Pacific Grove police suffered a setback last week when a judge dismissed breach-of-contract claims in a lawsuit they filed last year against the city over a voter-approved initiative that lowers the amount the city contributes to workers’ pensions.
The initiative was drawn up by a group of citizens led by former city councilman Dan Davis as a way of reducing the city’s retirement costs. The $900,000 Pacific Grove pays to CalPERS every year is one of the city’s biggest expenses.
Monthly Archives: July 2011
Tom Pollacci Gets Another Six Years In Prison
Faced with nine women waiting to testify he had raped them over three decades and one survey that showed 95 percent of the public believed he was probably guilty, Pollacci didn’t like his odds.
As a condition of his plea agreement, he was required to dismiss his appeal in that case and to waive all rights of appeal in the current case as long as he receives the stipulated sentence. He must serve at least 85 percent of the total 14-year sentence, nearly 12 years, before he is eligible for parole. He has served 13 months.
Country Club Gate Center Sold
“This is a great piece of news,” said Moe Ammar, president of the Pacific Grove Chamber of Commerce. “People are still investing in commercial real estate.”
Ammar said he understands ROIC plans to operate and manage the center.
Moe, stay away from Forest Hill. I don’t want all the stores to turn to resale shops and overpriced restaurants.
Country Club Gate Center Sold
Lawsuit By P.G. Employee Union Thrown Out
Dismissed with prejudice –
The suit stemmed from the City Council’s action enacting into law provisions of a citizens’ initiative petition to limit Pacific Grove’s contribution to its employee retirement pensions, rather than putting the measure before the voters that year.
It caps city contributions to employee pension benefits at 10 percent of workers’ salaries. Employees could pay additional amounts toward their retirement out of their own pockets.
The police union filed a complaint with the state Public Employee Relations Board challenging the city’s action in September.
Pollacci Plea Bargains In Rape Trial
Surprised?
Pollacci made his plea the same day his trial was set to begin. Nine women were scheduled to testify that they were raped by the Pebble Beach man over the past three decades.
In 2008, a woman went into a Pacific Grove liquor store where Pollacci worked to buy water, prosecutor Michael Breeden said. Pollacci asked the woman to go on a lunch date with him and she agreed.
“They went to lunch a second time, and he took her to the travel trailer,” Breeden said. “She did not want to go in. He raped her once they were inside.”
In April 2007, he went on a dinner date with another woman and also forced her into his parent’s travel trailer and raped her, Breeden said. The trailer was parked at the Monterey airport at the time.
Tom Pollacci’s Next Rape Trial Starting
Or is it?
There is still a chance the trial will not go forward. On Friday, the attorneys indicated there were ongoing settlement discussions
He was convicted and sentenced to eight years in prison for that crime last year. The victim in that case will join his current accusers and six other women who will testify they had been raped by Pollacci since the 1980s.
All of the victims claim they were attacked by Pollacci on dates or in some other consensual social setting. The current charges allege he raped both victims in his parent’s travel trailer. The third rape allegedly occurred in the loft at his father’s former Pacific Grove liquor store, Ron’s Liquors.
That business, which was recently sold, was also the location of the 2008 rape for which he was convicted last year.
Brokaw Hall Missing!
Pebble Beach Art Theft “Victims” Suing Their Insurance Company
But they dropped their lawsuit against the Sheriff.
The insurance company investigating the missing art work case for the last two years rejected the $500,000 insurance claim stating in letters to Kennaugh’s attorney, “It is our belief that the misrepresentations and concealment were intentionally committed by Kennaugh and Angelo Amadio in order to obtain insurance benefits.”
Two weeks ago, the men fired back with a $2 million lawsuit claiming the insurance company acted in bad faith stating it was, “Conducting an oppressive and lengthy Examination Under Oath of plantiff in an effort to unduly harass, vex, annoy, and burden plantiff in an effort to discourage his pursuit of his claim…”
Pebble Beach Art Theft “Victims” Suing Their Insurance Company
Stoned Enough?
Carmel Pine Cone Police Blotter
Pacific Grove: At about 1700 hours, subject came to the station to report being under the influence of a controlled substance. Medics and fire were dispatched. Subject was later transported to CHOMP.
Runaway Mayor Reappears To Save Us
Save us from water shortages as he turns cheek and runs away from the desalination supporters. What about a new dam on the Carmel river? Voters supported that way before any other money wasting projects.
Option 1, pipeline:
For $25 million, we could build a pipeline from the Monterey Regional Water Pollution Control Agency plant back to the communities on the Peninsula, where this water originates. MRWPCA treats all the sewage that comes from the cities of Pacific Grove and Monterey. Once the water is treated, it is used to irrigate about 12,000 acres of Salinas farmland, then approximately 10,000 acre-feet is emptied into Monterey Bay.
A pipeline can deliver that wasted water back to the golf courses, parks and public areas of the Peninsula.
Option 2, gray water:
Our communities have the option to mandate that all residents make use of gray water. Our county Health Department and most of our Peninsula cities support the use of gray water, which uses recycled water from showers and sinks to flush toilets and irrigate our gardens. A residential retrofit costs less than $2,000 per household and can save upward of 30 percent of water use in a normal home.
Option 3, David Avenue Reservoir:
A huge untapped asset is the David Avenue Reservoir. This phenomenal resource, built in 1897 by Chinese immigrants, served Pacific Grove and New Monterey for decades.