Southard Sightings and Other News

WOULD YOU BUY A USED REDEVELOPMENT PROJECT FROM THIS MAN?

Several readers wrote in to report sightings of Claremont's former city manager, Glenn Southard, about town last Thursday. No doubt our esteemed friend was in the area to survey the wreckage he's wrought - for example, $17.5 million settlement to Palmer Canyon residents for fire damages resulting in part from the city's failure to properly maintain the Claremont Wilderness Park during Southard's administration.

Call it pride of authorship.

Or maybe he just wanted to check out the Village Expansion, where the exodus continues only a year after the opening of the Claremont Packing House.

One reader said:

Wonder what God's gift to Claremont could be stirring up now? Do you think he is here to take credit for the wonderful Village Expansion he gave us of which ersatz Claremont historian Judy Wright now says she is not so enamored ( according to John Pixley's column in Wednesday's Courier)? Only the Shadow knows!

The reader was referring to John Pixley's Observer column in Wednesday's Claremont Courier. Wright, who as mayor of Claremont was one of the persons most responsible for the imposition of Southardism on Claremont, spoke at the Claremont Museum of Art earlier this month and gave her thoughts on the Claremont Village Expansion, according to Pixley:

Regarding the Village Expansion, Ms. Wright is concerned that not enough thought was put into what its streets look like or the views they provide. She also said that the Indian Hill frontage remind her of Orange County. She urged that there be an outcry for public art. (What about the controversial fountain in the courtyard?)

I don’t know if I agree with Ms. Wright’s exact concern and solution, but I do agree that there is something to be concerned about in the Village Expansion. As impressive and exciting as it is, it appears that all is not well with the downtown addition. And it does have to do with views.

There has been noticeable rumbling in recent months, and the rumbling is coming from within. There have been accusations and finger pointing, talk of misleading and broken promises. Some artists have decided not to stay in the artist lofts in The Packing House, complaining that the rent is too high or that the lofts, which are upstairs on the second floor, don’t get enough foot traffic. Tally’s for Men is breaking its lease, with the owner saying that its Second Street location is a dead zone with almost no traffic.

These may well simply be the grumbling that comes with anything new. Almost by definition, there are always kinks to be worked out. But I am wondering if it isn’t something more that is happening.

Wright's concerns are touching, but disingenuous. Wright, her claims to the contrary notwithstanding, has been more than a mere observer or amateur historian with the Village Expansion and other projects in town. As usual, she and some of her fellow former councilpeople and city commissioners just do not want to take credit for their work when it goes bad.

Back in 2003, when the future was still bright, it was a different story. Even though Wright had been off the Claremont City Council for years when the Village Expansion ground-breaking occurred, this plaque was unveiled at the corner of Oberlin Ave. and First St.:


There you go. Dead center, right above Southard: "Judy Wright." In 2003, as ever, plaques represented the dominant form of public self-aggrandizement in the less-than-humble village of Claremont, CA.

CMC in the News

EDITOR'S NOTE: We decided to split this post into two separate ones because the Nazi stolen art story was a little to long and seemed to be weighing the whole thing down. Besides, both seemed to deserve their own posts.

You can still find the story about CMC Professor Jonathan Petropoulos here and the Malcolm McKenna post here.

The Mysterious Case of the CMC Professor and Nazi-Looted Art

A reader alerted us to a story that appeared in the CMC student paper The Claremont Independent about CMC history professor Jonathan Petropoulos and a painting by the French Impressionist Camille Pissarro.

Here's our reader's email:

Subject: The Petropoulos Case

I think it's one of the best and most resourceful pieces of college journalism I've ever read:

http://media.www.claremontindependent.com/media/storage/paper1031/news/2008/02/25/News/Cmc-Professor.Involved.In.Art.Restitution.Controversy-3266346.shtml

Quite apart from what this does to CMC, which tried and failed to cover up this scandal, this article will have big repercussions in the art restitution community. This is the first time that Petropoulos' smoking gun extortion e-mail is published. Even better, details are given on what Art Loss Register actually did in the attempt to 'restitute' the Pissarro to Gisela Fischer...and they come off as scumbags! This is big news in the art world, with ALR truly disgraced.

To think that a college sophomore could unearth all this, what O'Melveny and Myers, on a four month round-the-world expedition, couldn't find anything of the sort... That's just amazing! Were they just not asking the right questions?

Too bad they tried to strong-arm the student, a sophomore, into not publishing. It didn't work.

It's rumored that CMC has now hired an outside PR firm, for damage control.

Sure looks like a Trustee or two had a hand in trying to clear Petropoulos, and even to squelch the faculty who were alarmed by all this. Petropoulos still directs the Holocaust center...

The college begins a $600 million campaign with a kick-off event in LA on Sunday night, with visits to 10 cities in 10 days... Wonder how that will work out?

[CMC President] Pam Gann and [CMC Director of Public Affairs and Communications] Evie Lazzarino both knew about this in early June when it broke in the European press and on English wires through Bloomberg (June 6, 2007). The student reporter knows that, too.

http://www.museum-security.org/lohse.pdf

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bruno_Lohse

As the reader notes, this all sounds like bad timing for CMC, which is kicking off a major fundraising endeavor.

Charles Johnson at The Claremont Conservative blog also picked up on this story, which is making its way around the blogosphere.

The Claremont Independent's editor-in-chief, CMC sophomore Elise Viebeck, pieced together a remarkable story that paints of rather unflattering picture of Professor Petropoulos, his sometime employer the Art Loss Register, the CMC administration, and certain ethically-challenged corners of the stolen art restitution world.

CMC administrators were concerned enough about the matter to retain the Los Angeles mega-firm O'Melveny & Myers to conduct a four-month long investigation. The investigation found no legal wrongdoing on Professor Petropoulos' part, but a number of CMC faculty members question whether Petropoulos may have crossed an ethical line in his dealings with a Swiss woman who was seeking the artwork in question.

The Pissarro painting, Le Quai Malaquais, Printemps, had belonged to the family of 78-year-old Gisela Fischer, who is Jewish. Fischer's family had to leave the painting behind when they fled Austria in 1938.

The painting was looted by the Nazis and disappeared after the war. It turned up in May, 2007, in a Swiss bank vault controlled by Bruno Lohse, a former Nazi art dealer who had been Hermann Göring's pointman for plundering during the Nazi occupation of Paris.

Fischer contacted the London-based ALR, which locates stolen art for a fee. In 2001, when Fischer first registered the painting with ALR, the service was pro bono for Holocaust claims. By 2007, when the company, which had Professor Petropoulos working on the case, located the painting, their policy had changed, and they now wanted Fischer to pay a percentage of the value of the art work in order for her to be reunited with the stolen painting. The Claremont Independent article explains:

Two days after the [January, 2007] meeting in Munich, [ALR chairman Julian] Radcliffe also sent Fischer a letter, this time to request a finder's fee for the organization's success in finding the Pissarro in Switzerland. Despite its earlier commitment not to charge Holocaust claimants, the company had changed its charging policy for Holocaust art claims, telling claimants that the company could complete restitution "at far less cost and often more efficiently" than the expensive lawyers who took some cases. The meeting with the ALR in January 2007 was the first Fischer knew of the ALR's changed policy.

For the Pissarro case, Radcliffe proposed an elaborate compensation scheme, including 20 percent of the first $1 million, 15 percent of the second million and 10 percent of any additional value of the painting. Included in his price was a stipend for Professor Petropoulos, who had requested $100,000 from the ALR for his services.

In a letter dated January 23, Fischer's lawyer, Dr. Norbert Kückelmann, rejected the ALR's proposal. Three days later Petropoulos met with Fischer at the Hotel St. Gotthard in Zurich to try a new arrangement.

Radcliffe and Sarah Jackson of the Art Loss Register also went to Zurich, only to find themselves excluded from the dealings. "We went expecting to be included in the meetings with Ms. Fischer only to discover that they had already had meetings without us. We realized we had been cut out," Radcliffe told the CI.

At the hotel, Petropoulos and Peter Griebert, a Munich art dealer, showed her digital photos of the Pissarro, claiming to have taken them that morning. According to an account published in ARTNews magazine, they did not give further details about its location or the identity of its owners at that time.

Professor Petropoulos and Griebert then asked her for 18 percent of the painting's market value as a finder's fee. The percentage was to be divided between the two. Experts estimate the worth of the painting to be $2 to 3 million at minimum, meaning that based on the split, it is likely that each man would earn at least $200,000.

In a letter on January 29, Griebert asked Fischer for an affirmation of this agreement in writing.

Fischer rejected his request in a letter on February 1. "I decline the terms you have repeated: that a separate contract for a 'finder's fee' of 18 percent is warranted by you and Jonathan Petropoulos before you actively establish contact between me and the current holders or their lawyers," she wrote. "To me this constitutes a threat: if I don't obey your demands, the Pissarro will disappear again as it did in 1938."

Claremont Independent editor Viebeck contacted Petropoulos for the story, and the professor defended his actions by email, though Viebeck also unearthed some other Petropoulos emails that seem to contradict the professor's defense of his ethics:

In a March 11, 2008, email to the CI Professor Petropoulos defended his actions. "I always endeavored to return the painting in question by Camille Pissarro to the person whom I believed was the rightful heir," he said.

Emails from Petropoulos to Griebert following the Zurich meeting, obtained through a source close to the investigation, paint a different picture.

"If Frau Fischer and Dr. Kueckelmann choose not to engage us, then we cannot say what will happen to the painting," Petropoulos wrote on February 6, 2007. "It would be difficult to give her the names and locations without any compensation. That just won't happen."

"[H]er response is so irrational, it is hard to make sense of it all," he added in an email the next day. "She simply cannot recover the painting without us. At least, I don't know if she would discover on her own the identity of the holders and their current location. We need to keep that in mind. She needs us."

Petropoulos insisted, further, on their original demand for 18 percent. "As we have stressed, we had a deal with Frau Fischer for this amount (and we also hold all the cards right now)," he wrote on February 15.

Viebeck's article also cited concerns in art restitution circles that Petropoulos' relationship to Bruno Lohse, the Nazi art looter, was too close and that it may have compromised the credibility of Petropoulos' academic work:

Petropoulos' next book, rumored to be titled Bruno and Me, will focus on Lohse. Lohse was "a very problematic figure who trafficked in looted artworks and stashed some of them in Switzerland," Petropoulos said in an October 18 press release on the CMC website.

The book-"part memoir, part archival-based monograph, part philosophical reflection"-will recount Petropoulos' attempts to understand Lohse and "untangle his web of lies." It will build on 25 years of research in "Bavaria and Austria most every summer [to] track down the hands-on plunderers," said Petropoulos.

According to sources in the art restitution world, there is a widespread feeling of dismay at the closeness of the relationship between Petropoulos and Lohse and its impact on the credibility of his academic work, especially in light of Petropoulos' role in the Pissarro affair. A historian of the Holocaust, many believe, has a special duty to ensure that there are no conflicts of interest - real or perceived - between his responsibilities as a scholar and his commercial interests.

The statement of "Standards of Professional Conduct" for the American Historical Association directs members to avoid situations in which personal interest "could compromise (or appear to compromise)" their professionalism. Financial arrangements that "benefit or appear to benefit" historians at the cost of their professional charge are also to be avoided.

To Marc Masurovsky of HARP [the Holocaust Art Restitution Project], the Pissarro situation is emblematic of the "dark side" of the art restitution world. "[Petropoulos'] behavior is not becoming of a scholar. I've known Holocaust experts to interview ex-Nazis, but never to engage in long-standing relationships with them," he said in a recent phone conversation.

In his March 11 email, Petropoulos responded to questions of ethics. "I have thought a great deal about ethics," he wrote. "In this particular instance, [I] discussed the matter at length with long-time CMC Professor John Roth, a world-renown expert on the ethical implications of the Holocaust."

We'd like to hear more about the reader's claim that CMC tried to strong arm Viebeck into not running the story. And, what view does CMC's Center for the Study of the Holocaust, Genocide, and Human Rights, where Petropoulos is director, take on all this?

Whatever else happens, the reader is correct in thinking CMC has a major PR cloud looming on the horizon.

Noted Paleontologist Dies

Today's Los Angeles Times had lengthy obituary for Malcolm Carnegie McKenna, whose father was a Claremont McKenna College founding trustee and whose mother was a very significant CMC donor.

The New York Times also had a piece on McKenna on March 10th, as did the San Bernardino Sun.

McKenna was a Webb School alum and for over 40 years was the head of the paleontology department at the American Museum of Natural History in New York. The LA Times obit described McKenna's career:

A specialist in the study of small mammals rather than the gigantic dinosaurs that fascinate many other paleontologists, McKenna conducted field expeditions every year at sites as varied as the western United States, Patagonia, the Andes, China, Mongolia, Greenland and the Canadian Arctic.

In 1964, at the height of the Cold War, he went to Mongolia as a tourist in an attempt to arrange a resumption in field work in the Gobi Desert -- a site that had been initially explored by the New York museum's Roy Chapman Andrews in the 1920s.

When permission was finally granted in 1990, McKenna was able to fulfill his lifelong dream of exploring the region.

"I used to memorize the names of towns and trade routes," he told the New York Times. Since his childhood, "I've wanted to get out here and do something in this part of the world."

That first expedition discovered, among other things, a species related to the Komodo dragon.

In the 1960s, McKenna was a strong proponent of a then-new way of classifying animal relationships called cladistics. Cladistics relies on evolutionary biology to define links between species rather than the older technique of noting physical similarities.

Those cladistic relationships were at the heart of his massive 1997 book, "Classification of Mammals Above the Species Level," co-written with Susan K. Bell of the museum. The book was the successor to a similar tome written in 1945 by George Gaylord Simpson, his predecessor at the museum.

Claremont's Planned Economy

SALON MAKEOVER

Will Bigham writes in the Daily Bulletin that the Claremont Planning Commission last week rejected the Chamber of Commerce-backed plan to place strict limits on new beauty salons in town. Bigham's article explains:

The salon law was proposed because officials from the city and Chamber of Commerce felt the Village was losing its "balance" between salons and other types of stores.

There are nearly 25 salons in the Village, and more have approached the city seeking to open in vacant storefronts.

The city's proposed ordinance would prohibit any more salons from opening in first-floor, street-level shops. Salons would be permitted to open in alleys and upstairs areas in the Village.

The Planning Commission rejected the proposed ban by a 4-2 vote. One Planning Commissioner was quoted in the Bulletin as thinking this sort of legislation might involve a little too much micro-management:

"I felt it was an unwarranted government intrusion into the local economy," said Commissioner Jeff Hammill, who opposed the ban. "I just felt that, while having a variety of businesses in the Village ... is important, to go about it in this manner I didn't feel was appropriate."

"I feel that history has shown us that centralized planning of the economy doesn't work," Hammill added. "And this felt a lot like that."

Apparently, Planning Commissioner Tom Lamb was correct back in January when he defended the commission as having a bit of an independent streak. Of course, the City Council may not approve of the commission's reasoning.

According to the Bulletin article, the ban can be revisited and the Planning Commission overruled if four of the five councilmembers are in favor of the ban. The article stated that Claremont Mayor Peter Yao and Councilmember Linda Elderkin have already expressed a willingness to impose the ban.

We wonder how that squares with Elderkin's love of process and the general concern about respecting the work of Claremont's commissions? Apparently that respect only comes into play when Elderkin and others want it to. It's just another example of the arbitrary nature of Claremont's way of governing.

Expect Mayor Yao to place the matter on the council's agenda for the March 25th meeting. If it's not then, Mayor-to-be Ellen Taylor will likely push it soon after that.

We're not necessarily fans of beauty salons, and we would much rather have the old Powell's Hardware in where the Urban Renewal Salon took over on Yale Ave. However, who can really dictate what mix of businesses will or won't make it? Isn't it really the consumer who decides?

(Except when it's the City Manager. How many remember Fedorico's, a great and popular eatery that occupied what is now the twee-decorated gap in the buildings on the west side of Yale, between First and Second Streets? Glenn Southard took a wrecking ball to it. The given reason was to provide access to parking. Sure solved the parking problem, didn't it?)

Today, it's beauty salons. What's it going be tomorrow? Wine shops? Bakeries? Ice cream parlors?

As long as we're being arbitrary, how about considering a ban on a few types of Claremont 400-inspired businesses:

• Tax attorneys' offices on Indian Hill Blvd.
  We already have one too many of these. Queen Ellen manages her husband's law office at Indian Hill and Second St.
  


• Photography studios on First St.
  One too many of these, also. Claremont Chamber of Commerce President Sonja Stump's photo business is at First between Harvard and Yale Aves.
  


• Family law attorneys on Yale Ave.
  Two too many of these. Former Claremont Mayors Sandra Baldonado and Paul Held have their practices across from one another on Yale.

Yes, ladies and gents, we think Claremont's economic picture would brighten considerably if the above blighted areas were removed and redeveloped into more constructive businesses, like pet grooming or skateboard shops. A 7-Eleven, even.

Remember, these are the same people who are spending $887,000 over three years to test run a faux trolley shuttle service to span six square blocks downtown at an estimated cost of over $10 per passenger.


A PROVEN TRACK RECORD

The Claremont 400 and their loyal city staffers, Claremont Housing and Redevelopment Manager Brian Desatnik and Community Development Director Tony Witt, certainly have a less-than-stellar record for finding the right mix of businesses and for designing a well-planned commercial environment.

We've written recently about the Claremont Village Expansion's growing pains. Now comes this news via one of our readers:

Subject: Red Line Store in Packing House

The Red Line Store, next door to the Maui Wowi coffee shop, has a "For Lease" sign in its window.

And this:

Buzz,

Looks like one of the Packing House businesses is closing. Redline has a For Lease sign up. I'm attaching a photo I snapped this morning.

Claremont Hate Crime Sentencing Delayed

The Daily Bulletin reported on March 10th that sentencing was delayed for three defendants convicted of a December, 2006, attack on a black man in a parking lot at Indian Hill Blvd. and San Jose Ave. in Claremont. The case is being heard in Pomona Superior Court.

The Bulletin article noted:

Anthony Allen, Joseph McCool, and Ryan White will face prison terms for the attack on Charles Washington when they return to the Pomona Superior Court in April.

The sentencing was continued because attorneys are filing a motion seeking a new trial, citing issues with jury selection and a request that the judge independently review the evidence as a 13th juror, said Gary Meastas, Allen's attorney.

Both Allen and White will go to court April 8. McCool will face his sentencing April 14.

The attack occurred after the defendants, who had stopped off in Claremont at a restaurant on their way to a white supremacists' rally in Westwood, confronted two black men. The attackers beat and repeatedly stabbed one of the victims with a hunting knife.

The other victim, Kavis Knight, told his story to the Claremont Courier's Tony Krickl in an article in the paper's 2/10/2007 edition:

Mr. Knight explained that initially there were two males and two females who approached them. The group was insulting him and his friend, 35-year-old Charles Washington of Pomona, and using racial slurs. As they were arguing and the tension continued to rise, about 6 more of the group’s friends came out of the Baker’s Square restaurant, located at the corner of Indian Hill Boulevard and San Jose Avenue. That’s when the argument escalated into a fight.

“They started coming with full force and fists and everything so I started fighting back. I was against the wall [of the liquor store] but my friend was still in the parking lot and wasn’t able to get away from them,” said Mr. Knight. “They were all in a circle around him. I saw him on the ground, and they were kicking him. I didn’t even see him get stabbed, but I realized he was really hurt when I tried to pick him up later and there was blood everywhere.”

By being against the wall of the liquor store, Mr. Knight said he was able to avoid being surrounded by his attackers and possibly end up with injuries as serious as his friend, who had been stabbed several times in the back and the leg. His friend needed to be airlifted to USC Medical Center in Los Angeles due to the seriousness of his injuries. Mr. Knight sustained injuries on his hands but did not seek medical treatment.

“I didn’t want to be in a situation that could get me in jail or where I could end up hurting somebody. I’m too old for that,” said Mr. Knight. “I used to live in the south side of Pomona and there was a fight every day down there. I was finally able to move my kids out of that environment and move up here to Claremont. I didn’t want this.”

Claremont Alpha Males in DC This Week

We freely admit we haven't got the full story on the cancellation of last night's regularly scheduled council meeting. It seems that only two council members are attending the National League of Cities Congress in Washington DC. Our best information is that councilmember Sam Pedroza and Mayor pro tem Ellen Taylor are there, along with City Manager Jeff Parker, Assistant City Manager Tony Ramos, and Management Analyst Colin Tudor.

It would seem that Council, with a majority present in Claremont, could struggle along with it's quorum of 3, but maybe they need Parker and Ramos to hold their collective hand.

Still, with all the news this week about the "amenities" available in Washington DC, we don't find it too surprising that there would be a rush for tickets to the League of Cities Congress, especially for some of the guys. Watch those warrant registers for $4300 bottles of water. A fella gets all tired and stressed after a day of doing the City Business. That's where the "Chairman's Club VIP" comes in.
A special request from supporters in Pilgrim Place asks Sam to especially check out the Mayflower Hotel, and to try the door on room 871 (the door on the right at the end of the hall). Ask for Kristen.

We are expecting to hear a full report on this valuable trip when council next meets on March 25.

No City Council Tonight

Tonight's regularly scheduled Claremont City Council meeting has been cancelled.

Apparently, at least two, and possibly as many as four (can they do that without agendizing it as a meeting?), councilmembers are in Washington, D.C., for the National League of Cities conference.

The next meeting will be in two weeks on Tuesday, March 25th, when the council will conduct its yearly reorganization, selecting a new mayor (very likely Queen Ellen Taylor) and mayor pro tem.

At least with no official meeting there can't be any mischief, though they'll be plenty to go around at the next regularly scheduled meeting.

Senior Center Health Day

Claremont City Manager Jeff Parker's regular update last Friday noted that the Claremont Senior Program will have its monthly dinner and entertainment night this Friday:

The Claremont Senior Program will be holding its monthly dinner and entertainment program this evening, Friday, March 7. The performer for this month is Pat Hogan, who will sing and play the harmonica. A $5 reservation fee is required and dressy attire is recommended.

Call the Joslyn Senior Center at (909) 399-5488 for more information and to make your reservation.

* * *

Parker's memo also mentioned that the Senior Program will have its yearly Spring Health & Wellness Fair on Friday, March 28th, from 9am to 1pm at Claremont's Taylor Hall. There will be free health screenings, exhibits, demonstrations, and low-priced lunches to people over 60.

Taylor Hall
1775 N. Indian Hill Blvd.
Claremont, CA 91711

The More Things Change....

This is the heart of the residential district. Every lot is a stone's throw from the station. As soon as they throw enough rocks, we're gonna build a station. 800 wonderful residences will be built right here. Why, they're as good as up. Better! You can have any kind of home you want. You can even get stucco. Oh, how you can get stuck-o!

- Groucho Marx as the land developer Mr. Hammer, The Cocoanuts (1929)

File this one under "For Every Action There's an Equal and Opposite Reaction."

The Daily Bulletin's Robert Rogers has an article today on the rising number of mega housing auctions in the Inland Empire. According to the article, the banks are trying to reduce the surplus of homes on the market:

Twenty-, 30- and 40-percent drops from peak prices have working-class renters searching for their first home, and savvy, deep-pocketed investors trying to expand their real estate empires.

The housing auction, that Wild West of free-market economics relegated to afterthought status during the housing boom, is back in a big way in the Inland Empire and nationwide, predominantly in states bordering oceans.

Recent months have seen a handful of mega-auctions in San Bernardino and Riverside counties, where millions of dollars worth of homes have been taken off the hands of lenders and builders who found themselves suddenly saddled with devalued properties as the boom went bust.

The next auction is Saturday in Palm Springs. Another is set for Sunday at the Doubletree Hotel in Ontario, where banks are looking to draw buyers for about 120 houses spanning the county, many now listed at prices that would have been laughable just 12 months ago.

As we observed a week ago, even affluent neighborhoods in Claremont are beginning to suffer from the effects of the housing crisis. James Surowiecki in the March 10th edition of the New Yorker wrote that the current problems facing many home buyers are the result of a serious underestimation of the risk of homeownership and the shift away from looking at homes as forced savings plans.

According to Surowiecki, lax credit standards coupled with property owners tapping into the value of their homes through home equity loans have resulted in a large number of homeowners across the country who are stuck with homes worth less than they owe. And, as Surowiecki notes, a correction in the housing market moves much slower than a stock market correction, so we may be a while before we even begin to touch bottom.

How bad will it get? Not very many people are predicting a reprise of the Great Depression, but things may be worse than the last big downturn in early 1990's. At least, if things turn really bad, we might see a little more introspection and public involvement once people realize the party's over.

If they turn really, really, bad, maybe we can at least look forward to some good screwball comedies to help us escape:

Falling Axes

We wrote last year about some of the problems facing the news industry, particularly print media. Since then, the Los Angeles Times has been purchased by Sam Zell. Despite initial promises to shore up the Times staff, Zell has moved forward with buyouts and layoffs to downsize staff. So not much has changed in that regard from the previous Tribune Co. regime at the Times.

Kevin Roderick at LAObserved had a list of the latest casualties of what he called "Zellutation." Just how much fat is there left to trim? Roderick reported the Times is also doing away with guided tours of the Times Building.

Roderick hosted KCRW 89.9FM's "The Politics of Culture" last Tuesday, and he discussed the intersection of journalism and blogging with blogger (and journalist) Joshua Micah Marshall from TalkingPointsMemo.com. Thanks to Gary Scott for pointing out that audio link (more on Scott below).

And Ed Padgett's Los Angeles Times Pressmens 20-Year Club blog has been covering the cutbacks on the Times' production end. Padgett's post on Friday noted that 31 people were cut from from the Times' Orange County and downtown Los Angeles production facilities.

Things aren't much better over at the Daily Bulletin, whose parent company, Media News Group, has forced layoffs at many of the papers they own: The Daily Bulletin, The Daily Breeze, The Long Beach Press-Telegram, The Los Angeles Daily News, The Pasadena Star-News, The San Bernardino Sun, The San Gabriel Valley Tribune, The Whittier Daily News, and The San Jose Mercury News, to name a few.

Gary Scott's Reporter-G blog has a list of the latest cuts at the Bulletin and at the three papers comprising the San Gabriel Valley News Group (The Star-News, The SGV Tribune, and the Whittier Daily News).

Surveying the wreckage, one cannot help but be struck by the fact that the combination of the media consolidation and streamlining/restructuring in the form of downsizing has to have an effect on the end product. That paper you get each morning is bound to get thinner and less substantive.

* * *

Meanwhile, The Claremont Courier continues to chug along, having undergone an online and print edition makeover. Yes, we've had our criticisms about the Courier, but they do seem to know their market, and they've even managed to provide some decent coverage of a few important community issues (affordable housing and the Village Expansion, to name two).

Perhaps there's a micro-niche for the community-specific newspaper that the Courier can fill.

Lost Dog

A reader wrote in to say that she'd lost her dog near Towne Ave. and Foothill back on February 28th. If you've seen Frieda, hold on to her and drop us a line at claremontbuzz@yahoo.com.

Soto Announces Retirement

The FC Blog noted Thursday that Nell Soto announced she is not going to run for re-election due to her ongoing health problems.

The Daily Bulletin also ran an article by Will Bigham about Soto's decision. Since the seat is considered in a safe Democratic district, the matter will likely be decided in the June Democratic primary. Bigham reported that a number of Democrats have filed papers for the primary:

Soto cited health issues in a news release announcing her retirement. She has been absent from Sacramento since September.

"As much as my heart and mind want to continue in public service, my 81-year-old body is in need of less stress and a less vigorous schedule," Soto said.

"On the advice of my doctor, this time I am going to listen to my body and not my heart."

Several Democratic candidates have filed papers to run in June's primary election for her seat: Pomona Mayor Norma Torres, Cal Poly Pomona and Chaffey College professor Ken White, Ontario-Montclair school board member Paul Vincent Avila and Maurice E. Ayala.

The FC Blog has done a really stellar job reporting on Soto's lengthy absences from the assembly dating back to last year when they were the first ones to write about the matter.

Incidentally, former Claremont Courier reporter Gary Scott has a blog called Reporter-G and recently mentioned the FC folks. Scott has moved over to public radio and is producing Warren Olney's two shows, "Which Way LA?" and "To the Point."

Ontario Museum Hosts Zornes Exhibit

David Allen's most recent column mentioned that the Ontario Museum of History and Art has an ongoing exhibit of Milford Zornes' work. The exhibit, called "Milford Zornes: Black and White," features pen and ink drawings, charcoal sketches, prints, and lithographs.

The show runs through April 13th, and Allen writes that the museum is hosting a discussion today at 1pm by several artists who knew Zornes. The talk is called "Conversations: Milford Zornes."

Zornes, who died last month at the age of 100, was a well-known watercolorist and a graduate of Pomona College. The Claremont Courier had a fine tribute to Zornes' life and work, and the Bulletin's website also has an article on Zornes, along with a slideshow.

Ontario Museum of History and Art
225 South Euclid Avenue,
Ontario, CA 91762
(909) 983-3198

A Reader Writes

A reader wrote us in response to Sunday's post about the Claremont Community Foundation's current Party Parade fundraising series:

I loved your post on the party scene (the Claremont 400 need no excuse to party with each other, but you are right, it is their official way of expiating their sins for the whole year) and have often wanted to participate. I get the brochure in the mail, look eagerly at all the fun I could be having and salivate at all the wonderful food that is promised to appear at some of the locations---- and then I look at the hosts.

My heart sinks when I see that all of them are hosted by people I would not want to spend half an hour with, never mind an evening. So, as a result, I have never been to one of their (probably works out for them, too) fetes.

The other thing is that if you look carefully at some of the charities to which they give the money they have raised at these parties, lo and behold at least one of them are on the board of directors of the recipient charities or organizations. Kind of incestuous, no? But keeping it in the family is what it is all about for the 400, n'est pas?

It is tough because the money goes to good causes, whether it's the Claremont Educational Foundation, the Friends of the Library, House of Ruth, the local Red Cross chapter, the Rancho Santa Ana Botanic Garden, Reading for the Blind & Dyslexic, Shoes that Fit, Uncommon Good, or any of a host of other local charities.

But to get really involved with these things locally, you have to deal with these folks and their inevitable cattiness and snobbery. Getting involved in Claremont is a little like going to a small town where the mayor's cousin owns the general store, his sister owns the local motel, a brother owns the only gas station, they all sit on the school board and run the local Red Cross.

Perhaps that's just the nature of such things, but it seems especially pronounced in Claremont, where a small group of socialites try to run everything from the charities to the chamber of commerce to the schools to city government. It's not their involvement we mind; rather, it's the way they systematically exclude a lot good people who may have much to offer but who think differently, who think outside the 400's self-imposed box. It's the exclusivity that operates to the detriment the greater community.

Better to donate time and money to the national organizations, if possible, or to volunteer on projects and avoid dealing with the folks at the top of the chain. They will take your money though, so you can always hold your nose and give. Eventually, the money helps someone in need.

Claremont Museum - Upcoming Events

The Claremont Museum of Art's next show opens in May and is called "Vexing." The museum will host an opening reception Saturday, May 17th, and the show will run from 5/18 to 8/31. Several of the artists from the exhibit will perform at the opening reception.

The museum's PR person, Cari Marshall, sent out a press release describing the exhibit:

The burgeoning punk rock music scene of the late 1970s and early 1980s in East Los Angeles provided an electrically charged, creative climate. This scene created an atmosphere where performance mixed with poetry, and visual culture was defined by an aesthetic and an attitude. Artists and musicians interfaced and blurred the lines of actions, documentation, photography, sound and style. Taking its name from the all-ages music club The Vex, once housed within East Los Angeles’ Self Help Graphics and Art, Vexing is an historical investigation of the women who were at the forefront of this movement of experimentation in music, art, culture and politics, while exploring their lasting legacies and contemporary practices. This documentary-style exhibition will include photo, video and audio archives of the era as well as studio work encompassing painting, installation, writings and performance.

In an artistic environment fueled by exchange and experimentation, music played a pivotal role in defining new images of self. This exhibition documents a vital moment of artistic and musical interchange in Los Angeles, with women staking out a position between and within punk rock, East LA and the downtown art scene. Vexing not only considers their significant contributions to the cultural landscape of LA, but also examines the multiple scenes and identities they negotiated. These women have also served as a model for subsequent generations interested in alternative social movements as a platform of expression, as well as the post-identity conceptual practices of today.

Participants include musicians Alice Bag, Teresa Covarrubias, Angela Vogel, Monica Flores, musician and artist Exene Cervenka, artists Diane Gamboa and Patssi Valdez, photographers Dawn Wirth, Elsa Flores and Louis Jacinto, recording label-founder of Fatima Records Yolanda Comparan Ferrer, printmakers Richard Duardo, Jessee Vidaurre and John Miner, and filmmaker Jimmy Mendiola. Representing a newer generation of artistic producers influenced by these women are musician/artist Lysa Flores, artists Shizu Saldamando and Sandra de la Loza, photographer Chris TV, performance group Butchlalis de Panochtitlan, and the band The Sirens. Special concert footage and interviews courtesy of Pete Galindo, Willie Herón and Lysa Flores from the forthcoming documentary on The Vex.

And don't forget that the current show, "First Generations," runs through April 27th. The museum also has a free, ongoing program called Family Day. The next one is Sunday March 16th from 11am to 5pm, and will give kids and their parents a chance to learn how to make wood prints from balsa wood engravings.

Claremont Museum of Art
In the Packing House
536 W. First St.
Claremont, CA 91711
(909) 621-3200

CUSD Moves Forward on Base Line Rd. RV Lot

Click to Enlarge

The Claremont 400 really do not like people who live along Base Line Rd. At least, that's what you'd figure when you consider that it's only been a very short time since they failed to jam a faulty affordable housing project in at the northeast corner of Towne Ave. and Base Line Rd. Now comes Round II for Base Line Rd. residents and property owners.

The Claremont Unified School District (CUSD: A wholly-owned Claremont 400 subsidiary) last month approved going forward with turning the district's property at Mountain Ave. and Base Line into an RV and boat storage lot.

We came across this story last July when the CUSD board first approved a conceptual plan for the property. At that time, the district announced its intention to move the offices that are currently on the RV site to another property on San Jose Ave.

The matter came before the CUSD board again in February in the form of an actual plan. The Daily Bulletin's Will Bigham covered the CUSD RV yard proposal in a February 26th article.

People who have neighboring properties aren't too happy about the district's actions. Bigham quoted Saul Jaffe, who owns the property immediately to the east of the CUSD land and who wants to put in a 60-unit condo development there:

A group of nearby residents and property owners spoke out against the project at the board meeting, citing potential problems they said make the project incompatible with the surrounding area.

Saul Jaffe, owner of an adjacent property that has been approved for a 60 condominiums, said the district's plan would make it more difficult for him to sell units that overlook the storage facility.

Jaffe also said the district's plan conflicts with the zoning of the land, which calls for office/professional use.

"It's not the type of use you would expect right next to each other," Jaffe said. "It's not what you would consider good planning."

Jaffe said the district would likely need a conditional-use permit from the city's Planning Commission before moving forward.

According to the Bigham article, CUSD officials say that they will have to come up with $4 million to build the project. The district anticipates taking out loans for the financing and then using the money generated by the storage facility to pay back the loans.

District officials claim that the project will generate $615,000 a year. We wonder about their figures, though. After all, these are the same folks who managed to misspend over $48 million of Measure Y money from 2000. We wouldn't even be talking about the need for the RV park if they had acted more responsibly with our tax dollars.

And don't forget, the CUSD board is backed by a lot of the same people who stood by and allowed the city to invest over $5 million of the city's investment fund in the failed Orange County Investment Pool back in the early 1990's. They certainly seem attracted to the color red and to bankruptcy.

We know what you're thinking: A school district going into the RV storage business? That makes about as much sense as a city trying to become a housing developer.

But, hey, it could happen.

The project might pencil out, but it will likely have to be more intensively used than the district is letting on. Bigham reported that it will have at least 65 indoor storage spaces, with the potential for 55 more in a covered area and 98 outdoor spaces. The going rates for RV spaces at the Price Self-Storage facility in Solana Beach runs from $219 per month for an outdoor space to between $365-$449 a month for an indoor RV space.

Using the upper rate, CUSD's 65 indoor spaces would only net $350,220 a year (65 spaces times $449/month times 12 months). That would be far short CUSD's claimed $615,000 yearly net. They will certainly need to use as many of those extra covered and outdoor spaces as possible to reach their goal.

You have to wonder, too, what the effect of rising gasoline prices and the current economic downturn will have on the demand for RV's and boats, as well as places to store those things.

Another factor the CUSD board doesn't seem to have considered is the rising cost of bonded indebtedness. The mortgage crisis has spilled over into the municipal bond market, and it's getting more and more expensive for public agencies to get financing for projects, as the LA Times reported yesterday.

Still, with the Claremont 400, it's full speed ahead, as usual.

Soto to Retire?

Centinel at the Foothill Cities Blog came across a news bit from Capitol Alert, a Sacramento Bee website that covers state government, reporting that Assemblywoman Nell Soto (D-Pomona) has missed every legislative session since September and that she may not run again in November.

The FC Blog first broke the story last year that Soto had been absent from the Assembly for a couple months due to health problems and that she had continued to receive per diem during her absence. Soto, who was at her home in Pomona while she was sick, returned to Sacramento, but apparently has had additional health problems.

The Capitol Alert piece noted that while she was absent in 2007 Soto collected $22,032.00 in per diem for travel and living expenses (for an apartment Soto maintains in Sacramento). So far in 2008 Soto has collected $10,000 more.

Capitol Alert noted that ever-ambitious Democratic Party superdelegate and Pomona Mayor Norma Torres, is ready to seek Torres' seat:

Norma Torres, a Democrat, is laying the groundwork for a run in preparation for Soto’s potential retirement.

“To date, she has not pulled papers. I am getting ready,” said Torres. “The primary is just around the corner.”

This Friday is the deadline for incumbents to file for re-election. If Soto does not file, the deadline will be extended one week. The Democratic primary for Assembly District 61, which is considered a safe Democratic seat with a 12-point registration advantage, takes place on June 3. No Republican has filed for the seat.

Torres said Soto's deteriorating health prompted her to consider running. The legislator has battled multiple bouts of pneumonia since her election in 2006, [Soto campaign aide Mike] Lewis said.

“That’s one of the reasons I started exploring this and talking a little bit about what it means,” Torres said.

Capitol Alert also indicated that Torres will have some competition with Maurice Ayala, the son of former Chino state senator Ruben Ayala, for the seat. Ayala High School in Chino Hills is named for Ruben, who served in the state . You can read the Capitol Alert article here (registration required).

Book Notes

David Allen has Part Two of his book report on "Moby Dick." Allen is up to page 457 of the Herman Melville novel.

Thanks for the shout out David!

Breaking News - Baseline Rd. Shooting UPDATED

Final Update to this Post. 11:00 p.m. Wednesday. This incident might never have have happened; it's fading that fast from the news-o-sphere. Nothing new from the Bulletin, nor any of the usual sources. One curiosity is that an early video had a neighbor describing the house as unusual...people always there..."strange" was her word; the Bigham article in the 7:00 a.m. paragraph below describes other neighbors painting a picture of normalcy and friendliness. Maybe someone can reconcile that.

If you watch the video linked above, you can just make out a tarp-covered limo on the left of the aerial shot. We saw this driving by the house today. What's that all about?

Since this story seems to have gone dormant, we will suspend coverage unless it turns out that Mayor Yao or Mayor pro tem Ellen Taylor are somehow involved and we can get back to "deriding the Claremont elite."(see third paragraph of this link)

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Update, 7:00 a.m. Wednesday. Will Bigham, in an update to yesterday's Bulletin article, gives the gunman's name as Kenneth Maurice James III, age 53. Still no information on the condition of the wife beyond that reported yesterday: "stable" condition. The story appears to have more or less dropped by other news sources.

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Update 11:40 p.m. Still no information on the condition of the woman, nor names of the people involved. No "film at 11" that we can find.

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Update, 7:20 p.m. Apparently once the helicopters leave, the mainstream press decides there is no story there anymore. As of this moment, no more information, and no names have been released. We have second-hand information from a friend of a guy that lives up the street that the women's initials *may* be NBK and NMK. (as of 7 a.m. Wednesday, this so-called "information is looking less and less likely) No rumors on the dead man at this point.

Normally we don't like to go with gossip such as this, but it will be interesting to see how close we are. This must be a "film at 11" thing. Stay tuned.

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Update, 1:00 p.m. The woman shot was transported to a hospital and at this time is expected to recover. The woman's mother, in her 90s, was rescued, and the man was found dead in the home of an apparent self-inflicted gunshot.

See the LA Times article, here. Video here. The names have not been released. However, we have this image and information on the home from Zillow:



This site is right across Baseline from the City-owned site that was proposed for affordable housing. We guess crime can hit anywhere. We hope the guy didn't take the image in our post of a few weeks ago too seriously.

KNBC Channel 4 News reported that a woman was shot this morning by her husband at their home at 885 Baseline Rd. in an unincorporated L.A. County island near the Baseline Rd. affordable housing site.

Deputies from the L.A. County Sheriff's San Dimas station have responded. The woman was reportedly fled the house. However, the woman's mother was still in the home and was rescued by SWAT deputies. Not many details at this point.

Housing Market Meltdown Hits Home

The relatively new Stone Canyon Preserve homes in Northeast Claremont made headlines last month. ABC News ran a story about the problems created by the mortgage crisis hitting upscale McMansion owners, and they focused on several homeowners in the Stone Canyon homes.

No demographic, it seems, is immune to the wave of foreclosures and short sales hitting the real estate market. The ABC story, appropriately filed under "Reality Check" on ABC's news site, paints a grim picture:

Losing an Investment

People once had to place their names on a waiting list to buy a luxury home, but now owners trying to sell compete with new homes offered at lower prices, bank-owned properties and so-called "short sales," in which a home sells for less than the value of the mortgage.

Compounding the problem, buyers have disappeared because the subprime and 100 percent loans that made so much growth possible are gone.

"The people who qualified for the kinds of loans that bought these houses no longer qualify," said Char Constantino, a broker with Century 21.

Not only do those people no longer qualify, but many who did take risky financing are losing their homes. Foreclosures in Los Angeles were up 381 percent in the last quarter of 2007 from the same period the previous year.

This marks the second time a housing market crash has hit the north Claremont Stone Canyon land hard. The first occasion was back in the early 1990's. At that time, the city of Claremont had worked out a complicated deal with Pomona College wherein the city would purchase the land that would become the Claremont Wilderness Park as well as the land that later became Stone Canyon.

The plan was for the City to then develop the land and be left with the Wilderness Park. Yes folks, Claremont, under then-City Manager Glenn Southard, was going into the home building business.

However, the development plans fell through because Southard, with that golden touch that only he had, managed to pick the worst of possible times (a recession and real estate crash) to become a housing speculator.

The city had paid some $1.2 million in option payments to Pomona College over two or three years, but stopped making those payments and negotiated an exit strategy. In exchange for the option payments made, and the commitment to fast-track the specific plan that allowed Pomona College to sell the developable property, wrapped up and tied with a bow, to Centex Homes, the City could have the 1220-acre Wilderness Park property, stripped of its development credits.

The Claremont 400 would have you forget that one reason the Stone Canyon Preserve homes are the boxy McMansions you see now is that the City and Southard were forced to make developer-driven concessions (more homes per acre, for instance) to satisfy their creditor, Pomona College, in order to maximize Pomona's value in the land and to ease the eventual sale of the property.

Really, Pomona College, together with Centex and the city of Claremont, are responsible for the paving over of Chicken Creek, an area that had a much higher ecological significance in terms of native plant and animal life than Johnson's Pasture. Many of the folks at the Claremont Wildlands Conservancy, which includes a good number of employees from the Claremont Colleges, ignore this part of the history of the land when they rail against developers.

The other forgotten part of this episode is that Southard had to scramble around to put together the money lost in his failed development scheme, and he borrowed that money from the city's sewer fund with the promise that it would be paid back. There's still some debate in some circles in town as to whether or not that promise was ever kept.

Like a lot of Claremont stories, things got muddled with time. The 400 always points to Centex's Stone Canyon Preserve, which destroyed the Chicken Creek riparian habitat, and says that was the price we had to pay to get the Wilderness Park. It's a pleasant fiction, but it's far from the whole story.

The 400's axiom still holds true: wait long enough, and a lie becomes a truth. Oh, and no need to dedicate a plaque to this one. No word on how this affects Claremont's 5th Best Place to Live status.

So here we are again. This time it's individual homeowners, rather than the city of Claremont, who've overextended themselves at the risk of their investment. People (and cities) never learn that there is a law of gravity to markets. We want to believe things go ever upward, but then reality hits.

Chalk it up to the price of forgetting history. We're feeling that downward pull again, to no one's, and to everyone's, surprise.

College Food News

College dorm food certainly has changed from the days when a friend pinned a note that said "You eat it" to a piece of dessicated hamburger meat that looked like a hockey puck-size piece of beef jerky and dropped it into the dining hall suggestion box.

A blogger and Occidental College student named Karin Hass was visiting a friend at Scripps this past weekend and came away very impressed with the dining halls at the 5-C's, at least at Harvey Mudd, where she and her friend happened to eat.

Hass wrote about the fine repast on her blog, K. Hass Does the Interweb, which she is writing as a project for an English class. The title of Hass' post was "Why is Claremont's Food SO MUCH BETTER?" She seemed particularly impressed by the sushi:

I know my frame of reference isn't huge as I've only actually eaten there once, but it was just so wonderful that I had to write about it.

Oxy's food isn't that bad. I've DEFINITELY had much worse. Oxy's food just gets incredibly monotonous, and I don't even live on campus. Plus, the main Marketplace isn't even OPEN on Saturday!! They get SUSHI!?

Monday Mailbag

We got this in from an occasional reader who likes to frequent the Claremont Wilderness Park:

Buzz,

I walk the Wilderness Park pretty regularly and have noticed a couple plaques at the the park entrance. I took photos of these and am forwarding them to you. Feel free to post them if you want.

What's the deal with Claremont and plaques? There are at least three in the Wilderness Park, if you count the Nick Presecan memorial. I have seen these things all over town and don't think any other city I've lived in has put up plaques as much as Claremont.

Here are the reader's photos, the first from the 1997 Wilderness Park dedication and the second from the 2004 park expansion (click to enlarge):





We've wondered the same thing as the reader. Why so many plaques? Let's parse the two above and try to figure out the meaning behind them.

In most towns, you might see a plaque explaining the creation of the park and perhaps the source of funds if a large grant or donation were involved. Here in Claremont, though, it's all about the self-promotion. It's the same reason we had two centennials, one in 1987 and one in 2007.

Notice the name in the center of both plaques: GLENN SOUTHARD. No information about the park itself. The personalities are the important things. Even in the second plaque from 2004, though the San Gabriel and Lower Los Angeles Rivers and Mountains Conservancy, the state Wildlife Conservation Board and the Claremont Wildlands Conservancy are all mentioned, they are ranked below former mayor Sandy Baldonado, then-Assistant to the City Manager Jim Lewis (AKA, Mini-Me) and Southard.

Like any narcissist, Southard really considered himself the star at the center of the known universe, and the various sundry councilmembers and city staff surround him on the plaques like planets circling that same star, held in place by the gravitational force of his will and at his sufferance.

Knowing Southard and the great enmity he bore towards Jackie McHenry, it must have killed him and Sandy Baldonado and former councilmember Paul Held to have to put her name on the 2004 plaque. Still, there they all are, if not for all eternity then for a good long while.

Have you seen these plaques around town? City Hall, the Village Expansion, parks and other buildings bear similar monuments to Southard's and the 400's sense of self-importance. Check them out and shoot us a picture, won't you?

Charity Fatigue

The Daily Bulletin's Susan Sproul has an article about the Claremont Community Foundation's (CCF)annual Party Parade, which is already underway.

The Party Parade is a sort of serial fundraising event, with various events hosted by different community members. The CCF began a dozen years ago and raises money that it doles out to various community organizations.

Mostly, the Party Parade is an excuse for the elites of Claremont to get together and do what they do best: socialize. Oh, and they do raise a little money, which they give back to charities run by mostly by themselves.

The Bulletin's Sproul puts a good spin on the festivities, though:

The Claremont Community Foundation is throwing a party - well, make that parties - and you're invited.

The foundation has hosted Party Parade for 12 years, and it has proved both effective and successful in raising needed donations and helping to establish friendships. Party Parade 2008 shouldn't be an exception.

Taking advantage of leap year, the fun actually got started Friday with a jewelry design get-together, but the busy schedule of events takes off in earnest tonight with a "retro-metro" dinner described as an "atomic era meal" served at a private hillside Claremont home. And the ball keeps rolling throughout the rest of this month with various parties scheduled. They are as diverse and interesting as the community supporting them.

Want proof? How about tours of several noted Inland Valley artists' homes, a dinner showcasing the talents of Spaggi's chef Henry Gonzales, a night of dancing with members of the National Championship Claremont Colleges Ballroom Dance Team or a sunrise stroll in Johnson's Pasture? There shouldn't be any excuse for not going to one of these delightful mini events.

The Claremont Community Foundation stands by its name, encouraging the community to get involved with raising money that ends up back in the community, according to Nickie Cleaves, executive director.

The CCF is one of those things that the Claremont 400 love to create - a non-profit that raises money for good causes, so that they can feed their egos. It's really confession for the non-Catholic, absolving the givers of guilt for all the bad things they've done over the years while at the same time getting together for an ego boosting good time.

You wonder, especially with a possible recession coming, if Claremonters will be cutting back on donations to our plethora of local charities: the CCF, Friends of the Library, House of Ruth, the RFB&D, Uncommon Good, to name a few.

The CCF's current board of directors describes itself thusly:

About Our Board

Our Board is broadly representative of our diverse community. Board members commit their time, talent and financial resources in service of their community. New Board members are nominated and elected by the current Board, serving 3-year terms, up to a maximum of 6 consecutive years. Board members are expected to attend monthly board meetings, along with a variety of committee meetings and community events.

Board of Directors, 2006-2007

Suzanne Hall, Chair - (Former Human Services Commission Chair)
Brenda Barham Hill, Vice Chair
Phil Hawkey, Vice Chair
Barry Ulrich, Secretary
Jack Miller, Treasurer
Opoku Acheampong
Marilyn Bidwell
Dawn Grimes
Tim Harrison
Bernadette Kendall
Al Leiga (Former Mayor, 3-Term Councilmember)
Sue Likens
Marshall Taylor (Husband of current Mayor Pro Tem Queen Ellen Taylor)

The CCF's Argus Commission is made up of former board members and includes many former councilmembers and city commissioners, including such Insider favorites as Glenn Southard, Randy Prout, Nick Quackenbos, Karen Rosenthal, Diann Ring, and Judy Wright.

Not all of the board and Argus Commissioners are what we'd consider hardcore Claremonsters, but you have to wonder how diverse the board can really be when they are self-selecting their successors. Sounds like more of that echo chamber effect that has dominated most aspects of our city government.

You can check out the upcoming events on the CCF's website. Sam and Julie Pedroza and Amy and Wade Mathieson host a "Rockin' Lobster" party March 22nd. Diann and Robert Ring host a "Quintessential France" dinner April 5th with Nick Quackenbos and others lending a hand. Those and many other events allow you to see many of the 400 in their native environments. Enjoy!

Shadow Government News

It turns out the Claremont 400 are pretty small potatoes compared to the shadowy figures controlling the levers on the national level. So says The Onion:


Diebold Accidentally Leaks Results Of 2008 Election Early

Of course, in Claremont, all you need to do to know who's supposed to win an election is to drive by Diann Ring's or Judy Wright's home and check out the campaign signage. Here's a prediction for 2009's March council election, when two seats will be up for grabs: Ellen Taylor and Not Calaycay (Bob Tener?).

In the Eye of the Beholder

We received this email last Tuesday about a KCBS-2 news crew in the Claremont village last Tuesday:

My daughter and I noticed the CBS van on First street, and this evening's news ch 2 said Claremont was going to Planning commission to ban salons from the downtown village... interviewed an older couple and an owner... A city official on camera too....

Thanks for all you do to keep us up to date!

The beauty salon story got some coverage from reporter Will Bigham in the Daily Bulletin:

CLAREMONT - There are as many as 25 beauty salons in the Village, and city leaders say enough is enough.

With the blessing of the Chamber of Commerce, city officials have begun crafting a new law that would prohibit new beauty salons from opening in street-level, storefront Village locations.

In the city's downtown Village, there are many types of beauty businesses - hair salons, nail salons, barbers and day spas. On some blocks, there are three or four different salons.

City officials worry that the increasing number of salons is disrupting the balance between retail and service shops in the Village. And more new salons are seeking space in the Village, officials say.

"We have a few vacant spots right now, and we're getting inquiries about additional (salons) coming in," said Tony Witt, director of community development.

The Planning Commission is expected to consider an ordinance to regulate salons at its meeting March 4, said Belle Newman, principal planner.

We kept an eye out for a link to the KCBS news clip and finally found one. Tony Witt got his Warholian 15 minutes with a little face time in an interview with the KCBS reporter.