Canyon City Alliance changes website to include Vulcan Materials

It was brought to my attention (Thanks, commenter David) that after reporting on this blog the Canyon City Alliance did not list Vulcan Materials as part of its coalition on its website, it has now been changed.

This also comes following a letter from the Fair Political Practices Commission that outlines an investigation into the group for alleged violations of the Political Reform Act. The group has been accused by an anti-mining group for not clearly listing its sole donor, Vulcan Materials Co., on campaign material.

Canyon City Alliance officials said they did not plan to change any material because they believed to be in compliance.

The website change must have been some sort of exception…

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

Say hello to the new face of the Canyon City Alliance

I got a press release from Elizabeth Ramirez yesterday announcing that Canyon City Alliance had hired a one Elizabeth Ramirez. Weird, same name! I wonder if the other Elizabeth Ramirez even knows that!

OK, OK. I know they are the same person. Mostly because Elizabeth Ramirez said they were.

Anyhoo, since I haven’t really talked about them yet, the Canyon City Alliance is a group of businesses, police, and community members who support the newly approved Azusa Rock Quarry mining plan.

Ramirez will be the executive director of the group that also boasts Azusa Chamber of Commerce executive board member Mercedes Castro as president.

Here is the press release:

Elizabeth Ramirez Hired to Lead Canyon City Alliance

Longtime Azusa Resident to Serve as Alliance Executive Director

October 6, 2010 (AZUSA, CA) – The Canyon City Alliance has announced the hiring of Elizabeth
Ramirez as the organization’s Executive Director. Ramirez will be responsible for daytoday
operations of the Canyon City Alliance and will coordinate all community activities related to
the Alliance’s support for the City’s recent approval of the Azusa Rock project.

“We are excited and fortunate to have Elizabeth leading the Canyon City Alliance. As a lifelong
resident of Azusa, she will provide outstanding leadership to our organization. Throughout her
involvement with numerous Azusa nonprofit organizations, she has earned the respect of our
community and we look forward to her joining our team” said Mercedes Castro, President of
the Canyon City Alliance.

The Canyon City Alliance was founded by business, law enforcement and community leaders to
help promote a vibrant business climate in the City of Azusa and throughout the San Gabriel
Valley. The City of Azusa is home to nearly 50,000 residents and will soon be celebrating the
opening of a new Target department store, construction of a Metro Gold Line Station near
downtown, as well as the recently approved requirement to restore Azusa’s hillsides.

“I am excited to be joining a group of such dedicated residents and community leaders.
Working together, the Canyon City Alliance will be able to help promote the programs, activities
and quality of life projects that are critical to Azusa residents and the San Gabriel Valley,” said
Elizabeth Ramirez.

UPDATE: Azusa school board member faces fine for not properly filing campaign statement

Azusa Unified School Board Member Xilonin Cruz-Gonzalez is being fined by the Fair Political Practices Commission for failing to report campaign funds, according to a statement from the commission.

Cruz-Gonzalez, a current school board member, did not meet the deadline for a semi-annual campaign statement for the period between Jan. 1, 2008 and June 30, 2008, according to the statement.

The proposed fine for the failure is $400, according to the FPPC.

In addition to her work as a board member, Cruz-Gonzalez is a well-known anti-mining advocate in the community that has championed an effort to turn down a recent mining plan for the Azusa Rock Quarry.

She has often spoken out regarding the project, but has always said that her role as a board member is separate to her work advocating against the mining project.

UPDATE: Since there was a lot of discussion regarding this post, I did a quick follow up.

Sent a request to the county recorder’s office regarding campaign statements for school board members during the same period Cruz-Gonzalez was fined for not turning in the statements.

Here are the dates each member turned in the statements, according to the county.

Xilonin Cruz-Gonzalez 470 Statement 04/28/2010
Barbara Dickerson 460 Statement 07/31/2008
Rosemary Garcia 470 Statement 08/20/2008
John Burke Hamilton 470 Statement 08/18/2008
Ilean M. Ochoa 470 Statement 08/19/2008

UPDATE THE SEQUEL: Got some more information from the county.

The deadline for turning in the statement was indeed July 31 (kudos to David mentioning that below, as I forgot). Following failure to meet the deadline, the county sends a notice to each person that allows an additional 10 days to turn in the statement. If there is no response from that notice, a second specific notice is sent to each person that allows for an additional 15 days to file.

“If they don’t respond after that notice, then we refer them to the FPPC,” said Josefina Arvizu, who works for the Campaign Finance Disclosure Section of the county registrar’s office. “After we send it to FPPC, that is out of our hands.”