Recently in Pasadena Category

Pasadena officials may have identified an easy way to save millions in crucial city dollars -- identify retiring employees and then decide whether to fill their positions.

Dan Abendschein reports the city has identified 35 employees who are likely to retire this year and are studying the potential savings of keeping their posts vacant.

There's no telling who will actually retire and its still unclear if city officials would actually keep their positions open, fill them or opt for some kind of solution in between.

But the move could potentially save the city millions.

If you were lucky or connected enough to score some Rose Bowl game tickets last year through a Pasadena official, that may have been the last time.

The Pasadena City Council has tightened the rules behind giving out complimentary tickets to the annual game, Star-News reporter Dan Abendschein reported last week.

This comes after a California Fair Political Practices Commission decision last December ruled in favor of disclosure.

That means now, council members have to submit the names of people to whom they give tickets and a reason for the gift.

And there's a special list of "qualified ticket recipients," too, which includes business owners, family members, volunteers and residents who do work on behalf of Pasadena.

Each council member gets 90 tickets to distribute, and the mayor gets 150.

No, the tickets aren't free.

But considering how fast the Rose Bowl game sells out, it would be nice to have the option of buying tickets without having to stand in line for hours, or purchasing tickets at three times the price online.

Thinking of lugging that old couch to Colorado Boulevard to watch the Rose Parade this year?

Well you better think twice -- city officials are looking to ban such items and other bulky furniture from the parade route as a way to ease New Year's Day clean-up.

Star-News reporter Dan Abendschein reports the Pasadena City Council is mulling an ordinance that would allow police to issue citations to people who bring in big furniture or lots of chairs to the route.

"The prohibition will likely be against anything that can't be moved by one person alone," said Nicholas Rodriguez of the City Attorney's Office.

Apparently, it costs the Old Pasadena Management District several thousand dollars each year to clean up old barbecues, mattresses and couches along four blocks of the route.

While Keith Hanks is running for reelection this March on the Azusa City Council, he is also hoping for another election in the coming weeks.

Hanks sits on the board for the Metro Gold Line Foothill Extension that is now chaired by La Verne Mayor Jon Blickenstaff. Blickenstaff is leaving the La Verne council at the end of his term this year.

When the board is restructured, Hanks has his fingers crossed in hopes of becoming the new chair, or at least the vice chair, told me today (Wednesday).

I can't say I would blame the board for the decision. Hanks has a firm grasp on engineering and transportation issues. The man just gets excited about things like this and you always want that out of a representative.

In terms of engineering, I would probably be described as a novice and I would take that as a compliment.

But when Hanks, who works in the public works department for the city of Los Angeles and focuses on sewer systems, was explaining to me different parts of how sewers work, not only was it interesting, but I understood.

It takes someone who really knows what they are talking about to not only taking something like how sewers work and make it interesting, but to also allow a Lehman like myself to understand the basics of some complex issues.

This isn't politics, but I couldn't resist writing about it.

It was pretty cool, not to mentioned surprising, when I happened to call a famous, and somewhat well known, movie director when calling various little leagues for this story.

When I first looked at Pasadena Southwestern's little league website, I saw the presidents name and thought it looked familiar: D.J. Caruso.

I, by own definition, consider myself a movie buff. I haven't been as involved in recent years, but it wasn't too long ago that I could tell you the best movies to see from American, Korean, Polish and French filmmakers.

So, when I noticed a name that was familiar, I did what any sane person would do - I Googled it. When Caruso's name came up as the director of Eagle Eye, Disturbia - and most notably for me - The Salton Sea, I was skeptical. What are the odds that a president of a local little league was also a director of films that have grossed more than $100 million.

I talked it over with fellow Tribune reporter Rebecca Kimitch and we both agreed the scenario was unlikely. But still, I promised I would ask.

During the interview about his little league program, I decided I wasn't sure if I wanted to ask. The guy probably gets that all the time and I didn't want to annoy him.

But I went through with it, although somewhat backhanded. I asked what he did for a living, and then he responded, without much pressure but with a laugh "I actually direct movies."

My voice jolted.

"I knew it!"

This is a man who is buddies with Steven Spielberg, has directed Val Kilmer, Shia Lebouf and "The Shield" and I just happened to talk to him for a story about local little leagues hitting hard times. Crazy coincidence.

He said he gets that all that time. In fact, sometimes people come up to him and say "You know, you have the same name as a movie director." And not knowing they are one in the same, Caruso just lets them carry on. "Ya, I get that all the time," he says.

When I asked him how he ended up the president of the board for Pasadena Southwestern, I expected...well I didn't know what to expect but I half expected it to be something elaborate or out of the ordinary.

Instead, it was very similar to any dad or mom's story. He has five kids, all going through the little league at one time or another and he had helped out as a coach or volunteer over the years.

One year, he took a board position looking over the maintenance of the fields, something he said he was interested in.

This year they asked him to be president and since he is in-between movies, he decided to do it. He felt grateful to the league for all they had done for his family and wanted to give back.

Sometimes this job has some pretty cool surprises.

A comment I frequently hear when I am out and about is that residents want to help their community, but they just don't know where to go. Now that Obama has called on our public service, I am hoping to provide regular information on the blog about where people can go to help.

I'll post more as I find them. If you have any ideas, want to volunteer, or need volunteers, keep us posted.

1. One agency is Women At Work, a Pasadena-based career counseling agency aimed at helping women find work. They need volunteers Monday through Thursday. To find out how to volunteer, call 626-796-6870.

2. Cory's Kitchen in Irwindale also needs volunteers. Cory's Kitchen is a food bank that provides groceries to the needy. To contact them, call (626) 305-0392. 
 

Anybody living in a home connected to the area's history should check this out.

Two homeowners in La Verne are applying for the Mills Act, a program that gives property tax back to families that promise to fix up and maintain their old houses. The program can save thousands every year.

The program is popular in some of the area's older cities, such as Pasadena, Monrovia or Whittier.

Reporter Daniel Tedford called the city, and they said about 10 people in La Verne have applied.

The leader of the San Gabriel Valley Economic Partnership says cities should stick together, literally.

Ron Wood, the partnership's CEO, said plenty of area cities could save cash by combining.

He said Covina and West Covina could become more efficient by becoming one municipality. So could Pasadena and South Pasadena. He also mentioned Temple City and Arcadia and El Monte and South El Monte.

The idea has been floating around for years, but he wonders if economic hard times will make people take it more seriously.

"I think it's one of the answers to economic problems in the San Gabriel Valley," he said. "It's an opportunity for people to take a fresh look."

He doubts politicians could set aside their egos to accomplish such a huge change, but he says people are more receptive to the idea than in the past.

"Sometimes crisis brings about changes in people," he said.

Full disclosure: Wood used to be the publisher here at the Tribune.

Think your city is hot stuff?

Find out this weekend. Reporter Daniel Tedford is working on a story about the top cities in the San Gabriel Valley. Tedford is using a CNN/Money Magazine formula to rank the cities based on housing affordability, job growth, marriage and divorce rates, commutes, school test scores, and crime rates.

Just a heads up, you'll likely be VERY surprised to see whose at the top and bottom of the list.

Smoking bans in cities have become pretty popular over the last several years.

The latest city to join the club: Pasadena.

According to reporter Dan Abendschein, the City Council approved the new smoking ban Monday.

It takes effect in November, would prohibit smokers "from lighting up in outdoor restaurant patios, at bus stops, in ATM lines and within 20 feet of the entrance to any commercial building."

It doesn't look like enforcement is going to be very rigorous though.

But exactly how the smoking ban will be enforced -- and whether the city will actually issue citations to violators -- is still up in the air. And given the city's past history with a previous no-smoking law adopted in 2004, an aggressive crackdown seems unlikely.
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Enforcement will be primarily the responsibility of several employees at the Health Department, not the police.

Health Department employees will not be out patrolling for smokers, said Wilmore. But like Calabasas, they will respond to complaints from businesses and individuals, he added.

Pasadena police will be trained about the new law, but enforcement will be a low priority, Chief David Melekian said. Don't expect a cop to show up if you complain about illegal smoking, he added.

Other valley cities that also have smoking bans include South Pasadena and Baldwin Park.

Look for Dan's story in tomorrow's paper.

Police are telling us that a Pasadena woman lit her house on fire before shooting and killing herself yesterday morning, a day before she was supposed to be evicted because she couldn't pay her mortgage. Our reporter is out there now.

At times like these, any information about avoiding foreclosure will help.

On Oct. 17, there will be a foreclosure prevention seminar hosted by Congresswoman Hilda Solis from 5 to 7 p.m. at 4100 Baldwin Park Blvd. in Baldwin Park.

Speaking of city managers, in talking to La Puente Mayor Louie Lujan on Wednesday about Frank Tripepi's recent appointment to transition manager, Lujan started talking about the possibility of La Puente needing to reevaluate it's city manager salary when a full-time replacement is hired.

Lujan talked about the decreasing pool of qualified city managers out there. He also referred to this story (salaries.pdf) from the Press-Enterprise about upped city manager salaries.

I spotted a $300,000-something salary in there somewhere.

Yikes.

Carol Cowley was making roughly $140,000 when she retired last month. But that's because, Lujan said, she didn't have a degree and she had no experience.

If Tripepi were to stay on as a transition manager for a year, he'd make $240,000 in La Puente.

Lujan talked about a very narrow gap between the lowest and highest city manager salaries in the SGV. Let's take a look.

In Rosemead, City Manager Oliver Chi makes about $178,000 a year.

Irwindale's Robert Griego makes about $180,000.

Michelle Keith took a job as Bradbury's city manager for $106,000 a year.

Covina's former city manager Paul Phillips -- who was city manager for eight years -- got $95,280 as part of a six-month severance package when he was fired a few months back. Double that, and the figure you get was his outgoing salary.

Cynthia Kurtz, who is serving as Covina's interim, is making $12,900 per month -- if she were there for a year, she'd make $154,000.

And in Pasadena, Michael Beck makes about $265,000 a year.

Pasadena's virtual gadfly is calling it quits and his attorney is advising him to take down his blog, Foothill Cities blog is still down, and Rosemead's city Web site is finally up.

Leftovers Column: City's image takes a beating
By Jennifer McLain and Tania Chatila, Staff Writers
Article Launched: 10/05/2008 11:04:48 PM PDT

It's been a rough few months for the city of Baldwin Park's image.

Residents still are concerned about school board member Sergio Corona's arrest in May on suspicion of driving under the influence of alcohol and drugs and being under the influence of a controlled substance.

He currently is facing misdemeanor charges of vandalism, resisting an officer and driving without a license in connection with the arrest.

Then last month, Baldwin Park Councilman Anthony Bejarano was booked on suspicion of public intoxication.

The Los Angeles District Attorney's office said last week week it would not be filing charges against Bejarano, who said he was not drunk the night of his arrest.

Still, the incident has stirred unrest in the community and has brought to light a question that often goes unanswered in the political realm - just how high should the ethical and moral bar be set for our public officials?

We put the question out there and got some interesting responses from anonymous readers of the Leftovers blog.

Here's a sample:

-- "Let's face it none of us is perfect in our personal lives..., we go through divorces, we have children who occasionally get in trouble, we occasionally say things in frustration or in the heat of the moment that upon reflection we wish we didn't say, we sometimes get our facts wrong."

-- "Yes, we do hold our elected officials to a higher standard, especially when they are representing us at a public event."

-- "I'm not saying we treat our elected with kid gloves in terms of their policy positions or in terms of factors which might impact their ability to act fairly, honestly and impartially. But I don't care to know about him having a simple argument with a spouse or that his or her kid got a D on their algebra exam or that (on one isolated) night they may have seemed a bit tipsy..."

-- "Character does matter."

Our elected officials have been in the news a lot lately over questions of ethical behavior among themselves and their relatives.

Pico Rivera Mayor Ron Beilke's son was recently detained by the sheriff's department in a case where a reserve deputy's .45-caliber revolver and vehicle were stolen. Beilke's son wasn't charged, but two of the 17-year-old's friends were.

Last month, the teenage son of former Irwindale Councilwoman and Baldwin Park Chief Deputy City Clerk Rosemary Gutierrez plowed his car through a neighbor's wall while driving home around 4 a.m.

A police report was not made, no one was arrested, no one was hurt and neighbors decided not to press charges on what was classified initially as a hit-and-run.

Then in El Monte, Mayor Ernie Gutierrez - who is not related to Rosemary Gutierrez - took a lot of heat for allegedly showing up at a city event drunk and shouting vulgarities.

In May, city officials prepared a report looking into Gutierrez's actions, but concluded the allegations had no merit.

We see this all the time - someone in the public spotlight, whether they be authorities, politicians or entertainment superstars, slips up and all of a sudden their abilities to perform come into question.

Only voter turnout will tell us how much constituents really care.

Only for two hours that is.

Rose Bowl to try vehicle ban
Human-power only on the loop on Thursday
By Janette Williams, Staff Writer
Article Launched: 09/22/2008 10:34:38 PM PDT

PASADENA - In a two-hour experiment this Thursday, the 3.3-mile loop around the Rose Bowl will be given over to walkers, skaters, strollers and cyclists - no sharing space with anything that's not people-powered.

The 5 to 7 p.m. ban on vehicle traffic is a pilot program designed to find out how traffic impacts the increasing numbers of recreational users, and so far it's a one-off, Assistant City Manager Stephanie De Wolfe said Monday.

Read the full story here.

Welcome back to the work week!

Here's this week's column inspired by the great dialogue by our readers last week. Thanks to everyone for participating in the conversation. There were many ideas that we've not heard from our elected leaders:

They say drastic times call for drastic measures.

We've certainly seen a lot of that as local leaders struggle with faltering revenues and excruciating budget cuts.

In West Covina, every department head was asked to cut five percent from their budget to make up for a $2.1million deficit.

In El Monte, facing a $400,000 deficit, council members slashed the Police Department's funds, maintained hiring freezes and cut back on recreation programs.

And in cities like Pico Rivera, El Monte, San Gabriel and Covina, taxes seem to be the only answer to supplement wavering incomes.

Many city council members have said this undoubtedly is a difficult time and it never is easy making cuts.

But what you would do if you were running the show?

Here are some ideas readers came up with, and they're nothing like what our elected officials have suggested:

Eliminate all car, travel and cell phone allowances for council members, as well as car allowances for city employees. "Stop paying for trips to China, Paris, Mexico, etc.," according to one reader.

Cut back on recreation departments, including youth and senior programs.

"Seniors tend to be better off than most non-retired working age folks. Seniors, though they are on fixed incomes, usually have a lifetime's worth of savings and investments accumulated ... and they also enjoy many discounts that non-seniors do not enjoy," another reader wrote.

Turn off at least half of street lights.
"We're figuratively throwing our money into the sky with all the lighting that goes up where it is not needed," one reader wrote.

Cut back on overtime for public safety, review every contract that has been in place in the city for at least three years and consider cutting staffing of "non-essential things such as school resource officers or farmer's markets," according to another reader.

Require those on the Metropolitan Transportation Authority to use public transportation to attend meetings. "They're in charge of the MTA; they should be able to get to the meetings using the same public transit they govern. If it's not good enough for them, it's not good for us, either."

While some of these ideas are downright impossible others are more feasible.

Elected officials say city government is a labor of love.

So maybe they should think outside of the box a little more often. And maybe readers should get up from behind their computer screens and attend council meetings a little more often, too. Give those councils a piece of their minds.

Open Forum: Should council members go on conferences out of state if their cities are facing deficits?

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?

The L.A. Times wrote a really interesting article on the Aurora Las Encinas Hospital in Pasadena, where earlier this month, a 14-year-old girl was raped by a 16-year-old patient at the hospital, as staffers and the suspect's probation officer slept nearby.

A source told me the incident happened in the middle of the night, during the hospital's "noc" or night shift.

Since then, a nurse and a mental health worker have been let go, the source told me.

Needless to say, the Times piece also delves into the hospital's track record, which apparently isn't that great.

Worth a read.