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The presidency wasn't the only think at stake in Tuesday's historical election.

Here's a breakdown of some of the local candidates and measures that failed or passed:

*Measure CC, which would have changed Rosemead from a general law city to a charter city failed. Voters rejected it by a 63 percent to 37 percent margin.

*Former Assemblyman Ed Chavez took over Leon Garcia's seat in the Upper San Gabriel Valley Municipal Water District. Chavez is the husband of former La Puente Councilwoman Renee Chavez, who was outsed in 2007.

*Assemblyman Ed Hernandez, D-West Covina, will serve a second term in the 57th District. He walked away with 67 percent of the votes versus Baldwin Park resident Victor Saldana's 33 percent.

*Pico Rivera got its wish with the passage of Measure P, the one-percent sales-tax increase that officials say won't likely to take effect before April. Measure P is expected to bring in $6 million annually.

*A half cent sales-tax increase was approved by 71 percent of voters in El Monte. Measure GG will fund public safety and infrastructure as well as rebuild the city's emergency reserves.

Not enough for ya? For more on the elections, visit our special elections page here...

Central Basin and West Basin were happily married for 16 years. And then came the bitter divorce in 2006, followed by two lawsuits and likely the squandernig of thousands of rate payers dollars.

Of course, neither agency had that number at their fingertips when I asked them how much it cost them to litigate over the past two years. At West Bast, General Manager Rich Nagel assured that the costs were "minimal," whatever that means. And at Central Basin, the costs are significant enough that they are asking West Basin to pay for attorney's fees.

Here is the most recent in their break-up:

Water districts remain at odds
By Jennifer McLain, Staff Writer
Article Launched: 10/29/2008 11:44:55 PM PDT

COMMERCE - A court order last week still won't bring an end to a bitter divorce between two water districts that serve nearly half of Los Angeles County.

The West Basin and Central Basin municipal water districts have waged war against one another after the two split joint operations more than two years ago, this time disagreeing over how much each should pay for employee retirement expenses.

Judge Robert Heff on Oct.20 ruled that West Basin Municipal breached a settlement agreement with its former business partner, Central Basin Municipal Water District.

Central Basin officials said West Basin owes their district $1.09 million in employee retirement expenses.

But West Basin said that number is about $350,000 too high.

"We believe the information provided by Central Basin to the court was inaccurate," said West Basin General Manager Richard Nagel. "We've been discussing with the board how to correct that step."

After the judge ruled, Central Basin said it wants legal fees from West Basin.

Nagel said the West Basin's board will have to decide whether to appeal.

West Basin and Central Basin from 1990 to 2006 carried out joint operations from a building in Commerce.

Just before the partnership ended in 2006, West Basin filed a lawsuit against Central Basin because the two parties could not agree what they owed one another, such as employee liabilities.

West Basin provides water to the

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western portion of Los Angeles County, from as far north as Beverly Hills to as far south as Rancho Palos Verdes, and as far west from Hermosa Beach to as far east as Carson.
Central Basin serves areas from Lakewood to Montebello, Willowbrook to La Habra Heights, including Pico Rivera, Monterey Park and Whittier.

Central Basin General Manager Art Aguilar said he hoped the recent court judgement would put an end to the ongoing legal battles with West Basin.

If fights continue, Aguilar places the blame on West Basin.

"To continue this is a waste of rate payers money," Aguilar said.

jennifer.mclain@sgvn.com

(626) 962-8811, Ext. 2477

www.insidesocal.com/sgvgov

Have questions about the proposed parking ordinance that West Covina might impose? Well, the city prepared this on posted it on its Web site.

The parking ordinance discussion will resume on Tuesday, where the City Council will consider adopting the fee schedule as well as put its final stamp of approval on the language of the ordinance, which was first passed earlier this month.

City officials emphasized that this ordinance is designed to improve safety and remove blight, and that it is not a revenue producer. Officials also said that they have been receiving dozens of calls from residents over the past month regarding the ordinance. Some calls have been complaints, others have supported the ordinance, and others wondering where they should pay. (Also, there's been a flier circulating out there in opposition to the flier. Has anyone seen it or can you email the flier to me at jennifer.mclain@sgvn.com?)

According to the city, the proposal includes the following:

1. For residents and guests that need to park on the street for one night, single night permits would be available from automatic permit machines that would be located at secured locations, such as fire stations.

2. Annual overnight parking permits will be available to single-family and multi-family type complexes. However, residents must demonstrate there is insufficient on-site parking and that all vehicles are registered to the property.

3. Annual permits will not be issued for recreational vehicles. Recreational vehicle owners can purchase single night permits to load and unload.

Just to re-emphasize, the public hearing on Tuesday will be about how much to charge for the permits and the parking violations. The meeting, on Election Day, begins at 7 p.m.

I've been on the Mongols beat the past few days so I got behind with blogging. There are a couple of stories I wanted to talk about.

1. Palin's expenses: No, not the $150,000 shopping spree, but the doctored expense reports.

Gov. Sarah Palin charged the state for her children to travel with her, including to events where they were not invited, and later amended expense reports to specify that they were on official business.

The charges included costs for hotel and commercial flights for three daughters to join Palin to watch their father in a snowmobile race, and a trip to New York, where the governor attended a five-hour conference and stayed with 17-year-old Bristol for five days and four nights in a luxury hotel.

In all, Palin has charged the state $21,012 for her three daughters' 64 one-way and 12 round-trip commercial flights since she took office in December 2006. In some other cases, she has charged the state for hotel rooms for the girls.

These types of stories have been my bread and butter in the San Gabriel Valley. I wonder what makes this story any different than, say, former water board member Dolores Holguin who racked up a series of personal expenses and charged them to the district. Holguin pleaded guilty last week to a felony misuse of public funds.

2. Only in El Monte. I was always under the impression that traffic lights were a major cash flow, but Rebecca Kimitch reports that's not the case in El Monte.

EL MONTE - Cameras will no longer capture images of vehicles that race through red lights at two intersections, the City Council decided Tuesday night.

The council voted 5-0 not to renew a contract with Redflex Traffic Systems to operate the cameras at the intersections of Peck Road and Ramona Boulevard and Santa Anita Avenue and Lower Azusa Road.

The cameras do not generate enough revenue to be worth the man hours spent on their operation, city manager James Mussenden told the council.

"But it's not about revenue, it's about saving lives," he added.

Open forum: Are parking permits in West Covina a good idea?

The city is still looking into the price of parking permits, as well as the cost of the citations. At the city council meeting two weeks ago, there was an even number of people who spoke in favor and against having the parking permits. The council unanimously passed it.

New ordinance will require residents to get overnight parking permit
By Jennifer McLain, Staff Writer
Article Launched: 10/17/2008 11:41:15 PM PDT

WEST COVINA - Starting next year, drivers who leave their cars parked on city streets could get a ticket.

The West Covina City Council has unanimously approved a parking plan that requires drivers to get an overnight permit if they want to park on city streets between 2 and 6 a.m.

"We think it will be beneficial to public safety, and will improve the quality of life and aesthetics," said Shannon Yauchzee, public works director.

The restrictions will apply to all West Covina streets. The ordinance is expected to be finalized at the Nov. 4 council meeting, where the council will also host a public hearing to discuss the proposed parking permit costs and fees.

West Covina is still preparing a cost analysis and has not decided on permit fees or parking violation costs.

In La Verne, a yearly parking permit is $50, and a temporary permit runs $3 a night. Tickets in other cities range from $40 to $100.

Dolores Holguin, former director on the Valley County Water District in Baldwin Park, pleaded guilty today to one count of misusing public funds.

Investigators said that Holguin improperly charged personal expenses to the district, including meals, attorney's fees and telephone bills. She was ordered to pay back the district $6,200.

Deputy District Attorney Edward Miller said that he hopes the case serves as an example to public officials.

"It is a message that public officials are supposed to exercise the utmost care when spending the public's money, and if it is not an actual and necessary expense for their function, it is probably illegal," Miller said.

While we're by far the worst, looks like California isn't the only state slammed with budget deficits...

For all those government employees and teachers: How do you fell about your retirement money being used to purchase the state's debt?

Well, that's one suggestion by a California lawmaker, according to the Sacramento Bee.

With California's wallet emptying out faster than the cash is trickling in, state officials scrambling to pay the bills have set their sights on new lending sources: California's two biggest public pension funds.

Sen. Dean Florez, D-Shafter, has proposed that the California Public Employees' Retirement System purchase the state's looming debt. The money would keep California operating - including paying state employee payroll and funding schools - into next year.

Florez outlined the plan in a letter to state Treasurer Bill Lockyer on Friday. Lockyer spokesman Tom Dresslar on Monday said his boss will also float the idea to the California State Teachers' Retirement System. Lockyer sits on the boards of both funds.

"I just thought, 'Nobody is talking about CalPERS as a possible investor,' " Florez said Monday. "They might be able to get us a better deal than the banks, and we might be able to give them a better return on their investment than the stock market, especially right now."

But the idea doesn't sit well with everyone.

"If the state can't borrow money from the credit markets, why would CalPERS be interested?" said Keith Brainard, research director for the National Association of State Retirement Administrators.

While driving this morning from Monrovia to the Garvey School District in Rosemead via Rosemead Boulevard, I noticed dozens of signs for both Charles Trevino and Clarence Wong, who are both running for the seat on the Upper San Gabriel Valley Municipal Water District.

They are running against incumbent Frank Forbes as well as Arthur James Munoz.

What signs are you starting to see pop up?

Have you mustered up the strength yet to take a look at your 401k? If you have, here's a pick-me-up:

Iowa man faces charges after hugging officer
The Associated Press
Article Launched: 09/29/2008 12:41:22 PM PDT

IOWA CITY, Iowa--A hug has landed an Iowa City man in hot water. An Iowa City man who thought a police officer just "needed a hug" faces several charges including assault on a peace officer and public intoxication.

Police said a 21-year-old man was arrested on Saturday. According to police records, the man ran up to the officer and stuck out his arms.

The officer told him to "get away," but the man didn't take the hint and embraced the officer.

When the officer told the man to put his hands behind his head, he refused. He was then handcuffed.

 

A small city is about to open its doors to the world wide web.

Today, the South El Monte City Council will vote on approving a contract with a company that will live stream council meetings onto the city's Web site.

However, it will only be the audio.

The price tag will be $18,920, and an $815 monthly maintenance. The agreement will be with Granicus, Inc., a company used by other cities such as El Monte and now Rosemead.

As more and more cities move toward getting their meetings online, West Covina in July decided to cut off its broadcasts online and the television as a measure to save money during a deficit.

There's quite a long list of candidates running for seats of our local water boards for the November election. Who are these people and why are they running? I'll have more on that later, but feel free to chime in if you've got any background on these candidates.

Central Basin Municipal Water District

1. Hawkins, Phillip D.
2. Martuscello, David
3. Montalvo, Rudy
4. Pesci, William
5. Silva, Yvette L.
6. Vasquez, Ed

San Gabriel Valley Municipal Water District

1. Inocentes, Mason Buchanan
2. Reichenberger, Joseph
3. Vasquez, Leticia
4. Wong, John

Three Valleys Municipal Water District
1. Lantz, Fred

Upper San Gabriel Valley Municipal Water District

1. Brown, Royall K.
2. Chavez, Ed
3. Forbes, Frank
4. Garcia, Leon
5. Lizet, Angulo
6. Mendoza, John
7. McIntyre, Andrew M.
8. Munoz, Arthus James
9. Robinson, William "Bill" R.
10. Trevino, Charles
11. Wong, Clarence

Illegal immigrants who return after deportation commit more crimes, the Los Angeles Times reported today.

By Anna Gorman, Los Angeles Times Staff Writer
September 8, 2008

Illegal immigrants who have been deported at least once from the United States are far more likely than other immigrants to repeatedly commit crimes, according to a study by the nonprofit Rand Corp.

The data indicated that illegal immigrants, overall, were not a greater crime risk, according to the study, which looked at all inmates released from Los Angeles County Jail for a month in 2002.

But among those who previously had been deported, reentered the U.S. and were arrested and released from jail, nearly 75% went on to commit another crime within a year. And 28% were arrested three or more times during the one-year period.

The recidivism rate was much lower for illegal immigrants who had not been previously deported, with 32% of those inmates being rearrested within a year and 7% arrested three or more times during that year.

Since the data were collected in 2002, the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department has overhauled screening for illegal immigrants and the U.S. Department of Homeland Security has poured resources into border security. But researchers said the analysis still could have public policy implications for L.A. County and other counties around the nation.

Read more.

The disappointed politicians are out in full force today.

This press release just popped up in my email from the office of Assemblyman Ed Hernandez, D-West Covina, who said he is disappointed in the passage of the toll lane legislation that will allow the Federal Department of Transportation to implement a congestion pricing plan that would take existing carpool lanes on the 10, 110, and possibly the 210 freeway, and convert them all into toll lanes, as Dan Abendschein reported.

This is from the press release:

"I am disappointed that SB 1422 was able to move forward today. I had serious concerns about this toll lane plan from the start. This was a hastily crafted proposal that has led to fundamentally flawed legislation....

"We really needed more time to carefully consider this plan and flesh out the details before we voted on it. Not only were there obvious conflicts between the legislation we voted on today and the agreement Metro signed with the Department of Transportation, Metro only began actively seeking community input on these toll lanes this month.

In fact, the only real opportunity for affected communities to hear this plan in detail previously had been at a meeting I organized this past June in West Covina as Chair of the San Gabriel Valley Legislative Caucus.

How could we have voted to authorize toll lanes when we don't even know what they will be charging people?"

"This whole plan is patently unfair on its face. We cannot ask people to start paying tolls to access their freeways already paid for with taxpayer dollars, especially when they can barely afford to put gas in their cars as it is... ."

Tomorrow is the Rosemead council meeting, and the most exciting thing about it isn't on the agenda: The City Council Chambers are finally completed.

For anyone who has ever been to a Rosemead meeting before, you know why this is exciting. I'm hoping this means that, for starters, we will actually be able to hear what speakers saying, and won't have to look at the "No Soking" sign anymore.

But in case you are interested, here are the agenda highlights:

1. The City Council is considering hiring a consultant to look at employee positions and define job duties, and to see if the duties are administered correctly compared with pay amount.

2. The City Council will likely hire a consultant to ensure that they don't mess up the elections like they did three years ago by not providing voter registration in multiple languages.

3. The City Council will vote on a $57,000 contract to get the staff reports online and other recrods.

4. The City Council will vote on awarding a contract to the Nazerian Group for construction of the Rosemead Park Trail Enhancement.

5. The city has been asked by Savannah Memorial Park and the San Gabriel High School Football Team. Each want about $15,000 for their organizations.

One thing that caught my eye was a display of old gas pumps.

First, it was interesting because the gas prices are so low! (Yes, that says 28 cents a gallon!)

Secondly, one of the pumps resembled the pumps spotted at an abdandoned gas station on Shamrock in Monrovia. Any one know anything about that abandoned station?

Here's one opinion on the recent tax hikes. This letter ran on the Opinion Page today:
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Vote down tax hikes

Every day you read or hear about tax increases. The economy is horrible and people are having extreme difficulties paying mortgages, bills, food and the worst: the cost of gasoline.

Now our local, state and federal governments all want to increase taxes. Are they for real?

You don't hear our politicians saying they will take a cut in pay. You do not see our politicians giving up their cars, drivers or staff paid by us. They don't work everyday and yet they take long vacations.

Their answer to everything is increase taxes.

Let them put all these proposed increases on the ballot. I urge everyone to vote "no."

It is time the politicians and big government spend within the budget and we should hold them accountable.

We in the San Gabriel "Forgotten" Valley need to come together and vote "no" on the MTA tax. We will not get our fair share. The mayor of Los Angeles only has one thought in mind and it is not us. In fact, he is probably one of the worst when it comes to spending taxpayers money. Just look at all the trips he has taken.

Let us all wake up and stop listening to the politicians. They need to spend wisely and stop using us as scapegoats.

Gil Dominguez

West Covina

It looks like a 1 percent sales-tax hike isn't just a theory...

SACRAMENTO - Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger moved to end the stalemate over the state budget Wednesday by offering a compromise spending plan that calls for a temporary 1 percent sales-tax increase and additional cuts.

In the past, the governor has said he is against raising taxes. But with the budget nearly two months overdue, he said it is time to move beyond partisan ideology. He said Republicans and Democrats must find a middle ground between taxes and cuts to state programs.

California was supposed to have a budget in place by July 1, the start of the fiscal year, but lawmakers differ over how to close the $15.2 billion deficit.

"This compromise budget proposal puts our state on the road to fiscal sanity and will give California a budget that works," Schwarzenegger said at a news conference.

The governor's proposal has put him in the curious position of having Democrats as allies, and getting criticism from his own Republican party.

Senate majority leader Sen. Gloria Romero, D-Los Angeles, said she appreciated the governor taking a practical view of the budget.

"I applaud the governor for forgetting about campaign pledges and ideology and trying to do what is right for California," said Romero. "We have to do cuts and we have to have new revenue ... we can't borrow our way out."

But Assemblyman Bob Huff, R-Diamond Bar, said he expected there would be no compromise as long as new taxes were part of the plan.

"It's a non-starter for us. ... it is the wrong thing to do to people in this kind of economy," said Huff. "Sadly, the governor has lost credibility on both sides of the aisle... he has not been the strong rudder he was earlier in his term."

Read more.

The council meeting was still going on when I had to duck out at 10:15 p.m. to meet my deadline. I'll just catch up on the televised meetings. Oh, wait. That's right. West Covina cancelled that little feature. (I just crack myself up.)

Anywho, most of the meeting tonight was taken up by the nearly 20 residents that spoke about the pulling of the televised meetings. Most of them said they wanted to the meetings televised, one suggested alternative funding sources, and some suggested that the council cut other things in the budget, like trips to China and Japan, car allowances and getting rid of the horse property it is allegedly leasing. (I'll follow up on the horse property claim tomorrow.)

But in the end, the council majority said, basically, that the economy stinks, everyone is making tough budget decisions both at their homes and at their work places, and that this is after all just a temporary decision.

Also coming out of tonight's meeting: The council approved a master plan for Orangewood Park. As far as funding goes, that still has to be figured out. But this does mean bonified soccer fields so the hundreds of soccer players in the city.

Oh yeah, and Councilman Mike Touhey took a dig at Councilman Roger Hernandez, who asked the council to consider installing flagpoles at all city facilties. Hernandez was also the one asking the council to bring back the broadcasts of the meetings. Touhey said if it were him, he wouldn't be asking for the reinstatement of the broadcasts of the meetings AND the installation of the flagpoles at the same meeting.

To those dedicated West Covina residents: What did we miss?

A graffiti program brought about after the deaths of several residents, including Pico Rivera resident Maria Hicks , who was shot and killed when she caught taggers in her neighborhood, will allow the county to recover costs for graffiti clean-up.

The county approved the program today, and it will become effective Sept. 18.

The new ordinance allows the county to declare itself a "graffiti victim" and recover costs for graffiti abatement -- including enforcement, removal and damages.

The County can recoup unpaid costs through liens or special assessments against the property of the graffiti offender or guardian of offending minor.

Adult graffiti offenders are subject to a civil citation issued by the Sheriff for fines up to $1,000.

The new Ordinance expands Supervisor Gloria Molina's graffiti enforcement program which resulted in 168 arrests.

But tagging related deaths continue. On July 23, Joshua Rodriguez was shot dead in South Whittier at Mulberry Drive and Ruoff Avenue.

WHITTIER - Homicide detectives are asking for the public's help in identifying and tracking down three men involved in a July 23 shooting that left a La Mirada man dead.

While authorities said the incident was triggered by a fight between rival tagging crews the day before, 20-year-old Joshua Rodriguez wasn't a tagger.

Sheriff's Lt. Dan Rosenberg said they don't know why Rodriguez was involved in the fight.

What detectives know is that on July 22 there was a clash near a local wash between the tagging crews, My Squad Murder Krew and Potheads. Rosenberg said the groups agreed to meet the next day at Mulberry Drive and Ruoff Avenue in South Whittier.

"Our victim, Rodriguez, got in a fight with somebody. He was actually winning," Rosenberg said.

But he said two friends of the man fighting with Rodriguez approached. One of them shot him several times

Authorities said that Rodriguez wasn't a tagger. I shot these photos of Rodriguez's shrine, which included writing comments with a Sharpie on the sidewalk.