Pioneer Christmas Cookie Contest See Page B8
PRSRT STD US POSTAGE PAID CLAYTON, CA PERMIT 190
IT’S YOUR PAPER www.claytonpioneer.com
November 3, 2006
925.672.0500
Bomb threat shakes up DVMS TAMARA STEINER Clayton Pioneer
DAVE SHUEY
MAYOR’S CORNER It’s yes on O and L, but no on 90 I sw ear I heard a collecti ve cry of “Uncle” after last issue’s blitzkrieg regarding Measure O. (Subliminal text – vote yes!) When I wrote my column, I did not kno w that the paper would come out with a big ar ticle and that the downtown merchants would place a larg e supporting ad. (Vote yes!) Nevertheless, I am glad that the information is out there for you to mak e an infor med decision. (Vote yes!) Therefore, I will not belabor the point (Vote yes!) and mo ve on to a few other items on the ballot that are of interest to Clayton residents. Again, I will thro w in the mandatory ca veat that the information I am gi ving you is my opinion. Take it for what it is w orth, but remember I did stay at a Holida y Inn Express last night. Measure L. This is about some modifications to , and extension of , the urban limit line (ULL) for Contra Costa County. The specifics and ramifications of the ULL are long, varied and, for the most par t, boring to ev en those who ha ve to deal with them. What y ou need to kno w is that the Clayton City Council, and in particular J ulie Pierce , has worked long and hard with the county and other cities to adjust the ULL for Cla yton to help us long term. After a long struggle, the county ag reed to our requests and so the ULL in this measure is modified per our requests. Why is this impor tant? Because if the measure passes countywide and a majority of
See Mayor, page A7
What’s Inside SECTION A
Around Town . . . . . . . . . . .A2 Clayton Cares . . . . . . . . . . . .A3 Classified Ads and Director y of Advertisers . . . . . . . . . . . .A5 Letters to the Editor . . . . . .A6 Real Estate . . . . . . . . . . . . . .A9 On the Net . . . . . . . . . . . . .A10 Sharing History . . . . . . . . .A11 Club News . . . . . . . . . . . . .A11 Food for Thought . . . . . . .A13 School News . . . . . . . . . . . .A13 Garden Girl . . . . . . . . . . . .A14 Music Notes . . . . . . . . . . . .A14 Weather Words . . . . . . . . . .A15
SECTION B
Sports . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .B2 Dining Around . . . . . . . . . . .B5 Crossword Puzzle . . . . . . . . .B5 Holiday Gift Guide (New) . .B6 Community Calendar . . . . . .B9 Paws and Claws . . . . . . . . .B10 Church News . . . . . . . . . . .B11
It seemed an ordinar y day at Diablo View Middle Sc hool the afternoon of Oct. 25. The weather was good, students were all bac k in class after lunc h and Principal Mic hele Cooper w as fielding student and administrative issues as usual. Then at 1:05 p .m., secretary Kim Sutton pic ked up the call that w ould dramatically c hange the course of the day for ev eryone – testing the mettle of the staff, the patience of the students and the effecti veness of the sc hool district’ s Crisis Response Plan. The call was from an unidentified male adult who told Sutton that there w as a bomb planted on the sc hool g rounds, somewhere “in the bac k of the school.” Clayton P olice Officer Tim Marchute happened to be on campus assisting Cooper with an unrelated issue when the call came through. Within min utes, Police Chief Dan Lawrence was onsite, and the three of them planned the evacuation. Without telling the students what w as happening, Cooper evacuated everyone to the front parking lot. “I told them to bring their bac kpacks and they could do homework.” The students w ere under the impression that it w as a sc hoolwide drill. Only the teac hers knew of the bomb threat. Cooper supplied radios to the police and sc hool district personnel who had ar rived so they could maintain communication. The police and sc hool officials then did a sw eep of the classrooms, hallways and rooftops. Finding nothing, they declared a visual “all clear” at 2:15. However, police did put in a
Tamara Steiner/Clayton Pioneer
SHERIFF’S DEPARTMENT DOGS sniff every inch of the gym after a bomb threat closed DVMS on Oct. 25, testing the emergency response capabilities of the administration. request with the Sheriff ’s Department for the bomb-sniffing dogs . They ar rived at 3:50, after the campus was emptied of
students and teachers. The dogs c hecked the g ymnasium and the area around the back of the sc hool, where the
caller said the bomb was hidden. The dogs found nothing of interest except a buc ket of relay race batons that, at one time, had
probably also held a starter pistol – lea ving a trace scent of gunpowder. “This is a v ery moder n school,” said La wrence. “There are v ery few places for something to be hidden.” Parents w ere notified of the situation at 2:35 p .m. by way of the district’s new “Connect-Ed” voice messaging system. “We were able to send messag es to 696 n umbers – home n umbers, cell phones, work numbers,” said Cooper, “and w e only had one number that did not get the message … P arents knew what w as happening ev en before the students w ere dismissed from the campus.” From the beginning, school officials and police suspected the threat was a hoax. “Everywhere I’ve w orked, we’ve had these kinds of calls,” said La wrence. “It’s usually associated with midterms or exam times , or it could even be a student hoping to close the sc hool for a da y or two.” Cooper recei ved high praise from the police c hief. “I think the principal did v ery w ell in quickly deter mining a course of action … All in all, I’d give them an A plus.” The bomb threat at D VMS came on the heels of a bomb scare at Diablo V alley Colleg e, which began the da y before and kept the campus closed for tw o days. Nothing suspicious w as found on that campus either. Despite the disr uption caused to the sc hool and the needless expenditure of resources in responding, a bomb threat hoax is only a misdemeanor crime , said La wrence. While the likelihood of catching the per petrator is lo w, “if we catch him, I’ll c harge him, ” Lawrence said.
Park maintenance budget lean but complete TAMARA STEINER Clayton Pioneer
On No vember 7, Clayton voters will decide if the v acant lot do wntown will be tur ned into a park or not. The city has the $1.3 million needed to build the park, but won’t build it until there is a guaranteed source of funding for its maintenance and operation. If passed, Measure O will create a Comm unity F acilities District with a budg et of $100,600 for the annual maintenance and operation of the park. Two thirds of the funding will come from a residential parcel tax of $16.39 and the remaining one third from a tiered tax on commercial parcels with those businesses closest to the park pa ying a g reater share than those businesses fur ther away from the town center. Any annual increases will be tied to the Consumer Price Index, but cannot exceed 3 percent. Annual increases are not automatic, but will be determined b y actual or expected increases in operations and maintenance. The funds in the park district
cannot be used for any other purpose than park maintenance, nor can they be siphoned off by the state. In this final article before the election, we present to the v oters the breakdown of just where this $100,600 goes. “It’s not just a mow and blow deal,” says City Manager Gary Napper. “There’s a lot of stuff in that park that has to be cleaned and maintained.” The park design came out of a citizen’s design committee and was appro ved b y the v oters in 2000. Among the features included in the design are a playground, a w ater pla y feature , a gazebo, picnic areas with c hessboard and checkers game tables, grassy areas, pathways and public restrooms. By far , the larg est c hunk of the $100,600 belongs to field labor. This includes not only the “mowing and blo wing” associated with maintaining the landscaping but the daily trash removal and the inspection and repair of the structures. The next largest piece of the pie g oes to contract ser vices which include janitorial ser vices for daily cleaning of the public
restrooms, pest control, tree services and rental costs of aerators, pressure washers, etc. Utilities will cost $12,000 for irrigation w ater and $500 for
electricity to light the pathw ays and the buildings. This does not include any costs associated with special events. $5,500 is budg eted for sup-
plies which includes the cost of fertilizer, seed ir rigation par ts, electrical supplies, safety equip-
See Park, page A6
Pete Cruz/Clayton Pioneer
LABOR AND SERVICES account for the biggest portion of park’s operation andmaintenance.