Agency Likes 'Ambitious' Downtown Proposal

Tulare - The Tulare Redevelopment Agency board wants to work with a developer interested in constructing a five-story, block-long building on South M Street west of Zumwalt Park.

Opal Capital's proposed project would include 100 apartments, as well as retail businesses, commercial offices and an underground parking lot.

The agency's board of directors, which previously had discussed the matter in closed session, voted unanimously last week to have Redevelopment Director Bob Nance develop a memorandum of understanding outlying the actions each party would undertake in trying to make the development happen.

The MOU would be “a formalized roadmap of where we would go,” Nance said.
Gary Peterson, president of Opal Capital in Westlake Village, had asked the board for a non-binding exclusive right to negotiate to develop the properties, but that was not possible because the agency does not own any of the land.

The city owns the Civic Affairs Building and the rest of the properties—including the building that houses Nielsen's Restaurant — are owned by private parties. The block is in the combined Alpine and Downtown Redevelopment Project Area.

“It certainly is spectacular looking and quite a departure from anything we've had before,” board member Mark Richmond said.”It's a very forward-looking and ambitious project and bravo for even bringing it up.”

Nielsen's Restaurant

Olan Bailey, a new board member, expressed concern the project would put Nielsen's Restaurant, which leases space on the block, out of business.

Nance said Nielsen's could possibly relocate into the new project. Peterson said the owners might also find another downtown building.

“It would be sad for them to have them close for a time [when the new building is being constructed],” Peterson said.

Bailey asked Peterson if his company had considered other sites in Tulare, such as land in the vacant Pine Avenue corridor. Peterson said he was unaware of other land the city owned but would be happy to look at alternatives.

“This block would be a great location for what you have in mind,” board member Bill Cooke said. (The board, as does the City Council and Planning Commission, meets in the Civic Affairs Building.)

In an interview after the meeting, Peterson said his company was not interested in “forcing anybody out of anything” and was not interested in having the

Redevelopment Agency acquire land through the eminent domain process.

Airport Interest

Peterson said he has been flying in and out of Tulare for years, most recently when his daughter was involved in target archery, and he likes the town.

He told the agency board that he had sent a letter to the city in April expressing interest in taking over management of Mefford Field, the city's airport.

“We think there's a tremendous opportunity to develop the airport,” he said, adding he is still interested in having that conversation with city officials.

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Toledo's: Tulare Tradition to Close

Tulare - Manuel and Lorry Toledo are closing their family-owned and operated jewelry store in downtown Tulare, where they have offered countless local residents personalized service for more than 60 years.

Toledo's Jewelery opened in October 1947 on East Kern Avenue and has been at 151 South K St. since August '59.

“We're the oldest retail store here in Tulare,” Lorry Toledo said in a telephone interview from her home Saturday.

“At our age, it's just time to say goodbye,” she said, explaining why she and her husband are closing the store now. He will be 90 years old in July and she was 86 in December. They have been married 65 years.

Lorry Toledo and her daughter, Annette Toledo Eckert, who has managed the store for her parents for about 35 years, said the fact people now buy jewelry over the Internet or at discount houses and department stores also played a role in the decision.

“It's time [to close], but at the same time, we'll miss so many people,” Eckert said.

Her mother agreed. “We still have a few loyal customers, but today the competition is great.”

'So Sad'

Eckert was busy Saturday helping customers who turned out for the start of the store's going-out-of-business sale.

Sandy Santos, owners of Marianna's Celebrity Boutique across the street, said she cried when she first heard the store was closing.

“I cried and I still cried when I walked in here today,” Santos said. “I've been a customer since the 1970s. Every nice gift my husband has ever bought me has been from here. … It's just so sad.”

Other customers agreed.

“We all aspired to have that little box that said 'Toledo's,'” Jennifer Smith said.

She and Margaret Pires said their husbands relied on Annette to call and remind them of their upcoming birthdays and anniversaries and said she often knew better than they did what they would like.

Pires said she was in the store to buy gifts to give to her granddaughters when they graduate from eighth grade in the future.

Learning the Trade

Manuel Toledo, who was born in Tulare County, learned his trade after he was severely wounded in World War II and the government paid for him to train with Bob Murphy, owner of the Tulare Time Shop on Kern Avenue

In 1947, he and Lorry were able to buy the business, which was in what was then known as the Eagles Building and is immediately south of the vacant Linder's Building.

The purchase was possible because Lorry Toledo had saved all her allotment checks from when Manuel was in the service and all the money she earned while working when he was gone.

“I never spent a dime,” she said. “I put everything in savings.”

Toledo's father later bought what was then the Murphy's Jewelers building on K Street, and Toledo's Jeweler's moved into that spot, which was considerably larger.
Manuel Toledo credits his wife with keeping “the whole thing going” when he would be out of the store tending to veterans issues.

“His first love was the veterans,” said Lorry, who still keeps the books for the business.

Eckert said she and her husband, Bob, will also close Tulare Jewelry and Loan, which is also at the K Street address.

The Toledos said they are not sure yet what they will do with their downtown building, which at one time also housed a military collection that Manuel Toledo donated to the Tulare Historical Museum.

“We have to play it buy ear and see what happens,” Lorry Toledo said.

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Library Plan Now Includes Formal Council Chambers

Tulare - Instead of a multi-purpose meeting room as initially planned, the new Tulare Public Library will dedicate 6,129-square-feet for a new City Council Chambers and restrooms, a move expected to add $2.5 million to the original $8.7 million budget.

The new chambers will sit on the southwest corner of Cross Avenue and M Street and include seating for 104 people compared with the 86 seats available in the existing chambers inside the Civic Affairs Building.

The chambers will have “a formal look to it and I think that's going to be very important,” said Councilman Richard Ortega, who sits on the library building committee.

The cost for the chambers is about $400 a square foot as opposed to the $329 per square foot for the library portions of the building, architect Paul Halajian told the council in a goal-setting session Friday attended by three members. Council members David Macedo and Carlton Jones were absent.

When the city was applying for state money to build the library, it could not include formal Council Chambers in the plan. The intent, however, was to shift council meetings to a multi-purpose room that was included in those plans.

The city now plans to build the library with proceeds from an upcoming bond issue and money the Tulare Public Library Foundation has pledged to raise.

'Good Shape'

“With the support of our foundation, I think you're in good shape,” City Manager Darrel Pyle told the council.

Ortega and several members of the city staff recently visited council chambers in other valley areas and he came back strongly in favor of having dedicated chambers. (As they do now, the Planning Commission and Tulare Redevelopment Agency would also use the chambers.)

The chambers will include a permanent dais for the council and audio-visual technology that will allow an overflow crowd—or parents with crying children-- to view a council meeting on a large screen in the adjacent lobby area, Halajian said.

The library also will include a young adult's library, computer lounge, children's library, genealogy and local history room, literacy center and meeting room similar to but 20 percent larger than the Centennial Room at the current library.

Should a council meeting draw a huge crowd that even the lobby could not accommodate, a monitor could be set up in the library's meeting room so people could watch the proceedings, Library Director Michael Stowell said.

A 1,750 sq. ft. café is also proposed and would be operated by a private vendor.

New Name?

Mayor Craig Vejvoda raised the idea of calling the library a learning center.

“I'll check out books out of whatever you want to call it,” Stowell said.

Ortega expressed concern Vejvoda's suggested name would confuse the public, because there is a learning center at the Heritage Complex at the International Agri-Center.

The community should be asked what it wants to call the new library, he said.

The existing Council Chambers was a Justice Court and then a Municipal Courtroom until the late 1970s. Prior to the room's transformation into chambers, the council met in another portion of the Civic Affairs Building.

If there comes a time the city no longer needs the space in the library for a Council Chambers, the room could be transformed into a small theater or lecture hall, Halajian said.

There has been talk that if Linder's Equipment ever moved from its South M and Kern Avenue location, due west of City Hall, the city could build another complex on the site and include council chambers as well as city offices.

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School District Will Try to ‘Grow’ Its Own Teachers

Tulare - In a move that could help local schools find qualified teachers in critical subject areas, National University is offering to conduct college classes in Tulare for classified employees in Tulare City School District who want to become teachers.

The university approached Tulare City School District with the idea of offering courses on one of its campuses, said Luis Castellanoz, assistant superintendent for personnel.

Superintendent John Beck and he had been talking about the need for such a program, similar to the one the district, in partnership with California State University, Bakersfield, offered about 20 years ago, Castellanoz said.

“The idea is not something new, but the timing is just right,” he said. “Districts are going to have to start thinking out of the box to get teachers qualified in special education, math, science and, now, even language arts. The universities are not producing enough teachers; and supply and demand is not matching up right now.”

He called the proposed partnership between National University and Tulare City Schools an attempt “to try to grow our own teachers.”

The district is encouraging its classified employees to attend an informational meeting at 3 p.m., Feb. 13, at the district office. The district is also inviting surrounding districts that feed into the Tulare Joint Union High School District to be a part of the consortium, he said.

‘The Best Thing'

A representative from National will discuss the proposed program, financial grants that are available to defer costs and the possibility of even offering babysitting services for those with children.

“One of the big things is we have to have a minimum of 12 people to make this work,” Castellanoz said. “I personally believe we'll have anywhere from 15 to 20 from Tulare [City] schools.”

Neti Newquist, a Lincoln School first grade teacher, graduated in 1988 from a similar program that the district and Cal State Bakersfield put together.

“We got a university degree without ever having to leave town,” Newquist said.

“We didn't even have to go out of town to buy books.”

The Tulare County Office of Education arranged for students to get stipends that reduced the $11,000 cost to $3,500, she also said.

Newquist was between jobs and volunteering at Maple School, when she started the classes, which were held at Cherry Avenue Middle School. “It was the best thing that ever happened to me and my family,” she said. Her daughter was a second grader at the time, which was one reason she didn't want to leave town. Today, she too is a teacher.

For those who come into the new program with an associated of arts degree, National officials are telling them they can get a teaching credential in two and one-half years, Castellanoz said. For others, it will take longer.

Castellanoz said something has to be done to make sure there are enough qualified teachers.

Shortage to Worsen

Projections are that 100,000 teachers will retire in the next 10 years, Castellanoz told school board trustees at their Jan. 22 meeting.

The problem with recruiting teachers—especially in special education—came up at the meeting in context of state officials labeling Tulare City Schools one of the 98 lowest performing districts, even though it had met No Child Left Behind Goals in 32 of 33 categories. The district fell short in the area of language arts for students with disabilities, although it did make progress.

Beck and Sue Ann Hillman, director of curriculum, told the board not every district is monitored on how well they work with students with disabilities--only those with 100 or more students.

There are other districts with overall test scores lower than Tulare's who were not labeled “failing” or “low performing” districts, because they have very few students in that category, Hillman said.

She also reported that as soon as students with disabilities reach the proficiency level they are moved to traditional classrooms, leaving only students who are below the proficiency level in the special education classes.

Perfect Kids

When the federal government set up the No Child Left Behind program, each state was allowed to set its own standards and California officials decided that they wanted all students—including students with disabilities and English language learners--at the proficient or advanced level by 2014, Beck said.

The state also chose to test English language learners in their very first year of school instead of waiting until their third, as federal officials had suggested, Hillman said.
The Tulare district and the 97 others cited by the state face yet-to-be determined sanctions, which Beck said he was told will be decided by the end of the month.
Beck, who describes himself as “really competitive,” told the board he is very upset at being labeled a “failing” school district after all the progress that has been made. “But by 2014, all kids will be perfect and we won't have to worry about it anymore,” he said.

Trustee Jim Henderson, a former principal at Cypress School, said the important thing is that “above all else, we'll continue to make progress.”

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Rate Increase
Garbage and Water Rate Hearings Delayed

Tulare - The Feb. 7 public hearings scheduled so the Board of Public Utilities could consider garbage and water rate increases have been canceled because the city still doesn't know why the solid waste department is operating in the red even after three consecutive 5 percent rate hikes.

The explanation for the projected $378,930 end-the-fiscal-year deficit won't be known until the Finance Department has finished separating commercial/industrial and residential accounts and making other adjustments.

“I have the operating budgets separated, so I know what the services cost per month, but I can't tell you what the revenue is for each,” Public Works Director Lew Nelson said. “The problem is the city doesn't know who it's undercharging —residential customers, commercial customers or both.”

Back in June, Nelson said he expected the Finance Department would have an answer to the question within two months, but that has not happened.

Old Software

Prior to April, the city was using an 18-year-old DOS system that did not allow the city to categorize the accounts, Finance Director Darlene Thompson said. The information in that program needed to be transferred to and categorized in the new software the city has purchased.

“We were able to roll some over, but not all the information is being picked up correctly,” Thompson said, adding the city has between 15,000 and 16,000 accounts.

As a result, people were being billed incorrectly for awhile and her staff has had to make major corrections to the account information, she said. “We're getting pretty close to being finished.”

In the meantime, Nelson said he decided to postpone the public hearings on both the garbage and water rates, because the city is required to notify every customer by mail, which is costly.

“We want the water rate increase on one side and the garbage rate on the other,” Nelson said. “I don't want to spend $20,000 [the cost of one mailing] twice.”

He considered asking the board for three more consecutive 5 percent increases but he said could not justify that to the public. “It's very frustrating, I can tell you.”

Garbage customers have seen three consecutive 5 percent increases that were suppose to have put the solid waste division in the black by the third year, but haven't.

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