Foothill Cities

The FC Blog Responds...and Jumps to New Site

2007-05-16T14:59:00.000-07:00

The Foothill Cities Blog has responded formally to the letter from the Pomona City Attorney. Better yet, we’ve moved! And best of all, we’re back to covering the FC, which has been hard to do over the past couple days.

If you’re not automatically redirected, please head on over to our new site to see our response: http://www.thefcblog.com.

Teacher Quality, Free Market Lessons

2007-05-16T11:03:00.000-07:00

Education isn't our specialty, but we couldn't help but ruminate on this PSN article from last week. With so many qualified folks competing for teaching jobs, how is it that some critics still complain that we don't have worthy teachers in our classrooms?

One applicant, Jane Yun, 29, said that any teaching job was fine after seeing her expectations lessened after viewing the hundreds of teaching candidates vying for a handful of jobs.

Critics can make what claims they want about teachers' unions or excessive bureaucracy or lack of funding, but it doesn't seem fruitful to argue that we have a fundamental dearth of qualified teachers. Anyone disagree?

"Poor Pomona"

2007-05-15T18:54:00.000-07:00

So says frequent FC commenter and local character Miss Havisham in many of her comments on our blog.

We will have more on Pomona tomorrow.

Claremont Insider Outsources to India

2007-05-15T18:49:00.000-07:00

Pasadena Now may still be waiting for their first stories from India (see below), but the Claremont Insider has already outsourced a hilarious post on Claremont news.

Bogaard's Bike Shorts

2007-05-15T12:32:00.000-07:00

The PSN has a photo gallery up from yesterday's ride to kick off Bike Week. Take a look and compare their shots to reader AA's photos, which we posted a mere hour or two after the event (our greatest scoop to date, *wink*).

Reporting City Council Meetings

2007-05-15T10:28:00.000-07:00

Well, the first Pasadena City Council meeting since the India brouhaha has come and gone (video here, click on the May 14th meeting). Unfortunately, coverage from the subcontinent will not be forthcoming, not this week anyway, as the AP notes:

[Pasadena Now] was planning to put the work from the reporters online this week -- but the plans have been postponed because of the reaction that has been received.

James Macpherson says he has been so deluged with media requests about the plan he hasn't had time to train the correspondents.

Until they do get trained up, Todd Ruiz will remain without much competition. So, what did he have to say in the PSN about last night's meeting?

With a school board loathe to air its dirty laundry and a City Council that tries to relegate the thornier issues to outside of chambers, Monday's meeting at the Pasadena Conference Center was mostly a recap of successful joint efforts.

Indeed. James Macpherson argued, via email, that such a perspective is something he could have added while editing the piece, a point made by Ed Barrera among others. Of course, we'll have to wait at least another week to see if that's really the case.

Pomona's Recent Press Clippings

2007-05-15T07:03:00.000-07:00

So last week the city of Pomona sent us a letter threatening us with legal action on account of some posts we put up regarding their city manager, Doug Dunlap. We took the posts down as a precautionary measure—we didn't want to deal with possible legal action. However, rest assured we are open to the possibility of reposting some of our writings after we get some expert advice. More on this later today.

We appreciate Wendy Leung and Frank C. Girardot (who had or has a few blogs of his own) for their efforts in writing an article Saturday about the stifling threats of the city attorney of Pomona against this blog. See the SGVT (Blog deletes postings regarding city manager) and the DB (Blogger gives in to Pomona). Please note that the city attorney, Arnold M. Alvarez-Glasman, pictured at right, said of Foothill Cities: "The credence that one puts behind this publication is no greater than the National Enquirer."

Thanks, no doubt, in part to a link from Glenn Reynolds over at Instapundit, I noticed that the Daily Bulletin article was second on their "Most Viewed" list well into Sunday night. Glenn Reynolds said:

Even assuming Alvarez-Glasman has a legal leg to stand on here -- which is far from clear -- why is the City Attorney making legal threats on behalf of a private interest? Because the city has no interest in not being libeled, and the City Manager's interest is a personal one. Does the City Attorney routinely do personal legal work for city officials?

Kevin Roderick over at LA Observed was, I believe, the first to mention us, devoting a nice post to the issue even though I know his journalistic instincts are (to some extent justifiably) tweaked by "anony-bloggers," as he calls us. Roderick also quotes some of Edward Barrera's comments. Edward is the city editor of the SGVT, who has been friendly to us on his blog even though we've disagreed with each other in the past.

If you are interested in the legal issues at play, you should check out Eugene Volokh's kind post and the comments beneath it. See also Overlawyered.

Mayor Sam says (F-bomb edited):

Foothill Cities - we have your back. Don't let these bastards push you around. And private memo to Arnie and Dougie: We're not going to let you f%#k with FC. You've already made a mistake there. Don't even think about f#$%#@g with us over here - you will look like the biggest clowns to ever inhabit municipal government ever.

LAist says:

Although we have much love for Pomona, despite the fact that they don't allow booze in the Glass House, they better watch it or government officiating also might get outsourced to India. How hard is it to send a C&D via email?

The strangely named but widely read skippy the bush kangaroo blog gave us a nod as well:

...why would a city government want a blog to stop speculating about what's going on at city hall, unless there's something going on at city hall?

Little Miss Attila notices the way the Pomona city attorney's letter uses the word "blogs" as a noun:

This one features scare quotes and the usual idiot's confusion of a blog with a blog entry—these are, presumably, the same people who confuse 'faxes' with fax machines, and 'CDs' with CD players.

Peter Sean Bradley of Lex Communis says:

This is so typical of local governments . . . The post dared - dared! - to offer a theory about why the Pomona City Manager suddenly retired.

Prettier Than Napoleon takes a shot at Pomona:

The only good thing about Pomona is Juanita's Burritos.

We wouldn't go so far as to say it is the only good thing, but Juanita's is certainly one good thing about Pomona.

Thanks also to the Claremont Insider ("Pomona just may be making martyrs out of Publius and Centinel over at FC"), Sue's Place ("Just imagine if Greensboro-area city employees sought cease-and-desist actions against ‘local’ blogs spreading rumors"), State Sunshine and Open Records, Electric City, and anyone else I'm likely missing.

Now, as you might imagine, we have some more to say about this issue and the reaction to it. We'll have that for you later today, after we get all our ducks in a row. For now though, look at all of the above and consider—was it worth it to the city of Pomona to spend the taxpayer's money on the city attorney to harass us? Couldn't they foresee that they'd generate all this largely negative press? If they didn't realize that we'd post their threats and the above would result, it speaks to the PR incompetence of Pomona—and serves as a lesson to many local governments when it comes to the new media. But if they did realize this might happen but wanted to spend the taxpayer's money anyway, then why is it so worth it to them to silence us?

Arroyo Seco Swept

2007-05-15T05:18:00.000-07:00

A reader who wishes to remain anonymous (what is with you guys?) forwarded us an email from the Arroyo Seco Foundation, touting the success of Saturday's cleanup in the Arroyo Seco.

The natural stretch of the Arroyo just above the Colorado Street Bridge was alive with energetic volunteers Saturday as the Arroyo Seco Foundation joined with Friends of the Los Angeles River for the 18th annual Great L.A. River CleanUp 2007, La Gran Limpieza. An eager crew of 116 volunteers waded through the stream and the shoreline to remove more than 900 pound of trash include an abandoned shopping cart, a manhole cover, a smashed tv and plastic, plastic and more plastic from the streamzone.

A manhole cover? How on earth...

Good on the ASF for organizing this.

The India Incident: Macpherson Responds

2007-05-14T22:01:00.000-07:00

[NB: Post bumped to the top by reader request. Regular FC coverage continues below.]

By all accounts, James Macpherson got quite a bit more than he bargained for when he made the decision to hire a pair of Indian reporters to cover Pasadena's local news. Jill at Eye Level Pasadena has a massive list of everyone who's talking about the story in the blogosphere and the media. Our own comments got more of a response than we anticipated. To add to the folks we noted last week, LAist had an interesting post on the subject that included our thoughts and a Newsweek article featured some of our comments.

Between emails with these people and the comments, we've been having a great conversation about local journalism generally and Pasadena Now's situation specifically. But now, we can happily add the thoughts of the person at the center of this media firestorm, James Macpherson. While he has come in for some serious criticism in some quarters, perhaps his words will make the most bitter critics reconsider.

James Macpherson says:

I have been struggling for over two years to grow a website which will serve the public good and which will strive to present news and information without bias in a community which I believe is underserved by local media.

I have sold family heirlooms and given this effort my all, because I believe this community will be a better place to live in if we use the internet to connect the community. I have briefed public officials on the use of the internet to connect citizens and government, advocated for the arts, and given of myself to help this community become a better place.

I’ve struggled financially, and if people think I’m rich or greedy they haven’t bothered to check.

The idea of using writers based in India came to me as one of dozens and dozens ideas I’ve had over two years to keep my website growing on a non-existent budget.

Let’s be clear: This isn’t outsourcing in the sense it replaces employees (I’ve never employed writers); with a budget of only $400 a week it’s not like I can afford to hire too many.

My concept was to locate ghostwriters, educated and experienced writers who would follow my instructions, use my research and interview transcripts, and produce contents for me at my direction.

I’ve been asked if I tried to use local college student interns first, before I tied this. Answer: Of course I have. You should see all my correspondence with PCC, USC, Citrus College, Glendale Community College, Azusa Pacific, Cal Poly Pomona, and La Verne? I ended up finding a wonderful young woman from Azusa Pacific, who did well for us, plus four USC interns, of whom only one ever turned in even one article. I got in trouble from the Old Pasadena Merchants Association with that article, who demanded I remove it.

I had to work like crazy calling and contacting Professors and Job Centers at these Colleges and Universities to find prospective writers and it was – except for USC, which is very well organized – like pulling teeth to get any students to apply or return my telephone calls. I just gave up, I don’t have time for playing games.

Oh, and the lovely young gal who was an intern at Azusa Pacific? She graduated and now will work only for $30,000 a year (for the first 30 days, then a review) plus wants health insurance and vacations. She also stipulated 9am to 5pm, please – Monday through Friday.

In the beginning, this was a simple idea to convert the raw material I gather – photographs, recorded interviews, notes, and background research – into articles that are crafted the way I prefer and reflect my goals of objectivity and accuracy.

It was a simple idea to serve my fellow citizens.

A lot of commenters have been asking "isn't there anyone around here who would do it?" It seems as if, even if there are writers around, they're hard to find.

Frankly, unlike many of the people who have emailed us, we don't have some kind of jingoistic aversion to foreigners covering our local news. In fact, given the James' troubles in keeping a dedicated local journalist, it sounds like there's a niche for writers who will do the serious grunt work (e.g. watching every minute of city council meetings) and write it up. With a good editor, as Ed Barrera has noted, there's no reason to think they couldn't cover a lot of the basic happenings in the city.

To Macpherson's credit, there really isn't anyone covering these kinds of local issues that thoroughly. If a city council meeting runs late, reporters have to make deadlines and people often leave. Having someone sit through every single meeting and looking at other happenings around the city with the same exhaustiveness is a service that isn't really being provided.

That being said, a lot of local news really is tied to an incredibly complex web of people and issues that often can't be or just aren't directly mentioned in the article. Those kinds of connections probably aren't going to be made thousands of miles away.

Enough of us pontificating, let's hear your thoughts in the comments.

Planet Glendora: Teenage Girls Attack Councilman

2007-05-14T16:45:00.000-07:00

A piece of campaign propaganda by Glendora city council candidate John HarroldSo as Centinel recently pointed out, not only will the two teenage girls arrested for "vandalism" not be charged by the District Attorney: they'll be charging forward with a lawsuit to the tune of $5 million against the city councilman who put them under citizen's arrest after he caught them putting stickers on his illegally placed campaign signs. So saith Alison Hewitt of the SGVT, who may just be the most quoted journalist on the FC blog.

Although I'm not surprised by the suit, I'm not really rooting for it either. However, this story illustrates a lot about our local governments. I have some sympathy for Councilman Clifford, who was caught up in the midst of another acrimonious Glendoran election. But if, as an elected official and a former cop, you can't understand the PR problems you are going to have if you put two teenage girls under citizen's arrest until 4 police cars show up to arrest them for putting stickers on your illegally placed campaign signs . . . well, I don't know what to tell you. Especially when you voted for the ordinance that made the placement of the signs illegal. As I said before, he has an argument for what he did, and I can understand that argument, technically speaking, but the fact that this man couldn't foresee such a lawsuit coming bares the sorry state of many of our FC. Up until recently Clifford and many others were acting as if the girls should be charged with a crime.

It kind of reminds me of the recent moronic public relations strategy of another city we cover. I'll give you a hint: this city's name rhymes with Pomona.

Speaking of Planet Glendora, there's an interesting letter on the strange world's NIMBYism in the SGVT. There's also plenty more on the Glendora "vandalism" case if you scroll down here. A few choice posts:

Planet of the Glendorans, Part I of III: The Media
Planet of the Glendorans, Part II of III: The Law
Planet of the Glendorans III of III: The Future

Murder Suspect Arrested In Claremont

2007-05-14T16:08:00.000-07:00

We saw this headline some time back.

The FBI arrested a man in Claremont, California, who is wanted for a murder in Henderson, Nevada.

Derrick L. McKnight, 28, was arrested by members of the FBI's Los Angeles Fugitive Task Force at a bus station in Claremont last Thursday afternoon. McKnight and an accomplice, Timothy R. Burnside, 26, are charged with murder, robbery with a deadly weapon and conspiracy to commit robbery, in connection with the death of Kenneth Hardwick in Henderson, Nevada.

We thought the relationship to the FC was merely coincidental. After all, the crime was committed in Nevada. However, several readers have sent it in recently and one made an excellent point.

Anonymous said...

This news hit close to home because I take the bus every day to Claremont. Specifically, I take the 187. I'm not sure if this guy was waiting for my line when they picked him up at a bus stop, but if so, he really puts the Murder in Murder Bus.

Very true. At times like these, it makes you wonder who you've sat next to on the bus.

See also:
MTA, the Murder Bus, and Racist Subsidies
Murder Bus Correspondence
The Murder Bus and Subsidized Transportation

Arcadia Public Library Rocks MySpace

2007-05-14T14:25:00.000-07:00

The APL: unhip no more. Blog + MySpace = promising career. Check them out on MySpace to have The Killers serenade you.

Bill Bogaard Leads Bike Bonanza

2007-05-14T12:36:00.000-07:00

To celebrate Pasadena Bike to Work Week, Mayor Bill Bogaard donned his biking gear and pedaled from One Colorado to City Hall this morning followed by a caravan of cycling enthusiasts. Reader AA sent us pictures from the event with the note, "Photos of this morning. No, I'm not emailing from Bangalore."

You're the soul of wit, AA (don't worry, he's a friend). Enjoy the photos.

Mayor Bogaard addresses the gather cyclists at One Colorado.

The Bicycling Buccaneer arrives, just before the cavalcade set off.

Bipedal and bi-pedaling officers of the law accompanied the group.

Even though speakers had emphasized how safe it was to ride to work, the cyclists had a car leading them, flashing lights, and stopping traffic, including our reader AA who followed in the car.

Good News from Glendora

2007-05-14T12:10:00.000-07:00

Fred Sandoval's a hometown hero if there ever was one:

Firefighter/paramedic Fred Sandoval estimates he took three minutes to save Bryce Lyons' life.

He also insists any one of his fire crew members could have rescued the Glendora man - who was certain to die from smoke inhalation - inside of a smoke- and fire-filled apartment building.

Check out the story by Wes Woods II in the SGVT.

Russell Rustles Up Errors

2007-05-14T10:32:00.000-07:00

Kelly L.C. Russell at WCGB had some criticism for a recent Pasadena Weekly article.

I am a fan of the Pasadena Weekly. But someone was asleep at the wheel when this article about CHAP (Community Health Alliance of Pasadena) was written.

The first three paragraphs are incorrect. Dr. Preedar Oreggio did not leave CHAP to work at Union Station. For the past couple of years, CHAP has employed Dr. Oreggio to work at Union Station twice a week, and pays him to do it.

I find it ironic that with all the hubbub about local news reporting (Look Ma! We’re on NPR!), even a simple item like this one got completely botched. I’ve no kind words for the writing style either.

No kind words indeed. But Russell caught a small host of mistakes, so it sounds like they are merited. Even more interesting is the response from the PW. Kevin Urich says...

For us I think it’s more of a problem with in-sourcing; pulling in real-life kids from the comforts of places like USC and PCC and La Verne and giving them a chance to do things that are sometimes a little above their present capabilities.

Woof, between Macpherson and Urich, local aspiring journalists have taken a real beating. Is it true? Are the kids not alright? And what about the editing/fact-checking? Who's responsible there? Read the rest of the post for more interesting comments.

Pomona City Attorney Threatens Foothill Cities

2007-05-11T18:48:00.000-07:00

[NB: Our regular coverage of the FC, including the latest on outsourcing Pasadena news to India, continues below this post, but we thought it sufficiently important to keep this at the top of the page.]

[Also, if you click on the images, they link to a higher-resolution version of the letter, which should be legible.]

A while ago we floated some rumors circulating via email concerning certain goings on in Pomona's city hall. We figured the accusations were so far out there that they wouldn't cause any harm, and we figured we'd learn more about what was going on by asking our readers about them. We also sent emails to all the parties concerned. We eventually decided that posting the name of one of the parties in question would be unfair, so we removed the name of that city employee from our little blog. Although we were able to maintain private email correspondence with that person, the City of Pomona made sure that all our emails to city officials were sent back to us as spam.

Some time passed, and (it seems) the City Manager did comment on our blog, although he made an unintentionally amusing spelling error in the process. What became clear from some of our comments and emails was simply that there were people out there who really didn't like the City Manager, and they were either telling bald-faced lies or something close to the truth. Other than that comment, we got nothing even close to official from anyone in the city. Until yesterday.

We've decided to remove almost all the posts concerning this incident from our "web-site publication," as the city attorney called Foothill Cities in his uncharitable letter-in-a-pdf file to us yesterday. He sent it, he says, "on behalf of the city and the parties named in your recent 'blogs.'"

I don't think we've done anything wrong, and I think we would likely be fine facing the threatened "legal consequences." But, of course, such a process would be time consuming and costly—assuming the city actually carried through with it—and, frankly, considering this is a very part-time gig, and we don't exactly have the resources the city of Pomona does, we're going to let Goliath win this one. If you want to know what this whole matter stemmed from, we've kept our original post online, which you can see here.

Feel free to discuss this matter with us further via our "web-site publication." You can name us all you want in your "blogs." And keep your tips coming via email. I'll be out of town this weekend, but I'll have more to say on this matter and the recent Pasadena Now outsourcing of local news to India first thing Monday.

More Good in Azusa

2007-05-11T16:14:00.000-07:00

We almost missed the comment (it's been hectic around here as of late), but there is good news from Azusa and it's taking place today.

Another good thing in Azusa is the 1st Annual Mariachi Festival being put on by the Azusa Unified School District at Azusa High School on Friday, May 11, 2007 at 6:00 P.M. The groups playing will all be AUSD students. It should be a blast. Come out and support the kids!

No scandals or existential questions about journalism involved. Just a good time with the kids. Remember, people, if you let us know in advance, we're happy to help spread the word on upcoming events (we wish we'd mentioned this one earlier).

Planet Glendora: A $5 Million Mistake?

2007-05-11T11:28:00.000-07:00

That's what it could cost Councilman Gary Clifford, who, once upon a time, performed a citizen's arrest on a pair of protesting teen females.

Publius has followed this story from the beginning and will be back on Monday to break it down in great detail. Briefly, the civil lawsuit alleges the girls "great emotional distress and physical pain and suffering, insomnia, fear, neurosis, loss of wages and anxiety," and "emotional and physical injuries," according to Alison Hewitt's account for the SGVT.

I've no doubt the ordeal pained the poor girls, but did it pain them $5 million worth? I guess that's for the judge and jury to decide. What I do know is that there's a lot more to this story. Check back Monday for Publius' in-depth take on the latest perturbations in the orbit of Planet Glendora.

Arroyo Seco Sweep on Saturday

2007-05-11T09:53:00.000-07:00

For those interested in getting their feet wet and hands dirty, this Saturday, from 9AM to noon, the Arroyo Seco will be getting a spring cleaning, courtesy of the broader effort to clean up the LA River. Folks who want to take part in the Gran Limpieza of the Arroyo Seco (which is being headed up by the Arroyo Seco Foundation), should pop into the Lower Arroyo lot or Lot 1 at the Rose Bowl.

Unfortunately, we can't confirm whether any reporters from Pasadena Now will be there.

Caruso Nailed With Another Lawsuit

2007-05-11T09:16:00.000-07:00

Wow, we hadn't realized just how litigious those folks in Arcadia can be. They've now served Caruso, or at least his company, with not one but two lawsuits in the effort to stop The Shops at Santa Anita. Patricia Jiayi Ho has the story for the Star-News:

Anti-development group Arcadia First! said it will sue on the grounds that the environmental impacts of the project have not been fully addressed. Group leaders say the suit will negate the need to gather signatures for a ballot initiative.

"We think that's the cleanest way to go about it," said Sung Tse, the group's spokeswoman. "We don't want the mud-slinging that is going to happen. We'll just let a third party rule."

No mud-slinging, eh? I think it's a little too late for that, Tse.

More on the Pasadena-India Connection UPDATED

2007-05-11T08:46:00.000-07:00

We've gotten a huge response to the news that Pasadena Now is outsourcing its news coverage to India, and we've tallied up the latest on the web (and in the comments).

The LAT Business section wrote up the case, noting of the two reporters that "one lives in Mumbai and will be paid $12,000 a year. The other will work in Bangalore for $7,200." More importantly, Macpherson isn't content with just two: "Macpherson plans to hire half a dozen more Indian reporters." Half a dozen? He's hiring a veritable army.

Many thanks to Larry Wilson of the PSN for making this good point:

thanks for the excellent reporting and commentary. for more (can't speak to the excellent part), you might see my column in today's star-news, and alex pham's story in today's times business section. one small point: the ap did not get this story by beating the bushes (or even getting a tip) locally. one of its new delhi correspondents saw it on the craigslist for india, not a site i find myself perusing much for pasadena news. larry wilson, editor, pasadena star-news

We were speculating ourselves as to how on earth anyone would find this story. As we noted yesterday, the contributor from the story is indeed in New Dehli. In this case, it seems he just got lucky, though one can imagine a fair number of journalists looking to change jobs might poke around on Craigslist. For Larry's take (which, oddly enough, makes no mention of our post), click here. He also was quoted in the previously mentioned LAT article as saying, "To pretend you can get the feel and the culture of a town as complicated and interesting as Pasadena by e-mailing and doing things over the Internet is nutty." You can't blame him for being unclear.

Reason Magazine's Hit & Run also picked up our comments, and their post elicited a great discussion in the comments. Check it out here.

Also, lots of other thoughtful folks have left interesting comments. Check out Ed Barrera, Jill, and all the other great comments.

Finally, to the list of "blogs with curious names that have linked us," we can now add Los Angeles Times Pressmens 20 Year Club (who also had some good things to say in our comments), Fancy Store-Bought Dirt and skippy the bush kangaroo.

UPDATE: Added LAT article info.

PasadenaNow Outsources Local News Coverage UPDATED

2007-05-10T13:10:00.000-07:00

Yes, you heard that right. Our very own Pasadena Now has outsourced its local news coverage to India. No, I kid you not. The news is spreading, fast (hell, it's already in Boston).

Before I launch into a curmudgeonly tirade about the downfall of local journalism, let's give James Macpherson a chance to make his point, as quoted by the AP:

James Macpherson, editor and publisher of the two-year-old Web site pasadenanow.com, acknowledged it sounds strange to have journalists in India cover news in this wealthy city just outside Los Angeles.

But he said it can be done from afar now that weekly Pasadena City Council meetings can be watched over the Internet. And he said the idea makes business sense because of India’s lower labor costs.

"I think it could be a significant way to increase the quality of journalism on the local level without the expense that is a major problem for local publications," said the 51-year-old Pasadena native. "Whether you’re at a desk in Pasadena or a desk in Mumbai, you’re still just a phone call or e-mail away from the interview."

That's true, to a certain degree. The type of journalistic coverage Macpherson is talking about really could be done by someone in another country, largely because their "coverage" often consists of little more than glorified press releases and parroting of the local media.

To be sure, there's a lot of good work that can be done online. Lord knows the majority of our information comes to us online and we depend upon the web as invaluable research tool. But there are clear limits to using the internet to report on local news and politics.

At the least, it would be very difficult to understand the issues Pasadena faces, from a development perspective, without having your feet on the ground, without walking the streets of Pasadena. To understand why Robin Salzer and Jacque Robinson both emphasized neighborhood security in their campaigns, it helps a lot to walk up and down the streets north of the 210, just to get a feel for the neighborhood. And it's difficult to imagine anyone being able to offer original content on the renovation of Pasadena's City Hall without ever being able to visit.

Of course, that's not to stay that the state of local journalism in Pasadena and the Foothill Cities is just hunky dory. If anything, McPherson's decision demonstrates that the opposite is the case. Expectations for local reporting are such that it's not beyond the pale for him to hire someone in India. And as the proliferation of a local blogosphere demonstrates, from the Claremont Insider to your very own Foothill Cities, there are a lot of folks who want more.

Local journalism is entering into a tumultous transitional stage. From part-time bloggers like ourselves to the full-time efforts like Pasadena Now to the Pasadena Star-News, everyone is trying to figure out just what niche they can carve out, how they can contribute to local news coverage and debate, and (perhaps most importantly) how they can make a buck. How it will end up is anyone's guess, but we certainly doubt that it will end up in India.

One final ironic note: from what we can tell, this eminently local story was picked up by, of all people, an Associated Press reporter—not the local press. In other words, as things stand the local media already often takes its cue from outsiders. We don't fault MacPherson for simply being logical given the sorry state of local reporting, but clearly this isn't carrying the ball forward—its simply accepting the sad state of the status quo.

UPDATE:
Props to Kevin Roderick for the link. As he notes, the AP report was also printed in the SF Chronicle, which reveals that "Associated Press Writer Matthew Rosenberg in New Delhi, India, contributed to this report." It also links to the original craigslist advertisement, which says:

We seek one to two 500-word articles each day Monday through Friday (depending on news that is occuring) PLUS two weekly in-depth Special Reports which focus on the City Council's weekly Council Meeting ... The Council meeting is televised on the Internet.
...
We do not believe that geographic distance betwen California and India will present unsurmountable problems, and that working together with you will result in your development of a keen working knowledge of this City's affairs. This will result in accurate and authoritative News reports.

Of Consulting Firms and City Managers. . .

2007-05-10T12:06:00.000-07:00

Remember our post (and, more interestingly, your comments beneath it) about Sierra Madre hiring Mathis and Associates to find their next city manager?

The Claremont Insider makes some interesting points about Mathis and Claremont's former city manager. Thoughts?

And again, will any of the city manager's in the FC ever blog?

Sierra Madre, Quiet Again?

2007-05-10T10:25:00.000-07:00

Well, Molly R. Okeon reports that "the council held a tame meeting of reasonable length." I think Councilman Buchanan is right: everyone's tired.

Anthony Ha of the Hollister Free Lance recently penned some lines of interest for Sierra Madreans:

The Hollister Downtown Association recently selected Irvine-based RBF Consulting to prepare a new downtown strategy plan...

RBF Consulting comes not just with a long list of experience, but planning awards as well. The firm's downtown-specific plan for the City of Sierra Madre won an American Planning Association Award for its public outreach in 2005. John Gillison, Sierra Madre's former city manager, said that although the specific plan has since been caught up in political turmoil, he's still happy with RBF's work.

"It was a very well-designed outreach process," Gillison said.

Surge Failing, Violence Rising

2007-05-10T10:23:00.000-07:00

No, we're not talking about Baghdad. Violence in the Crown City is threatening to undermine claims of success for Operation Safe City. Mary Frances Gurton reports for the Star-News:

Escalated gang-suppression efforts by the Pasadena Police Department will continue indefinitely following the shooting deaths of two men this week in the most recent spate of violence in the city, officials said.

The three-month-long effort, dubbed Operation Safe City, began after a surge of six shootings left two young men dead in early February. It had been scheduled to end Wednesday, according to Pasadena police Chief Bernard Melekian.

But that deadline is now forgotten as the department tries to figure out how to quell the killings.

So much for Mission Accomplished. Unfortunately, the violence isn't limited to shootings.

Later, around 4:40 p.m., a stabbing was committed in the 700 block of East Orange Grove boulevard, said Cmdr. John Perez. The assailants were two male Latinos and the victim an African-American man.

Talking to a friend who lives in North Pasadena (not far from the recent violence) last night, I discovered that he was unaware of any of the three shootings or the stabbing. That fact seems hardly surprising given the coverage the shootings intially received and the general difficulty for average folks to know what's going on in their community (even people like ourselves who are keeping eyes peeled for this kind of news).

Azusa Joins Pot-Busting Party

2007-05-10T09:31:00.000-07:00

Not only did Azusa police break up a $4 million marijuana growing operation on Tuesday, they allowed an SGVT photographer to do a slide show of it (the operation, that is, not the take down). For great pictures, check out the impressively named Watchara Phomicinda in the SGVT.

Of course, this means that many latter day teens may go without their pain medication. Ah, the travails of adolescence.

This Post Has Been Removed: Pomona City Attorney Threatens Foothill Cities

2007-05-10T08:37:00.000-07:00

This post has been removed from our humble blog as per the threat of the Pomona City Attorney.

Bad News Unbearable?

2007-05-09T14:43:00.000-07:00

Remember the recent shooting in Pasadena? It wasn't the only one in Pasadena. And the West Coast Grrl thinks the Star-News is burying bad news.

I didn’t go to “J” school (as journalists call it), but it strikes me as odd to put this “hard news” in Around Pasadena, buried on page 2 of the Local News section–right where the police (? say it ain’t so!) or the developers want it, no doubt.

Indeed. The Grrl's eyes are better than ours, because we gave the front page headlines a quick scan and missed page 2 entirely. While it's hardly news that gangs are operating in Pasadena, homicidal gang violence should always be. As the recent runoff election demonstrated, for some districts it's the biggest concern (yes, PSN, even bigger than traffic). Is it the nefarious pressure of public safety officials and/or developers? That is beyond our ken. But either way, the Grrl's point stands:

Pasadena residents will never be able to address complex issues of gang violence if they don’t even know there is gang violence in this city. Notice I say residents, because the police cannot solve this problem. C’mon Star-News, time to step up. I don’t want to read about how the Pasadena Fire Department is saving pets on page one of Local News (with color photos), then read about our dead and wounded young men on page two.

Read all WCGB's commentary here. The PSN's page 2 coverage can be found online here.

Unclear in Arcadia

2007-05-09T14:33:00.000-07:00

A commenter writes in response to the news that Measure B won out in Arcadia:

Help! I don't understand. The SVGT article didn't clear it up for me either. Measure A would have stopped Rusnak's expansion, but Measure B is seen as a protection against eminent domain abuse while allowing Rusnak to expand? Is there a paradox I don't get here?

Ah, some confusion remains. That could be due, in part, to the fact that I didn't answer my own questions (curse you, day job). Or it could be due to the fact that the Arcadia is a convoluted one, with mixed motivations and the lines of good and bad harder to determine than Chris Sutton's principles (I jest). So, we promise (Scout's honor) to revisit the Arcadia issue tonight or tomorrow. Stay tuned for a painfully in-depth discussion of the ins and outs of this case.

This Ain't Hazzard County

2007-05-09T09:59:00.000-07:00

Susannah Rosenblatt of the LAT tells us about the new layer of bureaucracy that will soon be added to Los Angeles County government.

The dramatic reorganization that will grant Los Angeles County's appointed administrator sweeping new executive authority is expected to cost $1.7 million a year and create five executive positions, according to a report released Monday.
...
Each of the five deputy chief executive officers will oversee a cluster of connected departments, help integrate their services, and act as a liaison between department heads and the board.

Not that the $1.7 million cost is anything more than spare change for the county. There is a nice summary of the "highlights" of this year's proposed county budget here. You know, just a little $21.241 billion county budget—nothing to write home about.

I'd much rather see them spend $1.7 million on upgrading their website (which is for all intents and purposes one's public face these days) thus allowing for more and better direct interaction between people and their government, rather than using the money to put more distance between us and the Supes.

And wait a sec, if one's website is one's public face, we're pretty damn ugly looking right now. But here's an anonymous tip for you: construction of the FC Blog's online Death Star is ongoing. In the next few weeks, it will be fully operational.

Griffith Park Fire Coverage

2007-05-09T07:44:00.000-07:00

The sun came through the smoke yesterday a sickly yellow and dropped ash over a number of the western FC cities. We drove by the fire twice, once in the early afternoon and again in the evening. Crossing the 134/2 interchange at around 9:30PM, the fire had grown explosively. Massive tongues of flame leapt up from the expanding fire, and it was readily apparent the fire was less contained than earlier in the day. Indeed, the latest tally claims more than 600 acres burned and there was concern the Greek Theatre might in jeopardy at points last night.

Our attempts at citizen journalism must end with that description and summary, however. Taking pictures in the dark while on a freeway is a recipe for blurriness, and we only came away with pictures that looked like a blend of Dali and Kandinsky.

So, for this one, we recommend the professionals blogging over at the LA Times. There has been fascinating documentation of the fire by Flickr users and blogging.la, which also posted this cool footage.

Ruiz on Renatta

2007-05-09T07:31:00.000-07:00

It looks Renata Cooper is wasting no time in becoming a force on the PUSD Board:

It was universally assumed the school board would pick for its president member Scott Phelps, who was named vice president some months back when Peter Soelter appeared to game the system to ascend to that position.

Apparently newly elected member Renatta Cooper had something different in mind, as she nominated Esteban Lizardo when the question was brought. And with what had to be uneasy unanimity, everyone accepted that.

Sorry, Scott and Pete, but you know how it goes; the best laid plans...

Todd Ruiz has more at Under the Dome.

Even better, Ruiz also has the full list of tunes on those CDs Paul Little was passing out. Fishbone, Paul? Wow, you're a hipper than we would have expected.

Rusmackdown in Arcadia

2007-05-09T07:08:00.000-07:00

That would be Rusnak putting the smack down.

Yes, even though the Rusnak Auto Group enlisted the city's aid to force out local businesses (at least way back in the beginning of this brouhaha), it looks Measure B passed and Manny Romero's Measure A fell short (by a lot).

Of course, Romero's measure had an air of vindictiveness about it, seeing as how it would have put his nemesis out of business entirely (along with an innocently bystanding Jiffy Lube).

At least Rusnak got some anti-eminent domain religion, as least where his wallet is concerned:

In the Measure B camp, Rusnak Arcadia gave $15,000 to Citizens Against Eminent Domain Abuse, and loaned it another $10,000, according to statements filed with the City Clerk's office.

The loan will be forgiven and the unused portion will be returned to Rusnak, said Harbicht, who is the treasurer of the committee.

Ah, but now that Measure B has passed, no business or homeowner in Arcadia will ever have to worry about the city threatening to use eminent domain for a redevelopment project, right? Hey, we can hope, though I'm skeptical.

Patricia Jiayi Ho tells all about it in the SGVT.

Paul Little Defies the Man

2007-05-08T12:48:00.000-07:00

That's right, Paul Little's an anti-establishment renegade. Why else would he listen to "The Wall?" Todd Ruiz describes the changing of the guard at Pasadena City Hall.

Paul Little won't be remembered as a politician of few words, but on Monday night he summarized his dozen years on the City Council with music.

"My City was Gone" by the Pretenders, Neil Young's "Crime in the City" and Pink Floyd's "The Wall" rounded out a home-made CD that Little gave to his colleagues as he made his bow with Councilwoman Joyce Streator and made way for their successors.

"When you're on your way home at night and it's 2 a.m., and you're thinking it was so much fun having Paul around, pop this into your CD player," he said, before apologizing to Mayor Bill Bogaard for not including a track from punk rockers The Ramones.

More in the PSN.

Pasadena Shooting Update

2007-05-08T12:44:00.000-07:00

The PSN account of yesterday's shooting can be found here. No word yet on whether it's gang-related, but we'd be very surprised if it wasn't.

TMIWOTP

2007-05-08T10:07:00.000-07:00

Haven't you always wanted to visit "The Most Important Website on the Planet?" If you trust Bruce Sterling, now you can.

Some people have very high praise for WorldChanging, but our concern is with a single post. "LA Local Blogger Foster Kerrison" writes up the MyGo Pasadena initiative. What is it?

MyGo Pasadena provides commuters who take the Metro Gold Line from one of 3 stations in Pasadena an instant $500 rebate towards an electric bike, as well as a monthly cash reward based on the amount they use the bike to connect to transit – all towards the goal of demonstrating the value of these electric vehicles as new transportation options to connect to Metro Gold Line transit stations in lieu of the single occupancy automobile.

MyGo Pasadena is the first program in the country to provide incentives for connecting bikes to transit.

Okay. Okay. Okay. Let's think this one through. MyGo's going to be subsidizing the purchase of an electric bike (not just a regular bike), so you can ride your electric bike to the heavily subsidized light rail station nearby.

Then, you're commuting costs will be further subsidized, increasing the more you commute via the Gold Line.

So, even though light rail is already subsidized much more than the bus, you'll essentially get a free electric bike and have your Gold Line tickets even further discounted. Pretty soon they'll be paying you to commute!

Does anyone else see a slight flaw in this logic?

And yes, I did sign up for the program. Hey! It's a free electric bike and I'm on the Gold Line anyway; why not have someone pay me? Get on the government gravy train: it's leaving Del Mar Station. I'm only sorry that the program doesn't subsidize the purchase of old cars from the Balkans. They could call such a program, MyGo Yugo Pasadena.

Racism and the City Development Corp.

2007-05-08T09:01:00.000-07:00

That's it, we've got to start attending city council meetings more regularly, if only to avoid hearing this news a week later.

A dispute on the City Council over a multimillion-dollar Northwest development project exploded last week with accusations of racism when a prominent African-American developer was not awarded exclusive negotiating rights.

The regular City Council meeting went into meltdown after nearly three hours of debate on whether to enter into sole negotiations with the Bakewell Company and its partner Century Housing for the contract to build Heritage Square, a residential and commercial complex on 2.82 acres at the northeast corner of Fair Oaks Avenue and Orange Grove Boulevard.

The city paid about $9 million for the property, which staff now estimates is worth about $11 million.

Wait a sec? The city paid $9 million for this property? Why is the city involved? Last time I checked, commercial and residential development was a task that private developers were perfectly capable of handling. You want to build a new development? Buy the property, hire contractors/developers whatever you need, and then try to sell your new office space or condos. There's no reason for the city to be involved.

Unless, of course, the city is steering tax dollars back into the city through this "redevelopment," precluding those dollars from going through the Sacramento washing machine. I'd have no problem with that except it creates situations like this one: suddenly the city council is deciding what private developer gets to build on the property. What happens if the city picks the wrong developer and costs balloon? Who picks up the tab? Well, as history demonstrates, the taxpayers of Pasadena:

Mayor Bill Bogaard, along with City Councilmen Steve Madison, Sid Tyler and Steve Haderlein, said they weren't ready to award the contract exclusively because of concerns arising after an independent financial analysis by Keyser Marston Associates said Bakewell underestimated the project's cost and left a $5.12 million funding gap.

Some of their misgivings are fueled by Bakewell's development of Renaissance Plaza across the street, which required a significant municipal subsidy.

Let's not dress it up: "a significant municipal subsidy" is dollars out of the pockets of Pasadenans, to pay for a development that we had no say in. The incentive structure is all wrong here: when you're the owner of a development, you have a lot of self-interest to make sure that you pick the right person from an economic viewpoint. When you're a city councilman, you have lots of other competing incentives: perhaps one developer is a big campaign donor, or, as it's been alleged here, the council has a "preferred" developer.

The allegations of racism here, particularly given that they seem rather out of the blue, are secondary to a much bigger problem; namely, the city performing a function it shouldn't. I think we can all agree that "municipal subsidies" for developers is nothing more than a handout for business. Free market fanatics and anti-capitalists can both agree that's a bad thing.

Pasadena Blogger Meet 'n Greet

2007-05-08T08:45:00.000-07:00

A bunch of FC bloggers got together over the weekend, at the invitation of Jill.

Some folks may have been under the impression we weren't able to make it. On the contrary! As the picture notes we had an excellent view of the proceedings from our vantage point on the far side of a nearby parked vehicle.

Ah, the curse of anonymity.

Of Lampposts and Mayors

2007-05-08T08:35:00.000-07:00

To paraphrase an old saying, would you rather be a lamppost in Arcadia, or Mayor of Sierra Madre?

So begins Mike Lucas' article on new Sierra Madre Mayor Enid Joffe in the San Marino Tribune. Mayor Joffe says, “There is no point in pretending we have a consensus council ... but that’s okay." However, "Joffe tends to laugh off reports that her city is on the verge civil unrest or anarchy." Overall, Joffe comes off as pretty level headed in the article—even to the point of wisely refraining from wise-cracking about Arcadia politics.

FC Has Bad Traffic; Star-News Gripes

2007-05-08T08:21:00.000-07:00

File this one in the "So what should we do about it" category. The PSN has an editorial saying that traffic is the worst part of being alive and living in the FC.

That's right: worse than terrorism, worse than gangs ("Gang members tend to kill other gang members; only when innocents get in the way does the greater community take notice." Um, "get in the way?" Sounds awfully like they're blaming the victims), and worse than global warming (No! Impossible!).

So, what else is new? This traffic epidemic didn't just explode on the scene. And what does the PSN recommend? Massive public investment in infrastructure? Innovative new private toll roads to offer alternate routes? Deregulating the bus industry to allow better service and competition? Broader commitment to light rail?

Actually, no, all the unsigned editorial says is that "Southern California transportation officials ought to take note. We, too, have a crisis on our hands that demands swift, immediate attention."

Ah, yes, if only local transportation officials would just take note. Next time, guys, let's come up with some solutions, because folks in the Foothill Cities are aware of traffic. After all, we're the ones sitting in it.

150 lbs of Medicine for 18-yr-olds With Headaches!

2007-05-08T08:14:00.000-07:00

Anyone able to make it to the Claremont city council meeting on the pot shop issue? We want to hear your version of what happened.

Meanwhile, in West Covina, Alison Hewitt tells us that police busted an illegally operating "medicinal" distribution center, "confiscating more than 150 pounds of [medicine] and more than $10,000 [cash, I presume]." Oddly enough, at the time of the bust police found "a dozen 18-19 year olds...all in perfect health, complaining of migraines." Afterwards, "[a] hand-written sign on the door of the dispensary Monday read 'Closed for Good.' A 20-year-old who said he had a prescription for arthritis stood at the door after reading the sign." No, really? I'm shocked! But if my memory serves, we were just talking about these issues, weren't we?

Honestly, this whole "issue" cracks me up. The emperor wears no clothes. Consider that "[the tables were also covered in a wide variety of pot-laced food, such as lollipops, brownies with multi-colored sprinkles, beribboned bon bons, peanut butter, jelly, sodas, hot sauce, chocolate syrup, peppermint patties and bottles of 'Mother's Finest Medicinal Cannabis' and 'That Time of the Month Potion.' Mint patties, lollipops and "Reefer's" peanut butter cups appeared to be the cheapest items at $10 each, while some of the larger bags of marijuana were priced at $540."

Sounds like a veritable pharmacy, doesn't it? Except, the opposite...

San Dimas Barista Rules U.S.A.

2007-05-08T07:29:00.000-07:00

With a not-so iron fist...

Don Jergler of the DB reports that the nation's best Barista lives in San Dimas:

"Perry grew up working at her parents' San Dimas coffee house, Coffee Klatch."

The Klatch has garnered praise from the LAT over the years; some nice mentions over at Chowhound as well.

LA in 2013: Better Move to Planet Glendora

2007-05-07T18:45:00.000-07:00

If any doubt remained, this seals the deal. The FC dominates LA or certainly will by 2013, if there's any truth in this video.

[via Mayor Sam]

Breaking News: Drive-By Shooting in Pasadena

2007-05-07T15:48:00.000-07:00

From CBS:

One person was killed Monday afternoon and another was gravely wounded in an apparent driveby shooting in Pasadena, authorities said.

The gunfire occurred about 1:50 p.m. at 120 E. Washington Blvd., according to Lisa Derderian of the Pasadena Police Department.

It looks like the shooting took place in District 3. We'll see what city folks have to say.

Pasadena City Council Tonight

2007-05-07T15:40:00.000-07:00

It's happening tonight: the old councilmembers will be sent packing, the election results formally approved and statements by the various city council folks. No massaging permitted, er, permits or similar fun. Guess we'll have to wait till next week for that.

Monrovia Trike Police

2007-05-07T15:35:00.000-07:00

How did we miss this? It's a couple weeks old, but thanks to Living in Monrovia, we know to laugh at the police on Myrtle.

Pasadena Sci-Fi Film Fest Tomorrow

2007-05-07T14:27:00.000-07:00

They should really pay us for advertising, but this film festival looks so sweet, we couldn't resist. It's tomorrow night, it's happening in an former wind tunnel, and I can't help but think that Pasadena-resident Ray Bradbury has to be in attendance.

[via LVHRD]

MTA, the Murder Bus, and Racist Subsidies

2007-05-07T14:06:00.000-07:00

Remember when we talked about local subsidies for public transportation? Okay, it was a while back, you're forgiven. But sounds like somebody heard our cries in the desert. Well, probably not, but regardless, there's a brouhaha brewing over rail and bus subsidies in LA, just like there was in SanFran a while back.

The MTA, claiming a $100-million operating deficit, wants us to believe that punishing its riders is its only choice. But it continues to subsidize rail projects at absurd levels.

About $57 million is spent on operations for Metrolink — a subsidy of about $5 a rider — which serves the whitest, most affluent suburban transit users. For the Gold Line, weekday ridership is 19,000 at an operating subsidy for each passenger of almost $7. The three Wilshire/Whittier bus lines, the most heavily utilized and effective in the nation, carry 90,000 daily passengers at a subsidy of 79 cents each.

That's Eric Mann and Manuel Criollo in the LAT. Even if you don't believe that disproportionate subsidies are the consequence of racism, the two activists (of the Labor/Community Strategy Center and Bus Riders Union, respectively) bring up a good point: who deserves a free handout? That is, how do you determine who gets their housing/transportation/education subsidized and who doesn't? It's a tricky question and one that points out the inherent difficulties relying on a government body to determine who deserves what.

We don't have time to do the subject justice now, but it's worth taking revisiting. With the Gold Line expanding eastward and Foothill Transit heavily subsidizing bus riders, it's a challenge equally applicable to our cities as it is to LA.

[via Bottleneck Blog]

The Good in Azusa

2007-05-07T14:05:00.000-07:00

Though you might not know it from recent Azusa covereage here, there is some good news (which shouldn't be a surprise; after all, the city motto is "UBI SALUS POPULI SUPREMA EST LEX").

Private Solutions for Azusa's Problems: AHB, eat your heart out. A Mission-Viejo developer is taking on affordable housing in Azusa...one condo at a time. Just listen to this guy: "When I created Prosperity about five years ago, I saw that a single mother making $60,000 a year had no chance of owning her own home," said Prosperity Homes CEO Stuart Holtzman. "I found that to be untenable for me."

Holtzman has teamed up with Wachovia Bank to help provide down-payment assistance and reduce monthly payments for first-time buyers. The best part? Nowhere in the article is the word "government" even mentioned. This guy is tackling the affordable housing problem head on, by actually providing affordable housing. He's not artifically depressing the cost of an apartment, using other folks' tax dollars to keep low-income people renting. He's providing something that you can't get anywhere else, an entry-level property. Bravo, Stuart. Bravo. -- Rodney Tanaka, SGVT

To Azusa and Beyond!: The Gold Line is cleared to head east. Or at least, the FTA and Gold Line officials have figured out just how many people would ride the extension, if it were completed, so now the FTA can decide whether or not to fund the extension. Soooo...it still might not happen. But judging from how happy Dreier and Schiff sound, methinks it's going to be cleared. -- Alison Hewitt, DB

Phil Drake: A Silly Kid: After several Azusa boys were arrested for prowling around school with toy guns, Mr. Drake recounts all the ridiculous things he did as a kid. And boy, was he quite a kid:

"It was the dumbest thing I have ever seen a kid do," my mom once told me. No doubt, it was she who took me to the hospital. Click through to his column to find out the dumbest thing Mrs. Drake had ever seen a child do. -- Phil Drake, SGVT

Okay, that last one wasn't particularly good news, but hey, Phil survived. If you've got more good news from Azusa, let's hear it in the comments.

City Hall Linkage

2007-05-07T13:23:00.000-07:00

Cecilia Rasmussen does the LAT take on the new Pasadena City Hall. Actually, it's mostly a historical roundup, which is actually refreshing to read. She did recall one memorable anecdote that we had forgotten:

The entire civic center area has undergone a major face-lift in the last seven years, beginning with the demolition of an enclosed mall called Pasadena Plaza in 2000, which had become an eyesore. Residents will long remember how a bulldozer smashed through the mall as onlookers listened to the strains of classical music and the crowd cheered.

Ah, yes, the old Pasadena Plaza. Say what you will about the "gentrification" of Old Town and the loss of mom 'n pops, at the least the growth got rid of the Plaza. Thank goodness.

Westfield Goes to Court

2007-05-07T11:26:00.000-07:00

It's the American Way! Westfield's taking Caruso to court. East of the 5 has the story, as does the PSN.

Comment Catsup

2007-05-07T10:49:00.000-07:00

If our posts are the meat and potatoes of this blog, then it's the commenters who provide the condiments. Without 'em, you might have a meal, but it would be pretty bland, unattractive fare. It being Monday, it's time to get caught up on some note-worthy comments from the past week.

First and foremost, Anonymous, regarding the Monrovia Murder:

I live one-half mile from Library Park and heard nothing about this shooting until I read about it on Foothill Cities.

Unfortunately, we were slow to pick up on the story as well. In fact, it was only thanks to reader intervention that we realized that the murder had, in fact, occurred during the Relay for Life (a fact not noted in the first media accounts). If anything, this demonstrates just how hard it is to know what's going on in our communities and the degree to which we rely on readers for info. If you think we've missed something or you've got an issue you want us to cover, be sure to just drop us a line. Regardless, the shooting in Library Park was tragic and senseless.

The marijuana debate got heated (and lengthy) after the "Medicine You Can Smoke" post. I won't revisit the whole thing, but anonymous, the prolific fellow that he is, was kind enough to spam every Claremont-related post, a feat, once completed, that prompted him to conclude, "Wow! Finally found a use for your impotent little blog!" That's odd. I've heard it's the wacky tobaccky that causes trouble down there.

Miss Havisham delighted, as usual, taking the time to pen an impressively alliterative comment on the bad publicity Parsons has been receiving: "Poor Parsons Pasadena plummeting plumbing projects PR pity party." Joining her in "Comments That Made Us Smile" category, Aaron Proctor suggested Robin Salzer come up with a "Centinel Caesar Salad." We second the motion.

But the Best Comment of the Week Phantom Trophy (we don't really have one) goes to anonymous (about time!) for his amusing description of Rep. Dreier and his political clout.

Dreier's not going anywhere anytime soon. He's got a Hulk Hogan-like headlock in the local party, and too much respect in DC. We'd be stupid to get rid of him. Besides I don't think a Dem could get elected in this district if their life depended on it. You saw what he did to Matthews last time around.

Well, if it was anything like the Hulk-Hogan headlock he used earlier, I'm guessing anony is referring to when Dreier pulled a reverse frankensteiner on Matthews. Of course, I know a Pasadena pol who could probably provide more expertise on that subject.

Blogging City Managers

2007-05-07T08:53:00.000-07:00

Speaking of Pomona, there is some interesting speculation in the comments beneath this post about who the city of Pomona might hire as their next city manager, a novel suggestion as to how Sierra Madre should pick their next city manager, and more.

In that exchange I mention that the current city manager of Ventura, Rick Cole—who should be no stranger to FC readers as the co-founder of the Pasadena Weekly, former Mayor of Pasadena, and former city manager of Azusa—has his own blog as city manager on Ventura's government website.
Can you imagine any of our current FC city manager's blogging? I can't, although this will no doubt be more common in the future. You'd think that maybe in Sierra Madre, at least, they might understand the advantages of starting one. At least Pomona city manager Doug Dunlap did us the courtesy of commenting on ours.

Claremont v. Pomona: Putting Up the Wall

2007-05-07T07:26:00.000-07:00

UPDATE
Please drink in the Claremont Insider's sparkling, refreshing, Frosty post on the matter:
As long as we're shelling out the money, why not build a wall around our town? Something there is that doesn't like a snob.
Brilliant.
__________________________________________________________

Will Bigham recounts the various places that the city of Claremont has sought to build a much needed, much expanded police station.

1. Vacant land near Oak Park Cemetery, Sycamore Avenue.
2. Howard Johnson Inn at Indian Hill Boulevard and San Jose Avenue.
3. Former Xerox property at Towne and Bonita avenues.
4. Packing-house project land at Indian Hill and Metrolink tracks.
5. Affordable-housing project land at Base Line Road and Towne Avenue.
6. Former rock quarry at Monte Vista Avenue and Base Line Road.

Option 2 and 6 would require the city to use eminent domain powers to force private property owners to sell their land. The Affordable Housing Bunny has big, pointy PR teeth when provoked, so they'll likely stay away from option 5. The ability to implement option 4 has come and gone, as the packing-house is full up of private development now. Option 1 is also off the table, because, unbeknownst to the FC blog "An expansion of the cemetery onto the vacant land was recently authorized by the City Council."

That leaves the, ahem, nuclear option—#3—nuclear because, as we've discussed before, Claremont wants to take a small part of Pomona unto itself.

In case you don't remember, Pomona didn't react very well to this idea. And Will Bigham also reports that Claremont Police Comissioner Gary Soto recently responded by calling Pomona Mayor Norma Torres "someone who lacks political savvy and professionalism." Heh.

I can understand Pomona's eye-rolling attitude when it comes to wealthy Claremonsters wanting to take away a plot of Pomona land that could serve as the site of a tax-generating business. After all, Claremont is basically saying, "Well, putting a police station within our own borders would cause us to have to make hard choices. Hm. Hey Pomona, why don't you fork it over? What's it to you, anyhow?" As I've said before, why not just put up a wall?

On the other hand, it sure doesn't seem like businesses are lining up around the block to set up shop at this site at present. And impressions aside, it would seem that a police station at the site would only help Pomona's crime problem. Anyhow, look for Claremont to begin the Anschluss by claiming that the land was theirs to begin with while stirring up general Claremontster anger towards Poormoana.

The real upshot of all of this is that it's giving David Allen some damn fine column material:

In Pomona, city commissions aren't a steppingstone to the City Council, they're a dead end. Where's the talent pool? (For the dispiriting answer, look at the City Council.) ... Rather than extend to Pomona a neighborly helping hand, Claremont's best and brightest generally prefer to stick out their tongue.

(See also the first round of joking on the matter.)

By the way, the Claremont Courier has an online article by Tony Krickl headlined Will South Claremont Finally Get Some Respect?

Monrovia Murder During Relay for Life

2007-05-04T10:22:00.000-07:00

I did a double take when I saw the headline too. 23 year old George Rostran died as a result of sustaining gunshot wounds in Monrovia's Library Park? Unfortunately, the tragedy is all too real.

See the Mary Frances Gurton SGVT article; see also the Elizabeth Hsing-Huei Chou SM Weekly article. As the Weekly says:

Participants in the Relay For Life, a 24-hour cancer walk-a-thon, were doing the circuit at Library Park at the time of the shooting.

A reader emailed to say a friend of theirs was at the Relay for Life, and "it was a terrifying experience with everyone hitting the ground" when the shots were fired. The incident may or may not have been gang related; we hear that gang activity in Monrovia is under-reported. Could this be true? In Monrovia?

There are plenty of comments (some from people claiming to have been there) concerning the shooting here—including a few comments about media coverage of the event in the local papers.

Wanted: City Manager in Sierra Madre & Pomona

2007-05-04T09:32:00.000-07:00

Joffe...focused on the need for someone with good communication skills that would be comfortable dealing with the very active and involved public in Sierra Madre. --Eric Blodgett, SM Weekly

Heh. That's the nice way of putting it.

Sierra Madre is using a firm (Mathis & Associates—scroll to see the Sierra Madre listing, see our version of the listing here) to find the right candidate. This is the norm for cities looking for a city manager. After all, city managers are the ones who usually really run the city. Once they are made a city manager, so long as everything goes alright, many of the same people sort of rotate around various cities in SoCal.

Oddly, to my knowledge, the city of Pomona isn't using a firm like Mathis to find a replacement for the retiring Doug Dunlap. This is abnormal behavior; one wonders why. Perhaps it's no big deal; perhaps they already know that they are going to hire someone internally.

An Azusa Update, Updated

2007-05-04T07:24:00.000-07:00

Well, I'm actually hoping one of you can update us. Anyone out there know where that whole bizarro sexual harassment allegation against Mayor Rocha in Azusa stands these days?

Did former planning commissioner and accuser Mark Ades just make this unsubstantiated allegation against the Mayor he didn't like and then skip town?

UPDATE:
Heh. So I've been waiting for another press report on this subject, and as it happens the day I finally get tired of waiting and just ask all of you, the SGVT runs a story by Bethania Palma giving us the latest. All those outside Azusa might want to remember that Rocha filed a complaint against Ades first, as he says Ades was trying to use the accusation as part of a rather ill-conceived extortion plot to keep him from being mayor. Ades didn't actually file a complaint until this Tuesday.

City Council members expressed support for Rocha and said the matter will not interfere with city business.

"I find it very difficult to believe any of the allegations against Mr. Rocha," said Azusa City Councilman Uriel Macias. "Those allegations are way far-fetched."

Councilman Robert Gonzales agreed.

"The city is already moving on and moving forward," he said.

Next time I'll check the paper before posting my question, but we still invite emails and comments on the matter.

Dreier's Dollar Suppliers

2007-05-03T17:24:00.000-07:00

A reader calls our attention to more information about Rep. Dreier's campaign finances then you can shake a stick at (note the special "reader" italics).

Excellent work. Just read the Dreier piece. If you want to link to more info on Campaign Financing check out www.opensecrets.org. You can track down each of Drier’s donors and compare year to year.

Dreier’s page is: http://www.opensecrets.org/politicians/summary.asp?cycle=2006&cid=N00006932. If you play around you can get to past election cycles, too.

The excellent work, of course, belongs to the reporters who did the real legwork on this, particularly Lisa Friedman over the at the Daily News. As we noted, Dreier's situation isn't really all that dire, his precipitious decline in fundraising notwithstanding. Ed Barrera made the same point in the comments (note the "commenter/quote" bold):

We carried the story, albeit inside. The reason is because maybe he's right. I think it would be bigger news if it continues this way for a few more cycles.

Good point. One slow quarter does not a disaster make...or something like that.

Of course, if you want to ask Dreier's minions about it, they'll be taking the questions and concerns of the public, according to the La Canada Valley Sun. Actually, the briefing is to "assist residents who may have a problem with federal bureaucracy." I got one: it's too damn big.

Dreier Donors Drying Up

2007-05-03T13:37:00.000-07:00

Since the Dems took control of the House, San Dimas Representative David Dreier has seen his fundraising drop dramatically, according to Lisa Freidman in the Daily News.

Dreier, who was unseated as chairman of the powerful House Rules Committee in the November Democratic victory, raised less than $27,000 over the past two quarters.

That's an almost unprecedented low for the prolific fundraiser, who even in nonelection years has been known to raise at least $100,000 in any three-month span and often more than $200,000.

The man himself isn't worried though.

At the same time, Dreier and others noted he continues to have nearly $2 million in his coffers, putting him among the 10 most financially secure lawmakers in the House.

"I don't think I have a pressing need," added Dreier, saying sometimes lawmakers need to take a break from seeking campaign contributions.

"Give people a rest," he said, "including myself."

Check out the full article for a raft of fundraising numbers for pols representing us in DC.

Ruiz v. Holden

2007-05-03T11:50:00.000-07:00

Todd Ruiz isn't going to let Chris Holden off the hook. Not for a minute.

The Proctor Is In: Burghermeister?

2007-05-03T10:11:00.000-07:00

Nope, more like Burger-Meister.

LAT Piles on Parsons

2007-05-03T09:47:00.000-07:00

The LAT (via Bloomberg News) has more information about the critical audit of Parsons in a brief article.

Pasadena-based Parsons has received $733 million for work in Iraq's postwar reconstruction.

Audits of Parsons' work "uncovered a number of significant problems with prisons, hospitals, public health clinics," said Stuart W. Bowen Jr., the special inspector general for Iraq reconstruction.

So, it's not just the bad plumbing in the BPC. And we also hadn't realized that Parsons is the "top U.S. construction contractor in Iraq." Even though Ms Kuhlman says their projects are winding down, it would be a big deal if the company was barred from further work.

Medicine-You-Can-Smoke and the FC

2007-05-03T09:20:00.000-07:00

Claremont, San Dimas, and a whole bunch of the FC are dealing with regulating medical pot centers. See the comments on medical marijuana developing beneath this post.

Frankly, the issue bores me. If we were to treat marijuana like any other pain killer from the opiate family or otherwise, we would let scientists isolate the good properties from the bad and make medicine by putting the good into pill form the best they can. In fact, they have already done so, its perfectly legal, and the drug is called Marinol. So 1) I support continued research by scientists to develop drugs that use the THC or whatever else is in pot that can help people suffering with pain. 2) I have sympathy with those who argue that the federal government should leave this issue up to the states.

Given those two provisos, the problem is that many in our state want to smoke their "medicine" in massive amounts. As it currently stands, you can get a prescription for pot because you tell the right doctor that your feet hurt from wearing high heels. Come on, people.

I'm no fan of the feds, but I think this position paper has it largely right:

There are no FDA-approved medications that are smoked. For one thing, smoking is generally a poor way to deliver medicine. It is difficult to administer safe, regulated dosages of medicines in smoked form . . . Morphine, for example, has proven to be a medically valuable drug, but the FDA does not endorse the smoking of opium or heroin. Instead, scientists have extracted active ingredients from opium, which are sold as pharmaceutical products like morphine, codeine, hydrocodone or oxycodone. In a similar vein, the FDA has not approved smoking marijuana for medicinal purposes, but has approved the active ingredient-THC-in the form of scientifically regulated Marinol.

I'm willing to treat pot as a potential resource for medicine the same way as we treat everything else in nature. But that's not good enough for the vast majority of marijuana advocates in this state. They'd like to ignore the basic precepts of western medicine so they can smoke their pain-killer. And yes, kids, it is true that there are lots of other things that are worse for you than pot, but this doesn't change the fact that it does have some harmful side effects.

I'm not willing to play a shell game with science for the sake of an underlying legalization agenda. And that's what is really behind a lot of this politicized "medical" debate—the notion that pot is some kind of miracle drug with no harmful side effects that should be legalized. And that debate is perfectly legitimate in its own right. I don't want to get into that debate here, I just want people to be honest about where they really stand while they are posturing for the sake of the medicine they want to smoke.

In any event, I think when the FC consider whether or not they should allow such clinics, the issue should be a no-brainer. As the LAT blog said recently, our state law on the issue is being abused. And, as I obviously see it, it was a screwy law to begin with.

(Scroll through our Claremont archives for more on the issue.)

Healthy Choices at Local Eats

2007-05-03T09:09:00.001-07:00

Trainer Lynda Linforth-Moran writes the aptly titled "Trainer Tips By Lynda" column in the Arcadia Weekly. This week's column was about how to eat out locally in a healthy sort of way. I've added links to the restaurants in question:

The Derby, Arcadia: I choose the steak brochette, prepared with half rice and half grilled vegetables with no oil. Their fish of the day is also wonderful, however, request no sauce and be careful about your side dishes.
Mediterranean Garden Grill, Monrovia: Their meat is grilled, therefore less fat. I have the chicken kebab with grilled vegetables.

I'll add that you could also try the Canteloupe flavored tobaccy from their hookah. See also:

Macaroni Grill, Monrovia: Request the build your own pasta menu. I order the whole-wheat pasta, no sauce, grilled chicken, sun-dried tomatoes and broccoli.
Mountain View Sushi, Sierra Madre: One of the only sushi places I have found that will make sushi with brown rice. Try the brown rice vegetable roll or the tuna roll.

24 Year Old Arcadian Campaign Consultant Honored

2007-05-03T07:44:00.000-07:00

Brandon Powers blogs for the Flash Report
Staff reports from the SGVT include this:

Arcadia native Brandon Powers has won a Pollie Award for his work on a campaign to defeat Measure L, a library bond that appeared on the November 2006 ballot in Diamond Bar. The award is given by the American Association of Political Consultants.

Powers . . . was honored for a mailer titled "L NO!" that was credited with helping turn the tide against the measure.

Powers also serves as the president of the conservative grass-roots group California Young Americans for Freedom and has worked on the campaigns of Assemblyman Anthony Adams, R-Claremont, and Insurance Commissioner Steve Poizner.

"L No!" Heh. Classic. If you go the AAPC's website and read their PDF file o' winners, you'll see he brought home a silver medal in the "Initiative/Referendum/Constitutional Amendment: Local/Municipal" category.

2007-05-02T19:59:00.000-07:00

Local author Michele Zack had critical words in the Star-News for the City Council's decision on the Desiderio project. Among the many good points made, she notes that the ownership of the proposed Habitat for Humanity homes is uncertain.

Public benefit was trumped on this last piece of the Arroyo Seco land available for city use in favor of nine families whose land tenure will be unclear.

Will they own, lease, or be able to sell at market rate their "gift homes from the city" in 10 or 20 years?

Students of failed public housing policy should at least have a rudimentary sense of one of the biggest failings of the housing project mentality. Simply giving a place to live to a needy family isn't enough. Folks need an incentive to take care of and invest in their living space. For a homeowner, it's important to maintain the property and improve the neighborhood as a whole, because property values rise.

Of course, that's not to say that the Desiderio project will necessarily turn into a mini-slum (wouldn't want to suggest that). But Zack is right to call attention to the uncertain status of the occupants of the proposed housing. See the editorial for many more interesting points.

Pasadena-Based Parson's Poor Projects: UPDATE II

2007-05-02T13:40:00.000-07:00

Or the headline might have read. The headline, rather, is "Audit critical of local firm," and Todd Ruiz has the story for the Star-News.

For the second time, the federal watchdog agency overseeing reconstruction in Iraq has cited Parsons for shoddy work on a major project, and now the U.S. Army could decide to bar the giant Pasadena-based firm from further work in the war-torn country.

...

A recent inspection of the Iraqi Civil Defense Headquarters in Baghdad found leaky pipes dripping wastewater onto exposed electrical wiring and armored "anti-explosive" gates that didn't work, according to the report.

Native Pasadenans may be surprised at this news. Few, according to our very unscientific poll, had any knowledge of what Parsons actually does. As it turns out, the company belongs in the category of mega-development companies like Bechtel. Consider the range of activities that the company is involved in: running airports, deploying communication networks, building bridges, designing medical facilities, engineering roads and highways, planning communities...short of terraforming, it's not clear there's anything Parsons can't do. Of course, one company operating in such diverse fields does make one wonder, "how do they do all this, and how could they do it all well?"

Now, government auditors seem to be answering the latter question by saying, "They're not." The line from company spokeswoman Erin Kuhlman is that the projects in question met standards when they were handed over to Iraqis; if the buildings and gates in question have been poorly maintained, the blame should fall on Iraqi shoulders. Of course, that explanation seems less reasonable in light of earlier complaints about another Parsons product, the BPC.

In January, SIGIR released its review of the Baghdad Police College, a high-profile project Parsons had received a $75 million contract to build.

Inspectors of the college found human waste dripping from ceilings and seeping from walls.

Oh, fecal matter permeating the building? Those Iraqi plumbers must be quite incompetent. Or maybe, just maybe, Erin, Parsons did (excuse the pun) a crappy job.

The war in Iraq isn't an issue within the purview of our humble blog. But the performance of a local company, particularly when they may be bilking taxpayers for subpar work, most certainly is.

UPDATE: One wonders if it's any coincidence that Parsons' "Project Iraq" website is no longer available. Check it out: http://www.parsonsiraq.com/

Additionally, the link to "US Army Corps of Engineers and USAID Iraq Reconstruction Programs" takes you nowhere. Curious.

UPDATE II: Erin Kuhlman was kind enough to respond quickly:

Parsons' Iraq website was formed so that subcontractors and those interested in working in Iraq could find information easily. Since we're almost done with our work and we are no longer hiring for Iraq, we have pulled the site down. Please don't look for a conspiracy where there is none.

Erin Kuhlman

No conspiracy behind an old website and a single broken link? Well, it was fun for the five minutes it lasted (guess we'll have to rent an X-Files episode tonight to satisfy that desire). Kudos to Ms. Kuhlmann for taking time to respond.

Another San Dimas website

2007-05-02T11:58:00.000-07:00

Just added the online version of San Dimas' local paper, the San Dimas Community News, to the sidebar.

It Ain't Over in Sierra Madre

2007-05-02T08:24:00.000-07:00

Downtowndirt.org's parting shotCouncilwoman Enid Joffe is the new Mayor in the Sierra Madre rotation, as reported by Erica Blodgett in the Weekly. "Joffe said she wants to focus on filling the city manager position . . . [and a bunch of other stuff, and then, my personal favorite:] and ending council meetings earlier." There was some controversy over the choice of Joe Mosca (who many Sierra Madreans are trying to recall) as Mayor pro tem, and no doubt this prolonged the meeting.

Erica Blodgett also has an article about how "just two and a half months short of the end of his second term, Ron Brandley resigned from the Sierra Madre Planning Commission effective this week after an anonymous phone call to City Hall led to his being questioned concerning his business relationship with Sierra Madre Congregational Church and his role on the Commission." We pointed you to Bill Coburn's report on this strange story a while ago.

The Sierra Madruh announces that Blodgett has started her own newspaper.

See also the Mt. Wilson Observer for articles on all of the above topics, except for Blodgett's alleged newspaper venture.

In lighter news, this report mentions in a throw away line that Sierra Madre is in the running for the National Civic League's "All-American City" award.

And darn it all, just as they were starting to put up online videos here of the most interesting city council meetings in all the FC these days, it looks like they took them down. Anyone know what's going on? I do know you can go to Sierra Madre's website and evaluate it via their quick online survey—in which you can ask them to put city council meetings online.

SM Art Fair Starts Soon (via inSierraMadre.com)

Farm Your Market: Victory Park to San Dimas

2007-05-02T07:56:00.000-07:00

The San Dimas Farmer's Market starts up again today, from 5:00PM to 9:00PM. Go to the San Dimas Farmer's Market website for all the current info and see our our earlier post on its revival.

In celebration, SanDimas.net points us to a YouTube video promo for the old Market (its just one of many San Dimas event videos on YouTube):

Speaking of Farmer's Markets, the LAT' Russ Parsons ranks an SGV Farmer's Market #3 of 10 in his SoCal list:

3. Total Victory

Tucked away in an affluent corner between Sierra Madre and San Marino, Victory Park is a big market that somehow still feels neighborly. Established in 1984, its maturity shows. While lesser markets can brag of only a few scattered high points, at Victory it seems like everything is terrific. There is a splendid balance among the roughly 40 certified vendors every week: vegetable dynamos such as Underwood Farms, which this week is selling three kinds of radishes, celery root, baby leeks, two kinds of cauliflower, beets and kohlrabi; high-quality mid-size farmers such as Joe Avitua at Walker Farms, who has several types of mandarins, Oroblanco and Melogold grapefruits and blood oranges, as well as dried fruit and walnuts; and even backyard grower Mike Taylor, who draws lines every weekend for his eclectic mix of head lettuces and citrus. On one recent visit, there was even someone selling fully grown artichoke plants in 10-gallon containers — the ultimate in cooking from scratch.

Pasadena Victory Park, Saturday, North Sierra Madre Boulevard and Paloma Street, 8:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. (626) 449-0179.

Al-ham-bra and Hillary's Ma

2007-05-02T07:27:00.000-07:00

I asked about Hillary's vaunted San Gabriel Valley roots, and an Elizabeth commented:

Hillary's mother attended Alhambra High School. She spoke at the homecoming game several years back, maybe 1998 or 1999.

Ye ole Wikipedia supports Elizabeth; anyone else want to verify this?

I agree with SGVT City editor Edward Barrera on this one; hopefully Hillary won't start trying to speak with an Alhambra accent anytime soon.

Bradbury to Goldilocks: Bear Problems

2007-05-02T01:44:00.000-07:00

Yep, believe it or not, little ol' Bradbury has made the news:

Authorities captured one of three bears that invaded the San Gabriel Valley foothill community of Bradbury, but no one was injured, officials said.

The first bear showed up in the area of Lemon Street about 8 a.m. The second bear arrived Monday afternoon, and its presence was noted by a homeowner because at least one chicken disappeared.

Ah yes, the classic bear detection mechanism; a chicken left idly wandering about the yard. Beware owners of aviation-challenged fowl, the bears are in town.

Schwarzenegger Comes To Town

2007-05-01T21:53:00.000-07:00

He's not Santa Claus, but the Governator did bring at least one gift to town on Monday: this picture.

The Politico has an interview with Schwarzenegger after he talked to the local AARP about the state of health care in, um, the state (which Bill Bogaard thinks is "tragic and embarrassing").

Besides this ferocious mug shot, Arnold apparently lives in a neighborhood where used cars cost what my kidney would get me in South Africa. According to The Politico:

He said that on Sunday, he tried to teach his children about volunteerism and public service by painting schools and benches in Watts and other impoverished areas of South Central Los Angeles.

...

"Look at how different the people are who are hanging out on the street. Look how poor they are. Look at the car dealership. Here's a car dealership where no car is over $1,000.'

"I said to my son, 'Look at that. Not one car is over $1,000 in this area here, because no one has over $1,000. Whereas where we come from, used cars are $120,000.'"

Sheesh! The AHB should pay a visit to Sacramento.

UPDATE: A reader writes, "Geez, he's got big rings on his fingers." I agree.

Private Solutions to Public Problems

2007-05-01T16:34:00.000-07:00

We all know that LA has a serious homeless problem to deal with, but the FC is no stranger to the challenge. Certainly Pasadena has struggled in this regard, where tallies of homeless, while declining, still approach a thousand. Now, Donald Sterling, of Clippers fame, is planning at least a partial solution to the downtown homeless problem, according to Curbed LA.

Clippers owner Donald Sterling is talking publicly about his Sterling Homeless Center, a proposed $50 million homeless center located on a 65,000-square-foot lot at 600 Wall St. Speaking to the Downtown News, Sterling tells the paper the center will include a medical center, legal center and homeless court.

It's just a proposal for now, but it's an interesting one, nonetheless. In no small part, we find it fascinating since it's an approach that doesn't demand goverment come up with the solution.

Locally, Pasadena's solution to reducing public homelessness, rhetoric and ten-year plans aside, seems to more often take the form of fewer public benches than anything. But have you seen more evidence of a pro-active Pasadena plan (or for any of the other Foothill Cities, for that matter)? Let us know.

[via Curbed LA]

Margett on School Funding

2007-05-01T15:39:00.000-07:00

A reader points us to an article in the California Chronicle we overlooked (. State Senator Bob Margett (of Planet Glendora roots) doesn't want the state playing the lottery with education funding.

Senator Bob Margett (R-Glendora) expressed frustration with the Senate Governmental Organization committee today after they voted 1-3 against his measure which would have required more lottery money be spent directly in the classroom. Specifically, Senate Bill 393 would have prohibited school districts from utilizing lottery proceeds to pay for teacher salaries and benefits and instead use the funds for instructional purposes such as purchasing new supplies and textbooks.

Why is this a bad thing?

“Lottery funding is an unstable funding source that is unpredictable and should not be used to pay for on-going expenses,” Senator Margett testified to the committee. “Allowing school districts to use lottery funds as such, places taxpayers in a situation where they are on the hook if lottery revenues decline.”

We're sympathetic to Margett's point. What say you?

Pasadena Chamber Games

2007-05-01T13:53:00.000-07:00

The refurbished Pasadena City Council digs sound pretty sweet. Well, they would sound sweet, if the microphones didn't keep causing trouble.

First they'll have to fix their microphone. The only new tech amenity which didn't seem to be working correctly in the room just happened to be the microphone used by members of the public to speak.

Check out Todd Ruiz on plasma screens, forbidden email, and an angry Steve Madison in the Star-News.

Arcadia's Measure Mayhem: Part I

2007-05-01T11:17:00.000-07:00

Okay, we admit it. The Arcadia measure party started a long time ago, and we're crashing right now at the very end. We've been keeping an on the goings-on, but it must have been our lazy eye.

Regardless, Measure A and Measure B (Beware the pdf!) definitely merit some serious attention. Here's the deal.

Two years ago, the Arcadia City Council, acting as the Community Redevelopment Agency, and Rusnak began discussing an expansion to the Huntington Dr. dealership. The city had and has a significant interest in seeing the dealership expand: Rusnak is the single largest taxpayer in Arcadia and a larger dealership could double the amount of tax revenue pouring into city coffers.

As part of the proposed expansion, the CRA started negotiating with neighboring businesses for their property, or, as city documentation puts it, "began to assemble units of land," for the expansion. Their negotiations not so subtly suggested that unwilling properties would not be tolerated. Not surprisingly, local businesses were none too pleased and raised a stink that garnered national attention. While the CRA never actually employed eminent domain to force out current businesses, the threat came across strongly enough to provoke Measure A, an initiative sponsored by Manny Romero.

Romero, the owner of Rod's Grill, which sits across the street from Rusnak, marshaled anti-eminent domain abuse advocates and decided to tackle the dealership directly. Measure A essentially forbids anyone to conduct auto sales, repair, rental or the like on the stretch of Huntington where his store is situated. Further, it demands existing auto-related business to cease within a two year period. Curiously, eminent domain abuse appears nowhere in the measure.

After Romero's initial opposition, the city and Rusnak modified their plans to exclude his property, and continued acquiring other plots. When Measure A went on the ballot, the city faced the prospect of losing $1 million in tax revenue, as Rusnak warned he might have to leave the city if he couldn't expand (read: threatened he might have to leave), a prospect that could put a serious dent in funding for city services. In response, the city came up with Measure B, which expressly targets the question of eminent domain used for private gain. In terms that seem indisputable, the measure strips the CRA of the powers of eminent domain in any case where the condemned property would be handed over to a private developer. While this may seem like a slam-dunk initiative, we admit to being wary of any voluntary ceding of authority on the part of government officials. On the face of it, though, it certainly seems like a step in the right direction.

That's the background, briefly stated. Traci Katzer at the Pasadena Independent has an excellent article that covers the full history of this initiative battle. Be sure to check it out to get the full story. Coming up, we'll tackle some of the questions this battle raises:

Did the city ever threaten to use eminent domain?
Why is the city involved at all?
Who are the good guys, the bad guys, hell the ugly guys?
Most importantly, has have there been any Rod's Grill doorhangers?

Stay tuned, there's more to come.

This Post Has Been Removed: Pomona City Attorney Threatens Foothill Cities

2007-05-01T09:05:00.000-07:00

This post has been removed from our humble blog as per the threat of the Pomona City Attorney.

San Dimas Temporary Medi-juana Ban Rules?

2007-05-01T07:49:00.000-07:00

San Dimas joined the ranks of other San Gabriel Valley cities last week and placed a temporary ban on medical marijuana dispensaries. --Allison Hewitt, SGVT

No surprise there. Given the ludicrous way in which the law currently works, as we've pointed out before, no city in their right mind is going to allow such joints to open. One wonders if this too is part of some bizarre behind-the-scenes soap opera, as in Claremont, where two friends in the marijuana biz are literally crying over their lost friendship even as they both claim, in not so many words, that the other is a greedy drug dealer. (See Will Bigham's in-depth DB article.)

Anyhow, go here for the video of the San Dimas city council meeting on the matter, starting at about 31 minutes and 50 seconds into the video:

Also, I've gotten a few emails and seen the many articles concerning the sad saga of over-officious government regulation (and perhaps a touch of malice) which led to the close of the San Dimas Wine Shop and Tasting Room. I promise I'll get around to posting something soon.

Eavesdropping the FC: Sierra Madre Edition

2007-05-01T06:24:00.000-07:00

The journey of this long weekend took me a lot of places I’ve never been before . . . I have never been to an official tea party or in Sierra Madre before. Quaint little town full of rich people it looks like. Heh.

She spins a tale of Downtown Sierra Madre: Beantown, Starbucks, the Village Pizzeria, and her lost car keys.

I used to wear all sorts of vintage skirts and dresses from the 50's and 60's for dancing. The petticoats added to the authenticity of my outfits. I would find them in thrift shops at flea markets and at Square Dance Land in Sierra Madre.

The Folee is a bag produced by the company Booq, based in Sierra Madre, California.

I reach the intersection — downtown Sierra Madre. There’s not much, only things that matter the most — Starbucks, ColdStone, Curves, Dominos…but no signal. There are none. Locals call it Sierra Mayberry . . . I never would’ve thought that I’d ever fall in love with this city. How can you resist? It’s almost perfect.

The Treasure of Sierra Madre lies not underground in gold veins but above ground with a lavender blooming vine. Even more pics here.

The Sixth Chamber, a new-but-old rock band checks out their own press from the Pasadena Weekly: "The music starts at 10 p.m. Wednesday at the Buccaneer Lounge, 70 W. Sierra Madre Blvd., Sierra Madre. Call (626) 355-9045."

Today Cathy, Jeff, and myself met at Alverno High School in Sierra Madre to start off their engagement photos. I’ve shot at this location a few times and I absolutely love it! It has such great architecture and amazing light. More of Tammy's wedding/engagement photo shoots set in Sierra Madre here.

Route66 Living

2007-04-30T20:23:00.000-07:00

Claremont's got a new blog—Tisza Major-Posner is a real estate agent in Claremont and La Verne, and she's got a blog called Route66 Living which essentially advertises herself and the cities she sells in.

Interesting concept: apparently there are a few others doing something similar throughout SoCal.

The Pasadena Agenda

2007-04-30T16:30:00.000-07:00

It's Monday and you know what that means. All through Pasadena, visions of licentious masseuses and Human Relations Commissioners will dance through the heads of all good Pasadenans as they sleep, awaiting Tuesday morning when they'll find out what happened at the City Council meeting.

Okay, those sugar-plum fairies probably won't interrupt most folks' dreams, but that's just because they don't know what they're missing. We're going to miss the meeting again (which is a darn shame, since they'll be back in City Hall tonight), but we've been poking through tonight's agenda to see what's coming up.

#3 on the list looks interesting: "RESOLUTION TO CONSIDER GRANTING NON-EXCLUSIVE SOLID WASTE FRANCHISES AND SETTING A PUBLIC HEARING." Okay, it's not New York, but the trash business in the Foothill Cities is a notoriously under-reported business. Everyone has a trash and contracts to carry it away can be quite lucrative. This will probably only get a passing nod tonight, but we'll check the video to see if we can't learn a little more.

Also, we hear that a group of partisans for the Arroyo may show up to make a fuss over the illegal taking of frogs from the casting pond. Apparently, taking tadpoles isn't such an innocent activity and if you're over 16, you need a fishing license. Of course, the takings are a moot point if the city continues, as in years past, to drain the pond before the tadpoles turn into frogs.

And, if we're really lucky, the council may come to a happy finish (as Mr. Ruiz might put it) on the massage parlor issue. If there's any other meat on the bones of this council meeting, we'll let you know tomorrow.

The Proctor Is In: AP Blows Our Cover

2007-04-30T14:15:00.000-07:00

Curses, Publius! Our anonymity is destroyed. Aaron Proctor has posted our mug shots online.

Festival of Comments

2007-04-30T14:11:00.000-07:00

Festival of Comments:

LA may have its Festival of Books, but it's Monday, so we're having the FC festival of comments. The past week has been pretty wild, with a lot of great thoughts dropped into the comments, and more than a few that should be revisited (lest they be obscured by the headline-grabbing controversies).

Havisham's Estellar Posts: In between glasses of Viognier, Miss H had some solid predictions for the future of local papers: "I don't think newspapers will be completely gone. A hard copy, when the lights go out is irreplacable. The writing will be more condensed, tailored for the cell phone attention span reader. The link to where you can find a more indepth article online beside each byline."

Indeed, while internet media is often criticized for being too shallow, the web also has seemingly endless resources on the most obscure topics. A media outlet that gave you the news in broad sweeps with deeper resources, but linked you to greater detail and depth sounds like the next step.

Pirates Need Clean Water, Too: A pirate had a response to our query, who pays for clean water?

"In making responsible parties pay, you have to first prove they did it, which takes time and money."

That's no small task, when one considers the legal battles that would inevitably result. An excellent point, Blackbeard.

AP's Lady Lounge: Believe it or not, we can't hand the crown to Mr. Proctor this week. But that doesn't mean he didn't entertain. Upon learning about the imminent freeze of permits for massage parlors, AP said, "Man, that sucks, as I was just going to open the "Doorhanger Lounge" at my apartment...for the ladies, of course." Somehow, we think Barbecuegate will never die.

Playing Favorites: Miss Havisham and Anonymous (that guy is everywhere!) take this week's title for kindly declaring, "This is my new favorite blog." Besides ourselves, no one had been so generous, so for one week, we'll yield to flattery.

Anony makes the further claim, "the best source for local politics news by far." We should note that we only add so much. In large part, we rely on insightful readers to point out things we've missed and add perspective to the various issues of the Foothill Cities. So, many thanks to all who've contributed (either by commenting or by sending us a tip or suggestion). We only hope more folks get involved.

Paranoia Strikes Deep. . .

2007-04-30T11:39:00.000-07:00

. . .Into your life it will creep. . .

Thus far, Mr. and Mrs. Wakka's efforts regarding medical mary-juh-wanna in Claremont have been unsuccessful, despite getting an advertisement on the Poorman's Bikini Show:

[Claremont Mayor Peter] Yao said the ad, which he viewed on YouTube, "has been totally ineffective." He said he sometimes gets calls or e-mails about the marijuana issue and always asks whether the ad prompted the contact.

"I have not received a single e-mail, nor have I received a phone call as a result" of the ad, he said. --Will Bigham, DB

Maybe because, as the intrepid Claremont Insider muses, "nobody wants to cop to watching the show"? Anyhow, I wish that Snoop Dog still lived here.

My post on the Wakkas has some interesting comments beneath it, including a bizarre one from someone claiming that I am putting the Wakkas in danger and another from Mrs. Wakka herself. I assure her that I don't think bringing cookies and flowers to Claremont city council meetings is a "monstrous act." In fact, I have encouraged Claremont city council members to partake of some medicine with the Wakkas.For the record, she is right that in my post I made an egregious error: when I referred to "Fonzie" Bear I actually meant to refer to the Muppet character, not the cool leather-jacketed fellow from Happy Days. However, Mrs. Wakka is wrong in her rendition as well. It's not "Fozz E. Bear," but Fozzie Bear. For the record.

Planet Glendora Odds 'n Ends

2007-04-30T10:59:00.000-07:00

Who will Glendora's next city manager be?

See also the Kingdom Causes Glendora blog: "Our Mission is to be a catalyst that INSPIRES, CONNECTS, and MOBILIZES people towards personal and community transformation." Good luck with that in Planet Glendora.

For any of us who think the rise of the big box stores is inevitable, Rodney Tanaka of the SGVT tells the story of a small scale hardware store that is actually expanding (to Glendora).

And speaking of businesses in Glendora, Marty's Cigar & Divan has an interesting website.

Hillary's San Gabriel Valley Roots?

2007-04-30T10:42:00.000-07:00

[Hillary] Clinton noted that her mother spent part of her childhood in the San Gabriel Valley. --Martin Kasindorf, USA Today

Anyone know which one?

Article also says:

[Bill] Richardson, who was born in Pasadena, admitted his California roots are modest. His parents left the state three hours after his birth, he said. "Today, those roots are suddenly expanding," he said.

Pasadena: Monday Mop-Up

2007-04-30T07:04:00.000-07:00

It's Monday, and we definitely missed a lot of things last week (hey, we're only one blog). Below are a few of the more entertaining tidbits we overlooked in the Pasadena area. Think we still missed something (either in the Dena or anywhere else in the FC)? Drop it in the comments. And if you're eagle eyes spot on another juicy tidbit this week, fire it to us in an email.

Pasadena: International City of Fame: How does Pasadena make the French press (or at least the International Herald Tribune)? By being very sweet to drunk drivers and celebrities who want a nice jail cell. No wonder Snoop stopped by. -- Jennifer Steinhauer, IHT

Proctor Commits A Hillacious Obamanation: AP sells out, gives up celebrated independent status. Plus side: he can now influence the Democratic presidential nomination (preferably via top ten lists). -- Aaron Proctor

Pasadena Gets Sweetest Chopper Since MacGyver: Yes, the local jet-powered copters will soon sport some extreme thermal vision gear. Let's just hope criminals don't start pulling a Dutch when the chase is on. -- Todd Ruiz, PSN

Former Prez Candidate Goes Green, Makes Money: No, we're not talking Al Gore. Good ol' John Kerry, last seen in Pasadena slipping over a joke at PCC, was back in town a week ago, to sign his book about the environment. We don't mean to be chary about Kerry, but could he just be hopping on a bandwagon? Kerry had these inspiring words: ""Is this so big that you just have to hunker down at home and eat ice cream and watch TV?," he said. "No. We can all reduce the carbon footprint..." Thank you, JFK. -- Patricia Jiayi Ho, WDN

Duck Season, School Season, Duck Season, School Season: All PUSD schools will have an open house at the end of May, beginning of June. Their website will tell you exactly when you can find out why the charters schools are tearing it u-...ahem, what's going on at your local public school. -- PUSD

Pasadena Showcases Beauty, LA & Long Beach Green (With Envy): The Daily News says, "The Pasadena Showcase House has gone Hollywood." So, grown men are walking around in Robin costumes and local costume stores charge exorbitant amounts? Nope, the DN is just jealous as Pasadena shows off its domestic beauty. (Okay, so the house is in La Cañada and the designers who refurbished are based in the City of Angles...but the FC still dominates LA.) -- Daily News, LBPT

Centinel Flunks Home Repair Test: The Whittier Daily News asks, "Do you watch "This Old House?" Can you identify a photo of Bob Vila? Do you know the hours that Home Depot is open?" No, no, and...no. Hmm, looks like I wouldn't be able to help Rebuilding Together Pasadena, but their mission sounds great. -- Linda Fields, WDN

Quake insurance: It is worth buying?: That's the question the LAT asks and I admit I don't know either. I also didn't know the U.S. Geological Survey has a Pasadena office that monitors all the quakes in the state. Nor that Susan Hough lives in South Pasadena (even though she works at the Pasadena office). Boo and hiss for the traitorous Hough (traitor to Pasadena, of course) and a huzzah for Pasadena being earthquake central. Wait a second... -- Kathy M. Kristof, LAT

This Post Has Been Removed: Pomona City Attorney Threatens Foothill Cities

2007-04-28T14:09:00.000-07:00

This post has been removed from our humble blog as per the threat of the Pomona City Attorney.

This Post Has Been Removed: Pomona City Attorney Threatens Foothill Cities

2007-04-27T08:36:00.000-07:00

This post has been removed from our humble blog as per the threat of the Pomona City Attorney.

Claremont v. Pomona, Again

2007-04-27T08:19:00.000-07:00

Pomona City Councilman Stephen Atchley was none to pleased by all the youngsters joking around about Claremont's proposed Anschluss of Pomona land for the sake of a new Claremont police station. I feel his anger, but...

Let me moderate this debate.

Is Claremont laughably arrogant? Yes.

Is Pomona embarrassingly insecure? Yes.

There. Everyone happy?

I'm surprised that no one has paid much attention to the fact that we caught some Claremont gadflies planning their next move on the homegrownbud online forums:

it wont be hard to put a damper on them with our big sign outside as they walk in. plus, when you wave and say high with a big smile, really tweaks the straights. our plan is to make them so uncomfortable, it drives them nuts. it is a very rich college town, and they don't like anything that disturbs their perfect order.

And by the way, despite the fact that the city quickly filters out our emails as spam, it does appear that we get some visitors from Pomona City Hall regardless. Go figure.

Duarte

2007-04-27T08:06:00.000-07:00

Remember the short jockey [redundant] who wanted to build the tall house in Duarte? The story made the national rounds about a month ago. Well, the city council said no. Emanuel Parker has the story in the SGVT:

More than a dozen residents spoke against the plans at the public hearing, saying they don't want Duarte to look like Arcadia, San Gabriel or Monterey Park, claiming those cities allow mansions to be squeezed onto small lots.

Hmmmm. Not sure what to make of that.

Anyhow, the story is making the national rounds again, although it appears to be a more limited engagement than the first time around.

Snippets from the Planet of the Glendorans

2007-04-27T07:30:00.000-07:00

It appears this blogger would disagree with my assessment (not to mention that of the District Attorney's) of the whole Glendoran Planet debate regarding the teenage girl vandals gone wild.

Good ole N.ot I.n M.y B.ack Y.ard -ism rules the day in Glendora, as reported by Allison Hewitt of the SGVT: "...the City Council refused to grant a time extension that would have allowed construction to begin on an assisted-living facility opposed by prospective neighbors."

Sounds like some members of the Council took the easy way out and voted down the senior housing because the developers were late in filing their TPS reports. Councilman Clifford "said the developer's excuses 'remind me of a student who had a term paper' but missed the deadline." However, if the rest of the article is right the hound of bureaucracy ate up their homework—the developers were bogged down by waiting for govmint plan approvals and permits while responding to a change in the Regional Water Quality Control Board rules and regs. But hey, if the neighborhood doesn't want the thang in their neighborhood, what are you gonna do, ignore them? These situations can be tough calls for city councils.

Oh yes, and check out the eternal commentating beneath this Chowhound post on the Donut Man. By the way folks, this is off Foothill, not that far away from Azusa Pacific College (in, yes, Azusa) in case you were wondering. The Donut Man gets so much good press it's almost as if we should start a separate category for him.

This Post Has Been Removed: Pomona City Attorney Threatens Foothill Cities

2007-04-26T13:32:00.000-07:00

This post has been removed from our humble blog as per the threat of the Pomona City Attorney.

Massaging Todd Ruiz

2007-04-26T11:33:00.000-07:00

Speaking of Todd Ruiz, apparently, he's no stranger to the, ahem, challenges one faces in a massage parlor, at least not when in Bangkok.

More importantly, as Ruiz pointed out, the City Council didn't get into any great detail on the massage parlor permit freeze (much to our dissatisfaction). If you can't believe that such an issue would pass through the halls of the Pasadena Senior Center (for the last time, I might add, since the Council will be back in its retrofitted City Hall next week), skip to 2:19:00 (give or take ten seconds) here. You probably will be disappointed.

But once you've overcome that sadness, read Ruiz's piece in the SGVT, which addresses this very issue. Favorite quote?

Police Chief Bernard Melekian said "almost by definition" some portion of massage parlors engage in prostitution activities, which requires labor-intensive police work to investigate.

"Labor-intensive," eh? I won't even ask, Chief.

The Proctor Is In: Pasadena Weekly Edition

2007-04-26T11:01:00.000-07:00

We haven't updated you on Aaron Proctor's latest in the past day or two, but that doesn't mean he hasn't been active. Between a memorial tribute to Paul Little, a hilarious profile of Todd Ruiz, and surviving a City Council meeting, Proctor's been his usual frenetic, peripatetic self.

While we were focusing on things like alleged corruption in Pomona (and not getting banned from city email), it seems like some other folks are finally giving Proctor his due. Proctor officially joined the Human Relations Commission, Ruiz wrote him up on Under the Dome, and the Pasadena Weekly even gave him a blurb.

It's that last one that caught our eye. Curious title for their story: "Proctor's in at City Hall." That's odd. Proctor's in...Proctor's in...where have we heard that before? We've seen it somewhere, I just can't put my finger on it.

FC Blog Banned by Pomona Government

2007-04-26T09:54:00.000-07:00

I just noticed this morning that seemingly any email I send to a Pomona city address gets blocked by their spam filter. This wasn't the case yesterday. Kind of reminds me of putting one's hands over one's ears in order not to hear things one doesn't want to hear.

NPR Brought to You by The Donut Man, Glendora

2007-04-26T09:44:00.000-07:00

A reader emails that about 5 minutes into this NPR interview, recent Pulitzer Prize winning L.A. Weekly restaurant critic Jonathan Gold "talks up Donut Man on NATIONAL RADIO." Hah. Who is this the Donut Man, you ask?

Bill Bogaard and the Future of Local Politics

2007-04-25T13:49:00.000-07:00

The Planning Report recently made several articles available in its archives. One of them, happily enough, features Pasadena Mayor Bill Bogaard and it's an interview worth reading (TPM, so you know, is a planning and development newsletter for the LA metropolitan region that primarily publishes interviews with the movers and shakers in government and public investment).

The Q&A with Bogaard ranges over a variety of topics, many of which have graced the pages of Foothill Cities: the 710 tunnel, the Gold Line extension, the aging Rose Bowl. Heck, even the Affordable Housing Bunny gets some coverage. But what really caught our eye came at the end of the interview. The second to last question reads:

As the mayor of an important California city, you are aware of how digital revolution in communications and its impact on political dialog and civic participation. What are the challenges to governing brought on by MySpace and similar media?

Bogaard's response deals primarily with the challenges facing local newspapers, noting that "Some people are predicting that in five years newspapers as we know them will be gone." And undoubtedly local newspapers provide information in a way that citizen journalists and commentators just can't. But the question strikes at the very heart of the Foothill Cities endeavor. Government at the municipal level has the most influence on our day to day lives, and, at the same, is most likely to be influenced by the individual. And yet City Hall remains a cipher to the average Jane, its actions seeming to be the provenance of a removed, insular elite, while the White House and the state capitol receive far greater attention and interest.

It's into that breach that Foothill Cities throws itself. We're here to have an "impact on political dialog and civic participation." That is, we want to increase both. As much as we like to chuckle at the mania for political expression in Sierra Madre or the scheming of the "Claremont 400," there's something to be lauded in the both cases. Local politics really matter because it's where the rubber meets the road, where the abstract principle gets put into practice. Eminent domain abuse matters a hell of a lot more when it's your lifelong barbershop being bulldozed or your home that's been "blighted" out of existence. It's one thing for the President to promise more police on the streets, but it really matters if Glendora puts more men in blue on Myrtle Ave (especially if their priorities are a little, ahem, off). And allegations of corruption mean a lot more when it's your local redevelopment agency, which may have changed the face and demeanor of your community, that is being challenged.

We're optimistic that the digital revolution will increase participation in local politics, and we think that's a good thing. Bill Bogaard's not so certain, as he ponders what might happen if local newspapers die off:

I think it will make public service more difficult. The amount of information will be more, but its quality will be less. There will be more people, perhaps, accessing and reading information. That could be helpful. But it’s hard to predict; that subject would make a good discussion—either at thoughtful seminar or a lengthy conversation over a glass of wine.

Ah, now you're talking, Bill. We'll take you up on that offer any time, perhaps at a preferred local eatery. We could call it the "Think 'n Drink with Bill Bogaard: Politics and the People." Any sarcasm aside, I honestly think that would be a great conversation and one worth having.

Until Bill gets back to us, we'll continue that "lengthy conversation" with you, the folks of the Foothill Cities.

Wakka, Wakka, Wakka. . .

2007-04-25T12:32:00.000-07:00

Fonzie's growing the green buds. If you've been to a recent Claremont city council meeting, or read Will Bigham's recent reports of them in the DB, you've heard of Dave and Darleen and their pot-related antics. Earlier, I posted a video of an advertisement they bought featuring Mayor Yao's email:

This ad was posted on You Tube by a "mrswakka." Googling "mrs wakka" and Claremont turns over a few stone[r]s.

It is clear from, say, this discussion on the Home Grown Bud online forums that Mr. and Mrs. Wakka are, in fact, Dave and Darleen:

"we found a new and not too(!) expensive way to get our point across. heh. If you live in southern california, you are probably pretty familiar with the poorman. he's been on t v and radio for the longest time around here. he has a show on saturday and sunday nights. it's called the poormans bikini beach.

"he was nice enough to cut us a deal on a thirty second commercial, featuring the phone number of a local city council, and the email of it's mayor. he's going to urge everyone watching to call and email to their hearts content to show disapproval of them shutting down a medical marijuana dispensary...what a wonderful way to say hi mr mayor!"

"if we get fifty people to call or email, I would be more than pleased. if we get a hundred, I'm gonna pop a chubby and put it to use!"

"to the mayor, medical marijuana is low on the priority list. I think between the commercial with his email address and a picture of me smoking a joint and holding up that sign in his local paper, I think he might start thinking it's a little more important."

"some lady walked by and asked me where I was going to get my meds now that they had closed the dispensary. I told her."the same place I used to get it, claremont high school parking lot". reporter said, "o k, I got my quote".

"HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA hiya mr mayor! how you like me and mrs wakka now dude?"

"their centennial celebrations start in a few weeks. sure was thoughtful to give us a calendar with all the dates and locations, now wasn't it?

it wont be hard to put a damper on them with our big sign outside as they walk in. plus, when you wave and say high with a big smile, really tweaks the straights. our plan is to make them so uncomfortable, it drives them nuts. it is a very rich college town, and they don't like anything that disturbs their perfect order.

like me and mrs wakka."

Indeed.

There's plenty more fun to be had reading about the Wakkas if you just do some googling. Listen to them brag about the pot-cookie incident! Did Mrs. Wakka really walk "down the aisle to supertramp"? Learn the finer points of pot growing by taking the wakka family's technical advice!