Upcoming Meetings

DRAWING THE LINE(S)


Former Claremont mayor Peter Yao and the California's Citizens Redistricting Commission are coming to town this month for its first public meeting. The City's website explains:

Citizens Redistricting Commission Will Hold Public Meetings In Claremont

The Citizens Redistricting Commission will hold its first public meeting in Claremont at the Claremont Colleges from February 9 to February 13, 2011. The 14 member Commission must draw the state's districts in conformity with strict nonpartisan lines designed to create districts equal in population taht will provide fair representation for all Californians. The 14-member Commission is made up of five Republicans, five Democrats, and 4 not affiliated with either of those two parties but registered with another party or as decline-to-state. The Commission must hold public hearings and accept public comment. After hearing from the public and drawing the maps for the House of Representatives districts, 40 Senate districts, 80 Assembly districts, and four Board of Equalization districts, the Commission must vote on the new maps to be used for the next decade.

You can read more about the CRC, watch videos of its meetings and review meeting agendas on the CRC website.



PLANNING COMMISSION MEETS TONIGHT

Harvey Mudd's amended master plan is on the agenda for tonight's Planning Commission meeting. HMC's north parcel, which used to be part of the Bernard Field Station, gets a very small mention in the amended plan.

Harvey Mudd Master Plan Amendment Review

Residents are invited to attend the upcoming Planning Commission meeting regarding an amendment to the ten-year campus master plan for Harvey Mudd College The Planning Commission will discuss the item at its meeting on Tuesday, February 1, 2011 at 7:00 p.m. The meeting will be held in the City Council Chamber, 225 W. Second Street, Claremont. All persons interested in the master plan amendment are invited to attend the meeting and provide comments.

The proposed master plan amendment is based on a maximum student population of 800 (currently 734), 335 faculty/staff (currently 307), and 297 assembly seats (currently 604). This is an increase of 66 students and 28 faculty/staff, and a decrease of 307 assembly seats. The master plan amendment proposes the following:

• no change in the maximum number of students permitted under the existing master plan (800),
• minor revisions to the design guidelines for the campus,
• new policies and guidelines emphasizing the sustainability of the campus,
• the incorporation of recently completed construction projects into the master plan,
• revisions to the campus parking plan to reflect recent changes to the campus, new ampus parking policies and City zoning code,
• deletion of previously approved yet unconstructed projects, and
• addition of new/revised buildings, most notably a new Teaching and Learning Building, which is proposed for the current site of the Thomas Garrett Building.

The Planning Commission is the final decision-making body on this matter.

City staff has completed a detailed environmental review of this master plan amendment and drafted an addendum to the environmental documentation for the original master plan, a mitigated negative declaration, to reflect the changes contained in the proposed master plan amendment.

Click Image to Enlarge

Questions regarding the project may be directed to Senior Planner Christopher Veirs, at (909) 399-5470. Written comments may also be submitted to Mr. Veirs at P.O. Box 880, Claremont, CA 91711.

* View Master Plan Amendment Documents

TREE SUMMIT

Also, the City is having a special tree committee meeting at 6pm tonight at the in the offices of the Community Services Department at 1616 N. Monte Vista Ave. We're not sure which is special, the trees, the meeting or the committee. They'll be talking about the City's tree replacement program.

Burying the Lede: Disgraced Former Bell City Attorney Has Always Seen Peter Yao as a Man of Integrity

What a Recommendation!

Peas in a Pod

Several readers have taken us to task, and rightly, for burying the lede or missing the most interesting part of the Peter Yao story:

Peter Yao's recommendation letter to the Applicant Selection Panel for the State of California Citizens Redistricting Commission was written by none other than Edward Lee, the disgraced/resigned/fired former City Attorney of Bell. Yao thus far has made the cut of the 120 names to be winnowed to 60 names by October 1, 2010.

Shortly after the Bell salary and governance scandal was publicized by the Los Angeles Times, Edward Lee was removed as Bell City Attorney, fired as Downey City Attorney, and resigned from Best, Best and Krieger. The city of Covina removed Lee but kept BBK. Best, Best and Krieger, which continues as Claremont City Attorney, has been subpoenaed by Attorney General Brown in the Bell scandal.

See the letter from Lee below:

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Imagine having the guy who signed off on the obscene salaries of the Bell City Manager, Assistant City Manager, Police Chief, and four of the five councilmembers, say this about you [emphasis added]:

I firmly believe that Peter possesses the skills to balance the competing interests of the State. His experience in his professional and political arenas make him uniquely qualified to weigh and understand the issues which redistricting the State will present. My knowledge of his integrity and honesty also speak to his valuable qualifications to present the views of all segments of our diverse State.

While the corruption at Bell may or may not directly affect Claremont, certainly a good bit of the stink has rubbed off on Peter Sunway Yao.

You can't pick your relatives, but you can pick your friends.

Chairman Yao Under the Radar

Chairman Yao

It came to our attention recently that Claremont's own Peter Yao has made the cut and has been accepted into 120-member pool for interviews and possible membership on the State of California Citizens Redistricting Commission.

This action was taken on July 19 by the Applicant Review Panel, but we haven't seen it in any of the local media--maybe with vacations and all...

from the minutes of the Review Panel meeting:

Ms. Camacho moved to interview the following 40 applicants who are affiliated with the Republican Party:

Christine Allcorn, Kathleen Beasley, Robert Gonzales, Larry Kerr, Leilani Kimmel-Dagostino, Martin Lax, Nancy Lyons, Sandor Mayuga, Davin McAndrews, Gabriel Morales, Henry Norton, Lilbert “Gil” Ontai, Roy Salume, Christine “Chris” Shipman, Gina Simas, Charles Starr, James Vidal, Evelyn Volpa, Michael Ward, Mary Werthman, Cecilia White, Ronald Wilczynski, Peter Yao, Gene Lee, Jeffrey Kwong, Peggy Huang, Jodie Filkins Webber, David Ikari, Michael Briggs, Vincent Barabba, Edward Duran, Evelyn Zneimer, Bev Perry, Alan Jorgensen, Donna Beers, Orrin Banta, Suzanne Levy, Daniel Seagondollar, Susan Miller, and Wesley Hussey. Ms. Spano seconded. There being no public comment or opposition, the motion carried.

Ms. Spano moved to eliminate from the applicant pool the remaining Republican applicants. Ms. Camacho seconded. There being no opposition, the motion carried.

Panel counsel reported receiving two written comments both of which were supplied to the panel members and available at the back of the room. [We especially like how at the State level written comments are provided the commission members after the vote is taken.]

Still, this process should get more notice than it has been getting.

It's fairly lengthy, but see councilmember Yao's supplemental application. Letters of recommendation (glowing) can be found here, including one from an attorney at the City's law firm, Best, Best, and Krieger.

These resume or personal history-type things tend to be exercises, in self glorification. Yao's application tends to be nothing much more than auto-hagiography. It doesn't stray far from that template. We list below a few quotes from Yao's application. We believe they should be compiled into a little red book we could carry around. Hey!--we could call it "The Sayings of Chairman Yao":

• The challenge of working on a meaningful task, solving a tough problem to secure a just representation for Californians and working with a high performance team entice me to apply...

• I treasured solving problems.

• I have always found satisfaction in solving tough problems. Redistricting is a very tough and complex political problem.
  

• I consider exposure to new knowledge and experience as the reward of commission assignment.

• In life, one is obliged to play with the cards you are dealt.

• I am efficient in using spreadsheet programs including the first VisiCalc in the 1960’s.

• Diversity is California’s competitive advantage in commerce, scientific and technological research, and in securing a truly democratic society.

• As a working engineer, I understand and employed dense and technical written material... [anyone who has read Yao's unedited writing, or heard him speak, will go along with part of this observation.]

It's worth noting several features of the 120-member applicant pool in which Yao swims. It seems to be made up disproportionately of third-tier local officials or government employees. One who made the cut but who has dropped out in the last month is retired Los Angeles County Recorder Conny B. McCormack, for a prima facie ineligibility. See here, and here.

Another, from northern California, is Nancy Lyons, who works in the Governor's office. See here.

Another, we noted in passing was a public agency lawyer.

Yao interviewed with the panel on August 24, 2010, and it's a regret of our young life that we missed that performance. Interviews were apparently streamed in the Internet.


The process from this point forward is this: by October 1, 2010, the State Auditor (responsible for winnowing the 30,000- strong initial applicant pool) must reduce the pool of 120 to a pool of 60--20 Democrats, 20 Republicans, and 20 "Other". These names go to the Majority and Minority Leaders of both the State Assembly and State Senate, and each may strike up to 2 names from each of the three sub-pools. This will be done prior to November 20, 2010.

If the legislative leadership exercises all of its "strikes", there would be 12 names in each pool for a total of 36. By November 20 the Auditor will select 8 names randomly from these 36. By December 31, 2010, those 8 will select the remaining 6 members of the commission from the remaining names in the applicant pool of 28.

Chairman Yao still has a steep hill to climb to reach the Final Fourteen, but, as he says, he thrives on tough challenges.