A lesson in civics

There were some new guests at the Glendora City Council meeting Tuesday.

Students from a government class at Glendora High School were on hand, taking notes through the meeting.

The students were tortured (I kid, I kid) …. ahem … were given this riveting learning experience for an assignment regarding local government. The students were allowed to attend any council meeting, but these students choice Glendora, because, well, it was easiest. I would have done the same.

After the meeting I caught up with a couple students and asked them how they enjoyed seeing democracy at work.

Blair Collins Rivera, 17, of Duarte was one of the students.

“It was kind of interesting to watch the public speakers,” the Glendora High senior said.

I have to agree. Glendora has some of the most passionate public speakers I have seen. The criticism can be downright personal and mean at times, and the council has at times engaged in the mud slinging. If you are a 17-year-old kid watching a meeting, it is easy to see how this might be the most entertaining part.

I asked them about the council’s discussion about immigration, but they smartly strayed from putting their own feet to the fire.

“It was hard to follow, but interesting to see the debate,” said Brittni Perez, 16, also a senior at Glendora High School.

Perez, of Azusa, said she didn’t know enough about immigration and the debate to have a feeling one way or the other.

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

Azusa councilman (incorrectly?) clumps school board with city

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It was a quick comment, maybe one said in the moment, but there were some whispers and shaking heads on Monday night after one of Uriel Macias comments on the budget.

The city was about to vote on their budget and Macias was commending city staff in explaining how Azusa was in good shape.

Macias said it was good to see Azusa having a balanced budget when you see other cities and school boards cutting, and “we don’t have that in Azusa.”

Well……while the city isn’t laying anybody off, the Azusa Unified School Board sure has. In May, 22 teachers lost their jobs.

In fact, in this instance, it was those other cities that were able to hold onto teachers: Baldwin Park Unified, Hacienda La Puente Unified, El Monte Union, Covina-Valley Unified, El Monte City, Glendora Unified and Charter Oak Unified school districts all avoided layoffs.

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