Photo: file picture of the White House

A few minutes ago, I got an e-mail from President Barack Obama about the Nobel Peace Prize. I’m on an e-mail list handled by the Democratic National Committee. Here is the president’s e-mail, which is similar in tone and text to his comments earlier at the White House.

This morning, Michelle and I awoke to some surprising and humbling news. At 6 a.m., we received word that I’d been awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for 2009.

To be honest, I do not feel that I deserve to be in the company of so many of the transformative figures who’ve been honored by this prize — men and women who’ve inspired me and inspired the entire world through their courageous pursuit of peace.

But I also know that throughout history the Nobel Peace Prize has not just been used to honor specific achievement; it’s also been used as a means to give momentum to a set of causes.

That is why I’ve said that I will accept this award as a call to action, a call for all nations and all peoples to confront the common challenges of the 21st century. These challenges won’t all be met during my presidency, or even my lifetime. But I know these challenges can be met so long as it’s recognized that they will not be met by one person or one nation alone.

This award — and the call to action that comes with it — does not belong simply to me or my administration; it belongs to all people around the world who have fought for justice and for peace. And most of all, it belongs to you, the men and women of America, who have dared to hope and have worked so hard to make our world a little better.

So today we humbly recommit to the important work that we’ve begun together. I’m grateful that you’ve stood with me thus far, and I’m honored to continue our vital work in the years to come.

Thank you,

President Barack Obama

Photo: FLLewis/A Writer’s Groove

A human rights issue in China stirred up the Burbank City Council meeting last night. I was there for the first public comments section and heard some passionate supporters of the Chinese health and spiritual movement Falun Gong speak out. They attempted to bear witness to the persecution of the practice by China, which considers Falun Gong a cult.

During a 10 year crackdown, thousands of Falun Gong devotees reportedly have been killed, tortured or thrown into jails or labor camps. One of the speakers, Yi-Yuan Chang, claims Falun Gong is practiced in more than 100 countries, including the U.S. — and specifically in Van Nuys.

What the speakers hoped to do was drum up support for the Falun Gong victims in China and backing for the U.S. House of Representatives House Resolution 605 which recognizes the persecution and calls for an end to the campaign. Instead, they were reminded by Mayor Gary Bric several times that the focus of public comments should be Burbank City business. While they got a sympathetic response from Vice-Mayor Anja Reinke, Councilman Dave Golonski insisted their cause was outside the parameters of Burbank city business.

Meanwhile, the city council reacted more positively to a group of South Victory Boulevard merchants. The council members offered words of encouragement to the merchants who returned for a second week to complain about the loss of curbside parking and the damaging effect that is having on their businesses. Again, Burbank Traffic Engineer Ken Johnson agreed to meet with the business owners to try to come up with a solution.

 What most of the merchants want is for the South Victory and West Alameda Avenue intersection to be changed back to the way it was, something city officials seems reluctant to do at this point. Apparently the traffic changes, including a second turn lane, were the result of a 1997 agreement, which was not revisited before being implemented.

Also, activist Mike Nolan appeared before the city council again and requested new information on the police department:”How many police personnel are on administrative leave?” Nolan wanted to know how much money the city is shelling out for those leaves. Later, Senior Assistant City Attorney Terry Stevenson would say only statistics could be released to Nolan. That means no names of officers.

Oh, there’s another development in that controversial case of those so-called leaked personnel files and documents of former Burbank Police Detective Chris Dunn. Yesterday Dunn’s attorney announced in a press release the filing of a lawsuit against the city. Jim Carlile broke the story on his blog.

The lawyer’s press release says Dunn has “…  filed a detailed complaint today against the City of Burbank seeking damages and injunctive relief after the city deliberately and illegally provided his confidential personnel file to a local newspaper. ”

“The complaint discloses that the City provided Christopher Cadelago of the Burbank Leader newspaper and other members of the media and the general public confidential documents from Dunn’s official personnel file in direct violation of specific provisions of California’s constitutional privacy protections, several state laws and numerous judicial orders.”  Check out more of the press release on Carlile’s blog.

 Also, over on The Burbank Leader’s new blog, Following the Leader, Burbank City Attorney Dennis Barlow answers some questions about the confidentiality of police officers’ personnel files. Interesting reading, but I don’t think Barlow’s answers really explain the actions of the City Attorney’s Office in regards to the Dunn lawsuit.  

Photo: Pete Souza/White House

President Barack Obama spent part of Earth Day in Newton, Iowa touring a wind tower production facility. In his Earth Day speech, the president described a major challenge facing our nation: “Now, the choice we face is not between saving our environment and saving our economy.  The choice we face is between prosperity and decline.  We can remain the world’s leading importer of oil, or we can become the world’s leading exporter of clean energy.  We can allow climate change to wreak unnatural havoc across the landscape, or we can create jobs working to prevent its worst effects.  We can hand over the jobs of the 21st century to our competitors, or we can confront what countries in Europe and Asia have already recognized as both a challenge and an opportunity:  The nation that leads the world in creating new energy sources will be the nation that leads the 21st-century global economy. America can be that nation.  America must be that nation.”

More on the president’s Earth Day speech and visit to Iowa yesterday at The White House Blog.

Photo: FLLewis/A Writers Groove

I dropped by Burbank City Hall last night to see the returns come in for the General Municipal Election. The only names on the ballot were the six candidates running for three seats on the powerful Burbank City Council. Around 10 p.m. when the numbers were in for all of the city’s 42 precincts and the winners elected, I felt like I’d just watched a nail-biting horse race at Santa Anita racetrack. I guess it was only fitting that a hard fought campaign would end in a neck-and-neck race for at least two of the council seats.

Incumbent and Mayor Dave Golonski shot out of the gate as the front runner and remained so to the finish line. The real horse race occurred for second and third among Incumbent David Gordon, long-time community activist Jess Talamantes, and young upstart Kimberly Jo.

As many campaign observers had expected, Jo waged a tough battle and even led councilman Gordon until the last few precinct ballots were counted. In the end experience won out; Incumbents Golonski and Gordon will be joined on the council by Talamantes, a retired Burbank firefighter. Still, one must applaud Jo for spearheading a campaign based on fresh ideas and a new kind of energy, which fired up many voters.

Here’s the final count:

Elise Stearns-Niesen —— 3838

Garen Yegparian———- 3126

David Gordon———— 5235            ELECTED

Kimberly Jo————– 5031

Jess Talamantes———- 5353         ELECTED

Dave Golonski————5698           ELECTED

 Ballots:  11, 852                           42 out of 42 precincts

Dr. Gordon watched the returns come in at city hall. He admitted it had been a stressful night and was clearly relieved when it was over: ”I look forward to doing an even better job in my second term.”  Also, Gordon says he wants to continue to “… keep my position of putting the people first.”

Mayor Golonski stopped by city hall once victory was imminent and he savored it: “I’m excited … I feel good, we worked hard…” Golonski admits the recession and the struggling economy mean 2009 is shaping up to be a rough year, but he believes there will be “…opportunities with those challenges.”

It’s a done deal. Less than a month into his new administration, President Barack Obama signed that massive and much fought-over $787 billion economic stimulus bill in Denver, Colorado today. President Obama reportedly used as many as 10 different pens to sign the measure.

Earlier, the media event was on the verge of becoming bogged down in speeches, when President Obama finally stepped to the mike. Perhaps, the White House should have stuck with a reported original plan of having the president sign the bill yesterday, Presidents Day; and then go on the road today and the rest of the week promoting it in various cities across the nation.

President Obama says the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act is the most sweeping piece of legislation of its kind in our history: “What makes this recovery plan so important is not just that it will create or save 3½ million jobs over the next two years, including nearly 60,000 in Colorado. It’s that we are putting Americans to work doing the work that America needs done in critical areas that have been neglected for too long, work that will bring real and lasting change for generations to come.”

Again, the president spoke about the accountability of the bill: “With a recovery package of this scale comes a responsibility to assure every taxpayer that we are being careful with the money they work so hard to earn. That’s why I am assigning a team of managers to ensure that the precious dollars we have invested are being spent wisely and well. We will hold the governors and local officials who receive money to the same high standards. And we expect you, the American people, to hold us accountable for the results. That is why we have created Recovery.gov, so every American can go online and see how their money is being spent.”

That website is up and running today.