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Former Arcadia cop busted for embezzlement of POA funds
Rosemead Reader Monrovia WEEKLY Temple MONDAY, OCTOBER 07 - OCTOBER 13, 2013 VOLUME 18, NO. 40
Monday Edition of the
CITY
Tribune
Demise of Dammeier law offices leaves outstanding suits against San Gabriel
Please see page 5
Monrovia school board candidate forum set The Monrovia-Duarte P.T.A. Council has joined the Monrovia Teachers Association to sponsor a candidate forum for those running for the school board. The forum will be held on Thursday October 10 at 7 p.m. in the Board Room at the District Office, 325 E. Huntington Drive in Monrovia. According to Ann Battle of the MTA, the League of Women Voters will moderate the forum and will be taking questions from the audience at the time of the forum. This newspaper has requested statements from each of the candidates and will run those next week in our October 10th edition.
Governor Brown signs immigrants driver licenses bill into law “This is only the first step.”
Suspect was a six year veteran of APD. -Courtesy Photo
On Tuesday, September 24, 2013, investigators from the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office obtained a felony arrest warrant for former Arcadia Police Officer Christian Blesch, 36, charging Grand Theft. The warrant was the result of an on-going criminal investigation into allegations that Blesch, a six-year employee of the department, feloniously stole money from the Arcadia Police Officers’
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Dieter Dammeier, left, of the defunct law offices of Lackie, Dammeier, McGill & Ethir, represented the POA in the more than 10 legal filings it levied against the city. He said the San Gabriel lawsuits will be probably be transferred to another firm. -Photo by Terry Miller
BY SHEL SEGAL With the recent collapse of the Dammeier law firm in Upland, it is unclear how the courts will procede with two outstanding lawsuits between two San Gabriel public safety unions and the city of San Gabriel. These two lawsuits are holdovers from an intense period in the city’s history
a few years back when there was much fighting going on between City Hall and the San Gabriel police and firefighters unions. According to a published report, one lawsuit was filed in federal court by a firefighter who alleged he was passed up for a promotion. That case was heading to trial on Oct. 8, but will not be delayed.
Arcadia Police seeking help locating missing woman Ms. Williams was reported missing on October 1, 2013. She last spoke to relatives on September 25, 2013, and was believed headed to class at Pasadena City College, Pasadena CA. Ms. Williams resides in La Puente, CA, and has no vehicle or cell phone. Relatives say the subject has gone missing in the past, as recently as June, but not for this duration. Inquiries with area hospitals and other facilities have been fruitless. Ms. Williams Please see page 5
Gale Ann Williams F/African-American, 22 years old 5-09/130, med length brown curly hair, Brown eyes, Black/blue top, black leggings
The second lawsuit was from the San Gabriel Police Officers’ Association that alleged the city misspent money from the retirement fund, the report said. As was the case with the first lawsuit, this one will most likely be delayed, Scott Grossberg, special counsel for the city of San Gabriel said the undoing of Dammeier will stop these
cases from going forward for now. “It’s going to delay any final resolutions because at the moment we do not have any actual representation for any of the parties,” Grossberg said. “All of this is an ever-evolving situation. Some of this is up to the federal court in one case and a Please see page 4
Gov. Jerry Brown signed a bill Thursday adding California to the list of states allowing immigrants living in the country illegally to obtain driver's licenses. Immigrant advocates have long lobbied for the change in the state. The licenses would carry a distinction on the front of the card that states the document may be used for driving, not as federal identification. "This is only the first step," Brown said outside City Hall in Los Angeles Thursday. "When a million people without their documents drive legally and with respect in the state of California, the rest of this country will have to stand up and take notice. No longer are undocumented people in the shadows."
Museum education center breaks ceremonial ground Sunday BY TERRY MILLER Arcadia City Council and the Arcadia Historical Museum Foundation performed a ceremonial ground breaking Sunday evening on the construction of a new Museum Education Center to be built between the Arcadia Community Center and the Gilb Museum of Arcadia Heritage. Hundreds of guest showed up to support Floretta Lauber’s long-time dream of this new education center which is slated for completion Please see page 6
–Photo by Terry Miller