say it ain't so, Joe!

Anon. posted in a comment on the last post news that I thought you'd all want to know: Our own Joe Romero -- former police chief and lifelong Pomoniac -- suffered a stroke and is hospitalized. We here at M-M-M-My Pomona wish him a speedy and complete recovery, and we invite you all to post any updates you might have in the comments.

I can't remember the exact GI Joe battle cry... wasn't it something like "Yo, Joe!" Anyway, as the Quakers say, I am holding Joe Romero in the light until I hear he's out of the woods.

singing a different tune

I'm not deeply involved in the issue, but I could not help but roll my eyes when I read in the DB that last night's trash transfer station meeting ended at 11pm without the public having an opportunity to speak. Am I the only one wincing? I sure hope not.

Repertory Opera Company, Pomona's Opera Company,
launches its third season in Pomona with Verdi's stirring masterpiece, Il Trovatore.

Saturdays, October 1, 8 and 15 at 2 pm; and
Wednesday, October 5 at 7 pm.

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


Verdi's Il Trovatore is an opera that defines what opera is. Find out why it's been hot since it debuted in 1853! Consuming love, consuming revenge, fear and obsession bring us the hits (think, Anvil Chorus) that opera is famous for. Be there for the magic!

Wildly popular since its first performance, Il Trovatore's music entertain you with gloriously rich melodies and thrilling coloratura cadenzas. It features one of the most spectacular tenor arias ever written, fiery and dramatic solos for the mezzo-soprano and a couple of Verdi's signature, achingly beautiful baritone arias. Not to mention the famous Anvil Chorus, sung by the gypsies around the campfire. The music throughout communicates intense emotions, vulnerability, self-sacrificial love and passionate ardor.

Tickets are $30
www.repertoryoperacompany.org
(909) 230-4949

with Brian Farrell on the piano
This production is double cast:

Coril Prochnow and Lindsay Feldmeth as Leonora;
James Salazar and Steve Moritsugu as Manrico;
Debbie Dey and LizBeth Lucca as Azucena;
Raul Matas as the Count di Luna;
Sean Hughes and Mark Palmer as Ferrando;
Eddie Sayles and Jonathan Tran as Ruiz
Lawren Donahue and Rachel Payne as Inez

www.repertoryoperacompany.org

Opera Cafe Monday Night

Repertory Opera Company is restarting OPERA NIGHT in downtown Pomona. The new owners at 2nd on Second St. An American Bistro are now hosting this entertainment tradition on the second Monday of every month.

So this Monday, September 12, bring your appetites and your toes for tappin', because the amazing singers from Repertory Opera Company will sing their hearts out with your supper.

Albert is promising a great meatball for a pasta buffet with spaghetti and meatballs, vegetable garlic bread, salad, tea and lemonade. All this for $20 plus tax and tip. You can make reservations by calling Repertory Opera Company at (909) 230-4949. If you would like to be put on the mailing list for these musical evening, email LizBeth at lizbethlucca@gmail.com.

More music!

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

No Sopranos or Tenors Allowed!

Saturday, July 2 at 5 pm
ROC is presenting a most unique concert

The Manly Men of Opera!

Its rare to have even two basses in a concert. Here we have gathered eight of the richest, deepest, smoothest bass voices and presented them in one extravaganza.

For tickets or more information go to
www.repertoryoperacompany.org

Charter Review Commission OVER

The Pomona Charter Review Commission completed its work on May 23 and submitted their final report to the city clerk on May 26. The commission has now been disbanded per the current charter. I've done a complete rundown on the proposed charter amendments on the Eye On Pomona blog. Unfortunately, they don't allow commenting, but I'll certainly read any comments posted here or on the Eye On Pomona Facebook page.

I promised myself that I'd try to keep my posts on this blog social or at least short so as not to move this blog too much into a political diatribe. So I'd like to use this space (thanks Meg) to acknowledge the work of my fellow commissioners.

Co-Chairs Eunice Russell and Lucille Lyons (and Victor Caseres who was replaced after the District 5 election) who, somehow, managed to keep a semblance or order when everyone had an opinion and wanted desperately to express it. And to Celia Gomez, Frank Delgado, Carlos Goytia, Arturo Jimenez, Debra Martin, Veronica Michalowski, John Nolte, Jerry Perez, Julie-Roberts-Fronk, Bernardo Rosa, Luis Rosales, De'Andre Valencia, and Ed Simian (also replaced after the District 5 election). They all contributed greatly to the final document. While we didn't always see eye-to-eye on every issue, we were all respectful of each others opinions and in the end we did a job that I wasn't sure could be done by a 15-member commission.

And lastly I'd like to thank the city staffers who help guide us through the process, Assistant City Manager Mark Gluba, City Clerk Marie Macias (along with her assistants), and Assistant City Attorney Andrew Jared.

The next step is to convince the voters to approve our hard work in November 2012. I look forward to working with many of my colleagues to see that it happens.

Thank you all for the wonderful experience.

Garden Party

Center Street Community Garden Party!
Come and join us in celebrating the second year of the Center Street Community Garden!
Saturday, May 14, 2011
drop by between 10AM and 2PM
Corner of Center and Gibbs in Pomona
(across the street from First Pres Church at 401 N. Gibbs Ave.)

• Rent a plot today, start planting tomorrow!
• Free packet of seeds to every new plot holder!
• Learn how to prepare food from your own plot!
• Free snacks made from garden vegetables!
• Children's garden project! Take it home and watch it grow!
• Take a tour and learn how you can get involved!

Co-sponsored by Pomona Hope and First Presbyterian Church of Pomona
For more info: 909-622-1542 or info@pomonahope.org

Sunday's Movie Cancelled

 

Unfortunately, there was an unforseen scheduling problem with Sunday's screening of West Side Story. We hope to reschedule it in the very near future. Both Friends of the Pomona Fox and Pomona Fox Theater apologize to anyone whom this may have inconvenienced. We hope to see you soon at one of our future screenings. The next scheduled screening is Selma Heyak in Frida, on Saturday, July 9. Check www.pomonafox.org for more information.

The concert on Sunday evening which caused the conflict is TV on the Radio. We hope those who are interested in this program will support the Fox.

Picture from last night's rehearsal of La Boheme. Musetta is trying to get rid of her old sugar daddy Alcindoro by telling him her shoe is broken. Once he takes her shoe off and goes to get it repaired, she can run off with the poor painter Marcello, her on again off again lover. Our other two lovers, Rodolfo and Mimi watch as do the other diners at Cafe Momus.

Hope you can come see the full production! www.repertoryoperacompany.org

It Opera Time!

Ethics

[eth-iks]
–plural noun
1. (used with a singular or plural verb ) a system of moral principles: the ethics of a culture.
2. the rules of conduct recognized in respect to a particular class of human actions or a particular group, culture, etc.: medical ethics; Christian ethics.
3. moral principles, as of an individual: His ethics forbade betrayal of a confidence.
4. (usually used with a singular verb ) that branch of philosophy dealing with values relating to human conduct, with respect to the rightness and wrongness of certain actions and to the goodness and badness of the motives and ends of such actions.

We now know, thanks to Pomona's own Xavier Alvarez, that lying is perfectly legal and a part of our first amendment rights. But it is absolutely, by all reasonable standards, unethical. This is what separates ethics from law.

As those of you who have read my posts in the past are aware, I've been championing the formation of an Ethics Commission as a member of the city of Pomona's Charter Review Commission. At the last meeting where this was discussed, March 16, there were numerous questions by the Deputy City Attorney who felt that the way that the proposed charter amendment was worded, it would cause problems. In addition, there were also questions of the cost of such a commission at a time when the city is facing a fiscal crisis.

On Wednesday, the item will once again be presented. This will be a significantly altered version which addresses both the issues of concern from the City Attorney's office, but also as to costs as well. I've added the rewritten item at the bottom of this post and it can also be read (along with the other items on Wednesday's agenda) on the city's web site.

It has been somewhat disheartening that there has been little public reaction to the idea. While there have been numerous letters and public speakers for the idea of a Police Commission and for inclusion of language in the charter for the Pomona Youth and Family Master Plan, only one speaker, Jorge Grajeda, thus far has addressed ethics. I hope that this is not indicative of a malaise in the city regarding ethical conduct of the city council, city commissioners, city staff, and others who represent our interests as a city.

What the new version does is takes out anything that would automatically incur costs to the city beyond the formation of an Ethics Commission. There is no requirement for staff for the commission, nor are the duties of the commission spelled out, except for the primary duty of creating a city Code of Ethics. It is the intent that such a commission would then create its role in how the code is to be administered.

While we pulled much of the original amendment language from the city of San Diego's ethics commission, the Deputy City Attorney argued that, while San Diego has it on their books, that doesn't particularly make it legal. So if you see something here that was changed, it was probably because the lawyers felt that it was unenforceable or would be challenged.

With the daily revelations of shenanigans in Upland, Montebello, San Bernardino County, etc., I feel strongly that we need to create an environment for our officials and city that encourages people to do the right thing. A code of ethics would spell out what the right thing is. Not the "legal" right thing, but the ethical right thing. I've heard ethical behavior described as "doing the right thing even when doing the wrong thing is perfectly legal, because it is the right thing.

I hope to see some of you on Wednesday in the small chambers just to the south of the council chambers. If you can't make it, you can submit your opinion to the commission by emailing to the city clerk. She will make sure the commission gets your thoughts.

Free swim lessons

The Pomona YMCA free swimming lessons available for children ages 3 to 14 during next week's Spring Break. The lessons will last one hour each day, Monday through Friday;sessions are available throughout the day. To sign up, you must call the YMCA by THIS Wednesday (March 30th). Call the YMCA at 909-623-6433 to get more details on the free swim lessons (the lessons are paid for by a grant from State Farm).

Marine Corps Combat Center Band at Garey HS

The Marine Corps Combat Center Band will perform this weekend at Garey High School.

Here are the details:

Saturday, March 26
6:30 PM
Garey High School Gymnasium
321 W. Lexington Avenue
Pomona, CA 91766

The Japanese Disaster: a Primer for the Public on Geophysics and Radioactivity

In case you're interested...

The Japanese Disaster: a Primer for the Public on Geophysics and Radioactivity

Geophysicist Greg Lyzenga will describe the recent Japanese earthquake and tsunami, and explain why earthquakes of magnitude 9 cannot happen in Southern California. Physicist Peter Saeta will discuss the basics of nuclear power and the challenges facing the Japanese as they seek to regain control of the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant.

Harvey Mudd College, Galileo-McAlister, Friday, March 25 from 5:00 to 6:30 pm. Free and open to the public.

Charter Review--ETHICS

The Pomona Charter Review Commission (CRC) will be meeting once again on Wednesday, March 16 at 6:30 pm in the small chambers next to the Council Chambers (just to the south). Slated for discussion will be changes to, Article XIV (Ethics) the subject of this post, Article II (boundaries of the council districts), Article X (Financial Procedures), and Article XVII (final changes on Charter Review Commission passed by the commission). Under new business (if we can get to it) are final reports on Article III (City Powers, a proposal to add the Youth and Family Master Plan language to the charter), Article IV (final approval of amended proposal from last meeting), Article VI (approval of a one word change), and Article VII (no recommended changes). A report by the subcommittee looking at a Police Commission has not yet been presented so is not on the agenda for this meeting.

The work of the commission must be completed by early May to conform to the time limit of one year as specified in the current charter. It is hoped that a draft proposal will be ready by mid-April for presentation to the City Council for their input (NOT approval, as the council has no inherent power to make changes to the work of the CRC).

ETHICS

For me personally, this is a very important part of the proposed changes to the charter. This item was one of the main reasons that I wanted to be part of the Charter Review Process.

Ethics is on everyone's lips today. Whether it's the city of Bell, the actions of the mayor of Upland, the various scandals that have been taking place in San Bernardino County and elsewhere, the public has lost confidence in its elected leaders. It is time to insist that our elected officials act in the best interest of the citizens they serve.

The city of Pomona currently does not have its own code of ethics. It routinely adopts the state code which is, in my opinion, the lowest common denominator for ethical behavior. It covers such things as conflicts of interest and, since the Bell scandals, how compensation is figured. But it doesn't go far enough. Our current charter, has additional conflicts of interest language concerning those who are running for office.

Below is the proposed changes to the City Charter that came out of the subcommittee. I'm proud to say that I had a role in drafting this proposal. One of the main things that this proposal doesn't do, is to try and define what ethics are. It leaves that up to a commission, to be formed, whose sole purpose is to create a citywide code of ethics (covering not only elected officials but city workers as well). It is our hope that a commission who are dedicated to defining and enforcing ethics is what our city desparately needs.

Please take a look at the proposal, and if you having any comments on it, either leave them here, OR better yet, come to the meeting on Wednesday and let your voice be heard.

If the document below doesn't work for you, you can view it at my personal web site at: http://www.johncliffordgraphics.com/uploads/3-16-11%20Item%205A.pdf.  Or on the city's web site at: http://public-records.ci.pomona.ca.us/WebLink8/browse.aspx?startid=22091&&dbid=0.

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.

Continue the calendar?

As we approach the one-year anniversary of the Pomona Events Google calendar, I find myself contemplating whether its continuation is worth the effort.

The original plan was to create a visible, easy-to-use tool for people to find all the rockin' events folks in our city organize. This goal has been partially realized: local bloggers embedded the calendar feed into their blogs, people mention every now and again that they look to the calendar for activity ideas, and some of the many people/organizations who have been invited to post their events do just that. That said, I know a bunch of great events don't make it onto the calendar.

I had put in a good deal of effort up front in hope the calendar would take on a life of its own, with little energy needed on my part to keep it going. Thus far, this hasn't happened, and I've been doing a poor job keeping up with the posts.

The calendar limps along. I'm not satisfied with it in its current state, but I don't have any more time to contribute to it.

Do people find the calendar helpful? If no, is it time to scrap the calendar? If yes, is anyone willing to volunteer one hour per month to help populate the calendar with content? Are there any folks out there organizing events that would be willing to learn how to post their own events (I can show you everything you need to know in 15 minutes)?

Don't miss Final Performance of Romeo et Juliette Saturday at 2 pm

For tickets or more information www.repertoryoperacompany.org

Monsters to Invade Pomona

2011 is the 80th Anniversary of the Pomona Fox Theater and what better way to honor that anniversary than with the presentation of the 80th Anniversary screening of both Dracula (1931) and Frankenstein (1931)  on Sunday, Feb. 20. The Fox lobby will be decorated with displays of memorabilia and artwork celebrating the world’s greatest movie monsters. Materials from Famous Monster of Filmland, the classic Monster magazine; Monsterpalooza, the ultimate yearly monster convention; Art of Clay Scupture Studios; and Creature Features, will be displayed.

In addition to the lobby displays, Phantom Coaches Hearse Club will be bringing some vintage hearses which will be on display in front of the theater. PCHC is an organization of owners of car enthusiasts who just happen to enjoy beauty of professional cars - hearses, flower cars, limousines, and ambulances. Their motto is “Putting the ‘fun’ in funeral since 1994.”

Early online ticket sales have come from as far away as Fresno, Arleta, Moorpark, and Torrence. This promises to be a unique experience for the Pomona downtown, as well as for the Pomona Fox Theater.

The doors open at 2:00 pm with the screening of Dracula at 3:00 pm followed by the panel discussion and then the screening of Frankenstein scheduled to begin at 4:45 pm. Moderated by film historian, author, and instructor at the University of La Verne, Scott Essman, the panel will also include confirmed guests:

• Sara Karloff, daughter of Frankenstein lead Boris Karloff
• Bela Lugosi, Jr., son of Dracula lead Bela Lugosi
• Ted Newsom, film historian, producer of Ed Wood—Look Back in Angora, video biographies of Marilyn Monroe, Frank Sinatra, and Elvis Presley, and was writer/director of the 26-episode series 100 Years of Horror, with Christopher Lee as host and narrator.
• Bill Warren, movie/monster historian, contributor to Leonard Maltin's Movie Guide, author of Death Is a Lonely Place
• Craig Reardon, makeup expert/artist, Without a Trace, Wild Wild West, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, The X Files among others
• Special Effects master Shane Mahan, Cowboys and Aliens, GI Joe, Indiana Jones and The Kingdom of the Crystal Skull, Iron Man, War of the Worlds, Big Fish, Galaxy Quest, and The Lost World; Jurassic Park among others.
• Actor Dan Robuck., Matlock, Lost, Glee, NCIS, CSI, Bones, Desperate Housewives, The Late Shift playing Jay Leno, Halloween, Agent Cody Banks, Final Destination, The Fugitive and US Marshalls among others.
• 'Monster Artist' Frank Dietz

All guests are subject to availability.

In addition to the panel, several special guests will be attending the event as well:

• Don Shay, publisher of Cinefex Magazine in Riverside - magazine about the makeup/special effects/visual effects industry since 1979.
• Mick Garris, director of many Stephen King TV adaptations, including The Shining and The Stand plus the theatrical feature Sleepwalkers and creator of the TV series Masters of Horror .
• Tom Woodruff, Jr., co-founder of Amalgamated Dynamics, who have created practical creatures and makeup effects for Alien films of the past 20 years, including Jumangi, Starship Troopers, Santa Clause and many more

Sponsors for the February 20 program include: Downtown Pomona Owners’ Association (DPOA), Creature Features, Famous Monsters of Filmland, Art of Clay Sculpture Studio, Monsterpalooza, Rhino Records in Claremont, Claremont 5-Second Film Festival, Antique Gallery Pomona • Braunstein & Schowalter "Antiques - Estates – Ebay,” UPS Store, Greg’s Refrigeration, Pomona Heritage, and Historical Society of the Pomona Valley.