By snoadmin
Long Beach Mayor Bob Foster told Cal State Long Beach students Tuesday he supports talks to move the University Art Museum to the Downtown Art District because it is too small and difficult to access on campus.
Foster addressed students in Barbara Kingsley’s journalism 311 reporting and information gathering class, saying CSULB President F. King Alexander’s attempt to move the museum to larger space is justified because the museum needs nearly four times the space it currently has to store and exhibit its collections.
He said problems with the current location include lack of parking and accessibility for Long Beach residents.
“The current museum has only 5,500 square feet and it needs 20,000 square feet to allow greater access for the public. Right now we’re pretty insulated,” Alexander said.
He also said talks have taken place with city council members, members of the art community and the Museum of Latin American Art.
“This would be a win-win situation for the university and the city,” Alexander said.
Foster also said he is strongly opposed to building an liquified natural gas (LNG) storage terminal near the Port of Long Beach, insisting the federal government should share responsibility and costs for improving the Los Angeles and Long Beach ports, citing air quality as being among the worst in the country.
“If you just took infrastructure and pollution, it would take about $20 billion to help solve these major problems,” Foster said. “We need to improve the [port] infrastructure, even though my kids and grandkids will have to pay this debt. Long Beach residents are no longer going to worry about their kids getting asthma so somebody in the Midwest can buy a new TV set.”
Foster said building an LNG storage facility near the port is too dangerous to consider without exploring other options first. He said he is more supportive of putting the controversial loading and storage facilities offshore, rather that near the ports, but that no talks could even be considered unless companies proved the city would have no liability in cases of accidents.
“Putting a loading station 20 miles off shore mitigates both terrorist and safety problems. It makes no sense to put it in an area as populated as the city and port,” Foster said, explaining the most dangerous areas would be within a three-mile radius of the stored material.
“It really ought to be someplace else,” he said.
Foster said he was divided over decisions to build big box stores, such as the Home Depot the city council approved for East Long Beach. On one hand, he said he thinks any development should only be considered after the city has a master development plan for the areas. He referred to the city of Signal Hill’s strategy of offering tax breaks to lure large retail stores as “…an example of poor public policy. Companies are tripping over themselves to fight for that tax money,” Foster said, explaining he would prefer manufacturers get the incentives because they would create more employment opportunities and revenues for the city.
Foster said he doesn’t have a lot of respect for many modern journalists because they are lazy and uninformed.
“If the press is the guardian of the truth, there’s a responsibility to do your homework and know the issues,” Foster said. “Too often journalists take the easy way out with their reporting because they don’t know, or take the time to learn, the history of public policy.”
