There’s a new Chief in town

We welcome our newest Chief of Police, Chris Wenzel, to Clayton. Chief Wenzel is most recently a former Commander in the Contra Costa County Sheriff’s Office, and has an exemplary and varied 26 year law enforcement career. In addition to his role as Commander, he previously served as Chief of Police in Danville for more than seven years and he has been a Watch Commander and Facility Commander of the Martinez Detention Facility. He also is a Livermore Valley School Board Trustee and is happy to put off retirement and work with all of us, embracing a tradition of small town values. Welcome Chief! (Look for a profile of Chief Wenzel in the Dec. 11 Clayton Pioneer.)

On the recycling front, I feel like I am beating my head over and over. In September residents recycled at a rate of 46.21 percent while the commercial sector came in at a lowly 9.89 percent, which brings our calendar year 2015 rate down to 46.36 percent. Our rate in 2014 was 49.57 percent so we are going the wrong direction. While it appears we are doing well at our water rationing, perhaps we are losing sight of our other obligations. So remember, your brown can should be bigger than your blue can and be used considerably more.

Incidentally, and despite the fact that El Niño is still just another rumor at this point, we are turning off or decreasing our irrigation systems around the city with the onset of shorter days (less sun) and anticipated rain. Our crews have also continued to winterize our V-ditches, catch basins and sewer inlets. It is probably a good time for all of us to clean out our drains and gutters as well before it too late. The drought restrictions also require all users to cut back substantiality from the summer months allocations so let’s all do our part.

On the government waste front, the Department of Transportation has new retro-reflectivity standards for street signs and so we are replacing perfectly acceptable, but “faded” signs to meet these standards. Over-regulation or street smart, you decide?

A big shout-out to sergeant Tim Marchut and officer Rich Enea, who were honored with an Investigative Merit Award recently for their excellent police work.

And another shout-out to the Clayton Community Library Foundation that recently gave $14,000 to the Contra Costa library system to purchase books and materials for the Clayton library.

On the “sigh” front, we recently received news that our city health plan rates will be going up from 5 percent to 19 percent, increasing our costs and making it even harder to keep a balanced budget. But we have and will continue to work within our means.

In honor of our new chief and our great force, Robert Kennedy once said, “Every society gets the kind of criminal it deserves. What is equally true is that every community gets the kind of law enforcement it insists on.” Sounds like Clayton. Then there’s comedian Dennis Miller: “A recent police study found that you’re much more likely to get shot by a fat cop if you run.” Email me at dshuey@ci.clayton.ca.us.