Recently in Arcadia Category

Glendora Councilman Doug Tessitor was named the chairman of the Metro Gold Line Foothill Extension Construction Authority Board of Directors (try saying that title in one breath).

A councilman since 2003 (up for re-election in March 2011) Tessitor has been the Pasadena City appointee to the board since Jan. 2009 and served on the Joint Powers Authority board since Nov. 2008.

"This is a very exciting time for the project and the Construction Authority, and I am honored to lead the board as we begin construction on the nearly $700 million project that will connect communities from Arcadia to Azusa to the entire L.A. County system, create thousands of jobs and generate nearly a billion dollars for our region," Tessitor said in a written statement.

Email: daniel.tedford@sgvn.com | Twitter: @dgtedford @sgvtribune | Facebook: SGVTribune

I am asking for trouble writing about this, so here is a warning:

This post is Vulcan related.

I covered the medical marijuana dispensary public hearing last night in Duarte where the Regional Planning Commission rejected a plan for one in an unincorporated county area in Arcadia, which is near El Monte, Baldwin Park, Duarte and Monrovia.

The first speaker was Margaret Finlay, mayor of Duarte, who compared the issue of the dispensary to that of her city's battle against Vulcan Materials Co.'s Azusa Rock Quarry mining plan.

"People that are for this are those who are doing to make money off of it," Finlay said of the mining plan. "I think this (dispensary plan) is a similar situation."

Leon San Blas, the applicant for the dispensary, said he was opening the business not to make money, but out of the goodness of his heart. San Blas, wheel chair bound himself, uses medical marijuana to relief pain.

I don't think too many people bought the "it's marijuana to help the community" business plan.

Email: daniel.tedford@sgvn.com | Twitter: @dgtedford @sgvtribune | Facebook: SGVTribune

The county assessor's office put out its 2010 Annual Report you can read for yourself.

But if you are busy with work, the kids, or are just being lazy reading about lazy, slacker movie characters wearing hoodies played by Michael Cera, then here are some highlights of the report.

What stood out to me and others in the newsroom is the considerable drop in overall value for Azusa properties - a whopping -8.5 percent. That is compared to a -1.5 percent drop in Baldwin Park, a -2.1 percent decline in El Monte, -0.3 percent in neighboring Duarte, and for opposite side neighbor (the right side for the map viewing audience) Glendora a -0.8 percent drop.

Other notable drops was -6.8 percent for Inglewood (also pronounced IngleWOOD), -14.4 percent for Lancaster, -12 percent for Palmdale, -7.8 percent for Downey and an uptick of 4.4 percent for Arcadia.

Overall there was a $18.5 billion decline (Holy crap, I think i just swallowed my tongue. Wait...yep, I swallowed my tongue) which computes to about -1.7 percent (oh, well that doesn't seem so bad if you say it that way. I am feeling more sprite. Maybe I'll go running. Oh yeah, it is 270 degrees outside).

UPDATE: I realize some of you might be a wee bit confused or at least not up to date on your property tax/value laws and meanings. If you need some background reading to understand the significance of the report, go here.

Email: daniel.tedford@sgvn.com | Twitter: @dgtedford @sgvtribune | Facebook: SGVTribune

The last time we looked at how many cities posted their salaries online in the wake of the Bell salary scandal and state government officials calling for more transparency, we had just a few that had fallen in line.

As the days have worn on, more cities are jumping on board. To date, here is a list of San Gabriel Valley cities who post salaries online and links to those pages.

Walnut
Diamond Bar
San Dimas
La Verne
West Covina
Baldwin Park
Pasadena
Monrovia
Arcadia
Sierra Madre
Whittier
La Mirada
UPDATED: Lucky 13 is San Marino
UPDATED: Monterey Park joins in. (Note: I couldn't get some of the files to download. Let me know if you can.)
UPDATED: Karen Herrera, Assistant City Manager in Duarte, left me a message while I was away informing me that some city salaries were posted online here.

Only cities with a quick link on the city's homepage directly to a city salary page or document have been included in this list.

Email: daniel.tedford@sgvn.com | Twitter: @dgtedford @sgvtribune | Facebook: SGVTribune

Tonight is the night you can become a super hero!

That might be an exaggeration. Would you go for just a regular hero?

All right, probably just neighborhood watch member or an active community member ready to have some barbecue in an effort to combat crime community style. (I prefer Mutant Teenage Ninja Turtle style, but that's not cool anymore or something)

Tonight is National Night Out, where local departments host anti-crime events at parks and block parties.

For those looking to get involved, here is a list of participating cities. Contact your local police department for more information.

San Gabriel Valley cities participating in National Night Out:

Alhambra, Arcadia, Baldwin Park, Duarte, El Monte, Glendora, La Verne, Montebello, Monterey Park, Pasadena, Pico Rivera, Rosemead, San Gabriel, Sierra Madre, West Covina, Whittier
For more information call your local city police departments.

Email: daniel.tedford@sgvn.com | Twitter: @dgtedford @sgvtribune | Facebook: SGVTribune

After a survey of city manager salaries across the San Gabriel Valley, Pasadena and Whittier areas (coverage area for our three newspapers) none are making Bell type salaries, but no one is going hungry (or without a six figure salary) either.

Baldwin Park City Council members said Friday they want to hear from citizens before drafting a vehicle impound policy for the Police Department. Baldwin Park police Chief Lili Hadsell is scheduled to brief the council Wednesday on her department's vehicle impound policies, according to city documents.

And yet another story that shows what goes around, probably came around because of Bell.

Amid revelations that Bell city officials skirted state salary limits by becoming a charter city, Covina council members are shying away from the idea, which was up for their consideration.

UPDATED: Local FYI: Azusa has gone dark, that is to say, they canceled their council meetings in August. La Verne canceled tonight's council meeting, but will be meeting again on Aug. 16.

Email: daniel.tedford@sgvn.com | Twitter: @dgtedford @sgvtribune | Facebook: SGVTribune

As requested, here is a .pdf that includes the list of 24 cities in the San Gabriel Valley that details pension and retiree medical costs.

Retiree costs city by city[1].pdf

Top five highest pension costs in 2007-08

1. El Monte: $12.1 million    Total employees: 327

2. West Covina: $9.2 million   Total employees: 429

3. Montebello: $7.8 million    Total employees: 428

4. Arcadia: $6.7 million   Total employees: 286

5. Sante Fe Springs: $6.5 million   Total employees: N/A

Montebello Councilman Robert Urteaga is being sued for fraud, Amanda Baumfeld reports. The lawsuit comes several years after Urteaga was charged with grand theft, a felony.

Cities across the San Gabriel Valley -- except for Rosemead -- are pulling the plug on community events like July 4 parades and Easter Egg hunts, Alfred Lee reports.

Gregg Industries is getting ready to close in a month, but employees are working just as hard as they normally do. And when they are out of a job, many are wondering where they will go, Rebecca Kimitch reports.

If there's no sign telling you that you're entering the San Gabriel Valley, how will you know? Well, one group of people is proposing that a bridge become the area's welcoming sign, Nathan McIntyre reports.

I covered Congressman David Dreier speaking at an Arcadia Chamber of Commerce event on Friday, just days after President Barack Obama signed a $838 billion stimulus plan and announced another $75 billion proposal to aid the slumping housing market.

Dreier had some interesting things to say about both plans, including his hopes that the housing bill would force homeowners to take on more accountability when they take out loans.

"We need to make sure people out there misstating their income levels to qualify, that needs to end," the San Dimas Republican said.

Dreier's harshest comments, however, were about the stimulus bill which he feared would not do much to boost the employment market or get the nation out of this recession. His biggest concerns: the $1.3 trillion in debt the nation will likely accrue after all is said in done, and fear of too much government control.

"Massively increasing government's the reach of government is not a good idea," he said.

Dreier said he didn't know if the stimulus package would actually create jobs, and he didn't know what if any impact it would have here locally in the San Gabriel Valley.

Apparently, nobody really knows just yet. It's an 1,110-page document and local pols are still analyzing it.

On a side note, Dreier told a funny story about Phelan, California, an unincorporated community in San Bernardino County. Apparently, there was some debate there about what to name the local high school ... they didn't want to go with "Phelan High."

The leader of the San Gabriel Valley Economic Partnership says cities should stick together, literally.

Ron Wood, the partnership's CEO, said plenty of area cities could save cash by combining.

He said Covina and West Covina could become more efficient by becoming one municipality. So could Pasadena and South Pasadena. He also mentioned Temple City and Arcadia and El Monte and South El Monte.

The idea has been floating around for years, but he wonders if economic hard times will make people take it more seriously.

"I think it's one of the answers to economic problems in the San Gabriel Valley," he said. "It's an opportunity for people to take a fresh look."

He doubts politicians could set aside their egos to accomplish such a huge change, but he says people are more receptive to the idea than in the past.

"Sometimes crisis brings about changes in people," he said.

Full disclosure: Wood used to be the publisher here at the Tribune.

Think your city is hot stuff?

Find out this weekend. Reporter Daniel Tedford is working on a story about the top cities in the San Gabriel Valley. Tedford is using a CNN/Money Magazine formula to rank the cities based on housing affordability, job growth, marriage and divorce rates, commutes, school test scores, and crime rates.

Just a heads up, you'll likely be VERY surprised to see whose at the top and bottom of the list.

Former La Puente Community Services Director Rozanne Adanto has filed a lawsuit against the city of La Puente and former City Manager Carol Cowley, claiming wrongful termination, according to court records.

I'm still trying to get a copy of the lawsuit, so I don't know much except that the next hearing is in December.

Adanto parted ways with the city sometime in 2007. Ted Bistarkey has since assumed her role.

Cowley retired Sept. 30. Former Rosemead City Manager Frank Tripepi is serving as an interim.

Adanto filed her complaint on Sept. 24.

Between this and the theft of $500,000 in tow fees allegedly by a former Industry sheriff's sergeant, looks like Tripepi really has his hands full.

More to come when I know it.

For about a year now, there's been lots of on-again off-again talk about big-time developer Rick Caruso's plans to run for Los Angeles mayor.

The latest is chronicled on an L.A. Observed post.

What's the local angle? Caruso is currently trying to get a project built in Arcadia, but it's being contested. 

She's Courtney Chou Lee, 17 and a student at Arcadia High School.

An interesting tidbit: she's trained in Chinese folk dance.

Pasadena's virtual gadfly is calling it quits and his attorney is advising him to take down his blog, Foothill Cities blog is still down, and Rosemead's city Web site is finally up.

Leftovers Column: City's image takes a beating
By Jennifer McLain and Tania Chatila, Staff Writers
Article Launched: 10/05/2008 11:04:48 PM PDT

It's been a rough few months for the city of Baldwin Park's image.

Residents still are concerned about school board member Sergio Corona's arrest in May on suspicion of driving under the influence of alcohol and drugs and being under the influence of a controlled substance.

He currently is facing misdemeanor charges of vandalism, resisting an officer and driving without a license in connection with the arrest.

Then last month, Baldwin Park Councilman Anthony Bejarano was booked on suspicion of public intoxication.

The Los Angeles District Attorney's office said last week week it would not be filing charges against Bejarano, who said he was not drunk the night of his arrest.

Still, the incident has stirred unrest in the community and has brought to light a question that often goes unanswered in the political realm - just how high should the ethical and moral bar be set for our public officials?

We put the question out there and got some interesting responses from anonymous readers of the Leftovers blog.

Here's a sample:

-- "Let's face it none of us is perfect in our personal lives..., we go through divorces, we have children who occasionally get in trouble, we occasionally say things in frustration or in the heat of the moment that upon reflection we wish we didn't say, we sometimes get our facts wrong."

-- "Yes, we do hold our elected officials to a higher standard, especially when they are representing us at a public event."

-- "I'm not saying we treat our elected with kid gloves in terms of their policy positions or in terms of factors which might impact their ability to act fairly, honestly and impartially. But I don't care to know about him having a simple argument with a spouse or that his or her kid got a D on their algebra exam or that (on one isolated) night they may have seemed a bit tipsy..."

-- "Character does matter."

Our elected officials have been in the news a lot lately over questions of ethical behavior among themselves and their relatives.

Pico Rivera Mayor Ron Beilke's son was recently detained by the sheriff's department in a case where a reserve deputy's .45-caliber revolver and vehicle were stolen. Beilke's son wasn't charged, but two of the 17-year-old's friends were.

Last month, the teenage son of former Irwindale Councilwoman and Baldwin Park Chief Deputy City Clerk Rosemary Gutierrez plowed his car through a neighbor's wall while driving home around 4 a.m.

A police report was not made, no one was arrested, no one was hurt and neighbors decided not to press charges on what was classified initially as a hit-and-run.

Then in El Monte, Mayor Ernie Gutierrez - who is not related to Rosemary Gutierrez - took a lot of heat for allegedly showing up at a city event drunk and shouting vulgarities.

In May, city officials prepared a report looking into Gutierrez's actions, but concluded the allegations had no merit.

We see this all the time - someone in the public spotlight, whether they be authorities, politicians or entertainment superstars, slips up and all of a sudden their abilities to perform come into question.

Only voter turnout will tell us how much constituents really care.

Pasadena Star-News report Alfred Lee has a profile running in Monday's paper on Arcadia First!, an organization that is fighting the mall project proposed by developer Rick Caruso at the Santa Anita Park race track parking lot.

Here's a sneak peek:

ARCADIA -- Bernetta Reade knows her organization isn't loved by everyone in town.

"There were people that would come up to me and point their finger at my face and call me all kinds of names," she said. "It got personal. Some people took disagreeing with the project very personally."

Reade is the executive director of Arcadia First!, an organization that has long worked to stop the upscale mall proposed by developer Rick Caruso at the Santa Anita Park racetrack parking lot.

It is made up mostly of Arcadia residents and business owners. But it is bankrolled by Westfield Corp. -- which manages the Westfield Arcadia shopping mall next to the Caruso project, and has sued to stop it.

Reade herself is a paid consultant who lives in Reseda. That fact, along with the group's association with Westfield, has led to its dismissal by some as an "AstroTurf" campaign.
"Fake grass-roots," Mayor Robert Harbicht said. "There are a lot of people who have legitimate concerns. It's just that Arcadia First! is essentially a front organization."

***
Despite its high visibility, little is known about the group, which claims about 5,000 supporters. It will not disclose exactly how much money is given by Westfield, nor make public the names of all the members of its decision-making executive committee.

****
Tax returns filed by the group for the two-year period from October 2005 to September 2007 indicate the organization received $1.38 million in direct public support during that time -- most of it, officials said, coming from Westfield, in addition to hundreds of other donors.

*****
The group declared it spent about $425,000 on consulting fees; $372,000 on legal fees; $174,000 on printing and publications; $131,315 on postage and shipping; $39,330 on conferences, conventions and meetings; and $37,704 on advertising.

In addition to those revenues and expenditures, the organization declared it received in 2007 $1.2 million worth of donated "postage and printed material in support of community events and public hearings." That was paid for directly by Westfield, Reade said, including the costs of citywide mailings of three different DVDs.

We see stuff like this all the time, where groups opposing big development projects get significant financial backing from the same business organizations that would compete with those developers....

What's your take?

When I worked at the Glendale News-Press, I spent a lot of time covering litigation between developer Rick Caruso (who has successfully built his Americana at Brand project) and General Growth (owners of the Glendale Galleria, who fought Caruso tooth and nail on the project, but to no avail).

It seems wherever Caruso goes, opposition follows.

In Arcadia, a project he is trying to build in the parking lot of the Santa Anita racetrack is also facing some hurdles, Star-News reporter Alfred Lee reports.

A judge is expected to decide today whether to modify or finalize a July ruling that found nearly a dozen faults in the city's project EIR.

Arcadia could soon require contractors to comply with immigration laws, Alfred Lee reports.

Compliance with migrant law urged
By Alfred Lee, Staff Writer
Article Launched: 09/03/2008 11:11:55 PM PDT

ARCADIA - In what amounts to a largely symbolic stand against hiring illegal immigrants, city officials are considering adding wording to future contracts that specifically requires contractors to comply with immigration laws.

The City Council unanimously voted Tuesday to draft language that could potentially be inserted into such contracts and preserve the city's right to ask contractors for documentation of their employees at any point.

The move could be considered a token gesture, since the city already requires contractors to generally comply with all state and federal laws, including the Immigration Reform and Control Act of 1986.

But Mayor Robert Harbicht passionately argued that a stand needed to be made.

"This city has an opportunity to make a statement that we are not going to hire illegal aliens," Harbicht said. "This particular thing is something that's choking this whole region."

The city attorney and city manager were directed to work on drafting the new contract wording, which will be brought back to council for a final decision.

Welcome back to the work week!

Here's this week's column inspired by the great dialogue by our readers last week. Thanks to everyone for participating in the conversation. There were many ideas that we've not heard from our elected leaders:

They say drastic times call for drastic measures.

We've certainly seen a lot of that as local leaders struggle with faltering revenues and excruciating budget cuts.

In West Covina, every department head was asked to cut five percent from their budget to make up for a $2.1million deficit.

In El Monte, facing a $400,000 deficit, council members slashed the Police Department's funds, maintained hiring freezes and cut back on recreation programs.

And in cities like Pico Rivera, El Monte, San Gabriel and Covina, taxes seem to be the only answer to supplement wavering incomes.

Many city council members have said this undoubtedly is a difficult time and it never is easy making cuts.

But what you would do if you were running the show?

Here are some ideas readers came up with, and they're nothing like what our elected officials have suggested:

Eliminate all car, travel and cell phone allowances for council members, as well as car allowances for city employees. "Stop paying for trips to China, Paris, Mexico, etc.," according to one reader.

Cut back on recreation departments, including youth and senior programs.

"Seniors tend to be better off than most non-retired working age folks. Seniors, though they are on fixed incomes, usually have a lifetime's worth of savings and investments accumulated ... and they also enjoy many discounts that non-seniors do not enjoy," another reader wrote.

Turn off at least half of street lights.
"We're figuratively throwing our money into the sky with all the lighting that goes up where it is not needed," one reader wrote.

Cut back on overtime for public safety, review every contract that has been in place in the city for at least three years and consider cutting staffing of "non-essential things such as school resource officers or farmer's markets," according to another reader.

Require those on the Metropolitan Transportation Authority to use public transportation to attend meetings. "They're in charge of the MTA; they should be able to get to the meetings using the same public transit they govern. If it's not good enough for them, it's not good for us, either."

While some of these ideas are downright impossible others are more feasible.

Elected officials say city government is a labor of love.

So maybe they should think outside of the box a little more often. And maybe readers should get up from behind their computer screens and attend council meetings a little more often, too. Give those councils a piece of their minds.