www.claytonpioneer.com
KEITH HAYDON
IT’S YOUR PAPER January 12, 2018
925.672.0500
Development hopes dashed for bucolic Anderson Ranch
TAMARA STEINER Clayton Pioneer
MAYOR’S CORNER
New mayor reflects on Clayton’s small town feeling
I hope you are already off to a good new year. I’ve started an exciting new year myself. After serving as Clayton’s vice mayor last year, I have the honor and privilege to serve as Clayton’s mayor for 2018. As a result, I have the opportunity to share information about Clayton area activities and items of interest in this monthly column. I will include descriptions of various clubs and groups in town, how their volunteer services benefit our community and how you can get involved in those activities. In addition, I will try to clarify how the city is organized and operates. This will include describing the role and actions of the City Council and council members, the Planning Commission and the Trails and Landscape Commission, as well as city staff. In early December, I enjoyed attending the annual Clayton Tree Lighting along with many area residents in Clayton’s Grove Park. The park, as well as Clayton’s Main Street, was decorated for the holiday season – thanks again to the Clayton Business and Community Association (CBCA), a local volunteer organization that purchases and puts up the decorations every year. The tree lighting and the decorations on Main Street reminded me of a traditional small-town setting, reinforcing what a treasure Clayton is and how lucky we are to live here. Even as Clayton has grown and evolved, it has retained a sense of its history. My first memory of Clayton was driving down the hill into Clayton in 1984, when Clayton Road turned to the right as it approached Clayton’s small downtown area and came down the hill to the current location of Main Street. I remember seeing the Pioneer Inn and the Clayton Museum on the left and Skipolini’s Pizza, the Clayton Club and a big grove of eucalyptus trees on the right. I immediately felt like I was driving through a small town out in the country, away from the big city feel of the Bay Area – but really not
See Mayor, page 3
What’s Inside
Around Town . . . . . . . . . . . .2 Arts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .8 Community Calendar . . . . . .9 Directory of Advertisers . . . .7 Sports . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .10 School News . . . . . . . . . . . .7
Scott Hein
A YEAR-AROUND POND NAMED "JASON'S POND" IN MEMORY OF A DECEASED FAMILY MEMBER and habitat for the endangered red-legged frog will be preserved. The 95-acre property on the ridge above Morgan Territory Road has been slated for 40-46 luxury homes since 1971.
Save Mount Diablo has purchased the historic 95-acre Anderson Ranch in Morgan Territory for $800,000, ending any possibility of development on the land. The ranch, at the north end of Morgan Territory Ridge east of Clayton, was approved for a subdivision in 1971, but access and environmental issues have discouraged development. Development on the ridge would be costly. The property is in an area of unusual geology with small volcanic domes and is habitat to several endangered species. Access to the property would require building a bridge across Marsh Creek. The property was tentatively sold to a developer for $5.5 million in 2004, but the deal fell through when several species on the endangered species list were found on and near the property. The property languished on the market, with the county
See SMD, page 3
Small collections take center stage at museum The Clayton Historical Society and Museum exhibit “A Collection of Small Collections” features 12 groups of artifacts and archival materials relevant to life in the Clayton Valley. It includes mortars and pestles, fragments of old bottles and pottery shards, photos of downtown historical buildings and spectacular local wildlife as well as pioneering family portraits. The displays include a collection of business cards from the Rhine family which chronicle Maurice Rhine’s successful career as an engineer and busi-
nessman, tools from the Manuel Nunez Ranch in Morgan Territory and a bureau and nail care travel set donated by Marie Larson, granddaughter of early Clayton settlers Fredrick and Elizabeth Frank. Pyralin, a type of celluloid, is an early plastic dating from the 1920s. These items enrich the body of knowledge about our town and its former and current inhabitants. The exhibit presents items not of great monetary value, but rather modest mementos of historical, cultural and sentimental value. These are simple artifacts of everyday life, and
that is what local history museums are all about. The exhibit includes information about the contributors who made the displays possible through their generosity, for they are an integral part of the picture. An opening reception will take place 5-7 p.m. Friday, Feb. 2. Light refreshments will be served at the free event. The museum is at 6101 Main St., Clayton
For more information, call the Clayton Museum at 925-6720240 or Renee Wing at 925-212- Clayton Museum curator, Renee Wing assembled the exhibit which opens Feb. 2, displaying small collections of 0940. artifacts reflecting Clayton history.
Fondly remembering former Clayton city manager JULIE PIERCE Special to the Pioneer
Dr. Valentin Victorovich Alexeeff, a former Clayton city manager, died Dec. 11 in Santa Clara. Val is survived by his wife of 41 years, Mary Ann, sons Mikhail and Anatoly, his brother Andrei and many loving family members. Services were held in San Francisco. He was born March 10, 1948, in Shanghai, China. Val’s parents were Russian refugees escaping the threat of the Bolsheviks and, later, Chinese Communism. The family immigrated to San Francisco in 1949, and Val grew up in the city with his brothers Andrei and George, an active member of the Russian community. Val met Mary Ann when
DR. VALENTIN VICTOROVICH ALEXEEFF
he became a Vista volunteer in 1970, in Sumner, Wash. He developed an interest in planning while working with selfhelp housing. After earning a master’s degree from the University of Washington, he was a planner in Stockton and Antioch before coming to
Clayton as city administrator/planning director and then city manager from 1984 to 1991. His vision and creative vibrancy lead to dramatic changes in Clayton, expanding our little town into much of what it is today while retaining our small-town, historic character. Among his many accomplishments, Val negotiated the addition of the Clayton Station shopping center and the Oakhurst projects, including creation of Clayton Community Park and the Oakhurst golf course. He secured donation of sites for Diablo View Middle School, the Clayton Library and Fire Station 11, while ensuring mitigation of traffic created by the development. “They certainly broke the mold with Val,” said Peter
Hellmann, president of Presley of Northern California during Oakhurst’s development. “He has been in my thoughts often over the years, especially when I run into ignorant bureaucrats and am reminded of how great it was to work with Val because he could simply get things done – big things. Val was among the important architects of today’s Clayton.” Val orchestrated community meetings to rewrite the city’s General Plan and led the annexation of Dana Hills, Dana Ridge, Clayton Wood and Regency Meadows to our town. He helped us create a Redevelopment District in 1987, funding sewers, storm drains and street lighting for most of Clayton and partially funding the construction of Oakhurst Drive, extension of Clayton Road behind Easley
and widening Clayton Road to four lanes from downtown to Ygnacio. In 1990, he helped draft our Town Center Specific Plan. After leaving Clayton, Val worked for Contra Costa, Santa Barbara and Santa Clara counties. He had a boisterous personality and was a caring and thoughtful person. He loved education, the beauty of nature, music and family. He was sensitive at times and fierce at others. If you spent enough time with him, you experienced his thunderous laugh and his infectious smile. He was a mentor and a visionary while in Clayton and was respected throughout the Bay Area. I will always treasure his friendship. His laughter and smile will live on in our hearts.
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