October 28, 2010 – Daily Brief, We miss Jeff edition

Solar panel installation at the Transit facility will generate 97% of the power consumed by the LEED space I’M DROOLING OVER HERE . That’s pretty cool, according to the article the city will save $135K per year. I’m curious as to how much they invested to get that kind of savings. Do they disclose these expenses?

Thanks for taking care of us ND.

Yes, thanks ND. We wouldn’t want any serious withdrawal problems with the posters.

Anyone check out the City salaries on the new State website? They only showed salary ranges (no names) that appear to come from Human Resources or job descriptions unlike the actual salary data shown for State, UC, Cal State employees. How weak is that? I tried to locate the salary for Paul Brotzman but can’t seem to find an appropriate title. How about the City come clean on real pay amounts?

See what happens when the city council listens to the constituency? They can’t get a simple thing like naming a bridge accomplished. It’s a good thing they don’t listen to us before they do important stuff like taking over the libraries. They’d never get anything done.

Boston’s Halloween playlist is pretty lame-o. “Welcome To The Jungle”?

I would like to add my thanks to ND for doing the work and giving us the days news to kick things off. Also thank for your suggestion to post on the Signal, but frankly, this group is much more satisfying. While 2 or 3 merely parrot the party line, most actually think.

Library musings: Back in the days when my friends and I were doing Public Records Act Requests to the City of Santa Clarita, to look at their “public records” on any particular issue, we would always find truly amazing words written by City staff, who apparently were not smart enough to not put their innermost concerns in writing. For example, there will clearly be some amazing “public records” unearthed as the library-take-over scenario plays out. If I still had the energy and the ability, I’d be bombarding the City Clerk with a new Public Records Act Request every week, demanding to see What’s New on the library-take-over, beyond what had been discovered concerning had transpired between the early summer of 2010 through now. In any event, I always kick myself when there is a document obtained from a public agency which totally “spills the beans”, and I don’t see it right away. That happened the other day. From the 8/24/10 Staff Report by Darren Hernandez to the City Council: “Operating the libraries through City-hired employees would cost approximately $5.1 million, and operating through a public library management services firm would cost $3.9 million. In either model, the surplus between revenue and expenditures would finance (pay off over a period of time) start-up expenses and facility capital (construction and purchase) costs.” …… “Operating Santa Clarita’s libraries through a contract with a public library management services firm would result in $2.5 million being available to finance start-up costs and facility construction costs; this would support a financing in the amount of $33 million. After paying start-up costs estimated at $8 million, this would yield approximately $25 million for facility capital costs. Facility capital costs could include paying for construction of the new library in Old Town Newhall (which would unencumber approximately $25 million budgeted by the Redevelopment Agency that could be used for $25 million for additional redevelopment activities in Old Town Newhall) or for the construction of a new library to replace the existing Valencia library. ” OR FOR THE CONSTRUCTION OF A NEW LIBRARY TO REPLACE THE EXISTING VALENCIA LIBRARY ?????????? Darren Hernandez’s words, not mine. Again, Education Code Section 19116(b) requires the City to use all regular real estate tax revenues attributable to libraries to “maintain library services”. There is no appellate case law interpreting Section 19116(b). In those circumstances, the Court of Appeal resorts first to use of ‘plain English’and to the Legislative History of the law (which I’ve read, through the Legislative Counsel’s office, and which doesn’t refer to real estate deals in terms of use of regular library real estate tax revenues). Meaning that the ‘plain English’ use of the terms “maintain” library “services” would be considered: Maintain –verb (used with object) to keep in existence or continuance; preserve; retain: to maintain good relations with neighboring countries. to keep in an appropriate condition, operation, or force; keep unimpaired: to maintain order; to maintain public highways. to keep in a specified state, position, etc.: to maintain a correct posture; to maintain good health. to keep or hold against attack: to maintain one’s ground. to provide for the upkeep or support of; carry the expenses of: to maintain a family. to sustain or support: not enough water to maintain life Services – noun the performance of any duties or work for another; helpful or professional activity: medical services. an act of helpful activity; help; aid: to do someone a service. The words “maintain” and “services” do not translate into authority for the City to bleed away money for library services to pay for refinancing Redevelopment Agency expenditures, or to building new buildings, or buy land, let alone buying existing real estate. However, they will do it unless Santa Clarita Valley voters prevail upon the Board of Supervisors to “minimize” the amount of regular library real estate taxes and County library special taxes handed over to the City each year. While TODAY the City Council and City staff may assure SCV’s taxpayers that their regular library real estate taxes will not be misused in the near future to fund activities not related to maintaining library services, the farther this library take-over goes time wise, the more likely it is that the regular library real estate taxes will be bled off from library services and become a slush fund to be used by the City Council at whim, as long as the City staff can construct an argument that the use of the money will somehow relate to libraries. If no taxpayers wath over the use of the regular library real estate taxes on a regular, annual basis, there is always the chance that that library tax money will become an open-ended slush fund. Residents of the unincorporated territory of the Santa Clarita Valley, i.e. County residents, are even more at risk if the Board of Supervisors decides to had over the unincorporated territory’s residents’ regular library real estate taxes to the City, where those taxes can be used by the City staff and City Council for empire building: e.g. The Ken Pulskamp Community Center and Reading Garden, on land bought from Larry Rasmussen, located somewhere near a library in the center of the City, perhaps next to a “new” Valencia Library. How about them apples Dave Bossert and neighbors in Sunset Point, Stevenson Ranch and West Ranch? The chance of the City using your regular library real estate taxes to build a building west of the 5 Freeway? ZERO

Maybe we should name the bridge, “Ferry’s Flight” or “Walmart Way”

FYI… Best cities to live: http://realestate.yahoo.com/promo/best-cities-to-move-to-in-america.html