June 13, 2011 – Daily Brief

By Jeff — Jeff Wilson

One Valley One Vision final approval set for City Council meeting tomorrow night. The City’s portion of the sweeping general plan was open for comment for about 150 days according to the SIGNAL How will the vote go? 5-0? 4-1?
But SCOPE and Friends of the Santa Clara river are demanding a delay for OVOV after last week’s news that a water well, located near City Hall, had higher-than-expected levels of perchlorate in it. The environmental groups say that’s proof that the SCV’s perchlorate “plume” is spreading in “a westerly direction and at a faster pace than previously anticipated.” They say that’s reason enough to delay OVOV, which has certain water assumptions built into it.
More redistricting fallout: Signal readers were furious about the amputation of Newhall into a separate Congressional District, SCVTalk’s Mike D. handicapped politicians’ chances in the new (draft) State Senate, Assembly and Congressional Districts, the Daily News talks with Brad Sherman and Howard Berman, two Democratic Congressmen who live in the SFV and would face off against each other to represent western SFV + Newhall, Scott Wilk has an update and says those upset about Newhall should “let it go,” and the Times has a block-by-block map of the new districts
The clock is ticking on our chloride-in-the-river mess. The regional water quality board will begin fining the SCV Sanitation District $10,000 a day unless it can come up “with a convincing plan to reduce the amount of salty chloride ending up in the Santa Clara watershed.” SIGNAL
Sulphur Springs School District and Vasquez High School say the High Speed Rail system proposed Soledad alignment is too close to their schools and would be disruptive to students and potentially unsafe. SIGNAL
Outsourcing & privatization of gov jobs continue: the Burbank Police department decides school crossing guards are too expensive so it has hired a private company to manage crosswalks and student safety LA TIMES
The Ralphs in Stevenson Ranch is giving away free canvas grocery bags this week in advance of bagpocalypse WRB
Nightlife? In Newhall? For real! The City is unveiling its “Senses” block party on old Town Newhall this week. The monthly block party “is designed to heighten the senses of sight, smell, touch, taste, and sound for attendees with a new theme every month. The event will feature live music and entertainment, art displays, gourmet food trucks, and games.” This month’s theme is the 1980s, and get this, the party is actually going to go till 11pm. CITY BRIEFS
Myers’ editorial on redistricting is a must-read, if only because he predicts an end to the political careers of perpetual husband/wife legislative team Audra and Tony Strickland SIGNAL
Incredible pictures of Chilean volcano at BIG PICTURE

Comments (33)

spineflower2June 13, 2011 at 8:39 am

It is typically but unforgivably irresponsible of our Council to consider approving OVOV with such drastic water problems which lack practical, economic solutions. Between the new perchlorate plume and the unresolved chloride discharge problem, we have no way to legally and economically provide decent quality water to the valley! And they want to endorse a doubling of the population at this point? Laughable if it were not tragic.

ToddJune 13, 2011 at 11:31 am

From my understanding, the City/County have no choice here. They MUST account, and plan accordingly, for a population growth. It is state law. Your anger is misdirected. If you believe they can do a better job of planning for the inevitable population growth, then by all means, have at it. But to tell them that they should not be planning for population growth, as I see so much of the so-called activists of Santa Clarita do, is just spinning your wheels. They have no choice. The state tells them “your population will grow by this many in this time… how do you plan on accomodating that?” Cities such as my hometown of Burbank, 100% built out with no open space available to build upon, has to do the same thing. Though their population growth is probably smaller than Santa Clarita’s, they still have to account for growth. Even though not a single new parcel of land will be developed.

spineflower2June 13, 2011 at 12:18 pm

So the primary guiding document for all SCV development can go on whether or not we have drinkable and affordable water? And no one is entitled to declare the emperor naked? If it doesn’t start with OVOV, where does it start? The lack of true LEADERSHIP on the Council is stunning.

ToddJune 13, 2011 at 12:51 pm

I do not argue that those are legitimate and salient points. Your argument may be that OVOV does not adequately address the concerns for supplying water to meet the projected growth. But that is not what you said. You said that they want to endorse a doubling of the population. No, I’m sure they don’t. The council are all land owners who don’t want their property values and personal wealth to decrease… so they’d rather see less growth (if they knew what was good for them). But, and again I emphasize, their hands are tied. They must account for and plan for the growth that they are told is coming.

spineflower2June 13, 2011 at 4:37 pm

To remain silent and not force water considerations into OVOV is to endorse the growth contained in the document. That is what I expect LEADERS to do– not to make apologies and excused for inactoin, but to take action and solve problems proactively. And so I fault the Council for not taking the lead and pushing back based on water supply. But they never have, and they drink the “water” that CLWA pours onto them. Green water with Presidents on it.

ToddJune 14, 2011 at 9:09 am

Yes, now see, thats a point I can support. I think that CLWA, Valencia Water, Newhall County, et al, as well as the city are doing a MISERABLE job at educating people on conservation and the water issues that are impacting our community. There is ZERO outreach, zero public awareness and zero activity. The city needs to adopt ordinances pertaining to water waste. Now. On my drive every morning I see sprinklers creating a virtual wash down Via Princessa… Because of stupid overspray. No recourse, no consequence, no care.

NFICJune 13, 2011 at 12:44 pm

There is a choice. Smart planning would place the growth in real urban areas that have suitable mass transit options. Not in some far away suburban community with some of the worst air quality in the basin, that you try to urbanize. So what we will have will continue to be an insufficient number of local jobs and gridlocked traffic. If folks complain about traffic now, just wait for 20 years – it will be much much worse. The only alternative to beat it will be to pull a Jeff and ride your bike around town or walk or use rail to wherever you want to go.

ToddJune 13, 2011 at 12:54 pm

Absolutely. And one of the tennants of OVOV should be about local job creation and sustainability. It should also be about improving mobility within the valley via alternative transportation options. I would like to see there be some addressing of the fact that Canyon Country and East Newhall don’t have nearly the retail or service options that Valencia has, forcing us eastsiders to drive our smog belching, gas guzzling SUVs down only two roads (Soledad or Newhall Ranch) to get to where all the good stuff is. What that means is ZOMG DEVELOPMENT! Yes, it has to be. But if it can be done wisely, it doesn’t have to be scary.

NFICJune 13, 2011 at 2:17 pm

Lets talk about the local job creation part. The City just approved Vista Canyon Ranch – a “Village” under the OVOV concept. Instead of adhering to the 2:1 jobs housing goal as deemed necessary under OVOV, they granted the politically connected developer JSB Developments (Jim Backer) a residential overlay. This allows the conversion of 250,000 square feet of commercial into additional houses, thus making this a 1:1 jobs housing project. Oh and by the way, it will be in the river bed off the 14 so it does offer more retail and jobs for the east side but not nearly enough. The developer was quite frank about indicating residential will be built if the demand for commercial is not there. A major concern with OVOV is that all the residential growth happens without the 2:1 jobs. How successful has the City been in creating jobs? Not very, especially the last 3 years.

IHeartSCVJune 13, 2011 at 8:52 am

Santa Clarita: city of cover bands, food trucks, and insane levels of Newhall promotion in increasingly desperate, clichéd ways. Senses. Oy vey.

MikeJune 13, 2011 at 9:03 am

The monthly food truck/farmers’ market thing in Newhall is a really cool thing, which I’m sure you haven’t been to, and it isn’t at all desperate. The farmers’ market the rest of the month? Sure. I’m not sure where this new event will fall, but I could see it breaking either way.

IHeartSCVJune 13, 2011 at 9:11 am

I have been. It’s fine, just gimmicky–the City finds something that works (food trucks) and forces it into everything. The desperation remark refers to the constant re-hashing of the same basic event in Newhall (people come walk around, drawn by some special event or another, in hopes that they will think “Hey, this Newhall place is pretty swell” and come back on their own time, which most don’t). The City is profoundly Newhall-centric in its attentions, and I just wonder about the return on this over-investment of attention relative to other areas of Santa Clarita.

MikeJune 13, 2011 at 9:12 am

Where else has the city forced food trucks onto something?

IHeartSCVJune 13, 2011 at 9:20 am

It’s a fair point–I’m conflating City-sponsored events (Food Truck Festival, Farmer’s Market Art Walk with Food Trucks, Amgen Bike Race/Family Ride-followed-by-food-trucks (bikes and bites), etc…) with the auto dealers and COC food trucks and Newhall Lands. Call it an atmosphere of food trucks.

MikeJune 13, 2011 at 9:32 am

There is indeed an atmosphere of food trucks, though it’s one I support, shamelessly. Most of these are things that the City has lent a promotional hand to (Bikes & Bites was COC, the stuff at Central Park was a private company). I think food trucks will find their ultimate home in suburbia. Here they fill a more defined vacuum, there is ample off-street parking, and once basic permissions are established, there are no surprises.

JeffJune 13, 2011 at 9:41 am

And to think, back in the day, we had to hide in the dark in vacant parking lots and fear cops crashing our early food truck parties.

LarMccJune 13, 2011 at 9:21 am

I’ve been meaning to revisit the old town farmers market. Last I was there it paled in comparison to COC. I’m waiting for them to announce food trucks will be at the libraries. Judging by the promotional material I have been getting in the mail, the city is nervous about pulling this off. I think a food truck promo is the next obvious step.

MikeJune 13, 2011 at 9:34 am

The Newhall FM has nothing on COC’s. I’ve said from the beginning that they should bring in Ventura County Farmers’ Markets (the people who run COC), to run this one, though I’m skeptical whether a weekday FM, on its own, could even thrive in SCV.

yourwebguruJune 13, 2011 at 9:30 am

The art walks and farmer’s markets are always a good time. No, they’re not always huge, but they’re a lot of fun especially when you run into other townies. The theaters are usually open to check out and the REP has a full bar as well. Anything the city plans that’s fun to draw its citizens together is all right with me.

Gang FangJune 13, 2011 at 10:52 am

I disagree. The margin of people returning is slightly larger than you would think. I just got back from eating at the Way Station (Bill Reynolds didn’t show, HA!) and had a conversation with a family that found out about the place by coming to a Thursday FM, in addition to the “Out West” shop down the street (where I just purchased my dad his Father’s Day gift). Add to that several family members that regularly shop and eat in Newhall after revisiting it during city sponsored events. So albeit a small personal pool from which I draw, I’ve seen it work firsthand. Just sayin’.

Gang FangJune 13, 2011 at 10:54 am

To be clear, I was responding to IHeartScv’s (“Hey, this Newhall place is pretty swell” and come back on their own time, which most don’t.) comment……

townbeetJune 13, 2011 at 4:37 pm

I too liked visiting the Old West shop in Newhall in April after a satisfying Kris Special (chicken gravy on the side please!) at WayStation. It occurred to me that that part of Newhall is a strangely preserved Western-movie backlot complete with pretend cowboys, pretend rodeo participants, prentend western facades. But hey… it’s the closest it gets to Hollywood attraction so why not draw people to it with food and what not.

Gang FangJune 13, 2011 at 10:46 am

I’ll agree only with the cover bands statement. Not that I expect my top 5 favorite musical acts to grace the stages at future events, but enough with the cover band cheese. Even a marginally talented and variety minded “DJ” would suffice…… Other than that, nothing to complain about. Damned if you do, damned if you don’t.

Coastal SageJune 13, 2011 at 3:04 pm

Volcano photos are fantastic. Thanks for posting the link. I had an interesting conversation with a geology professor from Cal State Long Beach, and he tells me that the most likely volcanic eruptions in our and our children’s life times, in Southern California, would be at the cinder cone sites near the constant earthquakes north of Ridgecrest, or just east of Mono Lake, across the Nevada State line. In both cases the constant earthquakes occur as a result of the Sierra Front Fault. A great website posted by Drudge Report to watch California earthquakes, including the little ones on Santa Clarita’s own San Gabriel Fault, are at: http://earthquake.usgs.gov/earthquakes/recenteqscanv/

AlpinerJune 13, 2011 at 4:05 pm

Wait a minute, Coastal Sage reads the Drudge Report?

NateJune 13, 2011 at 8:39 pm

It is a favorite among racist coachroaches

VenturanJune 13, 2011 at 9:01 pm

The real irony is that it’s a link to a website run by a government institution. Let that one steep in your kettle for a bit.

LindaJune 13, 2011 at 5:37 pm

A guide at Mono Lake told us a couple of years ago that one of the roads up by Mono Lake, which is currently called a “Scenic Drive” was actually built as an emergency escape in case of volcanic eruption.

spineflower2June 13, 2011 at 6:58 pm

Remember the talk about 20 years ago about Mammoth Lakes going up in a huge volcano or earthquake? Not too far off, as there was a swarm of quakes, and that whole Crowley Lake region (Long Valley caldera) is riddled with lava flows, hot springs, etc. I freaked my then-young kids on vacation there when I explained that less than a mile below the hot springs they were swimming in was molten lava.

ToddJune 14, 2011 at 7:37 am

I’ve done some reading on the volcanic activities and implications of the whole eastern Sierras…. Man thats some scary stuff. Apparently traces of volcanic ash from the last eruption in the area has been found as far away as the eastern seaboard… and a significant blanket covered most of the great basin. Scary that it could happen again without notice.

ToddJune 14, 2011 at 7:44 am

Thumbsup for being concise, on point and relevant… even if you are reading Drudge..

LindaJune 13, 2011 at 5:46 pm

Interesting that the wages of the crossing guards in Burbank will remain the same, but employees will lose their health and pension benefits. I can’t imagine why working as a crossing guard would merit such benefits in the first place. Part-time jobs in the private sector never come with such things — and working as a crossing guard isn’t generally a full time job.

ToddJune 14, 2011 at 7:43 am

Generally, I agree with you. The crossing guards in Burbank are all part-time, and I believe that they’re mostly of retirement age, looking to supplement their pension/social security/401k income. There are a couple who are not (one, who spoke at the council meeting last week talked of being a newly-single mother), but my question then becomes: why aren’t you pursuing a fulltime job? (Starbucks, I believe, offers benefits to their part-timers, just to correct your “never” statement… but I will grant you its exceedingly rare.) Another point to consider… crossing guards are there really to benefit and serve who? Kids (and their parents, at an early age) on their way to school. So I think that it should be the School district paying for it, if anything.

spineflower2June 13, 2011 at 8:39 am
It is typically but unforgivably irresponsible of our Council to consider approving OVOV with such drastic water problems which lack practical, economic solutions. Between the new perchlorate plume and the unresolved chloride discharge problem, we have no way to legally and economically provide decent quality water to the valley! And they want to endorse a doubling of the population at this point? Laughable if it were not tragic.
ToddJune 13, 2011 at 11:31 am
From my understanding, the City/County have no choice here. They MUST account, and plan accordingly, for a population growth. It is state law. Your anger is misdirected. If you believe they can do a better job of planning for the inevitable population growth, then by all means, have at it. But to tell them that they should not be planning for population growth, as I see so much of the so-called activists of Santa Clarita do, is just spinning your wheels. They have no choice. The state tells them “your population will grow by this many in this time… how do you plan on accomodating that?” Cities such as my hometown of Burbank, 100% built out with no open space available to build upon, has to do the same thing. Though their population growth is probably smaller than Santa Clarita’s, they still have to account for growth. Even though not a single new parcel of land will be developed.
spineflower2June 13, 2011 at 12:18 pm
So the primary guiding document for all SCV development can go on whether or not we have drinkable and affordable water? And no one is entitled to declare the emperor naked? If it doesn’t start with OVOV, where does it start? The lack of true LEADERSHIP on the Council is stunning.
ToddJune 13, 2011 at 12:51 pm
I do not argue that those are legitimate and salient points. Your argument may be that OVOV does not adequately address the concerns for supplying water to meet the projected growth. But that is not what you said. You said that they want to endorse a doubling of the population. No, I’m sure they don’t. The council are all land owners who don’t want their property values and personal wealth to decrease… so they’d rather see less growth (if they knew what was good for them). But, and again I emphasize, their hands are tied. They must account for and plan for the growth that they are told is coming.
spineflower2June 13, 2011 at 4:37 pm
To remain silent and not force water considerations into OVOV is to endorse the growth contained in the document. That is what I expect LEADERS to do– not to make apologies and excused for inactoin, but to take action and solve problems proactively. And so I fault the Council for not taking the lead and pushing back based on water supply. But they never have, and they drink the “water” that CLWA pours onto them. Green water with Presidents on it.
ToddJune 14, 2011 at 9:09 am
Yes, now see, thats a point I can support. I think that CLWA, Valencia Water, Newhall County, et al, as well as the city are doing a MISERABLE job at educating people on conservation and the water issues that are impacting our community. There is ZERO outreach, zero public awareness and zero activity. The city needs to adopt ordinances pertaining to water waste. Now. On my drive every morning I see sprinklers creating a virtual wash down Via Princessa… Because of stupid overspray. No recourse, no consequence, no care.
NFICJune 13, 2011 at 12:44 pm
There is a choice. Smart planning would place the growth in real urban areas that have suitable mass transit options. Not in some far away suburban community with some of the worst air quality in the basin, that you try to urbanize. So what we will have will continue to be an insufficient number of local jobs and gridlocked traffic. If folks complain about traffic now, just wait for 20 years – it will be much much worse. The only alternative to beat it will be to pull a Jeff and ride your bike around town or walk or use rail to wherever you want to go.
ToddJune 13, 2011 at 12:54 pm
Absolutely. And one of the tennants of OVOV should be about local job creation and sustainability. It should also be about improving mobility within the valley via alternative transportation options. I would like to see there be some addressing of the fact that Canyon Country and East Newhall don’t have nearly the retail or service options that Valencia has, forcing us eastsiders to drive our smog belching, gas guzzling SUVs down only two roads (Soledad or Newhall Ranch) to get to where all the good stuff is. What that means is ZOMG DEVELOPMENT! Yes, it has to be. But if it can be done wisely, it doesn’t have to be scary.
NFICJune 13, 2011 at 2:17 pm
Lets talk about the local job creation part. The City just approved Vista Canyon Ranch – a “Village” under the OVOV concept. Instead of adhering to the 2:1 jobs housing goal as deemed necessary under OVOV, they granted the politically connected developer JSB Developments (Jim Backer) a residential overlay. This allows the conversion of 250,000 square feet of commercial into additional houses, thus making this a 1:1 jobs housing project. Oh and by the way, it will be in the river bed off the 14 so it does offer more retail and jobs for the east side but not nearly enough. The developer was quite frank about indicating residential will be built if the demand for commercial is not there. A major concern with OVOV is that all the residential growth happens without the 2:1 jobs. How successful has the City been in creating jobs? Not very, especially the last 3 years.
IHeartSCVJune 13, 2011 at 8:52 am
Santa Clarita: city of cover bands, food trucks, and insane levels of Newhall promotion in increasingly desperate, clichéd ways. Senses. Oy vey.
MikeJune 13, 2011 at 9:03 am
The monthly food truck/farmers’ market thing in Newhall is a really cool thing, which I’m sure you haven’t been to, and it isn’t at all desperate. The farmers’ market the rest of the month? Sure. I’m not sure where this new event will fall, but I could see it breaking either way.
IHeartSCVJune 13, 2011 at 9:11 am
I have been. It’s fine, just gimmicky–the City finds something that works (food trucks) and forces it into everything. The desperation remark refers to the constant re-hashing of the same basic event in Newhall (people come walk around, drawn by some special event or another, in hopes that they will think “Hey, this Newhall place is pretty swell” and come back on their own time, which most don’t). The City is profoundly Newhall-centric in its attentions, and I just wonder about the return on this over-investment of attention relative to other areas of Santa Clarita.
MikeJune 13, 2011 at 9:12 am
Where else has the city forced food trucks onto something?
IHeartSCVJune 13, 2011 at 9:20 am
It’s a fair point–I’m conflating City-sponsored events (Food Truck Festival, Farmer’s Market Art Walk with Food Trucks, Amgen Bike Race/Family Ride-followed-by-food-trucks (bikes and bites), etc…) with the auto dealers and COC food trucks and Newhall Lands. Call it an atmosphere of food trucks.
MikeJune 13, 2011 at 9:32 am
There is indeed an atmosphere of food trucks, though it’s one I support, shamelessly. Most of these are things that the City has lent a promotional hand to (Bikes & Bites was COC, the stuff at Central Park was a private company). I think food trucks will find their ultimate home in suburbia. Here they fill a more defined vacuum, there is ample off-street parking, and once basic permissions are established, there are no surprises.
JeffJune 13, 2011 at 9:41 am
And to think, back in the day, we had to hide in the dark in vacant parking lots and fear cops crashing our early food truck parties.
LarMccJune 13, 2011 at 9:21 am
I’ve been meaning to revisit the old town farmers market. Last I was there it paled in comparison to COC. I’m waiting for them to announce food trucks will be at the libraries. Judging by the promotional material I have been getting in the mail, the city is nervous about pulling this off. I think a food truck promo is the next obvious step.
MikeJune 13, 2011 at 9:34 am
The Newhall FM has nothing on COC’s. I’ve said from the beginning that they should bring in Ventura County Farmers’ Markets (the people who run COC), to run this one, though I’m skeptical whether a weekday FM, on its own, could even thrive in SCV.
yourwebguruJune 13, 2011 at 9:30 am
The art walks and farmer’s markets are always a good time. No, they’re not always huge, but they’re a lot of fun especially when you run into other townies. The theaters are usually open to check out and the REP has a full bar as well. Anything the city plans that’s fun to draw its citizens together is all right with me.
Gang FangJune 13, 2011 at 10:52 am
I disagree. The margin of people returning is slightly larger than you would think. I just got back from eating at the Way Station (Bill Reynolds didn’t show, HA!) and had a conversation with a family that found out about the place by coming to a Thursday FM, in addition to the “Out West” shop down the street (where I just purchased my dad his Father’s Day gift). Add to that several family members that regularly shop and eat in Newhall after revisiting it during city sponsored events. So albeit a small personal pool from which I draw, I’ve seen it work firsthand. Just sayin’.
Gang FangJune 13, 2011 at 10:54 am
To be clear, I was responding to IHeartScv’s (“Hey, this Newhall place is pretty swell” and come back on their own time, which most don’t.) comment……
townbeetJune 13, 2011 at 4:37 pm
I too liked visiting the Old West shop in Newhall in April after a satisfying Kris Special (chicken gravy on the side please!) at WayStation. It occurred to me that that part of Newhall is a strangely preserved Western-movie backlot complete with pretend cowboys, pretend rodeo participants, prentend western facades. But hey… it’s the closest it gets to Hollywood attraction so why not draw people to it with food and what not.
Gang FangJune 13, 2011 at 10:46 am
I’ll agree only with the cover bands statement. Not that I expect my top 5 favorite musical acts to grace the stages at future events, but enough with the cover band cheese. Even a marginally talented and variety minded “DJ” would suffice…… Other than that, nothing to complain about. Damned if you do, damned if you don’t.
Coastal SageJune 13, 2011 at 3:04 pm
Volcano photos are fantastic. Thanks for posting the link. I had an interesting conversation with a geology professor from Cal State Long Beach, and he tells me that the most likely volcanic eruptions in our and our children’s life times, in Southern California, would be at the cinder cone sites near the constant earthquakes north of Ridgecrest, or just east of Mono Lake, across the Nevada State line. In both cases the constant earthquakes occur as a result of the Sierra Front Fault. A great website posted by Drudge Report to watch California earthquakes, including the little ones on Santa Clarita’s own San Gabriel Fault, are at: http://earthquake.usgs.gov/earthquakes/recenteqscanv/
AlpinerJune 13, 2011 at 4:05 pm
Wait a minute, Coastal Sage reads the Drudge Report?
NateJune 13, 2011 at 8:39 pm
It is a favorite among racist coachroaches
VenturanJune 13, 2011 at 9:01 pm
The real irony is that it’s a link to a website run by a government institution. Let that one steep in your kettle for a bit.
LindaJune 13, 2011 at 5:37 pm
A guide at Mono Lake told us a couple of years ago that one of the roads up by Mono Lake, which is currently called a “Scenic Drive” was actually built as an emergency escape in case of volcanic eruption.
spineflower2June 13, 2011 at 6:58 pm
Remember the talk about 20 years ago about Mammoth Lakes going up in a huge volcano or earthquake? Not too far off, as there was a swarm of quakes, and that whole Crowley Lake region (Long Valley caldera) is riddled with lava flows, hot springs, etc. I freaked my then-young kids on vacation there when I explained that less than a mile below the hot springs they were swimming in was molten lava.
ToddJune 14, 2011 at 7:37 am
I’ve done some reading on the volcanic activities and implications of the whole eastern Sierras…. Man thats some scary stuff. Apparently traces of volcanic ash from the last eruption in the area has been found as far away as the eastern seaboard… and a significant blanket covered most of the great basin. Scary that it could happen again without notice.
ToddJune 14, 2011 at 7:44 am
Thumbsup for being concise, on point and relevant… even if you are reading Drudge..
LindaJune 13, 2011 at 5:46 pm
Interesting that the wages of the crossing guards in Burbank will remain the same, but employees will lose their health and pension benefits. I can’t imagine why working as a crossing guard would merit such benefits in the first place. Part-time jobs in the private sector never come with such things — and working as a crossing guard isn’t generally a full time job.
ToddJune 14, 2011 at 7:43 am
Generally, I agree with you. The crossing guards in Burbank are all part-time, and I believe that they’re mostly of retirement age, looking to supplement their pension/social security/401k income. There are a couple who are not (one, who spoke at the council meeting last week talked of being a newly-single mother), but my question then becomes: why aren’t you pursuing a fulltime job? (Starbucks, I believe, offers benefits to their part-timers, just to correct your “never” statement… but I will grant you its exceedingly rare.) Another point to consider… crossing guards are there really to benefit and serve who? Kids (and their parents, at an early age) on their way to school. So I think that it should be the School district paying for it, if anything.