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August 6, 2010
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Old Bettencourt Ranch to be added to EBRPD Black Diamond Preserve TAMARA STEINER Clayton Pioneer
HANK STRATFORD
MAYOR’S CORNER Hoping to clarify some common questions For this column, I thought I would try to clear up some misconceptions or at least clarify some city-related issues. In case anyone is wondering, our City Council is not paid the same as the City Council of Bell. Unlike the city of Bell, our council members receive $390 per month. Once you consider the time spent preparing for and attending monthly meetings, the cost of travel to the meetings held outside of Clayton, and the time spent on email and other correspondence, you quickly realize that no one serves on the council for the money. Speaking of money, have you wondered what happens to the large sum of money you pay
See Mayor, page 6
New program directors at Clayton gym learning from the community JAY BEDECARRÉ Clayton Pioneer
Due to a late start in scheduling and marketing their summer programs, the new operators of the recreation program at Clayton Community Gym report they’ve had an up and down response to their initial camp and league offerings. All the while, the All Out Sports crew is learning from the experience and making plans for more programs – not only in recreation but also for educational enrichment. “The support and encouragement from the community has been outstanding,” All Out
Photo credit: David Ogden, Save Mt. Diablo
EBRPD HAS PURCHASED THE OLD BETTENCOURT RANCH IN CLAYTON FOR $2.76 MILLION. The 462-acre ranch, shown in the foreground, adjoins Irish Canyon which was recently acquired by Save Mt. Diablo and will also become part of EBRPD. This photo is taken in the springtime from the end of Peacock Creek Drive looking east into Irish Canyon. The gate to the Black Diamond Mines Regional Preserve is to the north.
About a mile off Clayton Road, on the Black Diamond trail where it turns to the left and begins to climb, the road splits to the right and hikers are stopped by a locked gate. Beyond the gate, the road disappears into the oak trees and a few grazing cattle work their way around the old, rotting fence posts that dot the terrain. The road leads into the 100year-old Bettencourt Ranch – 462 acres of woods and grassland that has been abandoned for years. The property, also known as the “Ang” property for an intervening owner, has been purchased by East Bay Regional Park District (EBRPD) and will be added to the growing land bank of Clayton and East County parcels preserved for open space. The old ranch is adjacent to the 360-acre Irish Canyon parcel
See Parkland, page 3
Officer Shaw takes pride in motorcycle patrols Grants make possible PD’s motorcycle overhaul JASON SHAW Special to the Pioneer
After becoming an officer with the Clayton Police Department in 2006, I expressed an interest in riding a motorcycle on patrol. I passed dual-purpose Motor Officer School in 2009 and started riding immediately. The department started an off-road, dual-purpose motorcycle program in 2002. Since then, the program has seen its highs
and lows. The only other person currently qualified to ride is Sgt. Scott Dansie and, as a supervisor, he does not have time to ride the bike often. We have a 2000 Kawasaki KTM 650 and a Honda 250, as well as a Honda used for parts. However, the brutality of the off-road motor school damaged the Kawasaki and left it in need of repairs. Since this motorcycle was not part of a primary assignment or one of our daily operated vehicles, we didn’t have the money to fix it. Dansie told me if I could find “free money,” I could do whatever I wanted to the bike. So, I started looking for grants. I
discovered that State Farm Insurance strives to meet the needs of communities by giving out grants in three areas: Safe Neighbors (Public Safety), Strong Neighborhoods (Community Development) and Education Excellence. I submitted a grant request under Public Safety, because I knew that I could use the motorcycle to patrol the 27 miles of trails and 515 acres of open space as well as to enforce traffic laws on the city’s paved roads. State Farm granted my request and donated $2,000 to overhaul the motorcycle.
See Patrols, page 10
Tamara Steiner/Clayton Pioneer
OFFICER JASON SHAW FOUND ENOUGH “FREE MONEY” in the form of a State Farm grant to overhaul the department’s Kawasaki motorcycle, now used for open space and trail patrols.
Clayton resident comes home as new MDES principal JAY BEDECARRÉ Clayton Pioneer
PRSRT STD US POSTAGE PAID CLAYTON, CA PERMIT 190
See Clayton Gym, page 10
Irene Keenan
Irene Keenan, the new principal at Mt. Diablo Elementary School, has lived in Clayton for nearly 20 years with her husband Jim, actively involved in their two sons’ swimming and school activities. After oldest boy Ned enrolled at Clayton Valley High School and younger brother Nick was at Diablo View Middle
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School, Irene went back into the workforce as a library media teacher at Mt. Diablo High School in 1999. She will begin her 12th year in the Mt. Diablo Unified School District this fall as the principal at Mt. Diablo Elementary. “Our boys got a good education at Mt Diablo, Diablo View and Clayton Valley and I’m very excited about making sure our students at Mt. Diablo receive that same opportunity,” she says.
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Keenan has been vice principal at College Park High School in Pleasant Hill for three years and was summer school principal this year at that campus. She was approved by the school board in late July and immediately began assimilating information on her new school while wrapping up summer school duties. She officially begins working at Mt. Diablo next week after a brief family vacation.
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BACK TO THE HIRING POOL In June, the school board had named Chris Nugent to replace MDES principal Bob Dodson. After Nugent’s appointment was announced, members of the public did their own online research and found that Nugent had encountered some professional and personal legal problems. Following a storm of protest and negative public -
See Principal, page 8
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