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IT’S YOUR PAPER www.claytonpioneer.com
January 23, 2009
925.672.0500
Veggie stands limited to six times a year TAMARA STEINER Clayton Pioneer
JULIE PIERCE
MAYOR’S CORNER
Council members casting a wide net In addition to the two regular City Council meeting we have every month, your council members also serve on numerous city and countywide committees and boards. I thought you might want to know more about some of our other responsibilities. As mayor, in consultation with my colleagues Vice Mayor Hank Stratford and Councilmen David Shuey, Joe Medrano and Howard Geller, I made the appointments at the beginning of the year. The complete list of assignments can be reviewed on the city’s Website at www.ci.clayton.ca.us under the City Council tab. Here are some of the subcommittees addressing issues within Clayton:
City Council has approved a change to the municipal code that treats home vegetable stands and garage sales as outdoor personal property sales and allows them up to six times a year. The new code should put an end to Clayton’s veg-
gie stand controversy. The issue heated up last summer when the Lewis family set up a stand in the driveway to sell the produce grown in their home vegetable garden at the corner of Mitchell Canyon and Pine Hollow roads. When a neighbor complained, the city determined that the stand was a
concerns about the quality of life in the neighborhood. While the Lewis family saw their garden as a teaching tool, Van Brusselen, who lives across the street, saw it as “an eyesore.” The Lewises saw their girls as entrepreneurs; Van Brusselen objected to the increased traffic.
See Muni Code, page 4
Locals honored for making a difference DENISEN HARTLOVE Clayton Pioneer
Residents of Concord and Clayton came together on Jan. 13 to honor recipients of the 22nd annual Concord Human Relations Commission awards, given for contributions that have improved the quality of life in the community. Clayton resident Jay Bedecarré was given a Lifetime Achievement Award for his work promoting youth sports. Hans Wiesendanger received the Random Act of Kindness Award for his work on the meditation gardens on the grounds of St. Bonaventure Catholic Church at the Concord-Clayton border. Bedecarré is not the average soccer dad. Since their eldest son started Little League 15 years ago, he and his wife Jill, who died in June 2007, brought volunteering in youth sports to a new level. “I remember the very first time I signed my oldest son up for Little League. I cringed at the idea of telling my wife about it – she just didn’t have a sports orientation,” said Bedecarré, who has a lifelong love of sports. “But the first game we went to for our first child, she turned the corner. The whole family got involved.”
Hank and I work with staff on the budget subcommittee to prepare the draft budget for the next fiscal year. The full council will hold several added meetings for budget review in the spring. Hank is our council liaison to the Citizens Corps Council. This is the group of citizen volunteers who coordinate the Community Emergency Response Team (CERT) training. We now have more than 100 Clayton residents trained (including Hank and me – soon the whole council) and they are working hard to make the training available to all residents who want to participate. Check it out at ClaytonCERT.org. Joe and I will co-chair the “Clayton Counts Down” New Year’s Eve Committee and plan the community party for our families this next year. Tamara Steiner/Clayton Pioneer
See Mayor, page 16
business activity prohibited in a residential neighborhood and shut it down, touching off a controversy that would, by fall, make the network news. At odds were Michael and Jennifer Lewis’ efforts to teach their two young girls, Katie and Sabrina, then 11 and 3, where food comes from and how it gets to the table and John Van Brusselen’s
JAY BEDECARRÉ received the Concord Human Relation Commission’s Lifetime Achievement Award for his work with youth sports.
DEVELOPING THE CONCORD CUP For most, volunteering in youth sports means putting together a carpool or working at the snack shack for the hours required to offset registration fees. The Bedecarrés, however, took volunteering much further. Almost immediately, they were involved in putting together the first Concord Cup youth soccer tournament – now in its 15th year. That first year, the Concord Cup hosted 47 soccer teams from leagues
throughout the area in an intra-league tournament. Bedecarré, who has a background in marketing sports events, was given the task of inviting leagues to participate. He described his naiveté at the task at hand: “What I didn’t know was that they generally didn’t get along with one another.” Bern Kurtz, another of the cup’s original committee members, remembers the initial strife amongst the leagues. “Everyone was just so into protecting their own turf and fighting with each other over which kids would play in which program,” he said. Kurtz credits Bedecarré’s unflappability for his success in getting the groups to work together. “He’s low-key, calm, reasonable. He tried to push the common benefits that would come out of this.” Bedecarré’s hard work has paid off for the entire community. Since 1994, participation in the tournament has grown. Some years have had more than 100 teams participating. Teams pay a fee to enter; after expenses are paid, the funds go back to the leagues that sponsored the event. Since 1994, more than $100,000 has been donated to sports leagues in the community. Janis Hoyt, chair of the Human Relations Commission, nominated Bedecarré for the award. She described him as a motivator of others to do good things. “He has so many connections in the community that he rallies people for a good cause,” she said. “It’s something as simple as sending a note that says, ‘Come join us.’ ” SPREADING THE GOOD DEEDS The Dana Hills Swim Team, the
See Honors, page 3
Clayton’s new officer believes in community involvement ANDRÉ GENSBURGER Clayton Pioneer
Officer Alan Pike, Clayton’s newest officer, brings with him a wealth of community experiences from his time as a stockbroker to his role on the Rio Vista police force, a job he compares to his expectations of Clayton. Pike likes the “community-oriented policing issues – partnerships between the community and local law enforcement” and sees that as an integral component in smaller cities like Clayton. As such, he is looking forward to becoming familiar with downtown merchants and residents and getting a solid feel of the town. He considers himself a people person, able to fulfill his law enforcement role when needed, but, as he explains it, “in 11 years I haven’t had to get too aggressive and I like that.”
What’s Inside Around Town . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .2 Upcoming Events . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .3
The community wants to know that the police force is there, he pointed out. “Smaller agencies allow the officers time to respond to calls for service,” Pike explained. “There is a time to educate. We have access to resources and that is a nice feeling to be able to help like that in your community. In Rio Vista, even though I did not live in the community, I felt a part of it.” Pike described that connection with the 50-100 calls he gets each month asking if he is on duty. He joined the Reserve Academy at Los Medanos with the Concord Police Department while he was still a stockbroker in 1996-’97. He worked the early hours on his stocks and then “rolled late in the day.” In July 1999, he joined the Rio Vista Police until the Clayton assignment came along, bringing him closer to family. Married for 23 years, Pike reports that
his wife is thrilled with the new assignment. Their two children are almost grown, with a son in college in Southern California and a daughter attending high school. Fun involves getting away whenever they can, trips to the Santa Barbara coast and Tahoe, where they owned a cabin prior to cashing it out for college funding. “That’s why we bought it,” Pike said. He also has a retired 1999 highway patrol BMW motorcycle with original colors. “It affords me the fun of the mountains and cruising town,” he said. During his first week, Pike has been getting introductions throughout the department before continued orientations with different officers. “This was a pleasant opportunity that presented itself,” he added. “I don’t plan on retiring anytime soon; however, I do plan to finish out my law enforcement career in Clayton.”
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André Gensburger/Clayton Pioneer
NEW
CLAYTON
COP,
Alan Pike, finds off-duty fun on his 1999 CHP motorcycle
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