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IT’S YOUR PAPER www.claytonpioneer.com
June 18, 2004
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“It was just dumb luck”
Tamara Steiner/Clayton Pioneer
MATT THOMAS POINTS TO THE SPOT above Diablo Creek where he found 81 year-old dementia patient, Russell Hague. TAMARA STEINER Clayton Pioneer
Matt Thomas had plans for the evening of June 5. The 28-year-old Clayton man was scheduled to ride along with Sergeant Jason Russo on Russo's night shift with the Clayton Police Department. Those plans took a detour, however, when Russo called to cancel. An elderly dementia patient had wandered away from his Regency Woods board and care home a little after 9 o'clock that evening, and Russo was directing the search efforts. No problem, thought Matt. I'll help them look.
And that began a three hour search which took Thomas up and down nearly every street in Clayton and finally ended when he found the missing man around 1:45 a.m., cold, frightened and wearing only his pajamas, tangled in a barbed wire fence at the top of a 30 foot drop into Diablo Creek. 81-year-old Russell Hague had just moved to the Petar Guest Home on Petar Court from Diamond Terrace the week before. When the staff checked on him at 9 o'clock, he was fine, but 45 minutes later, they noticed that the screen on the living room window had been removed and the window was open. Hague was
gone. They called police and the search began. According to Sergeant Rich Enea of the Clayton Police, Russo and Officer Tim O'Hara responded to the call, and after a quick search of the immediate area, called on Concord Police for assistance. Concord PD's police dog tracked Hague to the corner of Regency and El Portal where he lost the scent. Overhead, the CHP helicopter was searching the surrounding hills. Around 1 o'clock, Thomas was searching the heavily wooded area along El Portal and thought he heard something. "The first time I drove by," said Thomas, "I thought it was a
dog whimpering and I kept going." But, a nagging doubt turned him around and he slowly drove back down El Portal along the creek, listening. "I could hear someone yell 'help'. It was so faint, I can't believe I heard him." Thomas jumped out of his car ("don't tell my wife, but I left the door wide open and the engine running") and ran to the edge of the bank. He could hear Hague at the top of the hill on the other side of the creek. In the pitch dark aided only by his flashlight, Thomas half slid, half jumped down the sheer 20-foot drop and scrambled up the other side, all the while talking to the frightened man. "I just followed his voice until I could see him," said Thomas. Hague was hopelessly tangled in the mesh and barbed wire fence that ran along the top of the creek bank. He had apparently lost his footing at the top of the hill and slid feet first into the fence. Had the fence not stopped him, Hague would have continue falling more than 30 feet down the bank, landing on the rocky creek bed. Using his cell phone, Thomas notified police and rescue crews arrived within minutes. Hague was taken to Kaiser Hospital. He suffered no injuries and was later released. When Thomas asked the man what he was doing out so late, he replied that he "just wanted to get to the creek." Viewing the site in daylight a few days later, Thomas was amazed that he was able to reach the man. "It's a good thing I couldn't see down into the creek, I probably wouldn't have tried at all," he said. "It was just dumb luck that I found him. I wasn't going to give up, though. I just kept thinking that it was somebody's grandfather out there."
Budget is balanced, but there’s no room for frills JULIE PIERCE
MAYOR’S CORNER It's June again and time for the City Council to adopt our annual budget. City Manager Gary Napper, with the able assistance of Finance Manager Merry Pelletier, has presented once again a balanced budget for the Council's approval. Following two years of budget reductions,
including last year's 15 percent drop in the General Fund's expenditures, we are starting to see a slight increase in property taxes, one of our primary revenue sources. While we appreciate a modest increase of 6.4 percent over last years budget, that increase is more than offset by increases in uncontrollable fixed costs such as employee retirement systems, insurance coverage and utility expenses. For the past two years, your Council's primary goal has been to maintain basic city services. To do
this we rely on our small but dedicated corps of 28 employees, including our 11 sworn police officers and five field maintenance workers. Personnel services are the city's largest expense at 69 percent of the total General Fund budget. Increases in retirement and workers' compensation insurance pushed our costs by $144,000. Due to a lagging economy and continuing state budget raids of your local property taxes, next year's budget is still 12 percent less than three years ago. Reluctantly, we must
defer new services and infrastructure improvements. To offset the inherent creep in personnel services costs, all departments have been asked to live within their budgeted accounts from last year's budget. Each department manager constantly examines operations to provide services in the most cost effective manner. Employee training and conference allocations have been curtailed and the city newsletter will be published semi-annually, rather than
See Budget, page 17
Clayton YMCA celebratesthe arts
TOP PHOTO, ARTIST KATE REED of Castro Valley was one of 25 artists to help celebrate National YMCA Arts Week. Right, Connor Mendonca, 5, of Concord sculpts a “big rock on an island”
More than 25 exhibitors from around the Bay Area were on hand Saturday to help the Clayton/Concord Branch of the YMCA celebrate National Art Week. The art fair, held at the Clayton Community Gym, kicks off the Y’s summer arts program. “Program cutbacks in the public schools have cre-
ated a vacuum in the arts,” says Seth Ahonen, Arts Program Coordinator. The Y classes are designed to help fill that vacuum. The eight week program for kids and adults began June 3, but it isn’t too late to enroll, said Ahonen. There is a fee for the classes, but no child will be turned away if he or she cannot pay. There is financial assistance available. For more information on the program, or to sign up for classes, call the Y at 925-889-1600.
Dad’s Day is Sunday With Father’s Day just around the corner the Pioneer asked several Clayton kids “what’s your favorite thing to do with dad?”
Brian Alamillo, 11, and dad, Ernie "My favorite thing to do with my dad is play baseball. He's coached most of my teams and he's a hard coach. He teaches me all the fundamentals on hitting and fielding balls. My favorite memory of my Dad is when we went to the Tournament of Champions last year.”
Kelsey Purser, 13, and dad, Rick “I like to hang out with my dad because he's a fun person to be around. I like to go on walks with him. He's funny and smart and always compliments you and makes you laugh. My favorite memory of my dad was when he took me to the father daughter dance with the Girl Scouts.”
Dex Reber, 14, and dad, Steve "I like to play baseball with my dad because he knows a lot about the sport and he coaches my team. He taught me how to be a first baseman and that's the position I play the most. One of my favorite memories of my dad is when we went fishing together when I was 10. We stayed overnight and had a good time."
Meghan Walsh, 10, and dad, Dan “There are a lot of things that I like to do with my dad but my favorite thing is to go on a bike ride with him. We ride up the hill or go to the park. We talk about what we see and it feels really good. I also like when my dad takes me to his gym and we go swimming. One of my favorite memories of being with my dad is when we go camping at Grover Hot Springs.”