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IT’S YOUR PAPER www.claytonpioneer.com
March 15, 2013
Clayton friends’ walk in the park takes them on eight-day trek up Mt. Kilimanjaro TAMARA STEINER Clayton Pioneer
In her new book, “Lean In,” published this month, Facebook exec Sheryl Sandberg tells women to “own their power.” Chris Smith and Sue Elliott could have been the cover girls for Sandberg’s book. The 60something women have been friends since 1987, sharing a love of volleyball, the outdoors and long hikes. Last month, the two seriously powered up and leaned in with an eight-day trek up the steep slopes of Tanzania’s Mt. Kilimanjaro. At 19,341 feet, “Kili” is the highest mountain in Africa and the highest free standing mountain in the world. The two have on taken on some pretty challenging hikes over the years. They’ve done the Grand Canyon National Park, rim to rim, climbed Mt. Tallac in Lake Tahoe, Half Dome and Yosemite National Park and as part of their training for the Kilimanjaro climb, they covered all four peaks in Mt. Diablo State Park in one day.
See Kilimanjaro, page 2
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‘Secret’ MDUSD report angers CVCHS officials DENISEN HARTLOVE Clayton Pioneer
“I don’t think I’ll taste anything I’m eating for a week,” said Clayton Councilman and veteran judge Howard Geller. Geller has judged the contest almost every year. Taking home the blue ribbon and $300 for her non-traditional chili made with turkey and chicken sausage was Clayton Club bartender Naomi Orcutt. Orcutt has entered the last three years but never expected to win. Orcutt doesn’t really follow a
Middle school math teachers say it over and over again to their students: check your work, make sure it’s right before you turn it in. Perhaps that’s what Mt. Diablo Unified School District Superintendent Steven Lawrence had in mind when he commissioned a study from the Fiscal Crisis Management and Assessment Team (FCMAT) to doublecheck his work with respect to how much of a financial whammy the district would suffer if Clayton Valley High School’s charter petition was approved. The report, issued in final form in January and published on the public FCMAT website in February, said nothing the district hadn’t asserted previously: that the cost to the district of Clayton Valley High’s going charter could be as high as $3.3 million. Those costs could be found in everything from central administration to school site maintenance expenses. Unfortunately, Lawrence forgot another useful school adage, that a result can only be as good as the information used. Working with MDUSD board members Sherry Whitmarsh and Linda Mayo last fall, he ordered the report without knowledge or input from the public or even other board members, using only the district numbers. The report’s final sentence pinpoints the problem, however. “The calculation follows generally accepted accounting principles applied consistent with client supplied information,” it says.
See Chili, page 2
See Report, page 6
WITH THEIR ULTIMATE DESTINATION STILL SEVERAL DAYS AWAY, SUE ELLIOTT, LEFT, AND CHRIS SMITH pause on the trail that will take them to the 19,341 ft. summit of Mt. Kilimanjaro, the world’s tallest free-standing mountain. On their eight-day trek, the two passed through five different climate zones, starting with rain forest at 6,800 ft. and finishing in the glaciers at the summit.
Chili winners decided in three-way taste off TAMARA STEINER Clayton Pioneer
CHILI JUDGES CLAYTON PIONEER PUBLISHER BOB STEINER and City Councilmen Howard Geller and Jim Diaz tally scores in search of this year’s best at the Clayton Club’s annual contest on Mar. 3.
To bean or not to bean ... that was the question on the minds of 18 local chili chefs as they prepared for the Clayton Club Saloon’s 12th Annual Chili Contest. This year’s event, held on Sunday, Mar. 3, seemed to top all others, said Clayton Club owner, Steve Barton. The crowd was bigger, the day sunnier and the judges hungrier. And a dramatic, double taste off for sec-
ond and third place proved that the chili was the best ever. The 18 chili pots that lined the walls of the 140-year-old saloon, represented every kind of chili on the spectrum. The only rule was “no canned chili,” said Barton. Some chilis were sans beans and thick enough to hold the spoon upright, others were “saucier.” Some were made with beef, some with venison and some with a combination of meats. Some were mild and some were not.
Clayton library has highest volunteer support in countywide system
JULIE PIERCE
MAYOR’S CORNER Eighteen years ago this month, we opened our Clayton Community Library. It was a grand celebration following years
of planning, fundraising and building re-designs. The effort was a collaboration of the Clayton Community Library Foundation, AAUW, CBCA, Woman’s Club, the City of Clayton and many volunteers, but the leaders then, as now, were our wonderful “library ladies,” Joyce Atkinson and Jeanne Boyd. A big “congratulations” to all who helped get it built and who continue to make it one of the busiest and most efficient libraries in the county library system. The Contra Costa Local Agency Formation Commission (LAFCO) has issued a report critiquing the provision of library services within Contra Costa
County, including the Contra Costa County Library which operates our Clayton Community Library. Some of the information contained within the LAFCO document is intriguing as it pertains to Clayton’s facility and operation. For example, the median operational hours of the 29 libraries in the County is 35 hours per week; Clayton’s library is open 44 hours per week, including the city-paid four hours on Sunday afternoons. That places us number 18 of the 29 in terms of highest number of hours open to the public. Orinda and Danville are the highest at 60 hours per week.
What’s Inside Around Town . . . . . . . . . . . . .2 Behind the Badge . . . . . . . . .6 Book Review . . . . . . . . . . . .15
Classified . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .5 Club News . . . . . . . . . . . . .13 Community Calendar . . . . .14
Clayton’s library was built in 1995 and the facility is rated as in “Good” condition (the second highest of the four rankings). At 15,500 square feet it is fairly large. Though no attribution is given for its source, the report included a most interesting statement as to “Facility Needs:” “Clayton Library needs expansion (+3,500 sq. ft.) and upgrades (automatic checkout and coffee area) at a cost of $1 million. The project is not presently funded or budgeted by the City.” Sounds nice — does anyone need another project and more fundraising?
See Mayor, page 2 Design and Décor . . . . . . . .16 Directory of Advertisers . . . . .5 DVMS Reporter . . . . . . . . . .8 Fashion Over 50 . . . . . . . . . .9 Fitness . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .12
THE CLAYTON COMMUNITY LIBRARY is open 44 hours per week – well ahead of the county’s 35 hours-per-week average.
Garden Girl . . . . . . . . . . . . .18 Mind Matters . . . . . . . . . . . . .7 Performing Arts . . . . . . . . . .15 Pets . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .13 Reader’s Forum . . . . . . . . . .7
Real Estate . . . . . . . . . . . . . .7 Sports . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .10 Sports Shorts . . . . . . . . . . .12 Teen Speak . . . . . . . . . . . . . .8
PRSRT STD US POSTAGE PAID CLAYTON, CA PERMIT 190