Columns: Tehachapi News

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!

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.

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.

Handbook of the Kawaiisu: ground-breaking book nears publication

Tehachapi residents recently got their first look at a landmark new book about the local Indian people entitled Handbook of the Kawaiisu, which is being co-authored by Native American elder Harold Williams and archeologist Allan Garfinkel.

The two men presented a well-attended program about their ongoing efforts at Mama Hillybeans coffee house on Tehachapi Boulevard on Thursday, September 18.

The Kawaiisu people, who refer to themselves as the Nüwa, have been studied by various ethnographers, anthropologists and archeologists during the past 100 years, but published information about them has been sporadic, piecemeal and often inaccurate. That is about to change with the forthcoming publication of Handbook of the Kawaiisu, which will be by far the most complete and well-researched volume ever assembled about these fascinating and resilient people.

Harold Williams, who is the chairman of the Kern Valley Indian Council, began Thursday’s presentation with an introduction to his people. Recent dating of ancient village sites have confirmed that the Kawaiisu have lived in the Tehachapi area for at least 3,000 years. Harold has been involved in a number of cultural site monitoring and survey projects and is the most knowledgeable Nüwa about tribal prehistory.

While not a fluent speaker, both of Harold’s parents spoke Nüwa and he understands many native words. He introduced his sister Janice Williams, who has been instrumental in efforts to revive both the Nüwa language and the art of Kawaiisu basketry, which lapsed before World War II.

The Williams are descended from a long line of accomplished basketmakers and their great-grandmother, Emma Williams, and her daughter, Sophie Williams, were among the last of the old-time basket weavers. Janice is currently working on a basket that when completed will be the first Nüwa basket made in over 75 years. A number of antique Williams family baskets were on display Thursday night.

Following Harold’s portion of the program, Allan Garfinkel narrated a Power Point presentation covering some of the material that will appear in the book. The wealth of information included Kawaiisu mythology, geography, historical accounts and personal anecdotes. Dr. Garfinkel noted that even preparing the extensive bibliography of published accounts of the Kawaiisu covered 40 pages.

The program ended with a brief discussion by former state senator Phil Wyman, who obtained two grants to help with the research and eventual publication of Handbook of the Kawaiisu. Both during his many years in the legislature and since he left Sacramento, Wyman has done more than any other individual to help preserve Kawaiisu culture.

Wyman continues to work on funding for the book as well as a Tomo Kahnhi Visitors Center, and it was he who made arrangements for Chemehuevi basketmaker Mary Louise “Weegie” Claw to come to Tehachapi to help revive Kawaiisu basketry. The Wyman family’s Antelope Canyon Ranch has also been site of most material gathering for the native basketry program.

Handbook of the Kawaiisu is slated for publication next year, and despite all that has been done so far, there is still extensive work to be done before it can be published. Funds and donations are still being sought to complete the project.

When finished, this book will be the definitive volume about the Kawaiisu people and will shine a light on an ancient culture that thrived in the Tehachapi area for thousands of years.

Have a good week.

Hooks Anderson, Master Woodworker

One of the most unique and talented men that the Tehachapi Valley will ever know left us at 10 a.m. on Friday morning when Hooks Anderson, 91, died peacefully in his chair at home with loved ones close beside him. Hooks had recently had heart surgery and succumbed due to complications.

Services will be held at Woods Family Funeral Home on Wednesday, Sept. 17 at 11 a.m. with viewing from 5-7 p.m. the preceeding day.

Both Hooks and Tootie, his wife of 71 years, grew up in Tehachapi and raised their ever-expanding family here. Their given names are Lester and Leatta, but most people know them as Hooks and Tootie and to many of us they are Nana and Papa.

Hooks grew up dirt poor and like many impoverished Americans from the early part of the 20th century he learned to work hard and be self-sufficient. But he didn’t stop there — with his innate talents and observant mind Hooks was able to excel in so many different areas of life. He was a successful gardener, a fantastic cook, a master mechanic, a skilled welder, a keen fisherman and hunter, was good at carpentry, plumbing, painting, electrical wiring. . . . the list goes on and on.

But the finest work he did with his hands was evident when he worked with his favorite material: wood. Hooks was a master woodworker with a deep and abiding love for many kinds of trees and the wood that they produced. Ponderosa Pine, Valley Oak, Incense Cedar, Black Walnut, White Fir and others were transformed into beautiful and useful objects with Hooks’ patient skill.

Everything from clocks and furniture to totem poles and Native American flutes were born in Hooks’ humble woodshop that he built in the old garage at he and Tootie’s home on Cherry Lane.

The smell of fresh sawdust and the sight of newly-created wooden objects greeted me and other friends and family members who stopped by. My visits with Hooks almost always started in the woodshop because I was anxious to see what he had finished most recently.

When he was a boy, Hooks used to ride a yellow mare to school sometimes — in those days Tehachapi Elementary School actually had a small corral where kids who rode to school could leave their horses while they attended class.

At an early age, Hooks met Tootie, the love of his life. He took an old pair of English riding boots with fine quality dark leather and he cut the boots into leather thongs, which he then square-braided into beautiful supple reins as a present for Tootie. At the time, he was seventeen and she was fifteen.

Such was his affection for her that he walked — that’s right, walked — all the way from Tehachapi to Johannesburg on the desert to see her. He would also help Tootie’s mother, Ola Mae, cook dinner until one of the kids spotted her father, who didn’t approve of Hooks, as he returned home from working in the mines. Then Hooks would have to run out the back door.

Hooks and Tootie eloped with the help of Hooks’ uncle and aunt, Brick and Laura Jones. Grandpa Ford eventually came to realize what a great decision Tootie had made when she married Hooks.

As I mentioned earlier, Hooks was a worker and he didn’t know how to be lazy. He worked harder as a boy than most guys will as men. He used to hand dig cesspools (also called dry wells) around Tehachapi for $1 a foot. These were square holes that were typically 5-foot by 5-foot or 8-foot by 8-foot. When he reached ten feet deep Hooks would raise his price to $1.50 because he could no longer throw the dirt out with a shovel, he had to use a windlass and a bucket to get the dirt out of the hole.

The deepest one he dug was for a Tehachapi judge, Ferd Snyder, and Hooks dug that one 45 feet deep, with Hooks down in that unreinforced shaft digging with a shovel and bar while a friend on top worked the windlass bucket. Hooks was only 16 years old at the time.

Hooks went to work for the Monolith Portland Cement Company and spent over 40 years there, retiring as a repair foreman. His knowledge of many different mechanical skills served him well at the plant.

Hooks had a very playful side to his nature and he and Tootie often hosted gatherings of family and friends. On the 4th of July, two days after his birthday, Hooks used to don his bathing suit, run off the diving board and jump into the air firing two black powder pistols he had made, and then plunge into the swimming pool he made and concreted using cement sweepings from Monolith.

I was glad when Papa retired from Monolith because then we had him on Cherry Lane all the time. My own grandfathers were both gone before I was six months old, and Hooks was the only I grandpa I knew. As our closest neighbors, Hooks and Tootie were always among my family’s dearest friends and their grandkids are cousins to me.

Hooks has been the single most influential person in my life. He not only taught me many practical life skills and how to use tools, but I also learned to have confidence and strive for high standards in the things I make or do.

With little formal education, Hooks was able to learn and be good at so many different things. He was an astute observer of the natural world who knew weather, where different birds were nesting, when the trees leafed out early or late, how much good the last rain had done, etc. We formed a permanent bond based on a shared love of the outdoors and the joys of being creative.

Many people stopped by Hooks and Tootie’s place to get advice or help on a project from Hooks. He was like the Wizard of Cherry Lane, who could cut the riflings inside the barrel of a black powder gun, tan buckskin, rebuild an engine, make a lamp, put up jars of pickles and a hundred other skills.

Hooks spent the summer of his 75th year building a small sawmill from scratch, using his own design. At a time when most people have long since retired, given up and geared down, Hooks was cutting steel, welding, fabricating and painting a sawmill capable of cutting logs ten feet long and four feet in diameter.

He then logged insect-killed trees from his property in the mountains south of town and milled them into lumber, which he then used for his many woodworking projects. He also carved cedar trees from the Benz family’s Cedar Canyon Ranch into totem poles, two of which he donated to Tehachapi High School.

I’ve left so much out but I hope it’s now plain that Hooks Anderson was an amazing, incredibly knowledgeable and inspirational Tehachapi man. He loved his country, his home, his friends and most of all his family. Even at 91 he never became irrelevant or stuck in the past. He still worked nearly every day and his sharp mind and clear memory were intact.

Papa had a special fondness for babies and children and his ready grin put them at ease. Generations of little kids have looked forward to going to Nana and Papa’s on Cherry Lane and as you were leaving Hooks would always call out his familiar farewell greeting: “Come back.”

So now despite knowing that Hooks lived a full, exceptionally long life and passed away peacefully in his own beloved home, the tears streaming down my face right now tell me that we weren’t prepared to live in a world without him and I want to say “Come back, Papa.”

Thank you to Hooks Anderson for gifts beyond measure and the lessons of your beautiful life.

Captions:

Hooks and his cherished 1935 Chevy truck, which he and Tootie bought new here in Tehachapi and still have to this day.

Takin’ Care of Business

Congratulations again to Team Jack and Diana Williams, of RE/MAX Tehachapi Realtors, on celebrating 20 years of Takin’ Care of Business by providing outstanding service in Tehachapi real estate sales. The gracious hosts of the Sept. 10 Greater Tehachapi Chamber of Commerce mixer were honored with a commemorative plaque presented by Peter DeArmond, Managing Editor of the Tehachapi News, and also received special recognition for their dedication and accomplishments, awarded by Chamber President Ida Rennie.

REMAX Tehachapi Realtors team member Laura Lynne said the event was a huge success, and although some of the agents were a bit tired the next morning from the previous evening’s festivities, they offered their bubbly and sincere thanks to Mary Bohinc, Tehachapi sales representative for Market Mortgage, for donating the champagne that was toasted, sipped and enjoyed in honor of the team’s 20 year anniversary.

“We had a great turnout, especially y from our fellow chamber members. We’re all so pleased for Jack and Diana,” Laura Lynn said, offering more sweet praise to Debbie Henry, co-owner of Henry’s Cafe, for baking the beautiful and delicious REMAX logo-shaped cake.

A virtual whirlwind of applause goes out to Dave and Nancy Schulgen of Airstreams, LLC, and also Dean Landon, General Manager of Terra-Gen Operating Co., LLC for sponsoring three separate assemblies presented to 4-12th grade students from four local schools. (See story page A7) Motivational speaker Ron Heagy inspired students and adults in attendance to Never Give Up, and to always keep smiling even in the face of adversity. Thanks to Airstreams, LLC and Terra-Gen Operating Co., LLC, for providing local youth with the renewable energy and positive attitude necessary to help themselves and others to reach their dreams and to overcome life’s many challenges.

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 Memo from the City Manager

As a city resident, have you ever wondered how the City funds its improvement projects, how the City is preserving Tehachapi's unique small mountain town atmosphere or even what the City is doing to attract new economic and employment opportunities? Perhaps you read an article or saw a project in development that made you wonder, “Why did they do that?”

These questions and more can be answered with the brand new “Ask City Hall” feature on the City's website. This component is currently in development and, when completed, will enable visitors to sign-in and ask questions directly through www.tehachapicityhall.com. Answers will be returned to the inquiring party, and some questions and answers will be posted on the City's website. The City will not display any information about the person making the request. More information, including site access details, will be provided soon.

Communication is a key factor in the positive relationship between Tehachapi's citizens and their municipal government. City Hall strives to provide a constant flow of information to residents and has been actively looking for new and better ways to facilitate an easy exchange of ideas. We want to hear your questions and encourage you to attend City Council meetings, and call or email City Staff.

As always, if you have any questions, concerns or suggestions for this column, please contact me at (661) 822-2200, ext. 105, or at ggarrett@tehachapicityhall.com.

California Gray Squirrels: Agile and Alert

One of the more interesting mammal species in the Tehachapi Mountains can be seen running, climbing, bounding and scampering up trees year-round. These lively and energetic creatures with large bushy tails are California Gray Squirrels (Sciurus griseus).

“Gray” is both a name and a description of these attractive animals, for they are covered with gray fur and have extravagant tails bearing long gray hairs. Their bellies are snowy white underneath. Their backs can have salt-and-pepper coloration and their specific name griseus is Latin for “grizzled,” meaning “streaked or flecked with gray,” but they appear gray overall.

Gray squirrels are the largest members of the squirrel family, which includes chipmunks, that can be found in the Tehachapi area. Like all squirrels, they are diurnal (active during daylight hours) and stay in their nests at night.

Unlike many squirrels, however, gray squirrels do not hibernate or enter a true state of torpor during inclement weather — they simply stay hunkered down in their cozy stick nests high in a tree and emerge the moment the storm or snowfall stops.

Gray squirrels depend largely on pine nuts and oak acorns for food. When acorns are plentiful you can often see gray squirrels burying the nuts in soil and leaf litter on the ground of forests and woodlands. In time of food shortages, gray squirrels return to find the acorns again using their sense of smell. They inevitably miss some of these cached acorns which may then germinate and sprout, making gray squirrels one of the natural tree planters in the mountains.

Gray squirrels have powerful hind legs which they use to leap from branch to branch as well as to cover open ground quickly in bounding hops. They also have sharp claws which enable them to cling to uneven tree bark. Where tree limbs overlap, gray squirrels will traverse from tree to tree without touching the ground.
Their agility is amazing as they move fluidly through the forest canopy. Tehachapi doesn’t have monkeys or lemurs, but gray squirrels can seem almost like small primates with their dextrous hands and ease of movement through trees.

The Nüwa (Kawaiisu) Indian people of Tehachapi call gray squirrels wogo-tiv-azi and hunted them in former times. The California Department of Fish and Game still allows a regulated hunt for gray squirrels in some areas but squirrel is not a popular menu item in 21st Century California.

The Gray Squirrel population ebbs and flows and biologists are not certain of the causes for this fluctuation. These population changes are found in the Tehachapi area — some places can go for years without resident gray squirrels, then they’ll be back for several years before vanishing again.

Gray squirrels can be found down to four to five hundred feet in elevation in some areas of California, but locally they tend to live at 4000 feet and higher. They extract nuts from pine and fir cones by carefully chewing off one scale at a time, and a good indication of gray squirrels is the presence of “cores” underneath conifers. These cores are cones that have been stripped of all their scales and they are suggestive of studiously-eaten apple cores or corn cobs.

Gray squirrels produce a litter or two each year of two to six babies, born in the furred warmth of their tree nests, which are frequently but not always built in conifers. Gray squirrels make several different vocalizations that sound like a hoarse cough or “chup” noise repeated at intervals, but they don’t make the piercing alarm bark that is so typical of California Ground Squirrels.

In addition to seeds, nuts and green foliage, gray squirrels also eat truffle-type fungi that they locate growing on the forest floor. They are preyed upon by raptors and some mammalian predators like bobcats, but their speed and climbing ability makes them difficult prey and puts them out of reach of many would-be predators.

There is a healthy colony of gray squirrels in and around Tehachapi Mountain Park and they provide visual entertainment for park visitors. Residents in Bear Valley, Alpine Forest, Golden Hills and other outlying areas often have gray squirrels appear at bird feeders to help themselves to seed. Some discourage this but I find gray squirrels as interesting as any avian species and wouldn’t begrudge them a share of the food.

Gray squirrels are tough and likeable and are active all year, just like the best native Tehachapians. Look for them when you’re in the mountains and hills and enjoy our little “mountain monkeys.”

Have a good week.

Pen In Hand

A vibrant and eye-catching mural celebrating the 100th anniversary of the cement plant at Monolith has recently been completed in downtown Tehachapi, causing motorists on F Street to slow down and admire it as they drive by.

Painted by well-known muralist Art Mortimer with the assistance of several local artists, the large installation covers most of the south wall of the St. Vincent de Paul building on the corner of F and Green Streets.

The mural features a dozen different images from Monolith’s past, from its earliest days in 1908 manufacturing cement for use in the Los Angeles Aqueduct to the plant modernization project in 1990. The resulting collage spreads across the building like a tastefully done page from a giant scrapbook.

Newer residents may regard the plant as a distant curiosity, its towering infrastructure illuminated at night like a strange amusement park. But for longtime residents, Monolith looms large in our consciousness. The plant was the major employer here for about 75 years and thousands of families over the decades depended on Monolith paychecks.

There was once a thriving townsite across the road from the plant (it is depicted on the mural) and some older residents living in Tehachapi today attended school at Monolith Elementary before going to high school in town.

Also included on the mural is an image of the Monolith Store, which was a popular stopping place for gas and groceries and was the only business east of town between here and Mojave. It was owned and operated for many years by the colorful Ed Tompkins, who was basically the Mayor of Monolith. The store persisted until 1971 and its closing rang the final knell for the now-vanished community of Monolith.
The company itself has undergone a few name changes, from Monolith Portland Cement Company in 1921 to Calaveras Cement Co. in 1989 to the present Lehigh Southwest Cement Company beginning in 1995. Lehigh donated $10,000 towards the cost of the mural.

“We were glad that we could contribute,” said Lehigh accounting manager Duana Frerichs Pera, a Tehachapi girl whose grandfather helped build the silos at Monolith in the 1930s. “It’s not about the company, it was done to honor the workers,” she emphasized, “Main Street has done a fantastic job and everyone here at Lehigh is excited.”

Monolith is known for the dedication and hard work of its employees — many don’t retire until they have labored over 40 years in the east end of our valley, making cement used in concrete projects large and small, from the Los Angeles Coliseum to Tehachapi sidewalks, from bridges and roads to the foundations of tens of thousands of homes.

With a plant that operates to some extent around the clock, every day of the year and has always paid good wages, Monolith has historically offered stable employment and a better life for those without much education and even to those with limited English skills.

Many neatly-kept older homes in Tehachapi belong to working class people of Hispanic descent whose families were supported by a wage earner at Monolith. To honor that heritage, an image on the mural depicts members of the Ursua family at one of the Safety Picnics the company once provided for workers and their families. A number of Tehachapi Indian men have also been on the payroll at Monolith over the years.

It is not a job without risk: over the years men have died in quarry accidents and electrocutions and truck crashes and been killed or maimed in machinery. Even with the plant automation in 1990 that reduced the workforce from 450 employees down to 125, working at Monolith (the site continues to be known as Monolith, even though the parent company name changes) can still be a demanding job that is not for the weak or idle.

A large celebration is being planned to dedicate this new mural, which is the eighth in a series of historical murals in downtown Tehachapi presented by the Tehachapi Historical Murals Committee and Main Street Tehachapi. A portion of F Street will be closed for the dedication which will be held on Saturday, September 13 and will feature guest speakers, music from the Tehachapi Pops Orchestra and refreshments and food. All interested people are encouraged to attend, with a special invitation extended to past and present Monolith, Calaveras and Lehigh employees.

Muralist Art Mortimer was assisted by additional artists Terry Asher, Lyn Bennett, Allyson Gray, Caitlin Johnson and Alicia Shabra. Dylan Welch and other scouts from Troop 136 performed the prep work to get the building ready for the mural project, using sandblasting equipment generously loaned by Sunbelt Rentals of Palmdale.

Have a good week.

Mail From the Mayor: Our City Government

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.

Cal-Trans and our local Kern Council of Governments (Kern-COG) also provide grants which must be used for specific purposes, such as for bike paths, streetscape enhancements and road-building. 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. This is the money that is funding the bike path down Valley Blvd., the extension of Challenger Way to Dennison in Capitol 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.

Legal Eaze

Q: I sold my car to a guy on a Friday night. He wrecked the car two days later and called me for help. He was driving it without insurance and title had not transferred over to him yet. He gave all of my information to the person who hit him. I agreed to help him by making a claim with my own insurance company to help him fix the car. The car was considered a total loss. Now this guy is suing me for his loss. How can I prepare myself for the Small Claims Court hearing?

A: If you were still insured at the time of the incident and there is a claim/lawsuit against you, you should submit the claim/lawsuit to your own insurance company. One of the important duties of an insurance company is to defend their insured in a legal action where their insured and his/her driver are likely to be liable. Otherwise, you may want to consult with a civil litigator long before the hearing, since following some of his/her suggestions may take some time to put into place.

Q: While fighting a custody battle with my ex-wife, I was accused of numerous allegations such as child abuse, spousal abuse, philanderer, etc. While reading a section of California Civil Law, I read that by law, no one is allowed to defame another without evidence. Since no evidence was offered, do I have a civil lawsuit against the Superior Court since the Judge and clerks did not stop her from saying all these lies?

A. It is highly unlikely that you would be successful in such lawsuit. Judges are absolutely immune from suit for acts or omissions committed in their judicial capacity. As for the clerks in the courthouse, they have no power to stop a person from saying whatever he/she wants in the courtroom or courthouse.

Q: I found finger and/or toenail clippings in my Del Monte chili. What can I do?

A. Throw it away and never buy Del Monte products again. Or call Del Monte company and complain. They'll probably send you a flat of Del Monte chili cans to replace the first one. Go back to the store where you bought and demand your money back. If you are thinking “Who can I sue to get damages?” you will have to prove what damages you suffered as a result of this find. If you did not suffer extensively from “gag-eritis”, it is unlikely that your lawsuit would be successful.

Maxine de Villefranche has been an attorney for 15 years and is practicing law in Tehachapi and Lancaster. Send your questions via fax at 825-8880 or e-mail your questions or comments to http://www.generalaw.com She will answer your questions to the best of her abilities.

A Memo from the City Manager

Redevelopment Agency (RDA) projects provide substantial benefit to cities, especially small communities, by utilizing tax increment funding to improve infrastructure, generate in-fill development rather than sprawl, improve blighted areas, generate economic development, and encourage reinvestment in our community. Specifically in Tehachapi, redevelopment funds have been used for ongoing downtown improvement projects, including the BeeKay Theatre, Pioneer Park, Historic Train Depot, downtown signage grants, and airport improvements to name just a few.

At a press conference on Aug. 22, Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger released his latest budget proposal. While this proposal does not include taking local government and transportation funding, it still proposes a significant shift of redevelopment agency funding from local to state control. Clearly, if the State chooses to take redevelopment funding, it will have a significant impact on our community.
Below is an excerpt of the letter sent by the City of Tehachapi to Governor Schwarzenegger's office:

“The City of Tehachapi relies on its redevelopment agency to provide much needed infrastructure improvements, downtown revitalization, and in-fill development. The redevelopment funds in question have provided significant improvements to our small community… These funds are generated locally and they should remain local.
Please consider our position and the position of so many other California cities and redevelopment agencies prior to embarking on any path that would take money from local agencies.”

We encourage citizens to call the Governor and their State Legislators to oppose this measure.

As always, if you have any questions, concerns or suggestions for this column, please contact me at 822-2200, ext. 105, or at ggarrett@tehachapicityhall.com.

Letter to Gov. Schwarzenegger

This is my second letter to Gov. Schwarzenegger in as many weeks. First, I would like to acknowledge and thank the governor for his administration's belief that taking money from local government and transportation funding is irresponsible. This is an appreciated first step in crafting the new State budget. Unfortunately, his most recent budget proposal still includes taking money from local redevelopment agencies.

This short-sighted solution will damage economic development, slow in-fill and sustainable development, and eliminate jobs. It is with this in mind that I strongly suggest that the State balance its budget with State revenues and expenditure reductions. The City of Tehachapi is adamantly opposed to the State's proposed take of redevelopment funds.

The City of Tehachapi relies on its redevelopment agency to provide much needed infrastructure improvements, downtown revitalization, and in-fill development. The redevelopment funds in question have provided significant improvements to our small community. They have created business opportunities and new jobs. They are generated locally and they should remain local.

Please consider our position and the position of so many other California cities and redevelopment agencies prior to embarking on any path that would take money from local agencies. If the State is certain that it can use local money in a more appropriate way than the redevelopment agencies, it may be worth considering eliminating redevelopment agencies all together. I sincerely hope that is not the case.

— Greg Garrett
City Manager
City of Tehachapi

The Spirit of Tehachapi: Pat Gracey’s sweet book of local stories

People who love Tehachapi, rejoice: my friend Pat Gracey has just written and compiled a delightful book entitled Spirit of Tehachapi, which is filled with personal accounts and recollections of earlier times in our mountain home.

“This is not a literary gem, it’s a little collection of remembrances,” Pat told me modestly. “I just wanted to preserve the stories of life growing up in our little town of Tehachapi.”

Her self-published book is easy and wonderful reading for longtime Tehachapi residents and newcomers alike. If you want to understand this area and its people better, read these informal but informative stories from residents who didn’t just read about local history, they lived it.

Pat, who was raised in Tehachapi and was known as Patty Davis before she married Doyle Gracey, was one of four children of Chauncey and Maude Davis. From age 11 onward she lived in the historic Davis home, the stately yellow 1880 house located on the southwest corner of Curry and F Street, which is now owned and beautifully maintained by Pat’s niece Gerry and her husband Al Stark.

Pat’s experience in writing about Tehachapi goes way back — she was the editor of the 1946 Tomahawk, the Tehachapi High School annual (now commonly called “yearbook”).

Her graduating class at THS consisted of 20 seniors, only 16 of whom were present on graduation day. Classmates Dick Johnson and Frank Barrera had already gone into military service and Hugh Vasquez went later.

“The Marine Corp base in Mojave was operating at that time and it was taking its toll on local girls,” Pat remembers with a laugh, as Tehachapi girls became military wives. Pat herself married Doyle, a Marine who has been stationed in Mojave, when he came back to Tehachapi to live because he’d become acquainted with locals during his assignment to Mojave.

“With such a small class, we really were like a family at Tehachapi High,” Pat remembers. “Each year when school started the girls would be asking ‘Are there any new boys!!??’ because there weren’t many choices for dating. We were sad when we graduated because we knew we weren’t going to be seeing each other any more. And our entire class never was together again, though of course some of us still live here in Tehachapi.”

Pat will be discussing her recollections and her book when she is the featured guest at Honoring Our Elders: History in the First-Person on September 18 at Mama Hillybeans coffee house on Tehachapi Boulevard.

In this series, sponsored by Mama Hillybeans and Tehachapi 101, I interview interesting local seniors who share their memories and insights into Tehachapi.

The event starts at 7 p.m. and Pat will have copies of her book for sale and will be autographing them. They are also available at The Apple Shed and at the Tehachapi Museum.

If you’re at all interested in Tehachapi and its earlier days, before the circus came to town, you will want to own a copy of Spirit of Tehachapi, and I know several of my out-of-town family members who will be getting copies for Christmas. Thanks for collecting and recounting these great stories, Pat.

Have a good week.

A Memo from the City Manager

A city council meeting is one of the most important forms of communication that exists between people and their local municipal government. This public forum of thought and dialogue is essential to understanding the needs, wants and wishes of residents and the abilities of the city council and staff to act upon those requests and conduct other city-related business.
The Council's foremost job is to set policy and direct City Staff on current and future projects, events, and monetary issues. Members of the audience routinely use this platform to discuss city-related topics and are encouraged to do so. The council's focus may shift to the latest crisis or most controversial news item, which, while it provides an “interesting” meeting, is sometimes not the most productive method of solving problems. Rather, this venue can be most beneficial when commonality is formed and people join together to find a resolution.
Balance is created by the effective interchange of ideas and values. Therefore, it is also necessary to share stories of triumph and success, such as the recent Relay for Life Walk/Run and the Senior Citizens Center's continued meal program. A positive working relationship is essential to this community's progress, and relevance, in a global environment.
The City of Tehachapi City Council meets the 1st and 3rd Mondays of the month at 6:00 p.m. at the Kern County Veterans Hall on East “F” Street.
As always, if you have any questions, concerns or suggestions for this column, please contact me at (661) 822-2200, ext. 105, or at ggarrett@tehachapicityhall.com.