FEDERAL:

IRS Announces Mileage Allowances for 2008

The IRS has issued Revenue Procedure 2007-70 specifying the permissible allowance for business and charitable use of an automobile during 2008. The business allowance increases from 48.5 cents per mile to 50.5 cents per mile. Charitable deductions for the use of a car will remain at 14 cents per mile driven. These rates will apply to business or charitable driven on an after January 1, 2008.

FHA LOAN LIMITS

C.A.R. and NAR are SUPPORTING Senate Bill 2338 (Dodd) which, among other things, increases FHA loan limits to 100% of conforming loan limits. C.A.R. and NAR are also urging the U.S. Senate to introduce and pass legislation, already passed by the House of Representatives in the form of H.R. 1427 (Frank), to reform the Government Sponsored Enterprises (GSEs) -- Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac -- and dramatically increase the conforming loan limits in high-cost areas. As the mortgage crisis grows deeper, it is crucial that home owners and buyers have access to as many safe and affordable loan products as possible. Passing both Senate Bill 2338 and legislation to increase conforming loan limits in high cost-areas will help tens of thousands of families avoid the pain of forclosure and remain in their homes and will help new buyers get on the first rung of the home ownership ladder.  Even if you have already  responded to NAR's Call-for-Action, C.A.R. is asking that you call Senator Barbara Boxer to voice your support for these two measures.

STATE:

Gov. Schwarzenegger Launches Public Awareness Campaign to Help Homeowners Avoid Foreclosure

Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger has launched a public awareness campaign to educate homeowners about options that can help them avoid losing their homes to foreclosure.

The $1.2 million campaign - funded through existing consumer education efforts within the Business, Transportation and Housing Agency and the State and Consumer Services Agency - will:

•       Inform borrowers about their options.
•       Urge borrowers to work with lenders before foreclosure.
•       Encourage the use of nonprofit housing counselors.
•       Partner with local leaders and trusted organizations, like churches and community groups, to spread the message.

To assist California's veterans and active military personnel who are at risk of foreclosure, the Governor today directed the Department of Veterans Affairs to work with his non-traditional mortgage task force to address this issue.  The group will explore ways the CalVet Home Loan program can provide a fixed rate CalVet loan to active military personnel and veterans who qualify and currently have subprime loans.  A half million Californians have subprime loans that will jump to higher rates within the next two years. Seven of the top sixteen metropolitan areas with the highest rates of foreclosures in the nation are in California.

In early December, Governor Schwarzenegger announced an agreement with four loan servicers - representing 25 percent of the market - to streamline the loan modification process for subprime borrowers living in their home, making timely payments and likely to default when their loan jumps to a scheduled higher rate. All lenders are asked to subscribe to that agreement, which may be found at http://www.corp.ca.gov/notices/subprime.html.

The Governor also signed legislation to increase protections for Californians who own or plan to purchase homes and to expand affordable housing opportunities.  The Governor has also pledged to work with lawmakers in the coming year to take additional steps to protect homebuyers.

The Governor directed his Cabinet to form the Interdepartmental Task Force on Non-Traditional Mortgages. California was one of the first states in the nation to form a task force to examine the alarming developments in the non-traditional mortgage market.  The task force consists of leadership from two agencies and seven departments responsible for all aspects of this complex issue.  $1.16 million in Community Development Block Grant funds have been made available to counties for consumer counseling and urged Congress to provide more funding for these programs in California.  

 The following additional resources are available for homeowners:

•        The "HOPE Hotline" (1-888-995-HOPE or www.995HOPE.org), which provides free mortgage counseling 24 hours a day, seven days a week. 

•        A website with helpful information for prospective homebuyers, as well as homeowners who are experiencing difficulty in keeping payments current:  http://www.yourhome.ca.gov and the Spanish language version: www.sucasa.ca.gov.

REGION
Congress members said  they expect to secure about $320 million in federal funding for the first phase of the Gold Line extension - as long as state and local officials can come up with the remaining $80 million. Congressmember David Dreier indicated that he is very confident about a federal match for the 24 mile proposed light-rail route from Pasadena to Montclair. Environmental studies and preliminary design work have already been completed for the project, which could reach the border of Azusa and Glendora by 2011. But officials need about $400 million to build that first phase of the line. That means state and local agencies have to come up with about $80 million if they want to start the project on schedule by the end of next year.  Congressmember Grace Napolitano indicated that she is confident the Federal Transit Administration will also help.

The focus of the strategy sessions was the roughly $3.6 billion in mass-transit funding provided by Proposition 1B, the transportation bond approved by voters last year.  Any Gold Line funding from the Proposition 1B bond would have to first be approved by the Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority.  Based on allocation formulas determined by the state Legislature, the MTA should receive about $1 billion of the $3.6 billion in Proposition 1B money available for mass transit.

LOCAL

AZUSA:
Mining company officials unveiled a proposal this  to repair one side of a mountain quarry to drill into another. At a community meeting Nov. 14, Vulcan Materials Co. representatives offered to reduce their mining operation in the foothills from 270 to 190 acres and begin reclamation immediately - in exchange for access to the long-disputed area known as Van Tassel Ridge.  If approved, she added, the new plan would call for substituting 80 acres on the east side of the quarry for 80 acres on the west, with immediate reclamation on the former.  The reclamation process would take from five to seven years to complete, she said. Otherwise, it would wait until Vulcan's permit expires in 2038.

The company is entitled to mine 270 acres at its Azusa Rock site, according to city  officials. They hold a conditional use permit until 2038, which comes up for renewal in 2013.  But the 80 acres west of Fish Creek have been a point of contention since Vulcan expressed interest in mining there two years ago. In 2005, Vulcan tried to expand operations from its current acreage into the west side of the quarry, sparking opposition from residents in Duarte and Azusa.
The company and Azusa officials have since been in disagreement over whether Vulcan has the right to expand.  City officials maintain the company must go through a permitting process before mining the additional acreage, while the company believes that since they've owned the property with intention to mine for years, they have the right to mine the entire quarry.  The disagreement led to talk of litigation in the past, officials said.

While some residents expressed health concerns from the dust, South Coast Air Quality Management District officials said dangerous, disease-causing particle levels near the Azusa rock site generally don't exceed health standards.  A 2006 AQMD report said particulate matter collected in Azusa and Duarte is consistent with that produced at the mining site, but could not conclusively link them because the materials are also common throughout the South Coast Air Basin.  AQMD officials said they started monitoring particulate matter near in Duarte and Azusa in 2005.

Company officials added that the quarry provides essential materials for local building projects. Moving the site, they said, would lead to more vehicle emissions and higher costs.  Vulcan representatives said the new plan goes above and beyond state requirements and industry standards for land reclamation.

BALDWIN PARK:
Despite previous threats to go on strike, city maintenance workers - at the 11th hour - unanimously accepted a 2.5 percent pay raise.  The Service Employees International Union Local 721 represents about 25 street sweepers, mechanics and maintenance employees and has been in contract negotiations with the city for several months.  A breakdown in the process, however had City Council members expecting to impose a new one-year contract on Wednesday night. That contract would have included only a 2 percent raise, and it would not have been retroactive to July 1 - when the union's previous three-year contract expired.  A special meeting on  between city officials and union representatives smoothed negotiations over, said Gus Martinez, a senior maintenance worker.

The city and the union had initially been arguing over how much employees should receive monthly for medical benefits. In addition to the raise, the workers wanted their monthly medical cap to increase from $618 to $800. Budget constraints made it impossible for the city to offer anything more than the 2.5 percent pay raise.

CHINO HILLS:
In an effort to keep up with rising costs, the City Council took another step toward raising water, sewer and solid waste rates.  The average consumer will see an increase of about $3.57 per month in April, followed by smaller, incremental changes in July and October with increases every six months from January 2009 to January 2012.  Chino Hills officials aid the city can only use utility fees to recoup operational and capital costs and not as a revenue generator for local government.   Chino Hills last went through a utility-rate increase from 2001 to 2005.

COVINA:
The council unanimously approved $7.1 million in loans to the city Redevelopment Agency.  The loans will completely drain the city's $6.1million self-insurance reserves, which are used to pay off any legal or workers' compensation claims, according to City Finance Director Bill Stawarski.  The last $1million will come from the undesignated sections of the city's $15.9million in reserves, he added. The meeting, which took place Aug. 7, coincided with National Night Out, and was originally slated to be canceled. Instead, it took place at 5:30 p.m. rather than the usual 7:30 p.m.  The meeting did not have its routine invocation, presentations or council announcements. The agenda had only two items, one of which was the loans. The open-session part of the meeting lasted only seven minutes.  Mayor John King said the City Council did not have any intention of trying to keep the loan quiet by having it come to a vote at a meeting scheduled at an unusual time.  Mike Marquez, the city's Redevelopment Agency director, said the loan's timing was crucial because the agency could have lost tax increments from the county that are set aside specifically for the agency.  He added that the agency was negotiating an extension of a county deadline to commit money to development loans and that the city's money was essential to continuing to make those loans.  In the meeting agenda, the city set up a loan schedule that would have the Redevelopment Agency pay the loan back by 2037, but that schedule is "a worst-case scenario," according to Stawarski.
In other matters, the construction of a medical center on an abandoned Hollenbeck Drive lot was approved.  The lot, which formerly had an insulation company, has been empty for about a year. The new center will include several medical offices and a pharmacy, according to city planning documents.  Although the City Council voted unanimously to change the zoning designation from commercial to administrative/professional office, some members voiced concerns about a loss of potential sales tax if the site is not classified as commercial.

Most of the area south of the property near 1433 Hollenbeck Drive is residential, and the few businesses around the property are small and old-looking.  Members of the council said they believe the development could help the area rebound.  The one building on the property is about 10,000 square feet, according to city planning documents. The medical management company that purchased the property plans to add about 16,000 square feet in addition to the building, including adding a second story, according to the documents.

At the same meeting, the council delayed a vote again on the Masonic Home project to expand its senior housing. Since a hearing in September at which community members complained, the council has voted several times to delay voting.  During that time, a group which includes Masonic Home employees and community members has been trying to reach a compromise on the project. 

GLENDORA:
Another mixed-use project near downtown has moved toward construction.  The four-story Glendora Station project will bring 87 condominiums and ground-floor retail and office space to a vacant lot next to the future Gold Line station.  The project is the fifth mixed-use development for Glendora in recent years.  Officials see projects such as the Glendora Station and other retail-residential projects will moving the city toward the style of Old Pasadena. Officials also acknowledged that some residents in the city of mostly single-family homes may be opposed to the slightly more urbanized feel of the mixed-use trend. Of the five mixed-use projects in the city, three, including Glendora Station, are in the planning stages. A fourth is going up on Vermont Avenue. A fifth project was completed this year on Forestdale Avenue and Route 66. Glendora Station will be at the southwest corner of South Glendora and West Ada avenues, where a Santa Fe Railway station stood until the 1960s.  The parcel is one of the last large empty parcels near downtown. The project's condo units will range from the mid-$400,000s to the mid-$500,000s, depending on size. The units will be between 1,000 and 1,800 square feet.  The project features a public paseo - a walkway through the project from the Gold Line station toward the Town Center. It will also have a replica of the old railway station. An August study, commissioned by the Gold Line construction authority, projected that $2.1 billion in public and private money has been invested into developments within a half-mile of the stations that are planned in the 11 cities crossed by the planned light-rail extension from Sierra Madre Villa in Pasadena. The project should be complete by summer 2009, if the development company gets its permits this summer.

In other matters the city  joined a growing number of municipalities nationally that ban smoking in public parks.  The City Council voted 4-0 to prohibit the use of any lighted tobacco or plant product in city parks and public facilities. Councilman Mark Kelly was absent from the meeting.  The vote, which occurred with minimal council discussion and no public comment, brings Glendora into the fold of more than two dozen cities in Los Angeles County that have enacted similar bans.  While many cities and states across the country are approving smoking bans, California is at the forefront. The state in 1994 banned smoking in enclosed workplaces. That legislation was expanded in 1998 to include restaurants and bars.  In 2001, the Legislature voted to prohibit smoking at playgrounds; the next year a 25-foot, smoke-free buffer zone around play areas was enacted.  Experts say it's part of a broad shift in attitude toward smoking that has occurred over the last 15 years. Recent studies on the negative health effects of secondhand smoke are also buoying the trend, they say.

On Dec 27th  the smoking ban became effective in Glendora. Smoking will be prohibited at all parks and public facilities. No-smoking signs have been posted.  City-owned parking lots and the fairways and greens of the city's Glen Oaks Golf Course will be exempt from the ban.  Most municipalities issue a fine for smoking violations, but Glendora will not issue fines.
The Planning Commission is again looking at the plans for a long-delayed assisted-living facility. The City Council voted in April against extending a time limit for the 125-unit project, on which construction had been delayed beyond Glendora's 18-month time limit. The split vote prompted the developer in July to file a lawsuit in federal court against Glendora and council members who opposed the project extension. Glendora Hospital Partners argued it had been treated unfairly and that the city was discriminating against future elderly patients. The case is pending.

Now the developer has reapplied to the city to get the project started again, using plans almost identical to those originally approved in 2005.
The 97,000-square-foot facility would be built on land next to Glendora Hospital Partners' Gladstone Care and Rehabilitation Center, at the northwest corner of Bonnie Cove Avenue and East Gladstone Street. The new building - which would fill a vacant lot to the east of the center and a garden area to the north - would provide assistance and meals to mostly elderly residents who need help with daily tasks such as laundry. Residents of the surrounding neighborhood, which is dominated by single-family homes, have opposed the two-story building from the beginning. They say it's too tall - almost 33 feet at the tips of its gabled roof.  Residents said they are concerned about increased traffic and what they say is insufficient parking.

IRWINDALE:
Recall organizers began gathering signatures  in their quest to remove two City Council members.  Led by former Councilwoman Rosemary Gutierrez, who is Baldwin Park's deputy city clerk, the recall effort has 40 days to collect about 400 signatures from registered voters.  The recall targets councilmen David "Chico" Fuentes and Manuel Ortiz. The re-call was prompted by approval of the city manager's contract, organizers said. "This contract was approved just 28 days before a city election in which two of the existing members are candidates and one is not seeking re-election," recall documents state.  Interim City Manager Robert Griego's $180,000 annual salary and six-month severance pay package are excessive and should have been reviewed by the new council, Gutierrez said.  Both Fuentes and Ortiz voted for the contract.  The recall effort falls just behind a city election in which incumbent Mark Breceda was returned to the council. Larry Burrola and Manual Garcia were also elected, forcing out Suzanne Gomez. Julian Miranda chose not to seek re-election.

Newly elected councilmen Garcia and Burrola both signed the notice of intent for the recall petition. Breceda was the only person on the council to vote against Griego's contract.

In other matters the city expanded its search for the recycling project that could bring in millions of dollars and hundreds of dump trucks.  For the past few years, Irwindale has worked with Athens Services to find a site for a recycling sorting plant, which will draw 300 trucks and up to 6,000 tons a day in recyclable materials.  Though the city considered a Live Oak Avenue site as its first choice, the staff in April started looking at other locations that included rail access.  The material recovery facility - which is used to sort recyclables from waste - might bring in as much as $2million a year, according to officials. The possible locations are on Live Oak Avenue near Longden Avenue, the northern section of Fourth Street and Arrow Highway, Azusa Canyon Road at Cypress, and Los Angeles Street near Littlejohn Street.  Disadvantages of the Arrow Highway site included its close proximity to the city's downtown, and limited street access.  At the Los Angeles Street location, which serves as the headquarters for Hanson Spancrete Pacific, city officials pointed to freeway access and that the land is vacant.  At the vacant Azusa Canyon Road site, the Redevelopment Agency owns the 23 acres, but it is located across the street from a Baldwin Park residential neighborhood.

Residents at the previous public hearing expressed concerns over possible odor and traffic impacts at the Live Oak Avenue site.

MONTCLAIR:
The City Council approved a loan of $75,000 in redevelopment funds toward construction of two new low-cost housing apartments and a learning center.  The apartments and learning center are being built on the property of Jose and Deborah Dominguez. The complex is at 10350 Kimberly Ave.  The loan from city redevelopment tax revenue reimburses Dominguez for some of his construction costs. Dominguez will pay the loan off within 55 years, according to the contract with the city.  Dominguez said he has spent about $200,000 of his money toward an estimated $210,000 in construction costs.  He said his dream of building a learning center for the needy began about 10 years ago when he purchased the 50-year-old apartment building. The Dominguez's project could help provide more low-income transitional housing for needy families.  A two-bedroom and one-bath apartment and a one-bedroom and one-bath apartment will help two families with a place to stay for a year.  The learning center will have 16 computers. The days the center will be open are still to be determined, but it will be open Tuesdays and Thursdays to adults. The units and the center will be built over the apartment's parking garages.

LA VERNE:
The city might allow public access to more than 350 acres of land in its northern foothills.  La Verne officials have hired a firm to develop a master plan for the land in the Marshall Canyon wilderness area. The city acquired 150 acres of the open space more than a decade ago and an additional 208 acres in 2005.  About 12 years ago, the developer of nearly 300 homes in the Marshall Canyon Estates gave 150 acres of land to the city because it was undevelopable.  In 2005, the Trust for Public Land and the La Verne Land Conservancy - two nonprofit conservation organizations - negotiated the purchase of an additional 208 acres of open space for preservation. At that time, the land was to be handed over to Los Angeles County for management. At the last minute the County of Los Angeles determined that they were unable to accept the property. The city agreed to acquire the open space - for free - despite some concerns about accessibility to the land and drainage issues.
There are flood concerns and drainage improvements that will need to be addressed, said Bill Aguirre, the city's director of parks and community services. There are now only three points of access, two of which run through private properties.  Issues will continue to be addressed at community forums.
In other matters the city's effort to build a new police and fire station moved one step when  the City Council hired a consultant to craft a strategy to pass a bond measure.  The city is seeking to replace its current station, built in 1980, with a new facility that would be built on city-owned land at Arrow Highway and Wheeler Avenue.  Telephone polling in August of likely voters measured support for a $20million police and fire bond at 58percent, short of the two-thirds needed to pass a bond measure.  Oakland-based company Tramutola was hired by the City Council - for $20,000 - to measure whether passing a bond in the city is feasible.  The company will gauge public support for a range of tax levels, craft potential ballot language, and do similar work related to the bond.  When the study is finished - it's estimated to take three or four months - the council will decide whether to proceed with a bond vote.

ONTARIO:
The City Council gave the green light to the Wal-Mart Supercenter at Mountain Avenue and Fifth Street in Ontario. The unanimous 4-to-0 vote brought a conclusion to several months of hearings and more than three years of controversy surrounding the proposed project in northwest Ontario. Members of the council each shared his or her reasoning for upholding the Planning Commission's August 30 approval of the superstore. Most frequently cited during deliberations was that the issue at hand about land use, rather than crime, traffic, pollution or other concerns that had been raised by those opposed to the development.

In other matters, where a dilapidated warehouse facility sits on Airport Drive in Ontario,a huge new cargo center is expected to built. The Pacific Gateway Cargo Center is officially coming to Ontario- bringing with it revenue, jobs, international flight destinations, busier streets and more noise.  Los Angeles World Airports' (LAWA) Board of Airport Commissioners approved a 40-year lease agreement with Maryland-based developer Aeroterm this week to build the cargo center at L.A./Ontario International Airport in 13 years or less.  Terms of the lease had been under negotiation since June 2003, and Ontario officials have been anxious to see the 1 million-square-foot center become a reality.

At full build-out, the project is expected to handle 715,000 tons of cargo annually, generating about 19,400 aircraft takeoffs and landings per year. That will help take some of the load off of LAX, which is close to capacity, and will bring cargo-related businesses and revenue to Ontario.  The Pacific Gateway Cargo Center is expected to generate up to $750,000 annually in property-tax and business-license-fee revenues once it is complete.  More cargo equates to more destinations for passengers, too as passenger enger planes carry cargo in the hold of the plane.

The 96-acre site at the northwest corner of the airport is occupied by 15 abandoned buildings and hangers once used by Lockheed Air Services and a former U.S. Army dump.  Along with Aeroterm's lease, the board certified the environmental impact report for the Pacific Gateway Cargo Center and agreed that benefits outweighed the significant negative impacts to air quality, noise and traffic predicted in the report.  The environmental report states nitrogen oxide emissions will affect air quality in the short term during construction, and acrolein emissions from aircraft engines and diesel trucks will be present in the long term with the cargo center's operation.  With L.A./ONT projected to see 25.4million passengers and 2.5million tons of air cargo a year by 2020, noise and traffic will increase substantially around the airport.

POMONA:
Downtown is one step closer to calling another shopping-and-condo development home.  Two five-story buildings with shops and 200 condos will be built along West Second Street where two parking lots now take up space.  The city's redevelopment agency is buying the land, then selling it for nearly $1 million to City View Watt Pomona LLC.  As part of the agreement, the developer will set up a temporary parking lot at another site during construction.  Once the mixed-use project is complete, parking will be in a seven-story parking structure as part of the development.  The lots are along the south side of First Street and involve part of a lot between Thomas and Main streets, the lot on the southeast corner of First Street and Park Avenue, and the west side of Thomas Plaza, according to a city report.  The site is less than an acre and will be sold for about $943,800.

In other matters after months of vacancy, the Pomona Armory will soon be going back into use. The City Council adopted a resolution to enter into a short-term agreement with the state allowing the city to use the building on the northeast corner of Seventh Street and Park Avenue.  On December 1st the city will have use of the building for four months,  at a cost of $8,000.  The building, which was used by the California National Guard until about a year ago, initially will be used for a shelter program for the homeless, he said. After the winter shelter program ends in March, the building would be available for other programs.   If some logistical matters can be worked out - like making the building accessible for those with disabilities - youth-related activities could take place at the armory.

SAN DIMAS:
A luxury-home developer has stopped working on a 19-acre project, leaving an empty mud flat that has become a playground for off-road enthusiasts. Eighteen large residences were planned for wooded land adjacent to Walnut Creek Wilderness Park. But city officials and neighbors said work halted several weeks ago, after the land had been leveled and more than 100 trees removed.  Construction equipment was driven away in the middle of the night, residents said. In recent days, the contractor's trailer and portable toilets were hauled off.  The halt to construction on the Creek Estates comes as the housing market has declined, city officials said.  The project's developer, San Dimas 18 LLC, has not returned phone calls to city officials, who suspect the company is in a financial dispute with its lender, Estate Financial of Paso Robles.  Meanwhile, motorcyclists and four-wheelers have been seen joyriding on the property's dirt hills, officials said.

City officials said they're doing what they can to shore up the property.  For now, the city has asked Estate Financial to completely fence off the land and pay for erosion control measures in preparation for the rainy season.  A sandbag company will monitor the site for runoff throughout the winter, Hensley said, adding that the city feels lucky that the lender is willing to work with the city without argument.

The property has seen various proposals over the years, including plans for a private school that were not approved due to zoning conflicts.  When owner Sonrise Christian School sold the land to San Dimas 18 in 2003, the City Council approved an environmental review of the luxury-home plan in a split vote. The planning process took several years - and withstood another split-vote council approval in 2005. Construction did not begin until July 2007.
The city is trying to see if it can force the developer or the lender to return the property to its previous state, Bertone said. But that will be difficult since 78 large trees and many small trees were removed from the land.

UPLAND:
 The Montessori Academy of Claremont moved across the county line l and is now the Montessori Academy of Upland. The former site of the school, on Base Line Road, will be used for a condominium development.  Moving with the school will be its staff, its furnishings, and the same programs it offered at its Claremont location, said Montessori administrators.

WEST COVINA:
 A sales-tax decline and other woes could leave the city with a deficit of $7.5 million within the next few years. According to a report which went before the City Council, those budget pressures on the 2008-2010 budgets are also squeezing the 2007-08 budget. Sales taxes dropped in 2006-07 but were buoyed by rising property taxes, Bachman's report said. The softening housing market means property taxes won't be enough to cushion the commercial losses this year.   Officials believe that their sales tax predictions will fall sort and will pursue other revenues. In 2007-08, sales taxes are already expected to fall $1million short of predictions, according to the report. The city could face an estimated $3 million deficit in 2008-09, and $4.5 million in 2009-10.  Sales taxes make up a sizable 30 percent chunk of the city's income, but half of that - car sales and mall purchases - are declining. Many of the city's dealerships focus on large cars, which are declining in popularity as gas prices climb, officials noted. Sales tax projections were also hit by the continuing delay in opening the Target/Home Depot center next to the old BKK site. The new Big League Dreams sports park will create new revenue, but all that income will go toward paying off the loans that built the park.