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Community Input Needed! Se Necesita Aportación de la Comunidad!

Posted on September 18, 2019March 5, 2022 by noraforpomona

As part of the hiring process for a new City Manager, the community is asked to provide input about the desired characteristics of the new City Manager. This survey is posted on-line and provided in hard copy format if requested for those who do not have on-line access. Although, I suggest that anyone without internet go to the Pomona Public Library and use the computers and free internet provided there.

The survey was prepared based upon best practices and the experience of Ralph Anderson & Associates combined with information available about the City of Pomona.

It is important that your representatives hear from you. Please take a few minutes to fill out the survey, which is open until Friday, September 27, 2019 at:

https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/CZXFWZ8

Como parte del proceso de contratación de un(a) nuevo(a) Administrador(a) de la Ciudad, se le pide a la comunidad sobre las características deseadas del nuevo Administrador(a) de la Ciudad. Esta encuesta se publica en línea y se proporciona en papel si se solicita. Sin embargo, les sugerio que cualquier persona sin Internet vaya a la Biblioteca Pública de Pomona y use las computadoras y la conexión a Internet gratuita que se proporcionan allí.

La encuesta fue preparada según a las mejores prácticas y la experiencia de Ralph Anderson & Associates combinada con la información disponible sobre la ciudad de Pomona.

Es importante que sus representantes escuchen de usted. Tóme unos minutos para completar la encuesta, que está abierta hasta el viernes 27 de septiembre de 2019 en:

https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/HXVVVPY

Community Concerns: Cannabis

Posted on May 10, 2019March 5, 2022 by noraforpomona

Dear District 3 Residents,

I have received some questions from the community about the city’s efforts to allow cannabis businesses in Pomona. Concerns are understandable, and I would like to share the current status of the City’s work as we move toward legalization of a limited number of cannabis businesses in the city.

I first want to assure you that there will be no retail sale of cannabis in District 3. This was decided almost from the beginning of the cannabis conversation in Pomona.

Page two of the staff report given at the Joint Study Session on May 1, 2019, under the Zoning subheading, clearly states that “To date, the discussions call for allowing cannabis businesses in commercial and industrial zones, excluding the Downtown and the Fairplex and prohibiting retail sales in Council District 3.”

Retail, however, is not the only type of cannabis business under consideration. The types of commercial cannabis businesses defined in the ordinance are: indoor cultivation, manufacturing, testing, distribution, retail storefront, and microbusiness of medicinal and adult-use cannabis and cannabis products, as well as the ancillary transportation and delivery of cannabis or cannabis products. Currently, District 3 is overlaid for manufacturing, testing, and distribution. In simplest terms, District 3 is being considered for warehousing, safety and quality control, and production.

There are currently many checks and balances in place such as requiring cultivation indoors only, limiting certain businesses to the M zone, odor control regulations, licensing requirements, and making sure that cannabis businesses are at least 1,000 feet from sensitive use areas. On page 2 of the staff report, under subsection Business Ordinance, it states, “The adopted Ordinance established a 1,000 foot buffer between any potential commercial cannabis business and specified sensitive uses, including, school K-12 schools, day care centers, and youth and recreation centers. Additionally, storefront retail business shall not be located with 1,000 feet from another commercial cannabis storefront retailer.” People living within 1,000 feet will be notified and there will be an opportunity for them to comment, and the evaluator will consider their comments.

It is also important to note that no one area will get all the businesses. Each CPA (Cannabis Permit Area) have been carefully vetted according to the businesses already in operation in the area. Additionally, there will only be eight permits total given throughout the city as a start. Pomona wants to avoid the mistakes and headaches of other cities, which is why we are proceeding with caution.

There will be conversations at both the Planning Commission and City Council level before anything is decided regarding other related industries. I encourage you to attend these meetings in order to hear and be heard regarding this matter. I have communicated with our Planning Director and this matter will not go up before Planning by best estimates either July (on the early side) or September (on the late side). In the meantime, I will be co-hosting a Community Concerns Meeting regarding cannabis at Washington Park on a day during the last full week of June with Councilmember Victor Preciado and the Planning Department will be present.

I am aware of the many homes sprinkled in the “industrial zone” and of the concerns of residents living, as I do, separated from businesses by an established trucking route and concerned about the environmental impact to our quality of life. This is the benefit of district elections — I am your neighbor, I share many of your concerns, and I will use my knowledge of our neighborhood and the tools at my disposal as your representative to make sure we get fair treatment.

I hope this information, my comments, and the attached report link calm any concerns you may have. However, if you would like to speak further about the matter before the June community meeting, I would be happy to hear from you.

* ¡Versión en español próximamente!

Planning Department Report on Cannabis: https://www.ci.pomona.ca.us/index.php/development-services-home/planning/cannabis

Voting: A privilege and a duty

Posted on September 25, 2018March 5, 2022 by noraforpomona

My mother on the day she became a U.S. Citizen.

The first political conversation I remember having was in 1992 with my father. My class was having a mock election and I was unsure of who to vote for: the elephant or the donkey. Neither animal seemed attractive so I had no idea why we were voting for them. I did not know it at the time but despite reading the newspaper each morning and watching the news each evening my father did not have the right to vote. My mother, who answered my voting question by telling me to ask my father, did not have the right to vote either.

Thanks to Reagan they were, after decades of living in California (my father arrived at 17 and my mother at 22), legal residents, but it would be eight more years before they became citizens of the United States. Despite their immigration status or maybe because of it my parents instilled in their children a strong sense of civic duty.

Many times during this campaign I have knocked on a door, exchanged a few words with the constituent, and been told “I can’t vote, but I’ll tell my children.”

On this day, National Voter Registration Day, I think of these moments and circumstances and wonder why so many who are able to vote decide not to.

I vote because I know at some point my parents could not. I vote because I know that some of my students will not be able to once they turn 18. I vote because I believe in and support our democratic process.

If you are able to vote, I urge you to vote this election. Vote in honor of your family members who cannot. Vote because your voice matters. Vote because it is your right and privilege as a citizen of this great country.