Biting the hand.....

According to a fellow named Dan at the San Gabriel Valley Tribune, Councilman Steve Herfert is feeling sick these days.

And no, it has nothing to do with him being out of shape, or horrid blond dye seeping into his skull. It has to do with an $8 million deficit in the city budget and the fact the city may start paying full medical benefits to to public safety, such as cops and firefighters.

I may or may not agree with that. I haven't made up my mind; all I know is my wife works at a University and her medical care is completely covered by her employer, but when we got married, we had to pay for myself and our kids. However, that sum was EXTREMELY low. Hey, my wife and I push papers around all day. What the guys do for the police and fire departments is much harder, I'm sure.

Whether you agree with the contract is not exactly the point of this rant. It has more to do with the fact that the police and fire departments ENDORSED Steve Herfert in the last election. Cops were even going door-to-door wearing polo shirts with embroidered badges dropping off his material. But not only that, they went on full-scale attack mode against Herfert's opponent/nemesis Councilman Roger Hernandez in the last days of the election.

Now, I don't mind Herfert's stance at all with regard to the benefits of public safety, but I do fault him for saying "I felt kind of sick when I saw the contract," after they worked so hard to get his sorry ass elected.

No gasin' and boozin' in West Covina

In a complete surprise turn of events, the City Council shot down a proposal to repeal an ordinance that prohibits the sale of alcohol at gas stations.

What? The City Council listened to the residents for once?

I know. I was shocked, too.

Councilman Mike Touhey requested the proposal the same night his client, McIntyre Companies, won approval to build a brand-new gas station. After hearing a bunch of people speak against it, four members of the City Council rejected it at a special meeting, to which Touhey did not attend.

Oh my, my, my. Is there a breaking in the ranks? I seriously doubt it. I just figured the three members of the council who always seem to sway Touhey's way finally realized that VOTERS put them in office in the first place.

Good job thinking for yourselves, guys. I hope it didn't hurt your head too much.

...In Bloom

It's been a pretty slow week for posts because it's been hectic at work and home. But I want to take this opportunity to actually PROMOTE something POSITIVE in the city.

For years, the Cherry Blossom Festival has been a favorite of mine and my family. This year, it is taking place on Saturday, April 26 at the Civic Center Courtyard. If you've never gone, you must. There's delicious food, entertainment and it's a very, very inexpensive way to keep the kids entertained. It runs from noon to 6 p.m.

I hope the weather cooperates because there is rarely a more beautiful event hosted by the city. Maybe because it's in conjunction with the East San Gabriel Valley Japanese Community Center.

Oh Brother...

Take out your keys, cell phones, spare change and paper clips out of your pockets and purses: Our City is buying metal detectors.

Yes, yes.

To uphold this weirdo ordinance that prohibits retired and off-duty police officers from carrying their weapons in City Hall, the city will be purchasing metal detectors. This passed on a 3-2 vote with Councilman Touhey and Mayor Pro Tem Hernandez voting against it -- Touhey because he's a lifelong member of the NRA, and Hernandez because he just doesn't feel right about taking the rights away from retired and off-duty peace officers. He calls it "bad public policy." In fact, he went so far as to say he believes this ordinance was brought about specifically because of Fredrick Sykes. (read my post about this here).

But I digress.

The City is buying the metal detectors, even though the council didn't vote on that. According to City Manager Andrew Pasmant, it was an administrative decision.

Give. Me. A. Break.

Booze, booze, booze

OK. So I promised a post about booze and I'm a little late. But before I start, I'd like to thank a reader from Arlington, VA who suggested I choose a layout a little less like the North Korean flag and enable it so anonymous users could comment on the posts. I thought I did, but I didn't. I apologize. Everyone: Have At It!

So on with booze.

The Planning Commission heard arguments on April 8 against the proposed repeal of a years long ordinance that prohibits the sale of alcohol at gas stations. This comes after the City Council voted to approve a gas station built by Councilman Mike Touhey's well-known developer client. I wrote a post about this already here.

Now we hear from Herb Redholtz, the planning commissioner who is totally gunning for council in four years (not two because his besest friends foreverest Touhey, Sherri Lane and Shelley Sanderson will likely be running for re-election), that the owner of the gas station swears no booze will be sold at his station.

I guess it's a wait and see game. But at this point, most speakers are against this repeal, throwing out all these stats like there's already like 140 places to buy booze in the city, and repealing the ordinance would include 14 more.

The matter is going back to the council because it came from the council, but according to the commissioners, none of them really agree with it.

So... who wants to bet you'll be able to get a six-pack with your top off?

Come to think of it, after paying 4 bucks a gallon, it doesn't seem such a bad idea to take the edge off.

Case Closed

Looks like Carlos Thrasher won't be facing jail time after all.

That's got to be a relief. Also in this story it claims our Mad Scientist Steve Herfert was also investigated by the DA's office for conflict of interest. Where was the media on THAT one? When Roger Hernandez was investigated, and no charges were filed and the case thrown out, the local press treated it like Watergate!

Oh well. That was a few years ago. Maybe their staff was beefier or better or both. Who cares?

What I do care about is booze... Watch out for the second post on that subject later in the day.

Law & Order: CWC

Today marks the first day in the trial of former Planning Commissioner Carlos Thrasher.

Look at him here. This guy has seen it all and his allegiance to his country is definitely not in question in this trial.

What is in question, however, is whether he exercised his power on the Planning Commission to "get back" at his former landlord.

Carlos and his company stayed in an office building owned by Ziad Alhassen. That guy owns everything, including almost every dealership on Auto Row. But Carlos got deployed, couldn't pay the rent and Alhassen wanted the money back. In return, Carlos allegedly spearheaded a vote against an Alhassen development when he was on the planning commission. He's also accused of failing to disclose on his conflict of interest forms that he even owed about $17k or whatever to Alhassen. That, I guess, is against the law.

I guess we'll see what happens now. I haven't necessarily formed an opinion yet, mostly because I'm not keen on the laws. I am upset, however, that we -- you, me, her, him -- are paying this guy's legal bills even though he's no longer a commissioner. The Four Bosom Buddies on the council thought we should be paying his bills, even though we are facing a severe budget deficit and have paid through the nose already for legal fees on other issues.

Do you think that's fair?