(6/30/09, Los Alamitos)   Sounds like this year’s 4th Celebration at the Joint Forces Training Base may be the biggest and best ever.  Bands, speeches, and two big flyovers are just part of what’s planned.  And, once again, admitance is free!

Activities begin at 2 p.m. and continue until the fireworks at 9.  This year marks General James Combs retirement, not to mention the birth of our nation.

Here’s the latest, straight from Read more

(by Dave Emerson)  OK, friends and citizens.  I am trying to get more of your content here.  What do you want covered, what do you think most needs fixed with Los Al, what do you like? Read more

(6/19/09, Los Alamitos) (updated Friday afternoon)  The Los Alamitos City Council  met at 3 p.m. today, Friday June  19th for a Special Meetingand unanimously passed what is described as a balanced budget for fiscal year 2009-2010 which begins in just 13 days.

Wish I could say the same for our state of California legislators.

How the budget was balanced

The plan offsets declines in revenue with a one-time transfer of $89,000 from the “garage fund” to the general fund, an 11 day furlough for City Union employees, additional cuts for a total of $800,00o in savings, and increased income from Verizon Wireless finally collecting the city’s  Read more

Mr. Wackerman leading practice.  Photo from SealBeachDaily.com

Mr. Wackerman leading practice. Photo by Jennifer Kolkin, from SealBeachDaily.com

(5/18/09, Los Alamitos, by Dave Emerson)  If you want to catch a glimpse of two of Los Alamitos’ civic treasures,  set your DVR to record John Underwood’s Backstory on Los Al TV 3 this week.

This week’s show features one of the more amazing people you’ll ever meet:  A 78 year old musician who’s still teaching in a middle school!  (To give some perspective, Read more

img_8057-city-hall-sign-doc

(6/18/09, Los Alamitos, by Dave Emerson) I’ve finally figured out that I don’t have nearly enough time to report on even a third of all that’s going on in Los Alamitos, let alone our neighboring towns.

Even if I had the time, you deserve to hear more than Read more

img_8059-c-counc-sign-cropped

(6/15/09,  Los Alamitos)  Once again, it’s your turn to be the reporter and or commentator on tonight’s Los Alamitos City Council meeting.

Whether you’re there in person tonight or watching Los Al TV, when you get a chance tell us what your saw and what you thought.  Remember, many of our citizens don’t get Read more

Talking trash:  According to a 7 page staff report, the landfill deal OCs offering us cant be beat!

Talking trash: According to a 7 page staff report, the landfill deal OC's offering us can't be beat!

(6/13/09, Los Alamitos)   Looks like it could be another long night for the Los Alamitos City Council this Monday.

The agenda for the regular meeting (below, with links) includes a number of important topics, including those above and Read more

City Manager Stewart doing his homework at the Base

City Manager Stewart doing his homework at the Base

(6/12/09, Los Alamitos)  There’s several interesting intems on this Monday’s regular Los Alamitos City Council meeting (6/15/09).  We’ll get to the full agenda and some other items of note tomorrow.

Today, however, let’s note an interesting letter that our new City Manager Jeff Stewart is suggesting Mayor Edgar send on behalf of the Council to outgoing Base Commander General James P. Combs.

What I find especially noteworthy about the suggested letter is that in it Read more

img_7775-gen-combs-speaks(6/11/2009, Los Alamitos, by Dave Emerson)  The more I observe the Base’s outgoing commander, General James Combs, the more impressed I become.  My father-in-law was a carreer military man, and Barb tells me anyone who rises to the ranks of General is just about guaranteed to be one of our nation’s best.

That’s certainly the case with Gen. Combs.  With less than three weeks until his July 4th retirement, instead of burning up his remaining vacation pay and making the rounds of retirement parties he continues to fight hard and skillfully for Read more

Most local residents who visited the site two weeks ago seemed supportive of the Base composting.

Most local residents who visited the site two weeks ago seemed supportive of the Base composting.

(6/9/2009, Los Alamitos)  After the Seal Beach City Council voted 5 – 0 last night to post signs enforcing a ban on large trucks on Lampson, outgoing Joint Forces Base Commander Gen. Combs indicated he will find another route for the 12 trucks a day delivering green waste to the Base.

“We are going to continue to work with the public to find the best way to Read more

(6/8/09, Los Alamitos)  For the second time in a row, Seal Beach’s ongoing uproar over recycling trucks accessing the Base via Lampson have led to General Combs canceling a scheduled appearance before the Los Alamitos Planning Commission at tonight’s regular meeting.  (Complete Planning Commission Agenda below)

The cancellation, while frustrating to Los Alamitos’ Planning Commissioners, is understandable, because Seal Beach’s Council will be voting tonight on a plan that have a major impact on the Base’s new pilot recycling program (see “The eco-general strikes back,” our 5/26 post on the topic).

According to a Register online report earlier today, Seal Beach, the proposal would ban all trucks heavier than 6,000 pounds from traveling down Lampson.  That’s roughly the weight of a typical full sized quad cab pickup, which seems a bit like overkill (see “Seal Beach to ban large pickups from Lampson?“)  In any case, it could turn the General’s plan to support the rehab of the base by going green into a nightmare for Los Alamitos residents who Read more

Banned on Lampson? 7,500 pound Ford 2001 F-250 4 x 4

Banned on Lampson? 7,500 pound Ford 2001 F-250 4 x 4

(6/8/09) According to a Register online report earlier today, tonight  the Seal Beach City Council will consider a proposal to ban all trucks heavier than 6,000 pounds from traveling down Lampson.

This is part of the ongoing angst of some College Park East residents about the Joint Forces Training Base’s pilot Green Waste Recycling Program.  Specifically, some residents object to Base Commanding Officer General Combs’ plans for trucks carrying the greenwaste to access the Base via Lampson.

These CPE residents object to the planned  12 trucks a day traveling one Read more

Troy Edgar Troy EdgarMayor (2010)

tedgar@ci.los-alamitos.ca.us

Marilynn PoeMayor Pro Tem (2012)

mpoe@ci.los-alamitos.ca.us

Marilynn Poe
Gerri Graham-Mejia Gerri Graham-Mejia City Council Member (2010)

citycouncil@ci.los-alamitos.ca.us

Ken Stephens

City Council Member (2012)

kstephens@ci.los-alamitos.ca.us

Ken Stephens

Constantine “Dean” Zarkos

City Council Member (2012)

dzarkos@ci.los-alamitos.ca.us

(6/1/2009, Los Alamitos)  Once again we’re providing the agenda for tonight’s Regular Los Alamitos City Council meeting, scheduled to start at 7 p.m.  Looking for a new graphic, I thought I’d paste in the current photos from the City Website, although poor Dean Zarkos appears to be a tad camera shy.  Hard to believe for a Realtor, so I’m guessing it’s not his fault.  I’m also guessing someone messed up on when his term expires, which was 2010 last time I checked.

In any case, several interesting items are on the agenda, including a potential hot topic in appointing commissioners, a proposal to select a non-profit to operate LosAlTV and even another closed session to discuss Read more