One bill that did not make it off of the Suspense File is AB 5 (Ammiano; D-San Francisco) “the Homeless Person’s Bill of Rights and Fairness Act.” The measure was held in the Appropriations Committee due to cost concerns and impacts on state and local governments – which means the bill is “dead” for the year. Thank you to everyone who helped to educate our state legislature on the negative impacts of this bill.

FREE Women’s Business Conference

Jerome E. Horton
Chairman, State Board of Equalization

Presents:
Connecting Women to Power Business Conference

Date:
Friday, June 28, 2013
8:00 a.m. – 3:30 p.m. (check-in at 7:30 a.m.)

Location:
California State University, Dominguez Hills—Dominguez Ballroom
1000 E. Victoria Street
Carson, CA 90747
Free parking in Lot 6
(Please enter campus from Tamcliff Avenue off of Victoria Street to access Parking Lot 6)

To view the full invitation:
www.boe.ca.gov/sutax/pdf/CWtP-2013-Save-the-Date.pdf

To register for the conference:
www.boe.ca.gov/sutax/wsched.htm

For more information on this dynamic conference,
visit the Connecting Women to Power Business Conference webpage
www.boe.ca.gov/members/horton/2013/connecting_women_to_power.htm

There’s a new security company in town! All American Security is now available for any emergencies or quality of life issues that may arise. They’re scheduled to patrol Downtown Pomona daily: Sunday-Tuesday: 3am – 3am AND Wednesday-Saturday: 3am – 6pm. All American Downtown Security can be reached at 951-403-9413.

These security services are in addition to the normal Pomona PBID Police coverage for the area. Please continue to call Pomona Police Dispatch for police service or emergencies at 909-622-1241.

The Antique Row regularly plays host to the Collectors Street Faire.  Treasure hunters from far and near pack the streets and stores to explore three blocks full of vendors.  Part flea market, part festival, part open house.  This is a fun and FREE popular event.

Saturday, May 25th, 8am-3pm in Antique Row – Downtown Pomona.

Click Here For Event Info or call 909-620-7430.

For vendor inquiries, call Carolyn Hemming at 909-573-4594.

A bill in committee in the state assembly is causing quite a stir right out of the gate, Assemblymember Tom Ammiano’s (D-San Francisco) AB 5 – the “Homeless Person’s Bill of Rights and Fairness Act.”

This sweeping law proposes to amend multiple areas of the civil and government codes to create a new protected class of individuals and confer them a wide variety of “rights,” including the right to access and occupy virtually any public space in the state, including sidewalks, parks, bus stops and plazas in our Downtowns, shopping center common areas, and even foyers of office buildings.

The bill specifically prohibits property owners and managers, business owners, BID agents, and security contractors from “restricting homeless individuals from moving freely in public spaces,” and would prevent “unreasonable searches and seizures” of personal property including removal of tents and searching of bags if the action is based on the “perceived housing status” of the individual. The bill further requires municipalities to provide sanitation facilities, restroom and showers.

As the Sacramento Bee editorialized, this bill would create a “nightmare scenario” wherein businesses are powerless to remove homeless individuals from impeding their daily activities. The Bee editorial “Ammiano bill on homeless is an embarrassment (01/05/2013)

The L.A. Times has also weighted in, stating in its own editorial entitled “Homeless rights bill is wrong (01/11/2013),”- “Ammiano’s bill is part of a heated debate that has been underway in cities for many years: how to balance the rights of homeless people who are down on their luck or mentally ill or drug addicted against the rights of residents and business owners to clean streets and safe, habitable neighborhoods.”

At this point we need you to be aware of this bill and take any opportunity to educate policymakers at the local and state levels about the difficulties we already face keeping properties clean and safe. The Pomona City Council recently voted to send a “NO” letter to our state elected officials stating Pomona’s opposition to this bill. We urge you to do the same. You can register opposition by emailing your state senator and assemblymember. To find your local representative, go to: http://findyourrep.legislature.ca.gov/

Thank you,

Larry Egan
DPOA Executive Director

The Pomona Unified School District recently honored the Police Department’s Community Programs with a Community Service Award for their continued service and support of PUSD kids, schools and staff. This community focused unit was among several other individuals and groups to be recognized for their contributions to the children of PUSD. It is with great honor and humility that they accept this recognition for their efforts.

The Community Programs Unit is made up of 4 Community Service Officers and a supervisor to include; Brenda Sutherland, Sonia Carrigan, Teri Baker, Monika Schuster and Sgt. Vince Terrell.

This group has many duties associated with all facets of community engagement and crime prevention. They develop and facilitate Neighborhood Watch Groups, Citizen’s Academy, National Night Out, Santa Cop and as well as support other long standing community events, groups, non-profits and faith based organizations. Specifically within PUSD, they support GREAT (Gang Resistance, Education and Training) classes for Middle School children, reading programs, YEMP (Youth Education Motivation Program), Red Ribbon, Every 15 Minutes (Drinking & Driving campaign), provide guest speakers for teachers, facilitate our Community Open House at Pomona PD and a variety of other programs.

Click here to go directly to the article.

DAVID ALLEN: Art of the deal leads to downtown Pomona trolley

Pomona is going to take some of the walking out of its monthly Art Walk.

A trolley – technically, a minibus resembling an old-fashioned trolley – will ply the streets of downtown Pomona for this weekend’s Second Saturday Art Walk. The trolley will make a circuit among the clusters of art galleries, museums and studios.

No taxpayer dollars are involved: It’s a project of the business improvement district, the Downtown Pomona Property Owners Association. That’s only one way in which the trolley experiment differs from Claremont’s of a few years back – more on that in a moment.

As a devotee of public transit, I snagged an early ride. In fact, the Pomona trolley came to me, picking me up at the Daily Bulletin’s Ontario office on Monday. Now that’s service.

CLICK HERE FOR THE COMPLETE ARTICLE.