Anti-Kusumoto hit piece hits Los Al

May 19, 2013 in City Council, Decency, LART ("Los Al Race Track" property), Weekend Wisdom

(Los Alamitos, 5/19/2013)  They’re at it again.  An anonymous group of “concerned Los Alamitos residents” is smearing one of Los Alamitos’ finest elected officials with an expensive hit piece filled with half truths and distortions.

It’s time to set the record straight.

Then to figure out who’s behind this effort, which started a week ago at Cypress’ Read the rest of this entry →

Potential

May 16, 2013 in City Council, Highlands Guy's Thursday Columns, Our Future, Our Priorities, Planning & Community Development

(Los Alamitos, 5/16/2013) Our Thursday columnist hits the nail on the head once again!  by Highlands Guy: 

po•ten•tial:  adjective:

  1. Possible, as opposed to actual: the potential uses of nuclear energy.
  2. Capable of being or becoming: a potential danger to safety.
  3. Grammar . expressing possibility: the potential subjunctive in Latin; the potential use of can in I can go

I hate to say it, but Los Alamitos just isn’t there yet. By that I mean it has not yet reached its potential.

Think about it. With all its natural, cultural, and man-made resources it should be one of the best places to live in this little corner of the world.

At 33°48′8″N 118°3′52″W , it doesn’t get as hot as just little father in-land and it doesn’t suffer from the overcast days like the nearby coastal communities. The temperature rarely gets up to, or down to, any extreme number.

Coyote Creek keeps us safe from historical flooding. Freeway access in any directions is just a few of minutes away. Less than 5 miles to the sand. And although we’re in the middle of a concrete jungle, most neighborhoods are lined with trees.

First responders can be at your door within 5 minutes. The school experience is rewarding for students at the highest levels as well as those needing a little extra push. And we now have Read the rest of this entry →

HG: It’s budget time. . . some thoughts for the Council

April 25, 2013 in City Budget, City Council, Highlands Guy's Thursday Columns

(Los Alamitos, 4/25/2013) It’s Budget time again, this time for Los Alamitos’ 2013-14 Fiscal Year.  That means our Thursday policy wonk is back breaking it all down for us, with his own unique perspective:

by Highlands’ Guy [Part I]:  While the Cypress/Prologis debacle rightfully takes center stage with local folks, there are still other civic actions that require time and attention. Important for Los Alamitos is an upcoming vote on the 2013/14 budget.

It’s that time of year again, for our City Fathers (and Mothers) to make decisions that will affect our community for at least the next 12 months.

I have to tell you that I’m sometimes amazed that it takes so much capital to run a tiny city. The 2012-13 Adopted budget was $16,539,296, up Read the rest of this entry →

Scores jam Scoping meeting, Cypress extends EIR public comment deadline

April 3, 2013 in City Council, Cypress, Decency, LART ("Los Al Race Track" property), Our Future, Safety, Traffic, Your reporting and comments

4 3 Cypress Prologis EIR meeting(Cypress, 4/3/2013) Mid day Thursday update:  I’m hearing reports of some come confusion resulting from the signs posted at last night’s meeting indicating the deadline for public comments was extended to next Wednesday, 4/10.  I’m told some residents thought that another meeting would be held then at the Clubhouse, but that is not the case.  Input must be delivered or mailed Douglas Hawkins, 5275 Orange, Cypress 90630 or e-mailed to 33AcreProject@ci.cypress.ca.us. No second meeting is planned, although the Cypress City Council will meet this Monday at 7 pm.

Scores of concerned Cypress, Rossmoor, and Los Alamitos residents and Los Al officials crowded both sides of the former Cypress Golf Course Clubhouse to express their concerns about the proposed 33 acre ProLogis Logistics hub.

It was designed as an interactive event, which worked well.   It provided an excellent opportunity to interact with staff of the Environmental Impact Firm, public officials from Los Alamitos, and Cypress’ Planning Director.

prologis plans4cyp (2)The good news is that Cypress has wisely extended the time for the public to comment on potential environmental issues/impacts that should be addressed in the EIR to a week from today, Wednesday, 4/10/2013.

I left convinced that a primary focus needs to be   Read the rest of this entry →

Council anti-trucking terminal vote not as good as I thought!

April 1, 2013 in 2013 Issues, City Council, Cypress, LART ("Los Al Race Track" property), Our Future, Safety

O. H w troy, art, Nancy Schultz

(from right) Council Member Troy Edgar and Planning Commissioner Art DeBolt discuss their concerns with ProLogis V.P. Nancy Shultz at the project’s Open House.

(Los Alamitos, 4/1/2013) (No fooling, this time!)

Turns out when we didn’t have the full story when we reported late Thursday night  that “Los Al Council votes 5 – 0 to oppose Prologis project.”

That was based on a brief text message we received from a very reliable source after the meeting.

However, due to the following Friday being a “black Friday” with City Hall closed, we didn’t get a reply to our e-mail from our City Clerk until this morning.

Here’s the complete story, from that e-mail:

Read the rest of this entry →

Cypress Council set to support initiative to eliminate more open space

March 24, 2013 in 2013 Issues, City Council, Cypress, Decency, LART ("Los Al Race Track" property), Planning & Community Development, Safety, Traffic

(3/24/2013, Cypress, CA)  Apparently  ProLogis’ massive 33 acre industrial/trucking development on Katella is just the tip of the iceberg!

A “Consent Calendar” item on Monday’s Cypress City Council Agenda calls for the Council to support an imitative measure to rezone to industrial about 36 acres of opens space along Cerritos Ave just north of the ProLogis site.

But wait, there’s more!  The same initiative, which is sponsored by one of the Race Track’s owners, also seeks to rezone another 11.2 acres within the Race Course property as well.

They’ve managed to come up with a Read the rest of this entry →

Prologis’ trucks jam local media

March 20, 2013 in 2013 Issues, City Council, LART ("Los Al Race Track" property), Local Media review & reporting, Our Future, Safety, Traffic, Your reporting and comments

(Los Alamitos, 3/20/2013)  Lots going on in the local Media this week!

Prologos hasn’t even broken ground (or got necessary approvals) for their  ”industrial facility” but news about their trucks is already jamming the local media.

Yup,  there’s been a lot of buzz about Prologis to place a bit of a pig in the poke in Cypress right across the street from one of Los Alamitos’ single family neighborhoods.

Once people started expressing concerns the two Prologis VPs at yesterday’s “Open House”  took the approach of “we don’t know who will lease it, but we aim for Read the rest of this entry →

Trees, Parks, Explorers & Garden top Community Give-Back Survey

March 16, 2013 in City Budget, City Council, City Council Meetings, Our Priorities

(Los Alamitos, 3/16/2013)  Looks like our residents prefer trees and gardens to free trips for Seniors or a digital reading board at Laurel Park.   At least when it comes to “giving back” their tax dollars, according to the 105 residents and families who returned the surveys.

The Community Give-Back Ad Hoc Committee met and discussed the results of that survey, which  was distributed to all Los Alamitos residents.

Residents were asked to select their top 5 choices out of the 10 choices provided, and city staff Read the rest of this entry →

Kat’hell’a and Cypress’ gift to Los Al

March 11, 2013 in 2013 Issues, City Council, Cypress, LART ("Los Al Race Track" property), Our Future, Our Priorities, Planning & Community Development, Safety, Traffic, Vision

prologis plans4cyp (2)“Gift?”

Before we begin, let’s first acknowledge that Cypress doesn’t loath Los Al. They did this to their own community when they put Shaw Carpets in on Valley View.  This is not a personal affront to New Dutch, Carrier Row and Apartment Row.

Now a few things of note.

  1. The development is over two times as large as Shaw Carpet.
  2. Based on the diagrams (see right), it looks like there are about 300-350 truck bays.
  3. Based on the diagrams all access and egress is via Katella.
  4. Based on the diagrams they will be unable to exit East on Katella without

Forward looking in Los Alamitos?

January 8, 2013 in 2012 Issues, City Council, Our Future

(1/8/2013, Los Alamitos)  Well, it has been a busy time since election day 2012.

citycouncil2012For City Council watchers it has been a time of great change. In January of 2012 we had the majority of Edgar, Poe and Stephens on the dais. We had the City Attorney who had said the trash contract was legal to a “T” and we had just said goodbye to Jeff Stewart and hello to Angie Avery in her new post as City Manager.

We welcomed in the new year of 2012 with a meeting that had acrimony all over it when the City Attorney released a nine page document accusing  Council Member Warren Kusumoto of  committing criminal violations of the Brown Act, and a vote by the majority of Edgar, Poe and Stephens to string him up for it.

How things have changed!

Read the rest of this entry →