In a story I wrote last week about Baldwin Park naming its first female police chief, Sierra Madre Police Chief Marilyn Diaz told me that she was the first female chief in the county's history, Inglewood Chief Jacqueline Seabrooks was the second and Hadsell is now the third.

Since then, I've gotten some calls and e-mails from readers pointing out other female chiefs......

Just in case you did not know, Margaret A. York has been the Chief for the Los Angeles County Police since the end of 2003. Please see us on the web. www.LACPOLICE.org

Bradley Sheffield, Sergeant
Los Angeles County Police
Recruitment Unit

I also got a call from someone who said the Los Angeles Count transit police had a female chief, though I haven't been able to confirm that.

I take it Diaz was probably referring to chiefs of municipal police departments when she made her statements to me, still the others are worth mentioning.

Posted by Tania Chatila at 5:39 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

 I had a chance to talk to Baldwin Park Chief Executive Officer Vijay Singhal earlier, and he informed me Lili Hadsell was appointed police chief last night.

Because she is already with the department, it works like a promotion so no contracts needed for approval. A new agreement will be drafted, but that's it, she's the big cheese now.

Officials say she'll be making $155,00 a year - $15,000 more than former Police Chief Edward Lopez did.

Sierra Madre Police Chief Marilyn Diaz - who worked with Hadsell when they were both at the Pasadena Police Dept - told me Hadsell is the second female chief of police in the SGV, and the third in LA County.

Diaz was first in the SGV and county, and Inglewood Police Chief Jacqueline Seabrooks was the second in the county.

Talk about girl power.

Posted by Tania Chatila at 3:25 PM | Permalink | Comments (3)

On the way back from Taco Nazo in Baldwin Park, Tania Chatila and I spotted these rims for sale. For whatever reason, when we saw it we both cracked up.

Who locks their rims around a tree and puts them up for sale? And where is the fourth rim?? What am I going to do with three rims?

But I can understand why this would be a better alternative than Craigslist.

In case your curious, the rims are $500 bucks.  

Posted by Jennifer McLain at 2:15 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

It's never a dull moment in Baldwin Park.

Looks like contract negotiations with El Monte police Lt. Ken Alva for Baldwin Park's police chief position have fallen through. Sources tell me he was just asking for too much (apparently a lieutenant in El Monte can make more and get better benefits than a chief in Baldwin Park).

So whose next in line? BP's interim Police Chief Michael Taylor? Think again. It's BP's interim Capt. Lili Hadsell, who was a lieutenant before former Police Chief Edward Lopez left.

Hadsell did not turn in an application for the job when the city was soliciting candidates. Mayor Manuel Lozano told me she wanted to, but thought she didn't think she met the criteria.

Her contract is still pending approval, but Lozano said he's confident it'll go through this time.

If it's affirmed, Hadsell would be the first female chief in BPPD's history.

Posted by Tania Chatila at 11:10 AM | Permalink | Comments (4)

Baldwin Park officials have been taking a lot of measures lately to get rid of blight and clean up the city's image.

You may remember an ordinance passed earlier this year requiring all business that offer shopping carts to customers to install a cart containment system to keep abandoned carts off city streets.

Then there was the ban on all new check-cashing businesses and payday loan centers. The city is hoping to eventually phase them all out over time.

Now, the city is cracking down on garage sales. Here's a list of strict guidelines the City Council will consider imposing tonight:

1. Garage sales shall be limited to the hours of 8 a.m. to 3 p.m.

3. Goods and merchandise sold or offered at any garage sale shall not be displayed before 7 a.m. and shall be completely removed from the premises by 4 p.m.

BP laying down the law....

Read the entire staff report here.

Posted by Tania Chatila at 12:00 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

There are several interesting closed session items slated for tonight's Baldwin Park City Council meeting. They may peak your interest as much as they peaked mine:

RECESS TO CLOSED SESSION OF THE CITY COUNCIL

A)CONFERENCE WITH LABOR NEGOTIATOR (GC §54957.6)
Agency Negotiators: Vijay Singhal, Chief Executive Officer; Richard Kreisler and other representatives as designated
Employee Organizations: SEIU, Clerical; Professional and Technical Employees; Police Management Employees; Confidential Employees; Baldwin Park Police Officer's Association and General Management Employees
****Months after heated contract negotiations with BP police officers ended on a somewhat sour note, the city and police are at it again. Wonder how many rounds this bout will go for?

B)CONFERENCE WITH REAL PROPERTY NEGOTIATOR (GC §54956.8)
Property: 3200 Puente Avenue City Negotiators: Vijay Singhal and Joseph Pannone Negotiating party: Home Depot Legal Department Under negotiation: Terms and conditions of a lease of real property
*************Hmmm, the city negotiating with Home Depot over a lease property? My gut tells me this is related to a day laborer center on the Home Depot lot.

D)PUBLIC EMPLOYEE APPOINTMENT (GC §54957)
Title: Chief of Police
**************This looks like a status update on contract negotiations with El Monte police Lt. Ken Alva for police chief, which I hear may be hitting a snag over salary figures.

Posted by Tania Chatila at 11:00 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

It's City Clerk Week in Baldwin Park, or at least it will be after the City Council officially proclaims it so at tonight's meeting.

Speaking of which, La Puente has finally filled its City Clerk position. Amy Turner started about the beginning of April, and word on the street is she's doing pretty good so far.

Hopefully, she'll stick around longer than the former city clerk, who lasted about three months.

Posted by Tania Chatila at 8:57 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Former Valley County Water director Dolores Holguin is facing one count of miuse of public funds. She is going to appear in court Wednesday morning in West Covina. I don't know the details of the charge yet, but she was previously sued by Valley County for allegedly inappropriately billing the district for $15,000 worth of meals, health care and cell phone charges. That lawsuit was settled last month. Look for story tomorrow.

Posted by Jennifer McLain at 6:51 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Surprise, surprise folks. Baldwin Park's got a new police chief. I just got off the phone with Mayor Manuel Lozano who told me the City Council voted unanimously in closed session tonight to appoint ..... wait, drum roll please ....... El Monte Police Lt. Ken Alva as the new police chief.

Alva will likely start contract negotiations with Chief Executive Officer Vijay Singhal next week, Lozano said.

The announcement came pretty unexpectedly, considering Lozano told me earlier today that the closed session item listed as *Police chief appointment* on today's agenda was just a "status update" on where the city was in terms of background checks with its top two candidates.

I should add that closed session item was added to the agenda Tuesday, one day before the meeting. Well, officials say Suisun City Police Chief Ed Dadisho - who, was also up for the job - submitted a letter to Singhal today asking to withdraw his candidacy "for personal reasons."

Regardless, looks like Alva is in, as long as nothing egregious turns up on his background check of course.

We've got a brief about the issue running in Thursday's paper, and we'll have a full follow-up Friday, along with - hopefully - a profile on Alva for the weekend.

Posted by Tania Chatila at 10:45 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

I grew up in Fremont, a city in the San Francisco Bay Area that falls between Oakland and San Jose. So did my dad, who grew up in a section of Fremont called Niles, which backs up to a canyon. I've heard plenty of stories from my dad of how the Bay Area changed since he was born, in 1955. An area that was once filled with orchards and undeveloped land is now lined with homes, traffic and industry.

Growing up in the Bay Area and being a reporter for the Bay Area newspapers, I was fascinated with its history, whether it was the ghost story of the White Witch in Niles Canyon, the once thriving and colorful community that lived in the salt marshes in Fremont, or the cult-like history out of Holy City in the Santa Cruz Mountains.

But yesterday, as I was reading "Thirst for Growth," a book that looks at the hisotry of water agencies in Southern California, it hit me: I know nothing about the San Gabriel Valley's past.

I report on the daily murders, crimes and local political upheavels, but I don't know what makes the San Gabriel Valley the way it is today. What are its legends? Are there ghost stories? How has the SGV changed over the years? What did your parents used to tell you about the area? What are the historical landmarks in the area that anyone who has lived here for more than 50 years should know about?

Its been almost two years since I moved here. I guess it's about time that I call it home.

(The photo is a picture of the SGV in 1900, taken from this Web site.)

Posted by Jennifer McLain at 10:23 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)

I went over to Baldwin Park today to review some public records requests I submitted a few weeks back.

Among them were attorney’s fees over the last two years. Looking at monthly totals dating back to 2007, it’s pretty clear that Rosemead’s attorney Bonafacio Garcia, of Garcia, Calderon and Ruiz, is still in the lead for city attorney bills.

Baldwin Park legal fees, for example, were about $17,000 in November, $17,000 in October and $12,000 in December.

That’s nowhere near some of Garcia’s all-time highs for the year in Rosemead — like that $52,677 bill for work done last May.

Just to give you an idea of how cost breaks down in BP, here are some of the line items from the invoices:

*$1,137.50/ 6.5 hours/ Review election results, phone conference, research zoning ordinance, attend City Council and CDC meetings/ Nov. 7

*$350/ 2 hours/ Visit with Caltrans/ Dec. 11

By the way, at the time of the above bills, Stephanie Scher was the City Attorney. She retired last December. Joseph Pannone from Aleshire & Wynder, LLP is the new city attorney.

I’ll eventually be looking into his bills as well...

Posted by Tania Chatila at 1:30 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Congresswoman Hilda Solis sent out a mailer, which was "prepared, published and mailed at taxpayer expense," detailing the money that she has secured for communities in the SGV. Here's how its broken down:

South El Monte: Secured $47,000 to teach at-risk youth computer and other skills through Project Amiaga's Transistional Life Skills for At-Risk Youth Project.
-Secured $73,000 to upgrade computer techonology in the Valle Lindo School District.

Rosemead: Secured $98,700 for graffiti and vandalism responses.

Irwindale: Secured $225,600 for updated communications equipment for the police department.
-Secured $28,200 for the city to expand after school activities and weekend youth programs.

Baldwin Park: Secured $400,000 to replace older transit buses with clean enery buses.

West Covina: Secured $517,000 to update its emergency communications system.

Azusa: Secured $477,000 to provide dental services at the Azusa Health Center
-Secured $150,000 to renovate the National Guard Armory.

She also lists regional projects:
-$3 million for the San Gabriel Basin Restoration Fund
-$235,000 for the Court Appointed Special Advocates Volunteer Program
-$282,000 for the Tune Up Tune In program at Rio Hondo College and ELAC

She also says that she is a "strong supporter of federal assistance for Foothill Tranist, the Alameda Corridor-East and extension of Metro Gold Liune through Azusa, Irwindale and Duarte." But since no money is listed, I am assuming she didn't help secure any funding for those projects.

Posted by Jennifer McLain at 2:12 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Reporter Tania Chatila already broke this story about Baldwin Park's attempt to rid the city of pay day advance businesses. Today, the LA Times takes a stab at it, but with a broader approach by looking at efforts in the Bay Area and in cities near Army and Navy bases. It also looks at Baldwin Park's report and at least once source criticizes the city for not taking its customers into account.

One customer suggested that Baldwin Park focus its efforts elsewhere.

He said he thinks Baldwin Park has larger problems than check-cashing and payday lending business. A few days ago, someone broke into his Chevrolet Suburban.

"By a hair I almost caught the guy," he told the employees, who nodded sympathetically.

That sounds like the Baldwin Park I know.

Posted by Jennifer McLain at 11:13 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)