Monday is the first council meeting of the new year. The new council members have been seated and this will be their first chance to do some actual work. We will be looking to see how things progress. The agenda is posted online at:
http://public-records.ci.pomona.ca.us.
Among the items on the agenda is:
- Appointment of new VPD (downtown Vehicle Parking District) commissioners
- Funding of a little over $40,000 for the Chamber of Commerce
- Funding of $50,000 for the Pomona Economic Opportunity Center (Day Labor Center)
- The widening proposals for the 71 Freeway from the 10 to the 60
- The normal requests for funding for community items (this time holiday event at Ralph Welch Park and Martin Luther King breakfast).
- Along with several other contracts and misc items.
If you have an opinion on any of these issues, I look forward to seeing you at the council chambers on Monday at 6:45 pm.
Library Task Force Meeting
The Library Task Force that was put together by Councilmember Paula Lantz after the library's decimation last year will be meeting again on Monday at 9:00 am in the Library's conference room. The TF has not met since before the election and it's now time to strategize about moving forward. The meeting is open to all and we'd love to see as many people as can make it on a Monday morning as possible. The fight is not yet over to
SAVE OUR LIBRARY!
4 comments:
Funding for the Chamber of Commerce????? Cut that group off and make them support themselves and their worthless mixers. 40k would help the library and more residents. Oh wait, is the funding deserved because they did such a great job of helping bring Big 5 to Foothill Blvd? What a joke, if you call Big 5 like I did around Christmas they answer "Thanks for calling Big 5 CLAREMONT". Hahahahahaha
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It's sad that this is what it has come down to for the Pomona Public Library, using it almost as a cudgel against funding the Chamber of Commerce and the PEOC. Keep in mind that this is, after all, a city department we're pitting against external organizations.
Nobody in their right mind says "sorry C of C, that money could be used to help add 5 more hours of service for the planning department" nor would anyone say "there's no printing budget for accounting so if you want toner and paper, you have to start a fundraising campaign." Yet somehow this seems to have been acceptable to city management when it comes to the Library department.
Am I suggesting that the library is as essential to Pomona as planning and accounting? Yes I am. A library empowers its residents, giving them access to information regardless of race, gender, age, or economic situation. It enables and inspires. It gives residents a sense of pride, of being home. It IS the cultural heart of the city.
I know there is a movement to save the library and there are dedicated individuals hard at work trying to make sure the library gets funding. That is a good thing. It will take many small steps to rebuild the library. Council has said that the library is a priority. How much of a priority is yet to be seen. So far, lip-service has shown it's higher than the Chamber of Commerce and the PEOC. I think we can and should set the bar a lot higher than that.
What a shame that the Labor Center is a higher priority then the Library. I myself blame Debbie Martin and "I don't know crap" John Nolte. Well it could be worse, I take that back it is worse. Hey we put them in office and we can take them out also..B^)
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