Wilmore said that during the public education campaign, "If a complaint is observed, the public can call the number. Once received it is investigated within one business day, and if a violation is determined to have taken place, (the business) will receive a letter from our office. What we really want to do is not go out punitively, we want to let the public and businesses know about the new law."

But she admitted that once enforcement is in full effect, a police officer or other city official with enforcement powers will be able to issue citations "on the spot" if they see a violation taking place.

less any amount of the ticket price that is indicated as a donation to the nonprofit or, in the 

alternative, the fair market value of any food, beverage, and entertainment provided to the 

individual."

So what does that really mean for Council members? According to the FPPC's own investigation when they last examined this issue in 2004, Mayor Bill Bogaard gets about 150 to 230 Rose Parade grandstand tickets from the Tournament of Roses each year, while individual council members get about 120 a piece. Sharp Seating, the Rose Parade's official grandstand seating provider, is currently selling tickets for anywhere between $42 and $85 a seat. So at the state's current gift limit of $390 for elected officials, even at the lower end of the pricing range an FPPC rule change would end up cutting the mayor and council's maximum allotment to a measly nine tickets each.

The Rose Bowl tix are, of course, a totally different story. According to the FPPC, the 2005 face value price for a ticket to the big game was $125, which would reduce the four free tickets council members were receiving at that time to three if the state's gift limit were applied. But who the heck gets Rose Bowl tickets at face value? Stubhub.com is already selling tickets to next year's game -- at a range of between $299 and $599.  That means that if the FPPC changes the rules, Council members would get no more than one freebie -- and it better not be on the 50-yard line.

Furthermore they would have to report nearly all the tickets on their yearly economic interest forms (Form 700), because state law requires any gift valued over $50 to be listed. 

Suffice it to say that, if the rules change, there are gonna be a whole lot of council friends/family/contributors watching America's favorite parade and game with the rest of us.... on TV, unless they want to camp out overnight on Colorado for a good seat.

FPPC is requesting public comment on the issue at blenkeit@fppc.ca.gov. or   

by telephone at (916) 327-2020. 

According to Gordo, those permits allowed the city to "impose conditions (lighting, security, no malt liquor, no fortified wines sold single and cold, etc.). Once that started we had more local control, because if anyone violated any of those conditions you can pull their CUP and they can no longer operate, notwithstanding that they have their original (state liquor) license."

Unfortunately for municipalities, any liquor license issued before the changes in the mid-'80s was grandfathered in. And that included the license of the liquor store across from Washington Park.

Gordo, from my notes again:

"Those are the ones that are grandfathered in, have no CUPs and therefore no conditions. There is nothing for us to pull, so enforcement is left in the hands of state, and the state ABC has about 4 officers for all of L.A. County.

"We have in the neighborhood of 65 licensed establishments in Pasadena, most of which are grandfathered in so we have no control over them, only the state does. The ones with CUPs operate very efficiently because they know the city can pull their CUP."

Some of the grandfathered ones? Not so much, Gordo said.

Hence the need for the city to come up with a way to convince owners of problem properties with these uncontrolled -- and lucrative -- grandfathered liquor licenses to give them up. And hence the arrangement by which the city helped developer Joel Bryant finance the roughly $1 million purchase of the liquor store  -- including the $100,000 to $200,000 liquor license -- to give him enough incentive to just throw away that liquor license and turn the land into an affordable housing site.

"Until we can get Sacramento to let local government control these establishments, we have to find other ways" to deal with such nuisance properties, Gordo said. "We should encourage developers and responsible property owners to purchase these properties from bad operators with our assistance."

"The Mother wants all her children gathering at the Rose Bowl, like an international children's gathering with different colors, different cultures, all dancing, singing, having a good time," said the caller, who identified himself only as Joe. "We could have little Mayan dances, maybe some kids playing piano from Germany, whatever the kid's talent they could bring it to the Rose Bowl. That keeps the Mother happy so she doesn't shake things down."

While the WPRA is urging residents to show up en masse to protest city staff's suggestion to increase speed limits on nine Pasadena streets, El Centro de Accion Social is also trying to fire up the community about proposed cuts in the amount of money the group receives from the city through the federal Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) program.

In an e-mail sent to supporters and the media, El Centro Executive Director Randy Jurado Ertll took exception to a Human Services Commission recommendation to cut funding to the group's youth education programs at Muir High School and Jefferson Elementary School. From the e-mail:

We would like to simply know why? What was the assesment/criteria used in making this decision?
are youth programs a priority? El Centro helps many students who are English-language learners and who are recent immigrants.

Jurado Ertll urged the community to speak out against the cuts when the council takes up the matter at tonight's meeting. Doors open to the public at 6:30 p.m. at City Hall Council Chambers.

This is something the association has been asking for since the school district made the decision not to reopen the school. There have been two or three meetings with the neighborhood sponsored by the city, and it is something we hope one day will be bigger, but these things take time and we consider this an important first step.

The two or three meetings are much more than what some of the other neighbors told me. Most of the opponents said they weren't aware of any meetings or planning for the park until either hearing of or receiving the invitation to the grand opening sent by the city in recent days. But most also admitted they worked full time or spent a lot of time away from home, and could have missed any announcements/invitations to meetings.

25 years ago it used to be that the same area that is being opened up on Saturday was accessible to the neighborhood (as open space), people got to run their dogs there, etc. But then the school district decided to make the school bigger, brought in bungalows which took up part of the area and they needed the rest of that area for students. So this is a big, important day.

Yonishiro then went on to acknowledge some of the concerns of neighbors about increased the increased traffic, loitering, vandalism, parking woes and other headaches a park might bring to the upscale neighborhood.

....some might have opposing views in the area, but it is not like a park with a big frontage on a main drag. These are issues you can't blame someone for raising. But hopefully it will mostly be a place of quiet contemplation, and possibly some dog training.

And while the following is NOT from my notes, it is from an e-mail I received from reader Betsy Nathane:

The new Linda Vista Park will be an asset to the community. The idea of turning the vacant school property into a PUSD and City joint-use park has been in the works for the last two years. During this planning time, there have been all -inclusive neighborhood meetings first at the library, then as the crowds grew the meetings were moved to the fire station, and finally two meeting were held at the Rose Bowl press boxes. Councilman Steve Madison sponsored these meetings with announcements being sent to all Linda Vista residents. Since the park will be one of the PUSD and City joint use parks, there will be park police security checking the grounds twice daily. The park will be open at dawn and closed at dusk.

The Linda Vista Park is not a destination park. It is a small neighborhood park which most visitors will reach by walking. The gate entrance on Linda Vista has been in use for decades and is the only entrance to the park and it allows for wheelchair accessibility. This park was designed to be a gathering place enjoyed by all and the majority of residents are excited about having a neighborhood park.

Ann Erdman confirmed that Melekian, who still retains his title as the city's police chief, made the announcement during an Executive Committee meeting held on Tuesday morning. An official announcement was being embargoed until tomorrow, but was released to the Star-News early after the news broke on the paper's Web site. Following is the text of that announcement:

Interim Pasadena City Manager Bernard K. Melekian advised the City Council on April 7 that he will not apply for the position of city manager.

Melekian is slated to begin serving as president of the California Police Chiefs Association in March 2009.

“The decision not to apply was incredibly difficult,” he said.  “The primary reason for not applying is a deep desire, both personal and professional, to accept the honor and responsibility of being the president of the California Police Chiefs Association.  Additionally, I believe that making a public statement at this point in the search process will ensure the broadest possible pool of candidates.”

The presidency will cap a career of public service in the field of law enforcement that has spanned more than 35 years.

He will continue to serve as interim city manager until the council has selected a new city manager. 

Vicino said Melekian would return to his duties as police chief once a permanent city manager was found, but it is unclear how long he would remain as police chief before taking the job at the California Police Chiefs Association (the association presidency is not a full-time position).

Melekian did not have previous city management experience when he stepped in in January to temporarily replace retiring City Manager Cynthia Kurtz, but was attending USC to receive his doctorate degree in public policy and was favored by many to permanently take over as city manager. He was being paid a $230,000 salary as interim city manager, while his deputy Chris Vicino handled the day-to-day running of the police department.

The city is currently involved in a nationwide search for a permanent city manager. The executive headhunting firm Bob Murray & Associates is slated to bring the council a list of candidates by early summer.