Elliot Graham at the Oscars

Oscar nominee and Claremont native Elliot Graham didn't win his first Academy Award on Sunday but had a great time being a part of the big show.

Graham was nominated for Best Editing for his work on the film Milk.

Milk did win in 2 other categories. Sean Penn won the Best Actor trophy and the film won in the Best Screenplay category.

Above is a photo of Graham and his mother, Susan Seymour, a Pitzer College professor, taken before their stroll down the red carpet.

"It was a terrific evening, and I was a proud mom in that august company!" Seymour said.

Follow the money

We're in the final stretch before Tuesday's city council election. The 3 candidates turned in another round of financial data last week. Here's a look at how the candidates stand with their money.

Bridget Healy

Contributions received: $4,429 (during the period 1/18/09 to 2/14/09)
Expenditures: $1,487.71 (during same period)
Current Balance: $10,151.14

Corey Calaycay

Contributions received: $2,248
Expenditures: $8,804.03
Current Balance: $7,748.45

Larry Schroeder

Contributions received: $3,718.12 (including a $1,000 loan)
Expenditures: $3,119.09
Balance: $1,038.68

For Xavier Alvarez, ignorance is bliss

Disgraced Water Board Member Xavier Alvarez spent the morning in a Pomona Superior courthouse during his preliminary hearing on charges of illegally using public funds. The elected official's defense attorney acknowledged that Alvarez knowingly signed up his ex-wife, Juanita Ruiz, for health benefits between April and November 2007.

But he argued that Alvarez was "ignorant" about what exactly defines a spouse. There was no clear definition of a spouse on the insurance sign up form, the attorney noted. Apparently, Alvarez simply didn't know the woman he divorced in 2002 was no longer his wife!

This is from the same man who used the argument that lying is a protected form of speech while fighting earlier charges of falsely claiming to have earned the Congressional Medal of Honor. He eventually pleaded guilty to those misdemeanor charges in a federal court.

When Alvarez signed Ruiz up for the benefits, he used a church certificate as proof, not the civil certificate. "Due to his religious beliefs" Alvarez thought the couple was still married through the church, his attorney argued.

Despite the alleged confusion, Alvarez never bothered to ask the staff at Three Valleys Municipal Water District if Ruiz was a legal spouse or not, according to Three Valleys staffer Kirk Howie, who testified in court. According to testimony from Michael Holguin, a DA investigator working the case, Alvarez no longer lives with his ex-wife but maintains "a friendly relationship" with her, seeing her once or twice a month.

Judge Charles Horan didn't buy into the defense's ignorance argument. "You don't need a legal definition or a bylaw dictionary handed to you to know what a spouse is," he said.

The judge scheduled an arraignment hearing for March 10. The actual trial with jury will not likely come until months after. If he is convicted on a felony count, he could be kicked off the board of directors. Three veterans attended the preliminary hearing. Afterwards, one of the men said the judge should require Alvarez to sit in a phone booth on Garey Avenue that is labeled "liar and thief."

"He is a disgrace to the military and all the men and women who served," the man said.

Not to mention the people who elected him, his fellow board members, and all the staff at the Three Valleys Municipal Water District.

Election endorsements coming up

Be sure to pick up a copy of Saturday's paper. There is plenty of content that will be sure to ruffle some feathers.

On Thursday, the Courier invited the 3 city council candidates to our office. We picked their brains for a while in preparation for our election endorsements. Not everybody is going to agree the editor's choices, so we encourage you to share your thoughts. Write a letter to the editor or post your comments below.

Also we have some great letters from our readers, some nice features and a look at the Claremont Unified School District budget situation and the hard decisions they are faced with, including several staff cuts from the top on down.

Should be a good one!

Election issue: the new police station

The new police station is one of the few topics of interest in this election outside of economic issues.

All acting council members and candidates recognize the need for a new station. We've all heard how the place is too small, falling apart and has the technological capacity equivalent to an Amish farm.

The main job of the Police Commission in recent months has been to pinpoint the best location for a new police station and give its recommendations to the city council. PR work for the CPD seems a far cry from the commission's original mandate, but that's a post for another day.

Back in September, the council wasn't sold on the recommendations from the commission when a presentation was made at a council meeting. The Commission recommended 4 possible sites, its top choice being the Corey Nursery location, just south of the city yard.

But the report didn't offer any financial information about the sites, where the city would have to use eminent domain or financing options for the project. All relevant info for a project with a price tag in the range of $25 to $35 million.

Expect a more detailed report at a future council meeting. My guess is the topic won't come up before the election in March.

Here's where the city council candidates stand on the new police station. We snipped the answers out of our Candidate Q&A (see tomorrow's paper).

Do you support the construction of a new police station? If so, where do you think the best location is and why?

Larry Schroeder

I support a practical, more efficient police facility when financing is available, but not a monument like some cities have constructed. The current facility is cramped, does not meet ADA standards, and does not provide adequate locker facilities for female officers. Financing could come from State and Federal economic stimulus packages.

My preference is that the police facility remains at its current location. The City owns the property, there is adequate space, and people are familiar with that location. The police department also operates an impound yard at the current location which produces revenue that offsets some department costs.

Bridget Healy

Yes. The current site is too small and would require building costly parking either above or below ground and possible relocation of operations during construction.

The Corey Nursery location on the far eastern boundary of the city is problematic. The Towne and Baseline site is more centrally located and we own part of the land. Its proximity to the freeway and the City of La Verne works well for the joint jail, dispatch and practice range operations being discussed with La Verne officials. There is also the potential for partnerships with other public agencies such as the LA County Fire Department.

Corey Calaycay

I acknowledge the need for modernized police facilities due to space constraints and structural issues with our existing police station. An important consideration in site selection, especially with the economics we've already discussed, is potential partnership arrangements that will help reduce everyone's costs. An opportunity exists to partner with La Verne. We may also have an opportunity to partner with Los Angeles County in upgrading its oldest fire station (102 on Sumner near Baseline) to construct a joint public safety facility. If this were to be viable, the proposed site near Baseline and Towne would be optimal.

Photo fun

We were rummaging through some old photos in the office the other day and found a couple of dusty photos of a young Corey Calaycay.

The first one is dated February 25, 1992. Corey was just 21. The one on the right was taken on February 22, 1994, when he was 23.















The shot were taken during Calaycay's early bids for the city council.

In 1990, at the age of 19, he ran and earned 2382 votes. Not bad for a teenager, but not enough to get him elected.

He ran again in 1992 and in 1994 but never broke the threshold. (Perhaps voters were a bit concerned about having someone who looks so young making big decisions for the city.)

In any case, the grown up Calaycay (He's now 38 and has 4 years of council work under his belt) is in the midst of his re-election campaign and appears to be the front-runner.

The COURIER will have a Q&A with the candidates to run in the Wednesday, February 18 issue. Our editorial staff will also be endorsing our top 2 choices later this month.

Activists need better approach

Although the medical marijuana question in Claremont appears to be decided, city council meeting regulars Dave and Darlene Matteson won't give up their fight.

The couple has attended nearly every city council meeting for over 2 years, often addressing the council about the latest updates in medical marijuana news and court decisions.

Clad in their grey t-shirts with a marijuana leaf on the back and the question "Why not Claremont?" on the front, the couple has been the biggest backers of a medical marijuana facility in Claremont.

Dave is a medical marijuana patient, suffering from diabetic neuropathy, which causes him constant pain and violent seizure-like reactions in his arms and legs.

The two have spiced up a couple of council meetings in the past, once bringing in green marijuana leaf-shaped cookies with red sprinkles that council members Sam Pedroza and Ellen Taylor happily snacked on.

Another time Dave Matteson tried to showoff his marijuana vaporize before the council. His demonstration was abruptly halted by then Mayor Peter Yao.

At last night's council meeting, Matteson again raised some eyebrows by waggling a joint in front of the council.

"This is not illegal. This is not a bad thing," he said. "Stop aligning yourself with people like David Dreier, who's one of the biggest thieves in Washington D.C. All I'm asking you to do is do the right thing."

Of course, he didn't light up at the meeting.

While good for a chuckle, I'm not sure if these kinds of tactics are really helping their cause. It seems to me that council members who had sympathy for patients like Matteson in the past are becoming more annoyed by verbal attacks and accusations of "cowardice" for flip-flopping on the issue.

Councilmember Linda Elderkin, who at one time supported having a dispensary in Claremont, has previously told advocates on the issue to find more constructive ways to help local municipalities work towards a solution.

I don't think joint waving at public meetings is what she had in mind.