Oct
10
“The process was corrupted. . . NOW is the time”
Filed Under 2010 Issues, 2011 Issues, City Council, George Briggeman, Trash contraact, Troy Edgar | 7 Comments
(Los Alamitos, 10/10/2011)Note from Dave E. Last Friday I requested statements from the “Citizens,” from the City, from C.Mgr. Stewart, from Mayor Stephens, and from Mayor pro tem Edgar. So far the following is all I’ve received. I look forward to printing statements from our city officials, both elected and hired, once I receive them.
Citizen For A Fair Trash Contract press release:
On Friday 10/7/11 the Hon. Andrew P. Banks issued a ruling from the bench in favor of the Citizens for a Fair Trash Contract, stating the City Council violated their own City Ordinance in the awarding of the Read more
Jun
29
Media post: “Super City,” Consolidated, the 4th & more in today’s News Enterprise
Filed Under 2010 Issues, Neighboring Communities, News Enterprise & other local media, Rossmoor | 8 Comments
(6/29/2011, Los Alamitos) Today I had a chance to look at Los Alamitos’ only local print newspaper before putting up the weekly Wednesday media reporting post, & noticed several items of interest:
Super City lover: A lengthy letter from Rossmoor resident Kenneth Brown sung the praises of Supervisor Moorlach’s proposed “Super City, which he says “could offer a real way for Rossmoor residents to Read more
Jun
20
Explanations of Los Al’s almost $2 million deficit
Filed Under 2010 Issues, City Budget, City Council Meetings | 3 Comments
(Los Alamitos, updated Monday, 6/20/2011) Last night when I finally had a chance to quickly glance through the budget that Los Alamitos’ City Council will hold a public hearing on tonight I was surprised to discover an apparent deficit of roughly $1,874,000!
Sensing that I was missing some explanations, I shot an e-mail to our City Manager, Jeff Stewart. This morning Mr. Stewart was kind enough to give me a call with Finance Director Anita Agramonte also on the line and help me get a better understanding of exactly what’s going on.
First, my concerns:
As I worked my way through the brief budget attachment to today’s City Council Agenda, I was surprised to see no
Jun
16
Answers & 9 truck line up for tonight’s “Picnic at the Plaza”
Filed Under 2010 Issues, Community News, News you can use | 2 Comments
(Los Alamitos, 6/16/2011) Sorry I didn’t get up Tuesday’s Los Alamitos Food Truck line-up, but here’s today’s:
- Cajun on Wheels
- The Flip Truck
- Fresh Fries
- Kona Ice BC
- Lobsta Truck
- Oh For Sweet’s Sake
- Ranchan Ramen
- Rancho a Go Go
- SlapFish Truck
- Tornado Potato
- Waffles De Liege
Guest Performer:
A.J. (ART) MASTERS BAND
5 – 9 p.m., U.S. Bank Parking Lot, corner Pine & Katella, overflowing into St. Isidore Historical Plaza across the alley with beer, wine, & tables, proceeds benefit St. Isidore restoration effort.
Also, Los Alamitos’ diligent Director of Community Development got back to me several weeks ago with answers to some of the questions that have been raised here about the City’s involvement with this event:
Were appropriate procedures followed? In May 2006, the Planning Commission held a public hearing wherein they approved CUP No. 06-06 for a farmers market at US Bank including spill over into the St. Isidore site. So yes, the appropriate procedure was followed for the Food Truck Event. The addition of alcohol next door at St. Isidore changes things and we are requiring a Temporary Use/Special Event Permit just as we do for We Care’s annual event and Cinco De Mayo at St. Isidore.
Wouldn’t a public hearing be appropriate, even if not mandated? A public hearing is not required for temporary uses/special event permit.
Who’s paying the license fees? St. Isidore
Beer is already easily available in our town, and an open location provides too easy access to liquor for minors and others who may be prone to abuse it. We have not had a history of Special Events/Temporary uses violating their permit requirements. The State Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control (ABC) licensing requires perimeter boundaries set and will enforce their permit conditions. ABC licensing has stipulations for cup sizes, bona fide forms of identification required, hours of operation, and supervision of the operation.
How much city resources are being devoted to this? From the beginning of the operation of the food trucks, the City Manager, the Community Development and Recreation directors have each spent a handful of hours working on this issue.
As always, your thoughts and comments, politely expressed, are encouraged.
Mar
6
Council’s Monday agendas include public comment policy, new lawsuit, but not Kaylor
Filed Under 2010 Issues, City Council Meetings, Commission Meetings | 7 Comments
mid day Monday update: Only the 7 p.m. meeting will be on Los Al TV, but a post will go up later today for your reporting and comments on both meetings.(Los Alamitos, 3/6/2011) Los Alamitos’ City Council is set to meet at 5:30 and 7:00 this Monday night to discuss a wide variety of issues.
Surprisingly, the 7 p.m. regular meeting has nothing on the agenda that I could find related to the title issues that cloud the required vacating of Kaylor Street as part of the Medical Center expansion that the majority voted to approve at their last meeting. Interesting.
Public Comment Policy
One item that was carried over from the previous meeting is the matter of Read more
Mar
2
Your reporting and comments on today’s News Enterprise
Filed Under 2010 Issues, News Enterprise & other local media | 8 Comments
(3/2/11, Los Alamitos) This week’s paper arrived early on my driveway, and continued new editor Shelley Henderson’s emphasis on more hard news, with front page articles on last Saturday’s Race and last week’s Council Meeting.
It also included info on how to follow Shelley on Twitter! (@LosAlNews) I just checked it, & Shelley hasn’t been heard from since she put today’s paper to bed yesterday afternoon and headed over to Mr. B’s Sports Grill by Vons. Maybe somebody needs to head over there and make sure she’s OK. . . or maybe she’s just relaxing after getting the paper out on time yesterday.
This post, however, is your opportunity to comment on what interested you Read more
Jan
14
Why Los Al shouldn’t annex Rossmoor, and why we probably will
Filed Under 2010 Issues, Planning & Zoning, Rossmoor | 2 Comments
(Los Alamitos, 1/14/11, by Dave Emerson) There’s been a lot of discussion on this site of last Tuesday’s “workshop” on Rossmoor annexation.
We’re dealing with a problem which has resulted from 50 years of Seal Beach, Rossmoor developers, Rossmoor residents, and more recently the County of Orange trying to take advantage of a situation.
It’s a very challenging problem, and why the taxpayers and residents of Los Alamitos should have any interest at all in dealing with it is completely beyond me. It’s not our problem, and it’s not our fight.
Frankly, it makes as much sense as invading Iraq if you knew for sure 
Read more
Dec
29
12/29: Your reporting and comments on this week’s News-Enterprise & Sun
Filed Under 2010 Issues, Community News | 19 Comments
(Los Alamitos, 12/29/10) This week’s News Enterprise hasn’t arrived at my home yet, but I suspect it will include several year-end items and perhaps a response or two to last week’s front page article on the Medical Center expansion.
This weekly post is your opportunity to report on & respond to anything you find noteworthy in today’s N-E or tomorrow’s Sun, or to any comments below.
It’s our little way of bringing our weekly papers into the world of cyberspace, where comments post instantly and can be responded to at the speed of light, rather than a week later.
Since not everyone who visits this site gets these papers, please summarize what you read before commenting. As always, use polite language, try to focus on issues, be diplomatic, & use the same screen name or, better yet, your own name.
Dec
23
Tenet’s position on Community Health’s attempted takeover
Filed Under 2010 Issues, Los Al Medical Center | 3 Comments
Tenet's last Los Alamitos Medical Office Building
(12/23/2010, Los Alamitos) (“Highlands Guy” is taking the week off.) One of the concerns with Tenet’s Los Al Medical Center 25 year expansion plan is that the LAMC may complete Phase I, building their biggest Medical Office Building (“MOB”) yet, but then stop and never proceed with Phase II, or III, expanding the hospital itself.
The Planning Commission recommended that the City Council deal with this issue.
Since the current plan is to “condo” the new Medical Offices, Phase I is the biggest money maker for Tenet of any of the various phases. That may explain why they have build two major Medical Office Buildings over the last several decades, without modernizing or expanding the hospital.
Another concern is whether Tenet will eventually sell the LAMC complex.
During the last two months, two unsolicited bids form Community Health to buy the entire Read more
Dec
22
12/22: Your reporting and comments on this week’s News-Enterprise & Sun
Filed Under 2010 Issues, Community News | 2 Comments
(Los Alamitos, 12/22/10) This week’s News Enterprise includes a front page article on the Medical Center Expansion, a feature on Sir Speedy printing, and several letters to the editor.
This weekly post is your opportunity to report on & respond to anything you find noteworthy in today’s N-E or tomorrow’s Sun, or to any comments below.
It’s our little way of bringing our weekly papers into Read more
Dec
21
“Gotchas” in new trash contract: Toss “bulky” items NOW!
Filed Under 2010 Issues, News you can use | Leave a Comment
(Los Alamitos, 12/21/2010) In reviewing the full color flyer Consolidated Disposal mailed me I noticed a few changes coming for the new year.
The good news, for single family residents, is that our rates actually drop a bit in the new year. Of course, they would have dropped more if the Council had gone with any of several bidders that came in lower than Consolidated, who is charging our businesses and renters more than twice what the lowest qualified bidder proposed, but that’s now in a judge’s hands, thanks to some concerned local citizens.
The bad news included a couple of surprises, but if you act now, you can dodge at least one bullet, that being the new Read more
Dec
16
Lessons from Hawaii for our City Council
Filed Under 2010 Issues, City Council, Highlands Guy's Thursday column, Los Al Medical Center | 10 Comments
(Los Alamitos, 12/16/2010) Once again our “Highlands Guy” brings insights into a major Los Al issue from a very different perspective. Read through to the end & I think you’ve find some points we can all agree on!
by “Highlands Guy:” There are circumstances all over the world that are similar to what we experience here in Los Alamitos. During our travels to the Big Island of Hawaii I have long read about an ongoing struggle that has relevance to our little city and the Los Alamitos Medical Center. I think they have come up with some Read more
Dec
15
12/15: Your reporting and comments on this week’s News-Enterprise & Sun
Filed Under 2010 Issues, 2010 election, Community News | 10 Comments
((Los Alamitos, 12/15/10) We’ve skipped this section for a few weeks, but when we got a comment on today’s paper under another post, I thought maybe we should bring it back, at least this week.
I’ll paste in below that comment, which was on remarks Read more
Dec
5
Who will Los Al’s Council elect as Mayor pro tem on Monday?
Filed Under 2010 Issues, 2010 election, City Council, City Council Meetings | 21 Comments
(12/5/2010, Los Alamitos) Note: This is your chance to vote on an important issue, as we’re re-instituting our reader polls at the end of this post.
As we reported here on Friday, this Monday’s City Council Agenda calls for the Council to verify the current results from last month’s election and swear in newly elected Council Members Kusumoto, Edgar, and Graham-Mejia.
Then, after presenting a certificate of appreciation to Council Member Zarkos, the new Council is scheduled to elect their Mayor and Mayor pro tem for 2011.
Even though the “Truth, Trust, and Transparency” slate apparently Read more
Nov
28
5 p.m. Monday Los Al Council Meeting on Grant Proposal
Filed Under 2010 Issues, City Council Meetings, Planning & Zoning | 5 Comments
(11/28/2010, Los Alamitos) You may not have noticed, but the last City Council meeting was not adjourned but was continued to 5 p.m. tonight, 11/29/10.
The main purpose of the “continued” portion of the meeting is to approve five projects for submission to Orange County for funding under the Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) program for the Fiscal Year 2011-2012 (7/1/2011 – 6/30/2012). The deadline for submission is this Wednesday, 12/1, and require an approved City Council Resolution, thus the timing of this meeting.
Funding for this year’s grants was announced just a month ago, 10/28/2010, and this year’s deadline for submissions was moved up a month from last year’s to 12/1, so our city staff has been working within Read more