New La Verne Mayor Gives Up the Gavel … temporarily

Damien's Thomas Nolan shares a political moment with Council Member Steve Johnson, left, and Mayor Don Kendrick.

New Mayor Don Kendrick hasn’t been on the job that long and already he was sharing the gavel with a potential political rival, Damien senior Thomas Nolan, at the La Verne City Council meeting, Monday, April 20. In fact, Nolan was only the most recognizable leader in what could only be described as a temporary coup d’état of La Verne city government by Damien students.

Had the takeover been official, and not part of Students in Government Day, the City Council would have been in good hands. The participating Damien students are headed in the fall to a number of elite colleges, including Massachusetts Institute of Technology, the Air Force Academy, West Point, UCSB, UCSD, the University of San Diego, UCLA, UC Berkeley and Cal Poly Pomona.

Participating students and their temporary City positions included: Thomas Nolan, Mayor; Chiris Delfs, Mayor Pro Tem; Ken Serafinko, Council Member; Zack Tenney, Council Member; Matt Whitehouse, Council Member; Brian Donohoe, City Manager; Evan Dorner, City Attorney; Ben Sellick, City Clerk; Rizwan Zafer, City Treasurer; and Jacob Bruce, Assistant City Manager.

Other participating Damien students were: Karl Talmo, Public Works Director; Eric Benton, Community Development Director; Andrew McCraven, Finance Officer; Jesse Machado, Parks and Community Services Director; Jordan Haines, Jordan Haines, Police Chief; Kurt Yeager, City Engineer; and Edward Mugica, Information Systems Analyst.

With a name like Matt Whitehouse, who was serving as Councilwoman Donna Nasmyth’s political protégé for the evening, the Damien student might be seeking a more ambitious political agenda that won’t stop until it reaches 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue.

Kendrick said the reason for the young men’s success started with Damien Principal Father Patrick Travers. “He teaches how to give back,” Kendrick said. “The loudest clapping in the room is from your students. Well done!”

Bonita's 2009 Girls Water Polo CIF Southern Section CIF champions surround coach Andy Rosenberg.

The ovations and student takeovers of City Hall continued as the 2009 Bonita High School Girls Water Polo Team was recognized for winning the Miramonte League crown and CIF Southern Section Tournament, the first girls’ team from Bonita to accomplish the feat.

Team members included: Tori Barren, Kristen Iwanicki, Megan Pezzolla, Ambyr Stewart, Veronica Burks, Kaitlyn Marston, Olga Quiroz, Meghan Turner, Katie Hart, Hillary Oei, Jayne Reimel, Haley Williamson, Missy Hatch, Amber Pezzolla, Megan Snow and Meaghan Stewart. Amber and Megan Pezzolla were named co-league MVPs. Andy Rosenberg coached the team.

Next the City Council’s focus turned to the City of La Verne’s “A” Division Girls’ basketball 2009 All-Star team, which swept the Azusa 8th Grade All-Star Basketball Tournament, the SGV “A” Division Girls Tournament and the SCMAF Southern California Tournament.

San Gabriel Valley "A" Division Girls Basketball All-Star Champions.

Filling the roster were: Jessica Abrolat, Allison Dial, Maya Gonzales, Erin Hastings, Rachel Klein, Lauren Mara, Cassie Martinez, Samantha Nanou, Rhys Northup, Breanne O’Laughlin, Madilyn Ontiveros, Stephanie Vana and Dominique Wheatley. The team was coached by Carroll Wheatley and assisted by Chris Northup and Lincoln Dial.

Finally, the La Verne Youth Basketball Program’s 8th Grade Boys’ All-Star Champions were called to the front to be recognized by the Council and an overflowing crowd of proud parents and supporters.

The team included Karlik Clayton, Riley Brungard, Joey Hubbard, Alex Hernandez, Billy Karim, Bryan Mahood, Robbie Ramirez, Josh Resendez, Patrick Rodriguez and Jake Riley. The team was coached by Eddie Parra and Kamran Karim.

San Gabriel Valley 8th Grade Boys Basketball All-Star Champions

As for other city business, the City Council voted unanimously to “conceptually” support a partnership with Mt. San Antonio College District (MSAC). Under the proposed partnership, the City would provide approximately 2.5 acres of land, located on Wheeler Avenue, south of Arrow Highway, to MSAC in exchange for MSAC providing approximately $10 million to build a fire training academy. As part of the agreement, the La Verne Fire Department would have access to uses this state of the art training facility and alternate Emergency Operations Center. With the vote, City staff will now begin work to negotiate a lease agreement and development agreement for future Council conderation.

Finally, on a busy and warm evening, the City Council, which had selected Council Member Steve F. Johnson to serve as the alternate to the San Dimas Golf Course Advisory Committee only two weeks earlier on April 6, reversed itself and reinstated former La Verne Police Chief Ron Ingles as the alternate by a vote of 4-1. The lone dissenting vote was cast by Johnson.

A surprising start and a more surprising finish to another City Council meeting. The next regular meetings of the La Verne City Council and the La Verne Redevelopment Agency are scheduled for Monday, May 4, 2000 at 6:30 p.m.