Talk about a bad week for local politicians.

Between Dolores Holguin, Steven Johnson and now Gary Clifford from Glendora, SGV officials are getting slammed.

GLENDORA - Two young Glendora women arrested last year for putting stickers on the political signs of Glendora elected leaders can take their lawsuit against Councilman Gary Clifford to trial, a judge ruled today.

The women maintain they were handcuffed by the side of the road and taken to the station in separate patrol cars. They said they were booked, searched and kept in jail for four hours, interrogated separately and not allowed to talk to their parents and lawyers.

What I don't: the judge apparently said he did not think the case should ever go before a jury. But he ruled to let it go to trial anyway.

Go figure.

Posted by Tania Chatila at 3:03 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Dan Abendschein reports that a lawsuit against Glendora over a senior housing project could be settled out of court. The community group that filed the lawsuit wants to city to do an enviornmental report for the site, located at Bonnie Cove and Gladstone, because they believe the traffic will be heavily impacted as a result of the project.

"Their claim is that this project will impact city traffic," said D. Wayne Leech, Glendora's city attorney. "The city did an original survey several years ago, and then an updated survey this year, and both found there was no impact."

What do you think? Is a survey enough or shold the city perform the environmental review? Leech thinks it's a trap.

"Other than them withdrawing their claim, I can't see a solution that would work for the city," said Leech. "This lawsuit is without merit."

Posted by Jennifer McLain at 9:26 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)

Elected official: Bob Kuhn

Title: Director of Three Valleys Municipal Water District

Previous elected positions: Glendora City Council, 1986 to 1994

Born: 1944

High School: John Muir High School in Pasadena

Favorite high school hang outs:
Bob's Big Boy in Pasadena on Colorado Boulevard in Pasadena
Bahama Inn in east Pasadena
Eaton's Drive Inn in Arcadia

"The orchards were coming to a close in the 1940s and 1950s, and it started to become converted to houses and industry. By the 1970s, the orchards were all gone," Kuhn said. "Probably the major change I've noticed through the years is the traffic."

Posted by Jennifer McLain at 7:00 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

If there's a budget shortfall, the funds have got to come from somewhere. So in Glendora, the city is increasing fees for licenses, whether it is a business license to parking permits, Dan Abenschein reports. The city manager, however, did say that he expects most of the increases to affect mainly developers.

The increase is expected to bring in $90,000. The budget shortfall is $1.6 million. Other cost savings come from keeping employee positions open.

Is this the best way the city can make up money for a budget shortfall?

Council OKs fee hikes
By Dan Abendschein, Staff Writer
Article Launched: 04/09/2008 11:20:07 PM PDT

Other fee increases include water meter installation, facility rental costs, animal control services and parking fines.

City Manager Chris Jeffers said the shortfall stems, in part, from declining business at Glendora stores.

"A big chunk of this deficit is from a loss in sales tax," Jeffers said, adding that declining property taxes also have affected the city revenues.

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Payroll savings will come from open positions in the Police Department, public works, city library and parks and recreation. Some of those positions were budgeted to be filled but will now remain empty, Jeffers said.

Others, he said, were held open earlier in the year, saving departments a significant amount of money.

Glendora Police Chief Charles Montoya, whose department saved about $485,000 from open positions earlier in the year, said that only one of his 58 budgeted positions is currently unfilled.

Posted by Jennifer McLain at 9:56 AM | 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)

Glendora is not the only city that has considered districts. But its population is smaller than most of the other cities that have considered it, Dan Abendschein reports.

Ballot measure seeks to divide city into districts
By Dan Abendschein, Staff Writer
Article Launched: 03/08/2008 11:17:46 PM PST

GLENDORA - If a proposed ballot measure to split the city into districts eventually succeeds, it will be the fourth in the San Gabriel Valley to abolish citywide council elections.

Pasadena, Pomona and Bradbury all have districts. Glendora's plan would divide the city into five districts of equal population, similar to Pasadena's seven districts, and Pomona's six. Right now, the plan has just been submitted to the city, and it is not yet certain when or if it will get on the ballot.

Individual districts come with their benefit: local campaigns can be cheaper to run, and council members are likely to be more attentive to local neighborhoods. But it also comes with downsides, experts say.

"People's concern about districts is that a council member becomes too focused on their own district and not on the entire city," said Doug Johnson, a politics fellow at the Rose Institute, and a consultant for a research firm that has helped cities draw up districting plans.

That could particularly be a problem with Glendora, which has a population of about 50,000, and will have districts of around 10,000 people, many of whom might not be registered voters.

Most cities with districts have population at least 150,000 people, Johnson said.

Posted by Jennifer McLain at 2:28 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)

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)

The city will likely appeal a court ruling that could cost Glendora up to $3 million in redevelopment funds, Dan Abendschein reports today.

Glendora could lose funding By Dan Abendschein, Staff Writer Article Launched: 03/07/2008 11:00:10 PM PST

GLENDORA - A ruling in a legal dispute between the city and Los Angeles County could cost the city $2 to $3 million a year in redevelopment funds, officials say.

A Monterey County judge last month wrote that Glendora redevelopment areas are not sufficiently run-down to continue to receive county tax funds slated for redevelopment.

"Glendora's findings of blight are not supported by substantial evidence," wrote Judge Robert O'Farrell. The case was transferred to Monterey County to avoid bias since the plaintiffs in the case were Los Angeles County officials.

Posted by Jennifer McLain at 1:00 PM | Permalink | Comments (3)

At Glendora's next council meeting, they will discuss several lawsuits, including a complaint filed on Feb. 28 by Kaleigh Marshall, who was placed under arrest last February for placing stickers on Councilman Gary Clifford's political signs.

Posted by Jennifer McLain at 1:00 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Posted by Jennifer McLain at 6:22 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)