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Monday, august 9 - august 15 , 2010 Volume III, No. XXXII
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After the Bell Tolls: National Night Out and Energy Efficiency Area Cities Top Salaries and Conservation Fair Come to Light By Terry Miller
Quite unlike the famous Hemmingway novel which describes in graphic detail the horrors of the civil war, the Bell Controversy is extremely disturbing on a far different level but does show how the horrors and inequity of our government can deeply affect those it is entrusted to provide for. In the wake this contemptible controversy, local cities are feeling the heat to disclose top officials’ salaries hoping to avert any potential fallout like the embattled Bell. Distrust of politicians and the way their cities are run is not a new phe-
Pasadena City Manager Michael Beck’s annual salary is the highest in the immediate area at about $265,000 - Photo by Terry Miller
nomenon but the national attention Bell has received has opened the floodgates for transparency at the highest levels. Former Bell City Manager Robert Rizzo, was making close to $800,000. Rizzo, after media and public pressure, resigned in disgrace last month. Bell is known as one of the poorest California cities and therefore even more vulgar that the city manager pocketed a salary twice that of the President of the United States. It is not only the salaries and benefit s t hat caught t he media high intensity spotlight, it was the bonuses and numerous perks afforded that city council. In an effort to garner trust, media outlets across California, including this newspaper group, filed official records requests with local cities for similar information for all senior staff. B e a c on Me d i a r e quested local cities provide documents involving key employees of each City/ District/Agency for the calendar year ending 12/31/2009 pursuant to the CA Supreme Court decision S134253.
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The Los Angeles Copunty Sheriff’s Posse was one of the big hits with children of all ages at the National Night out Tuesday. - Photos by Terry Miller
T
emple Sheriff’s station and the city of Temple City cohosted a community celebration against crime at Temple City Park Tuesday, August 3 as part of National Night Out. There was free child fingerprinting, hot dogs, soda, chips, along with music, a jump house and educational booths of all kinds to keep everyone occupied. The National Association of Town Watch ( NAT W ) a nd Temple City sponsored the 27th Annual National Night Out
Jeri Curl To Perform in Temple City Temple City Park will welcome to the Performing Arts Pavilion, JERI CURL on Wednesday, August 11 at 7 p.m. Complete with elaborate costumes, slick choreography and a nostalgic evening that you won’t forget, JERI CURL plays tribute to the funkier side of the early 80s. Band members, Jelly Bean, Morris Night, L.L. Fool J and Sheila He will entertain
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(NNO) crime prevention event to promote sheriffcommunity partnerships, safety, violence prevention and neighborhood unity. The event is put on in cities t hroughout t he United States each year. An estimated 35 million people in more than 11,000 communities participated in a variety of events and activities and “Give Neighborhood Crime and Drugs a Going Away Party.” NATW asked residents turn on their porch lights to show your solidarity for the programs that help neigh-
borhoods safe. The City of Temple City also hosted an Energy Fair in conjunction with the National Night Out. The Energ y Eff iciency and Conservation proved g iveaways t o promot e con ser va t ion and information booths. Residents learned how t o reduce energ y a nd create less greenhouse gas emissions which is better for our environment and save on energy costs. A special E -waste collect ion was also available. Some of the giveaways included water
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My First Week in the Land Down Under By Carrington Taylor
The first personal account in a series of six from the Temple City excange students for Sister Cities
A
s all six of us kids, who were chosen to go on this amazing trip to Australia for an entire four weeks, drove off down the street headed to LAX, we waved our parents a last goodbye. We all began to look at each other
and ask, “Has it hit you yet that we are going to Australia?” All of us agreed that it had not, and that we would probably realize once we were on the plane. On the ride over to LAX, of course one person had to panic about whether they had packed everything. Therefore, we pulled over and Dana Tran quickly jumped out of the car to make sure everything was
in her bag, and of course it was. After our short stop, we were all ready to hit the road on our crazy journey to Australia. The best part of the car ride was reading a letter to all of us six kids, from Jennifer Der. She was so nice and thoughtful to think about us and the letter gave us some amazing advice and encouragement to have an unforgettable
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