Just when you thought it was over….

29982-calif.jpg….state lawmakers are at it again.

First they said they were close to a striking a deal that would close the state budget last week. Then they were expected to finalize plans tonight. Now, they are meeting tomorrow to have it again. Let’s hope they mean it this time:

Lawmakers’ optimism about finally reaching a deal to close the state’s $26.3 billion budget deficit on Sunday turned out to be wishful thinking as Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger abruptly postponed talks.

Legislative leaders said they had been on the verge of bridging remaining pitfalls
that include how much money to borrow from local governments, whether to guarantee
that schools will be repaid money they lose during poor economic times and how much
money to save for future budget emergencies.

Instead, they spent Sunday blaming each other for a scheduling meltdown that pushed
the state’s massive budget problems off for at least another day. Schwarzenegger
rescheduled Sunday’s bargaining session with the Legislature’s four top leaders for
Monday.

—-The Associated Press

 

Olson Co. comes to town

A few graphs from a story running in tomorrow’s paper:

BALDWIN PARK — Eight months after a massive revitalization project fell through the cracks, city officials are hoping a new developer can salvage their dreams for a downtown urban village.

The city is in preliminary negotiations with Seal Beach-based The Olson Co. for a 13- to 14-acre project around the site of the old Albertsons grocery store on Ramona Boulevard, Baldwin Park’s Chief Executive Officer Vijay Singhal said.

If built, the project would be drastically smaller than a proposal from developer Bob Bisno. His plan, put forth last year, involved a 109-acre, multimillion-dollar revamp of the city’s downtown.

If built, officials said they would want the Baldwin Park project to complement a separate $7 million proposal to build a new parking structure at the city’s Metrolink station.
That project is being funded through a grant.

The project already seems to be going in the direction of the former Bisno proposal — city officials are eager to get things off the ground, and a group of opponents are eager to put the flames out.

Arguments are still the same: City – “We want development.”  // Opponents – “This isn’t New York.”

Of course this project, should it be built, would be significantly smaller than the Bisno proposal, but would still include that urban village feel.

City officials are in the middle of drawing up an exclusive negotiating contract. It’s expected to come before the council in the next few weeks.

Leftovers column

Here ya go….

The race for the 57th District Assembly seat is heating up.

Baldwin Park Councilwoman Monica Garcia is the latest candidate to throw her name in for the June 2010 primaries.

She joins a growing list of local politicians vying for the seat, which comes open when state imposed term limits catch up to incumbent Democrat Ed Hernandez.

Besides Garcia, La Puente Mayor Louie Lujan, West Covina Mayor Roger Hernandez and West Covina Councilman Steve Herfert have all filed statements of an intent to run for the seat, according to documents filed with the California Secretary of State.

Garcia, 34, said people have been encouraging her since last year to run for the 57th District. She made her decision last month.

“I know that right now is a critical time for our state and even more so for our district, for the 57th,” Garcia said. “I want to go up to Sacramento and make sure our district is getting its fair share.”

Garcia said she has always been an advocate for “working-class communities,” and has spent about a decade working in public service.

“I want to make sure the working families I’ve served over my career — over 10 years, children, seniors — I want to make sure they are protected and we take a sustainable approach to balance the budget,” she said.

Garcia was elected to the Baldwin Park City Council in 2007, and served on the city’s Planning Commission prior to that.

She has also worked for state Sen. Gloria Romero, D-Los Angeles, has spent time working with inner-city youth while attending USC as undergraduate student, and has worked in Washington, D.C., with a group advocating for women, children and families, Garcia said.

“I really have committed myself since college to serving populations that are disadvantaged,” she said.

***************
Montebello City Councilwoman Kathy Salazar is a woman who is willing to fight for what she believes in.

Salazar passed up the chance to settle a lawsuit with the city for $25,000 because she wanted her name — and only her name — on a city plaque.

Salazar first filed the lawsuit against the department, the city and former Police Chief Garry Couso-Vasquez in 2007, claiming she was wrongfully booted from the Citizen’s Patrol Unit.

Reporter Amanda Baumfeld got a hold of court documents last week and reported that Salazar’s demanded $25,000; reinstatement into the unit; and recognition as its sole founder.

But the city wanted to list her on a plaque as the group’s co-founder — and Salazar wasn’t having it.

“The city kept saying, ‘no, no, no,’ and the price kept going up, up, up,” Salazar told Baumfeld. “We went to mediation three times because I just wanted to finish this.”

Under the latest settlement agreement, Salazar would be awarded $130,000 — $80,000 of which would go to her attorney — she would be reinstated into the Citizen’s Patrol Group and recognized as the sole founder.

Her only problem now is Couso-Vasquez, who has said he would rather go to trial then agree to the settlement.

Beilke calls DA complaints “preposterous”

10598-RonBeilke.jpgPico Rivera

City Councilman Ron Beilke is finally speaking out about complaints filed against him with the District Attorney’s alleging election code violations and conflict of interest.

The former mayor called the complaints that led to search warrants being served at his home and restaurant two weeks ago “preposterous,” according to Whittier Daily-News reporter Bethania Palma

“The allegation is that he collected absentee ballots,” said Dave Demerjian, head of the District Attorney’s Public Integrity Unit, of the 2009 election code complaint. It is illegal to collect absentee ballots because the collector could influence votes.

Beilke said, “There’s no possible way I handled ballots,” Beilke said. “If you have a quantity of ballots what do you do with them? Aren’t there checks and balances for turning them in where someone says, ‘you can’t do that?’ That would entail a conspiracy and I would not be the only one being investigated.”

Palma wrote a lengthy piece on the investigation in today’s paper, in which she also looks at Beilke’s controversial time on the Council. He is up for re-election in November, and is planning to run. Do you think the DA investigation will jeopardize his chances of being re-elected to the council?

La Puente employees to take furloughs

All La Puente city employees are being forced to take two furlough days a month over the next year in an effort to offset growing revenue losses.

The furloughs — which will amount to a 10 percent annual wage cut — were approved last week and are effective immediately for the city’s roughly 30 part-time and full-time employees.

They will also lose their 3 percent cost of living increase for this fiscal year, which began July 1 and ends June 30.

City officials said while they understand the economic impacts of such a wage reduction to its employees, they also are doing what they can to weather an economic downturn that’s ravaged city revenues.

Officials initially planned to implement 15 percent pay cuts across the board for its employees. But after negotiations with the union, they came back with the furlough option.

The union countered with its own concessions — they agreed to accept the twice-a-month furloughs, but asked the city only forego employees’ cost of living increases for six months.

Jason Elias, a lead work site organizer for Local 721, said the city would have only needed to save $28,000 to give employees a 3 percent raise for the last six months of the fiscal year.

“If by November, we couldn’t find that $28,000 then would have agreed to forego our raise for the rest of the year,” Elias said. “But they wouldn’t budge on their negotiations. They weren’t willing to work with the employees.”

Mayor Louie Lujan said he would have liked to go with the union’s option, but he lacked enough council support.

“What they were asking for was not unreasonable,” Lujan said.

In order to implement the current furloughs, City Hall will be closed every Friday versus on alternating Fridays.

Employees at the city’s maintenance yard, the senior center, the community center and the youth activities learning center will alternate their furloughs on Mondays and Fridays so that those facilities can stay open five days a week.

Councilwoman Lola Storing said while the union may not be happy with the city’s final decision, the employees are.

Elias said the employees are willing to make sacrifices, but “nobody is happy.” He also pointed to interim City Manager Frank Tripepi’s unwillingness to negotiate with the union.

BP’s Monica Garcia running for Assembly

11035-monicagarcia2web.jpgThe race for the 57th District Assembly seat is heating up.

Baldwin Park Councilwoman Monica Garcia is the latest candidate to throw her name in for the June 2010 primaries.

She joins a growing list of local politicians vying for the seat. La Puente Mayor Louie Lujan, West Covina Mayor Roger Hernandez and West Covina Councilman Steve Herfert have all filed statements of an intent to run for the seat, according to documents filed with the California Secretary of State.

Assemblyman Ed Hernandez — who lives in West Covina and has an optometry office in La Puente — currently holds the post.

Garcia, 34, said people have been encouraging her since last year to run for the 57th district. She finally made her decision last month.

“I know that right now is a critical time for our state and even more so for our district, for the 57th,” Garcia said. “I want to go up to Sacramento and make sure our district is getting its fair share.”

Garcia said she has always been an advocated for “working-class communities,” and has spent about a decade working in public service.

“I want to make sure the working families I’ve served over my career — over 10 years, children, seniors — I want to make sure they are protected and we take a sustainable approach to balance the budget,” she said.

Garcia was elected to the Baldwin Park City Council in 2007, and served on the city’s Planning Commission prior to that.

She has also worked for state Sen. Gloria Romero, D-East Los Angeles, has spent time working with inner-city youth while attending USC as undergraduate student, and has worked in Washington D.C. with a group advocating for women, children and families, Garcia said.

“I really have committed myself since college to serving populations that are disadvantaged,” she said.

It’s official: Judy Chu is sworn in as Congresswoman

From Judy Chu’s office:

Judy Chu Sworn in As First Chinese American Congresswoman

Speaker Pelosi Presides Over Event During Regular Session of Congress

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Judy Chu was sworn in today as our nation’s first Chinese American Congresswoman during a regular session of Congress in the U.S. Capitol.

Speaker Nancy Pelosi presided over the ceremony, as Congresswoman Chu’s family, close friends and staff looked on from the Gallery. Following the swearing in, Congresswoman Chu mingled with her new colleagues on the House Floor and then proceeded to a private ceremony with Speaker Pelosi attended by Dr. Chu’s closest family and friends.

“On behalf of all Members of Congress, I am so pleased to welcome Judy Chu to the House of Representatives. As the first Chinese-American woman elected to Congress, her victory is a source of pride to many,” said Speaker Pelosi in a statement following the swearing-in ceremony.

“Over her 24 years in public service, Congresswoman Chu has been committed to the essential issues facing our nation: the strength of our economy, the education of our children, and the health of all Americans,” Speaker Pelosi added. “I look forward to working with Congresswoman Chu to address these challenges and make progress for the entire nation.”

Congresswoman Chu got right to work immediately after the swearing in, voting on several environmental bills and receiving her first committee assignment, the Education and Labor Committee, which is in the process of debating important health care legislation.

Congresswoman Chu was elected to succeed Labor Secretary Hilda Solis on Tuesday by a 61% to 33% margin following a hard-fought primary during which she beat out a crowded field of 12 candidates. She campaigned on a platform of creating jobs and protecting homeowners in her working class 32nd District east of Los Angeles, and put together a multi-ethnic coalition to win the seat in the primarily Latino district.

“I am humbled and honored that the people of the 32nd District and San Gabriel Valley once again

demonstrated their trust in me as their elected representative,” said Congresswoman Chu, who has been elected nine times over the past 23 years as a school board member, mayor, state Assembly member and Board of Equalization member. “I look forward to working hard for my constituents in Washington, using my fiscal expertise to help our nation emerge from our current financial crisis, improving our healthcare system and bringing much needed transportation and education dollars to the San Gabriel Valley.”

Judy Chu most recently served as vice chair of the state Board of Equalization, which collects more than $53 billion in revenue for the state of California. Prior to that she served three terms in the state Assembly, where she headed the powerful Appropriations Committee, with life and death power over every bill with fiscal impact in the state. As an Assemblywoman she authored an innovative tax amnesty bill, the most successful of its kind in the nation, which had been estimated to bring in $300 million but actually generated $4.3 billion for the state without raising taxes.

She was born and raised in Los Angeles and lives in Monterey Park, where she served on the City Council for 13 years, as mayor for three terms and helped the city earn a Diversity Award from the League of California Cities. She is married to Assemblyman Mike Eng, D-El Monte