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Electronic Waste Collection Event

Tuesday, January 5th, 2010

City of Norwalk Electronic Waste Collection Event & Shred-A-Thon

Saturday, January 30, 2010

Norwalk City Hall – 12700 Norwalk Blvd

Social Services Center  – 11929 Alondra Blvd*
*Off-site shredding truck only – materials will be transported to the City Hall location after the event for shredding.

Dispose of your unwanted electronics (ewaste) and shred important documents for free! Shredding only: Limit 5 boxes per vehicle, additional boxes will be charged $5.00 per box

9AM-2PM
(On a first come, first served basis)

Recycle your computer desktops, lcd and crt monitors, television sets, vcr and dvd players, stereo equipment, video game system, fax machines, printers, toners and cartridges, and cell phones.

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Posted in City News, Community | 1 Comment »

Computers and Electronics Recycling Centers

Tuesday, December 22nd, 2009

Check out http://www.norwalkcity.com/2010/01/electronic-waste-collection-event/ for the next electronics recycling event in the City of Norwalk.

Recycling has been a huge topic in the past few years due to the green initiatives and influential films and books by former Vice President Al Gore. Most residents of Norwalk city gets three trash bins per household – black bin for general trash, blue bin for recyclables, and a green bin for plant composts. The blue recyclable bin can be used to recycle paper items (newspapers,junk mails and flyers, magazines, catalogs, telephone books, and etc.), cardboard boxes, metals (aluminum, tin, wire hangers, aerosol cans, etc.), and plastics (even your plastic bags).

But did you know that you can not dump your computer desktops, CRT and LCD monitors, hard drives, ink toners, printers, and old television sets in your black or blue trash bins? These electronic equipments contains hazardous components that is unwanted in a land fill. So what exactly do you do with it if you can’t trash it?

AllGreenRecycling firm has many drop off locations in Southern California for electronics recycling. The website is http://www.allgreenrecycling.com/dropoff/california/ . I called the main number to see if the Norwalk branch is still operating but the operator told me that it might closed now and I was unable to reach them via phone. The Cerritos branch is open and is inside a Verizon retail store. Their address is 13315 South Street, Cerritos 90703. The store has long operating hours and the process of dropping off your electronics are simple and fast.

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Attracting Hundreds of Visitors

Monday, August 17th, 2009

Based on the occasional e-mails and the traffic report on norwalkcity.com, the website is attracting fresh visitors on a daily basis. Thus a new blog entry with the City of Norwalk blog.

The Vandalism Report I wrote on April 2009 was viewed numerous times and we can assume that Norwalk residents are concerned for the safety and well being of the neighborhood especially for the homeowners. There is not a single homeowner that would want neighbor vandalism and hate crimes occurring in their neighbor and irresponsible homeowners that neglect maintaining their properties either. This morning, I received an e-mail from a gentleman named Marco that showed deep concern with Norwalk city’s public safety.

Hi there – My name is Marco, I’m a native son of 90650. I moved back to Norwalk after being gone for about 15 years or so, a little over a year ago. Since then I’ve taken up a committed interest in the community (my family is all here) and as such I serve as a Public Safety Commissioner.

I’m well aware of the evolving technology that people are using nowadays. I had a similar thought, that using media such as Twitter, Facebook, etc, was one of the more effective ways to get the message out and reach more people.

For my own part, I created a Facebook group called “Norwalk Rocks!” and I’m using it as my own vehicle for communication. You have the upper hand on me, however :)

Two thumbs up for running this blog. I’d love to maybe chat sometime about issues that you clearly have first-hand experience with. Maybe there is something we can do.

Thanks for your time.
Marco A Guzman

Mr. Guzman took the initiative to look out for the Norwalk residents by serving as the Public Safety Commissioner. Residents like Mr. Guzman are proud homeowners and residents of Norwalk, and take great effort for the betterment of their neighborhood and community. If everyone participates and actually cares to make their neighborhood a safer and peaceful place, progress will be visible everywhere you drive. Unfortunately Norwalk residents are being apathetic about neighborhood vandalism, graffiti problems, noise control issues, and other public safety problems.

If you find relevant news and information regarding the city of Norwalk, please do not hesitate to contact me and factual news and info will be posted on a regular basis to inform the residents of Norwalk. Neighboring cities like Downey and Cerritos are also welcome if the news might have an effect on the Norwalk residents too. Thank you.

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Posted in Community | 1 Comment »

Norwalk Sheriff Department

Monday, July 27th, 2009

Don’t you feel more secure when you see sheriff vehicles roaming around your neighborhood throughout the day and especially during the night? I do. Norwalk is in the County of Los Angeles and not City of Los Angeles so Norwalk is part of the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department. Norwalk City has its own Sheriff Department located at 12335 Civic Center Drive, Norwalk, CA 90650 (across the street from the AMC Theatres Norwalk 20).

In addition to the Norwalk Sheriffs, the city also has a Public Safety department that consists of numerous services available to the Norwalk residents. Here are some of the services provided by the Norwalk Public Safety:

  • Community Resource Liason
  • Community Service Work Program
  • Safe Housing and Property Enhancement
  • District Attorney Services
  • Family Intervention Team
  • Neighborhood Police Service Centers
  • Motorcycle Patrol
  • Curfew / Daytime Truancy Enforcement
  • And more

Last night when I was returning home, there were literally ten Norwalk Sheriff vehicles parked in the street in an undercover mode. Their lights and engine were shut off and patiently waiting in their car for a reason. I wasn’t sure of the situation and hurriedly went inside my house. It was a bit unnerving to witness so many sheriff vehicles right in front of your street because anyone can assume that they were not there to patrol the streets of Norwalk, they were there to either capture, search, and/or arrest someone. I can tell you I did not feel very confident with the city especially when you have monthly helicopter runs, reckless drivers, unknown vehicles parked in your neighborhood streets, and people vandalizing your private properties (front lawn, puncturing your tires!).

Don’t get me wrong, there are some good sides to living in Norwalk. Retail stores within driving distances (Costco, Walmart, Walgreens, Starbucks, etc.), public services (LA County Recorders Office, numerous public departments), recreation centers, and great selection of restaurants and fast food joints. But if you happen to compare Norwalk neighborhoods to other nicer neighborhoods, “you get what you pay for.”

SIDE NOTE: On a Saturday night, house parties pop up here and there in Norwalk and depending how close you live near the hosts, your pet(s) will be parking all night and the bass from the music will keep you awake. If you are cool with the loud party and can easily fall asleep no problem with a weekend party, but for those that have a schedule on a Sunday morning, you really need those hours of sleep. If the party happens to go beyond 12AM (there really is not party curfew, you could call earlier), you can call the Norwalk Sheriff Department and make a noise complaint and request service. The operator will jot down the proximity of the party and send an enforcement officer. Within half an hour, the loud music should disappear by then.

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Residential Parking Problems

Tuesday, July 14th, 2009

I have received two emails so far from norwalkcity.com visitors complaining about residential parking, and I too am experiencing issues with neighbors taking up so much street parking spaces. Times like this I envy my colleagues that live in nice neighborhood areas in Cerritos and Downey.

An email from a Norwalk resident wrote that a neighbor living six houses from her always park their vehicles right in front of her house. Thank you for writing.

My neighbor thats about 6 doors down parks his car infront of my house and doesn’t move it the whole week. We have our own cars that we like to park infront of our house and he has plenty of parking infront of his.

One day of parking or two would be fine but wouldn’t it bother you if you see another vehicle parked right in front of your house only because that household has more than three vehicles parked on the street and not their own driveway? Two neighbors from my house comes to mind right away. They are notorious on our street for having more than five (yes, 5!) vehicles for one house. I found out that in one of those household, they are renting out the rooms to two young renters. It is an annoyance when their modded Chrysler 300 with an obnoxious engine intake and exhaust system blasts your window late at night.

The other household living two house apart from mine is a bit on the overboard. Less than 2,000 square foot house, more than 12 people including the children lives in the house. And what boggles my mind is that they are one family living with their relatives (cousins and what not) and renting the house. If you walk by the house, it is easy to tell that over a dozen people live in there by the number of cars parked on the streets, the driveway (three including a boat attached to one), and a dead lawn. Yikes!

These parking issues has been going on for more than two years and if the matter gets worse for me, I will need to contact the City and find a solution to remedy the problem. There must be a city ordinance where it prohibits such parking issue or a state law that limits the number of people/children living in a one place.

If you are also experiencing problems with your neighbors taking up too many spots on the street parking, comment here.

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