Lessons for Claremont

The Foothill Cities Blog has been following the story about the discovery in Pomona of the body of a woman who had been reported missing in Covina. On Friday, February 15th, Eileen Ponce-Orta's van was discovered parked illegally in downtown Pomona, not far from the Pomona police station.

The problem came when the Pomona police department notified the missing woman's family without searching the vehicle first. So it was the family who actually found the woman's body in the back of the van covered with blankets when they came to pick up the vehicle.

Pomona Mayor Norma Torres, who may be running for the 61st State Assembly District seat, called for an investigation of the Pomona PD's handling of the incident. Pomona Police Chief Joe Romero explained in newspaper accounts that the police did not believe they had legal reason to search the van and had also contacted the Covina police department before calling Ponce-Orta's family.

Chief Romero was gracious enough to email the FC Blog a response to some of the questions that had been raised, and Romero's statements helped clarify his department's perspective on the case.

Romero managed to defuse any concerns about problems between himself and Mayor Torres over the matter while at the same time supporting the officer who discovered the van and displaying concern and empathy for Ponce-Orta's family. In doing so, he avoided inflaming the situation.

Claremont would do well to take notes on crisis management from Chief Romero. For instance, the 1999 Irvin Landrum incident could have been handled very differently in order to avoid creating the community upheaval that then-City Manager Glenn Southard did.

And last year's Paystubgate, an incident that was wholly the result of City Attorney Sonia Carvalho's overreaction without properly investigating all of the facts of the situation, would have fizzled harmlessly had Carvalho acted properly and responsibly.

But, here we do things the Claremont Way, or, as we said during Paystubgate, "Ready, Fire, Aim!"