Published: Sep 13, 2023

SACRAMENTO – Governor Gavin Newsom today announced that he has signed SB 447 by Senate President pro Tempore Toni G. Atkins (D-San Diego), which creates a new public awareness project that will consult with community leaders to promote California’s values of acceptance and inclusion of the LGBTQ+ community across the country. The bill also ends California’s restriction on taxpayer-funded travel by state agencies and departments to states that have adopted discriminatory anti-LGBTQ+ laws.

“In the face of a rising tide of anti-LGBTQ+ hate, this measure helps California’s message of acceptance, equality and hope reach the places where it is most needed,” said Governor Newsom. “I thank Pro Tem Atkins for authoring this important measure that enables California to continue taking a stand for the rights of LGBTQ+ people throughout the country and combating intolerance and hate with empathy and allyship.”

“Today, we are sending a message to the rest of the nation – here in California, we embrace one another, not in spite of our differences, but because of them. And we are ready to reach across the aisle, and across state lines, to help open hearts and minds, and support our LGBTQ+ youth and communities who are feeling so alone,” said Senate President pro Tempore Toni G. Atkins (D-San Diego). “There’s so much hate, so much hurt, so much harm being inflicted on people who are just trying to live their authentic lives. The BRIDGE Project is a chance to counter that with kindness and empathy, and I’m grateful to Governor Newsom for swiftly signing this bill into law, and to my colleagues in both parties who voted for it. We will be the bridge to a more understanding and compassionate nation.”

Governor Newsom alongside Assembly member Zbur, Pro Tem Atkins, Senator Eggman and Assemblymember Ward for SB 447 signing (left to right.)

The Governor also announced that he has signed the following bills:

• SB 104 by Senator Nancy Skinner (D-Berkeley) – Budget Acts of 2022 and 2023.
• SB 135 by the Committee on Budget and Fiscal Review – Public safety.
• SB 137 by the Committee on Budget and Fiscal Review – Health omnibus trailer bill.
• SB 138 by the Committee on Budget and Fiscal Review – Human services.
• SB 140 by the Committee on Budget and Fiscal Review – Early childcare and education.
• SB 141 by the Committee on Budget and Fiscal Review – Education finance: education omnibus budget trailer bill.
• SB 142 by the Committee on Budget and Fiscal Review – Higher education trailer bill.
• SB 143 by the Committee on Budget and Fiscal Review – State government.
• SB 148 by the Committee on Budget and Fiscal Review – State employment: State Bargaining Units: agreements: compensation and benefits.
• SB 152 by the Committee on Budget and Fiscal Review – Background checks and fingerprinting: state employment, licensing, and contracting.

For full text of the bills, visit: http://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov.

Multi-family housing does not need private outdoor spaces to build a community. Check out this welcoming development in NorCal near where I grew up. The condos/townhouses in San Mateo, CA by the train station have community gardens in the large, sunny area (instead of small private shady patios). They also have play equipment under the trees at each end and a BBQ area with lots of picnic tables.  

We were visiting a friend nearby and walked through this development. Look at the community garden! 

The largest survey of homeless Californians in decades aims to dispel myths about what drives that state’s most pressing crisis. It found that addiction and mental health conditions rarely cause homelessness.

Losing income is the No. 1 reason Californians end up homeless – and the vast majority of them say a subsidy of as little as $300 a month could have kept them off the streets.
That’s according to a new study out of UC San Francisco that provides the most comprehensive look yet at California’s homeless crisis.
In the six months prior to becoming homeless, the Californians surveyed were making a median income of just $960 a month. The median rent for a two-bedroom apartment in California is nearly three times that, according to Zillow. And though survey participants listed a myriad of reasons why they lost their homes, more people cited a loss of, or reduction in, income than anything else. 

The study’s authors say the findings highlight the idea that money, more than addiction, mental health, poor decisions or other factors, is the main cause of – and potential solution to – homelessness. 
“I think it’s really important to note how desperately poor people are, and how much it is their poverty and the high housing costs that are leading to this crisis,” said Margot Kushel, a physician who directs the UCSF Benioff Homelessness and Housing Initiative, which conducted the study.
Already the study – which the authors say is the most representative homelessness survey conducted in the U.S. since the mid-1990s – has drawn attention from high places.

Read the full article from CalMatters.org here.

By Ruben Vives, Doug Smith
Los Angeles Times June 14, 2023

More than 14,000 people experiencing homelessness have been moved off the streets during the first six months of her administration, Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass reported Tuesday.
About 30%, or 4,332, acquired permanent housing.

An additional 10,049 people were placed in interim housing through city and county programs from December through May, Bass said — a 27% increase over the same period the year before.
Of those in permanent housing, about a third moved into new housing units, with the rest using subsidies to obtain rental units.

Bass said the housing placements resulted from executive directives she enacted upon entering office, including a state of emergency on homelessness and the launching of the Inside Safe program, which is designed to clear street encampments by moving unhoused people indoors.

“We believe the emergency obviously continues, but we do see a way forward,” Bass said at a press conference at City Hall.

Since Bass took office in mid-December with a promise to house 17,000 people in her first year, homelessness has been at the forefront of her agenda.

In April, she announced that $1.3 billion of her $13 billion proposed budget would go to addressing homelessness, including about $250 million for Inside Safe. Previously, the program had been leasing rooms around the city. Bass’ team has shifted the strategy to purchasing property and is looking to acquire at least eight motels or hotels.

Bass said Tuesday that in her first six months, Inside Safe cleared 19 encampments, with 1,323 people voluntarily moving into temporary housing such as hotels — a slowdown from her first 100 days.

A handout distributed at the City Hall briefing showed photos of streets in Hollywood, Venice, Harbor City and South L.A. before and after they were cleaned. More than 262,000 pounds of waste were said to have been removed.

The handout detailed several challenges to Inside Safe, including the cost of motel rooms, the difficulty of clearing RV encampments and limited capacity to provide services in part because of a lack of healthcare personnel and access to drug treatment as well as homeless service providers already being stretched thin.

“Community-based organizations have been stretched beyond what they’ve been asked to do,” Bass said. “When a person leaves a tent and goes into a hotel, on day one, they should have services, including a physical exam if they’re open to it, and meeting with a social worker.”

As a remedy, Bass said she has hired a director of community health to work with local universities and colleges that can provide nurses, doctors and dentists.

Other solutions to getting more people off the streets were described generally, without detail, in the document: more persistent outreach to overcome resistance from some homeless people to moving indoors, more long-term leasing and more permanent housing to avoid spending money on motel rooms.

Bass said her executive directive to cut red tape had streamlined the processing of more than 8,000 units of new housing in 456 projects that are in the development pipeline.

She said approvals are now being obtained in 37 days as opposed to six months.

The numbers released Tuesday included an update of a report Bass gave after her first 100 days, more than doubling the number of people she initially said had gone indoors. In March, she had reported just under 4,000, a number that was revised to 8,726.

Va Lecia Adams Kellum, chief executive officer of the Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority, said the earlier undercount was due to lag time and the need to verify the data that was entered.

“We didn’t have a full accounting of the people who had been helped,” Kellum said. “The data has been reviewed and corrected, and it gives a true sense of how many people were moved from tents into hotels.”

Published: Jun 08, 2023

Principles of proposed 28th Amendment broadly supported by the American public and gun owners
SACRAMENTO – Today Governor Gavin Newsom proposed a 28th Amendment to the United States Constitution to enshrine fundamental, broadly supported gun safety measures into law. While leaving the 2nd Amendment unchanged and respecting America’s gun-owning tradition, the Governor’s proposal guarantees common sense constitutional protections and gun safety measures that Democrats, Republicans, independent voters, and gun owners overwhelmingly support – including universal background checks, raising the firearm purchase age to 21, instituting a firearm purchase waiting period, and barring the civilian purchase of assault weapons.
“Our ability to make a more perfect union is literally written into the Constitution,” said Governor Gavin Newsom. “So today, I’m proposing the 28th Amendment to the United States Constitution to do just that. The 28th Amendment will enshrine in the Constitution common sense gun safety measures that Democrats, Republicans, Independents, and gun owners overwhelmingly support – while leaving the 2nd Amendment unchanged and respecting America’s gun-owning tradition.”
The 28th Amendment will permanently enshrine four broadly supported gun safety principles into the U.S. Constitution:

• Raising the federal minimum age to purchase a firearm from 18 to 21;
• Mandating universal background checks to prevent truly dangerous people from purchasing a gun that could be used in a crime;
• Instituting a reasonable waiting period for all gun purchases; and
• Barring civilian purchase of assault weapons that serve no other purpose than to kill as many people as possible in a short amount of time – weapons of war our nation’s founders never foresaw.

Additionally, the 28th Amendment will affirm Congress, states, and local governments can enact additional common-sense gun safety regulations that save lives.

Passage of the 28th Amendment will require a convention to propose amendments to the United States Constitution, also known as an Article V Convention or amendatory convention. Working in partnership with members of the California State Senate and Assembly, California will be the first state in the nation to call for such a convention with a joint resolution being introduced by California State Senator Aisha Wahab and Assemblymember Reggie Jones-Sawyer. The Governor will work with grassroots supporters, elected and civic leaders, and broad and diverse coalitions across the nation to fight for the passage of similar resolutions in other state legislatures to ensure the convening of a constitutional convention limited to this subject. 33 other states, in addition to California, would need to take action to convene such a convention.
“A man of action, Governor Gavin Newsom has the backbone to actually do something about the gun fetish culture around weapons of war, and tackle the relentless problem of gun violence and mass shootings,” said Senator Aisha Wahab. “As someone impacted by gun violence, I have an obligation to elevate the voices of victims and those of us left behind in the wake of tragedy.”
“I am proud to introduce this resolution to protect the common sense gun reform legislation our Assembly Public Safety Committee has championed over the years,” said Assemblymember Reggie Jones-Sawyer. “We cannot stand idly while courts roll back our work and diminish the ability of our Legislature to keep Californians safe. This bold but fair resolution calls on other states to join us in protecting some of the most effective ways of reducing gun violence.”
With gun violence claiming the lives of over 110 Americans a day, California’s nation-leading gun safety laws serve as a valuable blueprint for other states and Congress to save lives. California’s gun safety laws work. In its most recent scorecard, California ranked as the #1 state for gun safety by the Giffords Law Center, and according to the most recent data, the state saw a 37% lower gun death rate than the national average. According to the CDC, California’s gun death rate was the 44th lowest in the nation, with 9 gun deaths per 100,000 people – compared to 16.36 deaths per 100,000 nationally, 33.9 in Mississippi, 21.2 in Oklahoma, and 15.6 in Texas.

What People Are Saying About Governor Newsom’s Historic 28th Amendment Proposal

Los Angeles Times By Russ Mitchell Staff Writer 

When Teslas are in self-driving mode, they’ve been recorded crossing into oncoming traffic and hitting parked cars. But what would happen if an 80,000-pound, 18-wheel driverless truck suddenly went off the rails?
That’s an experiment some California legislators aren’t ready to run. They argue that the state Department of Motor Vehicles has so badly mishandled the driverless car industry that it can’t be trusted to oversee big rigs barreling down the highways autonomously.

AB 316 — which would wrest control of driverless truck testing and deployment from the DMV and require human drivers in the cab for at least five years while a safety record is collected — passed in the Assembly on Wednesday. The bill now goes to the state Senate and if passed will head to Gov. Gavin Newsom for his signature.
Its proponents argue that effective laws and regulations depend on shared data, institutional trust and public transparency, and that the DMV is struggling with all three.

Read the full article by Myah Ward at Politico here. 12/06/2022

Amid intense criticism from the left that the White House and Congress haven’t done enough to stop gun violence, the Biden administration has been underwriting an initiative that’s drawn barely any notice.

The work started on the campaign trail, when Joe Biden pitched community violence intervention as a component of his gun violence prevention plan. Once he took office, Biden secured tens of billions of dollars that can be used for community violence intervention, which he and advocates say is critical for reducing recidivism rates.

For a year and a half, city and county leaders around the country have received funding, training and technical assistance, and met regularly with White House officials to bolster community violence intervention programs that have been shown to break cycles of violence.

Learn more about Community Violence Intervention

 Elections up and down the ballot present voters with important choices. Whether it's a local race that will affect your community or a national race that could change the direction of the country, elections are a time to consider the issues that you care about and decide which candidate you support. 

But is it possible to move beyond campaign ads, social media chatter, and noisy news cycles to find the best substantive candidate who represents your values and needs? The answer is yes! 

Six Steps for Judging Candidates 
The 6 steps outlined here are designed to help you judge and choose the best candidate for you in the next election. 

Step 1: Determine what you are looking for in a candidate You can judge candidates in two ways:

1. The positions they take on issues; and,
2. The leadership qualities and experience they would bring to the office.

Your first step in picking a candidate is to decide the issues you care about and the qualities you want in a leader. 

When you consider issues, what problems do you want people in government to address? For example, you may be interested in national security, government funding for student loans, or climate change.  

When you consider leadership qualities, what characteristics do you think make an effective elected official? Do you look for intelligence, honesty, humility, an ability to communicate? What else?

Step 2: Visit Votersedge.org and learn about the candidates on your ballot

Find out which candidates are running in your area by using the League’s online election resource VotersEdge.org. When you input your address, VotersEdge shows you all the races and candidates on your ballot. 

VotersEdge also includes information about each office on your ballot, candidate background information, stances on issues directly from the candidates themselves, and extensive background and explanations on ballot questions. 

Step 3: Gather materials about the candidates 
Research and collect information about the candidates. Read their positions on their campaign website, watch media coverage, review online discussions, and check out their stances on VOTE411. Sources of information you may choose to review include: 

• VotersEdge.org candidate stances 
• Direct mail letters, flyers, and postcards 
• Media coverage
• Online, radio, and television ads 
• Candidate endorsements by individuals, organizations, and news outlets 
• Candidates’ speeches 
• Candidate debates 
• Online candidate forums and town hall events 

Step 4: Evaluate candidates’ positions on issues 
In a local race, interviews with the candidates can be helpful.
For incumbents, a look at their voting records on issues important to you (which you identified in Step 1) can also tell you a lot.  
Ask yourself the following questions: 

• Does your collected information give you an overall impression of the candidates?  
• What specific conclusions can you draw about the candidates’ positions on issues?  
• Record what you have learned about where they stand on your priority issues from each source you review in Step 3.  

Step 5: Learn about the candidates’ leadership abilities 
Deciding if a candidate will be a good leader is difficult. How can you know if someone will be honest, open, or able to act under pressure if elected to office? Here are some ways to read between the lines: 

• Look at the candidates’ background and their experience. How prepared are they for the job? 
• Observe the candidates’ campaigns. Do they give speeches to different groups (even those who may disagree with them)? Do they accept invitations to debate? Do the campaigns emphasize media events, where the candidates can be seen but not heard? (For instance, a candidate is seen cutting ribbons to open new bridges rather than going on record about transportation and infrastructure challenges.) 
• Review the campaign website, social media content, and materials. As you watch the campaign develop, consider information that provides insights into candidates’ personalities and leadership qualities. For example, do campaign materials emphasize issues or nice images? Do materials paint a true picture of a situation? Add this information to the Candidate Report Card shared below. 

Step 6: Learn how other people view the candidate 
Other people’s opinions can help clarify your own views, but do not discount your own informed judgments.  

• Seek the opinions of others in your community who are affected differently by decisions of political leadership. Talk to people of diverse backgrounds and positions, such as a person of a different race than you, a teacher, a member of the business community, an Indian tribe member, or a sexual or gender minority person to find out which candidate they support and why.  
• Learn about endorsements. Endorsements provide clues to the issues a candidate supports. For instance, a candidate endorsed by the Sierra Club (an environmental organization) will be in favor of legislation that protects the environment. A candidate endorsed by the National Rifle Association would be opposed to gun control laws. Get a list of endorsements from each of the candidates’ campaign websites. Find out what these groups stand for and find out why they are endorsing this candidate. 
• Look into campaign contributions. Where do the candidates get the funds to finance their campaigns? Do they use their own money or raise funds from a few wealthy donors, from many small contributors, or from Political Action Committees? (PACs, as they are known, are groups formed to raise and distribute money to candidates without disclosing individual donor names.) Many types of information about campaign contributions must be reported to the government and are watched by the press, so the information is relatively easy to find. Check your local newspaper for stories on campaign finance or go to www.opensecrets.org.  
• Which candidate’s views on the issues do I agree with the most? 
• Who ran the fairest campaign? 
• Which candidate demonstrated the most knowledge on the issues? 
• Which candidate has the leadership qualities I am looking for? 
• Is the choice clear? If so, pick a candidate.  __ 

Other Considerations

• Avoid Distortion Techniques Candidates try to sell themselves to voters, but they can sometimes distort the truth in ways that are difficult to detect. Here are seven examples of distortion techniques that you should watch for as you review candidates’ campaign materials: 
• Name-calling/Appeals to prejudice: Accusations such as, “My opponent is arrogant and full of hot air,” do not give any real information about the candidate. Reference to race, ethnicity, or marital status can be subtly used to instill prejudice. 
• Rumor mongering: These include statements such as “Everyone says my opponent is a crook, but I have no personal knowledge of any wrongdoing,” which imply (but do not state) that the opponent is guilty. 
• Guilt by associations: These are statements such as “We all know Candidate B is backed by big money interests,” which attack candidates because of their supporters rather than because of their stands on the issues. 
• Catchwords: These are phrases such as “Law and Order” or “un-American,” designed to trigger a knee-jerk emotional reaction rather than to inform. 
• Passing the blame: These are instances in which a candidate denies responsibility for an action or blames an opponent for things over which they had no control. 
• Promising the sky: These are unrealistic promises that no elected official could fulfill on their own.  
• Evading real issues: These include instances in which candidates may avoid answering direct questions, offer only vague solutions, or talk about the benefits of proposed programs but never get specific about possible problems or costs.  
• Evaluate Candidates’ Use of Video:  Candidates are aware of the potential power of video and try to use it to their advantage. When you see videos about a candidate or that feature the candidate, consider that the picture you see may be staged by a media advisor whose job is to make the candidate look good on camera. As you watch news coverage of campaigns, be aware of staged events (also known as photo opportunities) and try to instead focus on what the candidate is saying about the issues. The same applies to political advertisements on television or online. When you watch political ads, be aware of how the medium influences your reactions. Ask yourself: Did you find out anything about issues or qualifications, or was the ad designed only to affect your attitude or feelings about a candidate?  

Now Take Action

• Back the candidates you believe in.
• Talk to your friends and family about “your” candidates. 
• Don’t be afraid to ask questions at candidate meetings, debates, or rallies or when a campaign worker rings your doorbell. 
• Write letters. Tell candidates, newspapers, and party leaders how you feel about the issues. 
• Volunteer to work on a campaign or make a donation. 
• Register to vote. 
• Make a voting plan.
• Vote by mail, absentee, or in person before or on Election Day. 

Ashley Zavala KCRA 3
SACRAMENTO, Calif. —

Here is a look at what will become state law.

Health care
SB 107 aims to make California a sanctuary state for transgender health care, shielding transgender people, including youth and their parents, from legal action from states with bans and restrictions.

Newsom has signed several abortion and reproductive healthcare-related measures in the wake of the United State Supreme Court overturning abortion protections, which restricts access to the procedure in several states. This includes laws that protect medical records and cooperation with out-of-state entities regarding abortion restrictions (AB 2091, AB 1242), expands abortion training options and providers (SB 1375), and protections for people from criminal or civil liabilities for pregnancy loss or abortion (AB 2223).

Labor
SB 1162 requires employers to make salary ranges for available job positions to applicants and employees. It also sets new pay data reporting requirements based on gender and race.

AB 2183 makes it easier for farmworkers to unionize.

SB 951 increases the share of paid family leave provided to lower-income Californians. It extends what was a temporary increase in the benefit from 55% of wages to 60% to 70% depending on income. In 2025, the bill requires an increase of the benefit to 70%.

Law enforcement and criminal justice
SB 971 allows most old convictions on non-violent or non-sex relate offenses in criminal records to be permanently sealed. It applies to previous convictions of those who completed their sentence and did not return to the criminal justice system.

SB 1008 provides free phone calls to people detained in California prisons and jails.

SB 301 and AB 1700 aim to crack down on the sale of stolen merchandise online, requiring online marketplaces to collect more information from sellers with high volumes of product, and sets up a section on the state Attorney General’s office website to report stolen items.

AB 2294 gives law enforcement the ability to keep those in custody accused of organized retail theft.

AB 1740 and SB 1087 aim to crack down on catalytic converter thefts.

SB 836 prohibits disclosure of a person’s immigration status in open court in a criminal case by any party unless approved by a judge.

Climate
The governor signed 40 climate-related bills, several of which aim to significantly reduce the state’s use of oil and gas by 2045.

AB 1279 puts the state’s goal to be carbon neutral by 2045 into state law

SB 1137 establishes new setbacks for new oil drilling near communities,

SB 1020 requires the state’s electric grid to be powered by 100% renewable energy by 2045.

AB 2238 creates an extreme heat advance warning and ranking system.

Housing and Homelessness
Newsom signed 38 measures related to housing.

AB 2011 and SB 6 aim to boost housing production and affordability by turning unused retail spaces into homes and communities.

SB 1338 establishes new judicial branches in all of California’s 58 counties that will provide court-ordered care to those who are unhoused and severely mentally ill.

Social media and the web
SB 2273 establishes the California Age-Appropriate Design Code Act, requiring online platforms to consider the best interest of child users and to default to privacy and safety settings that protect children’s mental and physical health and wellbeing.

AB 587 requires social media companies to publicly post their policies regarding hate speech, disinformation, harassment and extremism on their platforms, and report data on their enforcement of the policies. It also requires companies to provide reports to the California Attorney General’s office on terms of service violation data and enforcement action.

COVID-19
AB 2963 requires workplaces to continue providing employees with COVID-19 exposure notifications until 2024.

AB 152 extends required, supplemental paid sick leave for COVID-19 until Dec. 31, 2022.

AB 209 makes it easier for the California Medical Board to punish doctors who spread COVID-19 misinformation.

Miscellaneous
AB 1766 allows undocumented immigrants to obtain state identification cards through the Department of Motor Vehicles.

SB 988 establishes suicide hotline call centers in California and dedicates a source to fund a 988 system in the state.

AB 1314 establishes the “Feather Alert” for missing Native American people

AB 1249 exempts PG&E wildfire victims from paying taxes on settlement payments from the wildfire trust.

SB 1287 prohibits gender-based pricing on products based on who they're marketed towards.

California now has three, optional, new state holidays on the books including Juneteenth (AB 1655), Lunar New Year (AB 2596) and Genocide Remembrance Day (AB 1801).

AB 1817 bans the use of chemicals commonly known as PFAS from being used in fabrics and makeup by 2025.

From the Daily Breeze
PUBLISHED: August 18, 2022 at 10:20 a.m.

The statewide general election is Nov. 8.
Redondo Beach also has a special election set for Oct. 19. 

The statewide primary was about two months ago — but another major election is only a tad more than two months away.

And voters across the South Bay will have a lot to decide.

Besides the runoffs for Congress, state Senate and Assembly, and other races that were winnowed down during the primary, multiple local races will be on the Nov. 8 ballot.

And Redondo voters will get a warm-up of sorts — with a controversial special election set for Oct. 19.

That election will feature a measure that, if voters pass it, would allow up to three cannabis dispensaries to open in town. District 4 voters will also weigh whether to recall Councilman Zein Obagi Jr. Tonya McKenzie is the only person running to succeed Obagi should voters oust him.

Below is a list of South Bay city council and school board races and candidates, as well as measures. Hawthorne’s city clerk did not return a request for comment.

City Council

• El Segundo: Incumbent Chris Pimental is running against at least four opponents to fill two El Segundo City Council seats. The other known candidates are Ryan Baldino, Michelle Keldorf, Robin Patch and John Pickhaver. Because Councilman Scot Nicol is not running, the deadline was extended to Wednesday.
• Hawthorne: Has two council seats up for grabs in November, but it wasn’t clear as of Wednesday who was running.
• Hermosa Beach: Three City Council seats are available, with incumbent Raymond Jackson facing seven other candidates, Dean Francois, Rita Gerace, Daniel Godwin, Kieran Harrington, Matt McCool, Jeff Raedy and Rob Saemann.
• Inglewood: Mayor Jim Butts is running for election against four challengers, Miya Walker, Chika Ogoke, Angelique Johnson and Raina Carrillo. District 1 Councilman George Dotson is running against four challengers, Kevin Taylor, Gloria Gray, Alena Cindy Giardina and Yolanda Davidson. District 2 Councilman Alex Padilla is running against one challenger, Robert Brown.
• Manhattan Beach: Incumbent Suzanne Hadley and six challengers are running for two City Council seats. The challengers are former Councilmembers Mark Burton, Amy Howorth and David Lesser, and political newcomers Frank Chiella, Rita Crabtree-Kampe and Stewart Fournier.

Measures

• El Segundo: Voters will decide whether to allow cannabis dispensaries with certain restrictions, including discouraging pop-up shops by requiring a shop be a minimum of 1750 square feet and limiting locations to east of Pacific Coast Highway. Another measure would tax cannabis businesses at a rate not to exceed $20 per square foot for cultivation and 10% of gross receipts for sales. A third measure would increase business taxes, potentially generating $3 million per year for public safety and parks.
• Hawthorne: Voters will have a local measure on the ballot, according to the Los Angeles County registrar, but it wasn’t clear what it would do.
• Hermosa Beach: Voters have several measures to decide upon, including one that would allow up to two cannabis dispensaries and other that would place a tax, not to exceed 10%, on such businesses if the cannabis measure passes. Another measure would increase the city’s sales tax from from 9.5% to the state max of 10.25%. A fourth would repeal a 1960s-era human resources code that, among other things, prohibits nepotism in city government.
• Manhattan Beach: Voters will weigh two measures, one to allow up to three cannabis dispensaries and another that bans them outright.

School boards

• Centinela Valley Union High School District: Incumbent Estefany Castaneda is running for reelection in Trustee Area 5 against Virginia Gomez. The Area 1 and 2 incumbents filed for reelection but don’t have any challengers.
• El Segundo Unified: There is one seat available, with incumbent Tracey Miller-Zarneke running against four rivals, Meredith Beachly, Yadranka Lucia Draskovic, Dawn Garrett and Frank Glynn.
• Hermosa Beach City School District: Incumbents Maggie Bove-LaMonica and Jennifer Cole, and challenger Catherine Barrow are running to fill three seats. Because a third incumbent, Stephen McCall, isn’t running, the deadline was extended to Wednesday.
• Lawndale School District: Incumbent Shirley Rudolph of Trustee Area 2 is running against Angel Sanchez. A possible challenger to the Area 1 board member did not appear to qualify, according to the registrar, while no one opposed the Area 4 incumbent.
• Lennox School District: As of Wednesday, only three people qualified for this election, which only had three seats available: incumbents Karina Cordero and Maria de Los Angeles Gonzalez, and challenger Julio Vargas. But the filing deadline was extended.
• Manhattan Beach Unified: Incumbent Jen Fenton and five others are running for three school board seats. The challengers are Christy Barnes, John George Uriostegui, Kristen “Wysh” Weinstein, Mike Welsh and Christina “Tina” Shivpuri.

All registered voters will receive a ballot for the Nov. 8 election by mail beginning Oct. 6.
In-person will begin Oct. 29.

To update you voter registration, visit lavote.gov or call 800-815-2666, option 2.

For more information about candidates, measures or local races, go to lavote.gov, or your local city or school board website.