On Thursday, round about noon, I was invited to participate in a "mini-town hall" that was to be held on Friday evening to discuss Rosemead's Wal-Mart.  Most of the attendees were to be students from Rosemead High School, plus a smaller number from San Gabriel and other area high schools.  The other folks on the panel included Mike Lewis (needs no introduction), Zack Coauser (I may have that mispelled, a visiting professor from Claremont and author of a very Wal-Mart friendly manuscript on how Wal-Mart fits into the big picture of retail in US--I haven't read it yet, but I plan to), and Joe Vasquez (an English teacher at Rosemead High school, and son of the former councilman).  Matt Wells, from the Los Angeles Times's editorial pages, moderated.

Disclaimer:  Save Our Communty/YOR has no official position on any of the races on the November ballot.  As always, what I write below reflects my own opinion, only.

On Friday, I attended a rally in support of Proposition 84.  It was held at the Whittier Narrows Nature Center, which is off of Durfee Ave, just south of Legg Lake.

The Whittier Narrows is an area of great potential, both in terms of recharging our ground water and in terms of providing recreational opportunities in an area that is woefully short on open space.  Proposition 84 money could be used to help realize some of that potential.  Also, if our city council can act quickly enough, Rosemead can get its fair share of Prop. 84 money (assuming the initiative passes).  [With less than an acre of open space/10,000 population, Rosemead is well below the generally accepted standard of open space availability].

Speaking of NAZIs (you had to have attended the last city council meeting, and/or have read a long-gone post on this website), and on a lighter note, I've got a goofy website for you all to visit:

www.catsthatlooklikehitler.com

File this one under: "We have a better sense of humor than they do."

I wrote this letter back on September 27, and sent it to both the Star-News and Tribune.  It was written specifically in response to a Steven Ly letter, but it also addresses the perspective expressed by many Wal-Mart/Gary Taylor/Jay Imperial supporters at the last Rosemead City Council Meeting.

It appeared in the Pasadena Star-News on October 5.  It hasn't yet appeared in the San Gabriel Valley Tribune.

Wal-Mart sock puppet Steven Ly came to city council last night, and informed us that, based on his long hours at Wal-Mart, on all days and at all times of the day, it was clear that Wal-Mart should be permitted to "extend its hours."

No doubt he perceives the 24-hour operation as a "compromise," and part of the process of "healing" the city.

Here's a letter I wrote a few weeks back.  Obviously, it's not going to show up in the paper before the election.  I kept it short, but I made the "mistake" of including facts.  The editor of the San Gabriel Valley Newsgroup papers (SGV Tribune, Pasadena Star-News, etc) doesn't like facts.  He prefers unsubstantiated allegations (really:  he wrote this in a column he entitled, "The College of Letters" a few weeks ago).

http://www.sewerwatch.blogspot.com/

Obviously here's a topic I don't know anything about, except for the electoral shenanigans look awfully familiar.  There, as here, an intransigent majority played the delay-game to try to prevent the people from ever getting a say on a major project.  I think their project will probably have a smaller long-term effect on their community, but it's the same issue:  Why would people like Imperial and Taylor be able to vote on the date of their own execution (their recall election date)?  It seems like a built-in conflict of interest, but it was legal under California state law (not ethical, but legal).