Abatement Report.  It has a  lot more useful information, including a list of the specific violations.  This report was for the first three months of this year.  There were 123 noise violations.  For more info on helicopter noise issues, please visit http://www.helicopternoise.org/

Reminder: Crime Awareness & Prevention

Don’t forget, this Wednesday’s important general meeting at Richardson Middle School, focused on, yes, crime awareness and prevention.  More details on our webpage: http://hollywoodriviera.org. 
This would be a good time to forward this notice to your friends and neighbors who might not have been made aware of the meeting.

Take care and be safe during the upcoming Memorial Day weekend!

Filed under: Uncategorized | Comments Off on Triathlon: Treat or Trial?

Please be sure to attend the RHA’s next General Meeting with guest speakers from the Torrance Police Department to discuss recent crime incidents in and around the Riviera.  Learn what is being done to beef up safety and how you can contribute to your own home’s safety and security.   It’s a matter for watching out for your neighbors as well as your own family.   We will also announce this year’s RHA scholarship winners and their plans for college and beyond. For those interested in the PCH landscaping project, there will be a short meeting before hand, at 6:30 sharp to share the progress being made and solicit input from residents. This will be our last regularly scheduled meeting for the 2013-14 year.   As we make plans for next fall, we’ll be looking at the available funds and predicting next year’s budget.   If you haven’t yet paid your voluntary dues, it’s not too late; your donation will make a difference in the amount of support your neighborhood champion can provide.  Please visit our website for information on how to contribute your dues.

New landscape award winners

If you haven’t seen our champions of the front yard, check out the latest award winners, selected jointly with the Riviera Garden Club.  We thank all those who keep the Riviera beautiful with their hard work and thoughtfulness applied to their own homes.

Updated City Council Q&A

Due to an oversight for which we apologize, we left out responses to our questionnaire from 3 of the City Council candidates when we posted last week.  Please click here to view the updated, complete Q&A addressed to the 3 mayoral candidates and the 16 city council candidates.   You’ll find useful information to help you in deciding where your votes go on June 3.

Filed under: Uncategorized | Comments Off on Crime Awareness & Prevention

Last week’s city council meeting focused on the emerging issue of new street sweeping rules, including signs to be posted for weekly no parking days. Tickets for parking on  a street during the three hours of  street sweeping time may be set to $43.00, once the details of the new policy are established

At the meeting, several residents of the Seaside neighborhood had comments and complaints about the proposed placement of the poles and signs for street sweeping.  The residents there have been asking for fewer signs than were originally planned for (over 5,000 signs to be placed 300 feet apart all over Torrance).   After walking around Seaside with the residents and a city engineer in April, RHA President Judy Brunetti felt that the marked sign locations were not good either—for example, directly in front of homes rather than at property lines.

 After hearing from anyone who wished to speak on the matter, council decided that :

1)  They agreed that there has not been sufficient communication letting residents know that mandatory street sweeping is coming to Torrance.  It must be done to lessen the debris in rainwater runoff to the bay and limit the debris going into the gutters.
The council decided to send out mailed flyers to inform everyone in Torrance.

2)  They will limit the number of signs–maybe just one at each end of the street. Mr. John Dettle, public works engineer, said he would personally check the sign placement to make sure they are correct (ie. not too many, and at the property line when necessary).

3) Contractors will start installing the open-and-close grates on the rain gutters right away, but the signs will come later.

4) City council needs to discuss further what to do about street sweeping on streets that have parking only on one side of the street, like many streets in the Riviera.

5) The current fine for parking on the street during street sweeping hours is $43.00.  This is likely going to stay the same, but may also be discussed.

 Further discussion on signage and parking issues by the council has been delayed until July 22, when there will be new council members seated.

 Here are some links to background information motivating the initiating of street sweeping signage:

• What’s going on at Lake Machado? 
• Torrance participation in the Machado Lake Project showing “full capture trash screens on catch basins”
• Proposition 84 Stormwater Grant Program
• Proposition 84 (passed in 2006)

 The RHA is actively working with the city to provide feedback on the proposed signage (and penalties) and also with the other homeowner associations in the area to coordinate better across our communities.  We will continue to keep you posted on future developments.

 Candidate forum followup

As part of our candidate forum Q&A at South High earlier this month, we solicited answers to several questions that would be of concern to Riviera residents.  A compilation of those questions and answers are now available at this link.  Thank you to all the candidates for mayor and city council who took the time to respond to this questionnaire. 

Election Day is June 3 – put it on your calendars and don’t forget to vote!!
Vote for Mayor
Vote for City Council
Vote for City Clerk

May General meeting – Crime Awareness & Prevention

Our next meeting announcement is on our website, we are excited to have an informative and timely presentation, with great relevance today to all Riviera homeowners and residents.   You’ll also get a chance to learn who this year’s college scholarship winners are. 

Relay for Life 2014

Congratulations to all the relay walkers at last weekend’s Relay for Life who dedicated part of last weekend at South High in the fight against cancer.  All funds raised support the American Cancer Society for their research and support efforts.   The Hollywood Riviera Sportsmen’s Club was among the groups providing the most fundraising, as well as delicious pancakes for the Sunday morning wrapup.  If you’d like to help push the group over their fundraising target of $12,000, click here and give generously.

Filed under: Uncategorized | Comments Off on Stepped-up street sweeping seen soon

Full house at City Council Candidates forum

A lively and informative question and answer forum was held April 2 at South High School, featuring 15 out of the 16 candidates running for the 4 open City Council positions.

The RHA hosted the session, with Linda Herman of the League for Women Voters conducting the Q&A.  The Southwood HOA was a co-sponsor.  All candidates had a chance to answer questions prepared ahead of time, and also fielded questions from the audience.  A short wrapup comment was also allowed.  The range of questions allowed everyone in the audience to get a good sense for where each candidate stood, on issues important to the Riviera and the city as a whole.  Thanks to all the residents who turned out for this important event.

Pictured, left to right
Top: Heidi Ashcraft, Tim Goodrich, Mike Griffiths, Milton Herring, Rahmat Khan
Middle:Leilani A. Kimmel-Dagostino, Aurelio Mattucci, Omar Navarro, Clint Andrew Paulson, Geoff Rizzo
Bottom: Alan M. See, Charlotte Ann Svolos, Ryan Mand, John Paul Tabakian, Kurt Weideman
Not attending: Norm “Opa” Segel

Next up: Please be sure to attend the

Mayoral FORUM – Wednesday, April 16, at 7 PM

The next general meeting for RHA residents (and last for the current 2013-14 year) will be at Richardson Middle School and will feature up to date information on “Crime Statistics and Prevention in the Riviera”  plus information on Neighborhood Watches. Torrance PD officers will be present to answer your questions.

Signs on the way

The City Council will be discussing Street Sweeping and the no parking signs to go with it at the upcoming April 22 council meeting.  This is being initiated in the Seaside area and will be coming to the Riviera soon.  The RHA will be following the progress and reporting back to you.

Filed under: Uncategorized | Comments Off on Candidate Forums for Torrance city office; stop crime in the Riviera

You can pick up a little wisdom and beauty right outside our El Retiro branch library now.

Supervising Librarian Kay Ujimori shows off the new wall mural and gardens at El Retiro

Recent ADA-mandated construction at El Retiro Library resulted in a more user-friendly ramp and a newly configured planter – but destroyed previous plantings. The Riviera Garden Club used this as an opportunity to re-landscape with colorful and whimsical mural-inspired plants and flowers intended to attract butterflies and appeal to children (and adults).

The kids can also get homework help from a local high school student, for free, in a safe, friendly, well-lit environment.  Help is available from a local high school volunteer Mondays and Thursdays 3:30-5:30.  While they’re at it, pick up a book, CD, or movie for yourself from the library’s growing collection.

Homework Help is just around the corner

And for the little ones, there’s Toddlertime, which has just resumed on Wednesday’s at 11am, a story and song program for ages 18 months to 3 years.

A sour note

A marked rise in burglaries has taken a toll on a number of residents.  There is increased concern and vigilance, with an increased interest in Neighborhood Watch groups.  The Torrance PD has excellent resources here  if you’re interested in learning more.  The RHA Board is looking into ways to raise awareness of the actual levels of crime and preventive measures that residents should be aware of.  Board members have been in touch with the police department, and there has been an increase in the amount of patrolling in our area.

Reminders

Our City Council candidates forum comes to South High this Wednesday April 2.  At least 12 of the 16 running candidates have agreed to appear.  Check the website for details on that and on the subsequent Mayoral candidates forum on April 16.

The RHA Scholarship Committee will soon be making recommendations on this years award winners.  What helps is to have the resources to be as generous as possible.  If you haven’t yet donated your voluntary dues, please do so right away!

You should be receiving the latest Riviera Reporter in your mail this week.  Printing and mailing these newsletters is a major expense for the RHA, and the board is considering scaling this back to a smaller simpler newsletter, or even a post card.  Again, better participation by contributing residents is a big help.    We’ll keep you posted on the decision.

Interested in volunteering with the organization that has served the Riviera for over 60 years?  Get in touch with a Board member at any of our meetings or by phone or email to find out what opportunities there are.

Filed under: Uncategorized | Comments Off on Read all about it – at the library