Friends of Fox Swing Dance Anniversary Gala

Saturday, April 21--81st Anniversary of the opening of the Pomona Fox Theater and Third Anniversary of the Reopening of the restored theater.

Dinner Tickets available at DPOA or on our Web Site. All Dinner reservations must be made by Tuesday. Price: $45 or $55. Dance / Listening only tickets are $20 and are available online, at DPOA, Frantz Cleaners, Ebell Museum of Pomona Valley or at the door on the night of the event. (Sorry, no dinner tickets available at the door.)

For all the information on this event, visit www.pomonafox.org.

Funds received will be used to restore the original 1931 Gladding McBean drinking fountains which were original to the theater.

Happy New Year

 

As we've left 2011, we now have 2012 to look forward to. This should be an interesting year in our fair city. 

Hopefully the city will move forward on a general plan and the specific plans for the various corridors. How will the elimination of the Redevelopment Agency affect this?

Moving into the new year the Friends of the Pomona Fox has a slate of programs through about May which will be announced as soon as dates are confirmed. The Opera Company has a season set, and the Fox and Glass House are continuing to book quality programs into our thriving downtown.

As always, Pomona Heritage will have its Home Tour in October, and other events as the year progresses and we've always got the downtown 2nd and 4th Saturday events to look forward to.

By May, we should be seeing a flurry of activity leaning toward our civic elections on November 6. Three council districts will be holding elections (the 1st --currently with Danielle Soto representing the area from Garey West to the city line and from the 10 Freeway south to 2nd Street; the 4th--currently with Paula Lantz representing the area from Garey East to the county line and from the 10 freeway south to 2nd Street; and the 6th--currently with Stephen Atcheley representing all of the city north of the 10 freeway; Mayor--currently Elliott Rothman, representing the entire city). Over half of the voting members of the council will be up for election. Sounds like a good time to let our voices be heard regarding what we expect for the next four years.

In addition, there will be at least 2 city items on the ballot with the initiative to restructure how council members are elected in the future, going away from voting limited to districts and expanded to elections for district council members being held on a city-wide basis; and the proposed charter amendments from the Charter Review Commission which completed its work last May. I'm sure there will be a number of posts on both of these issues of vital importance to the city's future.

So with visions of Trash Transfer stations in our past and civic elections in our future, let's hope that we have a good and productive year in Pomona.

Happy New Year!

Rebel Without A Cause & Car Show

Sunday, August 28

Friends of the Pomona Fox
presents a Vintage Car Show and Screening of:

Rebel Without A Cause

Car Show starts at 1:00 pm
Directly across the street from the theater

Doors open at 2:00 pm, Film Screens at 3:00 pm

Sponsored by:

Rebel Without a Cause is a 1955 American drama film about emotionally confused suburban, middle-class teenagers. Directed by Nicholas Ray, it offered both social commentary and an alternative to previous films depicting delinquents in urban slum environments. The film has achieved landmark status for the acting of cultural icon James Dean (who died before the film's release) in his most celebrated role. In 1990, Rebel Without a Cause was added to the preserved films of the United States Library of Congress's National Film Registry as being deemed "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant."

The story of a rebellious teenager, who arrives at a new high school, meets a girl, disobeys his parents and defies the local school bullies was a groundbreaking attempt to portray the moral decay of American youth, critique parental style, and explore the differences and conflicts between generations. The title was adopted from psychiatrist Robert M. Lindner's 1944 book, Rebel Without a Cause: The Hypnoanalysis of a Criminal Psychopath. The film itself, however, does not reference Lindner's book in any way.

Warner Bros. released the film on October 27, 1955, less than one month after Dean's fatal car crash.

Source: Wikipedia

  

Refreshments at our snack bar. Alcoholic beverages and light appetizers available at Drink, accessible from the theater lobby. Food and drinks may be brought into the theater.

Online, tickets will be available at the Will-Call door at the theater.

Prices:	Adults $8.00
	Children 12 and under $3.00

Council Meeting Tonight

Well, it looks like a very full agenda tonight. Unfortunately, I have a previous commitment which takes me out of town this evening. However, there are a few items of interest that everyone should be aware of:

First off, there is a special meeting at 4:00 pm when the council will get a presentation on the fight by most cities to save their redevelopment agencies. My personal take on this issue is that the city is cutting funding right and left and yet there is still funding, because of redevelopment money, to give money to developers. Right now Pomona is actually at a disadvantage in the RDA situation. Our RDA, because we haven't had any major developments to increase our tax increments, doesn't have the funding that a city like Ontario has. So, right now Ontario can offer developers  a lot more in funding and "concessions." Perhaps, deleting RDAs from every city might re-level the playing field? Note that item 6 on the regular agenda has the city writing off 3/4 of a million dollars owed to the RDA.

One of the things that I'd be all over if I were to attend the meeting is item 12 ADOPTION OF A RESOLUTION ESTABLISHING A `CONTRACTING FOR SERVICES' POLICY. This is how the city has decided it's going to operate, to outsource everything and let private industries take our tax money to provide services. Will we see savings in all cases? I find it hard to believe that "profit motivated" private industry can provide a service, in most cases, for a cost lower than we can ourselves. In the reports section of the meeting documents online, there is a report on our current outsourcing and evaluation. I'd certainly love to know if the citizens agree with some of the report's conclusions. (Click Here for Report) I'll probably write more on this later.

Item 16 is a review of Angelo's Pizza's Conditional Use Permit (CUP). Mr. Aboud has refused to sign a certificate that he will abide by the current CUP. While I feel that Angelo's has in the past year not had the kind of issues that lead up to previous modification of the CUP, he has not lived up to the CUP either. While his current modified CUP (MCUP) only allows beer and wine sales, I've heard that he is selling hard liquor. However, it appears that it may be a little different. According to a police report as part of the council report (Click Here) starting on page 24, undercover officers ordered a whiskey and coke, which they were given. When they went back in uniform and retrieved the bottle of "whiskey" they found that it was actually an orange-based wine drink (12% alcohol). So while they may be following the "letter of the law," they're dishonest with their customers. There were also bottles labeled Gin which were likewise wine beverages. In addition, they are sometimes operating the facility as a nightclub and not serving food which is another violation of the MCUP. How can we continue to allow someone to skirt the laws and treat the city and its citizens with such disrespect?

Finally, it looks like staff is still studying the issue of the proposed business park at Fairplex which would convert 20 of the stables to offices and a self-storage facility. Another eating away of the fairgrounds to commercial development as we've seen with the hotel and convention center. At what point will we actually have a fairgrounds? Are fairgrounds important to the city? What of the historic nature of the stables? A lot of questions to consider.

Ethics, Youth & Family, Elected Officials

The city's Charter Review Commission will have its next meeting on Wednesday, Feb. 16. I know that I'd promised to keep everyone up-to-date on the happenings on this important commission, but to date the work has been mostly research and drafting of proposals. This week that all changes as the commission winds down its work and begins the decision process on what should be presented to the voters in 2012 as potential changes to the charter.

To review the process, the Charter Review Commission has 1 year to prepare proposed changes to the city's charter. The charter is akin to the city's constitution and is the basic document that mandates how the city shall be run. Any proposals by the Commission will be placed on the next municipal election (in this case Nov. 2012). The City Council does not have any approval of the work of the Commission. As a courtesy, the Commission will present a draft of the proposed changes to the Council in April for their review and comment, but they are under no more obligation to act on the comments of the Council than they are to act on the comments of any member of the public.

Now on to the items to be discussed on Feb. 16:

Article IV--Elected Officals

The Charter Review Commission has a proposal before it (see the proposal on the city's web site at http://public-records.ci.pomona.ca.us/weblink7/Browse.aspx--see below for instructions) to make substantive changes to the way that elected officials are chosen in the city. It will be proposed that the Mayor be elected in Odd numbered years instead of in years that already have council races. This would eliminate the perceived inequity that some council people have when deciding to run for the mayor's seat. There is also a proposal to change the way that vacancies are filled so that a councilperson who resigns may not be reappointed to their seat. Finally, a section has been added to better define the duties of a councilperson since no such definition currently exists in the charter.

The Commission decided not to take up the issues of district elections since an initiative has already been submitted which would change that part of the charter. Since the initiative is for a special election, it would come prior to the 2012 election where our Charter changes would come up. We decided to let the voters decide in the special election and then leave it to the next Charter Review Commission in 2020 to determine if additional changes need to be made.

Article III--City Powers

A proposal has been made to add a section to this article which includes language regarding the Pomona Youth and Family Master Plan, codifying it as a part of the city commitment to this important activity.

Article XIV--Ethics

This proposal (which, in the spirit of disclosure is something that I've been intimately involved in working on) would rewrite the current Article XIV--Municipal Campaign Financing and Conflict of Interest, to become a more generalized section on Ethics within city government. While it would include the items currently in the charter, it would add the formation of an Ethics Commission which would be charged with writing an Ethics Code for the city (we don't currently have one) and enforcing compliance to said code. The charter proposal doesn't specify what should be in the Ethics Code, but leaves that up to the Ethics Commission.

The last item that we will be taking up is the commission's response to the replacement (with only 3 months left for the commission's tenure) of two of the commissioner's as a result of the recent election. The draft letter is part of the meeting materials online.

You can read the agenda for the meeting and all the proposals online on the city's web site at http://public-records.ci.pomona.ca.us/weblink7/Browse.aspx . The link will take you to the document browser. From there click on COMMISSIONS--AGENDAS AND MINUTES-->CHARTER REVIEW-->Agendas And Reports-->2011-->2-16-2011. This will take you to the page with all of the documents for our meeting. The Agenda, Minutes, and the reports are all there and viewable. They can also be downloaded as PDF files.

Future meetings will be discussing the possible formation of a Police Commission, Elections (slightly different than Elected Officials), Rules for Commission, and other issues within the charter. I promise that I'll report on any upcoming meetings.

If you have comments to make on any of these items, or any other items which may come before the Commission, please feel free to attend. The meetings are open to the public and public comment is appreciated.

November 2--VOTE

Tomorrow, November 2 is election day.

While M-M-M-My Pomona is a place where diverse opinions often clash, I'm sure that all of us here at can agree, your vote counts. Regardless of party, candidates supported, or issues, PLEASE, get out and vote.

In Pomona, we have two tax initiatives, one for an increase in the utility tax, and a parcel tax for schools in PUSD. In Districts 2, 3, and 5 we have council seats up for election.

If you need to know where to vote, you can get polling place information at http://www.lavote.net/LOCATOR/. Just type in your address and it will tell you where to go and vote.

The message? VOTE.

Charter Review Meeting Wednesday Oct. 20

When I was appointed to the Charter Review Commission, I promised that I would periodically give you updates as to what is going on. While it's now been over 5 months since our first meeting, we're still in the process of gathering information and developing ideas. That is about to change.

As a recap, the Charter Review Commission is charged with reviewing the city's charter and coming up with an amended charter (if needed) to present to the voters at a future election. Whatever comes out of the commission will be placed on a future ballot and the voters will decide if they want whatever comes out of the commission. The commission has 1 year to come up with such a document. (April 2010)

The 15 member commission has been meeting both as a group and in smaller subcommittees to formulate such a document. Each subcommittee is responsible for doing the research and coming up with plans that will be put forward to the entire commission for possible inclusion in the final document.

The first subcommittee recommendation was made at last month's meeting. This one dealt with proposed changes to Article XVII, which created the charter review commission. Because of the drama that surrounded the formation of the current commission, it was felt that certain things, like the number of commissioners and how they are chosen, should be codified within the charter itself. No action was taken on this item, whether to approve or not, and it was held over to the next meeting, which is Wednesday.

All sections of the charter were assigned to subcommittees, with the exception of Article IV, which deals with elective offices, the city council, how vacancies are handled, districts, and compensation and expenses. You can read the charter HERE (pdf file).  Because this is such an important issue, it was decided that the entire commission would take it up as a group instead of going to subcommittees. This Wednesday's meeting is when that will occur. It is anticipated that we will be getting a lot of public input, especially from those who are pushing for a new plan for district elections. To accommodate anticipated public input, the meeting will be held at the Ganesha Park Community Center at 7:00 pm.

If you have input on how you feel districts elections should be held, or if you don't want districts at all, or if you feel that we should have more or fewer council seats or anything else regarding Article IV, please be sure to attend the meeting and let us know. We value your input.

Charter Review Commission
Wednesday, October 20
7:00 pm
Ganesha Park Community Center
1575 North White Avenue, Pomona

Some of the issues that are currently being discussed in the subcommittees include the formation of an Ethics Commission, a Police Commission, and a wide variety of minor and major adjustments to the current Charter. The Commission meets the  4th Wednesday of each month, usually in the Council Chambers annex (to the south of the council chambers where the council usually holds their closed session meetings). Because of theIt's a Brown Act Commission so the public is always welcome.

Ethics and Pensions

With the scandals that rocked the city of Bell, it's been suggested that we need to look in our own back yard. Anonymous asked if someone wouldn't bring forth the evidence of wrongdoing in our city. I'm not personally privy to anything that would rise to that level where a prosecutor would be interested, but I'm very aware of some things going on that are of very questionable ethics.

The most recent case-in-point was the "gaming" of the system by Councilmember Cristina Carrizosa to significantly increase her retirement once she leaves the city council. While it appears that she did nothing illegal, the ethics of this situation is certainly in question.

But even more importantly to me, is that the problems in Bell have been linked to citizens' not being aware of what was going wrong with their city. Here in Pomona, we have several blogs and some decent reporting that has stanched many of the grevious problems. A few years ago a few members of the city council decided that they should also get paid (separately) for being the redevelopment agency. Citizens found out about it and rose up and stopped it. I'm currently on the city's Charter Review Commission and we are looking at the possibility of creating an ethics oversight commission within the city and strengthening the ethics for the council, commissions, city management, police, candidates for office, and others under the perview of the charter, all to enhance citizen oversight to avoid the problems that Bell ran into.

However, I have an even more basic question. SHOULD PART-TIME COUNCILMEMBERS BE GETTING A PENSION AT ALL? Those in the private sector who work part-time usually don't get any benefits. This is the way that banks, grocery stores, and WalMart have been keeping their costs down for years. By hiring people and limiting their work hours to under 30 per week, they don't pay retirement, medical, and other benefits. Why are we so generous to our city council members?

Public service is not supposed to enrich those who are serving. To suggest that council members are doing such an extraordinary job as part-time employees negates the work of all of the others who work part time at little or no personal benefit (do you hear me unpaid commissioners?). Councilwoman Carrizosa stated that she "earned" the additional pension money. So that means that she worked harder than councilmembers Lantz, Atcheley, Saunders, Rodriquez, Soto, and Mayor Rothman? I undestand that their pension will be based on a $9600/year salary (the mayor twice that) and not what they got from their full-time jobs.

Again, this is not about what is legal, but about what is ETHICAL and FAIR.

I look forward to the comments on this item.

_________________________

Remember, August 2nd the council will decide whether or not to put replacing Pomona's Police Department on the ballot. I will be out of town and can't attend. I'm fairly sure that the council knows where I stand on this issues as I've spoken on it in the past. If you haven't spoken out, do so!!!

And the Survey Says . . .

Last night we got a call at the Clifford home from someone asking our opinions. Yes, we were surveyed. So what were the important issues? Was it what movies we like? What laundry detergent we use? While we've had those in the past, this one was about things going on in the city of Pomona. The interviewer didn't identify who had commissioned the survey, but they had our information, who we were, where we lived, etc. (Is it time to get paranoid?)

The main issue that they wanted to know about was what we thought of saving $5 million by bringing in the LA County Sheriff's Department. They asked the same question in four different ways (a common technique when you're trying to influence the outcome of the survey). So now the idea is floated that the Sheriffs will save us $5 million, a full month before the "study" is done. WOW, that was fast!! This was obviously a campaigning effort on someone's part to try and get backing for the "proposal" of the Sheriff's.

So what other questions did they ask. Hmmm. With three council seats up for re-election (and none in the district where we live) they asked what we thought of councilmember Carrizosa, and how we through Mayor Rothman was doing (and he's NOT up for re-election until 2012). They also asked which proposal for the waste transfer station that we preferred. As well as some generic questions such as "What do you think is Pomona's biggest problem?"

Have any of you out there gotten this call? What did you think of the survey?

Applicants Sought For the City's Charter Review Commission

The following is from the Pomona Chamber of Commerce blog.

Pomona City Council seeks individuals interested in serving on a Charter Review Commission. Commissioners will have an opportunity to make a difference in the community by providing recommendations to the City Council to update the City Charter. Commissioners serve on a volunteer basis and are appointed by the City Council. The City of Pomona is seeking individuals with a strong interest in the community to be considered for the commission.

A link to the Charter Review Commission Application Form can be found on the City's website at www.ci.pomona.ca.us. Applications are also available at Pomona City Hall, Office of the city Clerk, 505 S. Garey Ave. The deadline for filing an application has been extended to Thursday, February 11, 2010 at 5:00pm. Applications should be filed in the City Clerk Development.

For further information, please contact the City Clerk's Office at 909-620-23411.

Me again: This will be an important commission. The original deadline was Jan. 27 but it was extended due to a lack of applicants.  If you're concerned about how the city is run and want to have a say in city government, this is your opportunity. There will be 15 people appointed to this commission, two by each councilperson and three by the mayor.

Love, Barack

In looking over the agenda for tomorrow's (Feb. 1) city council meeting, I noted that one of the items was the approval for the city to enter into a business assistance agreement with CMS productions for filming in the city of the feature Love, Barack. So what is this film that we're offering to spend $13,225 in assistance to entice here?

A quick search in IMdB gives this synopsis of the film: "Politics makes strange bedfellows, but never stranger than when a month before the 2008 U.S. Presidential election, a beautiful, idealistic local Obama volunteer coordinator reluctantly falls for her Republican counterpart: a sexy, savvy, African American conservative. Sparks fly, tempers flares, heads turn, and romance blossoms for this mismatched pair of campaigners in the frantic and intoxicating days leading up to Election Day. Can the politics of love conquer all? Written by Nuclear Mango", Directed by Doug McHenry (New Jack City)

Further looking into the production company, it looks like they're mostly into TV with shows like Love Accidentally, CSI, The Good Wife, back to a 1955 production of CBS Television Workshop. Sounds like good credentials.

Love, Barack is set to star Bollywood “Bombshell” Mallika Sherawat (their description, for more information see the article at The Urban Network -- http://www.urbannetwork.com/cms/index.php?news=1928.

Looking over the agreement document, it looks like they will be filming mostly downtown.

IN OTHER CITY COUNCIL NEWS
Also on the agenda is an appeal by the city's redevelopment agency of the Historic Preservation Commission's denial of a demolition permit for an early 1880s house owned by the city. The house is older than the city which was founded in 1888.

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.

Monday Council Meeting

Monday's council meeting will be very critical on a series of issues that will dramatically affect the future of our city.

DPOA
First up will be the re-certification of the Downtown Pomona Owner's Association (DPOA). The DPOA is a special assessment district that funds, through assessment of property owners, increased services for the downtown area beyond those that the city normally provides. Other such assessment districts in the city include the landscaping district in Phillips Ranch, as an example, which provides extra landscaping for the hillsides and streetscapes of the Phillips Ranch area that are paid for by the property owners in that area.

For the DPOA, the mission is a little different. They are tasked with providing a clean, safe downtown AND to promote our downtown as a destination for our citizens and for those in our surrounding communities. DPOA also goes by the name "Metro Pomona." It is the DPOA that coordinates such activities as the 2nd & 4th Saturday Art Walks, the farmers' market at the art walks and the farmers' market on Wednesdays in the Antique Row area. They also sponsor and support many other activities that focus attention on the businesses and opportunities in our downtown. They also pay for two police officers dedicated to patrolling downtown to keep us safe when we visit there, and cleaning of the streets and sidewalks so our experiences are pleasant when we visit.

It has been suggested that the city can't afford its participation in such an enterprise at this time. Because the city is a major property owner within the assessement district, they are assessed the same as any other property owner. It has been suggested that pressure be put on the council to vote against renewal of the district as a cost-saving function. However, the reality of the situation is that most of the city-owned property is either redevelopment agency and vehicle parking district. Funds from these two entities cannot, by law, be transferred to the general fund and must be used solely for activities related to the properties that they own, such as the DPOA. In addition, the DPOA takes part of the responsibility for maintenance of sidewalks and adds two police officers that the city does not have to pay for from general funds. So the city definitely gains value from any money paid toward DPOA activities.

If you believe that we need to have a DPOA and actively support our downtown, please show your support with a letter to your councilperson or by coming to Monday's meeting and speaking in support of the DPOA. Let's not let short-sightedness rule

---

CITY BUDGET
Also on the Agenda for Monday is the city's budget. This is particularly difficult as the city is looking to make significant cuts to city staff, police, and services to children and seniors.

On the chopping block will be:

• 20 Police officers / positions, including 5 police investigators
  
• 5 Police report takers, whose work will go to patrol officers
• 2 Police crime prevention officers (I guess we don't prevent crime, we just respond to it)
• Reduced patrol overtime to the tune of $100,000 (so fewer officers working fewer hours)
• Reduced homicide weekend standby to the tune of $7,000
• Reduction of funding for unexpected repairs to police facilities, $25,000
• Outsourcing of Park Security

Fire

• Elimination of one engine company for 7 months, $819,000

Housing and Planning

• Outsource Building and Safety Department
• Eliminate 1 Planner and 1 Planning Assistant
• Outsource street sweeping including a reduction in the number of days/streets

Public Works

• Outsource Parks Division, eliminate 19 positions
• Eliminate downtown and weekend graffiti removal position
• Eliminate 3 Engineering/Construction positions
• Eliminate 3 Equipment Division positions
• Eliminate tree trimming positions resulting in fewer street trees being trimmed, planted, removed
• Reduce median maintenance resulting in mowing, trimming, watering, fertilizing, weed control, etc.

Community Services

• Eliminate 5 Parks coordinators and recreation coordinators/supervisors
  
• Eliminate Admin. Assistant in Youth and Family Services program
• Eliminate Veteran's Park Rentals Coordinator
• Eliminate Concessions program at Veterans Park
• Eliminate 4 Parks/facilities custodians
• Eliminate Senior Trips and Tours Program
  
• Eliminate funding for Cultural Arts Commission
• Eliminate funding for Pomona Concert Band
• Reduce facilities maintenance by $15,000
• Eliminate funding for Youth Advisory Committee

Library

• Close Library on Mondays
• Eliminate 2 Library Assistants
• Reduce Operations budget by $14,000
• Reduce library book and materials and related personnel, $32,600

Total reductions by category:

• Planning & Housing $130,670
• Public Works $636,030
• Library $83,055
• Community Service: Level 1 $341,855 | Level 2 $751,505
• Police: Level 1 $341,225 | Level 2 $448,740 | Level 3 468,770

All of this information comes from the Staff Report, which is part of the information online. Read the full report to see other areas of cuts and staff's assessment of the impacts of the cuts. I admittedly didn't include everything as this post is already too long.

This is another of those areas where if you disagree with the cuts, please write your councilperson or address the council at Monday's meeting. The council has some tough choices and they need to know what we citizens are willing to let go and what we feel we truly need.

HPC Meeting Update

Last night, Wednesday, Feb. 4. was the first Pomona Historic Preservation Commission (HPC) meeting since November 2008 and the November elections. We lost three commissioners in the electoral process. Former commissioners Jim Kercheval, Tad Decker, and Scott Hillsman received Goddess Awards at Monday's council meeting and they will be missed. I, personally, wish to thank them for their years of service, at no compensation, in what was often a difficult job.

In addition, Ramon Zavala, is moving away from the area to accept a new job position. While I wish him well, he also will be missed very much. He was a gentleman and always was deliberative in making the tough decisions.

This leaves two seats left to be filled. Councilwoman Christina Carrizosa needs to replace Ramon Zavala, and the Mayor still needs to make his appointment. If you're interested, be sure to fill out an application with the city clerk.

So, out with the old, in with the new.

The new commission retains commissioners Mitch Elias (district 4), Dawn Van Allen (district 5), and Udit de Lange (district 2). New commissioners who were attending their first meeting last night were: Dee Dee Brookshire (district 1) and Ethel Gardener (district 6). Both new commissioners were attentive and worked around a short agenda "learning the ropes" of the electronic voting system and the procedures of the commission.

The first order of business for the new commission was to choose an interim chair for the evening as both the chair and vice chair of the previous commission were no longer there. Dawn Van Allen was chosen to chair for the evening and did a commendable job. At the end of the meeting, the commission chose new leadership and chose Mitch Elias as chair and Dawn as vice chair. Congratulations to them both.

There were two items of interest at the meeting.

TREE REMOVAL: A resident of Lincoln Park, after cutting down a birch tree without a permit, asked to be able to remove 4 trees (including the birch) from their back yard. The residents (bought about 1-1/2 years ago) want to get rid of the trees to "make their yard more usable." Since the trees are living and show no signs of disease or that they are doing damage to the property, the tree ordinance is very clear that cutting down trees should only be a "last resort" measure. Since the birch was deemed to have been dead prior to being cut down, the commission approved that removal and asked that another tree be planted, at a location of the homeowner's choosing, but didn't allow for the removal of the other living trees. A 50+ year old gum tree was of particular concern as it was very mature and a part of the historic landscape. The commission did allow that the resident could move two Queen Palm trees to another location on the property to make their yard more usable. The resident didn't appear happy with the commission's decisions so I'm pretty sure we'll hear more of this in the future.

HISTORIC SIGN ORDINANCE FOR DOWNTOWN SPECIFIC PLAN: Staff gave a report to the HPC on progress toward a sign ordinance to be included as part of the Downtown Specific Plan. This would affect the area of the downtown that includes the Arts Colony and Antique Row, as well as some of the adjacent areas. Staff was just asking for input as the downtown specific plan moves through the process.

An additional public meeting on this subject is in the plans to be hosted by Pomona Heritage and the Historical Society of the Pomona Valley. I'll be sure to let everyone know when this gets scheduled.

All-in-all a good meeting. It looks like the new commission is poised to do a lot of good work. Good luck.

Rothman fils named to Commission

The rumor has been around for over a week, but I now have confirmation that 21 year-old Jason Rothman, son of Mayor Elliott Rothman has been named as a Planning Commissioner. I haven't been able to acertain who appointed him, but I'm sure that it was either the Mayor or the 5th District.

While I don't know Jason's qualifications, I would hope that he's at least an urban planning major in college. Without such bona fides, it appears to be either nepotism or quid pro quo. Either way it really doesn't pass the "smell test." I can't believe that, if it's the district 5 appointment, that there isn't anyone in Phillips Ranch with better qualifications than the 21-year-old mayor of the city to make planning decisions. And if it's the mayor's appointment, it's the entire city we're looking at.

Again, this is not an attack on Jason Rothman, just a questioning of how things are done in the city.

Jason's first Planning Commission meeting is tonight (Wednesday) in the council chambers at 7:00 pm. I'll be there as they're considering a CUP and variance for an MRI center to go in to the former PAL market/98 Cent store on Orange Grove at Monroe.

I'm sure that Ed will have one of his posts with the map of items on the Planning agenda (put you on the spot Ed).

Watt, Me Worry?--UPDATED

photo by Richard E. Nunez

It's coming up again, maybe? The Pomona Planning Commission is now down to 3 members (according to the agenda--although I know that Paula Lantz's commissioner was just appointed, so why is he off if Paula's new term hasn't even started?) Tim Saunders (who has expressed a desire to be appointed councilperson from the 5th District), Arturo Jimenez, and Andrew Santa Cruz. UPDATE: Evidently, Paula Lantz's commissioner needs to be sworn in again and couldn't be until Paula was sworn in. I spoke with her this evening and she was sworn in this afternoon and Ed Starr (her Planning Commissioner), should be sworn in prior to the meeting and will be able to participate. I'm not sure how quorums work with only three members on a panel that should have 7 members). In the past, the quorum was based either on the number of current members OR the number of members that are supposed to be on the panel. I'm not really sure where that was left off. At one point you could have a quorum with three, but you needed four votes to pass anything. I'm sure that the city attorneys will be busy working on that one.

And all this just in time to take on the issue of the extension of the CUP (Conditional Use Permit) for the Watt Project on West Second St. You can read the agenda on the city's web site. I know I'll be there (if the meeting actually takes place) to let them know that something needs to be done about the vacant lots (and hole in the ground) and that we need to not allow changes to occur to the originally approved plan without scrutiny by the commission and the community (as was done with the Mission Promenade project). NO "VALUE ENGINEERING!!!"

Also on the agenda is the approval of a CUP for a major expansion of Cocoa Palms restaurant (the one on the hill on Fairplex Drive), and a meeting hall on Park Ave (next to the Pomona Fish Market) for the Black Knightz Motorcycle Club, among others.

So, if you're going to be downtown for the Chamber of Commerce Mixer for the new mayor, new council, and new assemblywoman, (hosted by the Pomona Chamber of Commerce, Cal Poly Downtown Center, Pomona Fairplex, Western University of Health Sciences, Pomona Valley Hospital, and Arteco Partners--5:00-7:00 pm at the Cal-Poly Downtown Center) why not stop by the council chambers for what could be an interesting Planning Commission meeting. And if you're at the Mixer, be sure to make suggestions as to future commissioners to the corresponding councilmembers.

Oh, the Indignity!!!!!

Here it is, the Friday after Thanksgiving, full from yesterday's turkey and fixin's it should be a morning to relax, read the paper and just chill before the work of climbing through the garage to extract holiday decorations and start the season.

But the paper did not bring me solace this morning. I'm indignant, my hackles have been raised, and I'm just plain angry!!!

First, an admission--I actually read the legal ads in the DB. It's a habit from having past city administrations try to sneak something through figuring no one reads those ads so we'll do the legal notification and maybe no one will notice. Even though the Pomona staff is now much more out front in their dealings with the public, I can't help but be ever vigilant.

So this morning, after the news, weather, and comics, I turned to the classified section of the newspaper to begin reading the legal ads. Lately, the DB has been intermingling classifications 54 and 55 (LA County and SB County) legal notices--Doesn't this defeat the concept of "Classified?" Anyway, within the SB County notices, was an LA County notice that I was sure was misplaced. The FDIC had their notification of the takeover of PFF. But they had the old POMONA address as their corporate address for the notification. PFF decided first to get rid of Pomona from their name, then they moved to Rancho Cucamonga, where they proceeded to destroy a financial institution that had been around for over 100 years, but when the failure notice comes out, suddenly it's a Pomona institution. AAaaarrrrggggggghhhhhhh!!!!!!!

We just can't cut a break.

So not only was PFF lax with their loans, but they also must have been lax with their paperwork if the FDIC didn't have their current address. The one thing that might come out of this is that the DB should get another ad from it. If someone from the DB is reading this, be sure to let advertising know so that they can get a retraction/correction ad.

So now, it's time to go off and figure out what to do for front yard decorations since the lovely Mrs. C has laid down an edict "No nails in the newly refurbished house." How can I hang my lights? AAaaarrrrggggggghhhhhhh!!!!!!!

Candidates Answer Preservation Questions

Pomona Heritage has just posted the responses to the candidate questionnaires regarding issues of importance to the historic preservation community on their web site (www.pomonaheritage.org). The 5 questions were sent to all 8 candidates for Mayor, and the council candidates for District 1 (which includes Wilton Heights Historic District), District 4 (which includes Lincoln Park National Register Historic District), and District 6 (which includes Hacienda Park Historic District).

UPDATE (10/22 -- 7:45 am): We now have responses from: councilman Stephen Atcheley, running for reelection in District 6, Virgilio (JoJo) Pico Doniza, running for District 1 council seat vacated by George Hunter, Primo Castro running for District 4, Carol Schlaepfer running for District 6, councilperson Paula Lantz running for re-election in District 4, and George Hunter running for Mayor. As others are received, they will be added in the order in which they were received.

While we don't expect that you should make your decisions in these important races based on a single issue, it's always good to understand where the candidates stand on the issues that directly affect you.

It is our hope that the discourse about specific issues will help to create an informed electorate. Be sure to vote on November 4!

Watt's Goin' On?

Metro Pomona, our downtown cheerleading blog (that's not a derogatory statement, we need someone to cheerlead downtown and Metro does a great job of doing so), has posted the most negative item I've ever seen there. The blog post at www.metropomona.com/whatsnew/2008/09/artisan.html tells that the Artisan project in downtown (remember the demolition of two blocks of East Second St.?) has been removed from the Watt website and, with the yellow tagging of the Vault building, we now have a full 3 blocks of chain link fencing.

I said I'd wait until the first of the year to say "I told you so," but it has become much more obvious lately that the project, which was fast tracked, has now been delayed until ????? So we get to look at chain link fencing and a big hole for how long?

Old Home Restoration Workshop--August 9

It's time again for the annual Pomona Heritage Old Home Restoration Workshop. Our 10th workshop will be held on August 9 beginning at 9:00 am and run until 4:00 pm. Additional information is in the press release below:

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The 10th Annual Pomona Heritage Old Home Restoration Workshop will take place on Saturday, August 9 at Trinity United Methodist Church. The program will begin at 9:00 am and continue until 4:00 pm. The program is made up of a series of seminars (four different ones going on simultaneously) and will include a wide array of information on issues of interest to owners of older homes. In addition, there will be a keynote address at noon on the progress of the restoration of the Pomona Fox Theater, and a special seminar on Pomona’s implementation of the Mills Act.

It was 10 years ago that the board of directors of Pomona Heritage decided to extend their outreach program to the entire community. It was felt that they needed to help in the education of Pomona’s citizenry of the value in protecting the historic fabric of our city and ensure that those who were interested in preserving their homes had the tools to do so in the appropriate manner. Thus was born the Old Home Restoration Workshop.

This year’s workshop will include many favorite seminars from the past along with a several new ones. The workshop committee has put together a program that should have something for everyone who lives in a historic districts, or just lives in an older home and wants to know how do simple repairs. Subjects on tap for this year’s workshop include: Repairing and replacement of wood windows, Herb gardening, Planning your restoration project, Gardening with California native plants, Repairing wood floors, Plaster repair, Repair and maintenance of stained glass windows, and several others not confirmed at press time. A full schedule will be available online at our web site once it has been confirmed.

In addition to learning the important hints and tricks for maintaining and updating your historic home, the workshop will offer the opportunity to meet artisans and craftsmen who can assist in answering questions regarding old homes. Members of the city’s building, code enforcement, and planning staff will be available as will artists from Red Wing Glass, Dominguez Floors, and many others.

With the recent revamping of Pomona’s version of the Mills Act, city planners Sandra Campbell and Judy Kollar will be presenting a seminar on how the Mills Act works and what the procedures are for those interested in taking advantage of the potential 40-60% tax savings that the act provides for the renovation and maintenance of historic properties in the city of Pomona. For those planning on ever doing a major renovation project, this seminar is a must as it will show how a good, historically sensitive renovation can be done, using tax savings to do it.

Each year the Restoration Workshop looks for a keynote speaker of general interest to the entire community. In 2007 Jerry Tessier gave a presentation of the plans for the full restoration of the National Register Landmark Pomona Fox Theater. This year, with construction well underway, Ed Tessier has agreed to present an update on the progress being made and a look ahead at what can be expected for the Fox. The focus will be on the challenges of a large-scale historic restoration project and how many of those challenges have been handled. With historic tax credits as one of their methods of funding, all work on the Fox must be approved by the State Historic Preservation Office (SHPO) and the National Parks Service of the US Department of the Interior. This is a project that goes will beyond requirements of city codes and should give interesting insights into to how such projects move forward.

“This is our most important educational outreach program of the year,” stated Mark Gearhart, Pomona Heritage board member and chairman of the Restoration Workshop committee. “We offer this as a way to let the greater community understand the importance of the proper repair and maintenance of Pomona’s important historic resources. We invite everyone in the city to come, learn about historic preservation, and, hopefully, make their homes and our entire city environment better.”

In addition to the seminars, a Silent Auction will be held during the course of the day’s activities. It will include a wide array of goods and services geared specifically toward old home renovation and decorating. For additional information, and a full schedule of seminars, as they become available, please visit our web site at http://www.pomonaheritage.org and click on the Restoration Workshop button at the left.