I've Quit Facebook

There are times when you just have to take a stand and I've decided that the greed in this country is just too much to handle. The latest example of this is that Eduardo Saverin (image at left), a co-founder of Facebook who has renounced his US citizenship.

The news has pointed out that he did this one day before the Facebook IPO which created millions of dollars of profit for him and which he now, since he's a foreign citizen, doesn't have to pay taxes on. While he defends his actions as a desire to become a citizen of Singapore, it doesn't really jibe with his timing.

While I gladly do business with companies that are foreign (I purchase gas from Arco, which is British Petroleum, or Royal Dutch Shell, for example) at least I'm aware of the foreign nature of the business and agree to that.

This situation is different. What is really galling about this situation is that he was born in Brazil, came to this country and was educated in our finest schools and at Harvard, then went on to make $2 billion from the country that he became a citizen of. Now that he's gotten it, he's taking it and leaving and renouncing that country that gave him the opportunity to get rich.

While he currently has no personal involvement with FaceBook, he is still a 5% owner and my only way of reacting to this is to ensure that he won't make any money in the future from ME. Facebook will not have my eyeballs for their advertising messages so in a small way I will diminish their potential profit.

That this information comes right around Memorial Day, when we honor those who sacrificed for our country, this %$&# is doing the exact opposite of sacrifice. You'll now be able to find me on Google+.

Again, as a result, I've gotten rid of my account and don't plan to be back.

Pomona Public Library’s Adult Summer Reading Program!

Pomona Public Library’s

 Adult Summer Reading Program!

June 4, 2012 – July 25, 2012

Join us this summer at the Pomona Public Library!

Open to adults 16 years and older. No minimum reading requirements! The Grand Prize Drawing will be a NOOK Simple Touch with GlowLight! Signups start June 4 at the Pomona Library Adult Reference Desk. For more information call (909) 620-2043 x2701.

Celebrate Our Local Pomona Valley Authors

June 16, 1:00 - 3:00pm, Public Conference Room, Free

Meet Bob Smith and take a trip through Inland Valley history. Listen to Bill Wallace and his memories of growing up in post World War II Pomona. Learn about the misadventures and hidden past of fictional character Dulcie Clascock brought to life by Janet Beech.

Thanks to the Friends of the Pomona Public Library for their generous support of the Adult Summer Reading Program.

Pomona's war on recycling and Stater Brothers' future

At Monday's City Council meeting, the Council is poised to reject, without a public hearing, the existing recycling center located at Pomona's Stater Brothers at 1045 North Garey Avenue.

According to the City's own staff report, this recycling center has been in operation for about 23 years, with no complaints until a recent examination by a Planning Commissioner after other recycling centers were being considered for adoption.

The applicant makes several points regarding the operation of the recycling center. State law creates "convenience zones" within a half mile of supermarkets. What the staff report glosses over is that "convenience zones" offer a convenience not necessarily to the consumer, but to the supermarket. The supermarket can redirect persons who have recyclables to a location within a half mile, and absolve themselves of the responsibility under State law to redeem cans and bottles at the site.

Otherwise, the supermarket must either redeem cans and bottles at all open hours within its walls, causing issues with Public Health and possibly resulting in violation of other City and State Codes, or pay $36,500 a year in fees to exempt themselves of this rule. With the growing competition from low priced supermarkets like Cardenas, Super King, and El Super, and "Anglo" supermarkets like Vons and Winco only a few minutes away by car, it is possible that Stater Brothers may opt to reevaluate their business plans if they have to manage the cans and bottles redeemed by residents, or pay a large fee.

In addition, a state mandate, AB 712 passed unanimously by the State Assembly and State Senate and signed by the Governor. Pomona could lose grant funding. As stated in the bill, "This bill would, notwithstanding the above expenditure requirement, prohibit the department, on and after July 1, 2012, from making any payments, grants, or loans, as provided, to a city, county, or city and county, if the city, county, or city and county has adopted or is enforcing a land use restriction that prevents the siting or operation of a certified recycling center at a supermarket site, as defined, as may be required pursuant to a specified law." 

As the City is enforcing this land use restriction, supplemental payments that the City is entitled to receive for its curbside recycling will now be cut off. The City will also be ineligible for grants related to recycling. In a year where the City Council considered holding a special election to increase the hotel tax and property transfer tax just to get a few more months of revenue, any loss of easily obtainable funds should not be acceptable. It also increases the risk that the City will not comply with trash diversion mandates, and subject the City to fines.

City staff has not identified any other location within a half mile of Stater Brothers that would be desirable for a recycling center, as most of the commercial sites along Garey abut neighborhoods.

The bottom line is, if the recycling center goes, Stater Brothers could go with it, as it has at its South and North Pomona locations, thus creating a huge blight on the neighborhood. While some markets would have no issues with redeeming containers within their walls, it is doubtful that Staters would allow cans and bottles to be stored within their boundaries. In order to maintain a quality supermarket in the Lincoln Park area, this Planning Commission decision must be overturned and the original City planning staff recommendation, which offered reasonable limitations on its operation, be upheld.

The meeting is May 18 at Pomona City Council Chambers in the Civic Center. This is Item No. 14, which if the current staff recommendation is turned down, would only allow for a new public hearing to be held, possibly on June 18. If the staff recommendation is upheld, there is no date set for closure of the recycling center, or of the market.

Pomona to raise taxes by mail?

The other day I got a flyer from John Mendoza on my door step with a copy of a recent Pomona City Council report and the following note:


Pomona resident city council of Pomona [sic] are getting ready to raise taxes by changing the way we vote. Instead of regular election in November the city council are being urged by city staff to have the first ever in Pomona Mail Ballot only elections. Most of Pomona residents would not know a election was taxing [sic] place and the city of Pomona could raise property taxes and utility taxes with the vote of only a few. NO to Mail Only Elections in Pomona and sneaky taxes. John Mendoza


To clarify, the idea currently on the table, as part of Pomona's "looking for change under the cushions" program, is to double the property transfer tax and to increase the hotel tax by 2% to 12%, not an increase of property or utility taxes. As part of this, the City Council was looking into amending the City Code to allow for mail-in elections. The mail in election would cost about $100,000 more than just adding the measure to the regularly scheduled November ballot, however if the two measures are approved the increased revenue would be $350,000 for about a $250,000 gain as a result of the tax being in place an additional three months.

Still there is a concern of mail in ballot measures sneaking taxes through to the public, although some of this is actually required under California law. The proposed Clean Water Clean Beaches initiative, which would impose a $54 additional parcel tax on most single family homes, is required to be held via a mail in ballot because it is a property assessment for which the cost is based on the square footage of the lot, and benefits the property which is being taxed.

Low turnout elections have a habit of getting only the people in the know to vote. For example, the Bell fiasco was partly caused by a charter amendment and bond measures stuck on an off cycle election scheduled on November 29, the Tuesday after the Thanksgiving holiday and in the middle of most people's year-end holiday preparations. With the Post Office shuttering distribution centers and planning to end Saturday service, mail-in elections will become even more difficult to be conducted. Although some have decried Pomona's city elections being held on the same day as the presidential election as turning out "uninformed" voters, I would argue that a higher turnout provides greater legitimacy for those who are elected.

Regardless, it would take a unanimous vote of the City Council to allow for a special emergency that would place the property transfer tax and hotel tax increase on the ballot. With such a low turnout, any organized opposition to the measure would cause it to fail handily. Overall, there are enough safeguards that, as a one-time measure, this is probably fine.

(Ultimately, this discussion was postponed to May 7, so that would be a good time to make your views known should you choose.)

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.

see below

For those of you reading by RSS feed, a certain Anonymous -- not sure which of our many -- has begun an interesting conversation in the comments of a three-year-old post about the murder of Emilio Moncayo. I refer you to the "Recent Comments" sidebar if you're interested. Feel free to add your two cents either there or here. (If you add them there, there will be a pause while I approve -- any comments more than two weeks old must be approved, as an anti-spam device.)

In other news, I was down in Pomona all of last week -- sorry not to have seen many of y'all. The old nabe is as beautiful as ever, although there seems to be more activity in the alleys (which the PPD seem to be addressing with more assiduousness than in years previous).

I believe the image is the magnificent work of Juan Thorp at Bunny Gunner, but I'm not entirely sure.

Parking costs increase in Downtown Pomona

On Monday the Pomona City Council will be considering charging for nighttime parking in Downtown Pomona, and for expanding the hours and increasing the prices of parking in the downtown. Currently parking is charged during business hours weekdays only - the new fee structure would increase the rate from $2 to $3, while creating free parking for three hours between 7 am and 7 pm, seven days a week.

After 7 pm, most lots downtown will now charge a flat $1 rate. Although city staff did not do a comprehensive parking study, most cities in the Inland Empire do not charge for parking in their traditional downtowns in the evening hours. Even downtown Riverside, arguably one of the more vibrant downtowns in the Inland Empire, has free parking at parking structures on weekends and evenings. The comparison is being made to Pasadena, but Pomona is not Pasadena, and Pasadena is the only city in the San Gabriel Valley that imposes night and weekend parking fees for visitors to their traditional downtown.

While Pomona draws a lot of people during the evening to the Fox Theater, Glass House, and clubs on Thomas, as well as people from throughout the region on Art Walk nights, the level of activity in Downtown Pomona is nowhere near cities such as Pasadena, Santa Ana, or Los Angeles which charge for parking seven days a week and on nights in their downtowns. Places like Monrovia, Riverside, San Bernardino, Claremont, and Redlands which have evening attractions do not charge for parking.

The funding is supposed to be going for a parking structure, however until serious infill begins the need for the structure is minimal. Western University has already accommodated much of its parking needs through construction of the parking structure on Towne Avenue. In addition, there are opportunities to build a parking structure using Proposition A Local Return transit dollars, which would serve Metrolink parking needs during the day and commercial needs at night.

After the parking fee is imposed there will still be a handful of lots downtown that will not charge for parking, as well as parking spaces on the street (unless parking meters are planned to be placed there as well) and all private property lots (subject to enforcement by the private property owner). I've taken the staff report and highlighted in green the lots that will remain free. The average visitor, however, is not likely to find these lots. There will also be spillover parking impacts to Mission Promenade and residential neighborhoods surrounding the downtown. Especially in this economy we need to encourage as much visitation as possible, while managing the legitimate traffic concerns during concert nights. One dollar will not necessary break the bank of someone spending over $100 per car on drinks and a show, but it could discourage casual visitors from coming back.

The City Council will be hearing this public hearing item Monday evening. The meeting begins some time after 7 p.m. If approved nighttime parking charges could begin as soon as April 1.

Remembering Joe Romero

Posting with a heavy heart...

Former Pomona Police Chief Joe Romero dies at age 56 - DailyBulletin.com

CicLAvia could come to Pomona

The Pomona Director of Public Works is inviting all "stakeholders" to join in a discussion next Tuesday at 6:00 p.m. regarding an "open streets" event, or ciclovia. The Los Angeles version is called CicLAvia. CicLAvias are great opportunities to bring communities together through eliminating car traffic for six to eight hours, while encouraging active transportation. The concept began in Bogata, Colombia, in 1976.

I've been to the Los Angeles event twice and it is a great event. The Pomona one would be on a smaller scale, as the Los Angeles event attracts people region-wide, up to 100,000 of them at once. My primary concern with the Los Angeles event is the fact that some bicyclists treat it as a raceway and not an opportunity for all human-powered uses, including skateboarders, pedestrians, and just people hanging out on the street, to use the additional space created. In other words, it's a linear park, not a bicycle freeway.

It is also great to see that leadership has changed in Pomona from the retrograde days of just six years ago, when City leaders flushed a million dollar bike lane down the drain due to neighborhood opposition and political opportunism. AB 32 and SB 375 have forced Californians to be more cognizant of greenhouse gas emissions, and include greenhouse gas reductions in planning and land use decisions. An attempt to suspend AB 32 failed miserably in 2010 so it is clear that planning for greenhouse gases will only grow in the future, and one of the most effective ways to reduce carbon emissions, increase public health, and reduce dependence on foreign oil is to provide environments where people can use active transportation for daily tasks. Even today Pomona just has one bike lane, on Hamilton Boulevard, while many of the streets in South Pomona and Phillips Ranch are excessively wide and could be restriped easily to add a bike lane.


The stakeholder meeting is on Tuesday, January 31st, at 6 pm at the Cal Poly Downtown Center. The consultant will have maps of proposed closed streets and other information for consideration.


Please RSVP to Maura Montellano at 909-620-2262 or via email at maura_montellano@ci.pomona.ca.us.

Human Trafficing Film at Fox

I received an email from Nathan Neighbor of Mosaic Community who have an art gallery on Thomas Street and conduct weekly Church services at the Pomona Fox Theater on Sundays. I think that this may be of interest to some of you. Here's Nathan's message:

My name is Nathan Neighbour, and I work with the Mosaic community that meets in the Fox Theater each Sunday.  Next Sunday, January 29th at 2pm we are hosting a community awareness event at The Fox around the issue of human trafficking, a huge problem in the Pomona Valley.  Thousands of girls as young as age 12 are bought and sold in the sex trade industry right here in our city.  

 We will be screening a film called FLESH: Bought & Sold in the US and will have a panel of film makers and community leaders joining us (including the mayor and chief of police).  The Fox has graciously partnered with us to make this event happen and get the word out to the community.

right here in river city!

I can't believe I had to learn it from a Claremont friend, but apparently there's a Pomona pride (lower-case P, because I don't think it's the Prop. 8 kind of Pride) event this weekend -- including a performance by Flavor Flav. Take me back to my youth, Calgon!

Of course, looking at the poster, the misspelling of "amateur" jumps right out at me. Oh, Pomona, why must you always match every step forward with half a step back? Do we want the rest of the West Inland Empire thinking we can't spell? No we do not!

Do any of our fine readers know anything about Diamonds Love Foundation, the co-sponsor of the event?

I learned about this via Twitter. I'm wondering, how many Pomoniacs are on Twitter? I follow @pomonafeed and @tweetpomona (which mainly seems to tweet Pasadena)... Anybody else out there I should follow? [For what it's worth, I'm @mmwwah, but I don't tweet much about local matters, either SoCal or NorCal.]

Redistricting takes center stage

In the span of 16 hours, key decisions will be made that will impact the lives of Pomona residents for the next ten years. This is about redistricting - the decennial redrawing of lines to ensure equitable distribution of population after each census. Redistricting impacts the representation that residents have, and on a greater scale determines whether communities of interest are kept together or are broken apart, and whether the rights of minorities are maintained or regressed. Poorly drawn districts can result in some areas being considered less than others and receiving fewer resources and attention from the elected official, or could invite extensive and costly litigation as attorneys for protected groups challenge the new lines.

At 5:30 pm on Tuesday, the Pomona City Council will meet to discuss council redistricting. The city staff has opted to handle it themselves, and not go into an outside consultant. Staff and the City Attorney have gamely identified 24 possible areas for moving populations and tried to shift them around to reduce deviation as much as possible. With the Phillips Ranch area, District 5 having the least population and North Pomona, District 6, with the greatest population, any district move would have a domino effect on the whole city. Unfortunately, due to poor scanning of the staff report, it is unclear where all these chess pieces will end up. Nevertheless areas near the boundaries of districts, such as Val Verde, Westmont, and Downtown Pomona could be at risk of moving to another district.

Critics of the staff-driven process say that it is not transparent where these considerations come from, that they have not allowed the community to express their preferences as to what they consider a community of interest is, and that they do not provide racial demographic information to ensure that protected ethnic groups are not adversely impacted by these moves, due to Voting Rights Act considerations (which are referred to in the staff report but subsequently not evaluated with respect to the new district proposal). Many cities with districts choose to go to one of the major providers in California of redistricting services - Matt Rexroad's Meridian Pacific, Paul Mitchell's Redistricting Partners, or Doug Johnson's National Demographics Corporation. Having the experience of doing many cities' redistricting helps greatly in understanding the key legal issues that, if not addressed, could result in extensive and costly litigation.

The next morning (Wednesday) at 8 a.m. the Three Valleys Water Board will discuss redistricting of its water district lines. The Water District has two proposals provided by Redistricting Partners that could radically shift the City-based lines of today into lines that do not match up with any water district lines or City lines. In particular, small portions of North Pomona could be disunited with the rest of the city under the "minimal changes" option, with the primary impact breaking Walnut up from one district into three. In "Option A", Claremont and South Pomona could be united in one district that would be extremely diverse in terms of demographics and water purveyors.

Again, there are issues of transparency as Redistricting Partners was selected without any indication of the selection process or how they were chosen. The public input on this has been minimal, with one resident comment and one comment from an elected official.

Everyone has a different perspective of their community. Some would like to see Downtown Pomona as part of one district, while others feel that as many council members as possible should share an interest in Downtown. Similarly, City lines may not be important for some people, and having South Pomona and Claremont in the same Water Board district may still be in a community of interest, being on the east end of the County line.

If you don't feel that your community is being kept whole, let your voices be heard. You can write to the members of the City Council here, and to the Three Valleys Municipal Water District at vhahn@tvmwd.com. You can also speak at the public hearing for the Three Valleys Municipal Water District in Claremont at 8 a.m. on Wednesday, or to the City Council at the Council Chambers during public comment some time after 5:30 p.m. Tuesday.

Repertory Opera Company

Pomona’s Opera Company

presents Gaetano Donizetti's rousing comedy of disguise and deception: Don Pasquale, A Dramma buffo in three acts sung in Italian with English narration.

Brian Farrell at the piano.

Saturdays at 2 pm - February 4, 11 & 18

Wednesday, February 8 at 7 pm

Tickets are $30 for adults. Children $10.

Student Rush with ID $15 on Feb 4 & 8.

Performances are at First Christian Church, 1751 N. Park Ave, Pomona CA 91768

Continuing to bring quality opera performances to our community.

For more information go to www.repertoryoperacompany.org or call (909) 230-4949

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!

A Busy Week in Pomona

A reminder that Saturday is the Pomona Christmas Parade. The parade will begin at 2nd and Gibbs Streets in downtown Pomona and travel west on 2nd Street to Park Ave., where it will turn south to 8th Street.

This year's grand marshal is boxer "Sugar" Shane Mosley. This year's community heroes are the military veterans from all wars and eras. We will have veterans from WWII, Korea, Vietnam, Desert Storm, Iraqi Freedom, and Enduring Freedom as well as those who served in the all to brief periods between those wars. In addition there will be special color guards and military vehicles.

If you get a viewing spot near the community judging area at Thomas Plaza, there will also be a special presentation of colors and a 21 gun salute to the veterans, as well as play by play announcing as the units pass by. There are about 120 different units in the entire parade (including marching bands, equestrians, floats, dignitaries, and local civic organizations), with an estimated 2,000 individual participants.

The parade steps off at 10:00 am sharp and is expected to last about 2 hours. Bring a chair and come early to get a good seat.

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Thursday will see a holiday party by the Pomona Valley Democratic Club at Sakira Ichi restaurant in the Mission Promenade center. Join other Democrats in enjoying some food, beverages, and what will surely be some lively conversation. Click on image at left to enlarge.

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CONGRATULATIONS are in order for the passage of the Pomona Public Arts Policy at last Monday's council meeting. This important new ordinance will ensure that all future development will either have a public art element to it, or that the developer will contribute to an arts in public places fund for future arts projects in our public spaces (parks, highway medians, etc.).

The Pomona Cultural Arts Commission is to be lauded for their hard work over the past three+ years to shepherd this legislation through and to create a viable public arts policy for the enhancement of the entire city.

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I'd like to with everyone who reads this blog the Happiest of Holidays. I'm sure that we'll have a lot more lively debate in 2012 as we face municipal elections in November and (as noted by CalWatch) possible redistricting for Pomona's council districts by June. As well as other things that will come up in the interim.

shabby shenanigans -- not ours

I imagine we're all disappointed in city politics to one extent or another, but at least we're not San Fernando. At first glance, this article in LA Observed outlining the city's woes is more amusing (in a Gomer Pyle, "Well, gaaaaaah-leeee!" way) than anything else, but then I got to thinking about what that situation must mean for the city. What a hot mess. I feel sure that dear old Pomona would not and could not sink that low.

Now that I've said that, please, Pomona, don't take it as a challenge!

Pomona City Council redistricting possibilities

In so many words, the folks in Phillips Ranch and Westmont are being overrepresented, while people in North Pomona and Northeast Pomona are getting less representation. The "ideal" district population (population of city divided by number of districts) is 24,843, and District 5, where Phillips Ranch and Westmont are, has only 20,354 people, while North Pomona has 27,115 people.

In typical bureaucrat form, City staff gives the Council an option of maintaining the existing districts, using the excuse that because of foreclosures in District 5, "changing district boundaries at this time would likely create future inequality". However, this reason is hollow since the number of foreclosures in District 5 are not likely to be worse than the rest of Pomona. A 18.07% deviation from the ideal population is very high and would violate the U.S. Constitution, which calls for "one person, one vote", as determined in Reynolds vs. Sims. Keeping existing districts would invite a legal challenge from those in North and Northeast Pomona who feel underrepresented. Such legal costs would likely dwarf the several thousand necessary to draw properly apportioned districts.

In addition, since District 5 is considered more affluent and less Hispanic than the other districts (demographically speaking), maintaining the existing district lines could cause problems with the Voting Rights Act, which states that minority groups should have an opportunity to vote for candidates of their own choosing. Incidentally, Phillips Ranch also has a higher than average Asian American population, and it could be argued that by diluting the district, it lessens the ability for Asians to elect a candidate of their own choosing. The City went to district elections partly because of Voting Rights Act concerns.  Other cities have had malapportioned districts as well for some time (Bradbury is a recent example) but it is less of an issue since there are not significant numbers of minority groups that are protected by the Voting Rights Act. This will also affect the ballot initiative by Vernon Price which is proposing to return to at-large elections of candidates who live in individual districts, but may require Voting Rights Act analysis if passed to ensure that Caucasians, Asians, and African Americans have the opportunity to select candidates of their choosing.

However, the current districts correspond with major arterials and easily identifiable neighborhoods. One common complaint is that the current districts split up the Downtown area, but some argue that splitting up Downtown is fine since more councilmembers have a stake in Downtown. Also, District 6 is compact in that it includes all residents north of the 10 freeway. Any redistricting would likely eliminate that - the most obvious way to redistrict District 6 without breaking up neighborhoods is to move the Val Verde neighborhood into District 1 (as part of a compound move that shifts all of Pomona west of the 71 freeway into District 5), but Stephen Atchley lives in Val Verde. It is very unlikely that any redistricting would pass that ousts any sitting councilmember from their seat.

Another possible redistricting could include shifting District 5 north to the Kellogg Park neighborhood and the area around Ganesha High School (Valwood Estates), District 1 north to cover Wilton Heights (while keeping the Fairplex in District 6, allowing for Val Verde and Stephen Atchley to continue to represent that district), and District 3 to come up along Indian Hill to cover the eastern flank of the city. Either way, the citizen voting age population by ethnic group will need to be checked to ensure that minority voting power is not substantially modified.

See the City staff report here. And if you want to do your own redistricting, Dave's Redistricting Application is an example of a basic web-based redistricting application that includes Census block groups. With the City's legal bills mounting with the Avila lawsuit, trash station theater, and other issues, I would doubt that the City Attorney would recommend to invite more legal troubles. But you never know.

strategic gluttony for the win

Just because I'm 367 miles from Pomona doesn't mean I've changed my reading habits. And that includes the pseudo-blog (pseudo because it's actually professional, unlike any blog I've ever been involved with) LA Observed. And today's LA Observed points us to an amazing work of, yes, scholarship:

Sarah at The Delicious Life made a spreadsheet of all of Jonathan Gold's Essential 99 annual columns. It is a thing of wonderment.

Now, I realize that not all of y'all can get outside of our little corner of the West Inland Empire very often, and not all of y'all are big foodies, but surely some of you are and will appreciate this -- or maybe even make use of it. Pasadena is fairly well represented on the list, and most everyone I know ends up having to go to Pasadena at some point.

(BTW, I'll point out that one of the restaurants booted from the Essential 99 list, Zelo Pizza in Arcadia, is just as good as it always was. Meg-Bob and K-Bob say, Check it out!)

Claim for damages

20111101_091101_Avila_claim

Maltese Falcon--Sunday at 2:00 pm

 

  Sunday Nov. 13
The Maltese Falcon  

Friends of the Pomona Fox in association with the Pomona Big Read 
THIS Sunday, November 13       

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The Maltese Falcon

       

Doors open at 1:00 pm -- Film Screens at 2:00 pm 
 

1941 Directed by John Huston. Starring Humphrey Bogart, Mary Astor, Peter Lorre, Sydney Greenstreet, Elisha Cook, Jr., Gladys George, Barton McLane, and Lee Patrick.

TICKETS: Adults $5, Children $3

The Maltese Falcon is considered a classic of the Film Noir genre. With a screenplay by director John Huston, based on the novel by Dashiell Hammett, the film tells the story of hard-boiled detect, played to perfection by Humphrey Bogart, in search of the elusive black bird, "The stuff that dreams are made of." For the past year the citizens of Pomona have been encouraged to read the same book, The Maltese Falcon by Dashiell Hammett.

The Big Read program is put on by the Pomona Public Library with a grant from the National Endowment for the Arts. This screening of the classic 1941 film is the culmination of a month of events inspired by the book. A murder mystery dinner, a trivia contest, a Chalk Art contest are but some of the events of Pomona's Big Read program. The program has included discussions by individuals who have been associated with detective literature including authors Denise Hamilton, Judith Freeman, Tom Nolan, Patt Morrison, Hector Tobar, and Gary Phillips, as well as Hammett's Granddaughter, Julie Rivett.

The Big Read is a program of the National Endowment for the Arts in partnership with Arts Midwest.

Discussion following the film with Denise Hamilton author of Los Angeles Noir, Los Angeles Noir 2, and her latest Damage Control. Denise will discuss the impact of authors like Hammett on the detective film and the Noir genre in particular. Denise will also be available to sign her books. Books will be available for purchase. Sorry, not credit cards (there is an ATM in the theater lobby)

Thanks to our Sponsors for helping to make this program possible:

Food and Beverages at the Pomona Fox

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Friends of the Pomona Fox operates a concession stand at all of our programs which provides a selection of Popcorn, cold sodas, and candy favorites. For more "Adult" options, Drink, the bar just off the theater lobby, will be open with a full-service bar and a menu of tapas items all of which can be taken into the theater for your enjoyment.

After the Movie

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We invite you to head to any of the fine establishments in our downtown area, including our sponsor, dba256 Wine Bar as well as 2nd on Second Street Bistro, Vive, Joey's BBQ, Fox Sports Bar. For more information on the amenities in Downtown Pomona, visit the DPOA's web site, MetroPomona.com Please walk around our historic downtown. 

What do you make of this?...

The following request for support appeared in my inbox last night. I find it upsetting for many reasons, in particular: the assumption PD must have done something wrong, the expectation that people would blindly protest something they don't (can't) have any real information about, and the scattered, illogical narrative. What do you make of this?...

On 11/6/2011 8:37 PM, [name removed] wrote:

The family of Andres Avila, a 26 year old student and activist at Mt. SAC was shot and killed by Pomona Police on October 16th at 8:40 am. The family says he was asleep in his car with his girlfriend when he was approached and shot by a Pomona police officer. The family was not contacted for several hours after the shooting. Witnesses said that the officer who shot Andres was the same officer that Andres had filed a complaint against for use of excessive force in early July when the officer used a taser on Andres while he was handcuffed on the ground. The official police comment was that Andres was being uncooperative, and therefore he was shot and killed.

Tomorrow evening, Monday November 7th at Pomona City Hall the family of Andres will be speaking at the city hall meeting, asking for an investigation into Andres' death by a neutral party. They will be putting pressure on the Pomona Police Dept. and attempting to garner support for Andres to prevent the incident from being swept under the rug.

The family is asking for support at the city hall council meeting TOMORROW NOV 7th at 6PM. If there is not sufficient support, the investigation will most likely be dropped. Please Please Please let me know if you can go to support the family and please forward this email widely. Pomona City Hall is located at the corner of Garey and Mission in pomona.

We need to support our local community. Thank you

Rod Gilfry sings locally

Our local boy turned World Class performer is giving a concert in Claremont. Here's a chance to see him before he whirls off again to Paris and Dallas. He will present a romantic, humorous, family-friendly concert with New York music director Christopher Denny, that includes opera, standards, songs from classic musicals and much more!"

You can get more info at www.claremontfoundation.org/index.cfm .

Proceeds will support CCF’s 2012 Community Impact and Arts grants programs in the local area.

See you there?

LizBeth

Joe Romero update

Good news, everyone! (That's for the Futurama fans out there.)

Joe Romero's sister wrote me this morning with an update about his recovery from his stroke. She writes:

He is currently at Country Oaks Care Center in Pomona (recovering slowly, but recovering....). Here is his mailing address; he is so cheered by knowing he is not forgotten!

Joe Romero
8 Village Loop Rd
Suite D, #205
Pomona, CA 91766

I made sure to get her permission -- and she got Joe's permission -- to print his address here. I'm sure he'd love to get cards from well-wishers!

She added that we were welcome to contact her with questions, and I propose posting them here. If she's not reading the blog, then I'll forward them to her.

Go, Joe!