Recently in Industry Category

I will get to week in review later, but for now I wanted to bring to your attention a story in the Orange County Register where Industry Stadium spokesman John Semcken took the battle between their plan and AEG's downtown plan to another level.

In particular, Semcken criticized AEG chief operating executive Tim Leiweke's credibility.

"Tim's a bad guy," Semcken said of the man he once worked side-by-side with to create Staples Center. "He can't build the building."

In the early stages of this battle, it appeared the two sides would jockey for an NFL team and may the best man win. Now, it would appear that Ed Roski's team is fightin' mad about AEG's downtown plan. It also points to the clear concern of Roski's team that a downtown stadium is, on the surface, more appealing to most people - and probably the NFL.

Semcken, and others, have legitimate concerns about AEG's plan that includes a skeptical look at AEG's alleged price tag of building a stadium and whether or not downtown can accommodate such a large scale production. But will his personal criticisms of Leiweke overshadow those concerns, and, possibly, serve to make them look petty?

In related news, did you see the collapse of the Metrodome over the weekend? If you haven't, watch the video. Amazing stuff.

The Vikings, along with the San Diego Chargers, are considered to be the top two teams most likely to move to Los Angeles. Both want new stadiums, and if they don't get them, could be prime candidates to move to swanky new digs in L.A.

But this may change things. With the roof collapse, this could ensure the Vikings their new stadium, and thus take them out of the running for the L.A. plan.

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

The Minneapolis Star-Tribune reports today that vice president of public affairs Lester Bagley said both AEG as well as Ed Roski's group have both contacted the team about potentially moving to California.

Roski has plans approved for a football stadium in Industry, while AEG's Tim Leiweke has recently bolted onto the scene, stealing the headlines with a downtown stadium proposal.

According to Bagley's quote in the article, it appears Roski contacted the team in the past, but Leiweke was the most recent to reach out to the team.

The Vikings have long since been on the radar as one of the potential teams available to bring the NFL back to Los Angeles. The Vikings want a new stadium and if that doesn't come to pass, they may be looking for new digs elsewhere.

The Vikings are down to the last year on their lease and decisions must be made soon.

Other teams that have been rumored as candidates for Los Angeles are the Buffalo Bills, the San Diego Chargers, the Jacksonville Jaguars, the St. Louis Rams, and the Oakland Raiders.

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

Came across this blog on the Jacksonville Jaguars website that talks about how the team has had to work to sell tickets for this week's Monday Night Football game against the Tennessee Titans.

For most teams, MNF would be enough to get an easy sell out, but not in Jacksonville where the team had to blackout many games last year after not selling enough tickets for home games.

The Jaguars have been a team discussed as a potential suitor to move to Los Angeles if Ed Roski and his Industry stadium team are able to lure someone out west.

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

After AEG's Tim Leiweke spoke to L.A. business folk Tuesday about using the L.A. Convention Center to help build an NFL stadium, some people aren't reacting to it as he might hope.

The big hiccup? Ed Roski's Industry stadium is privately financed while Leiweke is asking for, oh, something like $1 billion from taxpayers.

L.A. Observed has a video up. And you can put Ron Kaye on the side of Roski's plan vs. Leiweke's downtown idea.

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

I'm convinced bed bugs are trying to take over the world.

OK, my general fear of bugs mixed with the paranoia I have had about bedbugs for the last four years probably contributes to my earlier exaggeration. They aren't out for world domination. Just our blood. That's not so bad, blood is only MY LIFE FORCE!

Seriously though, the bedbug problem seems to be getting out of hand. Ben Baeder's story today say calls about bedbugs have ballooned and that the bugs have become immune to certain pesticides.

One expert went as far as to say it is an "epidemic" of bugs. I won't sleep for a week.

Let's switch to a happy hero story. Remember Carl Harstine, the WWII veteran who had his American Flag stolen twice? Well, following that initial story, the community rallied behind Harstine.

An event at his home turned into a community block party. Seriously, it was like something out of a Disney film. People walked out of their homes, children rode their skateboards, people generally flocked to see Harstine presented with new flags and a pole for an overall tribute to the man. It was awe-inspiring.

Also over the weekend, we continued to look at how cities pay their executives, this time at city councils.

No councils are making outlandish pay, generally speaking. But many do receive benefits that are more common with executives: $600 car allowance, executive health benefits, reimbursement stipends.

Finally, everyone should take the time to read Rebecca Kimitch's two-part series about how a doctor shortage could cause a health care crisis. Read the first part here and the second part here.

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

I am not sure what news could overtake the bittersweet emotions of the Angels losing three out of four to the Rangers, moving to seven games out of first place, and trading 8-year Angel veteran Joe Saunders while getting a great pitcher (and hometown hero?) Dan Haren from the Arizona Diamondbacks.

Haren went to Bishop Amat High School and owns a home in West Covina, so in a way, he heads home by being traded to the Angels and can become something of a hometown favorite with them.

And in a similar twist of fate, Saunders is traded to Arizona where he owns a home in Phoenix. If that is solace to Saunders who fell just short of tears when speaking to reporters is unknown.

As for the remainder of the weekend news from the Tribune, look no further than the links below. (Actually, if you browse the website for a bit you will find many tales of lore and city road construction projects. These are just some highlights.)

- For 80 years the El Calvario Community Center in El Monte provided classes, daycare and tutoring to neighborhood children and teens. But when the center closed down nearly three years ago, it began providing quite the opposite - a hideaway for methamphetamine users.

- Baldwin Park will reconsider its vehicle impound policy after the Police Department took a woman's car for 15 days - even though she was in the passenger seat and willing to drive her car away from a police checkpoint.

- Majestic Realty Co. CEO and chairman Ed Roski Jr. said he remains committed to returning professional football to the region and building a state-of-the-art NFL stadium near the junction of the 60 and 57 freeways.

- Anyone who has an opinion about a Navy proposal to clean up most of the contamination it left near Morris Dam during torpedo tests has one last chance to share it with government officials.

- Duarte is going to take legal action against Azusa over a recently approved plan to mine part of the Azusa Rock Quarry near Duarte's border.

As for the week ahead, special council meeting in Azusa tonight at 6:30 pm. at the Azusa Light and Water Conference Room, 729 N. Azusa Ave., will discuss purchasing a new police vehicle and a new contract with the Azusa Chamber of Commerce.

Glendora's council meeting at 7 p.m. on Tuesday at City Hall, 116 E. Foothill Blvd., will look at, among other items, fees for city services.

Also Tuesday, San Dimas City Council will consider a request for the Five Cities 10K run on Nov. 6.

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

For those of you busy watching the World Cup over the weekend, I got your local news for you right here.

How the free environmental pass to the Industry Stadium is affecting others.

A state water agency approved a set of tough new environmental regulations for the Los Angeles River on Friday that cities say could cost them billions.

San Gabriel Valley officials met Friday with the top state assembly Democrat to discuss a budget proposal that could bring hundreds of thousands of dollars to local cities.

In the wake of the death last week of a 15-year-old girl, organizers on Friday for the second time called off an unrelated rave expected to draw 5,000 partiers.

As for what's to come this week, San Dimas and Glendora both have city council meetings tomorrow.

On Glendora's agenda is a request to change the City Clerk's administrative assistant position to Deputy City Clerk and increasing the position's salary by about $11,000 a year. The city hopes this can help to innovate and better services from the department.

The San Dimas City Council and Planning Commission are having a joint meeting to discuss the ongoing City Hall renovation project and the potential NJD Project Development in the northern foothills.

Two final items of note. Congratulations to my all time favorite baseball player Tim Salmon. Salmon, who has the most career home runs at 299 without ever appearing in an All-Star game, was the MVP of the All-Star Celebrity Softball Game in Anaheim Sunday.

Secondly, for your viewing pleasure and to stay fresh on Internet lingo, this is so double rainbow.

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

I know it doesn't seem like anything else matters after the U.S. lost its FIFA World Cup match against new soccer (futbol for those speaking the Queen's English) nemesis Ghana, but there was some news over the weekend, believe it or not.

Reporter James Wagner and I combined to become something of a super group with this piece on crime in the Valinda corridor.

The Glendora City Council had a special meeting last week where they decided to lay off five city employees and combine two engineering departments. An attorney for the employee's association is not pleased.

And while we have chronicled the problems La Puente is having in dealing with its marijuana dispensaries, Monrovia has the seeds of a developing controversy of their own. (My apologies for the pun. I couldn't resist.)

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

Two months ago, local billionaire Ed Roski Jr.'s grand plans of returning the NFL to the Los Angeles region encountered an interesting twist. A former business partner, Tim Leiweke, and Casey Wasserman announced they were exploring their own idea of building a $1 billion NFL stadium next to the Staples Center in downtown Los Angeles.

As some predicted, Roski (pictured) wasn't the only one gunning for an NFL team in L.A. And some of that jockeying for position has now moved online.

A new website and Twitter account in opposition of the downtown stadium concept were recently started. The site, nostadiumatstaples.com, is a collection of news stories and items relating to the Leiweke-Wasserman plan. It covers everything from questions about L.A. Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa's tickets from Staples Center owners to the mayor's hopes of luring Comic-Con to the L.A. Convention center (which could be torn down as part of the downtown stadium concept). Leiweke, president and CEO of AEG, which owns and operates the Staples Center, is a political ally of Villaraigosa.

It's unclear who runs the website or Twitter account. The website was created on May 30, according to a website registry. And the tweeting didn't start until June 1. Here's who is behind it, according to a vague description on their website:

We are a group of concerned citizens of the Los Angeles area bringing you current news information regarding the possible development of a 80,000 seat stadium at the Staples Center.

A Twitter message to the group wasn't immediately returned. And a call to a Roski representative wasn't either.

Roski, CEO and Chairman of Majestic Realty Co., has said he won't build his shovel-ready 600-acre, 75,000-seat stadium in Industry until he lands a team.

Note: For more coverage on the prospect of the NFL in L.A., check here.

Email: james.wagner@sgvn.com | Twitter: @jmswgnr @sgvtribune | Facebook: SGVTribune

U.S. Secretary of Labor Hilda Solis was in town Tuesday morning, visiting the Los Angeles Electrical Training Institute, a union center in Commerce that teaches electrical skills, and talking green jobs.
So we asked Solis - the former U.S. representative for El Monte, West Covina and Baldwin Park - what she thought of the plan to build a $800-million, 75,000-seat "green" NFL stadium in Industry.
Solis punted the question, saying she was "not really aware of it."
When asked if she had any thoughts, she replied: "Not really because I'm here mostly to talk about what our investments are."
Solis was referring to the federal grants and contributions made to California to promote green jobs.
Maybe Solis was caught off guard by the question but the NFL stadium issue has been a hot topic for the region and state, given Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's approval of the stadium plan.
Labor unions heavily backed the stadium plan as billionaire developer Ed Roski and his Majestic Realty Co. touted the project as a way to create 18,000 jobs and create $760 million in yearly economic output.

I spoke with state Sen. Bob Huff Wednesday, who was less than pleased over allegations he had a conflict of interest when casting a vote in the Senate last week.

The vote in questions was a procedural one to help move an environmental bill to the Senate floor. Problem is, that environmental bill -- which passed -- will exempt a proposed NFL stadium in Industry from state environmental laws.

Members of the Citizens for Community Preservation Inc., which has a lawsuit filed against the stadium, said the vote was unethical because of Huff and his wife's involvement with Industry and the stadium's developer, Majestic Realty.

Huff called the allegations "about as bogus as the lawsuit," and said he consulted with legal counsel, who told him there was, in fact, no conflict.

Huff said he originally was not going to participate in the vote at all. But then he was asked to step in, and even the Senate President -- along with others -- told him there was no legal conflict.

He didn't vote when the bill finally hit the Senate floor.

The Governator himself is making a special trip to the San Gabriel Valley Thursday to ceremoniously sign a bill that would essentially pave the way for Ed Roski Jr.'s $800 million stadium project.

The ceremony will be held at 8:30 a.m. at the site that will hold the 600-acre stadium, near the interchange of the 57 and 60 freeways.

In addition to Arnold Schwarzenegger, I'm sure a whole host of other local dignitaries will be there.

This comes a week after the Senate approved a bill that exempts the stadium project from state environmental laws.

This also means that the last standing lawsuit against the stadium -- filed by eight Walnut residents -- is essentially no more.

I walked into a bookshop in Venice Beach a week ago and what was the first thing I saw?

you can listen to reporter James Wagner talk all about it here

There seems to be some confusion over Sen. Bob Huff's involvement in a Senate vote on Wednesday.

Huff participated in a procedural vote that helped move an environmental bill to the Senate floor. Problem is, that environmental bill -- which passed 22-14 -- will exempt a proposed NFL stadium in Industry from state environmental laws.

Members of the Citizens for Community Preservation Inc., which has a lawsuit filed against the stadium, said the vote was unethical because of Huff and his wife's involvement with Industry and the stadium's developer.

"(Legislators) didn't have enough votes to move the vote to the floor for, so Huff voted to get it to there," said Howard Wang, first vice president of the citizens group.

"He said he's not going to vote because of his personal interest with the stadium and his relations with Industry. Second of all, his wife is an executive of Pacific Palms Resort.

Obviously, there is a direct conflict of interest. Our view is he should not get involved in voting of any kind."

Pacific Palms is master-leased by Majestic, its CEO Roski and the company's Vice President John Semcken under a partnership called Majestic Industry Hills, LLC.

Wang said the citizens group was consulting with officials at the state's Fair Political Practices Commission to determine if there is a potential conflict of interest.

The group is mulling filling a complaint against Huff.

It's almost official -- almost.

With the larger of two legal challenges against an NFL Stadium in Industry settled, officials are saying that the hope of pro football returning to LA are "that close."

The Industry City Council approved a $9 million settlement agreement with Walnut on Thursday. That leaves only one legal challenge left -- a lawsuit filed by a citizens group in Walnut.

It appears talks to settle that suit have broken down, though I'm sure billionaire developer Ed Roski Jr.'s people aren't giving up that easy.

In the meantime, take our online poll (just scroll down the homepage) to vote for which NFL team you would like to see in LA.

Forgive us.

Thanks to a mishap, we didn't post a copy of a letter pertaining to a story we wrote. Last week, the company hoping to build a National Football League stadium complex in the City of Industry presented this letter to the Walnut City Council, which has sued the developer. The letter refuted, among other things, claims made against the company, Majestic Realty, and its project.

An issue emerged the day following Wednesday's city council meeting. After this newspaper filed a public records request for a copy of the letter Thursday, Walnut said it was consulting its attorney concerning the release of the letter, which included a confidential attachment, because of its pending litigation. (The attachment, according to the letter, documented Walnut's settlement items in the now-terminated negotiations with Majestic.)

Majestic, however, provided this newspaper with a copy. And now, so do you. (See the text of the letter after the jump.)

Walnut has ten days from the public records request to make a decision of the release. So, we'll see what emerges. But here are two facts to consider: The letter was presented at a public meeting and the first page of it was read publicly.