- Jim Holt, the Signal reporter who did a series of stories about the chloride in the river matter, says that despite Tuesday’s decision to delay sanitation rate hikes, rates will eventually go up in the SCV. Also, a representative from the Ventura County Farm bureau was at City Hall, “Just to tell the folks in Ventura what the mood was.” SIGNAL
- A last minute temporary injunction was issued on Arizona SB1070, forbidding the most controversial pieces that “among others, that required police officers to check the immigration status of people they stop and that required immigrants to carry their papers at all times.” LATIMES Meanwhile, Sheriff Joe Arpaio says “Really, nothing has changed” and plans a “crime sweep” today SOME CBS AFFILIATE IN AZ
- Thanks Bob: A blog called California Watch, which bills itself as part of the Center for Investigative Reporting, says Santa Clarita (and a number of other cities) have officially expressed support for Arizona’s 1070 law. To the best of my knowledge, Santa Clarita hasn’t officially expressed support, but Councilmember Bob Kellar did in fact send a personal letter of support CALIFORNIA WATCH
- California City Managers gather tomorrow in Sacramento to “limit the damage” of the City of Bell’s exorbitant pay for its administrators. Check out how the State Legislature is using Bell to its advantage: “However, the Times story suggests this duress may not apply to all our cities, or that some cities are not allowing their economic plight to curtail Fortune 500-level salaries for their senior executives,” State Senate President Darrell Steinberg (D-Sacramento) wrote in a pointed letter to the League of Cities last week.” We’ll need more than tap dancing to get out of this one! LA TIMES
- Though unemployment was at 7.5% and office vacancies at 19.1% in May, the new chief economist for the LA Economic Development Corporation says that she is sure “we are in an economic recovery.” SIGNAL
- Hart Board member Joe Messina criticized for emailing employees of the Hart District about his radio show. He’s apologized and removed Hart addresses from his email list SIGNAL
- Alleged gang member gets arrested while at court on another matter. Easiest arrest ever. KHTS
- Pitchess Detention Center will open its doors to the public on August 7 for a behind-the-scenes look at the 72 year old jail and its 1,000 acres of farmland and correctional buildings. Sounds like a great opportunity for the parents of the SCV to scare their kids straight SIGNAL
- Does someone want to share with me why there is so much hype over the new Chik-Fil-A store on Magic Mountain near the mall? 100 people hung out in front of the store yesterday and some, apparently caught up in religious ferver for the fast food chicken restaurant, played with oreo cookies during the event. SIGNAL. Meanwhile over at KHTS a morning deejay host got some Chick-Fil-A delivered to him…insert pun about him being in a fowl mood (this just writes itself!) KHTS
- Two for the two-wheeled crowd: local man plans to ride his bike up to 170 miles to support his older brother who has multiple sclerosis and KCRW host Warren Olney talks with LA bike activist and Streetsblogger Joe Linton and a UCLA public policy professor about Ciclavia, an event in LA where streets will be closed to cars and opened to bikes and pedestrians for a day in October.
- All star SCV musicians will be at Central Park this weekend as the summer concert series continues. CITY BRIEFS
- LTE Writer throws some cold water on the idea that drilling for oil in America will lead to reduced gas prices SIGNAL
- “We should be mad as hell at the mere suggestion” that a mosque be built anywhere near Ground Zero, says LTE writer.
- Cam Noltemeyer noticed the same funny quote in yesterday’s story about the Skyline Ranch project, namely the one where a sanitation engineer says that excess chloride dumped into the river as a result of the 1,260 home development could simply be flushed away with water. SIGNAL
- Al Ferdman of the Canyon Country Advisory Committee says the City Manager is unfairly severing the City’s 15 year relationship with the Committee in an effort to censor local residents. What the City has said is that the Committee can no longer use city meeting spaces and it will no longer dedicate staff time to the committee. You decide what’s going on. WRB
Yes, it’s true: I was selected as one of the SCV Business Journal’s “40 under Forty” influential people in the SCV. It’s really an honor to be in a group with such fine people, but this site would not exist without SCVTalk’s readers -without you! So thank you again for making SCVTalk what it is: an interesting, fun and occasionally raucous place to talk about the SCV.
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“Messina said the e-mails were a mistake and were not intentional.”
That’s a bunch of sugar coated bull leavings. Just another great example of “esteemed” SCV business people who can do what they want and apologize later. He flat out lied. My buiness recieved several of his illegal spam messages to addresses we use for adminsitrative purposes that NEVER would have ended up in his address book. He skimmed email addresses from local websites, plain and simple. Such a shame how local SCV business operates.
Loco Local – Grow up and act like an adult.
What was childish about scv local’s post? Petz you are the only person who will defend to the death someone you like who has admitted they were dead wrong… Grow up and quit making excuses for people.
Just rewind back to Vakay incident…
Really, Petz! I luv ya but who’s not acting like the grown up here?
Messina has a history of leveraging his professional contacts to promote his personal agenda and blanket the e-public with blatant unsolicited messages without defining his target audience, which is defined as SPAM.
Not only that, it doesn’t seem to matter if you unsubscribe because you end right back up on the list for whatever he decides to promote next.
There are few things more childish, and annoying, than habitually referring to oneself in the third person.
Remember, Petz only pawn in game of life.
I kinda like Joe, but he is spammy.
Most of the email Petz receives comes from his wife-including the radio show alerts. Just set up your spam blocker.
It is a matter of ethics… if Bruce “the left-wing clown” McFarland was in this spot you wouldn’t be telling people to set their spam blockers. You would be talking in the third person about how much this Petz is disappointed. Stealing emails from work is UNETHICAL. I know you like him… but the excuses show just how partisan you really are.
P.S. Bravo to this guy for manning up to his indiscretion.
Many of those who are a part of the Christian faith community respect the fact that Chick-Fil-A is a company that adheres to a strict set of values , including giving employees and and equipment a rest on Sunday. Having just completed a road trip through their homebase area in the Southeast it gave me faith to see their highway signs which never failed to say-Closed on Sunday and the packed parking lots of Baptist churches. So yes, we are excited to get behind a company that developed the original chicken sandwich-and is closed on Sunday. Hope that clears things up for those of you who do not understand the Chick-Fil-A phenomenon.
It’s also really tasty, and when you say “Thank you” they’re trained to say “My pleasure,” which is delightful. It comes out reflexively: you’ve barely said “Tha…” and they’re already blurting out “My pleasure!” and forcing a smile. If Chick-Fil-As in the South are any indication, they don’t let you get your own drink but offer to “refresh” it for you, and there are tons of gimmicky give-aways like the free chicken for a year they’re doing today. And finally, they don’t let things like common sense conservation get in the way of preserving food quality. The sandwiches come in foil-lined pouches that could keep them warm for days, and the largest cups are made of styrofoam.
Now if we could just get you a side of personal ethics to go with that order of Christian faith.
The Messina e-mail story is a tempest in a teapot. I can guarantee you that the Hart employees forward jokes and all kinds of spammy crap amongst themselves. As pointed out in the article, all they had to do was “unsubscribe.” Joe apologized. Hit the delete button and get over it.
Agreed!
Illegal is illegal, Berta. Your own words…unless that only applies to issues you don’t agree with.
I had no idea it was illegal to send an email. I forward things all the time. As RM said, Joe apologized. Illegal is illegal so Joe should make sure to take corrective action. Satisfied?
I put the federal info for the CAN-SPAM act in another post below, but I just refreshed my memory on California’s anti-spam law, and they’re even more strict:
Since 1998, California has prohibited individuals and companies from sending commercial email to those who have neither requested nor consented to receive the email, or with whom they do not have an existing business or personal relationship, unless:
•The sender has either established a toll-free telephone number that recipients can call to stop future emails or included a valid email address that recipients can contact to stop future emails; and
•The subject line of the email begins with the four characters “ADV:” designating it as commercial communication, or “ADV:ADLT” designating it as sexual, adult material.
But I appreciate your response, Berta. I know we “occasionally” have differences of opinion on certain matters, but I really am a nice guy! I didn’t mean to be so snarky.
I take no offense for being held accountable for my actions, statement, or values. We are good Guru.
But you can’t unsubscribe from Joe’s list. Trust me, I’ve unsubscribed SEVERAL times and still get messages. That’s the point. And we shouldn’t have to put up with unsolicited messages or set our SPAM blockers when we’ve made it absolutely clear that we don’t want anyone’s messages, especially when some of us get literally hundreds of emails per day.
And whether Hart employees send messages to each other or not, if the messages are between each other and aren’t unsolicited, then it might be violating some other policy which should be handled internally…but not federal and state anti-spam laws.
As an elected official and Internet professional Joe should be setting the example, rather than lowering his standards in the interest of shameless self-promotion.
Petz says the email system of the Hart District should be reviewed for union activity.
Your Web Guru is always amused at how Petz refers to himself in the third person.
On a side note, is Glenn Beck a hypocrite when he decries unions, but belongs to SAG/AFTRA where he gets his health insurance, retirement pension, and other union benefits? I’m just askin’…
Have you seen Petz?
He is 3 people!
Great commentary on the WRB from Al. Thank you for all you do Al.
I sent Mr Pulskamp an e-mail on July 23rd about HIS decision to cut ties with the CCAC I have yet to receive a response. Below is a copy of it.
Mr. Ken Pulskamp,
As a resident of Santa Clarita and the secretary of the Canyon Country Advisory Committee, I have deep concerns regarding YOUR unwarranted decision to cut the cities ties with our advisory group. I and many others do not believe YOUR reasoning behind the decision. This is yet another attempt to silence the public.
The Canyon Country Advisory Committee meets monthly providing many important benefits to our city’s residents
1) We provide Santa Clarita residents information and analysis on area issues.
2) We provide a forum for developers to obtain community feedback on their projects
3) We help neighborhoods communicate with city staff
4) We hosted impartial election forums
5) And we provide feedback to City Staff and the Council
First were told we are too political and endorsing candidates, in order to clear up that assumption a meeting was scheduled with Frank Ferry, I along with the other CCAC officers attended this meeting, at which time we informed him about how we operate and that we had no intention of advocating or endorsing candidates. Frank said he was satisfied and convinced we were in the right direction.
Last year, we were told to mind our own business and to not get involved with Benz Rd, the Avenues Project or Casden, we were told that we don’t live in those areas so it is none of our business and to focus on the issues that only affect Canyon Country. Now YOU are saying that in order to maintain our relationship with the City we need to benefit the entire city? So which is it?
It seems like Santa Clarita management not only cannot accept constructive criticism but no criticism at all. Staff sits in city hall, does not investigate their perceptions and would rather put a stop to public input rather than listen and make an attempt to understand the communities concerns.
I along with many residents of Santa Clarita already believe that we are not being listened to and the decisions YOU are making are not in the best interest of the residents of Santa Clarita, but rather in YOUR own best interest. We are constantly reminded that we are being heard and you and the city staff are working with us yet the problems are magnifying and multiplying and quite frankly it’s getting old.
So please tell me Mr. Pulskamp, what is the real reason for YOUR decision to cut the cities ties with the Canyon Country Advisory Committee? I would appreciate a response unlike your typical, generic responses that I and others have received in the past. That includes statement such as these;
“I want to thank you for bringing your concerns to our attention. It is our desire to ensure that Santa Clarita continues to be a safe place for all residents and businesses”
“The City is currently working with…”
“I want to thank you for bringing your concerns to our attention I can assure you that staff has been working with….. We are always available to discuss…”
“As always, we are available to meet and discuss any issue and to work with the community on this or others that may exist”
“Staff is working with…”
“I appreciate your ongoing concerns regarding…The City of Santa Clarita is dedicated to working with…”
“Thank you again for contacting me with your concerns, the City will continue working with…”
Please do not insult us any further and use the same excuse that you did at the July 13th city council meeting referring to the economic situation, we don’t buy it.
I urge you to reconsider YOUR decision and continue our partnership by providing the CCAC with a meeting place at the Activities Center, at no cost, as YOU have for the past 6 plus years.
Sincerely,
Nadine Teter
All we ever here from Canyon Country is “gimme gimme gimme” and “whine whine whine.” Canyon Country sucks money from the rest of Santa Clarita and drives up the crime statistics. And now the city wants to give them more for library services? Why? When does it end?
WTF? You are kidding…right?
If Canyon Country did NOT stand up and ask for improvements, all we would get is more section 8, more massage parlors, and a big ol’ dump in our back yard.
If your town had no plan, and no budgetary support, you too would “whine”…sqeaky wheel gets the grease.
And please, tell me how Canyon Country sucks money from the rest of Santa Clarita? The DEVELOPERS pay for all the improvements in other parts of Santa Clarita as part of the master plan. But there is no plan for Canyon Country…
“The DEVELOPERS pay for all the improvements in other parts of Santa Clarita as part of the master plan. But there is no plan for Canyon Country…”
Which is why CC doesn’t look like Valencia.
Here is my letter:
Mr. Pulskamp:
First I would like to thank you and the city staff for working with the CCAC & Canyon Country residents for the last several years and giving attention to our concerns by providing a meeting place free of charge in a city facility.
About two years ago, I started attending the CCAC meetings (never knew the committee even existed before then) and am reliant on the committee to keep me up to date on important information relative to being an SCV resident. The meetings are very informative as to the issues facing not only Canyon Country but also our neighbors in Saugus, Newhall and Valencia. This is important, as issues and concerns in other parts of our city can both directly and indirectly affect Canyon Country. Quite honestly, before I started attending the CCAC meetings, I had not a clue of how, when or why things were being handled by the City staff…and had no idea how to even get involved.
Knowing the City supports the CCAC by allowing use of a city facility at no charge, provides the residents of the “Forgotten-No Development Plan-Town”, an assurance the City does care about Canyon Country and those who live there.
Now it is my understanding you are no longer going to allow the CCAC to use the facility free of charge. Though I have heard several reasons, none seem justifiable. Some of the reasons I have heard are:
• Large number of Non-profit groups requesting the room. Though not confirmed, I would hope the CCAC would still be meeting at the facility, (but paying the hourly rate) so there would be no change or increase in the availability of the room.
• Policy for the City of Santa Clarita to only support activities and groups benefitting the entire city. Our CCAC meetings are open to all. We turn no resident of SC away and keep up to date and inform all interested residents on issues facing all of SC, not just Canyon Country.
• The low number of attendees (60) does not benefit the entire city. The population for the City of Santa Clarita (including unincorporated areas) is estimated at well over 250,000. I would guess approximately 300 (including city staff, developers and other non-residents) attend the Council Meetings. This works out to be less than .001% of the SC population. 60 attendees at the CCAC works out to be slightly more than .001% of the 59,600 Canyon Country population. So, please tell me, what number of attendees would you require for the CCAC to continue to use the facility free of charge?
• Economy taking it’s toll. Canyon Country’s median household income is, I believe, approximately $76, 600. (Saugus is $80,000, Newhall is $87,900 & Valencia is $109,000). You have stated the CCAC may continue using the city facility as long as the room usage fees are paid, including a $250 deposit and a $1M liability insurance policy. Keeping in mind how the economy is taking a toll on the city and its residents, it seems unfair to charge the residents with the lowest median income per household in Santa Clarita to use a city room, in a city facility to discuss city issues.
From what I can gather Mr. Pulskamp, you make pretty good money as our City Manager…(and deserve it. You seriously couldn’t pay me enough to do your job). An article I read in the Daily News states the following as being in your contract when you first took over the City Manager position after George Caravalho:
• $176,000 Salary
• $11,000 a year in deferred compensation
• City car
• 35 days Paid Time Off
• 14 month severance package
• Paid dues and subscriptions for two professional associations
• $1,000 a year to cover participation in local service organizations
• Work-related travel and related expenses
• Merit increases
I must assume you received the merit increases at 5% annually, bringing your base salary now to approximately $247,600 (you must not live in Canyon Country or the median income would have jumped several thousand per household!). The reason I bring up your well deserved salary, is to speculate that maybe you have forgotten what it is like to scrimp and save to pay the bills and feed your kids. Residents in Canyon Country have not, and to ask the CCAC (in essence, Canyon Country residents) to pay for a meeting room to discuss the impacts your and the Councils decisions are having on our lives, is NOT RIGHT!
The city established the committee and at one time even provided a staff member and $10,000 annual budget. The CCAC no longer receives any direct financial or city staff support, (the CCAC members are not even allowed to ask a staff member at the facility for assistance while using the room)…and the committee is not asking for any of this!
As a Santa Clarita resident and CCAC attendee, I do not think it too much to ask for a convenient location (for ALL SC residents) to hold meetings to discuss city issues without being required to pay the city fees.
I am asking you to rethink your stance on this matter, and allow the CCAC to continue to use the city run facility at no charge. If not, I would greatly appreciate a response from you providing a justifiable reason behind your decision.
@ Nadine
For whatever reason, senior City staff do not want the California Department of Toxic Substances Control to hold quarterly Whittaker Bermite Community Advisory Group (“CAG”) meetings in City Hall. In the old days in the early 2000′s, the CAG meetings were held in the Council Chamber or the big conference room, and Laurene Weste arranged for them to be video taped and shown on SCVTV. Laurene Weste and Bob Kellar were active, founding members of the CAG. Everyone active in the CAG, Republican and Democrat, got along very well together, because they had a common adversary, the property owner and Whittaker Corporation as polluter. However, the senior city staff always resented the CAG, because the CAG kept an eye on the city staff’s manipulations favoring the owner of the property, two bankrupt development companies in Phoenix.
So Nadine, the Canyon Country Advisory Committee, along with a several other legitimate community groups are being denied the right to meet at City Hall. Why? Because the senior city staff do not want the State CAG to exist, let alone meet at City Hall, so they’ve decided to cover up that fact by throwing out everyone.
How do you spell “Control Freak”? K-E-N-L-I-S-A
J, I am a member of BOTH of these groups and you are wrong on this issue.
I’m usually a lurker, I’m absolutely mad as hell about the proposed increase in sanitation fees, and I’m no huge fan of development (though I understand the need for it, and try to keep an open mind) – *however*, I feel this odd compulsion, in the interest of science, to defend the engineer’s comments on Skyline Ranch 8*)
The issue is one of concentration. If Skyline does not dump in more chloride *per gallon of water used* into the sewers, it will not increase the concentration of chlorides and we’ll stay where we are, viz the current local mandated limit.
Ironically – if Skyline dumps less chloride per gallon (a possibility, given the ban on softeners, and increased consciousness over the issue), the overall concentration of chlorides headed downstream would actually decrease even though the raw amount of chloride dumped would increase.
And, because someone’s bound to ask… unless Skyline dumps an intolerable amount of water into the sewers, the decrease in concentration will be negligible.
Cam Noltemeyer’s essay in The Signal raises two issues: quality and quantity of water available to Santa Clarita residents.
One key point, relating to “quantity” of that “State Water Project Water” which the Santa Clarita Valley needs because of already-occurred unrestrained growth, is that Santa Clarita can’t simply obtain as much of that State Water Project Water as it wants. Instead, the amount of water sent “downstate” from the Western Sierras through the San Joaquin Delta and into the aqueduct is limited each year by the State and by a Federal court judge.
Then, to make matters worse, is the fact that volatile organic chemical contamination of ground water wells in the San Fernando Valley is causing Burbank and the Los Angeles’ DWP to close many drinking water wells…resulting in their needing a large chunk of that State Water Project Water which comes down the aqueduct. So as more contaminated drinking water wells close in the San Fernando Valley, the less State Water Project water Santa Clarita Valley will be entitled to receive, because SCV “has to share”.
So as I’ve said many times before, for those who are ambivalent about more and more new home building in the Santa Clarita Valley, plan on ultimately spending $20,000+ to retrofit your trees, bushes, other landscaping and sprinklers to “drought tolerant landscaping”. Very soon, that’s what you are going to be forced to do by punitive rate increases forced upon SCV by the demands for this State Water Project water elsewhere.
Next time you’re in Las Vegas, drive around some middle class neighborhoods in the community’s newest south west quadrant, and you’ll get to see what drought tolerant landscaping looks like. Good bye lawns in SCV. Good bye big trees in your yard, because they go into shock and die when sprinklered lawns are removed. Hello landscape rocks. What’s your choice? Red, pink, yellow or beige. Oh, wait. It’s your homeowners association who will get to “pick” the rock color and also tell you what water wasting trees and bushes you cannot plant in your new $20,000 landscape. And of course you WILL have to keep that landscaping looking nice (even if it is “drought tolerant”) because the CC&RS encumbering your home require it.
Wake up lovely green Santa Clarita. Every new home which is in the “unbuilt inventory of lots” (not at 65,000+) means water for your landscape they will take away from you, at your cost.
Solution: Give Arizona back to Mexico…problem solved! (Wipes hands, hums tunelessly to self)
I would say give California back to Mexico but we’re already in the process of giving it.
LOL! No doubt!
I agree about the Messina emails. You can’t unsubscribe in the now-traditional way by clicking on an automated link — you have to reply and ask to be unsubscribed, and then you aren’t.
My office is a Chamber of Commerce member and through that alliance we have been added to many email lists, including Joe Messina’s, without permission. (I believe the Chamber uses Mr. Messina’s business as their technology provider.) Apologies aside — they really shouldn’t be sharing people’s email addresses like this.
The Federal anti-spam law states that IF you send an unsolicited message to anyone, that you include at least one of the three following methods to contact the sender to ask to be removed:
1. A valid email address
2. A valid phone number or
3. A valid physical address (Commercial messages MUST contain a valid physical address)
The message also must contain valid email headers and routing information. This just means that you can’t say you’re sending from an Earthlink account when you’re actually sending from a foreign mail server disguised to protect your account from being cancelled by your ISP for spamming.
Senders must allow opt-outs on any given email message for at least 30 days, and once the recipient opts out, they are not supposed to receive any more messages to the email address they entered…period. So if by chance you’re receiving more than one message to different email accounts, you will need to opt out for each address. There are rules regarding strictly commercial content versus transactional or relationship messages. Violations can carry up to a $16k penalty per violation.
Chamber issues are a bit stickier as it could be argued that you gave your card out at a function, and if it had your contact info on it that you gave consent to receive emails. However, strictly commercial content still falls under the CAN-SPAM act. If you don’t want it, you have the right to opt out.
More info can be found here: http://www.ftc.gov/bcp/edu/pubs/business/ecommerce/bus61.shtm
I am a chamber member too & every time I hand out my business card for my business at a chamber mixer or breakfast, or am listed on their web site, I am prepared (& open to) the fact I will be getting additional communications on whatever may be happening, newsletters, promotions, followups from my fellow members. Its a part of networking and how and why we have such a great connected community out here! If I had to give permission everytime someone wanted to send me something I can just start counting the potiential dollars our respective businesses could be missing out on.
Now if there is not a way to unsubscribe on any of the newsletters I get then thats a different story and #fail
It been sort of an unwritten acceptance when Chamber members send out commercial emails to other members in the old adage of good business tidings. If you have something to offer a fellow chamber member who put you on their email marketing list, then discretion might be used in whether you’d file a spam complaint or not. A lot of chamber members market to each other this way, and most of them (the ones that I encountered back when I was a chamber member) use email software that’s easy to unsubscribe.
That being said, if someone takes that business email list and uses it to randomly promote self-interests outside of the business arena without specifying their target audience, then it is truly a question of ethics…AND when one has repeatedly unsubscribed from said list only to continue to receive messages from the same sender on several different topics of self-interest, that’s outright SPAM.
When Chick-Fil-A opens a new store everyone who waits for the opening gets a free chicken sandwich and ONE (at random) will get Chick Fil A for life. That is why folks camp out for the openings.
First hundred get a meal a week for 52 weeks, but they need to stay in line for the preceding 24 hours.
The Signal article on Council member pay is incomplete. It does not include benefits. I opted to take pay, and not benefits, so in 2007 I earned just shy of $30,000 as a Councilman. No one is getting rich, but for a part time, or second job it is nothing to sneeze at. It certainly works out to more than 25 cents an hour.
Hey Tim,
Lock up your ham sandwich.
TimBen, what will the councilmembers receive as a pension, if any?
I think Joe, bless his heart, has a mild case of Asperger’s syndrome. He is extremely good hearted and well intentioned but often comes across as ham handed in communication.
oh…tasty AND Christian values based….good thing SCV added this new chain eating establishment to it’s list so they can offer to feed all the tea-baggers, anti-gay anything protesters, and illegal immigrant fests wheh they roll through town…i mean you know…that’s a really positive thing ’cause Applebee’s has been gone so long….
…and the foil-lined pouches and styrofoam will only add to the natural beauty over at the dump off the 5….
funny thing though…that phrase “My pleasure” is stated at the end of lap dances also….did anyone check that out before okaying the chain’s opening? Might want to rethink the location of this place by the mall and move it down sylmar/san fernando valley way…
Man,
Someone has a bad case of the bitters.
No waffle fries for you Mr. Crankypants.
your loss, son
Curious to know how you know about lap dance etiquette, SCVSuckz.
Well, aren’t you pleasant. I’m sure your just a peach-of-a-person.
After all, it’s just good chicken…for Christ’s sake!
“Yes, it’s true: I was selected as one of the SCV Business Journal’s “40 under Forty” influential people in the SCV.”
What a joke! What a waste of time and energy! How can anybody under 40 be influential??
………………just jealous. Congrats!
jealous of his influence, or his youth?
Nice catch Mike. Take your pick.
The teachers’ union is allowed to use district communication systems as a means of informing members about current issues. However, most of the communication from the Association to its members is done with flyers and newsletters and those are placed in teacher’s mailboxes.
Sent to the WRB:
Berta González-Harper Says: Your comment is awaiting moderation.
July 29th, 2010 at 3:59 pm
The Canyon Country Advisory Committee stopped functioning as a City Sponsored, inclusive, community focused committee some time ago.
I am a founding member and can tell you under Chair Ferdman the CCAC currently functions in direct violation of the Founding Principles, Vision, Mission, and Membership requirements as established years ago. It has become a forum for anyone with an anti city attitude or gripe to find a sympathetic audience and someone to champion their cause, most from outside the Canyon Country area. A stirring testimonial by an unannounced “guest” of Mr. Ferdman’s, and campaign materials distributed to the assembly afforded an unfair advantage to Al’s preferred Council Candidate but not the others. The CCAC has become politicized despite protests to the contrary. If you are not part of the hand picked click, you have no voice. We no longer adhere to any normal democratic meeting process.
The City does not provide free meeting space or staff time for any other group, which is not under City auspices and subject to City oversight. Not HOA’s, not political action committees, not special interest groups, etc. You want to be free to disrespect the rules, do as you please and be ‘independent’, exclude anyone you don’t like or does not share your opinion, then get your own apartment at your expense and don’t ask me to do your laundry either.
The CCAC can still meet anywhere it wants and discuss anything it wants, just not at taxpayer expense. They have recently been holding meetings in private homes by invitation only so that they can continue to exclude people who do not concur with their anti city rhetoric. Keep meeting there. Dedicating City funds or City Staff time is inappropriate when there is no City Oversight. The executive committee refused to allow any oversight, observe any Code of Ethics and Conduct or follow established meeting rules and norms. Among other problems, without oversight they open the City as Sponsor to unnecessary legal liability without having any say in the proceedings that we the taxpayers would be on the hook for. If the City continues to allow the CCAC free meeting space they have to allow it to anyone that asks, and the rest of us within the City subsidize them and will have to pay for any legal challenges.
Al and friends do not get to have it both ways. Either you want sponsorship and all attendant oversight or you want independence and your freedom. The City gave you your freedom and rightfully so.
To WRB Readers: You really have to be careful how much weight you give to everyone raging against the City. I am a 17-year resident and much as I like Mike Antonovich; I would not go back to County governance despite what Mr. Bossert says.
Ahem.
“HOAs”, not “HOA’s”
Semicolon, improperly used. Tsk, tsk:
“I am a 17-year resident and much as I like Mike Antonovich; I would not go back to County governance despite what Mr. Bossert says.”
Seeing lots of improper use of title caps here:
“Dedicating City funds or City Staff time is inappropriate when there is no City Oversight. The executive committee refused to allow any oversight, observe any Code of Ethics and Conduct or follow established meeting rules and norms. Among other problems, without oversight they open the City as Sponsor to unnecessary legal liability without having any say in the proceedings that we the taxpayers would be on the hook for.”
etc.
I’m disappointed.
Saddened, really.
Street, it is sad if all you got out of all that was an opportunity to make comment on my grammar.
I ask only that you learn the language.
You racist!
Chick-Fil-A for lunch-Petz was comped of course. Love the pickle on the sandwich and the cole slaw is to kill for.
come to trivia, then hook us up afterwards.
There is enough smoke in the air wo Petz torching you in trivia.
Owned.
you’d think so, but he mouses away every time!
Sent to the WRB
WARNING LONG RESPONSE!
Berta González-Harper Says: Your comment is awaiting moderation.
July 30th, 2010 at 2:07 pm
Mr. Bossert thank you for your response.
I am still “involved” in the CCAC to the extent Chair Ferdman “allows” which is my complaint.
Freedom of Speech does not mean that others have to subsidize where you choose to exercise your personal freedom. Otherwise, I can demand that the City provide free meeting space for me and any group I want to start or join that disagrees with Mr. Ferdman or anyone else. Residents have many other forums in which to address concerns via City Staff and Council among them regular public hearings/meetings, phone, email, snail mail, in person, this blog and others, etc. Just as I can avail myself of those avenues, so can Ferdman and friends. The CCAC can continue to meet at a local restaurant, private home, or pay for meeting space, security and insurance at the Activities Center. No one is denying the CCAC the right to meet. In our early days we met in member homes, mine included. I also would like to point out, normal CCAC meetings, without candidate appearances or special presentations by a developer such as Disney, are not usually attended by 60 people but more like 25-30. If you subtract those who are not from the Canyon Country area, you are talking 10-15 people.
Dave you would not tolerate anyone coming into your community and telling you at a Public Meeting paid for with your tax dollars that you cannot fully participate. They could not shut you up if you were not allowed an opportunity to be heard on any given topic nor would you permit a meeting to become a one sided presentation that did not include your views or allow for your input. You would expect and rightfully so, that a fair meeting process following established norms and procedures would be followed, especially if there already were official rules in place that were being ignored.
The CCAC was under City auspices and under City oversight for many years. A City Staff person assigned to our group facilitated our meetings, kept meetings on track in accordance with our Founding Principles, Mission and Vision and ensured that democratic meeting rules and norms were adhered. The City Liaison also ensured that the City’s interests were fairly represented, clarified misinformation when warranted, participation was encouraged and respected, and that meeting rules of order were maintained. Our Chair was appointed and ran the meetings but did not exclusively control agenda content, discussion, invited speakers, website information, minutes, public participation, etc. Meetings were run in an inclusive collaborative manner and dealt with Canyon Country issues. A few years ago, we chose to elect our Chair and adopted policies and procedures to prevent the exact problems occurring within the CCAC at present. Mr. Ferdman was a part of that process. The City Liaison continued in the same role as before. Al also was part of the committee that developed the City Code of Conduct and Ethics. He is well aware of all of the rules he chooses to ignore.
The only other similar community committee founded under City auspices, The Saugus Action Committee, when I attended again six months ago was still operating democratically and with City Staff oversight and participation as we once did.
Mr. Ferdman increasingly utilized City Staff as a resource for information but refused to allow any guidance, active participation, or oversight particularly within the last few years. He has also refused to follow CCAC rules as ratified by eligible voting members. To the extent that there are, only a couple of original members including me who even still attend and current members are unaware these rules even exist. One of Al’s friends actually told me I should go find another group. Sorry, I am not moving and it is a Canyon Country community group, not Al’s private group.
Due to budget constraints, there is less city staff available to attend meetings, or security personnel to ensure public order. There is no Deputy or Security Officer present at any CCAC meetings in order to protect my right to participate and my right to free speech, which I have been denied on several occasions, or to ensure public safety. I have received several anonymous death threats. Who would be liable if something happened to me on City property before, during or after a meeting because of those threats? Or if I injured someone in self defense? The taxpayers are being asked to subsidize meeting venue, insurance costs and any security provided. The taxpayers would also potentially pay the tab if litigation were successful due to injury, harassment, or other legal proceedings.
The CCAC under Chair Ferdman has refused to allow City oversight or have Staff present at private, invitation only meetings. Without City oversight, it is unwise to allow any group under City sponsorship to operate independently of any constraints such as open meeting rules i.e. Brown Act, or the requirement to follow a democratic meeting process, Code of Ethics and Conduct, or other measures that are needed or required to ensure fair representation and public safety. The City Council, Planning Commission, and other City meetings are all required to comply with certain rules to allow the public to participate. The CCAC under Chair Ferdman does not meet those standards or the standards of any normal committee.
Perhaps a better way to address local issues would be to form new independent groups such as Neighborhood Councils within each community to address local problems, as was the original intent of the CCAC. Whether they are under the aegis of the City or completely independent they should observe all rules required of City meetings such as posting an agenda, minutes of every meeting readily available to anyone, all eligible members have input on future agenda items, area represented, voting right criteria, allotted time for public comment from the floor, By-Laws, etc.
Except for myself those posting here and elsewhere are part of Al’s personal click who attend meetings, some more than others, because he supports their personal ISSUE. Whether they received City Code violation citations, which they do not want to comply with, or do not want “traffic” on their street, etc. regardless of what other neighbors may want, they support Al because he supports their particular issue. Despite the needs of other residents who support the City’s efforts to enforce the very Codes and Ordinances residents have asked the City adopt and enforce to ensure that especially our older communities without CCR’s do not deteriorate further and become blighted, gang infested pockets within the City. He also supports the demands of a handful of residents to gate public roads for their own benefit to the detriment of other neighbors who do not attend CCAC meetings and the general public, which pays for those roads.
As to your comment regarding cherry picking areas for annexation, as a City taxpayer it is not in my best interest that only residential areas are annexed into the City. Without commercial and retail properties and the attendant revenue dollars also included, residential alone becomes a financial drain in order to provide infrastructure and municipal services and I as a taxpayer am not interested and appreciate City Staff looking out for my dollars.
In my opinion, the City also is correct in not continuing to expose City taxpayers to unnecessary risk and legal liabilities by sponsoring the CCAC.
Thank you for your time.