The future of Claremont's Commissions

One thing I forgot to mention in my budget report from last Wednesday's paper was the council's discussion on the city commissions. Claremont has 6 commissions that review projects, policies and programs before they get to the city council level.

Together they look at everything under the sun from architectural design of a new development to the Police Department's video surveillance policy, a new sidewalk or traffic light and removing city trees.

The 6 Commissions include Community Services, Police, Human Services, Traffic and Transportation, Planning and Architectural. The commissions usually meet once a month, with exception to the Architectural and Planning Commissions, which meet twice a month.

When commissions meet, at least two city staff members have to be there to make presentations, take minutes and answer questions. Sometimes the meetings run late into the night, eating away at staff time.

At the recent budget workshop, the council talked generally about reigning in spending on the commissions. Without much specifics, they directed staff to come up with ideas to find ways to save with the commissions. This could mean anything from less frequent meetings, combining commissions or even cutting some altogether.

The council will hear a report about the commissions sometime after the city's August break.

On a side note, the council just confirmed several new city commissioners at Tuesday night's meeting. There was one bit of controversy over the appointment of James Manifold to the Architectural Commission.

Manifold is an assistant Professor of Accounting and Vice President of Financial Aid and Business Affairs at Scripps College. He also worked on the citizens committee for the City's revision of the General Plan a couple years back.

But Manifold is technically not a Claremont resident. He lives on the county side of Via Padova. The council confirmed him anyways despite discovering the night before that Manifold does not live in the city.

The confusion came from the actual application for commissions, which does not clearly state that one has to be a Claremont resident to apply. According to City Clerk Lynne Fryman, the application does ask: "How long have you been a resident of the city?" Manifold answered "29 years."

The applications will be changed to say that only Claremont residents can apply for commission spots, Fryman said.

College pays off

The New York Times ran an interesting piece a few days back about which colleges produce the highest wage earners. Claremont's Harvey Mudd College was third on the list, just behind Dartmouth College and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT).

According to data pulled from Payscale, the median mid-career salary (at least 10 years out of school) for Harvey Mudd alumns is $125,000 per year. Further down the list was Claremont McKenna College at $102,000 and Pomona College at $97,500.

Just down the 10 Freeway, Loma Linda University came in first on the list for median starting salaries (5 years or less out of college) at $71,400 per year.

Click here for a full list of schools and salaries.

Budget update

The council met all day on Saturday to address Claremont's budget problems. For the most part, the council went along with the City Manager's recommendations on how to shore up the deficit. At the end of the day, the council approved about $2.5 million in cuts.

The most drastic moves involved city staff and their working hours. Over the next 2 weeks, department heads will be looking at their staff in order to shave off 11 percent of their operating budgets. That means eliminating positions and laying off workers.

Those who keep their jobs are looking at a 5 percent pay cut while working 38 hours a week. City hall and perhaps other city buildings will be closed on Fridays, beginning in September or October.

The council also approved a "Golden Handshake" retirement package but it's only applicable to 6 current employees. The package offers incentives to employees nearing retirement age to walk away from their jobs early. If they accept, the positions will remain empty, saving more money in the future.

City services were cut. Fees on things like sports fields usage and parking tickets will likely go up. And the city will be looking at more ways to generate revenue.

A commonly expressed concern at the meeting was that the budget problems are not over. The state could come back to hit local cities and/or Claremont's tax earnings could keep dwindling. A scary thought considering how deep the latest round of cuts were.

Budget workshop to address $2.69 million shortfall

The city released the staff report for tomorrow's budget meeting. The city council will meet from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. to discuss an estimated $2.69 million budget shortfall for the fiscal year 2009-10.

According to a staff report, the city is considering cutting programs, services and reigning in spending by different city departments by up to 15 percent.

The city is also considering moving employees to a 38 hour work week, which would cut their salaries by about 5 percent. The move, if implemented, would save the city about $437,409.

According to the report, the deficit comes from $500,000 in a revenue shortfall due to current economic conditions and a $2.1 million loss of revenue due to state seizures for its budget deficit.

With the changes being proposed, residents will really feel an impact from this budget deficit. To earn more revenue, the city is proposing raising rates on parking tickets by 20 percent, issuing citations to cars parked in the way of street sweepers and increased transit occupancy taxes at hotels.

There may be cuts to programs like DARE, the mobile recreation program, increased fees for sports field usage, children's programs and much more.

The city council will have tough decision to make at tomorrow's meeting. In March, the city already squeezed $2 million out of the budget to close a deficit. Most of that came from the General Fund Reserve and benefits cuts to city staff.

I'll have a full report of the meeting in the Wednesday, July 29 edition of the COURIER.

Affordable housing site review

The Architectural Commission will meet tonight to review the site plan for the affordable housing project on College Avenue.

Here's the staff report. The meeting begin at 7 p.m. in the city council chambers.

The city also conducted a traffic impact analysis for the project. The document, viewable on the city's website, concludes that "there are no significant project impacts, and no mitigation measures are required." Some points worth noting:

"Vehicles would not experience significant delays due to trains crossing College Avenue."
"Pedestrians can safely cross College Avenue to/from Oakmont Elementary School and College Park according to the pedestrian gap surveys."
"... the addition of project traffic would not impact pedestrian connectivity or neighboring streets."
"... the existing traffic signal at College Avenue/Kirkwood Avenue does not need to be relocated to College Avenue/Green Street."

Notes on coyotes

I've gotten some feedback on my recent article on coyote attacks in northeast Claremont. The paper's received 2 "Letters to the Editor" from residents recounting their own experiences with coyote attacks on pets. See below.

As a pet owner myself, I empathize with anyone who's lost a pet in such a horrifying manner. At the same time, I certainly wouldn't promote any vigilante justice against coyotes that I heard during interviews for the story. The foothills is the animal's native habitat and like it or not, coyotes are here to stay.

Some residents are calling on the city to do something about the aggressive coyotes. There are genuine concerns about a baby or child being the next victim.

But what can the city really do? Police and city officials have consistently said they won't remove coyotes unless it is posing an "immediate threat" to humans. Even if a coyote is relocated, they will eventually return to the place they were moved from.

The city certainly cannot kill coyotes. That's illegal.

The best thing is for residents with small pets and children to always be vigilant. This is especially true in summer, when coyotes are attracted to man-made water sources like sprinklers and pools.

Here's some tips from the city's website on living with coyotes. It might not be the answer people are looking for, especially those who've already lost their pets, but it may help prevent more deadly encounters in the future.



I read your article on the aggressive nature of Coyotes with great interest as I have noticed a large increase in my personal coyote sightings in Claremont over the past 28 years. In my own neighborhood I have not seen a cat prowling day or night for 8 or 9 years. But I was foolish enough to think that our family pet was protected behind the stone fencing around my home. I was discussing your article as my family and I left for dinner and upon our return two hours later at dusk we found our beloved dog mortally wounded in our back yard. My children were not only traumatized by the loss of their life long companion but by the carnage left behind. I think it is time that the city step up and recognize this as not an isolated incident but accept the responsibility for the safety and welfare of all it’s residence. I would ask that my fellow neighbors take a moment to tie a white ribbon around their mail box or tree in the front of their homes to let our City Government know how many animals we have lost so it does not take the loss of a human before something is done. – Mourning

After reading the July 15th Courier article about the recent increase in coyote sighting, I took a moment to reflect on the recent demise of our little “snuggle-bear.” It was a sunny Monday morning, just after 9 a.m. The trash collectors were traveling up and down the alley, emptying out trash bins. My daughter resting with a migraine. She cracked open the door from her bedroom to the backyard patio. Her 15 year cat, Snuggle went out to sun in a spot perhaps 4 feet from the open door. Suddenly my daughter said that something rushed by and Snuggle was gone. She called me at work and I rushed home. I search the alley behind our house but to no avail.

What we learned later was that yes indeed, a coyote had taken her. Two blocks away, a woman driving down Yale at 11^th saw a coyote with a cat in its mouth. She beeped and the coyote drop Snuggle. The woman was afraid but nonetheless got out of her car and tried to prevent the coyote from picking her up again. The coyote retreated to a den where she had pups. A neighbor who lives on Indian Hill was walking by and saw what happened. He scooped up Snuggle and told my daughter that he cuddled her as she died in his arms, telling her she would be missed.

Telling this story brings tears to my eyes. Not just because we lost our dear Snuggle-bear but also because of the kindness of strangers for a little black cat.

Yes, coyotes “were here first” but so what. They are no longer kept in check by their natural enemies bears and wolves. They have found it easy to thrive in cities where our pets are much easier pickings than the faster wildlife they are use to hunting.

Coyotes are multiplying and becoming bolder, less afraid of humans and more aggressive. There have been cases in the where small children have been attacked.

There must be a way to have a balanced discussion to develop a management policy.

- Deborah McVeigh

COUIER vs. City softball match update

As some of you may have already heard, the city came out victorious in the softball match held Wednesday at Larkin Park. Despite our best efforts, the COURIER team was outmatched by the younger city team. The final score was 23 to 12.

Regardless of the outcome, everyone had a good time and expressed hope to keep up the tradition. The COURIER team, pictured above, discussed our weaknesses and will be ready to compete in a re-match.

So congratulations to the city for a fine effort. COURIER Publisher Peter Weinberger has been working on a more detailed account of the game. Be sure to look out for the column in tomorrow's paper.