A $30 million plan to provide standardized breathing equipment for every fire department in Los Angeles County has been suspended after a lawsuit alleged the contract process was mishandled and firefighters complained about the quality of the equipment. Arcadia-based Allstar Fire Equipment is suing the city and county of Los Angeles, contending the contract process was improperly handled in a manner that ignored firefighter input and unfairly favored the winning bidder, L.N. Curtis and sons.
2004 Graduation ceremony will be held on June 11 at 4:30 pm at Santa Anita Park Park race track. An estimated 850 students will graduate. The article also lists graduation ceremony information for other local schools.
The annual Scout Expo was held at Santa Anita Park's infield on Saturday, June 4. The Boy Scouts of America Councils of Verdugo Hills, Los Angeles and San Gabriel Valley met there to showcase their talents.
The Arcadia city budget of $35.8 million for the 2003-2004 fiscal year was unveiled and will be the subject of a public hearing June 14. City Manager Bill Kelly called the spending program "flat line," with only 1.5 new city jobs in the coming year. Kelly said Arcadia is protected from possible cuts to meet state budget uncertainties because of $6 million in reserves, which were earmarked but never spent in a previous budget. The city is safe for at least the next two budget years.
Arcadia City Clerk June Alford, who has served in the elective office since 1988, will retire at the end of her current term in April. City Council approved the creation of a new job of Chief Deputy City Clark with a salary of $5600/month.
Arcadia seeks to extend the right to collect cell phone usage tax. Officials plan to hold a special election in May or June in 2009 for a ballot measure. If communicated to voters correctly, it should pass, because it would not raise the tax but protect the city's revenues. At stake is about $1 million in yearly revenue. To do that, voters must allow the city to legally redefine what a telecommunications tax is. Recent court rulings have suggested cities cannot tax cell phone use by relying on older telecommunications tax ordinances.
Arcadia's median home price dropped to $719,000, down 3.2% in June 2009 from June 2008. A chart shows June median home prices in San Gabriel Valley areas.
As Assemblyman Tim Leslie sang his Arcadia High School alma mater school song, the State Assembly on June 5th rejected a bill that would bar California public Schools from using Native-American names for their mascots.