Police presence at neo-Nazi rally

There appears to be some confusion about the police presence at Saturday's rally by the National Socialist Movement, a neo-Nazi group. City manager Jeff Parker incorrectly announced at last night's city council meeting that over 400 cops were on hand. It was more like 120. Here's a break down of the numbers:

LA County police: 39
Neighboring Foothill Communities: 53
Claremont police: 27
NSM members: about 30
Counter protesters: 400 to 500

The mutual aid officers from outside the city “did not cost the citizens of Claremont a dime,” Parker said. However, many of Claremont's sworn officers were paid overtime for working the event at a cost of $9,600 to the city.

Claremont salaries compared to Bell

The story of the summer has been the outrageous salaries being pulled in by city staff and council members in the city of Bell near downtown Los Angeles.

Bell City Manager Robert Rizzo was earning nearly $800,000 per year, their police chief Randy Adams earned $457,000 a year and Assistant City Manager Angela Spaccia was earning $376,288 annually. All resigned after their salaries were exposed by the Los Angeles Times.

In addition, 4 out of 5 Bell city council members were raking in about $100,000 per year.

In reaction, Claremont City Manager Jeff Parker added an item on his most recent weekly report about salaries for top city staff and council members in Claremont. Here's what he wrote:

As the media reports on the City of Bell's salaries for council and administrative staff, residents across the country are discussing the compensation of their own City officials. In accordance with the City of Claremont's open communication philosophy, the City of Claremont makes this information readily available to the public.

Each member of the City Council receives $400 per month compensation and an additional $30 per Redevelopment Agency meeting. The City Council does not receive retirement benefits and during the 2010-12 budget process, medical benefits were eliminated from council's budget. City commissioners are appointed by the City Council and receive no compensation.

As detailed in the budget, the City Manager's annual salary is $211,000 and the Assistant City Manager's annual salary is $165,000. The Police Chief's annual salary is $174,000. These salaries are based on surveys of comparable cities with similar services and populations to Claremont's 37,000 residents. Cities surveyed include Upland, Brea, La Verne, Glendora, Arcadia, Azusa, Covina, Rialto, Montclair, Monrovia, and Chino.

A complete list of salary ranges for each City position is available upon request through the City Clerk's office. For additional information, please call the City Manager's Office at 909-399-5441.

How out of touch are city leaders?

There were a couple of eyebrow-raising incidents at Tuesday night's city council meeting that might make one wonder if some of our city leaders are out of touch with what's going on in town.

The first incident happened when the council was voting to relax some of its overbearing signage laws that regulate every little detail about how businesses can advertise their goods and services with signs. For example, banners can only be used to promote a new business or a change of ownership. And window signs can take up no more than 15 percent of window space.

With the holiday shopping season coming up and with businesses struggling to keep their doors open, the Chamber of Commerce pushed for an urgency ordinance to relax some of these restrictions. Being able to advertise and promote their businesses a little more freely might go a long way at this time of year.

The urgency ordinance needed a supermajority vote or it would fail. Luckily for business owners, 4 council members voted in favor. But one did not. That was Larry Schroeder.

"I just don’t want to give up the charm of our Village, the small town charm, for a possible short-term gain,” Schroeder said.

During his campaign for the city council last year, Schroeder's platform was largely based on promoting economic development in the city and fiscal responsibility on the council.

But now it appears "charm" outweighs economic viability for city businesses whose owners are desperate to find new and creative ways to attract more customers. Anyone who has listened to Claremont's business owners knows that signage restricts has been a serious problem. I would think a councilmember interested in economic development would know that by now.

Besides, I think business owners in the Village have some sense of what's appropriate and what isn't. As Councilmember Sam Pedroza noted, "Our businesses know how to do business. I highly trust that businesses know what's good for them and if they're going to be tacky, they're not going to be very successful in this town."

In any case, the ordinance passed. Businesses will have more free reign to use A-frame signs and banners throughout December 31, 2010. In the meantime, city staff will be reviewing Claremont's outdated signage laws in order to bring them into the 21st Century.

The other curious incident happened when the council was discussing the bailout of the Claremont Museum of Art. City Manager Jeff Parker was describing some the key businesses in the Packing House other than the museum.

"[The museum] has been one of the cornerstones [of the Packing House] along with the restaurant that unfortunately had the fire and the other restaurant on the other end, the Mediterranean restaurant, and the Hip Kitty and the children's cooking school there."

Does the city manager honestly not know the names of The Forks, Casablanca and The Young Chef's Academy - businesses he sees as "the cornerstones" of the Packing House? Maybe he was just drawing a blank at the moment. I certainly hope so.

The Forks has been shut down since December 2008 because of an electrical fire. Problems with securing money from their insurance company have delayed the owners from re-opening. But they are hoping to be up and running soon. I'm planning to get a complete story on The Forks and their future plans in an upcoming issue of the Courier.

City Council meeting tonight

The Claremont city council will be meeting again tonight.

Among the meatier items on the agenda are a proposal for closure and installation of pedestrian signal at the intersection of Arrow Highway and Oakdale Drive and a public hearing on a Claremont Tourism Business Improvement District. The Tourism BID would be assessed for room rentals at local lodging businesses and pooled together for marketing projects involving Claremont's hotels and resorts.

In their closed session meeting, the council will do their annual review of City Manager Jeff Parker and City Attorney Sonia Carvalho. Parker's evaluation always seems to generate some controversy. Last year, the council was criticized for being too generous with Parker's pay raise and bonus despite the city facing millions in a budget shortfall. It will be interesting to see what the council does this time around with his salary adjustment, given that staff layoffs and program cuts earlier this year.

Young professionals unite

The Claremont Young Professionals had their inaugural meeting last night at the Wine Merchant in the Packing House.

The newest subcommittee of the Chamber of Commerce hopes to get younger professionals in town more involved in business affairs and better connected with each other. The target age group is between 21 and 39.

I've been to my share of civic meetings in Claremont. Whether it's the League of Women Voters, Active Claremont, Chamber of Commerce mixers or the University Club, the median age at these events seems to be somewhere in the mid-80s. Of course I'm exaggerating, but you get my point.

It was nice to see so many young faces getting involved in town and excited about the new endeavor. There was a great turn out, probably around 100 people throughout the night, and many spoke about building lasting relationships that can serve them for years to come.

They hope they can pump some new life and fresh ideas into the Chamber while building connections and increasing charity work. The group is planning an event or mixer every 2 months.

In one twist of irony, the top raffle prize at the mixer didn't go to one of the many young professionals who showed up. The $100 gift certificate for Buca Di Beppo went to City Manager Jeff Parker, who's over 50 and clearly very established in his career.

No fair Jeff! Next time keep your business card in your pocket.

Active Claremont hosts City Manager

City Manager Jeff Parker will be the guest speaker tonight at Active Claremont's monthly meeting. Parker is scheduled to speak about Claremont Budget Issues.

"The city of Claremont is feeling the results of the current economic situation that is also affecting individuals, schools, businesses and everything else in general. Come to our March 19th meeting and get first-hand information about the local impact of these issues from our city manager, Jeff Parker. Find out how it relates to the quality of life and city services," Active Claremont's newsletter reads.

The meeting begins at 7 p.m. in the Claremont Library. All members of the public are welcome.

Tough times don't deter council spending

City Manager Jeff Parker’s salary was the hot issue at the city council meeting last night. The city council awarded Parker a 3-percent cost of living adjustment ( $6,150) and a one-time 4-percent “pay for performance” bonus ($8,200). His salary is now $211,150, up from $205,000 last year.

Corey Calaycay did not support a bonus or the COLA increase.

Peter Yao only supported the cost of living increase but felt a bonus was not a responsible move right now.

“We put together a budget just a few months ago, 6 months ago, and we're not meeting the budget in terms of revenue coming in,” Yao said. “... I voted against [the bonus] simply because of the fact that I don't have money in the budget and I don't know where that money is coming from, and to spend money that I don't have isn't part of my job.”

Ellen Taylor, Linda Elderkin and Sam Pedroza weren’t so concerned about spending money that’s not available and voted in favor of the increase.

One might think, as a couple of speakers at the meeting touched on, that in the toughest economic times since the Great Depression, that the city council would put some added emphasis on fiscal prudence.

Nobody’s doubting Parker’s performance over the past year (save for a certain bulldozing incident), but when businesses are closing, auto sales are tanking, and city jobs and services might be threatened, the city should probably tuck away every dollar it has.

Parker did volunteer to hold off on the COLA increase for the first 90 days of 2009 while the city negotiates contracts with employee associations. The COLA increase is not being offered to city employees right now, and other benefits could also be taken away.

Tough times call for tough decisions. Let's hope our city council makes the right ones with our tax dollars.