January 2009 Archives

"Splashtacular." That was La Mirada City Manager Tom Robinson's first comment when asked about the success of Splash, La Mirada's aquatic center, in its first year.

In Monday's edition of the Whittier Daily News, we'll have a story looking at the first yeara of the $38 million swimming complex that includes the family fun area called Buccaneer Bay, a 25-yard instructional pool, 50-meter competitive pool and a spa.

City officials say the first year has been successful - saying it' s making money and getting higher attendance than expected. But there's at least one critic who points out that Splash is losing money. You can decide after seeing the figures and comments in the story that will run Monday's paper.

Here's the wire story on the fight over California's prison health care system. If Brown and Schwarzenegger are successful, the now-closed Fred C. Nelles Youth Correctional Facility in Whittier will not become a prison hospital and will be open to private development. 

By JUDY LIN
Associated Press Writer
SACRAMENTO -- A lengthy fight over California's prison health care system escalated Wednesday as Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and state Attorney General Jerry Brown sought to throw out an $8 billion spending plan for prison medical facilities, saying it's illegal and too costly.

Brown and Schwarzenegger administration officials filed a motion in U.S. District Court in San Francisco asking a judge to halt plans for seven prison medical facilities while the state struggles with a massive budget shortfall. They also called for the termination of a court-appointed receiver overseeing health care improvements at the state's 33 adult prisons.

"It's time to return the management of our prisons to the people who are authorized by the voters to do that," Brown said at a press conference Wednesday. "What the receiver has become is a parallel government operating virtually in secret, not subject to government scrutiny."

The court was asked to replace the receiver with a less-powerful special master until the prison health care system could be returned to the state. Cost has been at the heart of long-running legal battle over inmate health care in California's adult prisons.A federal court has ruled the quality of care unconstitutional.

Receiver J. Clark Kelso proposed that the state sell $8 billion in bonds to build seven medical facilities to treat some 10,000 inmates. The repayment would be spread over 25 years and cost California taxpayers $14 billion by the time the bonds are repaid. The receiver has sought an immediate $250 million for a down payment.

Schwarzenegger and state lawmakers have recoiled at the cost, especially as the state faces a $42 billion deficit through June 2010.

"The receiver will never get that money," Schwarzenegger said Wednesday during a press luncheon in Sacramento. "That's important to know because I will not give it to him. I don't think the controller will give it to him, and I don't think the legislators will give it to him."

Brown has argued that a federal judge can't order the money from the state treasury without violating federal law and state sovereignty.

But Kelso has asked a federal judge to hold Schwarzenegger in contempt of court for refusing to turn over a down payment on his request. The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals has set a Feb. 12 hearing to consider letting a federal court judge hold Schwarzenegger in contempt.
Kelso -- a law professor who has worked for both Schwarzenegger, a Republican, and Democratic former Gov. Gray Davis -- said Wednesday he was "puzzled" by the allegations that he's operating a branch of government without transparency.

\
The receiver, whose goal is to repair the system so it can be turned back to the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation, was appointed last year to replace Robert Sillen, who had a reputation of picking fights with attorneys whose lawsuit prompted the federal takeover.

Kelso said he's willing to negotiate given the state's budget meltdown, but he noted that there's a startup cost to creating health care programs that the state has neglected for so long. He said he envisions the receivership to last three or four more years, whereas a special master can last much longer.

"I'm ready to compromise," Kelso said. "Let's be clear: The state is just about to authorize ... prison construction and yet I'm the only one who's taking scrutiny. The fact is, the state needs to spend to reduce its 200 percent overcrowding or there needs to be a mass reduction in prisoners."

Brown criticized early drafts of the receiver's spending proposal, calling it "extravagant" and
"unaccountable." He said versions of the plan had called for yoga rooms, music and art therapy rooms, regulation-size basketball courts and landscaping to hide fences.
Those plans did not, however, end up making it into the most recent plan Kelso submitted to the court. Kelso said yoga rooms and music therapy are already part of the state's prison rehabilitation program.

"At a time of real suffering in the state because of budget cutbacks, the receiver has embarked on an orgy of spending -- and most of it in secret, not subject to outside scrutiny," Brown told The Associated Press ahead of the news conference.

In Wednesday's filing, Brown contended that the federal court cannot order the state to build prisons and must impose the least intrusive remedies under the Prison Litigation Reform Act.
Brown said a special master would still be able to recommend changes to the federal court, but not have so much power as a receiver to duplicate state government. According to the brief, California taxpayers have spent more than $74 million so far to fund the receiver's expenses that pay for the salaries of the receiver, planners, architects, engineers and attorneys.

Kelso receives an annual salary of $224,000. His predecessor was paid $775,790 between April 2006 and June 2007.

"Whatever the thinking was a year ago or six months ago, now the reality of this $8 billion boondoggle, this gold-plated hospital plan would turn inmates into patients," Brown said.

Schwarzenegger's finance director, Michael Genest, said the state's deteriorating finances has forced the administration to cut back spending on even high priority programs such as prisons. According to the state, California spends on health care $13,778 per inmate each year, compared to $4,413 at federal prisons. The average cost of health care coverage per person in California in 2008 was $4,906.

This could be good news for the city of Whittier in their fight against a prison hospital going in at the now-closed Fred C. Nelles Youth Correctional Facility. Attorney General Jerry Brown and Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger Wednesday called on the federal district court to terminate the prison receivership of Clark Kelso. Kelso has Nelles as one of his possible sites to build a prison hospital. A court hearing is scheduled for Feb. 12.

Here's the full unedited press release from Brown's office:

SACRAMENTO - Attorney General Edmund G. Brown Jr. today called on the federal district court to terminate an "unaccountable prison receivership" and its extravagant $8 billion prison construction plan because both violate federal law.

"The court should terminate this unaccountable prison receivership and its $8 billion construction plan, restoring a dose of fiscal reality to the provision of inmate medical care in California," Attorney General Brown said. "The federal receivership has turned into its own autonomous government operating outside the normal checks and balances of state and federal law," Brown added.

The Receiver's $8 billion plan calls for adding 7 new prison health care facilities containing 10,000 new beds for prisoners -- that's 7 million square feet, or the size of 70 new Walmarts. The plan would also renovate space at each of the 33 existing state prisons.

A draft of the plan also includes yoga rooms, horticultural therapy, extensive landscaping to obscure prison fences, music and art therapy, regulation basketball courts, quiet rooms, an emphasis on natural light and high ceilings, and a so-called "treatment mall." A subsequent draft contains most of the same features without the graphic detail.

The construction of new facilities, as well as the upgrading of existing facilities, is estimated to cost $8 billion. In addition, it will cost $1.7 billion to $2.3 billion per year to operate these facilities. The projected operations cost per inmate is $170,000 to $230,000 per year. This extravagant plan comes at a time when California is facing a fiscal catastrophe and funding for school children is being slashed.

The Termination Motion
In a motion filed today in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California, the Attorney General urged the court to terminate the Receivership and his plan for the construction of prison healthcare facilities - because the Prison Litigation Reform Act prohibits judges from ordering the construction of state prison facilities and limits court-imposed remedies to the "least intrusive" possible.

In place of the $8 billion plan, the Attorney General called for returning the prison health care system to the State and the appointment of an interim Special Master to conduct hearings and make proposed findings of fact.

Background
California is under Federal court order to provide health care that is not "deliberately indifferent" to the health needs of prisoners. The State of California is committed to providing such care.

The State - under the receivership - has taken significant steps to improve inmate health care. California has increased health care staffing and filled almost 90 percent of open physician positions, improved emergency response, professional standards, contracting systems, and health care screenings.

In total, California has increased per inmate health care spending from $7,601 per year in 2005-2006 to $13,778 in 2007-2008. By comparison, spending per inmate in federal prisons will be $4,413 per inmate in 2008-2009. The average cost of health care coverage for a single person in California in 2008 was $4,906.

Nevertheless, the Receiver continues to insist on a massive program that would lead to the construction of facilities and amenities that go well-beyond standards required by the Constitution and federal law. The Prison Litigation Reform Act, signed into law in 1996, forbids judges from ordering construction of state prison facilities, and requires that any plan that a court orders be "narrowly drawn, extend "no further than necessary" to correct the violation of the Federal right, and be the "least intrusive means necessary." (18 U.S.C. § 3626(a)(1)(A))

On August 25, 2008, the Receiver filed a motion to hold the Governor and other State officials in contempt for failing to turn over to the Receiver $8 billion for his construction plans, and the district court ordered the state to make a down-payment of $250 million by November 5.

Subsequently, Brown appealed that decision to the Ninth Circuit, which stayed the district court order. The Ninth Circuit will hear oral argument in the case on February 12, 2009.

.

There is a packed agenda for tonight's Santa Fe Springs City Council meeting.

• Councilman Gus Velasco will be honored for serving as mayor in 2008.
• Chief Alex Rodriguez of the Santa Fe Springs Department of Fire-Rescue will be pinning badges on the department's newest firefighters - Christopher Shields and Joe Walls.
• New city employees and policing team will be introduced.
• The Whittier Union High School and a representative of Rio Hondo College will make presentations to the city council.
• Winners of the city's 2008 Christmas Home Decorating Contest will be announced.
• A public hearing will take place regarding the Community Development Block Grant program. The City Council will approve which programs and groups will receive these funds.
• The City Council will consider a revised emergency water conservation plan for the city.

For information call (562) 868-0511.

For the La Mirada and Whittier city council members Tuesday will be a day they probably would rather skip. It's the day when both councils will be reviewing their budgets and looking for ways not to spend money. That's not something any politician relishes. But with today's economy eroding their sales tax revenue -- as well as shutting down key businesses in Whittier -- they don't have much choice.

The first meeting will be La Mirada's at 4:30 p.m. The council has scheduled to start two hours early before their regular 6:30 p.m. study session. No information is available in advance because there's no staff report. Whittier's meeting will occur at 6:30 p.m. at Parnell Park, 15390 Lambert Road, Whittier. City Manager Steve Helvey has listed his proposed cuts, with the bulk of them coming from the Police Department.

Here's a link to Saturday's story if you want more information: http://www.whittierdailynews.com/rds_search/ci_11474865?IADID=Search-www.whittierdailynews.com-www.whittierdailynews.com

We'll be posting follow-ups to what happened in both meetings on the web Wednesday and in print Thursday.

We just got word about the memorial service for the late Martin Ortiz, founder of Whittier College's Center for Mexican American Affairs and advocate for minority student programs.

Whittier College officials say a memorial service is scheduled at 2 p.m. Jan. 25 at the Ruth B. Shannon Center, 6760 Painter Ave., in Whittier.

A reception will take place at the memorial chapel on campus immediately following the service.

It's unclear what other private arrangements have been made for Ortiz, who died at the age of 89 Monday due to complications of a lung infection. He had been suffering from Parkinson's disease for about four years.

But we'll update you as information becomes available.

We've just learned the time for Tuesday's Whittier City Council meeting has been changed back to 6:30 p.m. It was supposed to be held at 7:30 p.m. to allow Councilman Greg Nordbak time to make the meeting. But Nordbak told city staffers that he can now make a 6:30 p.m. time. This is the meeeting where the council will review City Manage Steve Helvey's proposals to cut 5 percent from the budget. The story on his plan will be posted on the website later today and be in tomorrow's newspaper.

However, the meeting will remain at Parnell Park, 15350 Whittier Blvd., although City Hall council chambers now will be open. The Planning Commission had been scheduled to meet at the same time, but their meeting has been cancelled. But the council meeting can't be moved back because it's already been advertised for Parnell Park. That also means no television for Tuesday's council meeting.

We'll be reporting in Saturday's newspaper and later this afternoon on our Internet web site on Whittier City Manager Steve Helvey's plan to reduce the city budget by 5 percent.

The plan is expected to be released late this afternoon when the City Council agenda packet goes out. Helvey asked all of his department directors for proposed cuts in their budgets. The plan will go to the City Council at a 7:30 p.m. Tuesday meeting at Parnell Park, 15350 Lambert Road, Whittier. Note the later time and different site.

The on-going saga of Steve's BBQ and just how late it can stay open, is continuing.
Steve Hernandez, owner of Steve's BBQ, friends, his mother and employees all went to the City Council Tuesday, seeking permission for his business to stay open past midnight.

But so far, despite their pleas, nothing has changed. For now, his restaurant, 7007 Greenleaf Ave., must close at midnight. Hernandez is asking for the right to remain open until 2 a.m. Friday and Saturday and until 1 a.m. the other days of the week. Hernandez said if his hours aren't restored, he may have to close. "I am barely getting back on my feet," he said. "Give me back my hours or I assume you don't want me to survive."

The City Council in December had voted 3-2 to make him close at midnight, in part because of a shooting at his business on Nov. 20. At the time, the council said they would review his hours in May, but Hernandez asked for an earlier hearing. Only those on the winning side -- Council members Bob Henderson, Owen Newcomer and Cathy Warner -- can ask for that earlier hearing.

Henderson said Tuesday that he wants to wait. "We haven't closed him down," he said. "We took two hours." Hernandez is open more hours than most other restaurants in Uptown, Henderson said.

"It's a matter of having him come back and prove himself before the council reconsider," he said. "We have no animosity toward him."

It's getting harder to plan for the future and not be depressed about the economy.

That's why Little Lake City School District board members will hold a special study session at 6 p.m. Tuesday to figure out where (financially) they stand now and what they can reasonably expect in the next year and a half.

Specifically, three things will be discussed at that time: the state budget crisis, its potential impact on the district, and strategies to balance next year's budget.

The meeting is at the district office, 10515 S. Pioneer Blvd. in Santa Fe Springs. Little Lake parents who want to be in the loop about how the budget is affecting their child's school should make a point to attend.

Need more info? Call the district at (562) 868-8241.

If you tried to log onto the city of Santa Fe Springs Web site today, you found yourself unable to. The reason:  a computer systems outage.

Due to a significant network failure, the city's Web site and email system  was offline.

While most of the incoming e-mails will be delivered once e-mail service is restored, if you sent an e-mail to a city e-mail address, the city strongly recommends the following:

Whittier Union High School District sites are getting nearly $11,000 in extra money, thanks to the campaign organizers for Measure W, the $75 million bond extension measure approved by voters in November for new vocational classrooms, lighting and security.

Treasurer Jeff Ball said when he closed out the campaign's bank account last month, there was a "significant surplus" that the committee wanted to go straight back into the schools.

As such, $2,000 will go toward the Associated Student Body groups at California, La Serna, Pioneer, Santa Fe and Whittier high schools; $400 will go to Frontier High continuation school; and $200 will go to the Whittier Adult School.

For more details, check out Thursday's edition of the Whittier Daily News.

We have more information on Monday's death of Martin Ortiz, 89, the founder of Whittier College's Center of Mexican American Affairs.

Officials say Ortiz, who had Parkinson's Disease, died from complications of a lung infection. He had been hospitalized since Christmas but was released Friday to his home in Whittier.

A memorial service is being planned; however, in lieu of flowers, the family is asking for donations to the college's Martin Ortiz Endowed Scholarship.

Those donations can be sent to Whittier College, Office of Advancement, 13406 Philadelphia Street, P.O. Box 634, Whittier, CA 90608. Checks should include a note that it is for the Martin Ortiz Endowed Scholarship.

Ortiz was the sole Latino in his 1948 graduating class and later went on to found the college's Center of Mexican American Affairs in the 1970s.

     No arrests have been made yet in the Dec. 29 attempted carjacking of a pregnant woman at Greenleaf Avenue and Lambert Road.

     One of the suspects hit the woman several times in the head and punched her in the stomach. She was later checked at a hospital. Police said the baby is OK.

     Whittier Police think the two would-be carjackers fled when they realized the woman was pregnant. A composite of the suspect who hit the victim was released last week. The story with the sketch ran in the paper on Saturday. A local television station also aired the sketch this week.

     The man was described as a Latino in his 30s, 5 feet 8 inches tall and of thin build. His head is shaved and on his neck are two tattoos. One is possibly a woman's name in cursive letters and the other is a tattoo of red lips.

     If you have information on the whereabouts of this suspect and his accomplice, call Whittier Police Detective Rob Wolfe at (562) 945-8268

Whittier College officials have confirmed that noted alumnus Martin Ortiz, who was the sole Latino in his 1948 graduating class and later went on to found the college's Center of Mexican American Affairs, has died.

Ortiz, 89, had been hospitalized for an infection last week, but was released on Friday, officials said. He died at the assisted-living facility in Whittier where he lived.

We'll update this as more news becomes available.

Whittier College students Teresa Baranowski and Neslie Tumulac have scored a ticket to history, thanks to a Whittier College program named after its most famous alumnus, former President Richard Nixon.

The pair were selected as Nixon Fellows and are on a whirlwind 10-day trip to Washington D.C. right now, soaking up the political atmosphere in anticipation of next Tuesday's historic inauguration of Barack Obama, who will be the nation's first black president.

They're one of the lucky ones who actually have a ticket to the formal inauguration ceremony -- rather than joining the throngs of people who will pack the National Mall -- thanks to the efforts of Whittier College President Sharon Herzberger and Congresswoman Linda Sanchez. 

The magnitude of their situation is still not real to them, Baranowski and Tumulac said Monday, even as they're zipping around the nation's Capitol on the Metro and visiting historic sites like the Jefferson Memorial.

But they know this is a once-in-a-lifetime deal -- and they say they're grateful for the Nixon Fellowship, which aims to prepare students for informed citizenship and service while giving them research opportunities to echo Nixon's legacy in domestic and foreign policy.

The college gave out three other Nixon Fellowships -- two other recipients served as volunteers at the Democratic and Republican national conventions last summer, while a third interned at the United Nations.

Want to follow their Washington D.C. exploits? Check out their blogs at www.teresabaranowski.blogspot.com and www.ntmedia.blogspot.com

Good news from the Rio Hondo College world!

Board President Andre Quintero and his wife, Deborah Murguia, are enjoying the first of many sleep-deprived nights as new parents to Emma Olivia Murguia Quintero.

Their first bundle-of-joy was born Saturday afternoon, weighing in at 6 pounds, 4 ounces, and measuring 19 inches long.

Both mom and baby are fine, Quintero says -- but dad is a joyful wreck!

Quintero, 33, is a deputy city attorney in Los Angeles and has been on the Rio Hondo board since 2001. He represents Area 1, which includes the city of El Monte.

Almost a year after the last entry, a Web site questioning city decisions in Pico Rivera is active once again.

The Pico Rivera Community for Truth in Politics, or C-TIP, was founded in response to changes in the city back in 2005 and 2006, when newly-elected City Council members closed down stables and relocated the horses leaving there because of that they said was ground contamination. One of the horses died due to stress during the move.

The group also opposed Council members Bob Archuleta, Ron Beilke and Gracie Gallegos, the hiring of City Manager Chuck Fuentes, and other city decisions.

Web site master and C-TIP leader Raul Murga has also reported what he said are illegal activities to the Los Angeles District Attorney's Office.

The group stopped meeting and the Web site went silent more than a year ago, but a new post bashing the city was posted this month.

Murga said he revived the site because of a proposed 60-percent water rate hike to pay for increased costs of water and repairs to the water system's infrastructure. Murga called the potential increase illegal and misleading.

He said he has plans to continue updating the Web site, but will need others from the community to come forward if the community activism C-TIP encouraged is to be revived.

Well vacation time is over (that includes reporters) and that also includes City Hall and particularly the City Council. Just look at the next three weeks. Council members during the rest of January will be dealing with some controversial and difficult issues, ranging from the Greenway Trail to budgets to a wall.

It starts at the 6:30 p.m. meeting Tuesday when the Council must decide whether to revamp its vacant lot ordinance and give guidance on a number of issues relating to the Greenway Trail. The vacant lot ordinance is on the agenda because some are concerned that its requirements might be too costly for property owners in these tough economic times. As for the Greenway Trail, City Manager Steve Helvey is looking for direction on issues including dogs, lighting, use of skateboards, and further improvements.

But Tuesday's meeting is likely to be considered simple compared to the one scheduled for 7:30 p.m. Jan. 20 at Parnell Park, 15350 Lambert Road. Yes, it's a different location. It's being moved because the Planning Commission meeting had to be moved from Jan. 19 because of the Martin Luther King holiday the day before. At this meeting, Helvey will bring his list of across-the-board 5 percent budget reductions.

And then at the regular 6:30 p.m. Jan. 27 meeting, the council will hold a public hearing on Hugo Gutierrez's request for a variance allowing his 13-to-15-foot wall at the 14800 block of Mar Vista Street.

The "Workers' Register and Articles of Faith," popularly known as the "Red Book," is being signed at 11:30 a.m. Friday, Jan. 9 at Biola University's Calvary Chapel.

It is signed annually in December by the Board of Trustees at a private meeting. However, this year on the heels of Biola's 100th anniversary, the event will be open to the public and each signing hereafter will be open to the Biola community.

Over the last eighty years Biola's leaders, such as Louis Talbot, Charles Fuller, Lula Stewart and founder T.C. Horton, have signed the book as an affirmation of Biola's core values and commitment to the University's mission.

The ceremony has only been public one other time, twenty-five years ago during Biola's seventy-fifth anniversary.

For information, contact events@biola.edu

     Deputies from the La Mirada Community Sheriff's station will hold a DUI checkpoint on Jan. 3.

     It is part of the state's Holiday DUI Crackdown Campaign. Funding is courtesy of a grant from the California Office of Traffic Safety through the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.

     Deputies are also asking the public to call 9-1-1 and report drunk drivers. Be prepared to describe the vehicle, its location and direction of travel.

     For more information, call the La Mirada Community Sheriff's Station at (562) 902-2960.