Calaycay the chauvinist?

Councilmember Corey Calaycay caught some heat for remarks he made at Thursday’s swearing in ceremony for the new city council members.

At the ceremony, he applauded the ethnic diversity of the new council. He also pointed out its geographic diversity since the 5 council members all live in different parts of town.

But he didn’t mention that there are no women on the council; a fact not lost several women sitting in the audience. It’s the first time since 1962 that Claremont doesn’t have a female councilmember.

After Calaycay’s remarks, a few women in the audience remarked about the lack of female council members and didn’t like that Calaycay pointed that out. Even though he actually didn’t.

At last night’s council meeting, former Mayor Karen Rosenthal spoke during public comment on the topic.

“I think Corey has been flogged enough in the press about diversity on the council, or lack thereof,” Rosenthal said. "He said there was diversity and many of us thought there wasn't enough diversity since 52.8 percent of the population is female."

Calaycay later apologized for remarks disparaging women that he didn’t make.

"It's clear that I had a great offense to Ms. Rosenthal and I believe it was mentioned that Judy Wright was also offended by remarks at the last meeting and so I'd like to take this opportunity to apologize to both of them," Calaycay said. "I did not mean to degrade women. As a matter of fact, there are a lot of women in this community who have supported me time and time again coming on to this council and I deeply appreciate all of those women who have supported me and I have no intention of insulting any of the ladies in our community. And I'm sure that the day will come again when women will be back on this council and I apologize that they're not here right now. I did not mean anything in my remarks to offend any women in the community. So I apologize to you."

Spoken like a true man.

Maybe there’d be some women on the council if more women ran for the office. In the last 2 city council elections, only one woman has run in each election, compared to a total of 9 men. That’s not the biggest pool for voters to choose from.

Armed robbery on Monday night

An armed robber targeted La West Liquor Store at 333 E. Arrow Hwy. last night. At 9:18 p.m., police received a call reporting that the robbery just took place. The suspect entered the business, displayed a handgun and demanded cash from the register, according to a police press release. The clerk complied and handed the suspect an undisclosed amount of cash. The suspect then fled the location on foot in an unknown direction.

The robber is described as a black male, about 19 years old and weighing about 150 pounds. He was wearing a blue hooded sweatshirt and tan shorts. Anyone with information in this case should contact the Claremont Police Department at 909-399-5411.

Neo-Nazi rally tomorrow

Everyone seems to be talking about tomorrow's neo-Nazi rally at the corner of Indian Hill and Foothill Boulevards.

A group of 10 to 50 members of the National Socialist Movement will hold a rally from noon to 2 p.m. According to NSM spokesman Jeff Hall, the group objects to an "open border policy" being promoted at the Claremont Colleges and the nearby day laborer camp in Pomona.

In the past, NSM rallies in Riverside have attracted counter-protesters from the Claremont Colleges. A counter-protest is also being organized tomorrow from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. in Memorial Park. According to their Facebook Page, the counter protesters will have over 2,000 participants. It will more likely be in the hundreds.

Let's hope things remain peaceful. According to Claremont Police Lieutenant Jon Traber, NSM members are very effective at antagonizing counter-protesters, who end up getting arrested. Meanwhile, the heavily outnumbered neo-Nazis are very careful to avoid breaking any laws themselves and rely on police for protection. Videos of their rallies often end up on the news or on Youtube and help them recruit more members in the area.

Sam Pedroza is Claremont's new mayor

Claremont has a new Mayor.

Sam Pedroza was selected to head the city council over the next year at last night's council meeting. After serving 4 years on the council, Pedroza was next in line to take over the leadership position.

"I'm very much looking forward to working together because that's the only way we're going to make things happen," Pedroza said of the new council.

Outgoing mayor Linda Elderkin gave a teary farewell speech before stepping off the dias for the final time.

"I have come to understand through wonderful experience what is meant by the often used phrase: 'It has been an honor and a privilege'," she said.

New city council members Opanyi Nasiali and Joe Lyons were also sworn into office last night. The new-look council will get down to business next Tuesday, beginning with a closed session discussion on salary negotiations with the city's labor unions.

The council will also discuss a contract on the Claremont Safe Routes to School program and hear a report card and background report on Claremont Sustainability.

final election results

The final election results have been released by the city with all votes counted. Here's the numbers:

Sam Pedroza- 3,550 (24.5 percent of total votes)
Opanyi Nasiali- 2,849 (19.6 percent of total votes)
Joseph Lyons- 2,612 (18 percent of total votes)

Robin Haulman -2,400 (16.5 percent of total votes)
Jay Pocock- 1,516 (10.5 percent of total votes)
Joseph Armendarez- 594 (4.1 percent of total votes)
Michael Keenan- 577 (4 percent of total votes)
Rex Jaime- 407 (2.8 percent of total votes)

Voter turnout: 25 percent (5,483 out of 21,731 registered voters)

Tip-a-Cop event tonight

In support of House of Ruth, several Claremont police officers will act as STAR waiters at Buca di Beppo tonight. All tips received by the special guest waiters will be donated to the House of Ruth.

The event runs from 5 to 10 p.m. Buci di Beppo is located at 505 W. Foothill Blvd.

For 33 years, House of Ruth has been providing services to women and children victimized by domestic violence. For more information, call (909) 623-4354.

Ugly incident at the LWV candidates forum

In election season, there's always complaints about dirty campaign tactics, like missing lawn signs or rumor spreading. We've already seen some questionable behavior from the Democratic Club of Claremont in this election.

But the flier fiasco at the League of Women Voters Candidates Forum on Thursday night just might take the cake on dirty campaign tactics. For those who haven't seen Saturday's paper, here's a basic rundown of what happened.

Candidate Robin Haulman's husband, Alexander Sweida, grabbed a stack of candidate Jay Pocock's campaign fliers during the forum and stuffed them in his jacket pocket. After the event ended, Sweida was talking to Betty Crocker, who works on Opanyi Nasiali's campaign, when the fliers fell out of his jacket and scattered across the floor. Sweida picked them up and walked away, later dumping them in the trash.

Sweida told me the fliers unfairly attacked his wife since it states "Haulman and Lyons support tax increases. [DO YOU?]" According to Sweida, Haulman supports putting the question of a utility tax increase, a recommendation of the Economic Sustainability Committee, before the voters.

Further defending his actions, Sweida said he was just following the League of Women Voter's policy on negative campaign material. He asked Ellen Taylor, president of Claremont's chapter of the League, if he could remove the fliers. Taylor told him to go ahead, even though she didn't inspect the material beforehand to see if it actually contained "negative" information.

This incident is troubling from many perspectives. With his actions, Sweida has certainly embarrassed his wife and may have cost her the election. Dirty tactics like this just don't sit well with voters.

Taylor defended her decision by saying the League is anti-biased in local elections. However by approving this behavior, she showed a clear bias against Pocock. And that reflects poorly on the entire organization.

And what do other League officials think about what happened?

"It would be better to actually look at the material before making a decision on what to do with it," said Jack Mills, Vice President of the League.

I asked Mills if he was aware of any League policy about negative campaign material. He said he wasn't aware of one, although he's only been on the board for one year.

"The only policies I know of are in the members handbook and on the website," Mills said. "I'm pretty sure the handbook doesn't have a policy on negative campaign material."