RKC (
Greetings
to our K-Family (Kiwanis affiliated group of clubs) and other friends.
Below are:
·
NEWS: Recent
developments and activities related to
·
EVENTS: The
speaker for this coming week’s traditional Thursday noon Kiwanis meeting, which
has now resumed, plus a local seminar.
·
FAX OF LIFE:
An inspirational email attachment, courtesy of Scott’s Valley Kiwanis. This one
is titled “Request Denied.”
·
SPECIAL REPORT: The State of Rosemead 2008, based on a speech
this past Thursday by the City Manager Oliver Chi to our Club.
Special Note: We have made a large number of
additions to our email list since the first of December. Some of these new
recipients have already received back issues of the SGV Reporter from early
December forward. Many have not. We will be selectively repeating this
back-issue distribution to a select number of recently added recipients
Thursday evening. If you are a recently included new recipient and want to be
sure you are included in this special mailing please send a request to kcrosemead@aol.com
by 6:00 Thursday. Thank you.
Know someone who should
be receiving these free emails?
Send their name and email address to kcrosemead@aol.com
NEWS
STATE OF
RETHINK SEMINAR –
EVENTS:
Thursday, January 25,
2008 – No Child Left Behind (Regular Kiwanis Meeting)*
Virginia Peterson and Anita Chu will lead a
discussion of the No Child Left Behind (NCLB)
Act. The Act, enacted in January 2002, did three
principle things. It increased standards of accountability for states, school
districts and schools. It also provided parents more flexibility in choosing
which schools their children will attend. Finally The Act required states to
develop assessments in basic skills to be given to all students in certain
grades, if those states are to receive federal funding for schools. .
The
effectiveness and desirability of NCLB's measures are
hotly debated. Some states were required to fund the costs of assessment
development at the expense of other priorities, while others were already in
essential compliance with the new law. Despite complaints, however, there is
widespread agreement that THE American education system is underperforming in
some areas when compared to other countries.Part of
this is due to the broader expectations of the American system; also to be
considered is the near-universal commitment to special needs pupils.
A
primary criticism asserts that NCLB can reduce effective instruction and
student learning. This is done by causing states to lower achievement
goals and motivate teachers "to teach to the test." A primary
supportive claim asserts that systematic testing provides data that sheds light
on which schools are not teaching basic skills effectively. This allows
interventions to be made to reduce the achievement gap for disadvantaged and
disabled students.
Sunday, January 27, 2008 – Atheism vs Theism (Community
Event)
Do
the findings of pure science point to the existence of an intelligent designer
behind all of the intricacy of the universe? Or did it all happen by chance as
postulated by some evolutionists?
Sunday
March 30, 2008 – City of
The City of
* - unless otherwise indicated, Kiwanis
meetings are at 12:10 in
Inn chapel’s
multipurpose room, 4807 Earle (north of
side of street),
WEEKLY FAX OF LIFE
INSPIRATION – “Request Denied” - see fIle
attached
(Note: the rosemeadkiwanis.org website now has a two
year accumulation
of Fax of Life inspirational monographs – see Fax of
Life link at bottom
of the “Newsletters” section of the website.)
SPECIAL REPORT
– Rosemead City Manager Shares Hope for City’s Future
(Reprinted courtesy
of the SGV Journal – David Barron, editor)
With $23 million in its reserve fund, the City
of
Oliver Chi, youthful 29 year old City Manager,
recently told the local Kiwanis Club of efforts for the city – including the
council and staff – to remake itself into a modern municipality with a $40
million a year budget.
One of the key issues he addressed is the
staffing of the City Hall,, where there has been major
turnover in key departments such as recreation and parks, finance, and
planning. Chi said that contracting public safety is a fiscally sound way to
go, but said the city has launched a public safety team to improve the
protection of the community.
(
A graduate of UCLA, Chi he was assistant city
manager in Claremont before coming to Rosemead as an assistant to the previous
City Manager.
He also announced that the city would soon be
starting an academy to help people learn about the day to day operations of the
city.
During his presentation he covered several areas
ranging from break-up of the city departments to future development
of the community.
Here are some of the key points he covered in
the 45 minute talk:
CITY STAFFING AND ORGANIZATION
-Nearly all key management positions have been
filled. Chi has also hired two Assistant City Managers – one for external
matters and another for internal management. He said they are focused on
providing both internal and external services. The city is in the final process
of hiring a director of parks and recenty hired a
-He’d like to see pay raises based on merit and
performance, rather than automatic across the board increases.
-Staffing is being reorganized into “business
units” rather than departments, to eliminate the traditional bureaucracy.
-The Public Safety business unit needs to
provide oversight of the Sheriff’s department to improve public safety.
The city is planning more frequent newsletters to
inform residents
-Chi plans to use more technology to improve
city operations
DEVELOPMENT
-The city only has Wal-Mart and Target as major
sales tax providers and must develop more sources, he said.
- The City Council is currently divided on density, mixed use
developments, building heights, and development issues.
- Mixed use development (buildings with both
business and residential units) are the latest trend but design guidelines are
needed for developers to make the projects attractive to the community.
- City staff does not have to settle for
whatever developers “throw at them.” “We can demand better,” Chi said.
-He said lots of overseas investors from
-Garvey Blvd. is a prime target for new
developments.
Know someone who should
be receiving these emails?
Send their name and email address to kcrosemead@aol.com