October 5, 2008 by PT Rothschild.

A RETURN TO MY ROOTS - CD REVIEWS

TREE FINGERS - Back in the days of Madlins and Java Joz, I could count on seeing a band like Tree Fingers at least four times a month. Now the find of their first CD, ‘Tree Fingers’, came after the Corner Pocket set put on by Ruckus Riot (the latest music show promotion company to hit town), and long after seeing anyone remotely in their music genre. (The encore free show is set for 10/25, same place - Corner Pocket, 8PM). As with some bands, especially local ones, the charm and uniqueness of the band’s CD starts before you hear the songs inside. The DIY CD has a sweet cut-out photo of a pink and white Gladiola glued on the front and back liner cover. The handmade liner brings to mind an art project, done with love, your son or daughter might be turning in as a project to a favorite teacher. The track title listing and artist notes, all separate paper strips glued to the folded liner cover complete the Granny’s Attic look. Inside, the 19 song offering is as pleasing to the ear as the original art design is to the eye. No Emo, hardcore, or straight-edge, in fact, no edge at all. This is a music CD for all the ‘old-timers’ who think anything youthful is strange and unknown. The music made with guitar, ukulele, violin, stand-up bass, melodica, and anything else, harkins you back to Arlo Guthrie and early Bob Dylan, with a little ‘John&Paul’ thrown in for style. Songs like ‘I Don’t Know’ and ‘Redwood Blues’ are very listenable but all the songs are quiet and artful with just enough rawness and freshness to bring a halt to your busy stressed day and slow it down to a rose-scented spacey lullaby. Oft nights I put on the CD and drift off to sweet dreams from it. Catch TF live and lively at their encore show (see above) and pick up their CD, as great to have as to listen to, kind of like a hot girl that can also cook - icing on the cake - and shake the hand of the smiling dad of Nathan Rivera, writer of most of the CD’s songs.

INVERSE - ‘Leave It All’ - At the other end of the local spectrum is the band Inverse. Perhaps because I’ve seen the band often, as recently as last week up in Hollywood at the Viper Room, in fact, I may tend to take them for granted, sort of. Couple that with the knowledge that I am also linked in business with one of the band’s members, well, you get my drift. However, with the group’s new EP release titled ‘Leave It All’, I felt I had to call attention back to the band, their songwriting talent, and the music chops they do so well. It’s is hard to describe the band’s sound much beyond Indy rock ‘n’ roll without going to their myspace and you can do that here. The new CD has but one downside, and that is, it is not long enough, there should be more songs on it. All the songs, of which there are five, are radio friendly by being under four minutes in length, and very catchy in tunage, memorable for the hooks. However, track #3, ‘The Last Night’, a medium speed power ballad, is a ‘bullet’ if it gets any radio play. The next two tracks would make great side ‘B’ hits, which show how deep the bench of songwriting is for this always popular band that delighted all the Kniting Factory (Hollywood) fans a couple of weeks ago after a grandslam show at the Trevi Entertainment Center in Lake Elsinore put together by Wade (the Underground Recording Studios). The CD is as handsomely packaged as the group photo inside, and shows the level of sophistication that this local group has reached. Be sure and check out where these guys are playing next, and pick up their latest effort at bringing smiles and expert musicianship to the new music market.

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October 5, 2008 by Bill Gould, Publisher.

Temecula, California -  I recently had a moment to ask Chuck Washington a few questions about his desire to be re-elected to a second term to the Temecula City Council. I asked him many questions that I know are concerns in the community. I asked him about what he has done and what plans he has for the future. Chuck is an honest and intelligent man who is thoughtful; below are the questions I asked, and the answers I received.

Bill: What have you done to secure more high paying jobs in Temecula?

Chuck: I have been directly involved in every aspect of negotiations and facilitation that have created expansion opportunities for Temecula’s largest employers - including PHS and Abbot Vascular (formerly Guidant). I have worked with our regional mall and auto dealers to find ways to support their expansions and thereby increasing jobs and retail sales tax revenue to the city. We fund the local Chamber of Commerce to support programs that help small and medium businesses grow and succeed. I am a former Vice-Chair of the Board of Directors for the Temecula Valley Chamber of Commerce.

Bill: What are your goals for the future in getting high paying jobs to Temecula to reduce commuting?

Chuck: While the city cannot tell its residents where to work, we have supported the effort to identify, secure, organize and publicize more park-and-ride spaces/facilities for our residents who choose to work out of the area. Also, conversely, when we do attract new businesses that bring jobs to Temecula, there is no tool which allows the city to mandate who they must hire (i.e. Temecula residents only). Consequently, I have worked closely we city staff to initiate a strategic planning effort which will identify major components of quality of life for our residents and lay out a decades plan to sustain quality of life. The major components will consist of these themes: live, work, play, educate…. By supporting the effort to build a hospital in Temecula, to bring a four-year university to Temecula, to create and support recreational and cultural amenities, to foster a safe communities and parks and open space, we will not only be creating opportunities for business expansion and new job growth, we will also be protecting our existing quality of life and laying the foundation for sustainability of that quality of life for the next 20-30 years.

Bill: Teens and Jobs - any ideas, things you have done to help?

Chuck: Through our Youth Master Plan effort, we discovered some of the challenges to meeting the needs of our young people. Not only do they want diverse recreational and entertainment opportunities, they also want opportunities for personal growth which can give them the new skills and training resulting in jobs and more freedom within their lives. Thusly, we have started job expos/fairs and are working with the school district, the chamber of commerce, and local employers. We are working on public transportation solutions (a local trolley system fueled by LNG) that will give our young people more flexibility around the community so that they may take advantage of cultural and employment offerings.

Bill: What is the Youth Master Plan and what is being done to make a difference? Was someone hired to help?

Chuck: During my campaign for City Council in 2003, I recognized a need to assess potential threats in the form substance abuse and gangs to our young people. Along one of my Council colleagues, I formed a Drug and Gang Task Force. Concurrently, I served on another City Council sub-committee that directly interfaces with two school board members and school district staff to deal community issues involving our young people and the school district. As a result of those efforts, it became clear that we needed to formalize our assessment process and follow that up with professionally-facilitated effort to bring structure to a plan to answer the needs of our youth. That process was the Youth Master Plan workshops, of which I was an integral part. After nearly a year of workshops and community input from the many stakeholders, the Plan was completed. The YMP will be a road map for the future in guiding the city’s efforts and partnerships to affect programs that aid our youth in their development. We, also, have recently taken the important step of hiring a Human Services Manager to implement the programs identified in the the YMP. We have a diverse youth population and it is our intent to help create job opportunities, provide them with recreation and culture (i.e. more intramural-type sports programs, a new teen venue), and bring education and job-training opportunities tha support their personal development.

Bill: There is a lot of discussion about Old Town and the City Hall. What are the plans for old town, the City Hall and parking?

Chuck: The City Council has fostered a vision for Old Town that pre-dates my tenure, but one that I support whole-heartedly. 10 years ago Old Town was significantly void of any foot traffic, visitors or shoppers. The city undertook and effort to utilize its leverage through the ReDevelopment Agency (RDA) which allows cities to keep the extra property tax (property tax increment) collected when property values increase as a result of infusing RDA dollars into the RDA area. The first significant project was the renovation of Old Town Front Street. This project improved the look and function of Front Street and drew more people to Old Town. Later, during my tenure, we have opened a Children’s Museum and an Old Town Community Theater. These venues have been wildly successful and award-winning. Again drawing more visitors to Old Town. Additionally, these projects have been a catalyst for private investment and development in Old Town and we continue towards the Council’s vision of creating a true “downtown” for Temecula and a heart of the community. The Civic Center project is a furtherance of that vision. This is a two-phase project which consists of renovating Mercedes St (undergrounding utilities and soft curbs), community square with water feature and a ground lease for 30,000 sq ft of retail space and a 480-space parking structure in the first phase. The second phase will be the City Hall complex. What I find most interesting is the financing of these projects. RDA bonds will be taken out for the first phase and revenue from the property tax increment will pay for them. The second phase, the new city hall, will move city staff and services from an industrial building into Old Town where new synergies support a thriving Old Town. Certificates of Participation (COP) will be taken out to pay about half the cost of the new city hall (the rest is paid for already) and will be paid for with revenues from an assessment district on Ynez. The most likely scenario has those COP bonds paid in about five years. All this is being done without taxing our citizens one penny. While at the same time incentivizing private development in Old Town and creating a place where our citizens will want to gather. So, you can see this is no “boondoggle” but rather Temecula carrying out a long range plan and vision that we believe the citizens of Temecula want and deserve.

Bill: I know a ton of people are concerned about the proposed quarry, what is going on with that?

Chuck: The city is working diligently to complete an Environmental Impact Report (EIR) and process an application to the Local Agency Formation Commission (LAFCO) to annex property to the west of the existing city limits. This property was included in the city’s General Plan in the early 90’s as an area that Temecula would want to preserve as open space for trails for our citizens. More recently, an application has been submitted to the county to put a quarry on the site. If the city is granted its request for annexation, the quarry would be a prohibited use.

Bill: What is the deal with ‘Art in Public Places’, how is it funded and where can it be used?

Chuck: The city instituted a program some years back that allowed us to collect a small fee from the development community among the many fees that we collect from developers that would be strictly dedicated to creating art in public places. We are currently conducting as assessment of the existing art and potential new sites for future art. An example of a project that was paid for by these restricted funds is the iron work on the Overland Bridge/I-15 Overpass.

Bill: How does the city work with the wine country area to preserve the rural feel?

Chuck: Anyone who would question the city’s or City Council’s commitment to Wine Country does not know the history of this relationship. Even though the wine country is not within the city limits nor in its Sphere of Influence, the city stepped forward when Pierce’s Disease was discovered to be a grave threat to the region by contributing $75,000 to fight the threat. As an agency, the city has always fought high-density development in wine country. And personally, I have committed myself both as a past mayor and as a council member to protecting wine country through protection and preservation of development standards as well as promotion of the region…so much so that my candidacy for re-election has been endorsed by the Temecula Valley Wine Growers Association - an organization representing the vast majority of wine growers in the region.

Bill: What is happening with the Hospital?

Chuck: As Mayor Pro Tem, I presided over one the most important City Council meetings in our history - Jan 06, when the building of a new hospital in Temecula was first approved. The developers of the new hospital, Southwest Healthcare Systems continues to process their application through the State dept which oversees the approval of new hospitals and they assure us that we can expect to see a groundbreaking by the end of the year. The city and City Council has done everything it can.

Bill: What was your role in the almost complete Promenade Mall expansion?

Chuck: As you may or may not be aware, much of the behind the scenes work of Council Members and city staff happens with Council sub-committees of two Council Members. By law, that is the most Council Members who can meet outside of a Public Meeting to discuss city business. I have served on key Council sub-committees where the frame work of proposals and projects are shaped before being brought to the City Council and a Public Meeting to face the scrutiny of the City Council and the community. One such sub-committee that I served on was for the expansion of our regional mall. I am proud of the effort the city put forth to insure that even in this down market, we were able to craft a deal to allow Forest City expand our mall into a “Lifestyle Center” similar to Victoria Gardens or The Grove. This was a much needed update and renovation and I believe our citizens will be extremely happy with our new mall.

Bill: OK, this one is for the kids, what is the status of the proposed Waterpark?

Chuck: While I’m not at liberty to divulge the details regarding the waterpark, I can assure our citizens that it will get built and it will provide several hundred part-time jobs for our youth as well as a wholesome family activity for our residents.

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October 5, 2008 by Bill Gould, Publisher.

We are proud to announce the next appearance of the Robert Holts Orchestra.

Our concert entitled “The Golden Era of Big Band” will commence November,16th at 7:00 pm at the Old Town Temecula Community Theater in Temecula.

This performance includes such great tunes as “Hey Big Spender” sung by Rosalie Porter, Mack the Knife sung by Bret Kelly and On the Sunny Side of The Street” sung by The Mellowtones.

If you were able to enjoy our last performance in June, you will not want to miss this one!

Tickets are on sale at the box office and online at http://www.TemeculaTheater.org.

Guy M. Schmidt
Manager
Robert Holts Orchestra
cell: (951) 265-3312
Guy@holtsbigband.com

Posted in Temecula, Family Attractions, Music, News | Print | No Comments »