The Claremont City Council and the Claremont Unified School District are teaming up (always a scary thought) for their yearly joint meeting tonight in CUSD's Richard S. Kirkendall Center Board Room at 170 W. San Jose Ave. The meeting begins at 6pm.
On the agenda tonight are:
- An update of the Youth Master Plan for 2008-09.
- An agreement between the City and school district for the City to hand over to CUSD the management of the two softball and one baseball fields at Cahuilla Park.
- A report on the proposed RV/boat storage facility at CUSD's property at 2080 N. Mountain Ave.
The report lists a couple potential snags in the process. One is the City's requirement for a 24-hour security presence. CUSD wants the City to waive this requirement. This is a cost-saving measure for the district, though it tends send the message, "Thieves get your free flat screen TVs and stereos here," not to mention the attraction for criminals looking for scrap copper wire and piping to sell. Private security? Isn't that what the Claremont PD is for? - A demonstration of Claremont.connect.com, a City-CUSD joint project to be run by the Committee on Youth and Family. The website will be a one-stop shop for residents looking for information about local programs and services.
A company called Idealistics worked on the web design. The startup costs were $20,000, of which the City and CUSD each contributed $4,000. The committee raised the other $12,000 through sponsorships.
The ongoing costs will be $12,500 a year, with $4,250 each coming from the City and the school district. Sponsorships will pay the remaining $4,000. Idealistics will maintain and update the site.
Out of curiosity, we looked into Idealistics. They don't have an extensive C.V. posted on their website. They did work with United Way of Greater Los Angeles and with the City of Pomona on similar websites. But you'd think the City and school district could set something like this up on their own. Why pick Idealistics?
The company's website reveals that among its advisors is one Dick Guthrie, Claremont's former director of Human Services and a consultant on the City's Youth Master Plan. We suppose it's another case of Claremont taking care of its own. No conflict of interest there.
Let's hope they update Claremont.connect.com more frequently than their own blog, which has had one post this year at the end of March and 22 total posts in 2008. Also, we trust they'll proof the City's site a little better than their own. The Idealistics Community Resources page had a subheading called "Asses [sic] Community Needs."
Why exactly do we need them?
UPDATED, May 12, 11:35am - Looks like Idealistics finally got around to correcting that typo after 24 hrs. They're staying right on top of things!
Unretouched!
(Except for editorial sad face and arrow.)
(Except for editorial sad face and arrow.)
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