Claremontier SPLIT DECISION Council Not in Agreement Over Police Management Contract C Claremont-Courier.Com See Page 3
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Saturday 07-31-10 u 75 cents ourClaremontier SPLIT DECISION Council not in agreement over police management contract C claremont-courier.com See page 3 She’s a familiar CHS junior is t face, but in charge paving his own of a new place road on the way Story on page 5 to becoming one of the top Inside today’s paper young cyclists in California Newspapers play important watchdog role See page 2 See page 12 COURIERONLINE claremont-courier.com Vote in our new online Claremont poll Los Angeles County firefighters from stations 101 COURIER photo/Steven Felschundneff Dousing a and 186 attempt to knock down flames that have engulfed the garage of a home in the 3300 block of Mills Avenue on Tuesday in Claremont. It took 15 fiery hot spot minutes for crews to extinguish the blaze which caused major damage to the home. Story on page 4. Claremont COURIER/Saturday, July 31, 2010 2 1420 N. Claremont Blvd., Ste. 205B Claremont, CA 91711 (909) 621-4761 Office hours: Monday-Friday 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Owners Martin and Janis Weinberger Editor and Publisher Newspapers continue to play important Peter Weinberger [email protected] Managing Editor watchdog role Kathryn Dunn [email protected] ’ve written many a column on the financial Newsroom plight of the newspaper industry over the past City Reporter I2 years. The overall situation has improved Tony Krickl somewhat because most media companies have [email protected] simply cut expenses drastically. This cost cutting Education and Sports Reporter by Peter Weinberger Landus Rigsby has offset the drop in advertising revenue due to [email protected] the recession and the Internet. port” that continues to evolve as news is reported. This case of Features Reporter/Obituaries The challenge now for newsrooms is to figure out how to watchdog journalism is a prime example of the role a newspa- Brenda Bolinger produce a compelling product that people will want to read. per can and should play for the public good. [email protected] All with less staff. Yet this type of journalism has become more rare in an era Photo Editor/Staff Photographer I could outline the various ways newspapers are doing this, of instant free news where many of the sources go unchecked. Steven Felschundneff but the most important stories not seeing print are the inves- Or where news sources simply copy and paste information [email protected] tigative “watchdog” stories that take time and resources to pro- from other sources found on the Internet. duce. There’s simply no instant outcome an editor can post to Community newspapers play a watchdog role, too. Because Reporter At Large a website quickly. of the strong connection to the community, they have a unique Pat Yarborough Watchdog stories are not only interesting to read, they serve ability to monitor or publicize issues important to the city. But Calendar as a monitor for institutions taking advantage of the role they this also takes resources. Resources made possible by selling Aimee Ripley play serving the public. This was the case when the Los Ange- subscriptions to the newspaper. [email protected] les Times broke the story last week highlighting the salaries of I like to think the COURIER does this on a regular basis. It Back Page various elected officials from the city of Bell. may not be as dramatic as discovering an $800,000 per year Sammy Bell is a city just a little larger than Claremont, but not nearly elected official, but in small ways by keeping readers in the [email protected] as well off. Yet they had the nation’s highest-paid elected gov- know. ernment official in the nation. City manager Robert Rizzo Lately we published opposing views on the issue of free Production earned nearly $800,000 annual pay, followed by the police speech at the Fourth of July parade. There have been numerous Copy Editor chief at $450,000 and the assistant city manager at $376,000. letters, along with a news story outlining the situation. Even Grace Felschundneff Even some council members earned $100,000 annually for Martin Weinberger got involved with a column first published Graphic Design their part-time jobs. in 1980. Jenelle Rensch It was clearly an abuse of power when the city council found The city, school board and teachers have endured difficult a loophole to allow these huge salaries. Most of these people times because of budget shortfalls. The community needs to Page Design have since resigned, leaving the town scrambling for leader- know who is involved, how they voted and the impact these Kathryn Dunn ship. Attorney General Jerry Brown has issued a subpoena decisions have on all of us. The COURIER will be seeking hundreds of documents and emails to determine there…watching and reporting. Advertising whether these officials broke any laws. When citizens stay informed, the city of Claremont is better Advertising Director The Times has 3 reporters contributing to this “special re- off. Mary Rose [email protected] Classified Editor Aimee Ripley [email protected] Business Administration Marketing Manager Legal Notices Vickie Rosenberg [email protected] Billing/Accounting Manager Dee Proffitt Distribution/Publications Tom Smith [email protected] Circulation/Subscriptions [email protected] Distribution Jim Citizen Sprinkle The Claremont Courier (United States Postal Service 115-180) is published twice weekly by the Courier Graphics Corpo- Interns ration at 1420 N. Claremont Blvd., Suite 205B, Claremont, California 91711-5003. The Courier is a newspaper of general Chris Guzman, Photographer circulation as defined by the political code of the state of California, entered as periodicals matter September 17, 1908 at Justin Hazelton, Reporter the post office at Claremont, California under the act of March 3, 1879. Periodicals postage is paid at Claremont, California 91711-5003. Single copy: 75 cents. Annual subscription: $52.00. Send all remittances and correspondence about sub- Sarah Kim, Reporter scriptions, undelivered copies and changes of address to the Courier, 1420 N. Claremont Blvd., Suite 205B, Claremont, Cal- ifornia 91711-5003. Telephone: 909-621-4761. Copyright © 2010 Claremont Courier Rebecca Lee, Reporter one hundred and second year, number 61 Claremont COURIER/Saturday, July 31, 2010 3 Council does heavy lifting on a variety of issues PERS system debated The rent will be $1800 per month, including a he city council narrowly approved monthly $300 discount for her role as city concierge. The 3-year lease agreement begins September 1 and has salary and benefit terms for the city council a 2-year extension option. TClaremont Police Management As- Three French Hens has operated in the Village for sociation for the current fiscal year. But Business signage law changed over 10 years. The boutique carries a wide variety of Claremont businesses will have more freedom to pro- retail products, including Sid Dickens tiles, designer council members Peter Yao and Corey mote themselves after the council passed a new signage belts, clothing, handbags and other gift items. Calaycay were not supportive of the terms ordinance. The law will allow for multi-tenant signs at Council members voted unanimously in support of of deal, pushing for more concessions from shopping centers and relax regulations for freestanding the agreement. freeway-oriented signs. the employee union. City planner Belle Newman presented a slideshow at Packing House businesses receive grants Negotiations between the city and employee union the council meeting showing the lack of visibility of Two Packing House businesses will receive grants of have been ongoing since March. The Memorandum of many businesses at shopping centers around Claremont. $50,000 to make improvements to their businesses. Hip Understanding takes away an annual 1.9 percent cost As part of the presentation, she showed multi-tenant Kitty Jazz & Fondue Lounge hopes to expand their din- of living salary increase for the employees. But the city signs at shopping centers in La Verne that might be ap- ing area to create additional seating for patrons. Busi- will continue paying the employees’ 9 percent annual propriate for the city. ness owner Nancy Tessier hopes the expansion will PERS contributions, a cost Mr. Yao believes employ- Ms. Newman said the city would need to approve the boost sales by 40 percent. The city believes the move ees should shoulder to cut down on the city’s burden. signs on a case-by-case basis and hopes to see signs that will create 2 new full-time jobs and boost the city's sales The deal also implements a Two Tier PERS retire- are compatible and appropriate with each center. “We’d tax revenue. ment plan. This means safety officers hired after the like to encourage more kinds of creative designs,” Ms. The Packing House Wine Merchants also want to ex- current fiscal year can expect lower retirement benefits Newman said. pand into the former Claremont Forum bookstore than current employees. The city currently offers 3 per- The changes were supported by members of the space. The expansion will allow room for the business cent at age 50 to its police officers. Chamber of Commerce in attendance at the meeting to have occasional wine tasting events, private parties Mr. Yao has long maintained that the city’s PERS and were unanimously approved by the council. and additional retail display space. The council voted plan is too generous and not financially sustainable. He “I know change is so metimes scary in our commu- unanimously in favor of the 2 grant applications. estimated the city would need $40 million to pay off all nity but I’m hoping and am going to be very optimistic the pensions, money the city does not have.