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THURSDAY, july 16 - JULY 22, 2015
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Volume 3, No. 29
Sky High Gas Prices Hit Los Angeles County; $5 a Gallon Looming
By Monday morning prices were reaching close to $5 a gallon in Pasadena.
-Photo by Terry Miller
By Terry Miller By last Friday morning, prices at the pump were already on the rise at hundreds of service stations around Southern California. A decline of more than one million barrels in gasoline inventory on the West
Coast was just one of the alleged reasons for the surge in prices, according to gasbuddy.com. Also, fuel imports into the region have dropped to zero for the first time since March, according to the
website, which cited a report from the Energy Information Administration. The average price of a gallon on gas nationally however is still cheaper than it was at this time last year, according to AAA.
Friday’s average gas prices per gallon around the region. -Los Angeles-Long Beach $3.656 -Orange County $3.625 -Riverside-San Bernardino $3.558
Accrediting Commission Places Pasadena City College Accreditation on ‘Imposed Probation’ Student Distrust of Administration Cited By Terry Miller
Once again, PCC is in the headlines. After a heated couple of years with former President Rocha, who ultimately had to leave, the school is now facing accreditation issues that could seriously affect classes in 2016-perhaps the very future of the campus. Pasadena City College’s accreditation has been placed “on probation” after reviewing the way the school is run, according to the Accrediting Commission for Community and Junior Colleges. PCC Superintendent Rajen Vurdien sent the fol-
lowing email to our office on Friday evening: “Pasadena City College remains a fully accredited institution. The Commission placed the college on probation following a visit last spring. The college has to address nine recommendations which have to do mostly with implementing an integrated planning and budget model, communications and ensuring the completion of evaluations of faculty and staff.” -Rajen Vurdien, Ph.D., PCC Superintendent and President You can read the action letter as well as the
report on this site: http:// w w w. p a s a d e n a . e d u / accreditation/2015-accreditation-results-and-recommendations.html, or on our website www.pasadenaindependent.com. If the administration does not bring PCC into compliance within the next two years, the commission could terminate its accreditation, according to a letter from the ACCJC sent to Interim President Dr. Robert Miller. The college must respond by October 2016 to show that it has met the commission’s major recommendations.
be sure to VISIT: PASADENAROSEPARADE.COM
ACCJC found flaws in the college’s program review, in its adherence to its own ethics policy, in its planning, and in its communication between administrators and staff. Some of the recommendations related to low morale at the community college. In a review of the college’s ethics policy, the commission found a “climate of distrust,” an erosion of “participatory governance,” and a “lack of respect” among employees. PCC instituted its ethics policy as part of Please see page 2
On Monday morning, however, gas stations in Pasadena were demanding upwards of $5 a gallon: a jump of over one dollar from Friday’s price. Please see page 3
Error on Brown Lawn Penalty Stories in Glendale The LA Times story “Gov. Jerry Brown signs bill barring fines for dead lawns during drought” has an error. It incorrectly identifies a city for issuing correction letters for brown lawns and that individual property owners could be subject to criminal sanctions. The story quotes Assemblywoman Cheryl Brown (D-Rialto) that “she is aware of several cities, including Glendale … that have levied fines…” That is an incorrect statement. The City of Glendale has not issued citations, levied fines or criminally prosecuted individuals for brown lawns. Last year the Sacramento Bee incorrectly reported the same when in fact it was the city of Glendora. That story too was corrected but many never saw the correction.
ACLU Wants to Close Prop 13 Commercial Property Tax Loopholes
When Proposition 13 was first approved by California voters in 1978, it was sold as a protection for single-family homeowners. That was, and is, a very good thing. But what voters did not fully grasp was that Prop 13 contained giant loopholes that let big corporations and wealthy commercial property owners avoid paying their fair share of local property taxes, over time shifting the property tax burden to those singlefamily homeowners Prop 13 was meant to protect. These loopholes give tax avoiders an unfair ad-
Steve Rohde
vantage over smaller businesses that are paying their share, while depriving loPlease see page 2