August 2009 Archives

You could wait in line for hours at an autograph signing.

You could stalk her outside of her recording studio.

Or, if you REALLY want to meet recording sensation Shakira you could just become the country's labor secretary.

I bet Hilda Solis never thought she'd be chatting it up with a pop icon when she was still a student at La Puente High School.

Looks like Irwindale is losing two city executives to retirement.

Along with City Manager Robert Griego, Police Chief Sol Benudiz is also retiring.

Benudiz's last day is Dec. 31, after which he will continue on as an interim chief until the city can find his permanent replacement.

It will be three years in September since Benudiz took the role of heading up the department.

He said his decision to leave has nothing to do with officials' recent interest in the Sheriff's Department for law enforcement services.

"This entire experience has been very, very good," Benudiz said. "I'm very happy that I came here."

Benudiz said he does not have another job lined up, but is looking forward to opportunities in government or in the private sector in the future.

"I have relatively young children and I'm relatively young and I don't own an RV," he said. "The traditional retirement model of jumping in an RV and traveling doesn't really apply."

Ever drive through a neighborhood and notice homes that are painted lime green, bright purple or even pastel pink?

In West Covina, Planning Commissioner Robert Sotelo is trying to stop residents from painting their houses with such bright colors.

Ben Baeder is working on a story about Sotelo's mission -- "I would not really like to have a pink house or a lime-green house next to me," Sotelo said.

Apparently, enforcing such a rule isn't easy. But that doesn't mean it hasn't happened.

In Lauderhill, Fla., the city in 2003 forced the owner of a purple house to repaint the home with colors that complied with the city's guidelines.

We'll see what West Covina decides. Look for Baeder's story in this week's paper.

(FYI, the photo above isn't from West Covina ... just a purple house somewhere in the U.S. ... but you get the picture)

This week's installment:

The November municipal elections are coming up, which means a lot of ongoing coverage about who is running, how much they've raised and what's in their campaign platforms.

In El Monte, a dozen candidates are hoping to fill five seats in the city: mayor, city treasurer, city clerk and two city council seats.

Starting with the mayoral race, Ernie Gutierrez will face challenger Andre Quintero for the largely ceremonial post. Quintero is a deputy city attorney for the city of Los Angeles and a Rio Hondo College board of trustees member.

Gutierrez faced criticism last year when he allegedly showed up drunk at a Sister City event. Months later he was arrested on domestic violence allegations in a separate incident. No charges were ever filed in that case.

Moving on to the City Council, incumbents Juventino "J" Gomez and Art Barrios face four other candidates in their bids for reelection.

They are: Angel Ralph Nunez, a purchasing agent in the city's finance department; planning commissioner Richard Garner; 30-year-old information security specialist Kien Lam; and architect Norma Macias.

City Clerk Lorene Gutierrez will face Bharat Patel, a hotel owner and planning commissioner, for her seat.

And City Treasurer Henry Velasco, who has held his post for 17 years, faces former El Monte Police Lt. Richard Thomas in that race.

**********In La Puente, there are two open seats in November's City Council race, and only four people running.

Incumbents Lola Storing and Louie Lujan will face former Councilwoman Renee Chavez and former council hopeful David Argudo in the Nov. 3 election.

All are vying for four-year terms.

Here's some brief background information on the candidates:
*Storing has been serving on the City Council for eight years. Her political career is familial too -- her husband Charlie was on the council years back, and has served as mayor.

*Lujan is also running for his third term on the Council, as well as exploring the option of an Assembly seat run. He is currently the target of a District Attorney investigation alleging campaign contribution violations.

*Argudo is a business owner and La Puente High School graduate. He ran for council in 2007, but lost to Councilman John Solis by just 27 votes.

*Chavez ran for council in 2007, but as an incumbent. She too lost, coming in 94 votes behind Solis. But that's not Chavez's only failed run for political office.  She has run unsuccessfully for La Puente council before, and as a democrat e 57th Assembly District seat in 2006.
At the time, she was trying to fill the seat being vacated by her husband, Ed Chavez, who was termed out.

*********Looks like West Covina will be $1.1 million richer over the next two years, thanks to Fire Department employees who agreed to defer their raises.

Ben Baeder reported last week that the Fire Fighters Association and Fire Management Association have opted against a 5-percent raise they were supposed to receive beginning in January to help with the city's budget deficit.

Now, they'll get half of that proposed raise in July 2011 and the other half in January 2012.
All Fire Department employees will also get 36 hours of vacation time.

The city's police union cut a similar deal in July, saving West Covina $1.8 million.

For a town of just 11,000, Sierra Madre sure has its share of big city woes.

Star-News reporter Alfred Lee has a story in Monday's paper about 10 legal cases surrounding the city's 20-member Police Department.

Four suits and two claims were filed by the police officers' union against the city, and another three suits and one claim were filed by residents alleging misbehavior by officers.

Some of those suits target Police Chief Marilyn Diaz.

And on top of all of that, an additional three lawsuits could soon be filed by the union. What gives?

Read on here ...

Former Pico Rivera Mayor Gracie Gallegos was praised last month for her service to the city, and her decision to resign her post in order to spend more time with her family.

Now, some can't help but wonder if a 2007 felony fraud conviction had anything to do with it.

Bethania Palma reported that Gallegos was accused of cashing a check for $3,173 from the car insurance company where she worked as part of a fraudulent claim in 2007. Yet in March, she was elected to the City Council despite the allegations.

By August of that sane year, she had been convicted.

It appears the conviction was not necessarily a secret at City Hall -- City Manager Chuck Fuentes said Friday Gallegos told him of her legal woes before the August conviction, but he did not disclose the information to other councilmembers because of "confidentiality laws."

Fuentes helped Gallegos on her campaign.

Gallegos says her decision to resign had nothing to do with the felony conviction.

And then she declined to comment further, according to Palma saying she is now "a private citizen" and not obligated to respond to press inquiries.

Read the full story here.

Thinking of lugging that old couch to Colorado Boulevard to watch the Rose Parade this year?

Well you better think twice -- city officials are looking to ban such items and other bulky furniture from the parade route as a way to ease New Year's Day clean-up.

Star-News reporter Dan Abendschein reports the Pasadena City Council is mulling an ordinance that would allow police to issue citations to people who bring in big furniture or lots of chairs to the route.

"The prohibition will likely be against anything that can't be moved by one person alone," said Nicholas Rodriguez of the City Attorney's Office.

Apparently, it costs the Old Pasadena Management District several thousand dollars each year to clean up old barbecues, mattresses and couches along four blocks of the route.

There are two open seats in La Puente's November City Council race, and only four people running.

Incumbents Lola Storing and Louie Lujan will face former Councilwoman Renee Chavez and former council hopeful David Argudo in the Nov. 3 election. Lujan is currently under investigation by the District Attorney's office over allegations of campaign finance violations. 

Moving on to Argudo --- he's a business owner and La Puente High School graduate. He ran for council in 2007, but lost to Councilman John Solis by just 27 votes.

He sent this press release out earlier this week -- ARGUDO release.doc

Then there's Chavez, who fought to keep her seat on the council in 2007, but also lost coming in at 94 votes behind Solis. Chavez also ran unsuccessfully for the Democratic ticket for the 57th Assembly District seat in 2006, but lost to Ed Hernandez. At the time, she was trying to fill the seat being vacated by her husband, Ed Chavez, who was termed out.

Should be an interesting race.

Looks like West Covina will be $1.1 million richer over the next two years thanks to Fire Department employees who agreed to defer their raises.

Ben Baeder reported earlier this week that the Fire Fighters Association's and Fire Management Association have opted against a 5-percent raise they were supposed to receive beginning in January to help with the city's budget deficit.

Now, they'll get half of that proposed raise in July 2011 and the other half in January 2012.

All Fire Department employees will also get 36 hours of vacation time.

The city's police union agreed to a similar deal in July, which saved West Covina $1.8 million.

West Covina was looking at a $10 million deficit for the 2009-10 fiscal year, but the gap has narrowed due to concessions from employees and other cuts.

With the November elections coming up, you are going to be seeing a lot of coverage on this blog about who is running in your cities, how much they've raised and what their campaign platforms are.

Today, here's a look at El Monte's race, courtesy Rebecca Kimitch:

A dozen candidates are vying for five municipal posts up for election in November -- mayor, treasurer, city clerk and two city council seats.

Council members Juventino "J" Gomez and Art Barrios, face four other candidates in their bids for reelection to their council seats.

They are:

Angel Ralph Nunez, a purchasing agent in the city's finance department; planning commissioner Richard Garner; and 30-year-old information security specialist Kien Lam.
Garner, 60, worked for the city for 32 years in various posts, ending his career as environmental services manager.

Lam helps manage his family's heating and air conditioning business, and works on information security for a biomedical company in Orange County.

The city council ballot will also include architect Norma Macias, who ran in 2007 and won 25 percent of the vote. Macias, 38, currently works overseeing infrastructure projects in South El Monte.

In the mayoral race, Ernie Gutierrez faces a challenger in Andre Quintero, a 34-year-old deputy city attorney for the city of Los Angeles and a Rio Hondo College board of trustees member.

The city's treasurer and city clerk also faces challengers.

City clerk Lorene Gutierrez will face Bharat Patel, 42, a hotel owner and planning commissioner who has helped get city rules relaxed regarding how long guests can stay in local motels before they are considered residents.

City Treasurer Henry Velasco, who has held the post for 17 years, is being challenged by former El Monte Police Lt. Richard Thomas, 62.

Almost a year ago to the day, Irwindale City Manager Robert Griego confirmed he could be leaving his job to take a city administrator position in Woodburn, Ore.

But Griego never left.

Now, city officials say he's retiring. And the City Council is hosting a closed session meeting Monday at Irwindale City Hall, to discuss "public employee appointment ... Title: City Manager."

Council members are being pretty tight-lipped about the whole thing, saying they are not at liberty to discuss the matter because it is a closed session item.

But Mayor Larry Burrola did say this was not something he anticipated. He said he would be able to comment more freely after Monday's meeting.

"We are going to have to discuss some issues ... Obviously (Griego) wants to retire and he's at that age to retire. We're not in the position to fire him."

Burrola would not elaborate further.

Two candidates in the Baldwin Park November municipal election have been disqualified because of election code violations.

Local businessman Greg Tuttle, who was running for mayor, and Victor Macias, who was running for the council, both had their filing forms rejected today because they were not registered voters in Baldwin Park at the time they pulled their nomination forms, according to Deputy City Clerk Laura Nieto.

Tuttle, who owns Tuttle's Parts Exchange on Ramona Boulevard, said he recently moved to Baldwin Park from Pomona just to run for mayor. But he filed update voter registration affidavit two days after pulling papers for the open seat.

Anyway, Tuttle said, he didn't think he "had a chance in Hell" to win. Instead, he'll now be backing Pacheco in his run against incumbent, Mayor Manuel Lozano.

Tuttle also says he'll be moving back to Pomona now ....

Curious about how much your city will lose under the new state budget?

Check out this database that the Sacramento Bee compiled. It estimates how much cities and redevelopment agencies stand to lose under the state's plan to borrow money from cities and counties.

So far as I can tell, it includes pretty much every municipality in the San Gabriel Valley, and the state.

It's not easy fighting billionaire developer Ed Roski.

And apparently, it isn't cheap either.

Reporter James Wagner had a story in today's paper about the price tag of Walnut's legal fight against a proposed National Football League stadium in neighboring Industry.

The tab was already at $320,000 since September. That was until Wednesday, when the City Council approved setting aside another $150,000 for additional legal fees.

That brings the total to $470,000.

Councilman Joaquin Lim told Wagner the "expenses are very well justified," especially when you compare it to how much the city stands to lose in the future if the stadium is approved.

Not everyone agrees, however. Some residents argue the city is wasting taxpayer money on a losing battle.

Joseph Dyer and his wife were in court today in connection with an embezzlement case involving the city of La Puente.

Dyer, 53, was indicted last month on charges of grand theft, embezzlement, crimes by a public officer and five counts of filing false tax returns.

He is accused of stealing $501,747.91 in tow fees from La Puente between 2001 to 2007

Dyer's wife, Lydia, was also indicted on five counts of filing false tax returns, based on allegations she knew about the false money but failed to report on their joint tax returns.

The couple went before Los Angeles Superior Court Judge David Wesley for a pre-trial conference. They were ordered to return to court on Oct. 19 to set a trial date.

Both were present with their attorneys. Alan Baum is representing Joseph Dyer and Mark Waecker is representing Lydia Dyer.

Both Dyers declined to comment.

Their attorneys didn't say much either --- they seemed like they were in a hurry to get copies of the grand jury transcripts from the 13th floor of the courthouse. That being said, if they did in fact pick up those copies today, the transcripts will be available to the public in 10 days.

You'll probably all be seeing a lot more of these kinds of posts with election season for local cities drawing close:

Rio Hondo College trustee Andre Quintero has announced he will not seek another four-year term this fall to the five-person governing board.

Instead, Quintero says, he will run for mayor of El Monte.

The November election filing period in Baldwin Park has closed and the names are in.

Incumbent Mayor Manuel Lozano will be running against Councilman Ricard Pacheco and local businessman and gadfly Greg Tuttle for the mayor's seat.

Incumbents Marlen Garcia and Anthony Bejarano will also be facing off with some new faces for two open council seats. Among their competitors are Cruz Baca Sembello and City Clerk Susan Rubio.

Take a look at the entire candidate filing here: BPELECTION.pdf

The mayor's race should be an interesting one with Pacheco -- who has long been on the outskirts of the Council -- going up against this colleague. Also, Tuttle's presence should mix things up, considering that he's been threatening to "clean house" for months.

The only thing that's still unclear is exactly where Tuttle is living. He used to be a Pomona resident and his filing address on his nomination forms link to his business. But he's said in the past he would be moving to Baldwin Park ... All members of the council must be Baldwin Park residents.

As a side note, the filing period of City Clerk has been extended through Wednesday, 5 p.m.

Now retired Industry Sheriff's Sgt. Joseph Dyer is due in Los Angeles Superior Court on Tuesday for a pre-trial conference.

Dyer is accused of embezzling $500,000 in towing fees from the city of La Puente over the course of several years. He was indicted in July on charges of grand theft, embezzlement, crimes by a public officer and five counts of filing false tax returns.

Also charged in the same indictment was Dyer's wife, Lydia, on five counts of filing false tax returns based on allegations she knew about the alleged stolen money and didn't claim it.

Lydia Dyer will also be in court on Tuesday. The hearing is supposed to be pretty bland - setting dates and such, according to the Dyers' attorney.

But it'll be our first opportunity at meeting couple - all other attempts, including visits to their Chino home, have been unsuccessful.

 Looks like the District Attorney's Office isn't going to need Assemblyman Ed Hernandez, D-West Covina, in their case against La Puente Mayor Louie Lujan.

Hernandez's staff was contacted about two weeks ago about setting up a tentative meeting between him and the District Attorney's office. The meeting had to do with a Dec. 4 campaign fundraiser Hernandez attended in Lujan's honor.

The fundraiser is now the focal point of a campaign finance violation case against Lujan, in which Lujan is accused of collecting donations but not reporting them. Lujan has said that there were errors in his campaign finance forms, that he has since reformed.

Hernandez said his staff initially set the meeting for Aug. 3, a day before former water board member Leon Garcia was supposed to testify in front of a grand jury in the same case.

But shortly after setting the date, Hernandez said the DA's office called back and said they didn't need him anymore.

I put in a few calls to Garcia last week to follow up on his subpoena before the grand jury, but haven't yet heard back.

I'm sure most of you remember Baldwin Park Councilman Anthony Bejarano's arrest last year.

It was just after 10 p.m. on a Friday night in September. Bejarano and two friends had just visited a few restaurants and bars in downtown Los Angeles before taking the train back to Baldwin Park, then stopping for nachos and beer, according to the councilman.

Except his friends were pulled over by Baldwin Park PD. And after an exchange with officers -- in which Bejarano says he was trying to inform his friend of his legal rights -- Bejarano was arrested on suspicion of being drunk in public.

The DA declined to file charges against Bejarano in the case, so it was eventually dropped. But Bejarano didn't let things die there -- he filed a personnel complaint with the Police Department in a matter he felt was handled "inappropriately."

Police Chief Lili Hadsell responded by hiring a company, who then hired a former Los Angeles County sheriff's investigator to review the incident.
That review was completed three months ago, and Hadsell said she's made decisions as a result.

No one is talking specifics about the complaint or the officers involved, because it is a personnel issue. But Bejarano said "there were some concerns that will be handled internally."

A police report from that night includes narratives from officers Matthew De Hoog and Richard Ogas, and Sgt. Doug Parnell.

I wonder how much the investigation cost?

As you can already tell from the previous post, the Tribune newsroom is transitioning a bit with reporters leaving and reporters coming in --- hence the lack of posts the last few weeks.

Not to fear though, I plan on getting back into the groove of things and updating much more frequently beginning next week. Sorry for the lag. I know we've kind of left our readers hanging a bit, but bear with me.

-Louie Lujan's DA investigation
-Sheriff's deputy accused of stealing money from La Puente
-Baldwin Park election filings
-Review of Anthony Bejarano's September arrest
-El Monte mayor race

..... and more!

Today marks my last day with the San Gabriel Valley Tribune after working here for three years and a month. My time as a reporter here has been extremely rewarding and what I always hoped it would be. After all, the San Gabriel Valley is heavy on crime and has its share of political controversy. What's not to love?

My time as a blogger, on the other hand, has been extremely humbling. After 933 blog posts and the 4,696 comments that followed since we started the Leftovers from City Hall blog, I had to swallow my pride many a time, whether because I was a little too honest or had a post with one too many errors or, well, you get the picture.

Readers, thank you for your patience and your attention. It is my experience at the Tribune, the government accountability stories and the many contacts I've interviewed through the years that have inspired me to pursue a career in public service. Beginning Aug. 24, I will attend USC to pursue a master's degree in public administration. Thanks for dealing with me through the years.

Sincerely,

Jennifer McLain