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November 19, 2004
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Insurance company denies Village Market claim TAMARA STEINER Clayton Pioneer
Nine months after a fire gutted the upper rooms of the Village Market, Farmers Insurance issued a formal denial of owner Sam Sandhu’s claim for damages. On Sept. 21, Farmers officially notified Sandhu that they were denying his claim for losses resulting from the Jan. 15 fire, claiming that Sandhu and his attorney failed to cooperate with the
insurance company’s investigation. According to Bill Greenspan, public adjuster for Sandhu, and corroborated by another informed source who asked not to be named, Sandhu has delivered everything that Farmers has asked for, even going so far as to pay, out of his own pocket, for a court reporter and transcription of his interview with the fire investigator. According to Greenspan things began to go sour with the insurance company right after
Sandhu returned from a month long trip to India taken immediately after the fire. The trip to return his mother’s ashes to India had been scheduled months before the fire and had been cleared with both the fire department and the Farmers representative before Sandhu left. However, sources said, after Sandhu’s return, the claims adjuster for Farmers asked him why he had run away to India. Frustrations grew as Sandhu’s attorney repeatedly tried to schedule a meeting for
the Examination Under Oath required by Farmers Insurance. Although 22 possible dates and times were submitted to the insurance company, none were acceptable to Farmers. Despite these efforts, Farmers cited Sandhu’s refusal to submit to the Examination as one of the grounds for their denial of the claim. “In 25 years in this business, I have never seen anything like this, not once,” said Bill Greenspan, the public adjuster representing Sandhu. “This is Orwellian.”
In July, with losses from the building, inventory and loss of income reaching over $960,000 and still no action on the part of Farmers, Sandhu filed a lawsuit against the insurance company asserting that they were unreasonably delaying the payment of the claim. Farmer’s answered in September with the denial of the claim and now Sandhu is suing Farmer’s for to force them to accept liability and for punitive damages. Representatives from Farmers declined to comment or clarify the reasons for
the denial. It’s expected that the case will go to trial next summer. The insurance company isn’t the only one who has lagged in the process. At press time, the final report by Contra Costa County Fire District had still not been completed. According to Randy Champion, fire investigator for CCCFD, there have been other cases taking priority and he hasn’t had time to finish the report. Sources close to Sandhu say that
See Insurance, page 6
Rock solid business thrives in Clayton JILL BEDECARRÉ Clayton Pioneer
JULIE PIERCE
MAYOR’S CORNER Thank you for your support of Prop. 1A and Measure J Whew! The election is over, and we have great reasons to celebrate — Proposition 1A and Measure J both passed resoundingly. All of us on the Clayton City Council strongly supported both measures, and you listened to us. The unofficial statewide count shows Proposition 1A passed with 83.6 percent of the vote, winning every county in California. This is a mandate of tremendous proportions, exceeding our wildest expectations and delivering a clear message to Sacramento that voters do understand and care about the critical services and qualityof-life programs offered by local government. Contra Costa County passed the measure by 86.4 percent, nearly three percent above the state average – we thank you. The next couple years will be tight as the “deal” included a $160,000, two-year “contribution” from Clayton to the state budget deficit, but after that, our meager 4.35 percent share of the property taxes comes back home, where we can use it to provide needed services to our residents. Sacramento still has its fingers in our redevelopment funds ($290,000 taken from Clayton this year), so that’s likely our next battle. Our other reason to celebrate is Measure J, the reauthorization of our existing county sales tax for transportation. Measure J’s passage assures the funds needed to continue work on current transportation projects and to expedite the most critical of those. It also will return 18 percent of the funds to cities and the county for local street maintenance, which is used primarily for paving, patching and resurfacing roads. It won’t cover all the needs, but it’s a big help.
See Mayor, page 5
Some Clayton residents can see the grey carved rock ridges from their backyard. Others encounter the slow and steady single file of trucks on Mitchell Canyon Road at 7 a.m. Still others hear an occasional dynamite blast from Mount Zion. Some consider it a nuisance, others are curious. Just what is the Clayton Quarry all about? RMC Pacific Materials (the official name of the quarry) has been around since 1947 and is projected to be around for many years to come. Millions of tons remain in the Quarry reserves. It was originally developed by Harrison and Birdwell, sold to Pacific Coast Aggregates in 1954 and then to Lonestar Industries in 1965. In 1988 Lonestar partnered with RMC
Tamara Steiner/Clayton Pioneer
THE RIDGES ON MOUNT ZION are actually 30 foot wide benches which are landscaped after they are completely mined. The highest bench that has already been completely mined is at the 1500 feet elevation.
GEORGE ALLEN
of London, England to create the current RMC Pacific Materials company. The Quarry encompasses a total of 437 acres on Mount Zion which has been designated
a mineral reserve by the State of California. The state mandates that the reserve be used to supply the construction needs of Contra Costa County. Twenty-one union men work at the Quarry, supported by an office staff of two women and plant manager.Many of the workers are long-time employ-
ees. “They come in young and they go out old,” says plant manager George Allen. The work is rough and rigorous. It’s noisy, dusty and can sometimes be dangerous. On any given day, there’s a myriad of operations going on simultaneously from drilling and excavating to processing, treating and
transporting rock; lots of rock, thousands of tons to be exact. Over 100,000 tons is stored on site for customer use. Despite some healthy competition from the neighboring Hanson Quarry in Concord on Pine Hollow Road, the demand for Clayton Quarry’s rock is as solid as the rock that is mined.
CVHS Forum addresses teen suicide JILL BEDECARRÉ Clayton Pioneer
The tragic suicide deaths of a former Clayton Valley High School student and a CVHS freshman led to a community forum at the high school on Monday, November 8. The deaths generated rampant rumors about a pattern to the suicides and a planned act of violence at the school on Tuesday, Nov. 9. More then 400 parents, students and school officials attended the forum. The purpose of the assembly
was to provide information to parents on teen adolescent destructive behavior and to address the tragic suicides and dispel the rumors. Panel members included CVHS Principal John Neary, Dr. Emanuel Weiss, a CVHS school psychologist, police officers, grief counselors, members of faith communities and mental health professionals. “The way to respond is to create a network of people taking care of one another,” said Weiss. While Neary and panelists hoped to make the evening an educational one,
DR. EMANUEL WEISS
parents came to the forum with a different agenda--to find out the truth behind rumors about more suicides, cults and violence. After listening to teen suicide statistics, risk factors and support systems, parents
talked about their fears and concerns about the safety of their children. One parent asked about the rumor of a “planned act of violence” slated for the next day. She mentioned there was talk of a mass suicide. “That’s what our kids are believing,” she says. Weiss and Neary, along with law enforcement personnel attempted to calm the fears and assure parents they were doing everything they could to protect the students and keep the campus safe. “ We’re not God and
See Forum, page 6
“Our rock is very high quality,” says Allen, a modest statement at best. In fact, companies from all over the Bay Area flock to the Quarry to get a piece of the rock. Its scientific name is basaltic andesite, which is a hard
See Rock, page 5
C HRISTMAS C OOKIES ... Nothing says Christmas quite like the Christmas Cookie. And, we are told, our town is chock full of great cookie bakers of all ages. So, dust off those cookbooks, bake a few practice rounds and enter our first Christmas Cookie Competition. Judging will be Nov. 30, 6:30 p.m. at Endeavor Hall. Judges are Tevy Sun, owner of Sweet Bakery, Councilman Dave Shuey, Pastor Shawn Robinson of Clayton Community Church, Zoe Managuerra, DVMS 6th grader and Lynda Wyner, Pioneer Food Editor. See PAGE 17 for entry form. Deadline is Nov. 26.