4th of July home decorating contest

Dean and Lenna Hatch stand in front of their garage decorated to look like Independence Hall in Philadelphia. Their efforts won them 1st prize at last year's decorating contest.

July 4th is just around the corner. For the past few years, that means dozens of Claremont homes will be colorfully decked out for the city's July 4th home decorating contest.

It is a fun way for residents to get involved in the city's celebration and show their patriotism. However, sometimes people get a little carried away. The COURIER has received phone calls from residents in years past claiming favoritism/nepotism or rigged judging of the contest. This year, I hope people will keep the spirit of the contest in mind and just enjoy the show.

For participation info, here's a news release from the city:

The Claremont Independence Day Committee invites all Claremont residents, living within the City’s border, to enter the House Decorating Contest. For a chance to be the Grand Prize Winner, entries are due by Friday, June 19 at the Alexander Hughes Community Center (1700 Danbury Road). Judging will be based on spirit, appearance, and creativity of outdoor decorations that are visible from the street. Eligible participants must be available to ride in the 4th of July parade if chosen as the Grand Prize Winner.

The Grand Prize Winner will receive recognition at the 4th of July pre-parade reception, receive fireworks tickets (4), a special place in the parade, recognition at the Summer Monday Night Concert, be given a flag that flew over the California State Capital, and a “Grand Prize Winner” sign to post on their property for a week. Second and Third place winners will receive recognition at the Summer Monday Night Concert and a sign to post on their property for a week. Winners will be notified by June 30.

Applications and information on how to properly display a flag are available at "http://www.Claremont4th.org" www.Claremont4th.org and at the Alexander Hughes Community Center.

For further information, please contact Jim and Phyllis Brost at (909) 624-6227.

The council's unique decision making process

It was quite a pathetic display in the civic process by the Claremont city council tonight. Not because of the decision they eventually came to, but the process they used to arrive there.

The council had a special meeting tonight to consider changes to the affordable housing project on College Avenue. The council had 2 options to consider.

Option one was to leave the project at 45 units for families and 30 units for seniors. Option 2 would lower the density by taking out some family units and replacing them with the smaller senior units.

I’ve never seen a race to make a motion before, but that’s exactly what happened. The first to make a motion wins.

Being the first councilmember to make comments after hearing from the public, Sam Pedroza won the race and his motion carried. The motion carried unanimously, even though 3 out of 5 council members were in favor of the alternative.

Pedroza was in such a hurry to make his motion so he could win the race that he didn’t even bother to share his thoughts about why he’s making the motion or hear what his colleagues had to say.

After a request from Councilmember Peter Yao, he did make some comments. In the name of compromise with area residents, Pedroza pushed for a project with less density and less family housing units.

The project will now have 36 family housing units rather than the 45 that were originally planned. The trade off was an increase of 10 senior housing units, upping the number to 40 from the original 30.

Yao, Mayor Pro Tem Linda Elderkin and Councilmember Larry Schroeder all wanted to keep the project in its original form. But Elderkin seemed more concerned with having consensus on the council than voting for her beliefs. When it came down to the vote, Yao and Schroeder followed suit.

One thing fiscally prudent mayor Corey Calaycay did not mention is that the changes he supported will cost the city an additional $485,000. After squabbling with Yao about Pedroza’s motion, Calaycay threatened to kill any consensus if the motion on the floor was changed.

So in summary, the city council decided to squeeze 9 low income families out of Claremont and pay half a million bucks to do it.

On a positive note; they did it by unanimous decision, even though a majority wanted no changes at all. Good work council.

Council meets on affordable housing tonight

The city council will meet tonight to discuss potential changes to the affordable housing project on College Avenue.

Due to pressure from neighbors about the project's density, staff is considering lowering the number of family units from 45 to 36 and increasing the number of senior units from 30 to 40.

It appears the area residents would prefer low income seniors rather than low income families living in their neighborhood.

City staff estimates the proposed change would cost the city an additional $485,000, which likely would need to come out of the city's General Fund.

The city is on a tight timetable with this project as the deadline application for its main funding source is approaching on June 9. Due to this strict time line, a common complaint is that the project is "being shoved down our throats."

The meeting begins at 6 p.m. in the city council chambers.

Bear on the loose

It was a wild day in Claremont for this reporter. After my hawk encounter this morning, we got some phone calls about bears wandering in the northern part of town. Beginning around 10:30 a.m., a bear was spotted along Base Line Road and in yards and trees to the north.

I managed to track down the brown bear in a backyard on the 600 block of Martin Way, just off Base Line Rd. and Mills Ave. He/she was not too happy when tried to get a close up shot with my camera. The bear even mock charged towards me and COURIER intern Ren Mullinix at one point, sending us running for the hills. We finally left the bear to enjoy his tree around 3:30 p.m.

Police were out in the neighborhood warning residents about the bear and earlier were trying to chase the bears back up into the hills. Claremont Police Lieutenant Shelly Vander Veen said they had informed the California Department of Game and Fish about the bear. They responded that the agency would not come out unless someone or the bears were in any immediate danger. Let's hope it stays that way.

Warning: aggressive hawks attacking residents

A hawk swoops down at me while I'm walking in the Metrolink parking lot Wednesday morning.

There's a couple hawks in town that aren't too happy about people entering into their territory. One is stationed at the Rancho Santa Ana Botanic Garden. The COURIER's office manager Sandy Fasano had a close encounter with the bird on Saturday as she walked up a pathway towards the garden offices and gift shop.

Sandy said the hawk swooped down from behind and struck her on the back of the head. She nearly fell over by the power of the hit and let out a loud scream. "It felt like someone hit me with a basketball," she said.

This morning a reader called in to warn that another hawk was attacking people in the Metrolink parking lot on First Street. I went down there with my camera to check it out. As I was walking through the parking lot looking for the culprit, I got slammed in the back of the head.

The hawk then landed in a nearby tree, waited for about a minute and took another swipe at me. This time I ducked out of its way, but I managed to get a couple photos in. Clearly pestered with my presence, the hawk swooped down a couple more times before I headed back to my car, tail between my legs.

Claremont police showed up at the Metrolink lot a short time later to see what they could do, if anything. Lieutenant Shelly Vander Veen told me that they might post a sign similar to what's at the Botanic Gardens: "Hawks Nesting Agressive."

A community patrol volunteer will be stationed at the parking lot today to warn passersby about the aggressive bird.

The hawks probably have nests nearby and are doing what parents do, protecting their young. So take caution at the above mentioned locations, you don't want to get hit. I can attest that it is pretty painful; those hawks are strong and they aren't messing around.

A hawk flies back into a tree after a close encounter.

El Roble Student on The Tonight Show

Some cool news for fans of late night TV. An El Roble student will make an appearance on the new Tonight Show with Conan O'Brien this Thursday night.

Eighth grader Mata Barr and and 13 other members of the Los Angeles Children's Chorus will be singing back up to "California Dreamin' " with guest singer John Mayer.

O'Brien took over on the Tonight Show for Jay Leno beginning yesterday. The show runs on NBC beginning at 11.35 p.m.

Neighborhood meeting tonight

After a short hiatus (I was on vacation last week), I will be back to blogging.

The crosswalk safety frenzy will continue tonight at city hall with a meeting scheduled to discuss another dangerous crosswalk in town at Arrow Highway and Oakdale Drive.

"Over the last ten years, there have been several deaths and accidents on the stretch of Arrow Highway between College and Mills," one area resident said. "The speed limit is 35 mph, but daytime and nighttime speeds look to average around 50 mph."

Area residents will meet with city engineers in a downstairs conference room beginning at 6:30 p.m.

After the recent pedestrian accident on Indian Hill and 10th Street, the city council decided to conduct a "warrant analysis" on installing a traffic signal at the intersection. Over the next couple of weeks, city staff will see if the volume of vehicular and pedestrian traffic warrants a signal based on the requirements of the city's insurer, the JPIA.

If it's determined that there is not enough traffic there, the intersection will not get a new traffic signal. In that scenario, the city plans to install an overhead flashing beacon and remove the in-pavement lighting.

In the meantime, the city is repainting the zebra striping at the crosswalk and has posted new speed limit signs there.