I went to the last meeting of the Old Guard to make sure that the “Cleghorn Machine” was really dead. It sure smells that way. I didn’t expect to see anyone wearing sackcloth, but I should have known that they’d be lying right up to the last minute.
Teresa Simpson from Adam Schiff’s office made a nice presentation of Certificates of Appreciation to the outgoing and incoming STNC members. Councilmember Fuentes knew better and stayed home. And a good time was had by all.
Outgoing president Mark Seigel captivated the audience with his tales of good-doing that reminded me of some inside joke. Seigel tried to ameliorate the fact that the outgoing board had not the slightest inkling of what the Machine had done. Seigel, with a flurry of his thinning hair and his wild eyes, regaled the audience with stories of how he saved $100 a month on the telephone bill, ow he arranged for the STNC to save thousands of dollars in rent by moving into the bankrupt chamber of commerce’s office space.
AND he topped off his tales with saying “And we get to use the chamber’s copy machine.” He was so excited and waving his arms that it looked like he was ready to fly. Unfortunately, it was all a lie. Ed Rock, who served the STNC for the past 12 years, worked and got the phone bill lowered. Ed Rock worked for months to get a new “super whoop de-do” copier for the NC and Seigel gave it to the chamber. Yes, you read that right. The chamber is using the copier that your tax dollars are renting.
Oh, and it gets better. If you remember the story of the “king’s new clothes” and apply it to outgoing, do-absolutely-nothing treasurer Nina Royal, you’d have one naked woman up there telling everyone how wonderful she is and by the way, “I’m looking for an ad salesman for the North Valley Reporter.” That same newspaper that hasn’t been published for 16 months.
Oh well, the east coast has the Big Apple, the south has the Big Easy, and we are the Big Lie. From the moment the Cleghorn Machine stole the Best of Sunland-Tujunga ballots and everyone rallied around her and Tomi-Lynn Bowling, the neighborhood began to sink into the septic tank. Cindy may not be on the board now, but her tentacles have wrapped themselves around the chamber of commerce. It will be interesting to see if the new board members can revive the NC. And we’ll see that soon enough. The only things that we have left are the 4th of July fireworks and parade. And they are financially in trouble. It will take every one of us to get behind the new board and support the Rotary club. We can always do without the fireworks, but the tradition of the 4th of July Parade is in our blood. And they need your support. If you can remember the fire trucks spraying water into the air and everyone frolicking down Foothill, you can proudly say, “It’s The Water!”