- City raising parks, recreation, business and community service fees. Deputy City Manager Darren Hernandez says the City is raising fees so that such services “are not being subsidized by the taxpayers.” SIGNAL
- Memorial Day service at Eternal Valley draws 1000 residents. Two SCV Vietnam Vets, including Bill Reynolds, received Bronze Stars at the event SIGNAL
- Newly-elected Councilman TimBen Boydston is upset that his in-lieu compensation isn’t equal to that of other Councilmembers. Boydston says it’s not about the money, though, to be fair, the difference amounts to about $10,000. The difference in pay is due to a cost-saving measure that went into effect in 2011 for new employees; Boydston seems to say he shouldn’t be considered an employee in the same sense as a full time staff member SIGNAL
- One week remains until Election Day! The Signal has an update on the Assembly race financials, with Wilk raising nearly as much as Patricia McKeon (or at parity if you consider the $40k loan McKeon made to her campaign). SIGNAL You can also compare who donated to the campaigns (click Contributions Received and scroll to the bottom for the latest contributions) WILK, MCKEON
- Also, if you scan the Pat McKeon contribution list, it appears defense industry donations have diminished somewhat in the last reporting period. But the Down With Tyrrany blog notices one local defense company executive is hosting a $500 fundraiser dinner for Patricia McKeon on Thursday DWT BLOG
- Buck McKeon, meanwhile, sent out a sly mailer over the long weekend. We’ll just call it the “Beware McKeon” Mailer for short; in it, Congressman McKeon warns readers that there are two Stricklands on the ballot and tells voters not to be confused. “Don’t be confused by your primary ballot. THere are two Republican candidates named Strickland. State Senator TONY Strickland endorses McKeon.” Ahhh but which McKeon you’re thinking? Bossert has a copy and some thoughts over at WRB (including the observation that if you just glance at the mailer, it says “BEWARE MCKEON”) and the FACEBOOKERS commented as well
- On the Congressional side of the ballot, Lee Rogers wins one of those unofficial newspaper polls with 46% of the vote, with Buck McKeon receiving only 25% of the vote. The usual caveats apply (ie it’s not scientific at all) AVPRESS
- And finally, the Signal has a nice profile of the two State Senate districts that include the SCV, one of which, might be represented by a Democrat SIGNAL
- We seem to be running out of adjectives to describe the state of local school district finances, all the more so if voters refuse to approve tax increases this fall. SIGNAL
- Meanwhile, some 1800+ students, about 10 percent of enrolled students, have voluntarily signed up for drug testing at the Hart District. SIGNAL
- Sheriff’s Station Captain Paul Becker has some interesting statistics on the number of “post-release supervised persons” who live in the SCV following Governor Brown’s realignment plan. Becker says there are 64 PSPs in the SCV, and 15 of them have been arrested since being released, a “29.7 percent recidivism rate.” Becker also says it’s too early to tell if it’s having an impact on local crime rates SIGNAL
- Also, The Times has a story on what it’s like to be one of these PSPs LA TIMES
- Driver plows car into gas meter at mobile home park, starts fire that engulfs car and part of a mobile home SCVNEWS
- Letter writer complains that Canada Geese aren’t more entertaining. “I work at a local golf course, and I can tell you that these are one bunch of lazy birds…..All they do is eat grass, poop, sleep and multiply.” SIGNAL
- Steve Lunetta calls local Republican apparatchiks “evil” and of low morals and poor values in a humorous op/ed piece. He ends by saying he’s going to marshall the forces of the Vast Right Wing Conspiracy against Pater Familias McKeon’s empire. SIGNAL
- Maria Gutzeit has a great column on what’s wrong with California State parks. She says they’re so poorly run and unfriendly to patrons she doesn’t care if “they are saved in their current form.” SIGNAL
A decade of the Valley’s town square · 2006–2015
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47 · as published