Looking for work and feeling like a piece of s---

I was talking to someone I know who has been out of work for six weeks. He feels pretty lousy.  He spends his mornings looking through Craigslist and other services that list jobs in his field. He sends in his resume, cover letter, work samples.  He doesn't get called back.

Six weeks in to his job search: .He feels like he's letting his family down. He feels like he's letting himself down. All he's worked for in his life--it seems meaningless.

I hear of people--mostly professional men, actually--who have been out of work three, six, eight months.  This person I know--he's just in the beginning stages of this weird sort of misery and despair.

I ran into a neighbor the other day at Pacific Bay Coffee Company.  She herself works as a consultant, juggling several jobs to keep her family afloat. These are jobs she never expected to have. Her husband is a commercial architect. Or was, until he was laid off from his job eight months ago. This couple had come to the United States--specifically from Europa and to the East Bay--about six years ago so that he could take a well-paying, challenging job here and so that they could give their kids a taste of an American suburban life.

This neighbor, who has dual citizenship, loves it here in Walnut Creek. And so do her children, so much so that she decided that she and her kids would stay here in Walnut Creek, and her kids would stay in school here--she didn't want to uproot them from their friends and neighborhood--while her husband goes back to Switzerland. To work. He finally landed a job--all the way back across the Atlantic.

"So much for coming here to live the American dream," she said, and she searched her laptop for cheap fares to Europe for the summer.  The family will be there or here together during summers and Christmas holidays.

That person I know: He had a job where he managed all sorts of projects and people in a very tough competitive field, and he had to work across all sorts of media and industries.

"I feel like I'm so under-qualified," he said.

He talked about specific job skills he didn't have that these vacant jobs were looking for. The skills mostly had to do with the ability to work in certain computer programs.

Feeling useless and under-qualified: that's exactly how you feel when you're out of work and e-mailing your cover letter and resume off to prospective employers these days.  You send those pieces of yourself off and never heard back. Is anyone out there to actually receive them?

I was there myself after getting laid off seven years ago. I went up to sign up at a Walnut Creek temp agency, where I learned my Word skills were not quite up to snuff. They gave me a pitying look and suggested I'd probably only qualify for the lowest paying temp jobs.

Of course, I could pay to take a course. Sure, I thought. Take a course in this one software program out of how many software programs these days that might just be useful.  

I left feeling dejected, but also a bit angry. Sorry, but getting a bit better at Word is not that hard.

Fortunately, I managed to land another job soon after that interview at the temp agency.

Actually this person I know mentioned the computer skill he needed to make the cut for a few of the dozens of jobs he was applying for. The jobs he's looking for are not technical jobs, and the job that I landed required just that skill.   I didn't have it either when I was hired. I learned it on the job. I got to be pretty good at it.

As it happens, I had other qualities and skills and work/life experience that were far more valuable for this particular position.

It's just sad when I hear these sorts of stories, and I wonder, have we evolved into such an era of specialization that most of us are technically unqualified for many jobs we could do perfectly well?

Or are there just so many applicants for every one job?

It's coming...

Whether you like it or not. As San Francisco Mayor Gavin would say.

Yes, there are some people who are not happy, especially now with big concerns about cuts the city is going to have to make to balance its 2010-12 budget.

And then there are others who are getting pumped up for the library's July 17 opening day and what could be the biggest party this town has seen in a while.

Here are photos of the library, as it nears completion, on April 22. Thanks to the reader who shared these with us.

Above: The south end of the library. The door opens into the Marketplace and coffee bar.










Left: The lights hanging between the young adult on the left and the and reference areas on the right.

Below top: The sculpture, "Journey of a Bottle," by Marta Thomas and hung above the north lobby.

Bottom: One of six panels created by Amy Blackstone for the fence in the children's garden.

New principal appointed for Las Lomas High School

An assistant principal from a Pleasanton middle school has been appointed to replace Pat Lickiss as principal of Las Lomas High School.  John Stockton, the superintendent of the Acalanes Union High School District, said Thursday that the district's governing board has appointed Matthew Campbell to replace Lickiss, a 37-year veteran of the district who is retiring at the end of this school year.  Campbell, whose starting date will be July 1, currently serves as an assistant middle school principal in the Pleasanton school district, Stockton said. Before that, he was an assistant principal for four years at Pleasanton's Foothill High School. He began his education career as a social studies teacher in the Pleasanton school district.  Campbell graduated from Cal Poly, San Luis Obispo, received his master's of arts degree from Lesley College in Cambridge, Massachusetts, and is currently pursuing his doctorate at Saint Mary's College.  Says Stockton: "The Acalanes Union High School District is pleased to welcome Matt to our community and feels confident he possesses the professional skills and personal qualities necessary for the positive engagement of our community. Mr. Campbell is dedicated to building upon the great successes Las Lomas High School has experienced during Pat Lickiss' years of service." A reception will be held at Las Lomas before the end of this school year to welcome Campbell. "Prior to the start of the new school year, Matt looks forward to meeting as many friends of Las Lomas High School as possible," Stockton says.

Where's the best place for teens in Walnut Creek to find a summer job?

My favorite summer/after-school job as a high school student was in a place that has highly controversial associations.

No, it wasn't at Walnut Creek's adult book store on Locust Street.

It was at the (sniff) former Walnut Creek library in Civic Park, the one being replaced by the new (damned) one.

I worked at the old library after school and on Saturdays, shelving books, checking out books.  Sometimes I'd take my cart full of books and magazines and get a bit delayed in the stacks. You know, "shelving."

No, I wasn't smoking anything. I'd most likely be in the movie aisle, in the 790s, looking up some trivia about Clark Gable or Marlon Brando.

I loved that job. I got a lot of reading done, and it was relaxing, and the library staff was friendly and fun. The job also helped me go to movies with friends and buy clothes for school. It paid above whatever was the minimum wage at the time.

If you have a teenager, what job is he or she going to do this summer? If you're a teenager and don't have a job, where are you going to look? Do you know?

Readers, any ideas on local employers who are hiring teenagers?

Are you an employer looking to hire? Even in these still challenging economic times.

Actually, my question was prompted by a question posed by a reader, who teaches in a local high school and whose students are looking for work.

Be safe while you celebrate Cinco de Mayo

I was hearing from a Walnut Creek police officer, during a ride-along I took last Saturday morning, that certain, more alcohol-fueled Cinco de Mayo celebrations, can make things busy for the police and less safe for celebrants. 


With that in mind, here's a safety reminder from the Walnut Creek police:

As you enjoy and celebrate Cinco de Mayo this season, the Walnut Creek Police Department would like to remind you to be responsible and safe. Officers throughout the City and County will be on alert for DUI drivers and will have a zero tolerance for disruptive behavior as a result of alcohol consumption. Designated drivers and/or taxis are a great alternative to spending time in jail for DUI. We encourage everyone to be safe and have fun, but do so responsibly.

There will be a lot of bald cops, officials, dispatchers, and kids around town now

They came, they submitted, they lost their hair. More than 50 police officers from Walnut Creek and Concord, as well as the chief of Walnut Creek police, an assistant city attorney, several female police employees and some kids draped themselves in the green apron. And, they sat there smiling, laughing, maybe a little teary-eyed and maybe a bit in shock, as they had their hair taken off--first with scissors then with an electric razor. All of it went, until all they had on top of their heads was a dome of peach-fuzz like stubble.

The occasion Tuesday evening at Walnut Creek's Civic Park Community Center was a fundraiser for the St. Baldrick's Foundation, a nonprofit that holds these shave-a-thons to show solidarity with and raise money for children diagnosed with cancer.

Walnut Creek police organized Tuesday's event, looking to raise at least $29,000 Tuesday evening.

Instigator Sgt. Lanny Edwards got City Council member Kish Rajan to submit, as well as Police Chief Joel Bryden, and a lieutenant or two. Some Concord officers came along as well, to show they can raise money and submit to a head shave as well as Walnut Creek officers. Top fundraisers for the event, nudged on by an informal contest set up by Edwards, were Edwards himself, who sacrificed his thick silver crop, Assistant City Attorney Bryan Wenter, who until Tuesday evening had a very dark, thick head of hair,  and Lt. Mark Perlite, who was also being nudged, for the right price, to give up his stylish goatee. More than $10,000 was raised among the three of them.

Some of the biggest applause went to female police employees who gave up their hair for the cause. They included dispatchers Alisha White and Carrie Moore. The latter donated three long braids of blond hair to Locks of Love, a nonprofit that takes donated hair and makes it into quality hair pieces for financially disadvantaged children with cancer.

Records technician Carol Earley did it on a whim after being told the crowd would put it a couple hundred dollars. "If you can get me in in the next 15 minutes, I'll do it," she said. Afterwards, she rubbed the soft feeling stubble and contemplated what her husband would say

Walnut Creek Intermediate sixth grader Brendan Miller sat to have his once blond, until more recently dyed black and orange hair shaved off. Just before he was to sit for his head shaving, he learned he had brought in another donation, reaching his goal of $2,000 for the event.

Measure A passing

With all 37 precincts reporting, more than 68 percent of  voters said "yes" to Measure A, a $112-per-parcel tax to help high schools in the state-budget-stricken Acalanes Union High School District save teachers' jobs and core academic and elective programs.

A few hours after polls closed, the Contra Costa County Elections office reports that 68.5 percent of voters said yes in the special mail-in ballot. The measure needs a two-thirds majority to pass.

County election officials told the Contra Costa Times that ballots counted as of 8 p.m. Tuesday did not reflect ballots that had been delivered to the office Tuesday. Elections officials said they would begin counting uncounted ballots Wedesday and come up with the final tally Friday.

Measure A would bring in to the school district about $3.8 million a year over the next five years. The district is facing a $4.8 million shortfall. The district already has a $189 parcel tax that voters decided to extend indefinitely in November. 

NOTE: Well, it looks like my Crazy poll, which you can still see at left, was pretty close and a pretty good crystal ball. When I finally, with the help of a reader, did the calculations correct, my poll said that Measure A would pass with 69.5 percent of the vote.  That's just a point off what the yes vote was, calculated by the county Elections Department.

S'more WC budget bits: The city wants to help schools keep their fields green

The city might not be willing to pay the $110,000 to support the crossing guard program at schools around Walnut Creek, but it is willing to help the Walnut Creek School District maintain the sports fields at its campuses.


Walnut Creek City Manager Gary Pokorny confirmed that the city's proposed 2010-12 budget includes a provision to allow it to provide maintenance for these fields, as it has in the past, though the city will ratchet down the annual amount it has been paying for this service.  In the past, the city has spent about $100,000 a year.


The city also proposing to continue providing a $30,000 matching grant to help the school district continue to offer counseling services at its five elementary and one middle school.  


These offers of help to the Walnut Creek School District will be part of City Council discussions about the budget to take place starting tonight. 


These two school programs were at risk, with both the city and the Walnut Creek School District facing tough budget times.  The school district, which is facing an $8 million deficit, was especially keen on maintaining its sports fields. The district has been using some of the $20 million from the 2002 bond measure to renovate or replace the six sports fields at its schools. Four schools now have new and improved fields that are safe and state-of-the art and which are used by the schools’ students and by sports leagues throughout the city. Two more fields will be fixed up this summer. 


The city, for several years, has helped maintain those fields. At a joint meeting between the Walnut Creek City Council and the Walnut Creek School District two weeks ago, Superintendent Patricia Wool said she was afraid that the fields would go brown if it couldn't get maintenance help from the city.


At that same meeting, Mayor Sue Rainey said the city values its partnership with the schools, and always wants to do what it can to help them. On the other hand, she and other city officials at that time couldn't make any commitments to what, if anything, they could help the school district pay for. 


Pokorny said the city is also looking for a way to help the school district pay offering counseling services at its six elementary and middle school campuses. 

Bald is beautiful, baby.

Just need to say that as some male and female Walnut Creek police department employees and city VIPS, as well as local volunteers, get ready to have a Delilah done on them later today. However, it's highly likely that this head shearing operation will leave these men, women, and children stronger--in body, mind, and soul--than that Biblical beefcake Samson. This is because these Walnut Creek locals will be losing their hair for a good cause: to raise money to help children suffering from cancer.

The Walnut Creek Police Department-sponsored fundraiser for the St. Baldrick's Foundation takes place this afternoon and evening at the Civic Park Community Center. St. Baldrick's is a nonprofit organization that hosts head-shaving parties to raise money and to show solidarity for kids diagnosed with cancer.

The event starts at 4:30 p.m. and will go to around 8:30 p.m. The lineup of volunteers includes Councilman Kish Rajan, Walnut Creek Police Joel Bryden, Sgt. Lanny Edwards, the event's organizer, and two female police dispatchers. Those gals can use Demi Moore in her GI Jane mode as their hair fashion role model.

The most notable VIP to appear will be Brendan Miller. He is the Walnut Creek Intermediate student who has so far raised more than $1,000 to benefit this cause, and who has prepared for the event by dying his hair all sorts of brilliant colors.  Here's what I wrote about Brendan last week.

If you still want to sign up to get your head shaved, or if you want to donate, or just get more information, visit the event website, or contact Sgt. Edwards with the Walnut Creek Police at (925) 256-3596. 

Good morning Tuesday and some other lovely images of our local nature

Some more beautiful photos from one of my favorite local shutterbugs, whom I'll call the Sunrise Guy.This was taken this morning.  Sunrise Guy also went on a bird watching/nature walk in one of our open spaces on Saturday,  (Can you believe it's May already?), and this is what he found.

Another Iron Horse Trail attack involving a Walnut Creek student

These notices come in about middle and high school students being confronted by suspicious characters or robbed on the Iron Horse Trail in and around downtown Walnut Creek. ... And my immediate thought is: The Iron Horse Trail sounds like a dangerous place for my sixth grader to be walking. 

Here's news about the latest incident. Actually, it involved a Las Lomas High freshman who was robbed of his IPod and earphones while walking to school Friday morning along the trail near Safeway.  

Las Lomas High Principal Pat Lickiss alerted parents at his school that: 

Earlier [Friday], it was reported to our offices that a student had been approached while walking to school and jumped from behind by a man demanding his money. ... A student reported to his English teacher, that on his way to school this morning on the trail by Safeway a heavy set Hispanic man about 5 foot 7 inches with a black hood, bandana over his mouth, and wearing dark blue jeans jumped him from behind demanding his money. The man did get his earphones and IPod. The student said there were no injuries or weapons and he "used what he learned in PE class to get away." 

I realize that we all need to put these incidents into perspective and not leap into panic mode. We need to think of the statistics and probability. I'm sure that the vast majority of us--young and old--are safe while walking, running, or cycling along various stretches of the Iron Horse Trail at different times of day. I'm sure that this sort of incident isn't all that common--despite the fact that it receives attention from school officials and a blogger like me. 

With regard to the Iron Horse Trail, I've gone running along different parts of it early in the morning and at night, after dark. I'm not going to stop doing that because of reports of this kind of crime. I'm not afraid, though I'm always on alert and wary. 


On the other hand, I will let my son know.  Actually, he and his friends at WCI don't use the Iron Horse Trail much at all. It's just the thing he crosses every morning and afternoon while coming and going from school. 


Walnut Creek Intermediate School Principal Kevin Collins is letting parents know because "many WCI students use the trail to get to and from school, and we are asking for parents to again discuss personal safety with their children." 

Police chief believes public safety is city's No. 1 priority

Should the city support arts and culture? Or the police department? Does it have to be either or?

Not according to Walnut Creek Police Chief Joel Bryden.

I spoke with him Monday morning, and I mentioned one of the debates raging on this blog with regard to the city’s proposed budget for 2010-12, which the City Council will begin working on Tuesday night. The debate has to do with the impression that city staff is not making the police department and public safety more of a priority in these very tough economic times. Some readers believe that funding for the Arts, Recreation and Community Services should take more of a hit. The thinking here is that when times are tough arts and recreation programs are expendable. 

“Stick to the basics that cities have to proivde like cops, streets, keeping the parks clean etc.,” wrote one reader. “Let private groups step up for the arts and recreation stuff. Since so few people use those services regularly they should be willing to volunteer or pay extra.”

Bryden believes that public safety is the No. 1 priority in the city.

He acknowledges that yes, the department could always use more money and more officers. Any police department could. But he said he and the police department participated in discussions that took place with regard to the budget, and the department came up with its own list of programs that could be restructured or frozen positions that would not be filled. He added what City Manager Gary Pokorny emphasized last week: none of the 33 possible layoffs taking place in other city departments would affect the police department.

In budget documents prepared for Tuesday night’s City Council meeting, the police department proposes that two police officer positions be changed to a per diem basis starting in 2011 and that one position for watch commander/lieutenant and one for a police officer be unfunded. The department could also save money by reducing overtime and retire one police car, and that the city earn additional revenues by operating a tow yard.

“We told them what we could afford to lose while keeping the city safe and maintain the level of service that we have now,” Bryden said.

Here are some more specifics of what budget documents say about spending on police, as well as on and arts, recreation and community programs and on other departments.

--The police department budget could be cut by 2 percent in the coming fiscal year,  public services by 2 percent, and arts, recreation and community services by 6 percent. The biggest hit—of 24 percent—is to general government. In 2011-12, expenditures for police and public services could increase slightly, funding for arts and recreation will go down 2 percent. Again, the biggest hit (47 percent) would be to general government.

--In terms of which department in Walnut Creek will likely get the biggest piece of the budget pie in 2010-12, that would be the police department: 35 percent. Arts, Recreation and Community Services would get 20 percent. 

Hey, maybe Measure A will pass, there is still time to vote, and WCI's PTA endorses it

UPDATE: Maybe no surprise, but the Walnut Creek Intermediate PTA has endorsed Measure A, the $112-per-parcel tax to help fund programs in the Acalanes Union High School District. 


The PTA also says that people who live within the Acalanes Union High School District  can still  vote, even if they didn't get their mail-in ballot mailed in already. The PTA says you can: 

• Deliver your vote to the Contra Costa County Elections Office in Martinez (555 Escobar Street) today or tomorrow from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.
• On Tuesday, May 4, take your "yes" ote to the drop box at the Lafayette United Methodist Church (955 Moraga Road, Lafayette) from 1-8:00 p.m.

Contrary to what I reported Saturday, according to my very own Crazy poll, Measure A, the $112-per-parcel tax to help fund programs in the Acalanes Union HIgh School District, could actually pass. 

ORIGINAL POST:

As I said, this poll (at top left) may not be scientific, but--any surprise here?--I did my figuring wrong, including in my calculations those who did not vote. Duh. A reader pointed out this error. 

As the reader said. "AKA SM actually if your poll where correct it would pass. Your poll showed 73 yes and 32 no. As with any vote the ones who elect not to vote will not be counted. Thus the yes reached 69.5% in your poll which is more than the required 66.6%."

So, we'll see what happens. The district hopes Measure A will pass so that it can raise an additional $3.8 million a year to offset an $8 million shortfall.

More restaurants hit the downtown scene

--Vesu on Locust Street is open.  People were sitting on bar stools in the front window, sipping cocktails and other drinks on Friday night. Vesu bills itself as a casual, stylish restaurant serving globally inspired small plates. According to the March issue of Diablo, its chef is Robert Sapirman, who was formerly the top chef at Bradley Ogden's Parcel 104 in Santa Clara and Michael Mina's Arcadia in San Jose.

--Get ready for another burger joint coming to Walnut Creek. No, it's not In-N-Out, but another burger restaurant, like The Counter, that likes to boast of its fresh, quality ingredients.  This new burger place is The Habit Burger Grill, which is the first tenant to go into Centre Place, the retail and office complex under construction at South California and Olympic Boulevard.

Does anyone know The Habit? Any Santa Barbara/SoCal folks? The chain was started by two brothers in Santa Barbara more than 40 years ago. They caught the, um, wave of California beach culture, and became enamored of the taste and smell of charbroiled burgers. This burger restaurant distinguishes itself by serving charbroiled burgers and other beach-inspired fare: grilled albacore tuna sandwiches, which the restaurant's website emphasizes are line-caught. For those keeping track, Monterey Bay Aquarium's Seafood Watch rates line-caught albacore tuna as a "best choice."

The Habit Burger Grill, which will also have outdoor dining, is seeking approval from Walnut Creek's Design Review Commission this Wednesday to erect signs in front of its business.

If this Crazy poll is accurate, Measure A won't pass

Yes, I know, it's fair to ask how scientific this poll is. No, it's not Gallup.


But if this poll (at left) has any crystal ball abilities, the $112-per-parcel tax for the Acalanes Union High School District won't pass--by just a couple percentage points. The majority of the 113 readers voting in this Crazy poll said "yes," but this parcel tax, like any other, needs to pass by a two-thirds majority. Sixty-four percent said yes, just not enough for the district to raise an additional $3.8 million a year to offset an $8 million shortfall. Since this is a mail-in ballot, it is likely that many people have already cast their ballots. 


The possibility this measure won't pass would be good news to at least one reader, who wrote on April 26:

"The average homeowner cannot bailout all services in our community - and that includes schools. There will be reduced everything, city, county, state. We must accept these facts and adjust to a different way of life as we know it.

More money by way of parcel tax will not solve underlying problems with administration and other funding deficits. Homeowners cannot carry this burden. It isn't practical or sustainable. But is the average citizen even wise enough to understand that?"

This tax would last for five years, and would supplement the district's existing parcel tax which is $189 per year. Residents who live in the Walnut Creek School District also pay an annual $82-per-parcel tax. 

The district says it will likely have to cut 50 teaching positions if Measure A doesn't pass. It will also have to eliminate science, foreign language, social studies, arts and math classes. Arts and other electives, including newspaper classes, could also go. 


The elimination of classes is worrisome to this Las Lomas High junior, who urged voters to say yes. 

"The  funding that this parcel tax is essential to my education. I am a junior now and almost every class I have sighned up for next year is on the chopping block. If I cannot take the advanced AP classes I need to be competative in my college applications next year I run the risk of not getting into my top pick colleges. We kids don't have the ability to vote yet so we have to ask you all to advocate for us.

One of the first comments on here ask who paid for phone banking and the mailers? Well, volunteers used their own personal cell phones for phone banking and like any other campaign the Measure A campaign was privately funded, so the campaign paid for all the reminders in the mail. I suppose this message is a little late, but if you haven't yet sent in your ballot think about it and think about saying yes. Thanks!"