Recently in Board of Sups Category

Note to county officials: If you accuse Glendora of having poisonous metals in its water, expect to receive a scathing letter in return.

Late last month, Glendora appeared on a top-ten list of places in L.A. County with high levels of arsenic in their water. Arsenic is toxic metal used in some pesticides, as a wood preservative and for making transistors.

A county well on Dalton Canyon Road came in sixth place out of the worst offenders. It had nearly twice the recommended level of arsenic for healthy drinking water. Still, its level was only one-fourth of what people in Saugus have to drink.

The list was part of a survey of 195 water wells conducted by the county at the behest of the board of supervisors.

Glendora Patch picked up the story.

At Tuesday's council meeting, Councilwoman Judy Nelson, apparently concerned about having poisonous water in The Pride of the Foothills, asked City Manager Chris Jeffers what the deal is.

"The way that that has been portrayed is greatly misleading," said Jeffers.

He assured the council that the city's water is safe -- the result of state regulations requiring the city to perform "22,000 tests per year," using "sub-atomic level analysis."

"This water is poked, pricked and otherwise analyzed beyond death," Jeffers said.

Plus, he said, that county well doesn't even serve Glendora residents.

Jeffers said the county will soon be hearing back from the city about this matter.

"The water division is writing sort of a letter back to the agriculture people and the board (of supervisors) to express our disappointment and frustration with the way that was a carried out," Jeffers said.

Playing on a theme at Tuesday's meeting of alluding to vulgarities, Councilwoman Karen Davis said she'll "edit that colorful language in the letter for you."

County officials, you're officially on notice. You heard it here.

Did you enjoy those three long days off? So did I. Although, the catch-22 is that it always makes that first day back that much more difficult.

Anyway, if you are struggling to get into that work mode, here are a few stories from the weekend to pass the time (oh, and make you a better, informed citizen of the republic and all that).

Reporter Thomas Himes did a long researched piece on city attorney fees that showed cities with their own police departments often pay more in legal fees, according to city documents and records for the last fiscal year.

Covina's police chief made his position known on the a proposition to legalize marijuana. (SPOILER: He is not a fan)

Well, despite a huge push this year for the Census - including hundreds of millions of dollars spent - it looks like national participation is down. The good news? San Gabriel Valley participation is better than the national average. The bad news? It also dipped below 2000 Census totals.

Finally, as a recent post alluded too, Glendora goes for the trifecta in asking the Supreme Court to hear its case after the county won two court cases regarding a redevelopment area designation.

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

In the future, if you want to walk to the Azusa City Council dais and speak to your favorite councilman (for handshakes, serving petitions, autographs or general public scolding) you may have to practice your limbo skills ... or just ask for assistance.

One thing that Mayor Rocha questioned at Monday's council meeting - and garnered a couple laughs from the audience - was a provision in the 2010/2011 budget that called for some updates to the City Council chambers.

The $31,000 allocation included, among other things, a kind of barrier or rope line between the audience and the council.

The line would probably consist of the same thing you see at banks or movie theaters used to organize lines, but in this case would be used to keep people away from the dais, unless allowed, City Manager Fran Delach said.

It was recommended by Azusa Police Chief Robert Garcia.

"It would be similar to the board of supervisors hearing room," Delach said. "We committed to the Mayor that any tentative plans would be brought back to council."

While Delach said other venues use such things, giving the example of the Los Angeles County Supervisors hearing room, other council chambers like Glendora, Duarte, La Verne, El Monte, Rosemead, and South El Monte don't have barriers. Some cities, like Walnut, do have something that separates the audience and council members.

Delach was clear in saying it wasn't something meant to decrease transparency or public access and whatever was put in would be removable.

"We are not going to put glass up or anything, no wall," he said. "It is a number of measures to help improve security and technology of the council chambers."

Besides the rope line, the $31,000 includes updating computer monitors for council members at the Dais, among other improvements, Delach said.

What do you think? Is this a wise use of city funds in the name of safety and modernization?

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

Just grabbed this from Los Angeles County Supervisor Michael Antonovich's twitter feed:

"@mikeantonovich: If Mexico continues with this frivolous lawsuit, then Arizona ought to counter-sue for the cost of services to illegal aliens"

Antonovich is referencing Mexico's government's decision to offer a legal opinion in support of five lawsuits against Arizona's new immigration law.

Mexico's legal brief doesn't make them a party to the lawsuits, but argues in favor of the lawsuit's position.

Apparently, though, Antonovich is none to pleased with the Mexico's government getting involved with Arizona's bill.

Thoughts?

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

Jobs are hard to come by these days, and residents are being laid off left and right.

But at least you can rest assured that your L.A. County Supervisors and County Sheriff won't starve in this flatlining economy.

Take a look ....

Like many other counties and cities in the state, Los Angeles County is struggling.

The county's unemployment rate is at 12.3 percent.

Sales-tax receipts were down 19.54 percent for the months of April, May and June compared to the same time in 2008.

And courtrooms were closed and trials delayed early this summer when the county superior court system began monthly employee furloughs.

But at least the county has enough Benjamins in the bank -- nearly half a million to be exact -- to splurge on the Los Angeles County Holiday Celebration in December.

The county Board of Supervisors is expected to approve the three-hour holiday party on Tuesday.
It's a 50-year county tradition and is free to the public, county spokeswoman Judy Hammond said.

"It's a thing they've done forever and they have all of these community arts groups that come in and perform," she said. "The public can come and go as they want."

Supervisor Gloria Molina, who represents parts of the San Gabriel Valley, hasn't made a decision yet on how she is going to vote, but is leaning toward approval, her spokeswoman Roxane Marquez said.

Despite hard times, Marquez said the party is an arts programs that is looked forward to by the public.

"It may be difficult for some of the more affluent families in L.A. County to believe, but free concerts like this for the holidays are sometimes the only such activity that our less affluent residents get to enjoy," Marquez said.

Cable franchise fees are footing the $449,000 bill. The money was previously allocated in the county Art's Commission's budget for 2009-10, according to staff reports.

And that half a million dollars is $100,000 less than in previous years, Hammond said.

Hey, it is a recession year.

I'm heading to Downtown L.A. later this afternoon for a press conference about the county placing the ratings of area nursing homes on its Web site.

County Supervisor Michael Antonovich -- who also pushed for the county's restaurant grading system -- is the man behind the idea. So if you're looking for a nursing home, not only can you find the information on the county's Web site, but you can now also see how they fared in the federal government's five-star rating system.

This comes days after state regulators announced they would be fining Casa Bonita Convalescent Hospital in San Dimas $121,000 after the death of one of their patients.

Here's the county's Web site...

Supervisor Michael Antonovich is calling for a 'hate crime investigation' into a West Hollywood display depicting Sarah Palin hung and John McCain emerging from a fiery chimney. If he is commenting on this 'hate crime,' which some are still debating whether it is in fact a hate crime, he should be calling for an investigation into a hate crime that occurred a week ago in unincorporated Covina.

Amanda Baumfeld reports that an African American woman last week discovered that someone spray-painted the n-word on her car.

The house is located in unincorporated Covina, a section of the county that is represented by Los Angeles County Supervisor Gloria Molina.

Baumfeld's story will appear in tomorrow's paper.

Here are the top SGV stories today:

The county budget is taking a $128 million hit now that the Governor approved the state's budget. Here's the story.

The Walnut City Council opposed to the NFL stadium. This is the first city to oppose it. Monterey Park and West Covina city councils both passed ordinances approving the stadium, Bethania Markus-Palma reports.

The state Department of Public Health faulted Citrus Valley Health Partners in connection with its employees' use of fake CPR cards, Tania Chatila reports.

AQMD hearings continue regarding El-Monte based Gregg Industries, Rebecca Kimitch reports.

Illegal immigrants who return after deportation commit more crimes, the Los Angeles Times reported today.

By Anna Gorman, Los Angeles Times Staff Writer
September 8, 2008

Illegal immigrants who have been deported at least once from the United States are far more likely than other immigrants to repeatedly commit crimes, according to a study by the nonprofit Rand Corp.

The data indicated that illegal immigrants, overall, were not a greater crime risk, according to the study, which looked at all inmates released from Los Angeles County Jail for a month in 2002.

But among those who previously had been deported, reentered the U.S. and were arrested and released from jail, nearly 75% went on to commit another crime within a year. And 28% were arrested three or more times during the one-year period.

The recidivism rate was much lower for illegal immigrants who had not been previously deported, with 32% of those inmates being rearrested within a year and 7% arrested three or more times during that year.

Since the data were collected in 2002, the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department has overhauled screening for illegal immigrants and the U.S. Department of Homeland Security has poured resources into border security. But researchers said the analysis still could have public policy implications for L.A. County and other counties around the nation.

Read more.

Here's what Los Angeles County Board of Supervisor Gloria Molina, according to a press release, has to say about a judge's decision that will allow taco trucks to continue to park and serve.

"I am very disappointed with Judge Aichroth's ruling in this case and, frankly, I do not understand the basis for his decision--especially since he provided no explanation at all.

Other municipalities--from Montebello to Los Angeles to Beverly Hills--have similar or more stringent laws regulating catering trucks. It seems that only in East Los Angeles is regulation on this issue problematic.

"I will continue to stand up for quality-of-life issues in East Los Angeles and elsewhere in the First Supervisorial District. As the residents I represent have continually made clear to me, catering truck regulation remains a top priority--and I will not be deterred by Judge Aichroth's ruling.

Quality-of-life issues, ranging from graffiti abatement to code enforcement to catering truck regulation, are all important to the residents of East Los Angeles--and I will continue to fight for them."

Many of our cities are facing budget cuts. So, here's an uplifting weekend question:

If you were in charge, what would be the first thing that you would cut out of your city's budget?

A graffiti program brought about after the deaths of several residents, including Pico Rivera resident Maria Hicks , who was shot and killed when she caught taggers in her neighborhood, will allow the county to recover costs for graffiti clean-up.

The county approved the program today, and it will become effective Sept. 18.

The new ordinance allows the county to declare itself a "graffiti victim" and recover costs for graffiti abatement -- including enforcement, removal and damages.

The County can recoup unpaid costs through liens or special assessments against the property of the graffiti offender or guardian of offending minor.

Adult graffiti offenders are subject to a civil citation issued by the Sheriff for fines up to $1,000.

The new Ordinance expands Supervisor Gloria Molina's graffiti enforcement program which resulted in 168 arrests.

But tagging related deaths continue. On July 23, Joshua Rodriguez was shot dead in South Whittier at Mulberry Drive and Ruoff Avenue.

WHITTIER - Homicide detectives are asking for the public's help in identifying and tracking down three men involved in a July 23 shooting that left a La Mirada man dead.

While authorities said the incident was triggered by a fight between rival tagging crews the day before, 20-year-old Joshua Rodriguez wasn't a tagger.

Sheriff's Lt. Dan Rosenberg said they don't know why Rodriguez was involved in the fight.

What detectives know is that on July 22 there was a clash near a local wash between the tagging crews, My Squad Murder Krew and Potheads. Rosenberg said the groups agreed to meet the next day at Mulberry Drive and Ruoff Avenue in South Whittier.

"Our victim, Rodriguez, got in a fight with somebody. He was actually winning," Rosenberg said.

But he said two friends of the man fighting with Rodriguez approached. One of them shot him several times

Authorities said that Rodriguez wasn't a tagger. I shot these photos of Rodriguez's shrine, which included writing comments with a Sharpie on the sidewalk.

The County Board of Supervisors, on the recommendation of Supervisor Michael D. Antonovich, increased a $10,000 reward to $20,000 for information leading to the arrest and conviction of person(s) responsible for shooting and killing 16-year-old Samantha Salas on Jan. 26 as she was walking with a friend in area near Monrovia.

If all the tax measures pass, including a one-cent sales tax hike that the Governor is allegedly suggesting, cities such as Pico Rivera will be paying as much as 10.75 percent in sales tax.

Here are the proposed city and county tax measures appearing on the November ballot affecting San Gabriel Valley voters:

El Monte
What: A half-cent sales tax for a period of five years
Expected revenue: $4.4 million a year
Reason: To preserve funding for public safety, street and storm drain maintenance, rebuild reserve funds, plug a $400,000 deficit

Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority
What: A half-cent sales tax increase for 30 years
Expected revenue: $30 - $40 billion
Reason: To improve traffic flow, expand public transportation, extend light rail with airport connections and provide clean-fuel buses

Pico Rivera
What: A one-cent sales tax increase
Expected revenue: $6 million
Reasons: To preserve public safety, community programs, plug a $4.8 million deficit, and maintain city infrastrcuture

Pomona
What: An increase of the utility users tax to 10 percent from 9 percent for 2 years and 2 months
Expected revenue: $1.8 million
Reasons: Maintain city services and capital improvement projects

San Gabriel
What: An increase in the utility users tax to 8 percent from 6 percent
Expected revenue: $1.2 million
Reasons: Improve police protection and investigations that reduce crime, preserve fire and paramedic emergency response times, plug a $600,000 deficit, and perform capital improvement projects.

 

The County Board of Sups had a lively meeting today.

There was presentation by Sheriff Lee Baca, which was followed by testimony from the family of Jameil Shaw, who was killed by an illegal immigrant; consideration of an ordinance that calls for chain restaurants to provide caloric information about meals; the introduction of a graffiti pilot program, proposed by Supervsior Gloria Molina, that allows the county to recover costs civilly; and the reversal of a vote that will now place a half-cent sales tax measure proposed by MTA on a consolidated ballot in November.

The most controversy came out of the discussion about the the Sheriff's policies and procedures for undocumented aliends housed in county jails.

There were dozens of speakers, including the father of Jamiel Shaw, an African-American who was college bound but was shot in the head on March 2 in Arlington Heights by an illegal immigrant.

Some speakers said that they did not care what race the illegal immigrants are, but they are against illegal immigrants that are gang bangers and murders, and there needs to be a system in place to deport them.

One speaker, who was an African American, said that if the tables were turned and 4 million black people illegally immigrated to Mexico, they would be killed.

Supervisor Yvonne Burke made a comment after a member from the Minute Men spoke, who called for the deportation of illegal immigrants. Immediately following him was a Rabbi, who said that the testimony from the Minute Man would be a tough act to follow. Then Burke responded, "Today, it's the Latinos. Tomorrow it's the blacks and Jews."

The comment did not sit well with some people, who accused Burke of making this a racial issue. But Burke responded by saying that she was not race baiting, but rather she was aware of the work that the Minute Men did, and she understood their call for deporting illegal immigrants was really a call for the immigration of all Latinos, and that they wouldn't stop there.

There were also representatives from the Mexican American Legal Defense and ACLU who spoke against developing a system like Special Order 40.

Once the transcript and video becomes available, you should read and watch some of the comments for yourselves. It was one of the most surprising public meetings I've ever attended.

(The photo above is of Jamiel Shaw Jr. The photo can be found at the LA Times blog.)

This press release just popped in to my email. Will you vote on a proposal that gives less than 19 percent of funding to the San Gabriel Valley for tranist projects?

ANTONOVICH AND MOLINA INTRODUCE MOTION TO OPPOSE MTA'S ½ CENT SALES TAX MEASURE

LOS ANGELES COUNTY - Supervisors Michael D. Antonovich and Gloria Molina introduced a motion for Tuesday's meeting of the Board of Supervisors to oppose the MTA's proposed sales tax increase for its failure to distribute transit dollars equitably.

"The measure fails to include funding for areas that will grow the most over the next 30 years, " said Antonovich. "The Antelope and Santa Clarita Valleys will more than double in population over the life of this sales tax measure, yet receive only 5% of the total project funding. The San Gabriel Valley and Gateway Cities both have approximately 19% of the County's population, and also generate approximately 19% of the County's sales taxes -- yet both areas were given much less than 19% of the total project funding available. The San Fernando Valley represents over 15% of the County's population but will only receive 5% of the total project funding available -- depriving Valley residents 2/3 of its fair share of funding."

"Los Angeles County residents in the San Fernando, San Gabriel, Cresenta, Santa Clarita, and Antelope valleys, the Gateway cities and East Los Angeles will reject this poorly constructed, unfair proposal," he added. "Rather than collaborating with the 88 cities and 134 unincorporated communities to build support, Mayor Villaraigosa's tax is being shoved down the taxpayers' throats because unlike Robin Hood, it takes from the poor and gives to the rich."

Where is your money going? Well, today, the County Board of Supervisors approved more than $3 million in four settlements.

$850,000 settlement, plus assumption of $56,294 Medi-Cal lien, proposed for medical negligence lawsuit arising from injuries sustained by patient at Dollarhide Health Center in Compton. (Item 58) APPROVED

$850,000 settlement proposed for wrongful death lawsuit concerning allegation of excessive force by sheriff's deputies during a vehicle pursuit and attempted apprehension. (Item 59) APPROVED

$762,500 settlement, plus assumption of $226,237 Medi-Cal lien, recommended for medical negligence lawsuit arising from treatment received by LAC+USC Medical Center patient. (Item 60) APPROVED

$595,000 settlement proposed for wrongful death lawsuit arising from medical treatment provided at the Los Angeles County Jail and LAC+USC Medical Center. (Item 61) APPROVED

My story today goes into the half-percent sales-tax hike proposal that will appear on the November ballot in El Monte.

The tax is among several that voters in nearby cities and county will see, including a 1 percent sales-tax increase in Pico Rivera and a half-cent sales tax measure that the MTA board approved yesterday. (Check out Pasadena reporter Dan Abendschein's blog Under the Dome for more MTA info. He was blogging from the MTA meeting yesterday.) 

With such tough economic times, it will be difficult getting the voters on board, said Dean Baldassare, president and CEO of the Public Policy Institute of California. But then again, Southgate voters approved a 1 percent increase by nearly 74 percent.

Are you going to be voting for more taxes come November?

The Los Angeles County Board of Sups just approved the salary for its county clerk. Dean C. Logan will be paid a $195,000 a year.