May
31
Some of the soldiers honored at last year's Army Ball
(5/31/2010, Los Alamitos) What better day than Memorial Day to tangibly show our support for our troops? If you act fast, you have a couple opportunities to do so that are just a few mouse clicks away:
This Friday, June 4th, the Greater Los Angeles Chapter of the U.A. Army Association is holding their Annual Ball, “A Tribute to Veterans” nearby at Read more
May
29
Police searching El Dorado Park (photo from LBReport.com)
(Los Alamitos, 5/29/2010) I guess you can call this one “Murder at the Joint Forces Theater,” it’s so bizarre I’m not even sure Agatha Christie could have concocted this one. I’ll rate it PG-13 for violence.
Costa Mesa Police on Friday disclosed the details of a grizzly double murder allegedly committed eight days ago by 26 year old Costa Mesa resident Daniel Patrick Wozniak–a man who would be getting married today, had he not been arrested on Wednesday night.
(No, I’m not making this up, and I haven’t been using Medical marijuana, but I do think there’s gotta be a horror or mystery movie here somewhere.)
Police only became aware of the first of the two homicides on Read more
May
29
12:30 update: The tickets are gone. . . but you can still watch the game on TV. Go Angels!
(5/29/2010, Los Alamitos) How’s this for a Memorial Day Weekend reward for our loyal (or even first-time) readers:
4 free tickets in the shade behind home plate for this afternoon’s Angels-Mariners game for you or a deserving family you know!
“But wait. . . there’s more!!!!” If you’re the first to get back to me by via the “Contact Us” button in the masthead, I’ll throw in free preferred parking!
What are you waiting for. . . free steak knives?
The details: The tickets are Row B, section 516, the second row above the aisle in Upper View, looking right down the first base line. They’re Read more
May
27
Opportunity to share concerns with Marilyn Poe @ 7 Friday morning
Filed Under City Council, News you can use | 2 Comments
(5/27/2010, Los Alamitos) As was true for the last Friday of April, our Mayor is once again inviting “Everyone and anyone” to come and have a cup of coffee at The Firehouse Cafe, 3858 Cerritos just west of McAulliffe Middle School, across from the Mobil gas station.
Mayor Poe says she’ll be available to answer your questions and concerns, and this might be an excellent opportunity to
May
24
Monday afternoon update: This session is being televised live on LosAlTV3, and will probably be rebroadcast during the week. (May 24,2010, Los Alamitos) The City Council meets at 4 p.m. today to continue looking for ways to eliminate a projected budget deficit for the upcoming fiscal year of over $300,000.
The Council and staff have been working for months to identify ways to reduce the deficit, which initially was expected to be larger. In the staff report prepared for the meeting, staff identified an additional Read more
May
23
“Sunday Sermons” are occasional posts that are spiritual in nature. They’re frequently items I found helpful and thought might be helpful to others. If that might offend you, or doesn’t interest you, you’re certainly free to skip them!
Today’s “Sermon” comes from a comment by my Pastor, Chuck Smith, from The Word for Today Bible.
“He [God] kept him [Israel] as the apple of His eye.
As an eagle stirs up its nest,
Hovers over its young,
Spreading out it’s wings, taking them up,
Carrying them on its wings.
So the Lord alone led him. . .”
from “The Song of Moses”
Deuteronomy 32: 10 d – 12 a
(by Pastor Chuck Smith) God’s dealings with Israel are here compared to the way an eagle deals with its eaglets. The eagle builds its nests up high on the cliffs, where no one can get to it. The mother eagle goes out each day and brings food back to the squaking little eaglets, which devour the food and begin to grow.
But one day, as those eaglets are growing Read more
May
22
Planning Commission stands by rezone to retail
Filed Under Commission Meetings, Planning & Zoning, Troy Edgar | 2 Comments
One of the chain's restaurants
A word from Dave E: Jody Schloss is a former Planning Commissioner and one of the more informed local residents I know. She was the person who tipped off the city as to the Base’s plans to house a L.A. County Sherriff’s Helicopter Base several years ago.
When she sent me some information about the ongoing dispute about the 24 Hour Fitness property rezone, I asked her if she could write the article and e-mail it to me. There’s lots of good information in it, and I hope Jody will become one of a team of regular contributors to LetsFixLosAl.
by Jody Schloss. (Los Alalmitos, May 22, 2010) Just two weeks ago the Planning Commission reconsidered a rezone they’d done earlier at the request of the City Council. The property involved was the old 24 Hour Fitness building, and the back-and-forth between the Council and Planning Commission is an interesting story, to say the least.
Many residents would probably be surprised to know Read more
May
17
Your reporting & comments on tonight’s City Council Meeting (5/17)
Filed Under City Council Meetings | 29 Comments
(5/17/2010, Los Alamitos) Hopefully by now most of you know the drill.
Whether you watch the Council meeting live in person, live on Los AlTV3, or delayed on TV3, please share what you saw that you considered significant, as well as your thoughts on what you saw.
Remember, Read more
May
14
(5/14/2010, Los Alamitos) As I indicated elsewhere on this site, a week ago Los Alamitos City Manager Jeff Stewart challenged me to read through key documents related to the ongoing Waste Disposal bid dispute.
I’m glad I did, but the results may not have been
May
14
General Plan, city boundary on Monday’s Los Al Council agendas
Filed Under City Council Meetings | Leave a Comment
(5/14/2010, Los Alamitos) Once again the city Council has two meetings set for Monday, with several important items on the agenda and one surprising omission.
At 5:30 the Council meets in Special Session to Read more
May
14
All Los Alamitos Schools shine in CA API, some more than others
Filed Under Education & Schools | 1 Comment
(Los Alamitos, 5/14/2010) With California’s annual ranking of school performance is not out, and, once again, Los Alamitos’ schools are doing quite well, thank you.
With only a few exceptions (see below), Los Al schools not only were in the top 90% in the statewide “Academic Performance Index, but they also performed highly in the Read more
May
10
Your reporting and comments on Monday’s important Planning Committee Meeting
Filed Under Commission Meetings, Planning & Zoning | 8 Comments
(5/10/2010, Los Alamitos) In view of the important items on tonight’s agenda for the Los Alamitos Planning Commission, we’re providing this space for anyone in attendance to report and comment on what they observed at the meeting.
I’m guessing that the meeting probably won’t be shown on LosAlTV3, but Read more
May
10
Is the hospital about to eat up Los Alamitos?
Filed Under 2010 Issues, Commission Meetings, Development, Planning & Zoning | 5 Comments
(Los Alamitos, 5/10/2010) Los Alamitos’ schools, neighborhoods, and location make it a great place to live, but it may well be the most poorly planned community in Orange County.
Los Al has the two busiest surface streets for miles around, but sales tax revenue from retail businesses on those streets is surprisingly low.
Due to a series of decisions made by developers and businesses more than by residents, Los Al has become a city people drive through to get to Costco, Target, Kohls, and restaurants in Seal Beach’s crazy northern dogleg and the unincorporated Rossmoor Center.
What do people drive into Los Alamitos for? Medical care, accountants, schools, Ganahl Lumber, and a handful of really good restaurants actually within the city limit.
While I thank God for our restaurants and Ganahl, and it’s nice to have doctors and schools nearby, the net result is more traffic than sales tax revenue.
My fear is that the Los Alamitos Medical Center’s new 25-year expansion plan is a step in the wrong direction. While it might make a lot of sense for the hospital’s owners, I’m having a hard time figuring out how it makes sense for the people of Los Alamitos, Rossmoor, or Seal Beach.
If you live in the area, tonight is a key night for you because Read more
May
7
3 important public hearings Monday night’s Planning Commission meeting
Filed Under Commission Meetings, Planning & Zoning | 2 Comments
5/9/2010 update/summary: If you are not able to make it to the Planning Commission Meeting Monday night, you can still make your concerns heard on the key issues discussed below, by e-mailing Los Alamitos’ Community Development Director, Steven Mendoza, SMendoza@ci.los-alamitos.ca.us.
(5/7/2010, Los Alamitos) The community gets some great opportunities to express their concerns and insights into At their 7 p.m. meeting at City Hall the Los Alamitos Planning Commission will hold public hearings on three items that could significantly impact the city for decades to come:
- An initial “scoping” meeting in advance of the Environmental Impact Report for the proposed 25-year plan for the expansion of the Los Alamitos Medical Center (more on that below).
- A request by the City Council for the planning commission to consider changing the land use designations and concurrent zoning districts on the Katella parcel that was once planned to house an upscale Melting Pot restaurant. One of the options would be to return to a non-retail zone. To some this appears to be an unfortunate step that could lead to reduced sales tax income for the city.
- A request to allow motorcycle sales at the “Clock Tower” building at 10571 Los Alamitos Blvd.
The Medical center application obviously has the greatest implications long Read more
May
6
5 p.m., 5/7 update: I spent some additional time today with people on both sides of this issue. There are those who feel the issues are more complex than they might appear on the surface, and believe when all the dust settles Los Al residents are apt to see a significant decline in their trash rates as well as minimal increases in the nine additional years of the contract.
This tends to fly in the face of logic to me, but there are people I respect who say things are more complex than the relatively simplistic analysis I present below.
It was suggested that I take some time over the weekend to actually read through Monday’s staff agenda report on the Solid Waste Bid as well as all of the consultant’s evaluation and scoring of the proposals.
That’s about 27 pages, and I’m going to try to get through it over the course of the next few days and see how much it changes my opinion. You might want to follow the links above and read through those two documents for yourself.
In the meantime, be aware that the following article may only represent one side of a complex issue.
Finally, for the record, the schools are not affected much by the trash bid as they contract separately with whomever they choose for waste disposal.
(5/6/2010, Los Alamitos) It appears that our City Council is moving full steam ahead with a ten year trash contract that could cost our businesses and residents a whopping $9,000,000 more than the contracts offered by two other bidders!
Incredibly, Read more