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The San Gabriel Valley Oversight Group is a nonprofit, public benefit corporation. It was founded in 2006 by a group of five individuals who live in the San Gabriel Valley, California. The group is dedicated to improving the world we live in by promoting social justice, a clean environment, and public health. Along the lines of "think globally, act locally," it strives for the successful resolution of issues which threaten these aspects of our community.
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Updated July 30, 2011
New on the Watch-List:
The SGVOG was granted a 2 year extension to its Technical Assistance Grant with the U.S. EPA. Under the grant, we will be monitoring the clean-up efforts of the contaminated groundwater under the West San Gabriel Valley in what is called the Alhambra Pumping Hole. The EPA is scheduled to release a draft Feasibility Study on clean-up efforts in the Fall.
Read our final article of the series on Alhambra and Governor Brown's proposal to eliminate redevelopment agencies: Too little development, too late. Download article...
EPA Administrator, Lisa Jackson, announces that the agency will regulate Perchlorate as a toxic chemical in drinking water. The EPA has announced that it will finally regulate Perchlorate, a common groundwater contaminant in the San Gabriel Valley. This is a significant step in the effort to safeguard our drinking water at the national level. We in California already place a restriction on the contaminant level at 6 parts per billion. But with the EPA's committment to studying this further, the scientific data base will be enhanced and further scrutinized. Note that some states such as Massachusetts restrict levels to 2 parts per billion. Are our levels set to high in California? Stay tuned...
Alhambra: model of redevelopment or abuser of the system? Alhambra has been heralded by some in the business community as an example of redevelopment done right. Recent articles in the Pasadena Star News/San Gabriel Tribune have highlighted the creation of jobs through the city’s redevelopment efforts. The Los Angeles County Economic Development Corporation recently named Alhambra the “most business friendly city in all of Los Angeles County.” But what is peculiar about these accolades is they all originate from businesses, developers, and the Alhambra Redevelopment Agency itself. And what’s conspicuously missing is input from the residents, workers, and other government agencies. A closer look at the Alhambra Redevelopment Agency (ARA) provides some perspective on why this may be the case. Download article...
Governor Brown’s Proposal to Eliminate Redevelopment Agencies and its Unique Relationship to Alhambra. Whether or not the Governor is successful in his attempts to eliminate redevelopment agencies, we as a city need to take a look within. We need to ask ourselves if we’ve contributed to the vulnerability of the redevelopment agency vehicle. If so, we need to take the time to correct this. I argue that the appropriate response is to provide areas where we promise to improve, admit our shortcomings and present a plan that is truly sustainable and consistent with the core goals of the program. Download article...
NOTE: many cities have called special meetings in order to commit funds to redevelopment projects now, thereby preventing the state for taking it back if the Governor’s budget proposal is adopted. Doing this is less than prudent in the case of Alhambra. It would commit funds to projects that have not yet had adequate public input. And it would likely not be equitable to all stakeholders, namely its residents.
Governor Brown's Proposed Budget and the SGVOG's Analysis of the Potential Impact on Alhambra. In the coming weeks, the SGVOG will be publishing a series of reports that reflect on the state of the city with respect to the proposed budget. We will start out by providing an analysis of how Alhambra contributed to the need for Governor Brown's proposal. Visit our site on Tuesday for a citizen's view on the State of the City.
City of Alhambra allows developer to sell affordable condos to a group of investors. These units were, by law, dedicated to lower income groups. Instead, they were sold off to a group of investors at below-market rates. Furthermore, the city allows them to lease out the condos at whatever rate they can get. The Planning Commission then voted 4-3 to condone such action by altering the original contract with the developer (Tract Map). Such action goes unnoticed for several reasons: a lack of oversight; the lack of responsible and balanced news media; and because those who are affected, the poor in need of affordable housing, are too busy trying to survive to track such antics. Ultimately, though, its the unethical behavior of the city staff and public officials that are the source of the problem. Incredulously, this item was part of the consent agenda with no mention of any violation and would have passed without comment had it not been for the SGVOG. Unfortunately, the Planning Commission came up one vote short of putting a stop to this injustice. Download article...
Alhambra awarded the "most business friendly city in LA County" - but at what cost to residents?... The city deserves this award, but what about it's residents? Read more...Downlaod article.
How the City of Alhambra became the largest violator of housing ethics in the city... The city restricts over 99% of their low income rental units to the elderly. This is being done despite statistics in their own housing plans which show they comprise a mere 11% of those in need. Placing restrictions on low income rentals that exclude low income families, single mothers, developmentally disabled, and other low income groups is unethical. In these tough economic times, the city needs to make an effort to help these underserved groups. But before they can help, they need to stop hurting them by simply giving them the opportunities they deserve. Read more... Download Part 1 (pdf) Dowload Part 2 (pdf)
A condensed verion of this article is to appear in the Alhambra Source.
Water Recyling Project on the skids... A longstanding water recycling project has been in the works for over 8 years with investment by several public agencies, including Metropolitan Water District agencies and the Four Cities Water District (SGVMWD). Over $400,000 have been expended over the years on the Groundwater Reliability Improvement Program (GRIP). The Upper San Gabriel Valley Municipal Water District was one of the leaders spearheading this effort. In July 2010, three of their directors were reportedly disowning the project due to mismanagement. This self-effacing turn does not bode well for the public. Although the new General Manager, Shane Chapman, promises to work the project, it remains to be seen if he can turn it around. Stay tuned...
Download our Technical Consultant's responses to our questions related to the EPA's Remedial Investigation report for the Area 3 Superfund site. Download memo here.
Download the slides from our free public information session which was held on April 10th, 2010, at the Alhambra Civic Center Library Community Room. The purpose of this community meeting was to educate on groundwater basics and our contamination problem in the West San Gabriel Valley. Dowload our slides (NOTE: some slides contain animations and should be viewed in full slide-show mode).
We have completed our assessment of the U.S. EPA's Remedial Investigation report for the groundwater contamination in the Western San Gabriel Valley area known as the Area 3 Superfund Site. Download our fact sheet for a summary of our findings.
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