DPOA Gets Extended / Council Update

DPOA
Last night's city council meeting saw a huge turnout of support for the PBID (Property Based Improvement District) which is the ability of the downtown area to tax itself, which also meant that there would be a continuation of the DPOA (Downtown Pomona Owners' Association--the spending arm of the self-imposed tax).

Because it is a self imposed tax, the property owners need to vote (by amount of property owned) on whether to continue the tax. The results were over 77% in favor. [correction: Metro Pomona reports that it was 72% to 28%--sorry for the inaccuracy] This included the votes by the city who are also a major property owner downtown. Congratulations to the DPOA on their extension.

OTHER COUNCIL NEWS

UPDATE ON METRO LINK STATION
There was a presentation on plans by Metrolink to upgrade the North Pomona Station. The plans call for extending the platform from 14ft. wide to 22 ft. wide and extending the length from 500 ft. to 700 ft (enough to accommodate 8-car trains). In addition they will more than double the parking and improve the gating and safety at the main entrace to the station's parking lot.

Metrolink is also planning on building a new Control Center across Garey, as well as a storage and maintenance facility in an available warehouse next to the new Control Center.

As a regular train rider, I'm pleased that we will be getting needed upgrades to the North Pomona Station.

FIRE UPDATE
During Public Participation, the Van Allens and Larry Henry gave very impressive talks concerning the destruction of their homes. They were generous in their thanks of everyone who has shown them support and all of the assistance they've received from a wide range of individuals, organizations, businesses, and city government. Larry Henry was particularly eloquent in his praise of Pomona PD. However, he was less than generous with the LA County Fire Department's handling of the situation. He criticized them for not staging in the 1st Baptist parking lot adjacent to the rear of their property where he felt they could have gotten a handle on the fire. He also reported that fire officials would not enter the house to save his animals, nor would they go back down the side of the house (not yet engulfed) to release a dog from a kennel (a Pomona PD Officer was also asked and did it).

At the end of public comment, Councilmember Rodriguez (disclaimer, councilmember Rodriguez is an Emergency Medical Technician for LA County Fire) [Mea Culpa: Anon set me straight that councilmember Rodriguez does not work for LA County Fire. He works for AMR which works closely with LA County Fire in many communities throughout So Cal.] after extolling the work of the LA County Fire Departnment, asked the Fire Chief to answer these concerns. Evidently there was a 50 page report which was presented to the council, although the families had not seen it. It is a public document so I expect that we will have a chance to see it as well.

Basically, there was a recap of how the fire progressed, from a shed fire on Park, to a tree, to an apartment on Gordon, to a grass fire on Gordon on property adjoining the Henrys' to the Garden and Henrys' properties. The Chief explained that in the high wind conditions that they felt that it would be unsafe to drive equipment down the driveways to get to the rears of the property and that they decided that with the high winds and intensity of the fire that they would create a "line" at Garey. He expressed sadness at the lose of the homes and felt that everything that could be done was done to both stop the fire and ensure the safety of the firefighters and public.

TORRES APPOINTMENT
The Appointment of Robert Torres to the downtown Vehicle Parking district was item 9 on the consent agenda. I decided to put in a speakers card, but to speak ONLY if the item was pulled by either a coucilperson or other member of the public for discussion. My thinking was that if no councilmember pulled the item, then they were all in favor and I was not going to be the only one who would speak (a sign of ultimate cowardice?). I then noted that assemblywoman Torres was in the audience. Since the didn't address any other issues, I assume that she was there to support her son.

While I didn't know if the item would be pulled, I was rehearsing in my head what my comments would be. I had decided that my opening would be: "I'm not here tonight to dash the hopes of a mother for her son, nor to discourage a young person who wishes to enter public service, but I have some questions concerning this appointment." However, since it would have been me against the world, I didn't have to make my address.

Having said that. I still question this appointment. I see no qualifications stated on his application which make this a good choice. AND, because he is the son of an assemblyperson and former mayor/councilperson, he should have come under even more scrutiny than anyone else, it comes with the territory. I don't feel qualified for such a position even though I have more education, more life experience, and spend a lot of time downtown. So is it unreasonable to ask what this person's qualifications are? If he is truly qualified and can add something to the commission, I'd be the first to be all for him. But we're not given even a glimpse. Councilman Rodriquez did not pull the item to espouse the man's credentials (something that might have pleased his mother in the audience) so we, the public, don't know anything about him except what he put on his application, that he has knowledge of how city government works and a desire to "provide a safe environment for the citizenry of Pomona." (I'm not sure how you do that on a parking commission, but good luck.)

If you have any questions on other items discussed at the council meeting, please leave comments and I'll try to answer. Now it's off to try and make a living.