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January 31, 2014
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CV Charter looks to expand for 2014-15 school year Improved academics, test scores, attracting students from public, private schools JAY BEDECARRÉ Clayton Pioneer
The parking lot at Centre Concord will be overflowing Tuesday evening
and the action inside will be high stakes for many local families. Clayton Valley Charter High School rented the facility in order to hold a lottery drawing to determine the priority of acceptance for about 1,000 students who have applied to enroll at the Concord school for the 2014-15 school year. In order to accommodate as many
applicants as possible Executive Director Dave Linzey and his Clayton Valley Charter staff and governing board have developed plans that would allow the school to increase its total enrollment from just under 2,000 currently to 2,300 for the new school year, which begins Aug. 13. Ironically, those plans to add 300 students potentially could displace almost an identical number of
Clayton Valley Little League players who have used two ballfields on the Concord campus for exactly 40 years. (See story, page 10.) 'BUILD IT AND THEY WILL COME' Space on the CVCHS campus off Academy Rd. housing the local youth baseball league’s Major and Minor B division ballparks seems the prime can-
didate for locating new classrooms. That land could be used to place 10 portable classrooms this summer making it possible for the increased high school student body needs. “We are pursuing options to expand our campus,” Linzey said in explaining that no final decisions have been reached.
See CVCHS page 7
Bocce park rolls towards approval HANK STRATFORD
MAYOR’S CORNER
Council zeroes in on traffic safety, recycling It’s a new year, so we’ve set new resolutions at the city council. We recently held the annual Clayton City Council/City Manager goal-setting session. Each year we review our list of work in progress. We decide what items we, as a city, want to continue to work on, what items have been completed, and what no longer needs our attention. We also add new goals to the list. One of the items that stays on the list each year is to “Increase Traffic
GATES +ASSOCIATES
A FOUR-COURT BOCCE PARK PROPOSED FOR THE CORNER OF MAIN AND OAK STREETS IS EXPECTED TO PROVIDE a much-needed kick start to Clayton’s commercial district by mid-summer. The Ipsen Family Bocce Park is a major “give back” to the community, says Skipolini founder Skip Ipsen.
See Mayor page 6 TAMARA STEINER Clayton Pioneer
Barring any last minute surprises, the Clayton Planning Commission was expected to approve a four-court bocce park for the corner of Main and Oak Streets last Tuesday. The park is part of a major remodel project for Skipolini’s Pizza which will include a bigger
No common ground for Common Core PEGGY SPEAR Clayton Pioneer
[Editor’s Note: This is the second in an ongoing series about Common Core, the new public school curriculum.] With just a semester left before California students encounter Common Core State Standards in their classrooms, educators are scrambling to develop lesson plans, opponents are organizing to stop it and parents are scratching their heads in confusion. By now, most parents are at least familiar with the term, as local schools and the Mt. Diablo Unified School District have held informational meetings about the curriculum change. Common Core was adopted by state legislatures in most states across the country to “modernize” education and share state standards. Forty-five states and the District of Columbia will share K-12 goals, which include more relevant lessons
See Common
Core pg 6
kitchen, new outdoor lighting, playground and upgrades to the patio. “We’ve wanted for a long time to give something back to the town that has been so good to us,” said Skipolini’s owner Kent Ipsen. The family-owned business first opened on Main Street in 1974 and now includes six locations in Northern California. The Ipsen Family Bocce Park has
had wide support from local merchants and the Clayton Business and Community Association. According to city staff, there has been no opposition. “We’ve had no emails, no letters and no phone calls,” said Community Development Director Charlie Mullens. There were no objections to the project at the first public hearing on Jan. 14. Local merchants are hoping the
bocce park will generate some muchneeded economic energy to the town. “Anything that brings people downtown is good,” says Steve Barton, owner of the Clayton Club Saloon. The bocce park will encourage pedestrian traffic downtown, a goal consistent with the Town Center Specific Plan.
See Bocce page 3
CVHS grad returns home to wrestle with city finances TAMARA STEINER Clayton Pioneer
A tall, dark haired, wiry kid with a big, wide grin who spent his senior year in high school wrestling his fellow jocks to the mat is back in town. And he has Clayton’s chart of accounts in a half-Nelson at City Hall. Kevin Mizuno, a 2004 Clayton Valley High alum and recipient of the Pete Laurence Wrestling Scholarship, is the city of Clayton’s new Finance Manager, replacing Merry Pelletier who retired in December. Mizuno’s first course of business, he says, is to plow through the city’s long chart of accounts, learn a bit about the history and figure out all the “sticky notes” left behind. In 2010, the city purchased a new accounting software package and the transition was complicated. The training was limited and resources were low. The city fell behind and is just now complet-
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ing the audit and reporting for fiscal year 2013. Mizuno expects to present the final audit at the Feb. 4 city council meeting. Although only 27, Mizuno comes to the city well prepared from a four-year stint as an audit manager for municipal and public agency accounts with Vavrinek, Trine, Day & Co., a large regional public accounting firm. “We’re very excited to have Kevin working with the city,” says Mayor Hank Stratford. “His previous experience auditing government entities and the fact that he is a CPA will be great assets to Clayton.” Stratford is himself a certified public accountant. Pete Laurence, a former city councilman and mayor of Clayton and sponsor of the CVHS wrestling scholarship, remembers Mizuno as a “standout” wrestler and student. “Wrestling builds character,” says Laurence. “You can’t be a quitter or a wimp. And it’s all about the team. We’re fortu-
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nate that Kevin is bringing those qualities and dedication back to his hometown. We expect him to do a great job.” Mizuno holds a BS in Business Administration and Accounting from San Diego State University with a minor in German. During his senior year, he served a professional internship in Stuttgart. Mizuno lives in Concord with his wife, Katrina, a pediatrics RN in ICU at Kaiser Hospital in Oakland. They plan to move to Clayton soon to begin their family. Along with hiking the local trails, the pair loves adrenalin charged fun – bungee jumping and skydiving top the list. They travel as much as their schedules will permit, most recently spending the first week in January in Peru with family. Mizuno’s mother lives in the family home in Jeffry Ranch in Clayton. His father died in 2009. He has two sisters, Stefanie and Debbie, both graduates of Clayton Valley High.
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Tamara Steiner
KEVIN MIZUNO CLAYTON FINANCE MANAGER
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