CIVIC MENTOR Bulletin Board -- Experimental

Friday, January 9, 2015

Public Notice for City Council Hearing on 1/20/15/TUE

Posted: 9 Jan 15

The following Public Hearing Notice was received as indicated, below.

Interested Parties:

Attached for your information is a Public Hearing Notice for the next upcoming City Council Meeting on January 20, 2015.

Thank you.

Kathy Comtois

City of Pittsburg

65 Civic Avenue

kcomtois@ci.pittsburg.ca.us

Phone: 925-252-4922

PHN San Marco Arco Appeal 1.20.15

All Original Content © 2015, The MENTOR Enterprises / ELMS, All Rights Reserved. BUT, I hereby waive those rights, to this extent: You may freely copy and pass this along -- and are urged to do so -- as long as it's all done free of charge, unchanged, you include this statement, AND you inform me as to how it is being used -- at YOUR convenience but, hopefully soonest.

City of Pittsburg: FLORA -- APPROVED PLANT-LIST

Posted: 9 Jan 14

"The 'approved plant list' is a guide for residents, and particularly developers, in Pittsburg to choose trees that are not problematic and that thrive in our community."

-- Don Buchanan, Director, Parks and Maintenance

Many thanks to Mr. Buchanan for his wonderful cooperation in getting this very interesting material to us.

Wanting to get to know as much as I can about my hometown, I was beginning to wonder about the flora and fauna -- which is being maintained so expertly and sensibly.

What is there that is worth knowing and noticing about these objects which adorn our surroundings?

With the Wikipedia blessing mere mouse-clicks away, it will be easy to systematically explore each and every plant. (Nice hobby, too, I would imagine)

As I proceed along the path of discovery, workload permitting, I will hyperlink each of the following plants -- to the appropriate Wikipedia article -- as I review each one. This will have to be a gradual process. But, I may as well take you with me as I explore (smile).

If someone were willing to do this hyper-linking for us,

I would be grateful for the help and would publish your work, gladly.

David Nelson

Thursday, January 8, 2015

City of Pittsburg: Planning Commission Meeting

Planning Commission Meeting

Date: 1/13/2015 7:00 PM

Location: Third Floor, Council Chambers
65 Civic Ave
PITTSBURG, California 94565

Click here for meeting agenda

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Monday, January 5, 2015

RAILROAD Book Depot: January 2015 Newsletter

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: RAILROAD BOOK DEPOT <jglover@pittsburgfoundation.org>
Date: Mon, Jan 5, 2015 at 7:20 AM
Subject: January 2015 Newsletter

RAILROAD BOOK DEPOT

Railroad Book Depot
650 Railroad Ave.
Pittsburg, CA 94565

Update your Email Preferences or Unsubscribe

Sunday, January 4, 2015

Pittsburg / Community Advisory Commission Meeting (1/7/WED/7:00pm)

Posted: 4 Jan 14

Community Advisory Commission (CAC)

Monthly meeting

1/7/Wednesday/2015 ~~ 7:00 PM - 8:30 PM

City Council Chambers, Third Floor City Hall

65 Civic Avenue

Pittsburg, California

THIS IS FOR THE NEIGHBORHOODS & RESIDENTS

The information and discussions are of great import to daily life here.

Please make every effort to attend this important feature of democratic life

Here is what the CAC is about, in their official words. As you can see, the CAC is an efficient link between the residents and their City Council.

Here is an extract from the meeting agenda.

Presentations
Tree Preservation Ordinance and Miscellaneous Zoning Amendments – Kristin Pollot, Senior Planner
Pittsburg Police Department Update & Program Overview – Police Chief Brian Addington
City Parks and Recreation Update – Don Buchanan, City of Pittsburg Director of Recreation and Maintenance Services

As you can also see, these matters affect our security and quality of life and should be taken seriously. It will be time well-spent.

Hear what City leaders and your fellow residents have to say -- and speak up if you have something you'd like to say. Bring the children to aid their civic maturation. It's good for the future.

Respectfully yours,

David Nelson

Need to give a legal deposition? Want 15 Excellent Tips?

Posted: 4 Jan 15

A Chance Discovery!

Passing it Along...

Purpose

This morning, I chanced upon this excellent video, prepared by "Orange County Personal Injury Lawyers." It is so straight-forward and sensible, I thought you might wish to have this information on this blog, so you can find it when you need it.

15 Deposition Tips

Just under 3 minutes long.

David Nelson

Saturday, January 3, 2015

How to Stop Robo-Calls: TELEPHONE ABUSE

Posted: 3 Jan 15

1. Purposes

To help you preserve your serenity, at home, off duty, from un-welcomed intrusions across your land-lines and mobile phones.

To give you a link to a recent, wonderfully helpful KPIX, Channel 5, News story for dealing with those oft-annoying robo-calls and telemarketers -- filled with practical advice.

===> Here's the link <===

To give you some other relevant information, in case you need to probe deeper.

Hint: It occurs to me that we should be sure to keep pen and paper near the phone so we can readily capture the information we need to carry out the corrective procedures below.

2. ABOUT ROBOCALLS

Definition

A Robocall is an automated telephone call that delivers a recorded message, typically on behalf of a political party or telemarketing company.

According to Wikipedia:

"A robocall is a phone call that uses a computerized autodialer to deliver a pre-recorded message, as if from a robot. Robocalls are often associated with political and telemarketing phone campaigns, but can also be used for public-service or emergency announcements. Some robocalls use personalized audio messages to simulate an actual personal phone call." (More...)

Wikipedia goes on to say:

"The federal Telephone Consumer Protection Act of 1991 (TCPA) regulates automated calls.[12] All robocalls, irrespective of whether they are political in nature, must do two things to be considered legal. Federal law requires all telephone calls using pre-recorded messages to identify who is initiating the calls and include a telephone number or address whereby the initiator can be reached.[13]"

California

"California prohibits any robocall unless there is an existing relationship.[18] The California Public Utilities Code §§ 2871 et seq. holds political campaigns to the same rules as other organizations making calls with an automatic dialing–announcing device.[18] The guidelines are:

A person must come on the line before the recording to identify the nature of the call and the organization behind it.
The recipient of the call must consent to the recording being played.
The call must be disconnected from the telephone line as soon as the message is over or the recipient hangs up, whichever comes first."

Reverse robocalling

In December 2011 reporting described "robocall revenge" where voters can turn the table and send robocalls to politicians and others using online website tools.

FCC Guidelines

What are the rules for robocalls?

(Click to go to the FCC website)

"FCC rules require a business to obtain your written consent – on paper or through electronic means, including website forms, a telephone keypress – or a recording of your oral consent before it may make a prerecorded telemarketing call to your residential phone number or make an autodialed or prerecorded telemarketing call or text to your wireless number."

Pertinent Videos

What the Social Network is saying:

Facebook page, "Reverse Robocall"
Facebook page, "United States National Do Not Call Registry"
Facebook page, "RoboCall2011"

Facebook buddy, Jeff Biles said: "I use Privacystar. It really works!" [Thanks, Jeff!]

David Nelson