Recommendation to approve the renaming of South Street Parkway, "The Pressburg Parkway" in recognition of the contributions of Uptown community leader Dan Pressburg.
Thank you. Next up is item 14, please. Communication from Vice Mayor Richardson, Council member Urunga. Recommendation to approve the renaming of South Street Parkway to the Pressburger Parkway. Thank you. Councilmember. RICHARDSON. Thank you, Mr. Mayor. Today, I'm proud to bring this recommendation forward. We started this process a few months ago with a unanimous vote of the city council to begin this process. And I'm grateful to see the vote of support from the Parks and Rec Commission. It did not make it out of the they didn't receive a vote in the government oversight committee. I thought with with chair, supernormal and staff about the appropriate process. The appropriate process to then bring the recommendation from Parks and Rec Committee to the City Council, which is what I'm doing today, so that we can make a decision to move forward with this. This request a little bit about this request for Dan Price. Berg is North Long Beach leader and he's been involved. And anybody who knows Dan and his family, they're committed and they love the North Long Beach community for more than 35 years. Dan's been incredibly involved in our community, particularly around projects like the One Day Christmas Store, an event that provides gifts for people in Long Beach who otherwise wouldn't be able to provide Christmas at all. And that's gone in 2007 to 2015. I've helped out with this program's an incredible program in its nine year run. The store service, 30,000 people from our community right here in Long Beach and a number of other projects at the Long Beach Veterans Day Parade since day one. Dan is family will open up their house to just a great family. And we're a tight knit community in that district. In fact, we have a culture of neighborhood associations. Dan is a part of that, that group of all of our neighborhood associations. And we've taken great pride in transforming places that weren't necessarily places of pride. Vacant lots. Walls that have integrity, graffiti and transforming them into places. And the way we do that a lot of times is by beautifying an area or adding a mural or naming a location that most some folks may not have thought of naming. There's a little piece of history right on South Street by the city's first park pocket park established in North Long Beach in the 1990s. And it's about a third of an acre. It's a small lot that used to be dumped, items in trash and, you know, other things you wouldn't want next to your home. Dan And a lot of the residents of the Forest Park started cleaning up this little this little patch of dirt. Ultimately, it turned into a nice green parkway, and it's turned transformed into a place. In that place has been host to weddings. It's been a host most recently to a memorial for Long Beach resident candidate Candice Yokoyama. And it's really been what we epitomize as sort of placemaking, transforming a space into a place. And so one of the request of the committee was to go out and receive more public input. And we've received a letter from each of some seven of the ninth District Neighborhood Association presidents of the grant or name Neighborhood Association, the Collins Neighborhood Association, the St Francis Place Neighborhood Association. The College Square Neighborhood Association. Starting Neighborhood Association. Hamilton Neighborhood Association. Longwood Neighborhood Association. These are all ninth District neighborhood groups that work really closely together. We also received a letter of support from the Forest Park Neighborhood Association. This park, this pocket park is within the boundaries of the Forest Park. And that's important to note. And finally, on this portion of North Lawn, which is represented by Assemblyman Mike Gibson, I want to thank Assemblyman Gibson for his letter of support today. And so, as the council member of the night, I'm proud to carry this motion. I think it's appropriate. I think it responds to the needs of our king, the request of our community, to make sure that we're naming many of our local places after, you know, local people with a local story. And in this, you know, in the press, Berg's family has been really committed to the uptown community. And I think this is appropriate fitting naming of this pocket park in my district. So I'm happy to make the motion today. Thank you. Thank you, Vice Mayor. Councilman Ringa has the second. Thank you, Mary. And I want to thank Councilmember Reyes, very rich itself, for bringing this forward. I've known Dan for about over 30 years and I've been to his house. He has a lot of celebrations. And you're right, he's got a great family, great heritage. He's one of those. And as I mentioned earlier, with with the vice mayor, one the doors, he's iconic. The city that is iconic to the ninth District. And this is a very appropriate and fitting tribute to him and his family for all the work that they've done. He's been a hard worker tonight district. He worked in the office when Councilmember Merrill Lynch was was in office. So there's anybody who knows the district is down prescot. And I'm very happy to be part of this historic event for him and for his family. So thank you to my marriage, to her, including me in this. Thank you, Councilman Ciro. Thank you, Mayor, and thanks to vice mayor. Richardson for bringing this item forward. You know, I think it's really important that we honor the the wishes of our residents, particularly the neighborhood leaders that have really advocated and supported dad in this naming of this park. And for that, I think that it's important to support that item because it's being asked by our neighborhood leaders. So with that, I support. For that reason, I support this item. Councilwoman, is your public comment, please, on the item? Yes, Mayor. Darlene Broom, please begin. Darlene Broom, please press star six to begin. Holly Pressburger. Please begin. And I'm. Hi, this is Darlene, and thank you for allowing me to speak this evening. I'm speaking in support of Ben. Preferred to rename the South Street Park. We park after him. The first person that I met some 30 years ago. Well, not 30 to 20 years ago, when my husband and I first moved to the Forest Park was a band CRISPR and he has been. An active. Figure for that whole time the. History that he brings and the help that he has put forth in this community is. It's not something that you can just pick up every day. This man has been here since when they built the the Forest Park Nature Trail, which is now the Forest Park wetlands. He is there for everything. He opens his doors to whoever needs help. You keep abreast of any and everything that's going on within the city. I can't think of anyone more deserving at this time to have. Something named. In their honor for all of the work that they've put. Out. And thank you again for allowing me to speak. Thank you, Holly. Press berg. Please begin. Hello. I would like to share a letter that my son, our son has written, and his name is Aaron, but he wasn't able to get on this call. I'm going to start with my father is Dan Pressburger. I know there is an issue of support of renaming the South Street Parkway in his honor, and there really shouldn't be. The Parkway has been tended to cared for by my father before the first seed was ever planted. My father lives, breathes, bleeds, North Lawn, which he has fought for Uptown community, that he has raised his children and grandchildren, and he has sacrificed his time and often his livelihood to create legacy not only for my sister and myself, but for our children. I remember being a kid growing up in a bar next to a poorly paved alleyway and a dirt lot with no fence. I remember being seven years old and making that line into a dirt track to ride bikes and drive RC cars and do cool tricks. But suddenly it was too full of trash to play. And that's not the case today. Over 30 plus years, my father has bagged that garbage, fought to get fencing, helped plant trees, flowers. And I'm pretty sure he's mowed the grass once or twice in that parkway. It's been instrumental in getting the city to create the grassy area and putting up fences, creating clean, relaxing area. It was a gorgeous contrast to the filth and dirt and danger that filled the place before. The most important thing about the Parkway is that he never asked for recognition for it. He never he never said this is mine. Even though he took pride looking out of his windows and seeing something he helped create. He never said someone should pay me because the parkway is its own reward. A swath of beauty near a historic landmark. My dad never wanted to own that area, but cared for it as though he did. And whether or not you put his name on that sign, he has left and continues to leave the indelible mark of the north side of Long Beach. His legacy continues through the committees and programs he has founded and shared over the years through the annual Veteran's Parade, the annual Christmas party that he has hosted, nearly everyone from average citizen to city council to state legislator. And his legacy is clearly every single time he a car drives by north by the Long Beach dairy and criminally slows down to get a really good look at that big house plucked out of time and the shaded grassy area next to it. They say, man, that's a really cool place. So no matter what the name is on that sign, it will always be spread. Parkway to the community he is cultivated to the neighborhood and to the folks lucky enough to call Dan Pressburger part of their family. Thank you. Thank you. Sharon Segal, please begin. Shereen, if your phone is muted, please unmute your phone to begin. Sharon, please begin. Skye. Donato, please begin. Skye Donato, please press star six to begin. City Council and Mayor Garcia. My name is Skye DiNardo, and although I have only known dance for a few years, I consider him a great friend and he is what I would refer to as a community healer. With all that is done for Long Beach and no family especially, I cannot think of one reason why any person would object to the park next to his home being named in his. Honor like originally proposed. I find it sad and tell you that it has come up for topics. Please consider that it be named after him because it certainly should be. He deserves it 100%. Not at all. Thank you. That concludes public comment. Thank you. We will go back. This also concludes Council comments. I will do a roll call vote, please. District one. I District two. I. District three. I. District for. High. District five. I. District six. I. District seven. I. District eight. District nine. I. Motion carries. Thank you. Now moving on to item 15, please. Communication from Councilman Super not a recommendation to increase appropriations in the city manager department by $500 to provide a donation to Tinker Clinic for Children for the sixth annual Carnival and Resource Fair.