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.

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. 

1515 Restaurant can stay open until 1 a.m.

The City Council voted 4 to 1 to allow 1515 Restaurant and Lounge to keep its 1 a.m. closing time, despite concerns raised by city staff and the police department about late-night incidents that required police response.



The council’s decision came after son and father owners Tony and Jack Dudum spoke about the value their North Main Street establishment brings to downtown. “We’ve tried best to obey the rules,” Tony Dudum said. “We are a destination, one of the premiere spots of the city.”


Family members, friends, and regular customers also came out on a Tuesday, “away from American Idol” and “family," Tony Dudum said, to sing the praises of the Dudums and 1515.


The City Council allowed the Dudums to stay open until 1 a.m. for a six-month probationary period. City staff wanted that closing time to be rolled back to 12:30 a.m. In their report, staff said the restaurant didn’t do well enough to be granted the 1 a.m. closing time permanently. There were eight incidents requiring a police response. These incidents include an assault, two thefts, someone being arrested on a warrant, another patron being arrested for public drunkenness, and the restaurant's valet parking cars in handicapped spaces. In February, 1515 employees were caught drinking in the back of the restaurant.


At Tuesday’s meeting, Chief Joel Bryden suggested that these types of incidents are typical of downtown bars and restaurants that stay open late. He said that these types of incidents are more of what you’ll find at a bar, where the chief service is to serve alcohol, not a restaurant, where food is the focus.


He added that 1515 does do a good job running its business. His department’s concern about letting 1515 stay open until 1 a.m. instead of 12:30 is that there will be “30 more minutes of potential problems that we in the police department are going to have to deal with.”


Lt. Mark Covington said the police department is at its limit in the number of calls they can handle among the downtown’s late-night bar scene. “We can’t deal with any more additional calls.”


The Dudums and their supporters complained that they were being singled out and “set up for failure.” Some even suggested that officers were showing at the restaurant at random times and making customers feel uncomfortable.


This debate about 1515 comes as the city wrestles with how to balance public safety and against the desire to encourage commerce in Walnut Creek and to keep the downtown a happening Bay Area destination for dining and entertainment.


Four of the council members voted to allow 1515 to stay open until 1 a.m. They said the didn’t want to unfairly penalize for 1515 for violations that may be just as common or more common at other establishments. They also didn’t want to roll back the business’ hours at this one establishment when the results of an Alcohol Task Force study on the downtown bar scene is pending.

Councilman Kish Rajan said: "I fully appreciate the needs of our police department and am committed to improving the environment downtown to support them in their mission. In my view, that is best achieved by looking at the downtown as a whole, and our overall alcohol/ closing time policies. We need a clearer set of policies that better balance the needs of our police with our desire for a successful business climate"


Only Councilman Bob Simmons said he would not support the 1 a.m. closing time. This is because, he said, back in September, the police department presented a list of incidents at 1515 that required police response. The council’s position was zero-tolerance and that 1515 shouldn’t return after the probationary period “with another sheet of incidents" He added: "Tonight we have more.”


He also objected to supporters’ claims that some of the incidents were “not so bad.” I reject that notion,” he said. “We want the city to be known as a safe place for people to come and enjoy.”

Regarding those gun-totin' guys coming to Walnut Creek: the police chief responds and a member explains why they're holding it in a certain downtown restaurant

In response to my post about a planned exhibition in Walnut Creek next month by gun owners who support the open display of handguns, some readers asked how the City of Walnut Creek or the police plan to respond. Members of this loosely organized group, who call themselves Bay Open Carry, plan to be at downtown's California Pizza Kitchen on February 6, with their unloaded weapons in full display.

Police response to such an open display of handguns became something of an issue in Livermore earlier this week. This was when one member was giving an interview to an ABC7 TV reporter. Walter Stanley, who carries an unloaded pistol on his right hip and two full ammunition clips on his left, raised alarm when someone called in a report to police of a man with a gun seen in downtown. Officers pulled up, just as Stanley was talking to the reporter, ordered him up against a wall and to raise his hands. The officers checked to see that his weapon was indeed unloaded.

Open Carry members say that it is legal to carry a weapon as long as it is out in the open and unloaded. The gun carrier also has to be at least 1,000 feet from a school.

Okay, so I'm assuming that Open Carry members plan to act within the law if they do make it to Walnut Creek. However, they will be gathering in CPK, which is centrally located in Broadway Plaza. Talk about trying to get attention! Also, as some readers pointed out, CPK is known as a family restaurant.

So, would the presence of guys (or gals?) walking around with guns openly displayed--even if they are unloaded--be upsetting to the clientele? And do the police have any plans to intervene, respond to calls of concern, or to be present.

Here is what Chief Joel Bryden had to say in response:

"Our officers will respond to any calls for service relating to this issue and take appropriate action based on what we find at the scene. Appropriate action could include checking a weapon to make sure it is unloaded."

And, here are some views an Open Carry member, writing on the organization's message board, about why he participates, about the planned event, and about the choice of California Pizza Kitchen for their display::

--About why he participates:

For me, it's to remind people that we live under the Constitution and we all have rights that cannot be taken away from us. I think here, in California, a lot of people dismiss the second amendment as being antiquated and rather useless in today's society. I can understand how somebody can come to that conclusion, but I feel that if more law abiding citizens owned and carried firearms, we would have far less crime and criminals would be afraid of committing crimes.

--Would CPK have a right to ask these gun-totin' guys to leave?

Businesses absolutely have a right to ask us to leave, and sometimes they do. I'm unaware of any case where an open carrier has refused to leave after being asked. We respect business' property rights and we comply with their wishes. If a place of business such as CPK doesn't want our money, someplace else will.

--As for whether the presence of Open Carry members, with their weapons, would upset other CPK diners:

I've eaten at restaurants where uniformed police officers came in and ate there, I wasn't afraid of anything bad happening. I've been in a restaurant where a group of non-uniformed police officers came in to eat too. At least, I thought they were police officers. But how could I tell? I wasn't going to ask them for ID if they were behaving perfectly normal. Why should the presence of a uniform make any difference?

Quite simply, criminals do not walk around with guns in openly displayed holsters. If somebody is open carrying, then they are on the up and up. When I open carry, I'm especially on the up and up because I'm trying to paint gun owners in a good light and be a "model citizen."

Another member is warning that there will be a strong LE (as in law enforcement) interest in the Walnut Creek Meetup. That being the case, the member has some strong advise for making sure their weapons are secure.  He suggests the acquisition of "a retention type holster (Blackhawk or similar) for your rig prior to the Walnut Creek Meetup if at all possible."

"I know these can be a bit pricey for some ($35-$60),," he continues, "but are great for that extra little bit of insurance that your gear cannot be easily removed or fall out."