Out of Sight but not Out of Mind

Where is the Trolley?

We've been asked by a few readers, "whatever happened to the Trolley?" Last we heard there was some discussion with a Trolley Brokers in Colorado, and Maybe Chaffey College over in Rancho Cucamonga. A letter from Chaffey College was even included in the agenda packet for the May 26, 2009 council meeting expressing interest if a few nettlesome details could be worked through.

Well, we tasked the Insider KH-12B spy satellite to try to pin down the geodetic coordinates of the Claremont Trolley. After poring over thousands of images identified by our state-of-the-art pattern-recognition software, and collating locations through a probabilistic image-match algorithm, we finally believe we can identify the location of the Trolley at least on pass 19,311 at 1738 UTC today, August 6, 2009.

The Trolley is sitting in a carport in the City Yard--awaiting another clarion call to duty.

See the pictures below (as usual, click on picture to enlarge):

Survey image showing Claremont and Pomona

East portion of Claremont and west part of Upland

City Yard on Monte Vista

Trolley found under camouflage cover

Detail of Trolley on August 6, 2009

Sunday Morning Lesson

Superbia et Ira

We take our text this morning from the writings of newly-appointed Human Services Commissioner, Saint Homer the Butch. Pastor Henderson wrote in yesterday's Courier:

Claremont has an ideal opportunity to create a well-planned housing community for seniors and families on the former COURIER site.

By bringing together folks across the generations, this small community within our larger community will add to the vitality of Claremont. It will offer an affordable housing opportunity for many who already work in Claremont and enable them to live in the community where they are employed.

Families with younger children will have convenient access to Oakmont School, where there is plenty of room for new students [He's right on this one if Helaine Goldwater was to be believed at last Tuesday's council meeting. She stated that 50% of Oakmont's students were "interdistrict transfers", meaning they came from outside of Claremont. See the video here at 2:13:00 ff.] The location is also conveniently situated near Claremont’s downtown business centers. We have a developer with an excellent track record and with viable, appealing communities in place around Southern California.

No location or plan will ever be perfect nor meet the objections of those who find fault with every affordable housing proposal. Now is the time to continue building quality of life sustainability in Claremont by seizing the opportunity.

Butch and Rosemary Henderson

As we read the first three paragraphs of this letter, our bosom swelled with welling pride to be a member of a community so obviously willing to do the Right Thing. Pastor Henderson's sermons have always had that effect on people, and we'll be attending the Human Services Commission meetings faithfully for more moral instruction from here on out.

It was something of a wrong note though to hear him refer in the last paragraph to "those who find fault with every affordable housing proposal". We thought we detected more than a hint of anger so some of his fellow men there, indicting--though not by name--a segment of our community apparently worthy of his remark.

We have in this letter pride in his community and his place in it and thinly-veiled anger at what must be a substantial portion of it--at least substantial enough to get into his head. It sounded kinda judgmental to us.

Then we remembered that "pride" and "anger" were two of the seven deadly sins. So take this lesson.

White-Striped Fruit Fly Eradication in Claremont

Neighborhoods and open space on the far western edge of Claremont, including some of the Piedmont Mesa area and part of Claraboya, will be subject to treatment for eradication of the newly-found White-Striped Fruit Fly, found in La Verne a few days ago. This bug is a native of Southeast Asia. The California Department of Food and Agriculture said this in a press release:

The California Department of Food and Agriculture (CDFA) has detected an infestation of the white striped fruit fly in the La Verne area of Los Angeles County.

Seven white striped fruit flies have been detected recently in traps in the area, marking the first time this pest has been detected in the Western Hemisphere. The fly is native to tropical Southeast Asia, where it damages the fruit of many trees, most notably guava and mango. Damage occurs when the female lays eggs inside the fruit. The eggs hatch into maggots that tunnel through the flesh of the fruit, making it unfit for consumption.

Beginning on August 1, CDFA eradication crews will place several thousand traps containing a "male attractant” lure and a small amount of pesticide. The traps will be hung in trees throughout approximately 15 square miles in the La Verne area. These traps, also known as “bait stations,” attract and kill the male flies, effectively eliminating breeding. Within 200 meters of the sites where the seven flies were trapped, crews will also apply ground treatments with an organic-approved product [note: the product is Spinosad*, chemical diagram right; it is highly toxic to bees] to the foliage of trees to ensure that any established breeding populations are eradicated.

Residents of properties that are scheduled for traps or foliage treatments will be notified prior to the application.

Residents with questions about the treatment program may call the department’s Pest Hotline at 1-800-491-1899.

We have noticed a lot of the State Department of Food and Agriculture trucks around town in the past week or so. These are the guys who carry the cardboard "tent" traps and bottle traps to catch bugs in fruit trees. This must be what that has been all about.

Nothing about this in this week's City Manager Update--quite a bit though on the Claremont "Family Campout" and the teen Graffiti Exhibit (do we really need one of these?).

Below is a map showing the present extent of the treatment scheduled to begin today, August 1.

click on map to enlarge

* * * * * *

*From DowAgro description of the insecticide to be used by the CDFA: Spinosad has a unique mode of action that is different from all other known insect control products. Spinosad causes excitation of the insect nervous system, leading to involuntary muscle contractions, prostration with tremors, and finally paralysis. These effects are consistent with the activation of nicotinic acetylcholine receptors by a mechanism that is clearly novel and unique among known insecticidal compounds. Spinosad also has effects on GABA receptor function that may contribute further to its insecticidal activity.

Points of Clarification

We had a couple clarifications regarding the photo we ran yesterday showing the tire tracks running over from the newly patched asphalt placed by the Verizon work crews that are installing the company's fiber optic system (FiOS) in Claremont.

First, the photo's location was Scripps Ave. between Mountain and Oxford:

Click on Image to Enlarge

Second, the reader added that the tire track marks in the photo were caused by Verizon, not by people just driving along. All in all, the reader felt Claremont could learn a lot from Fontana, where there seemed to be much more of a resident-friendly effort on the part of that city and the contractors doing the work:

DATE: Thursday, July 30, 2009 7:52 AM
SUBJECT: FIOS
TO: Claremont Buzz

Dear Buzz,

Just a quick one… the marks on the city streets are not caused by cars crossing the patch. They are all caused by Verizon. They poured the patch and immediately drove through it over and over again with their own equipment. They blocked off the streets to residents as they did this. Verizon FIOS and Claremont can take lessons from Fontana!

City Camp Out

For all of those thinking of saving a little money by stay-cationing this summer, here's a thought - how about gathering up the kids and the ol' tent and sleeping bags and heading on over to the Alexander Hughes Community Center for a campout?

The City of Claremont announced its summer family campout beginning Friday, August 29, at 4pm to 9am Saturday, August 30. The City website says:

Sign Up! - Family Campout Under the Stars

Spend your stay-cation camping under the stars in Claremont with your family and friends! Campout fun will begin Sat., August 29 at 4 p.m. and will go through the night to Sun., August 30 at 9 a.m.

Starting with a good 'ol fashion BBQ, campers will sing songs, participate in a flashlight scavenger hunt, enjoy nature crafts, and other family games. The adventure, hosted by the City's Human Services Department, will take place at the Alexander Hughes Community Center's East Lawn and participants will have access to the center's amenities.

Cost, which includes all meals, snacks, and activity supplies is $25 per peron. Register by August 21. Links to a registration form and additional information are provided below, or you may contact our Human Services Department at 909-399-5490.

Flyer and Registration Form

More Verizon Comments

We received a couple more emails on Verizon's ongoing trenching and road repair for Verizon's fiber optic system (FiOS), which promises to bring speedier Internet service to the area.

The first email, as with the last couple we received, complained about the quality of the construction work and the tracks left behind on city streets by cars that had to cross the patched areas:

SUBJECT: FIOS Constuction
DATE: Wednesday, July 29, 2009 5:29 PM
TO: Claremont Buzz

So the city thinks by painting fresh stripes will dress up the FIOS construction? The phrase "Lipstick on a Pig" comes to mind. The attached YouTube video is what I think of the construction.

[Here the reader attached a link to a commercial by cable company Comcast lampooning Verizon FiOS and the whole system installation process.]

The reader also sent along a photo of work in his/her area:

Then, we received an email from a very satisfied FiOS customer who works in Claremont and lives in Fontana. This person says that the Fontana experience with Verizon's construction crews has been much better than what are readers are reporting. The correspondent also says that the end product offers superior service to the cable company in Fontana. One thing the reader included was a link to the City of Fontana website, which offers residents there information about construction as well as a very useful Verizon contact number for people with questions about the street work:

DATE: Wednesday, July 29, 2009 9:05 PM
SUBJECT: FiOS in Claremont
TO: Claremont Buzz

Dear C-Buzz,

I wanted to comment on the recent FiOS comments as they seem out of line with what I experienced when Verizon came through my Fontana neighborhood.

A few weeks prior to work commencing, my neighbors and I received notification from Verizon that they were about to install FiOS in our neighborhood. The notification included the scope of work as well as what we could expect as far as street/yard trenching, sidewalk removal, restoration, etc. The notification went on to include a number to call if there were questions.

The city of Fontana also went the extra mile and put up a web page on their site covering the FiOS deployment within the city. It was a great help as it included expected start/completion dates for each section of the city. Additionally, the site included valuable Verizon contact information in case of questions/complaints (hint: could still be helpful to Claremont residents). It's really a shame that Claremont isn't providing the same.

Here is the link to the City of Fontana FTTH (Fiber to the Home) web page. http://www.fontana.org/main/pr_releases/2007/verizon_fttp2.htm

Back to the install:

A day before the work was to start, a placard was placed on each door outlining what was to happen along with a questions/complaint number. The construction process was a bit of a mess with temporary patches in the street, sidewalks removed, lawns chewed up, etc. It was only at the point that the fiber-optic cable was installed a couple of weeks later that most of the mess was cleaned up. According to the fiber techs, the final clean up and patching isn't done until they know they can get the fiber through the conduits. This saves having to dig up freshly repaired areas to correct a broken conduit.

Once the fiber was in, the contractor came through the neighborhood and patched the street, poured new concrete sidewalks, repaired/planted lawns, and even sand-blasted the dig-alert marking from the curbs/street. Obviously, the fresh concrete and street paving stood out, but after six months, it was hard to tell that Verizon had been there.

All in all, the process was as smooth as any major utility overlay could be. Perhaps the two commenters with issues are only partly through the process and the final cleanup has yet to be done? I took the opportunity to drive down Scripps today (I work in Claremont), and while I could see where Verizon had been, the quality of the patching looked good to me. Hopefully, that's an indication of how the rest will look when it's finally completed.

As for the FiOS service... It will be worth every bit of the current construction hassles. I remember my Time Warner "extreme" Internet service where I could only get the advertised speed at 3 am. At 6 pm, with everyone else on-line, is was the "extremely slow" Internet service. My FiOS Internet (current package is 25/15) is always fast and running at the advertised speeds no matter the time of day. Fontana just got the FiOS TV service, and again, Time Warner's offering now looks weak. Where on Time Warner I had only one HBO in High Definition, FiOS has all the HBOs in HD (14 in total). Oh, and I'm paying must less than when I had Time Warner.

I suggest a bit of patience as the process runs its course, but if there are unresolved problems, have a look at the Fontana link for help.

best,
Fontana FiOS Customer

They're Baaaack!

The Claremont 400 don't rest long, nor do they take their losses very seriously. You have to grant them this much: they are persistent.

At last night's City Council, we noticed several of the traditional power brokers present or represented by their surrogates. For instance, Helaine Goldwater, the former Police Commission Chair and keeper of The List (the 400's index of all potential candidates for city committees, commissions, and candidates for City Council), was present and spoke about Oakmont School.

Speaking of Helaine, her unsuccessful candidate for the March City Council race, Bridget Healy (pictured, left), got a mention in Saturday's Claremont Courier. The Courier ran a letter from a few members of Claremont Heritage board (Ginger Elliot, former Claremont Human Services Commissioner Suzanne Hall, and Don Pattison), thanking the all the people who made the July 12 Padua Hills Theatre open house a success, among them:

In particular, former Mexican Players were there along with many others who had enjoyed meals and plays at the Padua Theatre during its heyday from 1930 to 1974. Thanks to Bridget Healy and the Friends of the Padua Hills Theatre, a newly formed group of neighbors and friends, who planned the open house.

The letter was notable for a couple omissions:

• The Mexican Players and all Latinos (as well as any non-Caucasian) were barred by the racial restrictions from owning land around the Padua Theatre. Thanks for the entertainment, guys, but remember: Play, don't stay.
  
  
• The letter also praised the shuttle service Claremont Heritage got to ferry open house guests from the overflow parking at Mills and Mt. Baldy Rd. What they didn't say, however, was that so many people (over 1,000, according the Heritage) showed at the theatre on July 12, that traffic backed down Padua Ave. to Mt. Baldy Rd. Cars couldn't turn around easily in the parking lot after it filled up, and the someone removed the barriades that were supposed to prevent people from parking along Via Padova in front of homes there. So traffic flowed out onto the neighborhood around the theatre.
  
  Naturally, no one took responsibilty for the mess, and all the parties - the City of Claremont, Claremont Heritage, and Chantrelles (one of the partners in the Padua Theatre) - pointed the finger of blame at each other.
  
  

History is once again erased in Claremont.

If past behavior is any indicator, the Claremont Heritage letter to the Courier would represent an opening salvo for a 2011 Healy campaign for council. The 400 usually gets their candidates to front for civic-minded organizations in order to add to their communitarian resumes (something that Healy notably lacked in the last election). If Healy is indeed thinking of running, you'll see a parallel effort by the 400 to attack the current council by getting hot-button issues on the council's agenda and through letters to the local papers.

The 400 strategy has always been to divide and conquer: talk up your candidate, talk down your opponents.

Our thinking on Healy hasn't changed much at all. She represents the worst of the Glenn Southard years, left the City to follow Southard to Indio when the going got tough for her boss, and returned in retirement after having looted Claremont, Indio, and Pomona to the tune of a $150,000-plus CalPERS pension thinking that she could get a free pass in her failed bid for a council seat.

The 400 are in Healy image rehab mode now, but they have 18 months to fix things and to spin whatever image they want. The question is, will people buy into it?

* * * * *

We saw an article in the Onion about a new Apple product, the invisible iPhone, that reminds us a lot about about the forgetfulness and gullibility of Claremont voters:

SAN FRANCISCO—In a move expected to revolutionize the mobile device industry, Apple launched its fastest and most powerful iPhone to date Tuesday, an innovative new model that can only be seen by the company's hippest and most dedicated customers.

"I am proud today to introduce to those who really, truly deserve it, our most incredible iPhone yet," announced Apple CEO Steve Jobs, extending his seemingly empty left palm toward the eagerly awaiting crowd. "Not only is this our lightest and slimmest model ever, but as any truly savvy Apple customer can clearly see, it's also the most handsome product we've ever designed."

The packed auditorium, which had been listening to Jobs in hushed reverence for several minutes, then erupted into applause, with hundreds of men and women suddenly jumping to their feet and shouting, "I can see it!" "Look, there it is!" and "God, it's so beautiful!"

Remember, voters: No clothes, no clothes.

Another Dissatisfied Customer

Progress has its downside. A second resident chimes in regarding Verizon FiOS:

DATE: Tuesday, July 28, 2009 5:45 AM
SUBJECT: Another resident very unhappy with Verizon and Claremont Officials
TO: Claremont Buzz

I concur totally with the complaint made about the Verizon fiasco or another word for fiasco is fios. I have lived in Claremont since 1972 and am very unhappy with the shoddy job and furthermore, no explanation from our city government. Complaints have been made to city officials that have all fallen on deaf ears. Who is getting a financial gain for this? There was absolutely no information given to the residents regarding the installation, nor the condition of how the streets/neighborhoods would be affected by this. I find this a total disregard for the citizens, aka taxpayers, of this city. The former employee of the city that was supposed to be overseeing this job must be laughing all the way to the bank on the back of Claremont taxpayers. He gave out incorrect information and definitely did not have Claremont's best interest. His words were "he stopped them from going on his street in Upland". So what does that tell you????

The Budget Results Are In

At last Saturday's city budget meeting, the Claremont City Council approved a $2.32 million budget makeover, the Daily Bulletin reported. The changes were need to help the City deal with what the city was saying was going to be a $2.69 million shortfall in Fiscal Year 2009-10. This comes on the heels of a $1.5 million deficit for FY 2008-09.

That's total shortfall of $4.19 million through July 31, 2010, and it could have been worse. Luckily for Claremont, the state of California didn't touch local transportation funds when state legislators and Governor agreed the budget compromise last week, otherwise the hit for local governments would have been $1 billion worse. As it is, because our leaders can agree to a permanent fix to the budget process, our state leaders will probably be having another budget showdown in a few months. The Sacramento Bee's Dan Walters is calling it our state's five-month budget cycle.

So, Claremont's budget solution may not represent a real fix at all, and that 2009-10 deficit could still grow, depending on how the economy performs and what future revenues the state tries to take.

The cuts the City Council approved last Saturday include "golden handshakes" to encourage employees to take early retirement, raising fees for some city programs, and increases in parking ticket fees. The City will also have to workout an agreement with employee associations for either a 38-hour work week or a four-day work week. This will amount to a 5% pay cut for most employees. The City is also likely to eliminate some positions entirely.

The Bulletin article reported that Councilmember Peter Yao was the sole vote against the measure:

Councilman Peter Yao voted against the proposed changes. His objections were the cost of the Public Employees Retirement System "Golden Handshake" retirement package, where an employee receives two years of PERS service credit, and a larger police department budget in 2009-10 than in 2000-01, despite a similar budget projection.

"I can't honestly support it," Yao said, adding he felt the proposal was a temporary and not permanent fix.

* * * * *

The council also meets tonight for their last meeting before their August break. The city website was down for much of today, or we'd offer you a breakdown of some of the issues. Try checking out the city's website yourself at www.ci.claremont.ca.us.

Some interesting items on tonight's agenda:

• The College Ave. affordable housing project.
• The official city flower (staff says, "Sticky-leafed Monkeyflower").
• Expansion of the Oak Park Cemetery.
• Renaming the 100 block of East 11th St. The new name would be "Drucker Way." This is being proposed by the Claremont Graduate University.
• The City's investment report for FY 2008-09 (not all financial news is bad, it seems).
• City commission appointments and reappointments (some surprises here, including Butch Henderson, who landed a spot on the Human Services Commission).
  

The council meeting begins at 6:30pm in the City Council Chambers at 225 W. 2nd St. in the Claremont Village.

Crime Log

Even though it's been hot, you may want to keep your window and doors locked at night. The Claremont Police Department website reports a home on the 1100 block of Briarcroft Rd. near Towne Ave. was burglarized over the past weekend while the occupants were asleep:

Residential "Hot Prowl" Burglary

Overnight from Saturday night to Sunday morning (July 25-26), unknown suspects entered a residence in the 1100 block of Briarcroft Rd. and stole a wallet, computer and car keys while the residents slept. The suspect(s) then stole a 2003 Suburban from the driveway. Entry to the residence was made through an unlocked side kitchen door.

Residents are reminded that it is a good precaution to keep your doors locked even when you are home.

Summer Music

The Ravelers play in Montclair tonight and then at the Rancho Santa Ana Botanic Gardens on Thursday night, or so says the latest Raveler spam:

Hey Now...

The Ravelers continue to have a blast at every summer concert! Last Saturday night up at the Silent Valley RV Park in the mountains above Banning was a great summer family event.

This week, The Ravelers are here for more summer fun...

Tuesday, July 28 - Montclair Concert in the Park!
Alma Hoffman Park
5201 Benito Street
Montclair, CA 91763

The Ravelers play from 7:00pm-8:30pm

Thursday, July 30 - UnRaveled show at Rancho Santa Ana Botanic Gardens!!!
Rancho Santa Ana Botanic Gardens
1500 N. College Avenue
Claremont, CA 91711

Call for info 909.625.8767

The Ravelers play from 7:00pm - 9:00pm. Get there early and be ready to have some fun!
See you for a nice summer evening...

Hai, Pat, Martie, Rob
The Ravelers

By the way, the Rancho Santa Ana Botanic Gardens have a regular Thursday night summer concert series. There are three more concerts left, including the Ravelers on Thursday. Here's the information from the RSABG:

August 6 - Susie Hansen Latin Band
A six-piece Latin jazz and Salsa band

August 13 - Chet Jaeger’s Dixieland Jazz
Jam session of popular oldies.

Gate Admission: $8 adults; $6 students & seniors (65+); $4 children (3-12 yrs.) Garden Members and children under 3 yrs., admitted free.

Come early and enjoy picnic dinners in the Sycamore Café. Food by Gourmet Gourmet Catering, wine selections from the Packing House Wine Merchants, and cool treats from Bert & Rocky's Cream Co.

Concert series proudly sponsored by Golden State Water Company.