Politics, Pundits, Parking Lot Cowboys and a New Player In Moraga

Interesting week in our neck of the woods - with some unintentional off-road driving, some parking lot gunplay, local politicking and punditry, bangin' bumpers and the arrival of Moraga's new town manager - who impressed us by taking a weekend walk around the farmers market with our Lou Fancher.

Lou's story on Jill Keimach was an eye-opener. Candid and bright, Jill knows Moraga has its work cut out for it and she's ready to put her work gloves on. We were impressed by her comeback when we asked about the public furor - right or wrong - over outgoing manager Mike Segrest's compensation package:

"I took a lower salary, a $40,000 pay cut, partly because I hoped to prove myself first and not be judged by things that matter to me less, like the money," she told Lou. "I want to be judged by what I accomplish."

If you've been reading Lamorinda Patch for any length of time, and the numbers show that more and more of you are, you know that kind of talk impresses us here.  So, good luck to Jill and we look forward to her formal arrival in Moraga on Nov. 1.

While we're in Moraga, we had to get a shot of that hand-lettered informational sign posted by a concerned citizen on Canyon Road recently, as the Dollar Tree issue remains a hot topic around town. Look for that one to land on the Town Council agenda Oct. 13, 7:30 p.m. at Joaquin Moraga Intermediate.

Our Tom Black has been busy, as you can see if you look for his photographs on everything from that car crash on Laurel Drive in Lafayette on Wednesday to Tuesday's Orinda City Council meeting.  Tom was everywhere this week. Look for more of him as we trot out a new photographic feature in the days to come.

And wasn't it interesting that "Quiet Orinda" - a group of Orinda residents hoping to restore some peace and quiet to the neighborhoods and bring about a ban on leaf blowers - managed to get a chance to state their case to the council on Nov. 16. A lot of eyes, we're told, are on them and waiting to see how they do. And while we're on the topic, look for a story on the leaf-blower issue - with mention of the Orinda group's efforts - in the Oct. 18 edition of The New Yorker magazine.

Tense moments in Lafayette when a Lodi man produced a gun during a parking lot argument outside the El Charro restaurant and then took off - with Lafayette police in pursuit. He was detained and the gun confiscated.

And speaking of tense, we can think of no better word to describe communications between the City of Lafayette and residents opposed to the construction of a $240,000 BMX bike park on the south side of the community park near the sports fields. The city is looking for a way to cut down on illegal "jump building" staff says is harmful to the environment and the kids are looking for a place to get some air time. Residents, though, are worried about the environmental impact the park would have, as well as about the crowds of young bikers it would bring.

There's also some public brow-crinkling going on over this year's Moraga-Orinda Fire District director's election, with two of three available director seats going unopposed, despite recent froo-fraw over the directors' decision to grant retiring chief Pete Nowicki's $240,000 a year pension request. In the 13 years MOFD has been in existence, pundits point out, there have been 19 races for directorship seats, with incumbents challenged only three times - retaining their seats two of those three times.

That's it for now. If you have any neighborhood tales you'd like to send us, look for my picture on this site's homepage and send me a note, picture or your video.