Looks like Baldwin Park is thinking about a Fresh and Easy.

As I mentioned before, I am a huge supporter of Fresh and Easy. For those of us who live in communities 10 miles away from the nearest Trader Joe’s or Whole Foods, it’s a great alternative. Plus, they give out free samples, as West Covina customer assistant Donna Macias shows us.

I found this little nugget – Rosemead Councilman John Tran, right, partying with rapper Taboo of the Black Eyed Peas – online. Oh, the joys of the Internet.

I went to the city of San Gabriel early this morning to review some documents and got way more than I asked for in my public records request: a baby sitter.

For the nearly two hours I spent sifting through City Council expense reports inside some back room in City Hall, an assistant from the City Clerks office was there with me.
Apparently, its city policy that the documents be reviewed under supervision, my baby sitter said. This while rare has been seen in other cities as well, such as Baldwin Park.

I just dont understand why? Do they think Im going to try and stuff a couple of expense sheets in my purse when theyre not looking? None of the documents had any sensitive information i.e. credit card numbers or bank statements.

Oh well, I guess I should be happy I at least had someone to keep me company.

Got any guesses as to which poor soul is going to be working for Monterey Park’s split city council?

La Puente council members are at each other’s throats because of the mayoral rotation, Tania Chatila reports.

“In my 11 1/2 years on the council, I’ve only been mayor once,” Councilwoman Lola Storing said. “I’ve been stepped over twice.”

I’m still having a hard time understanding why the council members even care about this, other than for their own narcissim. Not that there’s anything wrong with that. I’ve been pushing to get my picture in the paper for weeks but my editors just won’t budge.

Notice the vote of confidence for fired Montebello City Attorney Arnoldo Beltran:

Montebello ordinance needs further review
Article Launched: 01/24/2008 11:55:18 AM PST

MONTEBELLO – City Administrator, Richard Torres, asked the City Council to postpone discussing an ordinance that would give him more leeway in negotiating contracts.

The ordinance would have increased the cap the top executive can reach when completing contracts for supplies, equipment and routine services on the city’s behalf.

Torres said, at Wednesday’s meeting, he would like to review the details with City Attorney, Arnold Alvarez-Glasman and that the ordinance was “not a matter of urgency.”

The ordinance was drafted by former City Attorney Arnoldo Beltran.

The city administrator now can make purchases and negotiate contracts up to $5,000 without getting approval from the council. This ordinance would have increased the amount to $20,000.

I wonder how many people will rush out of work and drive through traffic in the rain to attend this tonight:

SPECIAL MEETING
OF THE
WEST COVINA CITY COUNCIL

Date: Thursday, January 24, 2008
Time: 5:45 p.m.
Place: City Manager’s Conf. Room

AGENDA

Agenda material is available for review at the City Clerk’s Office, Room 317 in City Hall, 1444 W. Garvey Avenue, West Covina and at www.westcovina.org The City complies with the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). If you will need special assistance at Council meetings, please call (626) 939-8433 (voice) or (626) 960-4422 (TTY) from 8 to 5 Monday through Friday. Do call at least one day prior to the meeting date to inform us of your particular needs and to determine if accommodation is possible. For sign language interpreter services at Council meetings, please request no less than four working days prior to the meeting.

ROLL CALL

Mayor Lane, Mayor Pro Tem Hernandez
Councilmembers Herfert, Sanderson, Touhey

I PUBLIC COMMENT ON ITEMS ON THE AGENDA

II CLOSED SESSION

CONFERENCE WITH LABOR NEGOTIATORS
Pursuant to Government Code 54957.6
City Negotiators: Fields, Bachman
Employee Organizations

W.C. Firefighters’ Association, I.A.F.F., Local 3226
W.C. Firefighters’ Management Assoc.
W.C. Police Officers’ Association
W.C. Police Management Association

ADJOURNMENT

I got this gift from a constituent in Rosemead a few months ago. She said she saw it a garage sale and thought of me. I told her I couldn’t accept it if it was more than $5 — a policy I’m not really sure of but figured it made sense. “Don’t worry,” she said. “It’s not.” To be on the safe side, I asked my bosses if I should keep it. Sure, they said.

But the real question is this: What the hell is it???

Got this letter today regarding the Irwindale Chamber of Commerce and its decision to postpone – and possibly prevent – giving Sal Hernandez the Citizen of the Year award:

By the time this fray is over, Mr. Hernandez will wish he was never
born. His effort in exposing crooked politicians, will be met with
unbelievable force. I commend him for his efforts, but not his
stupidity. I respectfully request that my name not be used. I do not
wish to become part of the arcade shooting gallery alongside Mr. Hernandez.

Despite all the tension at the county Board of Supervisors’ meeting Tuesday about placing limits on plastic bags, there were funny moments.
When Jennifer Forkish, representing the California Grocers Association, challenged that the county’s proposal to cut bag use by 35 percent by 2010 and 70 percent by 2013 relied on unattainable figures, Supervisor Zev Yaroslavsky turned to Public Works Director Donald Wolfe.
This wasn’t a number that was pulled out of your, ahhh, rear pocket, was it? Yaroslavsky said, drawing guffaws from the tense environmentalists and industry representatives filling the board chambers.
Wolfe went along with the joke.
It could be so described, he said, before getting serious. But it is a compromise figure.
When the discussion later turned to when an ordinance should be written, it was Supervisor Gloria Molina’s turn to crack a joke. The supervisors want to write an ordinance to create an all-out plastic-bag ban, but it would only go into place if retailers failed to meet the bag reduction targets.
Forkish, still representing the California Grocers Association, criticized the county’s original plan to have the ordinance written by April 2009, since the retailers’ progress wouldn’t be evaluated until July 2010. Writing the ordinance more than a year ahead of time would discourage retailers from even trying to meet the targets because the ban would seem inevitable, Forkish said. Besides, writing it in April 2010, a few months ahead of time, would give the county plenty of time to prepare the ban, she added.
This is not the first jurisdiction to consider a plastic-bag ban, Forkish said. The idea that the language doesn’t exist or that it would take so long to create, a year to create, is outlandish.
You haven’t been around the county much, Molina observed dryly.
Even Forkish laughed at that.
You can also read the full story about the new limits on plastic shopping bags, and read about the pre-meeting rally with the plastic bag monster.