El Segundo Industries
Your community profile on El Segundo (Oct. 24) did a good job of describing the known cliches about our residential community, but grossly misrepresented the aerospace community and city policies. The article stated, “City officials hope that their own kind of defense conversion--using real estate vacated by the military for a retail, office and entertainment park--will attract families from nearby cities and airport travelers when it opens next year.”
The L.A. Air Force Base is still entirely in El Segundo and has not been slated for closure. We simply don’t have “vacated military” property slated for any development. Did your reporter arrive in the wrong city when she indicated that aerospace has completely left El Segundo? The quasi-government Aerospace Corp. (nerve center of aerospace) is also based in El Segundo.
Each day over 50,000 people commute from all over Southern California to work in El Segundo’s industries. There exists no foreign country with an industrial and business base as complex and/or technically advanced as El Segundo’s.
California’s only military aircraft production line (Northrop’s F/A 18 Fighter) is in El Segundo. Contrary to what your article reported, Northrop plans to consolidate an additional 3,000 employees of its Military Aircraft Division in El Segundo by year’s end.
Half of all the satellites orbiting this Earth were built by Hughes employees in El Segundo. This production facility continues to manufacture the world’s most advanced satellites at full speed.
Oracle, also in El Segundo, has created the most advanced system to begin commerce over the Internet. Merisel did the worldwide distribution of the newly released Windows ’95 from El Segundo and DirectTV (a satellite-based multichannel service) is beaming its television signal around the globe from El Segundo.
Hundreds of other high-tech companies are introducing innovative products and services to the market every day from their bases in El Segundo. Other corporate giants and world-class companies headquartered in El Segundo are Xerox, Mattel, Unocal and Arthur Andersen.
LIAM WESTON
Mayor Pro Tem, El Segundo
