Saturday Mailbag

We received an email from a reader who was concerned that the City of Claremont's Winter 2012 recreation and activities guide has a cover with some of Claremont's children throwing down gang signs:

DATE: Wednesday, November 9, 2011 4:45 AM
SUBJECT: Are those gang symbols?
TO:  Claremont Buzz

Sorry for my ignorance on the matter, but looking at the cover of the recently arrived in the mails Recreation & Activities Guide from the City of Claremont...

Are the girls in the cover photo, in the back row, right side trying to communicate something?

http://content.yudu.com/Library/A1ui7a/ClaremontHumanServic/resources/index.htm?referrerUrl=

--

Here's the cover:

Well, it turns out the kids are communicating something, but it's nothing sinister.  The hand signs are called "chuckin' the deuce" or "chuckin up deuces."  It's origins are attributed to hip-hop star Chris Brown.  Here's how the website rapgenius.com defines the term:

“Chuckin' the deuce” is a term that originated in the Southern part of the United States. It’s what someone does when they’re just passing by, or leaving. People used to say “peace” instead of goodbye, now they just do it with their hand signals

(cf. Chris Brown’s “Deuces”)

* * * * *

And we got this note from a former Claremont who read our post about the planned expansion of the Wilderness Park/Thompson Creek Trail parking lots:

SUBJECT: RE: Claremont Insider
DATE: Friday, November 11, 2011 4:04 AM
TO: Claremont Insider

I feel sorry for the Meyers Family. Are you Stealing their land, TOO ???

So much Government intrusion in Claremont since the days that I grew up there. I truly feel sorry for the citizens of Claremont who are now being bamboozled by a bunch of corrupt council members, and city politicians. They (they City Council), should ALL be put down like a pack of rabid Coyotes !!!

Let's see if THIS letter makes it to print? LOL !!!! I SERIOUSLY doubt it!

City Seeks Applicants, Opinions

CITY LOOKS TO FILL OPEN COMMISSION SPOT

Is a run at a City Council seat in your future? Then you may want to apply for a seat on Claremont's Community Services Commission. That particular commission seems to be the fast track to the City Council. Current Councilmembers Sam Pedroza and Larry Schroeder both served on Community Services when they were elected to the council.

The City seeks applicants for the Community Services seat vacated by Schroeder after he won election to the council on March 3rd. The City website has more information and a link to an application:

Applicants Sought for Claremont Community Services Commission

Applications are currently being sought to fill a vacancy on the City of Claremont Community Services Commission. Persons interested in being considered for appointment are encouraged to file an application with the City Clerk's office by 5:00 p.m. on Friday, March 27, 2009. Click on the link below to download an application. For more information call (909) 399-5460.

Commissioners are appointed by the City Council based on the results of application reviews and personal interviews. It is the Council's goal to appoint members who reflect the diversity of the community.

• Download Application (Adobe Acrobat, 25KB)

CITY SEEKS COMMUNITY INPUT

Yours may have been one of the 4,000 or so households in Claremont that received a Human Services Dept. survey in the mail. The survey asks about the respondent's usage of city parks and services and also asks what you think are the City's future needs in those areas.

If you didn't receive a survey but would like to participate, it's available online:

City of Claremont Community Needs Survey

The City of Claremont Human Services Department is conducting a Community Needs Survey of randomly selected residents to determine the current usage of parks, facilities, recreation programs/activities, and social services in the City and to find out the future needs of residents in terms of these facilities, programs, and services. Input from the completed surveys will be utilized to determine how the Human Services Department aligns its facilities, programs, activities, and services.

Surveys were mailed to 4,000 randomly selected Claremont households in mid-March 2009. Residents who did not receive a survey through the random sample, but would like their input considered, are invited to complete the survey online. Please click here to take the City of Claremont Community Needs Survey. The survey will be available online through March 31, 2009.

If you have any questions or comments regarding this project and/or the services available through the City of Claremont Human Services Department, please call Kristin Turner at (909) 399-5490.

City Council Meets Tonight--UPDATED

The Claremont City Council holds its first meeting of 2009 tonight, beginning at 5:15pm with another in a seemingly endless series of special closed session meetings. (You get the impression this is where the real business of the city gets done, without that bothersome public to interrupt the flow of things.)

The closed session agenda lists two items up for discussion:

• A conference with the city's labor negotiators: City Manager Jeff Parker, Assistant City Manager Tony Ramos, and Personnel Manager Shawna Urban.
  
  
• A conference with the city's legal counsel, City Attorney Sonia Carvalho, regarding "anticipated litigation." Or, money in the bank for Carvalho's firm, Best, Best & Krieger - gotta love those billable hours.
  

The regular, public City Council meeting will convene at 6:30pm, beginning with a sanitized summary of the earlier closed session. The regular agenda seems pretty pedestrian:

• Ceremonial matters: Introduction of new Human Services Commissioner Bob Miletich and a recognition of the Doubletree Hotel for their sponsorship of the city's Christmas Tree Lighting Celebration.
  
  
• Consideration of City Manager Parker's "proposed and amended" employment contract. As a result of the Council's December evaluation of the City Manager's performance, they've rewarded him with a 3% raise and a pay-for-performance bonus of an undisclosed amount. Of course, the devil is in the bonus details, conveniently hidden away.
  
  At least Parker, whose salary will now be $211,150 per year, made out better with his raise than his predecessor, Glenn Southard.
  
  [Update: See today's Wes Woods Daily Bulletin article here. Parker will offer to freeze his COL raise for 90 days. He has "no problem" leading on this one. Makes one even more curious about the TOP-SECRET "pay for performance" portion. The comments to the aforementioned Bulletin article are especially biting.]
  
  
• Delaying discussion of a sidewalk installation plan for Foothill Blvd. between Mountain and Berkeley Aves. until staff can consider some alternatives. This plan generated some controversy because it would involved removal of the large trees that line that section of Foothill. The residents in the homes on the other side of the block wall there weren't too happy about the prospect of losing those trees.
  
  The council is being asked to hold this one over until their February 24th meeting.
  
  
• Review of the Human Services Commission Strategic Work Plan. This is the guiding template for most of Claremont's community programs and services. The most interesting bullet point under the work plan is "Alternative Revenue Generation," which includes "Approval and Implementation of Sponsorship Policy."
  
  Can you say, "Naming Rights?" Imagine, if you will, a newly built Padua Park with a great big neon Claremont Toyota sign festooning the entrance. Or the "Metamucil Senior Center" in Larkin Park.
  
  This is how things get done in Claremont. Policy changes buried as tiny bullet points in little-read commission work plan.
  
  
• Approval of an entertainment permit for Walters Restaurant. This link was dead, so we have no idea what sort of entertainment is being proposed.
  
  
• Appointments to the City's Sustainability Committee. A number of names listed here. The most interesting of which is Barbara Musselman, the president of the local League of Women Voters chapter, chair of the Police Commission, a member of the city's Affordable Housing Task Force, and a member of the city's Committee on Human Relations.
  
  Talk about recycling! Barbara's taking up enough space as it is. How about opening this one up to one of the many equally qualified community members who don't have a committee or a commission seat?
  

Claremont City Council Meeting
Tonight, 7:00pm
City Council Chambers
225 Second St.

City Seeks Applicants

The City of Claremont is seeking applicants for a vacant seat on the Human Services Commission. The city is also looking for applicants for its Sustainability Committee:

Applicants Sought for Claremont Human Services Commission

Applications are currently being accepted to fill a vacancy on the City of Claremont Human Services Commission. Persons interested in being considered for appointment are encouraged to file an application with the City Clerk's office by Monday, December 1, 2008.

Commissioners are appointed by the City Council based on the results of the application reviews and personal interviews. It is the council's goal to appoint individuals who reflect the diversity of the community.
For more information call (909) 399-5460.

Applicants Sought for Claremont Sustainability Committee

Applications are currently being accepted for the Claremont Sustainability Committee. Persons interested in being considered for appointment are encouraged to file an application with the City Clerk's office by Monday, December 1, 2008.

The Sustainability Committee will have nine members that include a mix of stakeholders, professionals with experience on sustainability issues, and informed citizens. All applicants must be supportive of the goals of the Sustainable City Plan and possess relevant knowledge, skills and experience that will be helpful in the creation of a concise and results-oriented sustainability plan for the City. Applicants will also be selected in a way that ensures the task force is balanced and representative of the diversity of opinions and experience that are present in our community. Specific professions or areas of expertise being sought include environmentalists, businesspersons, architects, horticulturists, educators, builders, policy analysts, water experts, energy professionals, city planners, scientists, economists, ecologists, and general citizens with knowledge of and a commitment to sustainability issues.

Click the link below to download the Sustainability Committee Application Packet.

If you have any questions, please contact Senior Redevelopment Planner Christopher Veirs at 909-399-5486.

* Download Sustainability Committee Application (Adobe Acrobat, 253KB)

Council Meeting Moved to Tonight

Because Veterans Day is tomorrow, the Claremont City Council has moved its regularly scheduled meeting to tonight at 6:30pm in the council chambers at City Hall, located at 225 W. 2nd St. in the Claremont Village.

You can read the agenda here. If you're so inclined, you can also watch tonight's meeting on the City's website.

Among the items on the council's slate for tonight:

• Approval of Claremont Police Chief Paul Cooper's recommendations for the allocation of $100,000 from the state's Citizen Options for Public Safety (COPS) grant.
  
  Chief Cooper wants to use the money to: purchase some new equipment; upgrade some existing equipment; and fund training, additional community outreach, more bike patrols, and more patrols in the Wilderness Park.
  
  Oh, and then there's that $1,200 for a McGruff the Crime Dog costume. Seriously.
  
  Guess we know what Chief Cooper is going as to next year's staff Halloween Party.
  
  
• Acceptance of the resignation of Human Services Commissioner Anne K. Turner. Turner submitted this resignation letter to the City:
  

  October 28 2008
  
  Dear Members of the Claremont City Council and Members of the Human Services Commission:
  
  It is with great regret that I inform you that I can no longer serve on the Human Services Commission. My schedule can't accommodate the commitment necessary to do a proper job.
  
  I have been extremely honored to work with such a wonderful staff and dedicated volunteers. I count myself fortunate to have had the opportunity to be a part of "the process" and I thank you for that. [Are the scare quotes supposed to indicate sarcasm? - ed.]
  
  I apologize for this mid-year decision, but it could not be avoided I wish you all the very best and again thank you.
  
  Sincerely,
  
  Anne K Turner
  
  Anne K Turner MPA.
  VMA Communications

  
  As you can see, Turner is employed by VMA Communications, the public relations firm owned by Preserve Claremonter Valerie Martinez. Martinez is also on the Human Services Commission and reportedly had a hand in the behind-the-scenes machinations that led to the recent resignation of Commission Chair Gwen Carr. You can always count on Martinez to stir the pot.
  
  No word yet on which VMA employee will fill the seat vacated by Turner.
  
  
• An amendment to the city's agreement with Grand Central Recycling and Transfer Station, Inc., to process solid waste and recycling materials. The current agreement expires on November 14th, and city staff would like to extend the agreement one year.
  
  
• An appeal by a group of residents of the Architectural Commission's mitigated negative declaration and site plan approval for the Claremont Commons project at Monte Vista Ave. and Foothill Blvd.
  
  
• Adoption of staff recommendations for new procedures for dealing with foreclosed properties. Staff wants trustees taking possession of foreclosed properties to register vacant homes with the city. They also want enforcement of landscaping requirements reduced to 30 days from the current 180 days.
  
  If the recommendations are adopted, staff also wants the city to approve a fee to register vacant homes (also looking for new revenue, this bunch).
  
  
• Approval of a mitigated negative declaration for the Padua Hills Theatre, as well as a lease agreement between the city of Claremont and the developer, Arteco Partners.
  
  
• Approval of a process for appointing members of Claremont's Sustainability Committee. (In English: We get to pick people who rubber stamp the projects we like.)
  
  
  
  
  

Balancing Priorities

Claremont's Human Services Commission is holding a special meeting today at 3:30pm at the Alexander Hughes Community Center. The commission will discuss whether the city should swap the senior programs at the Joslyn Center in Larkin Park over to the Hughes Center and move the recreation programs from the Hughes to the Joslyn Center.

The agenda for the special meeting gives the commission two choices:

1. That the commission receive the proposal to shift the senior programs to the Alexander Hughes Community Center and recreation programs to the Joslyn Center.
   
   
2. That the commission determine if there is general support for staff to continue to investigate this option.
   

Why the need to switch the programs? You might recall that the city had talked about a $10-12 million expansion of the Joslyn Center to accommodate the demand for more space for senior programs. The staff report for today's meeting informs us that the Joslyn expansion is pretty much dead, a casualty of our tough economic times and competition for dollars from other capital projects.

As we wrote yesterday, the projects on the city council's priority list include the new police station ($25-35 million), Padua Ave. Sports Park ($10-12 million total when complete), the water company purchase ($100+ million), and whatever affordable housing the city decides to build.

According to the Human Services Department's analysis, staff has consistently overestimated the need for its recreation programs. The report says:

What the staff learned, in looking over the previous three years of revenues, was that the Department never achieved its budgeted projections [for revenues from recreation programs], but continued to increase its budget projections. The gap between revenue projections and actual revenues received grew each fiscal year. In an effort to bring actual revenues in line, staff reduced revenues by 12% and next set out to analyze participation levels.

It turned out that staff had also overestimated the demand for its Human Services recreation programs: "Staff learned that many programs offered were achieving minimal or no sign ups. In order to change this, staff began to promote the programs in different ways."

These "different ways" included marketing Claremont's recreation programs to Upland, La Verne and Montclair residents. In addition, the programs were discounted. However, the staff report says, "None of these efforts had a significant impact on participation or revenue received and revenue projections were reduced again by 23% in the 2008-09 budget."

The report goes on to say that about 40% of the recreation programs at the Hughes Center were underutilized. At the same time, the senior programs at the Joslyn and Blaisdell Centers were bursting at the seams. Why? Because seniors represent the fastest growing segment of Claremont's population. The staff report states:

According to the the 2006 General Plan, seniors currently make up approximately 27% of the total population in Claremont. They represent the fastest growing segment of the City's population as the Baby Boomers have begun to reach the age of 60. The Committee on Aging has long led the charge for more facilities for senior programs and has pursued the need for a facility expansion of both Joslyn and Blaisdell.

This is news? We and other have argued the same thing before and have said that rather than pursue the full (and very expensive) Padua Sports Park, which would serve a youth population that is stable or even slightly shrinking, the city should instead invest in more senior programs. Those arguments have apparently finally found some receptive ears, and it was refreshing to see a Human Services staff report that lays out the truth of the matter in clear, simple terms.

Claremont Human Services Commission
Special Meeting - Wednesday, July 16th, 3:30pm
Alexander Hughes Community Center, Padua Room
1700 N. Danbury Rd.
Claremont, CA 91711

Bring Your Balls!

We are not making this up.

The back pages of the Inland Empire Weekly are always good to educate the person and to stimulate the...brain cells. Ads abound for offerings from the "Medical Marijuana Patient Center" in Riverside to "Madison Burbank Medical Center Inc. Medical Cannabis May Help!"on Indian Hill and San Jose to "Sassy Cassee at Larry Flynt's Hustler Club: Little 2'9" " in Redlands. But this ad, for "Full Contact Softball Sunday at Cahuilla Park" in Claremont especially caught our eye:

click image to enlarge

Wow! We knew Jeff Porter and Mercy Santoro in the Claremont Human Services Department were developing new and innovative programs for Claremont kids, but we'd never seen anything like this. We are fortunate that the current city council is working so hard to light up every park in Claremont so that your neighborhood, too, can have Full Contact Softball from noon to 3 a.m. (so reads the ad) on a warm summer afternoon and evening, and night. Don't forget the post-game show!

Be sure to make your plans: Cahuilla Park, corner of Indian Hill and Scripps, just north of the high school, Sunday at noon for some real infield action. Bring the Kids! The Insider will definitely be there!

Looks to us like the Claremont Fastpitch girls are growing up.

[The above ad was scanned from page 50 of the July 10-July 16, 2008 number of the Inland Empire Weekly, available on the rack outside the Home Kitchen Cafe on Foothill between Towne and Garey. (We have seen racks at Heroes, Raku, The Press, and Rhino in Claremont.) The ad is on the same opening as ads for "Red Panties: Come On In Your Fun Shop", the "Pimp 'N Ho Party", the "Pole Princess Contest", "Looking for a hot date? Free to Try", and of course that amazon of small proportions, the above-mentioned Sassy Cassee. Oh. We almost forgot. "Every Wednesday the 10 min Teaser in the VIP room $50". Notwithstanding our usual practice of taking great liberties, we made no changes to the ad other than to slightly increase the contrast for better readability.]

Sunday Mailbag

A reader wrote in with some tips on how motorists ticketed by the Claremont Police Department for honking in support of anti-war protesters should deal with the citations. Like us, the reader didn't think using the First Amendment as a defense would get very far when it comes to Claremont:

Traffic court judges rubber-stamp everything that makes it into the courtroom -- traffic court is principally a revenue-production factory, and anyone walking in with constitutional arguments about freedom of speech is going to be cut off about three seconds into their comments. But I beat an illegal Claremont speeding ticket by paying $350 to a lawyer to file a demurrer -- it makes victory much more likely, and pays for itself in stable insurance premiums. A demurrer is a claim that even if you did what the police say you did, it wasn't illegal, so the matter shouldn't be before the court. The judge takes it up outside the regular traffic court session, and the city has to respond in writing and send a lawyer if they want to prevail. I went to Antonio Bestard, across the street from the courthouse. My bet is that these folks will lose without a lawyer, and win with a lawyer. FWIW.

Oh, and trying to get the city to agree to dismiss an unlawful citation? No. I still have a letter from what's-his-name, the last police chief (whose name I tended to forget even when he was still on the job), acknowledging that the citation I had received had been issued contrary to the provisions of the Vehicle Code. He suggested that I tell it to the judge. They don't give fine revenue back out of the kindness of their hearts. Hire a lawyer.

* * *

And Planning Commissioner Tom Lamb wrote in with his take on some housing developments in Claremont, including the Base Line Rd. affordable project. Lamb says he wouldn't have voted to approve two condo developments on Base Line if the information from the affordable housing Environmental Impact Report (EIR) and the USC School of Medicine study about the effects of freeway pollution on children living within 500 feet of housing had been available.

Lamb went on say that our interpretation of how policy decisions are made in Claremont didn't include the significant changes that have taken place since former Claremont City Manager Glenn Southard left town for the city of Indio.

Lamb says the commissions he has worked on (Planning and Traffic & Transportation) have been much more open to independence than that in the Southard days. We think that's a fair assessment, but would like to point out that some city commissions, most notably Human Services, continue to function as a political arm of the Claremont 400. Witness the full-page ad in support of the Base Line Rd. affordable housing project taken out in the Claremont Courier by the Human Services Commission and the Claremont League of Women Voters.

Also, Planning Commissioner Bob Tener was one of the Claremont 400 throwing his weight in along with Human Services Commissioner Andy Winnick in favor of the Base Line Rd. project.

Lamb also has an interesting proposal for the Padua Ave. Park site. Here is Lamb's letter (the name is used with his permission):

As a Planning Commissioner, I voted to approve the two recently permitted condominium complexes along Baseline Road. I did so partly because the initial study submitted by staff indicated no major environmental concerns. I do not fault staff for this, the Affordable Housing EIR and the USC study were not available to us at this time. Had the EIR been available, I know that I would have demanded an EIR for the other projects and I feel that the Commission as a whole would have as well.

In passing, each of these projects also include an Affordable Housing component in accordance with the City Code. 15% OF THE UNITS ARE DESIGNATED AS AFFORDABLE.

With regard to the Baseline Affordable Housing Project now under consideration, I am opposed to it principally because of the stigma placed on families who would reside there--it would be a "Project" rather than an integrated residential development. The other, and from my perspective, the most compelling argument against the development is the fact that the site is not a good one from a planning perspective.

Logically, the best site would be the Padua Park area. Perhaps dividing the 20+ acre site in two with half retained as a neighborhood park and the the other ten acres developed into an integrated residential development.

And, lastly, not all commissioners, in fact, I suspect less than you might believe are blindly following the party line. Since the departure of Glenn Southard I have seen a collective effort on the part of Commissioners, at least in the two Commissions of which I have been a part, to question the staff and to challenge their assumptions and recommendations in an effort to achieve the best for the City, rather than to accept everything as a fait accompli.

Tom Lamb

Looking for a Buyer?

Yesterday's Daily Bulletin had an article by Will Bigham that said Claremont had received five bids from groups that would like to occupy the Padua Theatre in the Padua Hills area of northeast Claremont.

The theater, which was built in 1928 by Herman Garner, was home to regular shows by a theatrical group called the Mexican Players. Shows at the theatre ended in 1974.

Now used for weddings and other events, the theater is owned by the city of Claremont. The site was placed on the National Registry of Historical Places in 1998. The building damaged in the 2003 Padua Fire and is need of some earthquake retrofitting.

According to the Bigham article, one of the bidders is Arteco Partners, the company that bought the College Heights Packing House from Claremont and redeveloped that building. Arteco is also involved in preservation and adaptive reuse development of old buildings in downtown Pomona, including the Fox Theatre.

Bigham reported that the Arteco proposal for the Padua Theatre includes purchasing the property - something Claremont Mayor Peter was open to:

One potential hitch to Arteco's bid may be its proposal to purchase the facility from the city, which in its request for proposals said it was seeking a tenant to lease the theater space, not to purchase it.

But Mayor Peter Yao and others involved in the process say a sale of the building may be a possibility - it just hasn't been thoroughly considered by the city.

"I think that's a possibility I would entertain," Yao said. "I think we had a very successful project with the Packing House, and I see the Padua (Hills) Theatre as having the same kind of issues and also the same kind of opportunity."

Jerry Tessier, president and owner of Arteco Partners, said an ownership model would allow his company to invest more money into the project.

Other bidders include a ceramics museum, a catering business, and a theatre company.

The city's Human Services Commission will consider proposals and make its recommendations to the City Council, which will then make the final decision early next year, the article noted.

Padua Theatre, circa 1934
Photo Courtesy of Pomona Public Library
and Online Archives of California

Andy Winnick Channels Distant Relative

Yesterday's post mentioned Andy Winnick, a distinguished member of the Claremont Human Services Commission. You may recall that on December 1, 2007, Mr. Winnick unburdened himself of a letter to the Courier on the affordable housing issue. It is online at this link.

In our relentless researches to understand the minds of such people, we have found an interesting letter from a 1939 number of the Bronx Times Reporter. It is by a Mr. Morris Samuel Winnick, a distant relative of Andy Winnick. We would never accuse Professor Winnick of plagiarism. We believe that channeling relatives qualifies as fair use.

We believe moreover that the discovery of this letter will inform the debate here in Claremont on the issue of health hazards at the Baseline site for the proposed affordable housing development, and we make it available as a public service.

Here is Andy Winnick's December 1, 2007 letter side-by-side with Morris Samuel Winnick's July 4, 1939 letter.

Click on the images to enlarge and to read. Or click on image below for a larger, more readable copy of the antique Morris Winnick letter. Best to print them or open two windows to compare them side-by-side.