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DOWNEY 2013 LA Press Club Award Winner for Best Investigative Newspaper in Los Angeles.
Serving Downey and surrounding communities • Published every Friday • August 16, 2013 • Volume 1, No. 11 • DowneyCommunityNews.com
Downey USD Test Scores Up While State Scores Slip
‘Dancer’ Sculpture Stolen From Artesia and Bloomfield
From DCN News
Hews Media Group Exclusive Central Basin Water Ethics Committee to Investigate Board President Roybal By Brian Hews and Randy Economy (Commerce) Hews Media GroupCommunity News has received a copy of a response letter written by Los Angeles County District Attorney Jackie Lacey that confirmed that Central Basin Municipal Water District Board President James Roybal leaked a confidential internal document to the Whittier Daily News pertaining to a closed session discussion about former Interim Chief Operating Officer Chuck Fuentes. The letter was in response to a complaint sent to the DA that alleged improper disclosure of confidential information approved in a closed session, which is a violation of Government Code Section 54956.9. The letter stated, “based upon a June 3 (2013) memorandum from (CBMWD GM) Tony Perez, it would appear the details of the agreement disclosed to the WDN were subject to confidentiality clause and were not to be released.” Fuentes was fired from the agency in December by a new voting Board majority that consists of Director Leticia Vasquez, Director Robert Apodaca and Roybal.
See WATER page 8
What is left of the ‘Dancer’ bronze sculpture at the corner of Artesia and Bloomfield. Parts of the sculpture were stolen early Saturday morning including the ‘head’ of the dancer and the letters that spelled out City of Cerritos. Photo by Brian Hews.
Docents Honored at Artesia Historical Society Luncheon
(Downey) Scores on the California Standards Test (CST) in the Downey Unified School District continued to increase, even while scores for the state slipped down slightly for the first time in years, school district officials announced this week. The CST scores for the 2012-2013 school years, released on August 8, also show that Downey Unified composite scores increased in all four subject areas, English-Language Arts, History, Mathematics and Science, compared to the 2011-2012 school year. The scores from the state show what percentage of the students tested as either proficient or advanced in the subject areas. The state report also shows that scores in Downey exceed the scores in the rest of Los Angeles County in all areas and exceed the statewide averages in English-
See DOCENTS page 8
Norwalk Council Decision on Auto Impound Yard Moved to September By Kristin Grafft
Burdick, Educational School Tours Chairperson and Barbara Applebury, President of the Artesia Historical Society. Jessica Shelton assisted by helping to serve a delicious assorted salad meal with cool summer drinks and small individual fruited desserts.
The discussion over Loftus Corporation’s request to expand their auto impound yard was continued at the Norwalk City Council meeting on August 7, but still no decision was reached. The applicant was unable to attend the meeting and requested the item be moved to September 3. It will be opened back up to public comment at that time as well. Although some residents insinuated that the applicant might find that this process has been too much of a hassle and not
See DOCENTS page 8
See IMPOUND page 9
Artesia Historical Society docents (L to R) Wayne Dantema, Pam Crawley, Ed Ware, Joanne Witt, Delores Eveland, Barbara Applebury, Wauthena Warnick, Gloria Ampolilla, Juathena Plender, Sue Verwey, Elaine Burdick, Margaret Toy, Mabel Low, Lorna Tellinghuisen, Marilyn McGorman, Janice Dawson, Betty Lou Ormonde, and Ron Eveland. By Dolores Eveland A recent luncheon held by the Artesia Historical Society honored volunteers from the Artesia Historical Museum and Old Fire Station #30 who act as docents for their two museums. The luncheon was hosted by Elaine
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If the committee does find Roybal in violation, he can appeal the decision within five business days, according to state code. Sources also tell HMG-CN that the Ethics Committee “will in all likelyhood submit its findings involving Roybal, along with any dissent, to the Board of Directors for action that could take place as early as next week.” “At this point I am outraged that an elected Director of the Central Basin Municipal Water District has blatantly broken the law,” Hawkins said in an interview with HNG-CN on Wednesday afternoon. Hawkins said he will ask the Central Basin’s attorney for “a list of options on what action we can take against Director Roybal.” “Roybal is an elected official. He is putting the district in jeopardy. We need to take action in this situation as soon as possible,” said Hawkins. “Once we have the investigation, we will determine if he should resign,” said
WATER
Continued from page 1 In the letter, the District Attorney declined to take action on the disclosure, referring the matter back to the embroiled agency that has been a focal point of a massive investigation by members of the Federal Bureau of Investigation for the past several months. The District Attorney cited the California Government Code 54963 that states “violations can result in disciplinary action against the employee who willfully disclosed confidential information and/or referral of the member to the grand jury.” HMG-CN has learned that, based on the response letter from the District Attorney, the CBMWD Ethics Committee will convene a meeting this Friday Aug 16 at 10 a.m. to investigate the allegations against Roybal. The Ethics Committee is composed of two District Directors, Phil Hawkins of Cerritos and Art Chacon of Commerce along with General Manager Tony Perez, as well as the agencies Human Resource Manager, Board Secretary, District General Counsel, and other district employees. If Roybal is determined to have violated any part of the state statues by the group, the matter could be referred to the California Fair Political Practices Commission, the California Attorney General, or back to the District Attorney’s office for further action. “It is very clear that Roybal violated the code,” said one source inside the CBMWD that declined to be identified. “I cannot see the Ethics Committee not concluding that Roybal violated the code, and that proper action should be taken against him,” the source said.
DOCENTS
Continued from page 1 Artesia Historical Society Docents host the public at both museums on the second Saturday of each month from 1:00 pm to 3:00 pm when it is open with free admission. The general public is welcome to tour both facilities while the docents provide insight and answer questions about the structures and the many artifacts both contain. The museums provide a glimpse of what the area that now includes Artesia, Cerritos, and parts of Lakewood, Hawaiian Gardens, Bellflower and Norwalk was like in earlier days. Most of that area was at one time rural and was all known as Ar-
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tesia. The docents also give vital support to the Society’s educational outreach program. That program provides school tours to third grade classes in all local schools and has been designed to support the California State Social Studies curriculum for that grade level, which focuses on learning about local history. During their visit the students tour both museums, enjoy making a craft that supports what they’ve learned during their visit, and they play historical games such as croquet. At the end of the tour each student receives a booklet with information and games that reinforce their experience. Last year over 1,000 people, including students and adult chaperones visited the two museums as part of the outreach program. The program is fully funded by the Artesia Historical Society and includes a bus scholarship program for those classes that apply and qualify. The bus scholarship is provided so that all students are allowed an opportunity to experience the field trip whether school transportation funding is available or not in these difficult economic times. Consistently the students rave about their experience and teachers return every year with a new class of students. The public is encouraged to visit these “hidden treasure” museums, which are located on 187th Street at the corners of Alburtis Avenue (Artesia Historical Museum) and Corby Avenue (Old Fire Station #30). If you are interested in learning more about volunteer docent opportunities please contact Elaine Burdick at (562) 860-8435 or Barbara Applebury at (562) 865-3107. Contributions are also appreciated to help fund the bus scholarship program and may be mailed to The Artesia Historical Society, P. O. Box 83, Artesia, CA 90702-0083.
DUSD
Continued from page 8 Language Arts and Science. The district scores in Mathematics trailed the statewide average by only 6/10th of a percent. In English-Language Arts, the Downey district average showed 58.1% of the students tested in grades 2-11 were proficient or advanced, compared to the Los Angeles County average of 54.1% and the state average of 56.4%. While the state average went down 8/10th of a percent, Downey’s average increased by 4/10th of a percent. In Mathematics, while Downey’s average of students testing proficient or advanced at 50.6%, exceeded the county average of 49.6%, it still trailed the state average of 51.2%. However, while the state average dropped 8/10th of a percent from the prior year, the Downey Unified district average was up 1.5% from the 2011-2012 school year. Mathematics tests are given in grades 2-7 and at the end of the course in higher grades. Scores in both History and Science in Downey Unified dramatically exceeded both the state and county-wide averages and the growth rate from year-to-year. Students are tested in History in grades 8 and 11 and at the end of courses in other high school grades. Downey Unified students scored at 59.3% proficient or advanced while the state average was 49.4 % and the Los Angeles County average was 46.4 %. Downey increased its percentage of proficient and advanced students by 1.4%, while state scores only went up .6%. Science CST scores were even better with 65.3% of Downey students scoring proficient or advanced, an increase of ½ Continued on NEXT PAGE
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percent from the prior year, which was 6.2% above the state average and 8.3% above the county average. Statewide science scores dropped 4/10th of a percent, while scores in Downey increased. Science CST tests are given in grades 5, 8 and 10. The district is still analyzing scores from the individual schools to determine where and at what grade levels scores may have increased or decreased. These CST scores will be used by the state to produce the Academic Performance Index (API) scores that will be released for each school in early September. While the formula for taking all of the test scores and turning them into district and school API scores is very complex, with the percentage of students in the proficient and advanced categories rising in all areas, it is almost certain that the overall district score, which last year exceeded 800, the level for a school or district to be considered “proficient,” will continue to rise for the 2012-2013 school year.
IMPOUND
Continued from page 1 worth his time anyway. Kenneth Arnold, the designer for Loftus Corporation, spoke on behalf of the applicant. Arnold said, “Our goal all along was to try to make the project residentfriendly and I think some of the resident just don’t understand some of the things that were trying to do to help.” Jerry Ori, a Norwalk resident, argued that their attempts to make a “buffer zone” by making the expanded area employee parking, was “really unrealistic.” Ori said he didn’t think they would actually park there, and if they did it would be in the way of the tow truck drivers.
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Ori also said there would be no cost benefit in going through with the expansion. “I don’t know how many thousands or hundreds of thousands (of dollars) it’s going to take to put in that wall, to knock down the old wall, to put in a gate – for what purpose? – To have employees or customers park there? It isn’t going to FROM THE FROM THE happen. They need to come up with a betWATER REPLENISHMENT DISTRICT OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA WATER REPLENISHMENT DISTRICT OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA ter plan.” Not everyone is opposed to Loftus’ plans anymore though. Tony Aldana, a homeowner whose property borders the impound yard, spoke at the July 2 meeting “vehemently opposed” to the expansion. At this meeting, Aldana said his only issue is with how long the construction might take. “Once they tear the wall down those four homes will be accessible to anyone who goes up that roadway,” Aldana said. Other than that, Aldana said, “As long as the wall is structurally sound I’m okay with the whole project.” Aldana even went so far to say that he actually thinks the area will be safer having the ten-foot wall there. With no further public comments, the item was then moved to the September 3 Lillian will be remembered for her kindness, dedication, and tenacious advocacy work meeting. Lillian will be remembered for her kindness, dedication, and tenacious advocacy work within and outside of the water community. She was a remarkable and extraordinary However, later in the night, Ori rewithin and outside of the water community. She was a remarkable and extraordinary woman and an inspiration to all who met her. turned to the podium during oral commuwoman and an inspiration to all who met her. nications. This time Ori said he had talked Lillian was a force of nature, continually effervescent, always cheerful, always on the Lillian was force of nature, effervescent, always always on the to Arnold and he believed that Loftus run,aand always interestedcontinually in what she could do to help others. Her cheerful, personality was a run, and always interestedconstant in what couldpresence do to help others. Her personality was a andshe welcome at WRD. might be considering withdrawing their constant and welcome presence at WRD. application all together. The WRD Family and the environmental world will truly miss Lillian Kawasaki. The discussion for that item was al- The WRD Family and the environmental world will truly miss Lillian Kawasaki. ready closed for that meeting though and BOARD OF DIRECTORS BOARD OFOne DIRECTORS WILLARD H. MURRAY, JR. Division ~ ROB KATHERMAN, Division Two no one could respond to those comments. LILLIAN KAWASAKI, Division Three ~ SERGIO CALDERON, Division Four WILLARD H. MURRAY, JR. Division One ~ ROB KATHERMAN, Division Two The next meeting will be at 6 p.m. on ALBERT ROBLES, Division Five CALDERON, Division Four LILLIAN KAWASAKI, Division Three ~ SERGIO Tuesday, August 22 at the City Hall CounALBERT ROBLES, Division Five cil Chambers.
In In Memoriam Memoriam
Lillian Lillian Kawasaki Kawasaki