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!

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.

Kicked in the Teeth--Again!

An article appeared in today's Daily Bulletin under the Ontario NOW section regarding an open house at Assemblywoman Norma Torres' new District Office at 822 N. Euclid (see on map of the 61st District at left). So she couldn't get out of town fast enough. One might argue that the assembly seat is district wide so you need to be in the center of the district. But the way I see it, it's nowhere near the center (unless you count the center as the center of the 10 freeway). So those poor seniors who have to eat dog food must be grouped near Euclid and the 10 freeway so they can easily walk to get help from her staff. That's the only reason I can think of that she eschewed her Pomona base for the higher demographics of Ontario. (Sorry, sarcasm comes so easy.)

Why can't a Pomona assemblyperson have a district office IN Pomona? Nell Soto did the same thing. So much for those of us in the "hinterlands" getting any attention from the assembly office.

Rothman Mayor of Upland

OK, so I'm sitting on Sunday, reading the Saturday DB (I was busy with the Pomona Heritage Christmas Dinner all day Saturday), and to what do my wondering eyes should appear? But an item in the "rail" (the first column on page 1) as shown at the left that made me wonder if there were visions of sugarplums dancing in my head. With the kicker head of UPLAND, I might have passed it over, but I was shocked to learn that Upland was considering appointing a new councilperson for district 5, and that Elliott Rothman had been elected mayor of Upland. Had the election all been just an undigested bit of beef, a blot of mustard, a crumb of cheese, a fragment of underdone potato?

But no, when I got to page 10 to read the story, Monica Rodriguez had all the facts right, and the story was about our own Pomona election.

So much for the efficiencies of the DB combining staff with the San Bernardino Sun. Evidently copy editors and proofreaders in the far east have no idea which city is which and can't write a teaser with the correct information, even though one would assume that they were looking at Monica's article as reference. I know that mistakes happen (anyone who's read the Pomona Heritage newsletter knows that I make my share), but a newspaper is supposed to have quality control in place. That's why editors and proofreaders are so vital to a news organization.

Pomona Photos Survive

A couple of days ago I was aghast when I learned that Ren's Corner had disappeared from the blogosphere. Ren has been providing photos to Goddess of Pomona's site, Pomona Heritage, and Historical Society of the Pomona Valley for most of the past year, so having his blog disappear was disconcerting.

Fortunately, I had his email address and was able to contact him regarding what happened. He and I met yesterday at dba257 (my first meeting with him in person) and I learned what happened. Ren (actually Richard E. Nunez) has some health issues which were being negatively impacted by his working on the computer. The repetitive motion was causing his arms to go numb and he decided that he could no longer maintain the blog. Rather than just let it go dormant as other bloggers do, he was concerned that if it was there that he'd feel compelled to continue to post. So, he unceremoniously shut it down.

However, fear not. He has decided that he can still post his photographs, minus the commentary and it wouldn't cause him health problems. He has created a new blog called Images of Pomona. This blog is dedicated to documenting the things that Ren sees around town. It's only been up for a few days and he already has 83 (and counting) images posted. They cover the gamut from the construction at the Fox, the chalk art on 2nd St., The "swimming pool" that is the Watt project, to a lot of wonderful images of various buildings and things around the city. If you have a chance, take a look at Ren's new home. I, for one, am just happy that he's out there contributing what he can.

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!

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.