Quick takes on what's in the news:
* Glendale Unified School District board members are enthusiastic
about Michael Escalante, their pick to succeed Supt. Jim Brown, and
Escalante is enthusiastic about coming to Glendale, so things are
looking bright for the school district.
Escalante, the Fullerton schools chief, has some big shoes to
fill, and no small number of challenges to face. Brown, an accessible
and capable administrator, has helped Glendale Unified become one of
the state's most respected school districts, but it's up against the
same financial wall as every other district, thanks to state budget
cuts. In the next several months, GUSD will need to decide if it can
afford to continue class-size reduction, and what other programs will
need to be cut or eliminated to keep pace with dwindling state
resources.
Throw in some ongoing facilities difficulties -- the drastically
slowed-down timetable for the completion of Cerritos Elementary
School, along with a handful of other more minor projects -- and
Escalante will be handed a full plate when he takes a seat at the
GUSD table.
He'll need all the enthusiasm he can muster to effectively tackle
those challenges.
* Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger isn't making too many friends at
Glendale's or La Canada Flintridge's city halls these days, at least
among the folks who budget for vehicle-license fees.
The governor, who made rolling back last year's VLF increase a
linchpin of his campaign, did as he promised when he took office, but
at the same time vowed local governments -- which net millions from
the fees -- would not lose any money. The illogic of that promise was
born out this week, when Glendale and La Canada Flintridge officials
announced they were revisiting their 2003-04 budgets to see where
more cuts can be made.
In Glendale's case, the cuts could be anywhere from $8 million to
$10 million; for La Canada Flintridge, the impact of the potential
shortfall ($650,000-plus) is even more severe, since the city's
entire budget is only about $10 million.
Hampering the cities even more is the prospect of a three-month
period -- January through March -- when they won't see any money
because VLF fees collected by the state will be used to pay rebates
to those drivers who paid the short-lived higher fees.
The situation can't continue, since the state's constitution says
cities are entitled to the money. In the meantime, though, Glendale
and La Canada Flintridge are figuring how to get by with less --
again.
* Area residents and motorists are missing the Christmas tree that
usually sits atop the former GlenFed building at 700 N. Brand Blvd.,
so we're pleased to hear that Citibank, the building's present
occupant, is strongly considering picking up where GlenFed, then
CalFed, left off.
The brightly lighted tree is a readily visible sign that the
holidays have come to Glendale, at least for those simply passing by,
and has been a Christmas landmark for decades. The building's former
occupants were remiss in not telling Citibank to make sure and have a
tree at Christmas; fortunately, there's still time to rectify the
situation.
We hope the multinational financial giant -- which certainly
doesn't lack the money to put up a nice tree -- will not let this
sort of small-town tradition be forgotten, and we hope to see one of
Glendale's annual signs of Christmas soon.
