Columns: Tehachapi News

Takin’ Care of of Business

You don’t necessarily have to be a financial genius or — even Donald Trump — to raise big bucks for a great cause, but even The Donald would be immensely impressed with Tehachapi’s generosity.

With her trademark enthusiasm, Main Street’s director, Michelle Vance, is still bubbling over with gratitude for the incredible efforts of the amazing and dedicated volunteers, donors and sponsors of Main Street’s 10th annual Star Light Ball — who raised more than $17,000! It was all of you who contributed to record sponsorship and ticket sales that helped to make this year’s Star Light Ball, the best bash Tehachapi’s ever seen!

Please give a standing ovation to the event’s major sponsors for collectively raising $14,250 for Main Street’s many ongoing community and local business enhancement projects.

Last week I mentioned all the swanky swag that was donated for the Whispering Winds Silent Auction. Collectively those donations raised $6,800! Can they get a whoop whoop!

Now, I am most certainly not a financial wizard or millionaire mogul (more of a muggle actually, Harry Potter fans) but I do have a theory to counter the doom and gloom being spouted by all the pontificating pundits bemoaning the plight of America’s economy:

When times get tough, hometown communities like Tehachapi will circle the wagons, pool resources and weather the onslaught of burning arrows and insults together.

I also believe that although Tehachapi looks pretty good in evening attire, we don’t always need a fancy party atmosphere to continue supporting our local business community. In coming weeks, the Tehachapi News will be featuring a special section titled Your Hometown Holiday Gift Guide. I personally challenge all of our hometown neighbors, friends and business associates to take a pledge this holiday seasons to: Shop, Give and Live Local.

Help pull our local economy up by it’s bootstraps! Holiday dollars spent in your hometown help to strengthen our local business economy, keeping local prices affordable, your neighbors, family and friends working locally, and ultimately, it puts your money to work for this community.

The generous community spirit demonstrated by this year’s successful Star Light Ball is a perfect example of how Tehachapi can continue to circle the wagons and pool resources during the upcoming holiday season.

As Mary Reed, of Mercury Graphics told me last week, “When Main Street hosts an event, people know it’s going to be a great event," so take off those dancing shoes and don your walking and super-shopping shoes, because Main Street is hosting another community event.

On Friday, Dec. 6, the Downtown Shopping Extravaganza, is scheduled from 6 - 9 p.m. Advance tickets are $10 per person or $15 on the day of the event. With each ticket you will receive one Main Street Shopping bag, a map of participating businesses and the accompanying holiday treats they’ll be offering, plus many special discounts at local retailers. The Tehachapi Valley Recreation & Parks District is offering child care for only $8 at the Scout Hut, as well as transportation for outlying businesses — so you can save your energy for shopping!

For those who will be making a concerted effort to cut back on spending this year, try to think ‘quality vs. quantity.’ Trade in the usual gas guzzling expedition over the hill and back with a car load of “big box” shopping items. Trade up for an afternoon or evening spent gathering unique, local gift items while also spending some quality time supporting our local entrepreneurs.

Please remember to Shop, Give and Live Local whenever possible, and be sure to say thanks to all our local entrepreneurs and their dedicated employees for Takin’ Care of Business!

Please show your support and appreciation for Main Street Tehachapi’s 10th annual Star Light Ball supporters...
Gold Event Sponsors:
Aspen Builders, Airstreams, Benz Inc., Holiday Inn Express, Lehigh Cement Co., Mercury Graphics, Scotts Auto Body, Tehachapi Flower Shop and the City of Tehachapi.

Table Sponsors: AltaOne Credit Union, Union Bank of California and Innovative Concrete.

Media Sponsors: Tehachapi News and The Loop.

Thank, thank you, thank you generous donors :
Wine & Cheese Cellar, The Apple Shed, Avon - Elizabeth Sullivan, Bag Ladies, Bracelets by Sorelles, Canine Creek, City of Tehachapi, The Counter Fit, Don Juan's Restaurant, Fuller ‘N’ Fuller Gifts, Gracian's, Hitching Post Theater, Holiday Inn Express, Hornets Nest Design, Tehachapi Community Theater, Horse Thief Country Club, It Makes Scents, Jackie Wood Photography, Tehachapi Police Dept., Kohnen's Country Bakery, LeMarche', Tehachapi Linen Chest, LV Designs, M & M Sports, Marty Pay Farmers Ins., Mary Kay - Debbie Martin, Mercury Graphics, Miami Dolphins, Petra Mediterranean Deli, Pittsburgh Steelers, San Diego Chargers, Southern Shooter's, St. Louis Rams, Starbucks, Studio J, Tehachapi Flower Shop, Tehachapi Therapeutic Massage, Trains Etc, and Walt Disney.
And “hats off” to these extraordinary volunteers:
Terry Reed, Mary Reed Roxanne Sasia, Ken Hetge, Della Dusel, Charlene Bayles, Carolyn Craft, Jim Wilson, Cheryl Wilson, TCT Volunteers, Claudia Henson, Sam White, Ruthie Grimes, Rick Vance, Wyatt Vance, Kelsey Vance, Cathie Sibley, Patricia Stirm, Gene Stirm, Kimberly Plunket, Paul Benz, and Benz Employees.

If you or someone you know deserves a shout out in an upcoming edition of Takin’ Care of Business, or would be suitable for a business profile in Community Business News, please send an email to editorial@tehachapinews.com, or call Carin at 823-6373.

No corporate businesses or subsidized community services agencies will be featured in this format, only privately owned, small businesses (less than 20 employees) currently operating within the greater Tehachapi area.

A bird in the hand recovers

I was sitting at my computer last week transferring photos from my digital camera card onto the computer hard drive when I heard a single loud knock at the door. I was expecting a friend to stop by but it was an uncharacteristic knock with no accompanying “Hello?” so I went to see who was at the door.

No one was there but when I opened the door I saw the lifeless form of a small bird lying on the ground - the “knock” had been the sound of a White-Crowned Sparrow colliding with a window.

Bird-versus-building collisions often have fatal outcomes for the unlucky birds. Birds are amazingly tough, especially for such delicately-constructed creatures of flight, but the sudden impact with an immovable object like a house frequently leaves them with a broken neck. Occasionally I find dead birds on the ground next to a building, looking totally intact and unharmed but nonetheless deceased as the result of a collision in full flight.

I bent down and picked up the still sparrow, its body limp but still warm. Sometimes fortune favors the bird and they will be temporarily stunned but can recover. The sparrow didn't seem to be in this category but as I held it, it suddenly opened its eyes and looked at me, alert but not alarmed.

Yay! This one had cheated death despite the impact. Regular readers of this column know that I have affection for all living things, but I have a special fondness for White-Crowned Sparrows (Zonotrichia leocophrys). These migratory sparrows appear each autumn to spend the winter with us, and they are instantly recognizable with their boldly patterned black-and-white striped heads.

White-crowns feed on the ground, and they are fun to watch as they scratch at the leaf litter and debris with both feet, uncovering seeds and insects as they forage.

They are quite common in Tehachapi during the winter months, with small flocks of 6-20 birds or so found throughout our area around houses, farms, oak woodlands, fields, etc. In the spring and summer we can go months without seeing any White-crowns.

Happy to see that the bird in my hand had cheated death, I continued holding it for a few minutes to keep it warm while it recovered. I then placed it on a cottonwood log in the golden light of the late afternoon sun. It continued watching me for several more minutes then decided it was time to check itself out of the emergency room: it flew directly to a nearby pyracantha bush where other White-crowns were also sheltering. I love happy endings. . . .

As our days get colder and we experience harder freezes, the life cycle is ending for many insects. Some take shelter underground, beneath tree bark or in other hiding places and are able to overwinter, but most will perish. Their eggs, however, will survive in the soil or in other protected locations and hatch out next spring.

Male tarantulas are among those out making the most of their fading days. Female tarantulas stay in their underground burrows and can survive for up to 20 years, but males usually only live a single year and I've seen several of them lately slowly making their way across rocky soil in search of a mate - not an easy task for a creature that is functionally blind.

We are now in the time of Indian Summer, when cold or even frosty nights are followed by warm days and crystal blue skies. Enjoy this unique weather before the colder, darker days of winter set in.

Have a good week.

Mail from the Mayor:

In my last letter, I gave a brief overview of the Redevelopment Agency. The original intent of the RDA was to provide housing for our soldiers returning from World War II. While redevelopment as a concept quickly grew beyond just housing, providing for this need for the workforce remains a vital aspect of the RDA.

Twenty-percent of the revenue is required to be set aside for “affordable” housing. To be considered “affordable,” the total housing cost — including utilities, insurance and maintenance — must be no more than a percentage of household income. This is somewhere around 30-35 percent for most, although it can vary with income levels and the medium incomes of a particular area. Our income level to qualify for affordable housing is around $30,000 per year or less, compared with San Bernardino, for instance, at $90,000.

RDA housing funds from the set-aside may be used for financing long-term projects, for loans to developers of affordable housing, for grants such as the new façade improvement plan recently passed by the City Council, and for down payment assistance for home buyers. This may sound easy, but the restrictions and parameters for using housing funds in any of these ways are numerous. In fact, the requirements are so complicated that most cities require the services of a consultant who specializes in RDA housing. Our present RDA housing fund is close to two million dollars, and must be spent soon or the State will tell us how to spend it.

The housing funds can be used for senior housing, but only up to the percentage of seniors in the RDA area. In addition, the law states that 15 percent of the housing within the RDA area must be affordable. The funds can also be used for housing outside the actual RDA boundaries, but to qualify for these loans, two housing units would be required for every one required in the RDA area.

We have State mandates that must be met for providing housing at all income levels. This issue is addressed in the new General Plan. The recently passed Senate Bill 375 also requires that any new housing development include a certain percentage of affordable units.

In an era of skyrocketing building costs, providing for the housing needs of all our residents is a challenge. Meeting this responsibility will involve creative thinking, including new takes on old ways of developing neighborhoods. Some of the means to get a mix of housing include apartments over retail spaces, small multi-family buildings such as duplexes, garage apartments, townhouses, and small cottages on small lots.

One thing is clear. The days of building homogenous neighborhoods segregated by income levels and behind stone walls are gone.

Takin' Care of Business

As of press time, a journalistic time-warp of community news proportions will allow me the opportunity to blather on about Main Street Tehachapi’s 10th Annual Star Light Ball as if it hasn’t already happened (Which it hasn’t, as of press time).

Nearly 300 community supporters are about to be (Okay, have been!) dazzled by the phenomenally creative talents of the event’s coordinators, Kimberly Plunkett, of Everything Eventful and her parents, Mary and Terry Reed, of Mercury Graphics.

“It’s been a great partnership,” said Plunkett, who has been a Star Light Ball volunteer for the past 10 years. “Michelle [Vance] is great to work for, and this is just great for the community,” said Plunkett.

Plunkett’s 3-year-old daughter Jenna also donated her creative skills, giving thumbs up to the disco ball and twinkle lights that adorn the dance floor.

While the decoration of the Capital Hills corporate headquarters of Gold Sponsor Benz Sanitation are truly dazzling, what stands out in spite of a cloudy climate of economic uncertainty is the brilliant community support this event has received from the local business community.

“When Main Street hosts an event, people know it’s going to be a great event,” said Mary Reed.

According to Main Street Director Michelle Vance, much of the credit goes to the community volunteers and business sponsors, like Lisa Cyr, of Aspen Builders, who managed the difficult task of acquiring numerous “manly-man-type” donations for the silent auction. Cyr contacted professional football teams across the nation, and one lucky bidder will go home with a signed, 2007 San Diego Chargers Championship limited edition team football. Bidding starts at only $80, a small price for such a priceless pigskin!

Don’t worry ladies, this is in addition to an HUGE assortment of decadent spa treatments, fine jewelry and local restaurant and hotel certificates, as well as family-friendly items like a 4-pack of tickets to Disneyland!

The baskets containing all this delicious swag — enough to make Hollywood-types take notice — have been beautifully put together by Pam Wilham, of Fuller N Fuller Gifts. Vance estimated the cost of these donations in the 4-5 figure range, but we’ll know more about their real-world worth next week when the bids have all been tabulated and the winners all properly pampered.

Reed and Vance both reiterated Main Street’s continued dedication to boosting the local business economy, not just downtown, but all of Tehachapi’s hard-working entrepreneurs.

Next week, we’ll give some well-earned kudos to those businesses who supported the Star Light Ball, and continue Takin’ Care of Business.

We’ll also have a peek at what’s coming up next: Main Street’s Shopping Extravaganza on Dec. 5 from 6-9 p.m. Get ready to shop locally, Tehachapi!
As she bounced off to set up for downtown and Trunk or Treat, Vance exclaimed, “Isn’t Tehachapi just incredible?”

Yes Michelle, Tehachapi is indeed, incredible!

Dick Johnson: Tehachapi’s original sportwriter

There’s a bit of a tradition at the Tehachapi News that sportswriters often are Tehachapi High School alumni. I covered sports for five years and many other THS grads have written about local sports, including current sportswriter Tom Shea. The dean of all of us, though, is Richard “Dick” Johnson, 80.

Last week Dick was paid tribute at the THS Homecoming game when the press box at Coy Burnett Stadium was officially named the R. M. “Dick” Johnson Press Box. This is a fitting gesture for the man who basically started sports reporting in the Tehachapi Valley.

Dick was the son of the paper’s owner, Walter “Pop” Johnson, who bought the Tehachapi News from Grove Wilson in 1943 for the sum of $2,700. Dick, who was a student and athlete at THS himself, helped his Dad out by writing about THS sports, with a simple philosophy: “If we won the game, it went in the paper,” Dick explained. “If we didn’t, the story didn’t make it in.”

In those days, the only boys sports at THS were football and basketball — no baseball, tennis, golf, cross country, etc. For girls, the options were even more limited: just basketball.

There was no stadium in those days, and football games were played at Imhoff Field, which is the grassy area on the south side of the former Jacobsen Junior High on Snyder Street. Back in Dick’s school days, it was Tehachapi High. JJHS itself is no more, having being replaced by Jacobsen Middle School which moved into the vacated Tehachapi High when the new high school was completed several years ago.

The “stands” back in the 1940s was a small set of wooden bleachers, maybe six rows of seats tall and 20 yards long.

“There would only be 50 to 75 people at each of the games, which were always played on Saturday afternoon,” Dick recalls. “We had to play during daylight hours because there were no lights on the field. And there were no announcers, of course. We did have a couple of cheerleaders, though — I remember Betty Dowdy and Barbara Inlund.”

Just finding opposing teams to play against was a challenge back in those days, since there were so few high schools in Kern County. Local kids had to make long road trips for their games, and opponents included such far-flung rivals as Barstow and Victorville.

Fielding 11-man teams was also a challenge that some small schools simply couldn’t manage.

“One year in the course of the football season we played 6-man, 8-man and 11-man games,” Dick recalls. “Randsburg had a 6-man team, Trona had an 8-man squad and most of the others were 11 players — sometimes just barely.”

Dick, who played quarterback for THS his senior year in1945, remembers taking a hard shot and being laid out. This was in the days of leather helmets with no face guards.

“I got dinged pretty good, but I had to get back up and keep playing because we didn’t have any other quarterbacks,” he says. And even if they had, it often wouldn’t have helped, because it would have meant simply moving a player from one position to another and there would still be a vacancy, for there were times when the entire team consisted of 11 players.

Another time the THS football squad played Bishop one day and Lone Pine the next, since the team was already up in the Owens Valley it was decided they’d play back-to-back games to save travel time and expense.

The THS team Dick played on is now mostly a ghost team, with deceased players that include Alfred Damian, John Barrera, Leonard Gutierrez, Ralph Tallman, Gilbert Cervantes, David Navarro, George Koutroulis, Jesse Peters and others. Living members besides Dick include Hugh Vasquez, Louie Damian, Bruce Hudson and Tony Anthony.

Dick still remembers the last game he played: On Thanksgiving Day, THS lost a tough game to Barstow. Dick threw a pass that was intercepted and Dick himself knocked the receiver out of bounds at the three-yard line. Barstow managed to score and the game ended 6-0, a loss for which Dick felt responsible. But that’s sports — just one play among thousands of others.

Dick decided Uncle Sam needed him so he joined the service and left for the military in February of 1946. He got out of the service in December of 1947 and for a short time lived in San Francisco, working for the Radio Corp. of America, which was a telegram service similar to Western Union. Living in the Bay Area was too expensive and stressful so Dick returned to Kern County in 1948 and attended Bakersfield College on the G. I. Bill.

“The G.I. Bill paid $140 a month, which was almost enough to pay for all my expenses,” Dick remembers. He also went to work as a sports stringer for the Bakersfield Californian under the direction of sports editor Walt Little.

“I learned a lot from him,” Dick notes. “The two of us were the entire sports department at the Californian, and we put out six pages a day.”

Dick covered mostly college sports but also high school, though there were only three high schools in Bakersfield in those days: BHS, West and East. Dick made an extra $50 a month putting together a weekly prep sports roundup for the Kern High School District.

Dick met a charming and pretty Delano girl in his psychology class and was smitten, and at the end of the school year in August of 1949 he married Joan Peacock, who is still his charming and pretty wife 59 years later.

The newly-married Dick worked in sales for Valley Office Supply for a year and hated it, so the new couple moved back up to Tehachapi and never left. Joan went to work in the office at the Monolith Portland Cement Company and Dick went back to the Tehachapi News, writing about sports, government news, running the printing press and everything else.

Eventually as photos became cheaper to print, the paper began including sports photos as well as stories. Taking photos from the sidelines of a football field in the heat of a game is not without risk — Dick once suffered torn ligaments in his leg when he was hit by THS player Roger Steelman during sweeping run in a Mojave game.

“Tehachapi didn’t have many super football teams until 1951, and then there were great teams in ‘52, ‘56, and so on,” Dick says. “Since then we’ve had lots of good teams and not many bad ones.”

Dick has covered innumerable THS games in all the different sports over the years and he was my main source of advice when I began covering THS sports in 1981. He was such a seasoned veteran that he knew all the different fields and gyms at different schools and could suggest good photo spots.

He and I agree that writing about sports is much more fun when you’re covering the hometown that you love. It may be harder to be objective, but people don’t expect too much objectivity when you’re writing in your hometown paper about your own alma mater. Go THS!

Thanks for your dedication in supporting Tehachapi kids for so many years, Dick. I look forward to photographing you sometime inside the press box that has been named for you.

Have a good week.

A Memo from the City Manager

When we talk about the City of Tehachapi one of our greatest assets is often left out. The Tehachapi Municipal Airport can be forgotten at times because many of our citizens do not believe that they benefit from its services. That being said, I'd like to spend a minute to talk about the great benefit that the airport is to this community and some of the improvements that have been made there.

At an elevation of 4,001 feet, Tehachapi's Municipal Airport is known as the corridor to Northern and Southern California! We have one of the lowest aviation fuel prices in the state and airborne visitors stop in regularly to not only fill up on gas but to enjoy our downtown and local businesses. There are also a number of aviation-related businesses at the Airport and new businesses have approached the City with the hope of locating there. Aviation related jobs are often highly skilled and add value and variety to our economic opportunities.

The Airport is also an excellent location to utilize the treated water from our wastewater treatment facility. This water is currently used to grow alfalfa and as our wastewater facility is upgraded, this water may be used for irrigating sod and other appropriate crops. The close proximity to the wastewater facility and limited access of the Airport provides an excellent location for this necessary process. Other vital functions include serving as a potential emergency operations center for the City and as a base for fire and medical emergency response.

Aside from its economic benefit and its vital role in a number of essential services, the Airport serves as a hub for local and regional aviation enthusiasts. While you certainly can't please everyone, our Airport is consistently praised by visitors and tenants for its maintenance, safety, security, and quality operations. This is largely due to dedicated staff members who have worked hard to institute a number of improvements that have elevated us from small town airfield to a high quality aviation center that has received millions of dollars and praise from the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA).

These millions of dollars are dedicated by the FAA and are only to be utilized for Airport projects. In the past three years we have been successful in obtaining funding for and constructing new lighting improvements, runway and taxiway improvements, an automated weather observation station, and more. These types of improvements encourage even greater use of the airport by a variety of businesses and individuals and have helped us to become an elite general aviation facility.
We are grateful for the efforts of our Assistant City Manager/Airport Manager Dave Zweigle, Airport and City Staff, airport commissioners, the Tehachapi Society of Pilots, local businesses, other local pilots, and any other groups or individuals who have expended positive energy to make our airport a City asset we can all be proud of.

As a final note, if you are interested in utilizing the Automated Weather Observation System (AWOS), you can view up to date weather conditions by visiting www.tehachapicityhall.com/airport and clicking the “weather condiditions” link on the left hand side of the page. For those who are not “wired” the AWOS can be accessed by dialing (661)823-0473. As always, if you have any questions, concerns or suggestions for City activities, please contact me at (661)822-2200, ext. 105, or at ggarrett@tehachapicityhall.com.

Betty Casey: The Queen of the Tehachapi Music Scene

On October 11, musicians and music lovers in the Tehachapi area were shocked and saddened to learn of the untimely death of Betty Casey, 54, a hometown Tehachapi girl who had entertained audiences for over 35 years.

Betty passed away at her home from still-unknown causes, though her death may have been as a result of complications from a recent surgery.

Betty was a dedicated musician with a sweet and powerful voice who has performed on stage in Tehachapi since she was 17 years old. She both loved and played many different musical styles, including country, blues, rock, bluegrass, folk and more.

She last played in Tehachapi just two weeks ago when she performed with Jerry Mulkins and other musical friends on October 4 for Coldwell Banker’s annual Customer Appreciation Day, held outside the realty office on Tucker Road.

I spent an hour visiting with her after her set was over. All of Betty’s friends were pleased to see her regaining focus and musical energy after the difficult two years she’s had since the death of her life partner J. J. “Jeff” Jackson, the former Jacobsen Junior High School teacher and consummate musician whose intense relationship with Betty was like a song in itself. At the Saturday concert she was relaxed, positive and sounded as talented and gifted as always.

Betty was born in Sacramento on May 16, 1955 to Carlos Burne and Mary Clodfelter. She was the youngest of four siblings (including Ronnie, Dawn and Wanda) and the family moved to Tehachapi in 1963.

Betty had musical roots and her lifelong love of music started at an early age. Her loving mother Mary taught her to play guitar and her father, who died when she was a baby, had also been a guitar player.

Betty’s older sister Dawn was the babysitter for our family and Dawn would take us over to the Clodfelter’s when she was watching us. The family lived in the historic Freeman home at 414 S. Green Street, which R. B. Freeman built in 1910.

I have wonderful memories of being 5 and 6 years old and watching Betty sit on her bed playing John Denver, Mamas and the Papas, Merle Haggard and other tunes on her six-string. She was a 16-year-old with very long blonde hair and a rich angelic voice and she was so kind to me — instead of closing her door to keep the little kids out, she would let me come in and sit on her bed and listen to her play guitar. She was the first guitar player I knew, the first person I ever saw sing and play live music.
Her kindness and compassion was a hallmark of Betty’s personality. Musicians can be a prickly, egocentric bunch of people at times, but not Betty. She was welcoming and nurturing to even beginning musicians who lacked her considerable talents. She loved, just LOVED to play music and she was patient and encouraging to other musicians.

And musically, Betty was much more than an amazing voice: she was a rock-solid guitar player with excellent rhythm who also wrote some wonderful songs — her wistful ballad “One-Way Track” is one of my favorites by anybody.

Besides music, one of the great joys of Betty’s life was her son Jeremy, born at Tehachapi Hospital and delivered by Dr. Sam Conklin on October 8, 1973. She adored him as a baby and a little guy and even when he grew up they were lifelong friends. She wrote a charming song about him called “Blue Eyes and Kool-aid Kisses” when he was a little boy.

Not surprisingly, the musical gene also found expression in Jeremy, who grew up to be a drummer. “Mom needed a drummer, so she raised her own,” Jeremy explains with a smile.

Although Betty was a true professional who was paid for performing and helped support herself with her music, she was also very generous and donated her abundant talent to countless local events where she would sing and play to entertain, console and delight the audience.

One of her many groups and projects was Veranda, a trio consisting of Betty, Pat Seamount and Joy Gray. These three heavenly-voiced Tehachapi women would play and sing together on the veranda at our place on Cherry Lane, and I always considered myself so blessed to come home and discover lovely three-part harmonies radiating from the porch of farmhouse built in 1922.

A private family graveside service for Betty was held in Bakersfield on Friday, October 17. However, there will be a large celebration of Betty’s life open to the public at Mama Hillybean’s on Tehachapi Boulevard on Saturday, November 29. The “Concert for Betty” will feature hours of great music by many of Betty’s musician friends. I’ll be writing more about this upcoming event as the date nears.

I’ve shaken my head a dozen times since I learned that Betty left us, finding it so hard to believe that her amazing voice will no longer brighten our lives. She introduced me to live music when I was a little boy and brought me hours of musical pleasure at concerts and informal jams.

As always we hugged as I left the Appreciation Concert two weeks ago and her last words to me were “I love you, Baby.”

We’ll always love you, Betty. You were the queen of our local music scene for so many years. Thanks for all the beautiful music.

Have a good week.

Mail from the Mayor:

In 1945, our soldiers returning from World War II found a shortage of available housing throughout the nation. Young men who before the War had been living with their parents in cities and on farms were now starting their own families, and the GI bill was making home ownership possible for them. This gave rise to the Levittown form of instant housing tracts, which in turn spawned a general “flight to the suburbs” and our car-oriented society.

To address the blight and economic distress left behind in the inner cities, as well as to provide as much housing as possible, California passed the Community Redevelopment Act in 1945, and amended the State Constitution with it in 1952.

Over the years, Redevelopment Law has been changed, tightened and modified.
The Redevelopment Agency is probably the least understood and most complex aspect of City government. The purpose of the RDA is to provide a tool to help areas in which the private sector has been unable or unwilling to invest in economic development. The more “blighted” a place becomes, it seems, the less private capital is available for help. The RDA can jump-start economic recovery by funding projects that may then be carried out through private developers. Certain government projects, such as parking lots, streetscapes and other public spaces and buildings, may also be eligible for RDA funding.

Our Redevelopment Agency covers most of the town other than the newer housing developments, with the downtown as the center. Those of you who have lived here more than 10 years will remember what our downtown looked like after K-Mart and Albertson's came in and many of our local businesses closed. The turn-around is the result of a joint vision by the City, the downtown business and property owners, the Main Street program, our non-profits, and individual citizens.

Funding for an RDA is through what is termed “tax increments.” This is the amount of property tax collected as a result of the redevelopment. For example, if a “blighted” property yields tax revenues of $1,000, based on its value, and the value triples due to a redevelopment project, the new tax revenue will be $3,000. The difference between the two, in this case $2,000, is the tax increment, much of which would be credited to the RDA. The catch is that RDA funds may only be used to pay down debt in the form of bonds that are used to finance the projects in the first place.

The most controversial element of the RDA is the use of eminent domain. RDA law allows the taking of private property for economic development purposes. The 2005 Supreme Court case of Kelso v. the City of New London upheld this practice on the federal level. However, the public outcry was so great that many states have since passed laws to limit this use. Last June in California, we passed Proposition 99 to protect homeowners, but not business property. It has been the policy of our City Council, which is also the Redevelopment Agency Board of Directors, and City staff that we use the RDA as a funding mechanism only. How future candidates for the City Council feel about the use of eminent domain might be an important question to ask them.

Next time: RDA housing set-aside and our State mandates for “Affordable Housing.”

Woodpecker Castle: 50 years of sheltering Acorn Woodpeckers

On the north side of Water Canyon Road, just before you enter Tehachapi Mountain Park, there is wooden castle that has provided safe haven for a colony of acorn woodpeckers for at least 50 years.

The castle is actually a snag — an enormous dead valley oak. The term snag refers to a dead tree that is still standing.

In the case of oaks, they can last upright a long time after they lose their final leaf.

With deep strong roots and hard wood, oaks in California are estimated to stand for an average of 50 years after they die. Some remain upright much longer than that, slowly weathering away and being sculpted into statuary by wind and ice and even fire.

The fact that oaks can stand for so long after they die and provide shelter and habitat for many creatures for as long as a century or more is a powerful argument against cutting down any dead oak that is still upright.

The Woodpecker Castle has been home to a colony of Acorn Woodpeckers (Melanerpes formicivorus) for longer than I have been alive. I have noticed and observed this tree and its resident woodpeckers for nearly 40 years, and it can be found in my earliest memories of trips to Tehachapi Mountain Park.

Acorn Woodpeckers are one of the few cooperative nesting birds in the Tehachapi area. These vocal year-round residents are very common in our oak woodlands, and if you live among or hike in oaks you will usually hear the raucous “Aaka-aaka-aaka” calls of these ubiquitous birds.

Acorn woodpeckers are slightly smaller than a robin, with white chests, a black face with white markings, a black back and black wings with prominent white bars that are visible when they fly. They also have cream-colored eyes and a red cap, giving them a colorful clown-like appearance.

Cooperative nesting birds like acorn woodpeckers are those in which other members of a flock or colony will help raise the young, not just the single male and female parents. Acorn woodpecker colonies tend to number about 6-16 individual birds and consist of siblings, cousins and their parents. Often 1 or more males will mate with

1-2 females and all the eggs will be laid in one nest and tended together.

After the chicks hatch, they are cared for by different members of the colony, not just the parents. Like a wolf pack, just the alpha males and females breed and produce the young but other members of the pack assist in raising the offspring.

A vital part of any acorn woodpecker colony is their granary tree, where the birds carefully store acorns. The birds first use their powerful reinforced beaks to hammer out circular holes in dead wood or bark, then they pound in collected acorns.

Wedged tightly in the holes, the acorns are difficult for squirrels and other birds to steal. Acorn woodpeckers will defend their granaries from non-member woodpeckers, jays and other would-be thieves.

Biologists have counted as many as 50,000 acorns in a single large snag. The Woodpecker Castle certainly has thousands of acorns stored at any given time and the tree is riddled with thousands of holes.

In winter and spring when the resident woodpeckers feed upon acorns stored the previous autumn, they often get the added treat of an insect that is feeding on the cached acorn. This is no meal-spoiler for the woodpecker, an insectivore that probably prefers the taste of the insect over that of the acorn.

In addition to the many thousands of acorn holes drilled into the Woodpecker Castle, the old snag also features at least 20 different entrance holes leading to multiple cavities where the birds have both nested and roosted for many decades. I’ve seen different woodpeckers peering out of as many as four different cavity holes at the same time while watching activity at the tree.

Acorn woodpeckers are noisy, gregarious and comical birds and I enjoy watching them. My favorite place to see them, and one of their favorite places to be, is the big snag on Water Canyon Road known as Woodpecker Castle. I hope it stands for many more years.

Have a good week.

Honoring Our Elders: History in the First Person

I will be interviewing Bob and Betty Freeman at Mama Hillybeans Coffeehouse on Tehachapi Boulevard on Thursday, October 16 at 7 p.m. as part of our ongoing series featuring conversations with interesting Tehachapi oldtimers.

Bob is 90 years old and his family are Tehachapi pioneers. The Freemans are one of the oldest families to live in Tehachapi continuously, in portions of three different centuries now — in the 1800s, 1900s, and now 2000s.

Join us for a fascinating look back at Tehachapi’s early days from people who were actually there. Admission is free and newcomers and oldtimers alike are encouraged to attend. You’ll laugh and learn and become more knowledgeable about Tehachapi — don’t miss it!

Mail From the Mayor

While the financial picture from Wall Street, Washington and Sacramento seems about as dark as it can get, there was a ray of light from the State Capitol last week on the City and County planning front. Senate Bill 375 was signed into law by Governor Schwarzenegger. This bill ties reduction in greenhouse gases to transportation dollars. It might sound simple enough — cut “vehicle miles traveled” (VMT's) or lose State highway money for your roads.

What it actually does is force a revolution in the way development will occur throughout the state. In other words, no more sprawl. No more “leapfrog” development. No more spreading out willy-nilly over our best agricultural lands. No more sticking public buildings such as our post office way out of town, forcing everyone to drive, rather than walk, to it. Cities are going to have to build from the inside out from now on, which is what most of their citizens actually want. If they don't do this, they will have to pay for those roads to nowhere on their own. Counties will have to reassess their policies for development in the unincorporated lands and most likely curtail their habitual rezoning practices.

SB375 encourages the type of mixed-use neighborhoods we used to build before it became fashionable to “move to the suburbs.” It will require greater densities in the core of cities and will discourage dotting our entire landscape with “rural ranchettes.” It mandates that cities build housing that their workforce can afford near the places of work.

Does all this sound familiar? If you have participated in any of the City, County or regional workshops, Blueprint meetings and Charrettes on planning held over the last couple of years it should. SB375 sets up “smart growth” principles as the guiding force in planning our future before it's too late. In Tehachapi, both the City and County are ahead of the game. In fact, we have a huge head start.

On the day the Governor signed the bill, the City staff and I were sitting with David Sargent and Anthony Perez of Moule and Poulezoides reviewing the first draft of our new City General Plan. This is the result of all of us — citizens, City Council and City Staff — coming together over the course of a year to frame a vision of what we want our “small mountain town” to look like as we grow.

We are on the cutting edge of planning here in Tehachapi, and the County is right behind us. Most California cities will have to start scrambling to find the money to fund their new General Plan revisions. Ours is already paid for. They will need to figure out what their community wants their City to look like down the road. We already know that. We have our vision. It fulfills SB375 mandates. All we need to do now is stay on track as we implement this vision.

As I write this column, I can't help but wonder what would happen if we held Charrettes across the nation to determine what the citizens wanted our country to look like in the future, say, in the financial-mortgage system, or health care, education, transportation, the environment. Maybe we're on to something here in Tehachapi!

Takin' Care of Business

The arrival of cooler weather was perfectly timed to compliment the selection of seasonally delicious “fall appetizers” prepared by Juan Acevedo of Don Juan’s Grill, which stold the spotlight at last week’s Greater Tehachapi Chamber of Commerce monthly mixer, co-hosted by Holiday Inn Express and Alta One Federal Credit Union.

“I guess they liked the food,” Juan said jokingly, after he was announced as the winner one of the beautifully decorated door prize baskets, created by Jessica Trowbridge, Marketing Coordinator for Alta One’s Ridgecrest office.

A large turnout listened as President/CEO Robert M. Boland of Alta One praised the community of Tehachapi for maintaining it’s small town character and ideals while pursuing “big ideas” for maintaining outstanding business practices.

“It was a good turnout for all area offices,” said a local Alta One representative, citing team members attending from Tehachapi, Bakersfield, Lake Isabella and Ridgecrest corporate offices.

Also in attendance was the Chamber’s 2008 Citizen of the Year, Richard Henry, owner of Henry’s Cafe. Look for a Community Close-up in upcoming edition of the Tehachapi News, detailing Richard’s 29 years of service as a founding member of Main Street Tehachapi, and his numerous other community contributions.

The Tehachapi News and the Greater Tehachapi Chamber of Commerce will begin accepting nominations for the 2009 Citizen of the Year, and 2009 Large and Small Business of the Year Awards starting Nov. 1.

Tehachapi City Council Candidate Henry Schaeffer, of Henry’s Homes 4 Less, enjoyed conversation with Chuck McCollough and George Gonzales, proprietors of the newly established Triassic Legacy Vineyard, in Cummings Valley.

McCollough said interest has exploded in the valley’s potential as a future wine producing and agri-tourism region. Watch for new vines to be planted in the spring.

Keep reading for coverage over this exciting business and agricultural news.

In this economy your support for local businesses of every size and shape can help create the old-timers of Tehachapi’s future economic base! So be sure to welcome newcomers, Brouckaert Insurance Services, located at 20300 Valley Blvd. on Oct. 14 from 4-6 p.m for a ribbon cutting ceremony, drawings and refreshments.

Speaking of “old-timers,” Congratulations are in order for Bank of the Sierra, celebrating 27 years of membership with the local Chamber. Check out next week’s Tehachapi News for Tina Forde’s upcoming story on how many smaller area banks are withstanding the current financial crisis with solid business principles and assets intact.

Please remember to shop locally whenever possible, and be sure to say thanks to all our local entrepreneurs and their dedicated employees for Takin’ Care of Business!

Davidson’s Buckwheat and the flowers of Autumn

Jon
Wildflowers in Tehachapi must deal with two fundamental truths about our weather: most of our moisture arrives in winter, when the days are coldest and there is the least amount of sunlight; and during summer when the weather’s warmest and the days are long and sunny, there is generally no rain.

The response from most flowering plants is logical — they bloom in spring, as winter rains are tapering off but not gone completely and the temperature is warming and the days are lengthening. As a result there are literally several hundred different wildflower species abloom in spring and early summer.

There are far fewer plants that are able to muster flowers in late summer and autumn, when the last rain was 120 days ago or more and temperatures have reached the 80s and 90s for months on end. Fortunately for nectar-loving insects, hummingbirds and human residents alike, there are some hardy wildflowers that are still able to bloom this time of year and two of them are colorful right now: Rabbitbrush and Davidson’s Buckwheat.

I’ve written about Rabbitbrush (Chrysothamnus nauseous) on several occasions and hopefully many local residents can now recognize these hardy shrubs that are now adding beautiful warm yellow and pale golden color to hillsides, fallow fields, roadsides, and vacant lots throughout the Tehachapi area.

Davidson’s Buckwheat (Eriogonum davidsonii), also known as Pine Buckwheat, is not as common or noticeable but it is still widespread and 2008 has been an exceptional year for this drought-tolerant annual. Oldtimers often refer to this plant as “wireweed” for obvious reasons, since its leafless slender stalks rise up from the ground like pale green wires.

These wiry stalks are ornamented by tiny pink flowers every inch or so. The little pea-sized flower clusters start out bright pink and then gradually fade to pale pink after weeks in the sun.

There are more than 37 species of buckwheat in Kern County, making Eriogonum (commonly pronounced er-ee-OG-onum) the best-represented genus in Kern County’s 8,172 square miles. Their extreme drought-tolerance and hardiness make the buckwheats ideally suited to California’s “lands of little rain,” as author Mary Austin referred to the inland ranges.

At least a dozen or more of these buckwheat species grow within 15 miles of Tehachapi City Hall.

The Nüwa (Kawaiisu) Indian people of Tehachapi ate the seeds of several different buckwheat species, including Davidson’s Buckwheat. The seeds were harvested in the fall and pounded into meal.

We are now moving from the calendar summer to Indian Summer — savor it while it lasts. . . .

Have a good week.

Takin’ Care of Business

Let’s kick start this week in high gear! Get revved up to congratulate Jerrod Monaghan, owner of Monaghan Motorsports for sponsoring last week’s “Care Ride,” raising funds for injured U.S. Marine Sergeant Justin Clenard. Monaghan has sponsored three previous rides, with proceeds going to fund cancer research.

The 200-mile Care Ride started in Mojave, ending at the border town of Primm Nevada. At a gathering held afterwards, Jerrod told riders, “This may sound cliché, but as I grow as a business, I want to give something back. I just want to do good things.”

If that’s the case, then hurray for cliché and four strokes of roaring applause for Jerrod Monaghan, of Monaghan Motorsports!

Let’s hope those generous riders get the bugs and dirt out of their teeth in time to get decked out for the Greater Tehachapi Chamber of Commerce’s monthly mixer, on Oct. 8 from 5-7 p.m. The mixer will be held at the The Tehachapi Holiday Inn Express in Capitol Hills, along with co-hosts AltaOne Federal Credit Union. This month’s mixer is sure to be a crowd pleaser, with appetizers by Don Juan’s Grill and a no-host bar. Enjoy DJ music, door prizes and more. Be sure to congratulate Holiday Inn Express Sales Manager Daniela Peregrina on the property’s selection for the distinguished 2008 Quality Excellence Award. Tehachapi’s newest hotel is only one of 113 properties recognized for overall quality and excellence from more than 3,800 hotels. Also, take a look at the hotel’s new signage, visible to thousands of Highway 58 travelers each day, announcing proudly that Tehachapi businesses are all about quality and excellence!

Speaking of quality and excellence, congratulations to Fancy Tips & Toes Nail Salon, on 20 years in their Tehachapi Boulevard location. Stop by or call for an appointment and wish them a happy anniversary! Also celebrating 20 year anniversaries as Greater Tehachapi Chamber members this month, are Carefree Full Service Moving & Storage, Kunkel Builders, Inc. and Tehachapi Flower Shop.

Looking forward to many happy anniversaries are two newer businesses who are hosting public celebrations this month.

Visit the Tehachapi Linen Chest for a Fall Open House on Oct. 11 from 5 - 8 p.m., with special drawing and refreshments to be served. They’re located at 979 Valley Blvd. at Tucker Road.

Congratulations also go out to Brouckaert Insurance Services, located at 20300 Valley Boulevard. Visit them on Oct. 14 from 4-6 p.m for a ribbon cutting ceremony, drawings and refreshments.

As always, remember to shop locally whenever possible, and be sure to say thanks to all our local entrepreneurs and their dedicated employees for Takin’ Care of Business!

Mail From the Mayor

With the State budget in disarray, I think it's important to talk about how city government is funded. The General Fund includes our portion of our property taxes, sales taxes, and Vehicle License Fees, as well as the TOT (transient occupancy) hotel tax, the Business License Tax and other fees. General Fund money is allocated to personnel, including the police department, general overhead and operating expenditures, and some capital expenditures and debt service.

Other services and departments are self-funded by the users of those services. For instance, the sewer, roads, water and airport all have their separate funds, paid for by the users of the services. Water, sewer and trash collection are covered in your water bill. Road money comes from gas taxes as well as grants. The airport is funded by grants, hangar leases and fuel sales. Costs involved in the planning department are off-set by fees charged for those services.

An important job of the City Manager and staff is to identify and apply for funding available from a myriad of channels for various improvements and projects. Under our system of state and county funding, some of our income and property tax dollars are only available for specific types of projects. For example, Community Development Block Grants (CDBG) provide funding for improvements to low and medium income neighborhoods. We have used these for such projects as Pioneer Park, curbs and gutters throughout the city, landscaping at the entrance to Ashe Village, and drainage improvements to North Green Street.

Caltrans and our local Kern Council of Governments (Kern-COG) also provide grants that must be used for specific purposes, such as for bike paths, streetscape enhancements, and building roads. We can't use the money for anything else than what the grant specifies. In the last couple of years, we have been awarded nearly $3 million in these grants due to diligent work on the part of the City Manager and City Staff. This is the money that is funding the bike path down Valley Blvd., the extension of Challenger Way to Dennison in Capital Hills, and further improvements to our downtown streetscapes.

Most of these grants do not even require matching funds. All we need is a good plan for the use of the money. For the county grants, the money is pooled from our taxes and spread around to the various cities by Kern-COG. If we don't apply for our share, it's like giving our money away to another city. This is also where it is an advantage to have one of our City Council members rise to the position of president of Kern-COG through longevity on the Council and the COG.

Another important and confusing source of city funding is the Redevelopment Agency (RDA). I'll leave this one for a future column.

Takin’ Care of Business

While many lament the economy’s pinch on their businesses budget, Art Schaefer, of Ranch Service and Supply, has seized the opportunity to competitively outbid some of the largest fencing material distributors in the country. Ranch Service and Supply has supplied materials for fencing projects ranging from a Highway 395 project in the Bishop area, to San Diego Wildlife Park, as well as gaining approval for new fencing materials for Bear Valley Springs. Way to go Art, thanks for demonstrating small town service and expertise that can equal big business benefits.

Just in case you didn’t know, networking works! Boast about the benefits of your business at the Greater Tehachapi Chamber of Commerce's monthly mixer. This months event is co-hosted by Holiday Inn Express Hotel & Suites and AltaOne Federal Credit Union, on Oct. 8, from 5-7 p.m. at the Holiday Inn Express Hotel & Suites, at 901 Capital Hills Pkwy.

Takin Care of Business all the time can lead to serious neglect of your creative side, so don’t forget to support local businesses on Oct. 3, at Art Around Town, First Friday Artists Reception at Crossroads Gallery, Gallery N Gifts, Tehachapi Art Center, Mama Hillybeans, Frame of Mind and Books & Crannies.

In keeping with the creative spirit, Kudos to Mary and Terry Reed of Mercury Graphics, this week’s featured business, for their 10 years of dedication to Main Street Tehachapi, and the annual Star Light Ball.

If all that art appreciation makes you hungry, be sure to stop by and congratulate the owners of Blue Ginger, and sample the menu at Tehachapi’s newest restaurant, located next to Domino’s Pizza in the Albertson’s shopping center. Blue Ginger hosted a Grand Opening event on Sept. 27.