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LA MIRADA, CA., OCTOBER 11, 2013
LA MIRADA SCHOOL TO COMPETE IN THIRD ANNUAL TRASH-FREE LUNCH CHALLENGE SANITATION DISTRICTS OF LA COUNTY AND NONPROFIT GRADES OF GREEN TEACH KIDS HOW TO REDUCE LUNCHTIME TRASH.
By Brian Hews
F
oster Road Elementary School in La Mirada will participate in the third annual Trash-Free Lunch Challenge, an L.A. County contest that rewards schools for reducing lunchtime trash. Created by environmental education non-profit Grades of Green and sponsored by the Sanitation Districts of Los Angeles County, the program has doubled in scope since its inception two years ago. The Trash-Free Lunch Challenge has diverted as many as 40,000 bags of trash from area landfills and saved schools thousands of dollars over two years.
With 24 schools in this year’s program, we expect to see nearly 30,000 more bags of trash diverted from the new schools alone, said Lisa Coppedge, Grades of Green’s Director of Programs. УBut what’s more important is that an additional 17,500 students will learn how to reduce, reuse, recycle and compost--new habits that will protect the environment in the years to come. We are proud of the remarkable effectiveness of the TrashFree Lunch Challenge and its continued growth, said Grace Robinson Chan, Sanitation Districts Chief Engineer and General Manager. This year’s Challenge will bring the number of students who’ve been educated on waste reduction to more than 30,000. Participating schools will ask students to eliminate trash by using reusable lunch containers, reusable water bottles and cloth
See FOSTER page 8
La Mirada City Council Recognizes Sheriff’s Lieutenant By Brian Hews
The La Mirada City Council recognized Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department Lieutenant Pat Valdez, right with Mayor Stephen DeRuse, for his service to the community at Tuesday’s Council meeting.
Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors Honor Saint Linus Catholic School in Norwalk
The La Mirada City Council recognized Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department Lieutenant Pat Valdez for his service to the community at Tuesday’s Council meeting. Lt. Valdez served as La Mirada’s Service Area Lieutenant (SAL) since 2008 before accepting the position of Operations Lieutenant at the Pico Rivera Sheriff’s Station recently. As La Mirada’s SAL, Lt. Valdez oversaw a staff of over 35 Deputies, including Detectives, Special Assignment Officer team members, and civilian staff. During Lt. Valdez’s tenure as SAL, the City experienced a reduction in crime of over 37 percent. In addition to his proactive enforcement strategies, Lt. Valdez worked to increase community involvement in the City’s public safety programs, holding numerous Neighborhood Watch
See AWARD page 8
California State Controller Orders Cerritos to Sell $170 Million in City Property
By Brian Hews
Sister Catherine Casey, Reverend Anthony (Tony) Gomez and Los Angeles County Supervisor Don Knabe at this week’s meeting. St. Linus Catholic School was officially honored with a Resolution Scroll in honor of their 50th Anniversary and “outstanding contribution to the community.” Randy Economy Photo
VOL. 2, NO. 9
Los Angeles County Supervisor Don Knabe officially presented St. Linus Catholic School in Norwalk a Resolution Scroll in honor of their 50th Anniversary this past Tuesday during a meeting of the Board of Supervisors in Downtown Los Angeles. Supervisor Knabe touted the efforts of St. Linus School for providing “five decades of high quality Catholic education for literally thousands of students.” Accepting the Scroll was The Reverend Anthony (Tony) Gomez and Sister Catherine Casey who serves as the Princi-
See ST. LINUS page 8
REPORT CALLS INTO QUESTION ACTIONS BY CITY COUNCIL, CITY OFFICIALS, AND THE OVERSIGHT BOARD FOR “UNALLOWABLE TRANSFERS” OF PROPERTY AND CASH. By Randy Economy and Brian Hews
I
n a devastating blow that will send shockwaves across the city of Cerritos, Hews Media Group-Community News obtained the California State Controller’s Office (SCO) review on Tuesday confirming that transfers recorded by the Cerritos City
Council and the Cerritos Redevelopment Agency were unallowable under ABX1 26, and the city must return over $170 million in property and cash to the Successor Agency. Land named in the report include some of the crown jewels of Cerritos: the Los Cerritos Center, the Cerritos Auto Mall, the Cerritos Towne Center, Sheraton Hotel, B & B Stables, Liberty Park and several other parcels. The City must forfeit all proceeds from any sales and also future rents to the State of California. ABX1 26 was passed in January 2011 eliminating Redevel-
See CERRITOS page 8
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OCTOBER 11, 2013
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FOSTER
Continued from page 1 napkins. All students, including those who buy lunch, will be taught how to sort waste for recycling and composting. The competition got underway October 2; representatives from each school will attend a training session and tour of the Sanitation Districts’ Puente Hills Landfill and Materials Recovery Facility. Once the competing schools implement their Trash-Free Lunch programs, Grades of Green selects three finalists through an application process. A panel of environmental experts and other judges will evaluate the implementation and success of the three finalists’ programs. The winning school will receive a Grand Prize of a $1,000 education grant. The secondand third-place schools will receive $750 and $500, respectively. Last year’s Grand Prize was awarded to Lunada Bay Elementary School in Palos Verdes Estates, which succeeded in reducing its lunchtime trash by 87.5%. Though the deadline has passed to compete in this year’s Trash-Free Lunch Challenge, any school may still initiate a Trash-Free Lunch program. Complete instructions are available at no cost to schools at www.gradesofgreen.org/initiatives/trash-redux/trash-free-tuesdays. Additional sponsors of the TrashFree Lunch Challenge include the City of Santa Monica, Johnson Ohana Charitable Foundation, Don Knabe of the L.A. County Board of Supervisors-Fourth District, LAcarGUY, Warner Bros., and Wean Green. Chevron provides the education grants.
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AWARD
Continued from page 1 meetings to personally address residents’ concerns with crime and build trust between the community and the La Mirada Public Safety Team. Prior to becoming La Mirada’s SAL, Lt. Valdez worked as a Detective in the Major Crimes Bureau at the Lynwood and Pico Rivera Sheriff’s Stations, participating in high profile cases investigating robberies, kidnappings and extortions.
ST. LINUS
Continued from page 1 pal and Administrator at the Shoemaker Avenue based campus. Fr. Tony thanked Supervisor Knabe for the recognition as well as other members of the Board of Supervisors. “We have been blessed to have been here in the Norwalk community for 50 years, and today’s recognition is truly humbling,” Gomez said. Sister Catherine also publicly thanked Supervisor Knabe during her formal remarks. “St. Linus Catholic School is a community within our community Sister Catherine also publicly thanked Supervisor Knabe during her formal remarks. “St. Linus Catholic School is a community within our community and families are always welcomed to visit us to see what we can offer to the children and parents who want a quality and outstanding Catholic education,” she later told Hews Media Group-Community Newspaper. Attending the special presentation was
Norwalk Mayor Luigi Vernola, Downey Mayor Mario Guerra, Norwalk City Councilman Mike Mendez, St. Linus Parish Council Member and Advisory School Board Member Randy Economy and members of the faculty and staff at the school and church. This weekend St. Linus Catholic Church will be holding their annual Festival with three days of food, entertainment, bingo, game booths at the church located at 13915 Shoemaker Avenue in Norwalk.
CERRITOS
Continued from page 1 opment Agencies in California. Under the bill, any assets transferred after the effective date must be returned to the Successor Agency. The ruling demands city officials in Cerritos to sell the properties under the Health and Safety Code Section 34177 (d) (e) with the money disbursed to local taxing agencies. “This is a devastating blow to the city,” said one local Commissioner who did not want to be identified, “ to lose the land and rental income is a huge loss.” The Asset Transfer Review Report was issued by Controller John Chiang and received by Cerritos City Manager Art Gallucci via Certified Mail October 8. The review covered January 2011 to January 2012. HMG-CN obtained the report exclusively that same day. In the report, Jeffrey V. Brownfield, Chief Division of Audits for the State Controller’s officer, informed Cerritos officials that the Cerritos Redevelopment Agency transferred $210,774,198 in assets after January 1, 2011 including unallowable transfers of assets totaling $170,836,440 or 81.05% of the transferred assets. “Those
TO ADVERTISE CALL 800-901-7211 assets must be returned at the Successor Agency to be disposed of as expeditiously as possible and in a manner aimed at maximizing value,” Brownfield said. According to sources, the review team for the SCO spent almost a year in Cerritos performing interviews with Successor Agency personnel; reviewing meetings, minutes, resolutions, and ordinances of the Council, the RDA and the Cerritos Housing Authority; reviewing accounting records; and reviewing financial reports. The SCO issued the initial report Aug. 2, 2013, which was reviewed by Cerritos City Attorney Mark Steres. Steres responded by letter dated Sept. 13, 2013, disagreeing with the review results. The SCO Oct. 8, 2013 report disagreed with all of Steres’ arguments and ordered the City to return the $170 million to the Successor Agency. Findings by the Controller The report goes on in great detail describing the unallowable transfers via financial records obtained during the review. The most egregious transfers occurred during the Mar. 24, 2011 Cerritos City Council meeting where the Council and the RDA approved the sale and transfer of properties to the City amounting to over $120 million. The City Council at the time consisted of Mayor Carol Chen, Mayor pro tem Bruce Barrows, Mark Pulido, Joseph Cho, and Jim Edwards. The first sale of properties within the RDA had a book value of over $75 million with the Council approving purchase by the city of $11 million, eliminating over $64 million because of a “decline in value.” The City argued the value of the land dropped a staggering 85%. The land included in the sale consisted of the Cerritos Towne Center and three
Continued on next page
TO ADVERTISE CALL 800-901-7211 dealerships at the Auto Mall- KIA, Land Rover/Jaguar, and Lincoln Station. “That is very suspect,” said one former Mayor of a local city and former California Contract Cities Association President who did not want to be named, “it looks like they tried to transfer the property worth $75 million and buy it for $11 million and keep all the rental income.” The Cerritos Council and the RDA then approved the transfer of over $45 million in book value assets to the City for zero dollar value. That land included the Cerritos Center for the Performing Arts, the former ROP building, B&B Stables, and Milliken Medical. The City Attorney attempted to argue for the transfers, but was soundly rebuffed by the SCO. Another unallowable transfer occurred during the January 26, 2012 Cerritos City Council meeting. The Council approved the sale of future ground rents (years 20122087) from certain Towne Center and Auto Mall properties to the City in the amount of $28 million. Conflict of interest questions were brought forward concerning members of the Oversight Board to the Successor Agency and the approved transfers. Under the direction of the Oversight Board, redevelopment agencies were required to establish a Successor Agency, which would be charged with handling any outstanding debts and winding down the activities of the former redevelopment agencies. The Oversight Board consists of Chairman and former Cerritos Mayor Jim Edwards who was a councilmember during the unallowable transfers, Vice Chair and former Cerritos Mayor Barry Rabbitt, Secretary and Cerritos City Clerk Vida Barone, former Cerritos Finance Director Becky Lingad, current Assistant City Manager
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OCTOBER 11, 2013
Kathy Matsumoto, Director of the Business Services Office for Cerritos College David L. Fattahl, Toan Nguyen, CFO of the ABCUSD, and David Mochiuki. Jacob Roper, spokesman for California State Controller John Chiang confirmed to HMG-CN late Wednesday afternoon that officials in Cerritos must transfer the assets to the Cerritos Assessor Agency “immediately.” “The law is clear, Cerritos needs to comply with the order and the report immediately,” Roper said. “If they don’t comply, a legal order was built into the law to compel Cerritos officials comply with the review,” Roper added, “litigation will not stop the process.” A copy of the report can be found online at www.loscerritosnews.net
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La Mirada Symphony Season Opener Oct. 20 The La Mirada Symphony will host its first concert of the season on Sunday, Oct. 20, at 3 p.m. at the La Mirada Theatre for the Performing Arts. Something New, Something Borrowed, Something Blue will feature Dr. Robert Frelly conducting a varied program of modern and classic pieces beginning with John Adams’ Short Ride on a Fast Machine and ending with Overture to William Tell. The highlight of the program will be Gershwin’s Rhapsody in Blue performed by acclaimed pianist, Grace Fong. Ms. Fong has performed across the globe, from the Disney Concert Hall to major cathedrals and concert halls throughout Europe. Admission is free, with a $5 donation suggested. Visit lamiradasymphony.com for more information.
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