POMONA - Richard Martinez, who has served as Pomona Unified School District's interim superintendent since August, was appointed as the new head of the district Tuesday night.
The appointment brought cheers and applause from many of the more than 150 people in the audience, most of them district employees.
Martinez appointment was passed on a 4-0 vote with Board President Andrew Wong abstaining.
Martinez thanked everyone and said he took the response that came from the room after the announcement as a message.
"I think you support what I'm doing and want to continue doing good work," he said.
While Martinez's appointment was welcomed the board action was critisized by some including Tyra Weis, president of the Associated Pomona Teachers.
She congratulated Martinez and said her disappointment "in no way reflects on Mr. Martinez" before telling the board they should have waited and allowed the district's new board, which will be seated Dec. 9, to select the new superintendent.
"You had everything to win by waiting and absolutely nothing to lose," she said.
Lincoln Elementary School parent, Guadalupe Gallegos, said that in the future district officials should "take into account the new board" in making such a decision.
Gallegos went on to say Thelma Melendez de Santa Ana, Martinez's predecessor, "is in the place she is at now for the work she did in Pomona," referring to Melendez de Santa Ana now being a member of President Obama's admininstration
"The group that surrounded her was a good group and among them was Mr. Martinez," Gallegos said in Spanish.
Saturday the Cal Poly Pomona Downtown Center will be filled with activities tied to the Pomona Big Read and the book, "The Call of the Wild."
The activities, all part of the center's Family Fun Days, begin at 1 p.m. and end at 4 at the center, 300 W. Second St.
Activities include a slideshow presentation and talk on wolves presented by Bill Wengeler, a wolf advocate and a ranger at Yellowstone National Park.
Respected storyteller Jim Cogan will re-enact Jack London's adventure stories and author and storyteller Sandra Posey will tell some animal stories as well as read from her book, "Rabbits with Stars in their Eyes."
An animal mask-making session will also be offered to young and old.
The 2009 Pomona Big Read book is Jack London's "Call of the Wild" and across the city activities are taking place revolving around the book's theme.
For information on Saturday's Downtown Center activities call (909) 869-3524.
The Pomona Police Department is inviting residents and business operators of the city's southeast quadrant to attended the Southeast Area Commander Meeting Tuesday from 7 to 8:30 p.m.
The meeting will take place at City Hall, 505 S. Garey Ave.
Police Lt. Joann Guzek will host the meeting where issues of interest to those living and working in southeastern part of the city will be discussed.
People with questions or concerns involving the southeast area of the city can contact Guzek by e-mail at AreaCommander_Southeast@ci.pomona.ca.us or by calling (909) 802-7496.
The city's southeast quadrant is made up of the area east of Garey Avenue and south of Mission Boulevard.
For additional information call (909) 620-2318.
A celebration honoring veterans who have returned from serving in Iraq, Kuwait and Afghanistan will take place Wednesday, Veterans Day, from 1 to 6 p.m. at the First Christian Center, 1006 S. Garey Ave.
Veterans interested in participating are asked to RSVP at (909) 620-7691 or they can do so at 999 W. Holt Ave., Suite D, in Pomona.
People interested in helping disadvantaged children have a brighter Christmas can do so by contributed new, unwrapped toys to the Toys For Tots program.
Pomona residents Sandra and Rosendo Reyes are working with the non-profit Marine Toys for Tots Foundation to help in the collection of toys.
Drop off points have been set up around the region to collect toys until Dec. 14.
Toys can be dropped off seven days a week between 9 a.m. and 4 p.m. at 189 Monroe Ave., Pomona.
For information or to arrange other drop off times call (909) 568-1434.
All toys will be turned over to the Marine Corps Reserve working out of the Los Alamitos Joint Forces Training Center in Los Alamitos.
WALNUT - Students in the Mt. San Antonio College journalism program earned 52 awards in the recent Journalism Association of Community Colleges Southern California Convention.
This is the most awards Mt. SAC students have won in the competion organized by the Association, according to a statement from the college.
Students will now go on to compete in the 2010 Journalism Association of Community Colleges State Convention scheduled for April in downtown Los Angeles. Students from across the state will compete at that event.
A total of 29 awards that students earned in the Southern California Convention were for first-, second-, third- and fourth-place, the statement said.
The Mountaineer and Subtance Magazine, both student publications, earned General Excellence awards, the top prize awarded at the convention, the statement said.
Pomona Unified board to hold meeting on superintendent selection weeks before new members are seated
POMONA - Board members of the Pomona Unified School District have scheduled a special meeting on Nov. 17 for the possible selection of a new superintendent.
The meeting would take place three weeks before two new board members, elected on Tuesday, will be seated.
The district's lawyer, Kasey Haws, made the announcement at Wednesday night's board meeting. Plans call for the meeting to begin at 7:30 p.m. Nov. 17 at the district's Education Center, 800 S. Garey Ave.
The announcement surprised incoming board member Roberta Perlman who on Tuesday was elected to a four-year term.
Perlman said Wednesday she was under the impression the board would leave the matter of selecting a new superintendent to the incoming board "when they did what I considered the wise thing - to wait."
Board members began the search for a new superintendent in August after Superintendent Thelma Melendez de Santa Ana left to take a post with President Obama's administration.
The initial timeline called for selecting a replacement by October but some community members said the matter should be put off until after Tuesday's election.
Perlman said it doesn't make sense to act at this time.
The new board, which includes returning members Andrew Wong and Adrienne Konigar-Macklin and newcomers Perlman and Jason Rothman, will be seated Dec. 9.
Outgoing board member John Avila said the board waited until after the election to keep the matter "out of the politics" but it's now time to act.
The board will review all the work up to this point and go beyond that, Avila said.
"I hope it would come down to a selection" at the special meeting, he said.
Like Avila, outgoing board member Steve Lustro said the current board should continue with the selection process.
"The sitting board members went through the interview process. We had the chance to meet with the candidates and talk with them," Lustro said. "We see this as finishing the processes."
Some may say the decision should be left to the next board, but "there doesn't seem to be any logical reason to wait until the two new board members are seated," he said.
Waiting longer would only draw out the process, Lustro said.
Lustro and Avila expect opposition.
"We're going to take heat one way or another," Lustro said.
Members of the current board are entitled to talk about the selection process but they shouldn't go as far as choosing someone for the job, said Tyra Weis, president of the Associated Pomona Teachers.
"If they are meeting to review their work and make a recommendation to the incoming board, that's a good idea," Weis said. "We appreciate the time they devoted to the search for a new superintendent."
However, the board should not go beyond making a recommendation, she said.
Voters elected two new board members and have changed the makeup of the board, Weis said.
Board members should hold off, let the new members be seated and in that way "let the people's voice be heard," she said.
POMONA - City Councilwoman Cristina Carrizosa on Monday night brought forward the idea to have a city-sponsored Fourth of July function.
"It seems to me in Pomona we don't do anything for Fourth of July," she said. "Why don't we do anything? Not even a simple gathering outside City Hall."
Carrizosa also inquired whether there were any plans to decorate City Hall for Christmas.
Mayor Elliott Rothman asked for city staff to place both matters on a future agenda along possible associated costs.
Carrizosa said activities don't need to be eleborate.
"We don't have to go overboard. We can start small," she said.
POMONA - Pomona City Council members decided to wait until December to hold a public hearing involving a company that wishes to establish a non-emergency medical transportation service.
Premier Medical Transportation is seeking a certificate of public convenience and necessity from the city in order to provide non-emergency medical transportation in the city using both emergency and non-emergency vehicles, according to a city staff report.
City Manager Linda Lowry suggested rescheduling the matter to give the council time to review information it was provided Monday.
Councilwoman Paula Lantz said she would prefer scheduling the hearing to a date after the company has gone before Los Angeles County Medical Services Agency.
City regulations require businesses such as Premier to have licenses to operate from the Department of Motor Vehicles, the L.A. County Medical Services Agency and the California Highway Patrol, a staff report said.
Premier has licenses from DMV and CHP but must still go before the county, the report said.
Premier's application for a license is under review and expected to go before the board members of the county agency Dec. 10, the report said.
Council members agreed to take up the matter at the Dec. 21 meeting.
POMONA - City leaders on Monday awarded a contract of more than $93,000 to a Mission Viejo-based firm to build and install a sign system for the Phillips Ranch area of Pomona.
Council members, acting in their capacity as members of the governing board of the city's redevelopment agency, approved awarding the $93,295 contract to the firm, A Good Sign Inc.
The company will be for responsible for constructing and installing a series of similarly designed signs meant to facilitate navigating the streets of Phillips Ranch. The signs are also meant to help residents and visitors find locations such as shopping areas, schools, parks and freeways, a city staff report said.
The city's redevelopment agency contracted with the firm of Michael McLaughlin & Associates to draft plans and specifications that were used to bid the sign project out, the report said.
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