Whittier City Council campaign reports

The first campaign finance reporting filing deadline for Whittier City Council election has arrived. As we did for the school board elections in November we’ll report some of the basic information. The information will include the total amount of money raised and spent, how much cash they have on hand and list all of the candidates’ contributors who gave $100 or more. All of the data reflects through Feb. 25. Candidates will be listed in alphabetical order. Challenger Adrian Gonzales as of Tuesday afternoon hadn’t turned in his report. It was due at 5 p.m. Thursday.

(Write-in candidate) Jonathan Rex Bartuzik
Filed form stating he will spend less than $1,000

Nick Donovan
Raised $1,050. Spent no money but owes $4,478 in unpaid bills

Contributors include:
Bruce Lamarche and Matt Lyons of Whittier, $250
Paul Breitman of Whittier, $150
Hope Angie Gillis Rose Marie Joyce and George Poochigian of Whittier, and Carol Ann Malkasian of La Habra, $100

Lupe Sahagun-Garcia
Raised $2,659, including a $500 loan from herself and a $99 non-cash
contribution, Spent no money but has $3,622 in unpaid bills and has
$2,506 in cash on hand.

Contributors include
Whittier Hills Oil Watch, $1,000
Melvin Magnet of Whittier, $300
Russell E.K. Chang of Whittier, $250
Joann Libolt and Melvin Magnet of Whittier, $140 each
George Poochigian and Erwin A. Ulbrich of Whittier, $100 each

Craig Lebow

Raised $4,529, including a $1,140 loan from himself and a $176 non-cash contribution, Spent $4,353 and has $2,427 in cash on hand.

Contributors include
Aaron Adame and law office of Steven Espinoza of Whittier, $500 each
Carol and Christina Hernandez, Mark and Yolanda Umeda of Whittier, $300 each
Herbie’s Natural Foods of Whittier and Alfred Miranda and Ana Turcios of La Habra, $250 each
Shauna Bryan and John Hernandez of Whittier, $200 each
Philllip and Elizabeth Ellis, George Poochigian, Robert and Sally Young, Virginia Young of Whittier, $100 each

Owen Newcomer
Raised $9,530, including a $1,000 loan from himself, spent $2,537 and has $7,070 on hand.

Contributors include
Republic Services of Phoenix (Consolidated Disposal Services), $1,000
Barbara Pell of Montebello, Theodore Saulino and Mary Tappan of Whittier $250 each
Whittier Councilman Bob Henderson and Theodore Zwemer of Whittier, $200 each
Etholine Newcomer of Santra Barbara, $150
Larry Adamson Janet Baird, Miriam Benell, Ellie Bewley, Glenn Britton, Sandra Chavez, Jeanne Chermas, Ruth Cruickshank,
Ray Fritsch, Alfred Gutierrez, David Hasle, Judy Jansen, Richard Jenkins, Guy Kato, Whittier First Day Executive Director Ted Knoll, , Wesley Kruse, Sandra Alarcon Lopez, Joyice Kaufman, Parks and Transportation Commissioner John McCandless, Bart McNeil, Jean Muhlestein, James Olsen, Bonnie Jo Panagos, Laurie Peel, Ann Peila, Janna Roznos, Robert Settlage, Brigita Weger, Keshen Wu, and Anne Young, all of Whittier, $100.
Kewal Dialan of El Montre, $100, Maurice Meysenburg of La Habra, Linda Muren of Cle Elum, Wash., , Michael O’Shea of Hacienda Heights Theresa Parakh of Bellingham, Wash. Adam Rocke of San Diego, Shigeru Takehana of Montebello, $100 each

Joe Vinatieri
Raised $30,190, including $3,770 in non-cash contributions, spent $4,285 and has $23,242 in cash on hand. He started campaign with $1,102.

Contributors include:
Ronald Ridout of Whittier, $3,570 worth of food and beverages
Lee and Ellen Hardeman and Henri and Dianne Pellissier of Whittier, $1,200 each
Jay and Letty Hernandez of Whittier, $1,000
Hubert Perry of Whittier, $500
Associated Reproduction Services, Michael and Mary Lou Greene, Curt James, Sylvia Southerland, all of Whittier, $500 each
San Diego County Assessor Ernie and Marilyn Dronenburg and Michael Schaap of Hidden Hills, $500 each
Robby and Jennifer Hernandez of Whittier, $400
Claudia Richard and Todd Riley of Whittier, $300
GM Properties and Mike Green and Wes Hoffmaster, Randall Martinez, Ted Saulino,  Ruth B. Shannon, Richard and Lois Shippee of Whittier, $250
Charles and Martha House and John and Nancy Richmond of Hacienda Heights, $250 each
Ernie Hernandez, provided $200 worth of music at event
Donald Alvarado, Whittier Union High School District board member Leighton Anderson, Earl and Jan Arbuckle, Robert and Virginia Ball, Donald and Sherry Barber, Whittier Union High School District school board member Jeff and South Whittier School board member Jan Baird, Fred Biggers, William and Mary Bishop, Glenn Britton, Wayne and Janet Campfield, Rudy Cervantes,  Kelly Collazo, Richard Dewberry, David Ellis, Sylvia Foltz, Jim and Lark Hickey, Bob and Sue Haendiges, David Harris, Paul and Mary Helfrey, Chris Herdeman, Barbara and Don Jenkins, Debby Kelly, Donald Kelly, Robert and Nancy Krug, Wesley and Louise Kruse, Parking and Transportation Commissioner John McCandless, John and Mary McCarthy, Margaret Martin, Ed Miller, Selma Minerd, Jerry Morgan, John Nelson, Charles Palmer, Raymond Schmidt, Kevin Schmidtbaur, Whittier City School District board member Linda Small, Barbara Stone, John Sudick, Steve Sundin, D.E. Wood, all of Whittier, $200
Robert Stambaugh, of Whittier, $150 each
Bobbie Albanese, James Anare, Betsey Angevine, Alyssa Barrios, Maurice Behrens, Duane and Miriam Benell, Ellie Bewley, Virginia Boles, Dorothea Boyd, Letty Brooks, Merita Campion, Kenneth Casford, Joanne Christian, Joe Corey, Barrie and Ruth Cruickshank, R. Dushone,  Laurie Eastwood, Louise Eiler, Kristine Gay, Salvatore Graziano, Tom and Marilyn Ghysels, Virginia Gow, Dot Hamblin, Harvey and Parmelee LLP, Ervin Houghland, Margaret Huber, Joyce Kaufman and Robert Marks, Kaye Kidwell, Whittier First Day Executive Director Ted Knoll, Jacque Knupp, R.D. McDonnell, Mary Ellen Mead, Victoria Mena, Joe and Jan Mericle, Luis Meza, Lynda Mitzner, Steven Morski, Phyllis Morton, Lyle Nelson, Tom and Helen Nordbak, Lee and Bonnie Jo Panagos, Mark and Carol Perry, Guillermo Ramirez, Thomas Samarin, Bill and Lola Scavo, Mike Shatynski, Daniel Skews, H.R. Topalian, B. Sue Turco, Robert Vinatieri, Dennis Ward, Robert Williams, Mary Ann Thielmann Wilson, Tom Woodward, all of Whittier, $100 each
Reene and Delta Murphy of Fullerton, $100

Cathy Warner
Raised $10,206, including $250 in a non-cash contribution; spent $3,144, and has $6,811 in cash on hand

Contributors include:
Dianne and Henri Pellisssier, $1,000
Ruth B. Shannon, $300
David Ellis, John and Mary McCarthy of Whittier, John Medler of Mission Viejo, Jo and Jan Mericle of Whittier, $250 each
Ernie Hernandez, provided $200 worth of music at event
Robert and Virginia Ball, Michael and Maudi Greene, Greg Gunter, Barbara and Harry Stone, Bill Wood,  $200 each
Duane and Miriam Benell, Bonnie and Gary Braaksma, Emily Johnson, Richard and Valerie Thacher, all of Whittier, $150 each
Betsey Angevine, John Antonelli, Central Basin Municipal Water Director Robert Apodaca, Earl and Jean Arbuckle, Whittier Union High School District board member Jeff Baird, Patricia Beck, Ellie Bewley and Genevieve Lescsak, Virginia and Tom Boles, Ken and Norma Casford, Nancy Claxton, Barrie and Ruth Cruickshank,  Trudy Ertle, Ramsey Ezaki, Sylvia Foltz, Tom Ghysels, Dot Hamblin, Lee Hardeman, Paul and Mary Helfrey, Whittier Councilman Bob Henderson, Dave and Willi Hasle,  Barbara and Don Jenkins, Guy Kato, Joyce Kaufman, Norm and  Theola Kirschenbaum, Whittier First Day Executive Director Ted Knoll, Wesley and Louise Kruse, Leon Lesa, Jim and Pat Longman, Planning Commissioner R.D. McDonnell, Bonnie Jo and Lee Panagos, Robert Ruiz, Laddie and Kevin Schmidt,  Sylvia Southerland, John Sudick, Ray Wong, and Karen Young, all of Whittier, $100 each
Kewal Dialani of El Monte, $100

E-mail addresses and the Whittier oil fight

As the debate over drilling for oil in the Whittier hills continues, the newest issue has to do with e-mail addresses. Apparently Matrix Oil Co. e-mailed Whittier residents — some of whom signed a petition to the city opposing the use of Penn Street. There was a question as to where Matrix obtained the signatures. Here are some dueling e-mails from Valerie Shatynski, a resident on Penn who is opposed to the project and Jeff Collier, assistant city manager. In the end result it appears that the city didn’t hand over e-mail addresses Here are the e-mails from Shatynski and Collier that also were sent to this newspaper. Judge for yourself:

Dated 8:34 p.m. Dec. 9

Mayor Nordbak and
valued Councilmembers:

I am writing to
inform you that the City of Whittier has violated personal information of the
over 100 people who signed the Penn Street petition regarding the Whittier Oil
Main project, submitted in response to the DEIR.
A petition from the
Penn Street residents was submitted to the Community Development Department on
Monday, December 6th.  The petition included resident’s names, addresses,
telephone numbers, and in most cases, email address, along with their
signature.
Much to our shock
and dismay, someone on the City’s staff has harvested the emails from our
petition and provided them to Matrix Oil.  We started recieving emails from
Matrix Oil yesterday and today.    This is a violation of our
personal information, and totally unacceptable.
I am asking that you
respond to me by close of business Friday, December 10th regarding the
violation of our personal information 
This is a very
serious issue, and the people responsible for this breach of privacy of the
City’s residents should be fired.
Thank you for your
immediate attention to this matter, I look forward to hearing from you, my
elected officials and representatives.
 
Valorie Shatynski
————————————————————–
Here’s a response from 11:31 a.m. Dec. 10

Mrs. Shatynski,

Your allegation of impropriety by the City staff is of great concern to me and I have spent the morning addressing your email.  I have found that no comments nor private information submitted by residents was provided to Matrix or any other party by the City nor our environmental consultants.  Rather, I have contacted Matrix Oil and have learned that they (actually their PR firm) purchased email lists from Political Data, Inc. (PDI).   PDI’s website states that they are California’s largest provider of voter information to political campaigns, consultants, and pollsters.  They provide a variety of voter information include telephone numbers, email addresses, etc.
That said, the information submitted by any person commenting on the Draft EIR is part of the public record and is, therefore, not confidential.  Even so, the City has not provided nor offered this information to Matrix Oil nor any other party.
I fully appreciate and share your concern about preserving your personal information.  However, much of this information is acquired from a variety of sources and is publically available for purchase from firms such as PDI.  Again, the City was not the source of the personal contact information used to send the emails you and your residents received.
In the future, feel free to contact me directly if you have any questions or concerns.

Jeffrey W. Collier
Assistant City Manager
————————————
Next: 2:27 p.m. Dec. 10

Jeff, thank you for looking into this.  Of course, we understand that the information submitted in relationship to the DEIR is public record.  It is good to hear that the City staff has not shared this information.
 
Regards, Valorie Shatynski
————————————–
Next: 3:34 p.m. Dec. 10

Valorie,

Just wanted to let you know a slight correction to the information I sent you earlier.  Matrix called me later today and clarified that the firm they obtained the information from wasn’t PDI but was another firm offering similar information.  Not a big deal but I felt it important to give you accurate information.
Have a good weekend.

Jeffrey W. Collier
Assistant City Manager
—————————————-
Next: 11:46 a.m. Dec. 12

thank you Jeff, we are interested in knowing the name of the firm, if you would please provide it.  Some of us would like to contact them and have our names removed.
 
Regards, Valorie
————————————-
Next: 12:45 p.m. Dec. 12
I’ll pass on your request tomorrow morning to Matrix. I clearly can’t require Matrix to have their consultant divulge the name of the firm but I’m happy to pass on the request. I’ll let you know what I hear back.
Hope you are enjoying this beautiful day!

Jeff
————————————————————————————————-
This was the final e-mail sent to this newspaper at 8:27 a.m. Dec. 17

Jeff

Jeff, please also extend to City Staff that I will let our petitioners know you have thoroughly looked into this, in our behalf.  I regret causing a stir, but the coincidence of the onset of the Matrix PR efforts following so closely to the submittal of their information was the reason for the connection in our minds. 
I will say that the misfortune of identifying Penn Street in the DEIR (or any residential street in Whittier) for this industrial purpose has certainly galvanized our household, along with many, many of our neighbors to gather their voice both formally and informally, so that City Staff and our City Council understands we DO care!  We have been very saddened that one of our leaders is speaking for Penn Street, stating that because we have not complained about issues in the past, we don’t care if more burden is added.  This has even been a recent quote in the newspaper.   This is a very untrue statement, and is not based on any interactions with any of us on Penn.  Rest assured, we take this to heart, and will make every effort to reach out to City Hall from now forward.
In this spirit, we hope to retrench and establish a genuinely cooperative relationship with all of you.  If you have suggestions on how best to formally establish this line of communication to work out issues, we welcome them!  Many of our neighbors express interest in a neighborhood association of some type.  Please let me know if this needs to be a body with bylaws, etc., or if we may begin dialogue as an ad-hoc group while we form something of this nature.
 
With regards and respect,
Thank you, Valorie Shatynski

Thursday starts the oil drilling conversation

You might call Thursday “O-Day,” that is O for oil. It’s when the talk of drilling for oil leaves the conjecture element and some more real information starts to flow down, i.e. it’s when the environmental impact report will be released. And that means the battle will heat up.

For starters, the city has mailed about 2,500 notices of the project to property owners within 1,000 feet around the project site and within 300 feet of the pipeline route. It’s also going to run an advertisement in Thursday’s paper. You’ll need to leave the on-line and get a paper copy to see that one.It also will have a notice on the city’s website.

And on Thursday — some time during the day — the 700-page environmental impact report will be released. It will be available in a number of locations –) some of them free. The first is going to the city website, www.cityofwhittier.org. You also can go to the central, 7344 Washington Ave., Whittier, or Whittwood, 10537 Santa Gertrudes Ave., branches of the Whittier Library to view a copy. It also will be available at the Community Development Department at City Hall, 13230 Penn St., Whittier.

There will be CD copies available for purchase at Community Development Department for a price still to be determined. Arrangements also are being made to allow hard copies of the document to be purchased at Sir Speedy on Greenleaf Ave.

If you want to comment on the report, you can mail them to Jeff Adams, Community Development Department, city of Whittier, 13230 Penn St., Whittier, CA, 90602 or you can e-mail comdev@cityofwhittier.org. Or you can go to a meeting planned to be held before Dec. 6, the end of the public review period.

The city also plans to hold a meeting where information on the report will be provided and questions will be answered.

But it’s not just the city that plans on holding meetings. The Central East Whittier Property Owners Association will hold a forum on the proposal to drill for oil in the Whittier hills at its regular meeting at 7 p.m. Oct. 18 at Ocean View Elementary School, 14359 2nd St., Whittier. Also look for the Friendly Hills Property Owners Association to hold its own forum. No date has been set on this one. 

Valero gas station owner makes second try for liquor permit

Sariqbal Singh, owner of Valero station, 14005 Whittier Blvd, Whittier, is going back Monday for a second try to persuade the Planning Commission to give him permission to sell beer and wine. Last time, he ran into opposition from a resident and concerns about his plans from commissoners.

The commission’s again has a long agenda — it’s been a busy September for them. The members dealt with four alcoholic beverage requests on Sept. 7, spent more than three hours Sept. 13 going over proposals to modify the Whittier Boulevard Specific Plan and on Monday will have even more items. They will include Singh’s proposal, another liquor permit from a Casa De Espana, a nonprofit group at 6532 Greenleaf Ave., Whittier, a proposal for a new and larger McDonald’s at 8840 Painter Ave. to replace the existing one, more study of the Whittier Boulevard plan. Tuesday’s meeting begins at 7 p.m. and a look at a new plan for signs for institutions such as churches. 

Whittier hills restoration area unharmed by fire

A project to restore a 15-acre area east of Colima road and north of the Murphy Ranch Little League was unharmed by Thursday’s brush fire in the Whittier hills, said Andrea Gullo, executive director of the Puente Hills Landfill Native Habitat Authority. “I was out there today and (the fire) wasn’t near it,” Gullo said. “It wasn’t in the vicinity.

The authority has spent about $1.7 million — money given by the Orange County Waste and Recycling that operates the Olinda Alpha Landfill in Brea — to plant seedlings, including California sagebrush, California buckwheat, prickly pear cactus and white and purple sage.
Even if there had been a problem from the fire, Gullo said the authority has contingency funds to address any problems.

About 3,000 eucalyptus trees were removed from the Whittier hills two years ago, including the 15-acre area, as a fire-safety move. The trees are hot and have oil in them and are considered dangerous. And if the fire had gone south, those trees are now gone — a good thing — Gullo said.

Whittier City Council to discuss stimulus plan

The 6:30 p.m. Tuesday Whittier City Council meeting won’t be momentous with less than a full council expected. In these cases, City Manager Steve Helvey typically postpones anything that might be considered controversial. For example, a hearing on a proposed water and trash rate increase won’t go before the council until the Aug. 10 meeting.

Still, for residents following city policies there are some interesting items on the agenda.
The council will be asked to extend its stimulus plan for businesses another year. Those involved involved easing signing and zoning regulations, and providing more flexibility for businesses on Whittier Boulevard.

It also will consider appropriating $242,192 in funds — $100,000 in new money and $142,192 in unused spending — for the Whittier Area First Day Coalition. All but $24,000 would be used for a refurbishment planned for their building.

The council also must decide whether the southeast corner of First Avenue and Leffingwell Road is appropriate for an “Art in Public Places” project. The Cultural Arts Commission says no.

There also will be a report on the Uptown parking study.

Three meetings in four days for Whittier City Council

You might say the Whittier City Council members will earning their pay this week. They will have three meetings over a four-day span.

It starts with an 8 a.m. budget study session that some say will go to 2 p.m. We should have a story on that in Sunday’s newspaper. The council will take off Sunday but come back at 6:30 p.m. and interview five applicants for positions on the Cultural Arts and Historic Resources commissions. At 6:30 p.m. Tuesday, the council will have its regular meeting. Key items on this agenda are the Wednesday night family festival and development fees.

Alex Morales submits campaign finance reports in Whittier City Council race; others also file

The final campaign finance reports in the April 13 Whittier City Council race were turned in Friday to the City Clerk’s Office by all four candidates, including challenger Alex Morales, a former board member for the Whittier Union High School District.

Morales had turned in an incomplete report last week, listing only a $9,495 loan from himself and overall expenses. Based on information from these filings, Morales has spent $20,507, including $9,041 owed to Ralph Pacheco, a Whittier Union High School District board member. The money paid for providing literature and mailings on behalf of Morales.
He also has raised a total of $24,278.

His statement also showed him receiving $2,000 each from Flewelling and Moody, a Pasadena architectural firm that did some work for the Whittier Union High School District, and Ron Reese of Long Beach, his campaign treasurer.

He also received $1,000 each from Diran Depanian and John Miller, and John Tegtmeyer of Depanian, Miller and Tegtmeyer, an architectural firm that has done work with Whittier Union High School District.

Morales also was given $250 from Mario Padilla of Whittier, $100 from Hyunah Suh of Gardena, $100 each from Jake Alarid, Raul Almeda, Daniel Duran, Gloria Lopez-Franco, Robin Mooring, Judy Prather and Jesus Ramirez, all from Whittier; and numerous smaller contributions.

Of note was a $99 contribution from Leighton Anderson, a Whittier Union High School District board member, $50 from Montebello Councilman Frank Gomez,

FRED HAWTHORNE

The final report from challenger Fred Hawthorne shows him raising an additional $4,099 for a total of $12,524 and spending an additional $1,155 for a total of $9,533. He received $3,000 from A Rodriguez of Button Willow, and $1,000 from Norman Carter, who owns two McDonald’s franchises in Whittier.

BOB HENDERSON
Councilman Bob Henderson’s final report shows him receiving an additional $2,000 from the California Real Estate Political Action Committee, spending no money during the last week and a half, showing total contributions of $13,610 and spending of $10,484.

GREG NORDBAK
Councilman Greg Nordbak’s final statement shows him receiving an additional $5,950 for a total of $19,873 and spending an additional $1,215 for a total of $10,900.
He received $4,000 from the California Real Estate Political Action Committee, $1,000 from Century 21 All Stars of Pico Rivera, $500 from Sage Restaurant, $300 from Forepolitics of Long Beach, and $150 from Catherine Nordbak of La Mirada, his aunt.

More Whittier campaign finance contribution details

In Tuesday’s story on campaign finance reports, we didn’t have the space to list all of the contributions, in particular the smaller ones. But there were a couple of names that stood out, not from a conflict of interest perspective, but they were just let’s say noteworthy.

For example, La Habra Heights Mayor Howard Vipperman gave Councilman Bob Henderson $250. Does that mean that Henderson will return the favor next year when Vipperman is expected to seek re-election> The answer is probably yes.

And then there was the $200 contribution from Bill Dauber of Brea, who lists himself as an instructor with Los Angeles Community College. He also is a former Whittier Daily News reporter.

David Warner, a Whittier periodontist and husband of Councilwoman Cathy Warner gave $250 each to Councilmen Bob Henderson and Greg Nordbak. Councilman Owen Newcomer gave $250 to Henderson.

Here’s a list of the other contributors. None are listed from challenger Alex Morales because as of late Tuesday afternoon he had failed to turn in his statements listing individual contributions. Those with no information next to their name are Whittier residents.

Fred Hawthorne

Rocky Holman of Cincinnati, Ohio, $500

Doug Kellog, $250

Martin Salazar, $200

Trashman Inc., $200

Gwen and Mahlon Woirhaye, $200

Andrea Wong, $200

Bonnie Wong, $200

Curtis Bonner of Rohnert Park, $100

Robert Canales, $100

Katherine Inouye of Rosemead, $100

Roy and Janis McKee, $100

Ed Ortiz, $100

Neha Veghasia of Los Angeles, $100

Bob Henderson
John Lee, Fuji Grill restaurant owner, $300
Virginia Ball, $200
Allan Nakken, president of the Friendly Hills Property Owner Association, $200
Henri Pellissier, $200
Theodore Saulino, $200
John H. Smith IV, $200
David James Fretz, $150
Robert Settlage, $150
Donald Bishop, $100
Gary Curtis, $100
Patricia Flack, $100
Stephen Flanders, $100
Marshall Greer, $100
Patrick Hart, $100
Jane Hendrixson of La Habra, $100
Robert Gene Henke, $100
Mary Jones, $100
Karen Koos, administrator at Rio Hondo College, $100
G. Lescsak, $100
Kenneth Metzger, $100
Lilyan Neal, $100
William Pate Jr, $100
Epifanio Peinado, administrator with The Whole Child, $100
Ronald Ridout, broker with the Cornerstone Realty, $100
Douglas Rowan, $100
Jerry Sarchet, $100
Theodore Saulino, $200
Larry Scher, $100
Kenneth Schoor, owner of El Monte RV in Santa Fe Springs
Harry Stone, $100
Herbert Sussman, $100
Michael Tacconi, $100
Mahlon Woirhaye, $100

Greg Nordbak
Ray Cornman, $250
Raymond Cornman, $250
Jim and Karen Shepard, $250
Tauer Marketing, $250
Morrie and Fran Adnoff, $200
Robert and Virginia Ball, $200
Greg Braaksma, $100
Corey Ford, $100
Maxine and Michael Gimbel, $100
Michael and Carolyn Horan of La Habra, $100
David Johnson, $100
Mike Longo, $100
Rick Lopez, $100
David and Linda McCarty, $100
Selma Minerd, $100
Greg and Pam Polito, $100
Frank Ramirez, $100
Doug Rowan, $100
Fred Taylor, $100

What’s in a name?

Join the city of Whittier at 11 a.m., Sat. June 27 as it names its miniature horse.

It’s part of the horse’s first birthday to be celebrated at the Parnell Park Storybook Zoo, 15390 Lambert Road.

The winning name will be revealed from dozens of entries in the “Name the Mini Horse Contest.”

The event is free.