From Steve Scauzillo's Opinion Desk

I follow the s-shaped turnoff down beneath Irwindale Avenue. I wound around until I saw this billboard. This is where the Irwindale Gold Line station will be.

It lies in the shadow of those big, metallic beer tanks of MillerCoors, a place us San Gabriel Valley oldtimers call Miller Brewing. I can see it now. All those beer workers getting off shift, hopping a train home.

It is an odd location. But who knows, perhaps it will actually serve other manufacturing and office jobs near Irwindale Ave and the 210 Freeway.

Posted by Steve Scauzillo at 9:54 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

File this under giving credit where credit is due:

Two of our local community colleges this week received full accreditation status.

Rio Hondo College in Whittier and Citrus College in Glendora.

Rio Hondo fought its way back after the accrediting institution for community colleges gave it a warning last year. The Western Association of Schools and Colleges' (WASC) Accrediting Commission for Community and Junior Colleges said the school was lacking in institutional and leadership areas.
This week, as reported by our reporter Tracy Garcia, the WASC returned full accreditation for the next six years. Congratulations to Rio Hondo College.

At Citrus, the college continues its excellent standing. On Wednesday, it learned its accreditation was re-affirmed for another six years. "The fact that our accreditation was reaffirmed validates Citrus College's effectiveness in meeting our institutional mission through the dedication of our highly qualified faculty and staff, and through the institution's outstanding academic programs and student support services," said Citrus President Geraldine Perry in a written statement. Kudos to them. In fact, Citrus has always done such a great job that they are hardly in the news.

As the UCs become more expensive, and the CSUs cut back on enrollment due to budget cuts from Sacramento, our community colleges become even more important to high school graduates looking to continue their education. In fact, a lawmaker in Sacramento thinks so much of community colleges he is floating a bill that would allow them to offer bachelor degrees.

What do you think of that?

Posted by Steve Scauzillo at 2:36 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Taken Friday morning at the intersection of Arrow Highway and Live Oak Avenue in Irwindale. A part in the weeks' long clouds.

I heard about the snow levels at 2,000 feet and as I saw a brief break in the clouds, I pulled over and shot this while looking up at the San Gabriel Mountains.

Blue skies? Remember them?

Posted by Steve Scauzillo at 4:28 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

THE following fish story is too bizarre to be anything but true:

There's a blue gill in a fresh water lake in North Carolina that can't reproduce if something called selenium is in the water.

Scientist then universally ordered that water discharged into "the waterways of the United States" can't contain selenium at concentrations above 5 parts per billion (that's with a "b," an amount so small it's tantamount to a grain of salt in a vat of water). Selenium, a naturally occurring metal, is not harmful to humans even up to 10 times that concentration.

There's this government agency called the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) that's in charge of enforcing the Clean Water Act, which goes back to the fish in North Carolina and the selenium levels.

What does this fish have to do with us folk who live in urban Los Angeles County? Here's where the fish tale begins to rot from the head.

That same EPA, based of course in Washington, enforces what is called the Comprehensive Environmental Response Compensation, and Liability Act (CERCLA), better known as the Superfund law. The idea is to clean up polluted waterways to standards set by the EPA.

Here in Los Angeles County, the naturally occurring metal is popping up in discharge water coming from a ground-water treatment plant - an EPA-approved Superfund site - in the Puente Valley. Not to belabor this, but the Valley has had polluted ground-water since the first stain
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of carcinogens were found in a well in Irwindale in 1979 - more than 30 years ago. OK. Back to our fish story. The ground water is pumped and cleaned to drinking water standards using carbon and ultra violet light, then sent along Puente Creek (near Whittier), down the San Gabriel River and after blending with millions of gallons of other water, to the Pacific Ocean. But the treatment process - set to reach full tilt in about six months - recently came to a screeching halt (everybody now, all together) BECAUSE OF THE SEX LIFE OF A FRESH WATER FISH IN NORTH CAROLINA.

Another way of looking at this is like a science fiction movie, "When Two Laws Collide!" Under CERCLA, the ground-water cleanup was coming along swimmingly. Northrop Grumman had agreed to pay for the cleanup! There were no more nasty court fights. No more fingers being pointed. In fact, the corporate giant wanted to get cleanup underway and done asap because time is money. But cleanup of the underground Superfund site was not OK via the Clean Water Act. And the agency responsible for enforcing both of these laws - the EPA - wasn't aware of the discrepancy.

"The left hand and the right hand weren't talking," said Grace Kast, Water Quality Authority executive director.

What's a conflicted government bureaucracy to do?

Well, before you summon visions of FEMA and Hurricane Katrina, we must give EPA a chance to redeem itself. The good folks at the WQA, which was formed by the state Legislature to expedite ground-water cleanup and return our aquifer to a pristine state, wants the EPA to grant Northrop a temporary waiver to allow cleanup to continue while new solutions are explored. One solution could involve piping the discharged water as reclaimed water for parks, cemeteries and freeway medians. But that would take more pipes, a capital outlay of another $16 million. To treat this water with advanced "reverse osmosis" would cost another $20 million.

Many are asking, why spend $20 million to help a fish's progeny, a fish that is not even in our waters? Some are asking for a biologist to study what would happen to our fish here in the San Gabriel River if discharges with 7 parts per billion of selenium are allowed.

There's a chance that this fish story could have a happy ending. Otherwise the cleanup of our aquifer - the Valley's water lifeline - could be caught on a stray hook that will take years to untangle.

Posted by Steve Scauzillo at 3:11 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

This "Santa dollar" was given out by the now defunct Home Federal bank, which according to Angela Carter of West Covina, was once located behind the K mart on Orange Avenue.

In journalism school, professors teach you not to become friends with sources. It's a mindset that's served me well these past 29 years.

Not so easy to do with letter writers.

They are a passionate breed. People who want so much to get their opinion "out there" that they're willing to go public and even face opposition. They know the art of cajoling you to print their letter.

I respect that, a lot. I used to tell my young journalism students that "friendly nagging" is a good habit to nurture for a reporter or a public relations person. I was used to that because I have an Italian mother.

Milford Walker of West Covina was all of the above. Passionate. Colored unmistakably by a definite point of view. And a bit of a nag, to be honest.

So when he would call, I didn't always look forward to it.

"Steve, I don't want to take up too much of your time," was the polite way he would start every conversation. It usually led to me hearing his well-informed opinion on such issues as unions, health care, government or the automobile industry. By the time we were done conversing, I had learned a lot and couldn't care less about the deadline that had just passed (though my bosses could!).

Milford passed away on Dec. 29. He was 82. And although it has been less than a month, I miss his pointed calls and compassionate stances.

"He was always up and ready for a debate," said his widow, Melba, who spoke to me by phone Thursday.

Former West Covina Mayor Nancy Manners sent me an e-mail about her remembrances of Milford. They met in 1984 during a precinct walk when she was running for City Council. He told her he wanted a ban on fireworks and Manners picked up the mantle. Eventually they were banned by a vote of the people. "When we prevailed I was his hero forever," she joked.

Milford worked for Ford Motor Co. in Pico Rivera. During his retirement, he would write letters to the editor urging us to buy American cars. "... what better way to start showing your fellow neighbor you care for him or her? What better way to fly the American flag?" he wrote in a published letter about a year ago.

He was an unabashed union booster who was greatly upset over the recent failures of the American automobile industry. He supported universal healthcare and was a big fan of filmmaker Michael Moore, especially his movie on the topic, "Sicko."

"He was a very dedicated Democrat and he didn't care who knew it," Manners told me. A liberal in the early 1980s in West Covina was much more of an anomaly than today, when Democratic voters outnumber Republicans. Yet Walker held to his convictions even though "he was willing to listen and learn from opposing views," Manners wrote.

Milford always had trouble working computers and had a friend e-mail his letters these last few years. I pray now he's sitting at a computer posting links with ease while advocating for the working man.

* * * * * *

Letter writer Angela Carter remembers the old Home Federal bank in West Covina behind the K-mart on Orange Avenue. When it went out of business, the tellers handed out "limited edition Christmas Dollars" (see photo above) and she mailed one to me in its original envelope. The legal tender was "adorned with Santa's smiling face" affixed over Washington's headshot.

Her handwritten note melted my heart: "I was thinking back to your column about your mail carrier dad and his pockets full of Christmas cards that he would let you open. I wanted to send you one of these so maybe as he looks down from heaven, he can watch you open this card."

Maybe those J-school profs were wrong.

Posted by Steve Scauzillo at 10:58 AM | Permalink | Comments (2)

"It is not time for partisanship, it is time for citizenship," said President Obama during a 12-minute speech on the security lapses resulting from the Christmas bombing attempt aboard a Northwest Airlines jet in Michigan.

Without naming names, he clearly was aiming his latter comments at former Vice President Dick Cheney, who has found a way to criticize and lead a partisan wave of attacks against the president during a time of war.

It's too bad that we can't get back to what we had in the months after 9/11, a country that was working together, not trying to destory each other from within. I agree with Obama, but of course wonder if his words will have any impact.

Posted by Steve Scauzillo at 1:48 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

THE '00s decade is history and like most journalists, I'm sitting at my desk trying to make some sense out of them. It's an occupational hazard; we think life's events should be wrapped up in a tidy headline. But the more I try, the more I realize life, or news, don't lend themselves to neat summaries, unless of course you count those Christmas letters you receive from long lost friends.

So for now, I don't have a title for this decade. Instead, I can only write about the 2000 years as filtered through political news and my own prism of experience. Here goes:

In November 2000, we tried something new. We brought local commentators into the newsroom to write about the presidential election as it was unfolding. When there was no winner it made for some creative hedging. One time campaign strategist Ted Snyder of Whittier wrote: "In a presidential election this close, a mandate is an illusion."

Another memory from Nov. 8, 2000 was jumping out of my car, putting a quarter in the news rack next to the Albertson's and picking up our newspaper with the headline: "A nation divided." It was a huh? moment. The next day's headline was equally on the money: "Countdown to history," as was the following day's banner hed which was simply, "To be continued ..."
It was some way to start a decade.

In September 2001 we went from indecision to incredulity. Waking up, I turned on the news and in the next minute, saw the second plane plow into the World Trade Center. New York City, my hometown, was under attack.

Here in the SGV, the bright sunshine falsely declared nothing was wrong. My wife and I sent our elementary school students to their first day of school that year. At night, I attended a Bible Study in Arcadia and my son, Andy, who was 9, handed me a pencil-and-crayon drawing he made in school that assured me things would be OK. Something of blue skies and an eagle. Earlier that day, a few of us in the newsroom gathered on the sidewalk for a group hug and more prayers. We wrote an editorial and slapped on the headline, "Why did it happen here?" and included a drawing of the Statue of Liberty crying.

2002 and 2004 summers were fun, for those were years my son, Andy, won Little League championships. In '02, I remember sitting in the stands in Long Beach at a state 9-and-10-year-old state tournament, reading about the Anaheim Angels and their lock on first place. The Angels won the World Series that year for the very first time and haven't won one since. In '04, the Temple City National Little League won district -- the first time our little city took that trophy since 1980. No Temple City majors team have won the trophy since then.

On Oct. 7, 2003, the state voters got real worked up and recalled Gov. Gray Davis and put Arnold Schwarzenegger in his place. But new people don't make as much difference as new systems. Here's hoping the system of governing California changes in 2010 with a new constitutional convention and the beginnings of redistricting reform.

Also in 2003, the state suffered some of the worst wildfires in history. A picture on our front page showed Arnold hugging a fire victim. He would do that a great many more times this decade.

In 2004, George W. Bush -- as our newspapers aptly put it -- finally got his mandate. I remember interviewing voters who made me proud to be an American.
"I was nervous but I feel I am doing the right thing," was how 42-year-old first-time voter Nancy Holmes of West Covina described her emotions. "Now I can speak my mind," she told me.

Elections come and go and they affect us differently. I remember the phone calls on my cell when the media declared Barack Obama the winner in 2008. I remember all the winners and losers from school boards and city council races -- too numerous to mention in this small space. They, too, made up a political decade that was filled with chills and spills.

Posted by Steve Scauzillo at 5:00 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

A view into the Nelles facility in Whittier, where several historic buildings beyond the parking lot are in excellent condition.

I didn't realize what treasures were buried in our first home in Monrovia until my wife and I tore the knotty pine paneling off the lath and plaster walls, ripped up the worn carpet exposing oak hardwood floors, and stripped three layers of mustard yellow paint from the living room fireplace's Batchelder tiles.
Blue flamingos. That was the design the legendary artisan chose to create on that hearth in that house in that year, 1924.
When we sold the house in 1998, those arts and crafts amenities were what attracted the buyer, what sealed the deal.
During a tour of some Whittier living history last week, that story popped into my head as an object lesson with a moral: Historical resources have value.
Unfortunately, sometimes communities don't realize this truth until the bulldozers have come and gone.
"The cities just need to open their eyes -- a lot of these treasures lay buried in their own communities," said Joe Garcia, a Monrovia city councilman and expert on historical preservation.
In Whittier, I was taken with the Fred C. Nelles Youth Correctional Facility which operated for more than 100 years but was closed in 2004. Now, the state is selling the property and the city hopes to develop it. A quick tour of two buildings that were in impeccable shape show numerous historic features -- stone fireplaces, stained glass bay windows and doors with wrought iron accoutrements and leaded glass windows. The facility is listed as a state historic landmark.
An old Whittier Register newspaper from 1897 shows pictures of the facility as "Whittier Industrial School" where the boys learned industrial arts at the "Carpenter Shop," the "Tailoring Dept.," and the "Printing Office." A picture at the "Blacksmith Shop" shows two boys pounding out horseshoes.
While much of the 75 acres will undoubtedly be developed with retail uses, I sure hope these buildings could be adaptively reused, perhaps as a senior housing village.
Also on the property are other buildings that could have historical significance, such as the chapel where the wayward boys went to services and an auditorium, as well as other residences.
Adaptive re-use is not easy to do. It takes out-of-the-box thinking and a developer/architect experienced with historic structures.
But many cities in our area have kept old commercial buildings or at least the facades and incorporated them into a redeveloped downtown. Old Pasadena and Myrtle Avenue in Monrovia are two excellent examples.
Monrovia's Garcia, whom I remember wearing a top hat and knickers at Monrovia Old House Preservation Group's home tour in the 1980s, helped write the city's preservation ordinance, which to his surprise, was adopted. Preservation of Monrovia's old homes and old commercial buildings have been an integral part of that city's renaissance during the last 15 years.
"It is part of the Monrovia culture. People see this as part of a quality of life -- along with having a nice library or preserving our hills," Garcia told me.
San Dimas also has done a fantastic job in the preservation and restoration of the nationally registered San Dimas Mansion, known now as The Walker House.
Garcia said cities that have worked on keeping and adaptively reusing old buildings and homes are doing better during tough economic times. It is just another resource they can point to when marketing their city.

Posted by Steve Scauzillo at 4:43 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

Very presidential. There's no doubt this president can give an eloquent speech. That's not in question, especially if you watched his speech on Afghanistan from West Point tonight.

The question is, will an extra 30,000 troops help us accomplish our goals in Afghanistan? And second, what are those goals? I would've liked to have heard more on the latter from the president.

Still, it showed wisdom when he spoke almost as much about Pakistan as Afghanistan. Our maneuvers in Afghanistan, rooting out the Taliban, turning weaker, less-committed Taliban to our side (or to the side of the Afghanistan government) and helping the Afghan troops and security forces stand up on their own, are all important. But so is working closer with Pakistan. I noticed Obama spoke about our relationship with Pakistan, which he said should be based on mutual respect and mutual trust. That has not been the case. It remains to be seen if we can trust Pakistan to work together with us and our increased troops, when Pakistan has implicitly harbored terrorists in their midst, or in the very least, done little about them.

These indeed are perilous times.

Posted by Steve Scauzillo at 5:37 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

Throngs converge on the Atlantic Gold Line Station in East Los Angeles Sunday afternoon. The MTA said 50,000 people rode the line which was free for the day.

The people of East L.A. came out in droves to celebrate the opening of the East LA Goldline Sunday, when the MTA christened its line by offering free rides all day.

It was a unique experience. The train stations -- and trains -- were more crowded than the freeways. I drove the Pomona (60) Freeway and it was wide open. Even the sidestreets were not crowded with cars (Pomona, Atlantic were relatively clear).

I took the above photo Sunday around 3 p.m. and the one below but I didn't ride. I waited in line for more than 30 minutes and estimated I still had another 15 minutes to wait just to hop a train going west toward downtown LA.

A woman from Pasadena, whom I met in line, told me that all the stations were crowded by the early afternoon. She was attempting to get back to the Soto Station where she left her car. She said the East L.A. Civic Center Station and the Mariachi Plaza station were both filled with people Sunday.

The question remains: Is this a typical show of ridership for the new, 6-mile long line? Or were people just out for a free ride? WIll people ride the new Eastside Gold Line once they have to pay the fare? And will the fares stay low enough to attract riders?

Posted by Steve Scauzillo at 9:23 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)

The signs of new life abound in fall in Southern California. These are slightly green lemons on my backyard lemon tree in Temple City.

THREE nights ago, my wife ran into the kitchen to tell me that the weather machine atop my dresser showed a cloud with a lightning bolt -- coming out of Wednesday! Then, when Wednesday arrived, the rain indicator was ... gone. Erased. No more angry cloud. No bolt of lightning. Just a partially obscured sun. It was like those obnoxious California Raisins had hacked into my high-tech weather gauge.

I drew open the vertical blinds in our bedroom and ta-da: Sunlight!

It's hard keeping track of the weather in the fall. I mean, for us mortals, I can't speak for Fritz or Dallas. Do I wear a sweater? Corduroy pants? Cotton or wool? Should I pack sunscreen or lip balm? Sunglasses or an umbrella? Argh! This is as unpredictable as Mike Tyson's next move.
I've become convinced that this weather confusion is the result of an East Coast media bias. We live in a semi-arid region (near a desert) yet we live by an East Coast/Midwest weather script of falling leaves, cool winds and soaking storms.

Well, it ain't gonna happen.

Here, fall is more about clear skies and warm temperatures. It's about Santa Ana winds that blast in from the desert, whip wildfires into a Milton-esque vision of Hades, and chap our lips until they're raw. According to Joe Cassmassi, meteorologist and planning and rules manager with the AQMD, we won't see the rapid movement from summer to fall as in the East and Midwest. "It's a Mediterranean type climate," he said. "More like no coat to light coat."

Then why do department store ads bombard us with sweater-wearing mannequins and scenes from winter wonderlands? If I see another cold and flu commercial where the flu sufferer struggles to get in out of the cold, damp air I'm going to toss my box of Kleenex at the telly. Tell those advertising "mad men" that as a Californian, I suffered with a head cold three weeks ago during 90-degree weather! You start to think: I shouldn't be sick, this isn't "flu weather." Great, now the entire advertising industry is making me feel guilty because I have a cold!!

They do the same thing to holidays.

Wal-Mart is pummeling West Coast viewers with images of grandpa decorating the tree while grandma stirs a waiting cup of hot cocoa. This is not true for 38 million Californians. So get it off my TV. Do marketers think us on the West Coast have eaten so much turkey that we are too drugged to figure out we're not in Kansas?

Thanksgiving may have been about pilgrims and Native Americans breaking bread in the dim, cold Massachusetts climate, but here, it ain't dim and it ain't cold, not even on Nov. 26.
Hence, families and friends should do sunny and warm things on Thanksgiving. I've made it a tradition to play tennis every Thanksgiving morning -- outdoors. When I couldn't find a partner one year, I went for a bicycle ride. A colleague last year deep fried his turkey. Another co-worker always has a balcony party with a barbecued bird and potato salad. An oh yeah, instead of wool vests and corduroy pants, everyone wears shorts, Hawaiian shirts and flip-flops.

Fall?

I looked out our bedroom window yesterday morning and saw the neighbor's grapefruit tree weighed down with globs of succulent citrus -- big green melons turning yellow and thriving. The new bougainvillea in our front yard is finally in bloom. And the apple tree has new green shoots.
Fall? Dead leaves? Barren trees? Think again.

Now, if I could just have an accurate Southern California weather gauge. And a season with an apt name. I'm thinking, instead of fall, let's call it "dry" or "post summer." What would you call it?

-30-

Posted by Steve Scauzillo at 5:13 PM | Permalink | Comments (3)

Hahamongna Park is all about the natural space. Here, the oaks dominate the landscape.

On a day when the city of Irvine must decide how to develop The Great Park, I went to check out Hahamongna Park in Pasadena, 1,300 acres of urban interface wilderness. But when the city took it over, the questions began. Like, below:

What to do with several old buildings abandoned by the U.S. Forest Service. Should they be restored and re-used, say as meeting rooms or a nature center? Or should they be torn down and something else rebuilt?

Other issues:
Should a trail be widened to become a road to feed a parking lot at JPL? If so, should the non-native trees there be torn down, while the oaks, protected?

Below is a picture of my boss, Larry Wilson, public editor, walking along the trail north of the equestrian area and just south of JPL. The pepper trees (non-native) form a canopy around the walkers.

Like in Irvine, park development is taken quite seriously in Pasadena. That's a good thing. Here's to keeping the place rustic, but improving its use and functionality.

Posted by Steve Scauzillo at 4:25 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

When I pulled up to my voting place this morning, I thought I was at the wrong place. There were no cars. Then I saw a sign saying "VOTING IN REAR."

I pulled around to the back parking lot of the church, and there was nobody. Not a soul. Not a parent pushing a stroller. Not a car in the very large parking lot. I parked and walked into the all-purpose room to cheers: "Hey, we have a customer!" greeted the head volunteer.

Now, my town (Temple City) only had one race : two seats for Temple City Unified School District. But come on folks, let's get out the vote. GOTV! Polls close at 8 p.m. Go to our web sites for more information on where to vote (www.lavote.net). If you want to see our editorial board's recommendations, go to our web sites (www.sgvtribune, www.pasadenastarnews.com, or www.whittierdailynews.com) and go to Election Coverage. Click on that and you'll see a series of hot links called OUR VIEW: ... find the endorsement you are looking for. Or, go out and BUY one of our newspapers. On page A17 we have a list of our endorsements.

But no matter how you vote, don't forget to vote. It is what our soldiers are fighting for in Iraq and Afghanistan. It is part of our republic -- voting for leaders. It is a precious gift. Exercise it.

There, I'll get off my soap box now.... Happy Election Day!!!!!

Posted by Steve Scauzillo at 10:09 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)

THERE is no harder job in local elected office than that of school board member.

Let me say that again: Being a school board member is the toughest job in local elected office. You have to balance budgets not once but twice in a school year. You have no control over your revenues because they are provided by the state (thanks to Prop.

13). When school buildings crumble, you have to ask voters to support bond measures and pay for them for 30 years. You have to know about schools, kids, education, building, construction, bonds, personnel, the list goes on and on. And the public?

It's not easy calming a parent whose child has been wronged.

I sincerely hope you vote on Nov. 3 for the best candidates and if you need help, follow the suggestions in the "Our View" section.

During these past five weeks, our editorial board has been interviewing candidates running for school boards throughout the San Gabriel Valley and Southeast Los Angeles County. It's been a lot like going to class; I've learned a lot. Here are some of the tidbits I've taken away from these meetings:

● A large number of students are English Learners, or ELs. In their homes, English is not spoken so they must learn English as a second lan­guage in order to do well in reading and writing but also in social studies, history and all classes. It was disturb­ing to hear some candidates say some students enter Kindergarten as ELs and remain as ELs when they are seniors in high school! Too many never progress out of the EL category. Part of that is due to funding. Seems like districts get more money if they have more ELs.

● Forty-five different languages are spoken in the households of the El Monte Union High School District

● The California State University system will be cutting enrollment by 40,000 students this year. Guess what? Those transfer students from local community colleges (PCC, Mt.

SAC, Rio Hondo College, Citrus Col­lege, East Los Angeles College) may no longer be guaranteed a spot at a CSU as a junior. Though the CSUs are not saying that officially, there is talk of going back on that promise. Scary.

● School districts are not just for kids anymore. One of the newest trends is the increasing number of adults taking classes in our unified or high school districts. Adult schools are filled with people learning English or a trade. For example, the El Monte Union High School District has 25,000 adults and 11,000 high school kids.

School districts should be supported in this endeavor, especially during high unemployment.

● Where have all the children gone? Almost every school district candidate that has come into my office is from a district that's losing children. Some are seeing several hundred fewer students per year. It's called declining enrollment and it's mostly due to foreclosures, unemployment and before that, the high price of real estate. Younger familes are moving to the high desert and the Inland Empire. The result is an aging popula­tion in the SGV. Two exceptions I've found are West Covina Unified and Temple City Unified, which are experiencing increasing enrollment.

● Ever wonder why superinendents or college presidents who leave usu­ally get a year or two in pay, costing the district taxpayers hundreds of thousands of dollars? State law says districts must guarantee a superinten­dent 18 months -- some get 3 years -- on their contract. Perhaps that law should change.

steve.scauzillo@sgvn.com

Posted by Steve Scauzillo at 11:54 AM | Permalink | Comments (4)