Well, there was plenty of feedback to Claremont Mayor Pro Tem Ellen Taylor's boorish behavior last week.
One reader wrote in to us to suggest that we band together to buy up all of the cookies from the Girl Scout troop that got Taylorized:
Couldn't we launch a campaign to buy cookies from the girl scout group who was threatened by Her Majesty and send said cookies to either the Taylor Law Office (*** North Indian Hill), or to the City Council meetings??
We could call it "Trefoils for Taylor"
(Trefoils are the cookies shaped like the Girl Scout logo)
Any contact info for Maya West's troop??
Not a bad idea. Unfortunately, the cookie sale ended on Sunday, and we don't have contact info for West's troop. There is some contact information for the local Girl Scout Council office in Montclair on their group's website, as well as information about events and volunteering opportunities.
As we wrote last Friday, there was also a blog post on LA Now over at the LA Times website, and the Claremont Courier had a couple letters touching on Girl Scout cookie sales. The first letter, by Courier reader Leah Kay Ketter, questioned whether Taylor's actions were a good re-election strategy:
I must admit I’m a bit baffled: Last week, Mayor Pro Tem Ellen Taylor found it necessary to summon a Claremont police officer to disperse a troop of 8-year-old Girl Scouts selling cookies.
The Courier also had a nice letter from Sandy Silva, the CEO of the Girl Scouts' Spanish Trails Council, thanking Claremonters for their support of Girl Scouting:
As this year’s Girl Scout Cookie Sale comes to a close at the end of March, I would like to extend thanks and appreciation to the Claremont community for your ongoing support of Girl Scouting. Every year, girls use this unique opportunity to learn vital financial literacy skills—budgeting, goal setting and customer service skills. They learn to dream big, handle rejection and to persevere in spite of it. The hard-earned skills and abilities will prove invaluable throughout their lives and helps to develop our girls into young ladies of courage, confidence and character.
Silva's letter actually has no mention of Taylor, and is, unlike our Ellen, perfectly gracious in extending thanks to the community. Over on the Spanish Trails' website, there is a CEO's Blog, which had this commentary from Silva, along with the text of her Courier letter:
This past week, I was surprised to read in my very own Claremont Courier an interesting (to say the least) article about our girls selling cookies and how a member of the city council took exception to the girls selling in front of a local business. Issues of safety were raised, business permits, who approved their presence at the place of business, etc. As I read the article I thought to myself, there will be a lot of Girl Scout supporters reading this story and I am sure the majority will say to themselves (as I did) hey, let girls do their thing!
On Sunday, I visited with a senior troop in front of Starbucks in the Claremont "village" and their feedback was that people stopping by the booth were supportive. I have received quite a few calls and emails from friends and neighbors--all cheering our girls on. Surely our troop leaders and volunteers take extra care of girls when they are out selling (especially so if the girls were their daughters). Our girls are smart young ladies. I doubt we should have fear that they will run crazed into the street, banging on car windows, screaming "buy my cookies, or else!" We have the proper permits and approvals--we make sure we do things right when it comes to selling cookies. All in all, Claremont, like the other cities within our jurisdiction support our girls and we, as a Council and a Girl Scout community, are grateful that they do. Despite run-ins with the occasional "Cookie Grinch."
* * *
Speaking of Queen Ellen, tonight is the Claremont City Council's reorganization meeting. They have these annually, and the main order of business is the selection of the Mayor and Mayor Pro Tem. The positions have traditionally rotated, but because current Mayor Peter Yao, Taylor, and the Claremont 400 did not want Councilmember Corey Calaycay in line for the mayor's position this year, the council kept Yao as mayor for a second term.This has happened in the recent past when the Claremonsters wanted to keep Jackie McHenry from having an opportunity to be mayor. Paul Held was allowed to be mayor for two one-year terms, so that the best McHenry could do was Mayor Pro Tem.
There's always a lot of lip service paid to the fact that mayor's position is mostly ceremonial. However, the mayor does set the agenda for council meetings with the city manager, and the mayor also assigns the other councilmembers to various local agency seats such as the San Gabriel Valley Mosquito Vector Control, the Foothill Transit board, or the League of California Cities delegation, to name a few.
Held, you may recall, wielded the power of the mayor position like a petty tyrant, and you can expect more of the same from Taylor, who, as her Girl Scout confrontation showed, didn't need the position to behave intolerably. Look for Ellen to:
- Strictly enforce a four-minute time limit on public speakers. Taylor and the rest of the council will get unlimited time to talk or, in Taylor's case, to plant misinformation on important issues.
- Try to find a way to do away with the televising of City Council meetings. Taylor true personality really comes across on television, and she's going to put a stop to that.
- Use the mayorship to punish those councilmembers who displease her. She can do a variety of things, including denying councilmembers certain choice delegate or board seats.
- Manipulate the council agendas in advance of her re-election bid.
Count on the council to appoint Taylor as Mayor, even though they and the rest of us will all end up regretting it. It's anybody's guess who the Mayor Pro Tem will be. There are plenty of other things on the council agenda tonight - perhaps it's a gift from Yao to Taylor: Placing Phase One of the Padua Sports Park out to bid; the awarding of the downtown trolley lease; the beauty salon ordinance placing limits on salons in downtown Claremont.Incidentally, if you want to cast your own vote for Mayor of Claremont, over at the top of the left sidebar we've added our inaugural "Insider Poll." Feel free to vote (limit of one vote per customer).
Claremont City Council Meeting - Tonight, 6:30pm
Claremont City Council Chambers
225 W. 2nd St.
Claremont, CA 91711
Posts
