You can read my take on the new Lafayette library here. But if you want City Manager Steven Falk’s take, look no further than the sole item in his Friday summary, where he not-so-succinctlydeftly sums up the long process to get the library built:

After twenty years of fundraising, fifteen years of planning, and the study of thirteen different properties; after choosing the most central site in Lafayette, with half of the people living north and half south, half east and half west, with two schools just blocks away; after designing and constructing with the great Art Miller and Terry Murphy the most beautiful stone, wood, and glass Veterans Memorial Building in California; after more than 700 people dropped by on a rainy day to check out the architecture competition and vote for their favorite library design; after Roger Falcone and Bob Fisher dreamed up the Glenn Seaborg Learning Consortium and then went out and convinced twelve of the Bay Area’s top cultural institutions that this was an idea worth supporting; after Ann Merideth fired two different grant writers and locked herself in her office for several months to write the State grant application; after a hair raising day in Sacramento with presentations by Richard Whitmore, Roger Falcone, Gloria Duffy from the Commonwealth Club, and Elizabeth Stage from the Lawrence Hall of Science, where the Library Bond Board deliberated until late in the afternoon, never once mentioning the Lafayette grant application; after Assemblywoman Lois Wolk finally spoke up and said, “What about Lafayette? Wasn’t that the most innovative application we received?”; after Anne Grodin, on the drive home somewhere around Davis after winning the $11.9M State grant, said on a cell phone to a reporter, “We’re not driving, we’re FLYING home!”; after Wade Killefer and Barbara Flammang presented most elegant granite and teak concept to the Design Review Commission (and finally delivered the construction drawings); after the low bid was awarded to Lafayette’s own Jerry Overaa and Company; after Jerry said to the City Manager, “You couldn’t have designed a more complicated and difficult project to build”; after Gwenn Lennox and Kathy Merchant took over the fundraising and friendraising efforts, marshalling the forces of a thousand volunteers and treating the community to a dozen celebrity studded events; after the Friends of the Lafayette Library made the first major gift of $1M; after the Cronks and the Mulvaneys and the Lesher Foundation, and so many others made lead gifts that led the way toward a $14M fundraising effort; after Tony Coe and his amazing staff and project management crew kept pushing and prodding, checking and rechecking, and fixing problems on the fly; after Mayor Don Tatzin devoted a year of his life to help with the project, work with the tenants, and develop a sustainable financial plan for the building; after Linda Peterson suggested that we hire the Oakland Museum of California to manage the selection and manufacture of public art for the building; after the dimensions had to be recalculated, after the Community Hall floor buckled, after the first granite arrived with pink splotches and the new stuff had to be harvested and shipped from India; after Anne Cain and Susan Weaver and their hardworking librarian crews moved more than 50,000 books into the new building; after Rhonda Andronico and Rene Rogers planned what some people are saying was the best party they have ever been to; after tomorrow morning at 10AM, after Brian Goggin unveils his “Speechless” sculpture, the Lafayette Library and Learning Center will be open.

Since my story today about Veterans Day ceremonies took a decidedly regional approach, there wasn’t much space for items from yesterday’s joint Lafayette/Walnut Creek event at the Veterans Memorial Building in Lafayette.

The hour-long event drew a standing-room-only crowd. There were no official counts, but the building’s Web site says the full hall seats 340 in auditorium mode, and there were easily dozens of people (myself included) standing in the back and along the sides.

Lafayette Mayor Don Tatzin and Walnut Creek Mayor Gary Skrel both gave remarks, and the keynote address was given by retired Marine Corps Col. Allan Cruz. He said Veterans Day is not just a time to remember veterans’ sacrifice, but to honor and earn that sacrifice in our actions.

“While it is important and easy to say it is important, the thing that makes it valid is to live a good life,” he said.

A number of veterans were singled out for special recognition, including a Walnut Creek couple who met during World War II and will celebrate their 65th wedding anniversary soon, and Stephan Zusman, an Acalanes grad who has served two tours of duty in Iraq.

All veterans present were recognized when the Walnut Creek Concert Band played “Armed Forced Salute,” a medley of all five military hymns. Veterans from each branch of the military rose to be acknowledged when their respective hymn was played: Army, Coast Guard, Marines, Air Force and Navy.

When the Navy hymn played, Walt Snow, a Rossmoor resident who was a naval flight instructor during World War II, turned around in his front row seat, raised his hands high and with a big smile on his face, saluted the audience and his fellow sailors.

Walt parked up the hill near me, and I walked to and from the ceremony with him. He told me the event was nice, but he’s had enough war.

“I think its good to have the celebration,” he said. “I wish the wars would stop.”

“We went through a lot of trouble,” he continued. “I lost a lot of my friends in the fleet. Good guys.”

Herman Alvarado, a World War II Navy veteran, has spent the last 25 years volunteering at a VA hospital. He said people sometimes forget the sacrifices veterans made.

“I believe (by) celebrating (we) make the people more concious about what it’s all about,” he said. “Many people ignore all the sacrifices we’ve been through.”

Bob Tharratt served in the Army and Air Force from 1943-1945. He was shot down in Europe and spent 9 months as a POW in Germany. He said it’s important to continue commemorating Veterans Day, especially at a time when the country is involved in two wars.

“The more people understand, the less chance (the enemy will) have. When we have people that are against democracy, against freedom of the press, freedom of people, somebody has to go to the rescue,” he said.

As the Moraga-Orinda Fire District prepares to leave the controversy-laden era of Pete Nowicki, news that a pension reform group has filed a pair of reform initiatives. From political reporter Lisa Vorderbrueggen’s Political Blotter blog:

The California Foundation for Fiscal Responsibility filed language for two ballot initiatives with the Attorney General’s Office this week that would cap public employee retirement benefits, raise the eligible retirement age and eliminate the use of vacation pay and other perks to spike retirement pay.

Nowicki became a sort of poster child for pension reform after it was reported he cashed in unused vacation time and other benefits to raise his annual pension from $185,000 to $241,000, as is allowed under the rules of his retirement plan. MOFD, like other public safety agencies in the county, participates in a retirement system that allows retirees to receive as pension of 3 percent of their final salary for every year they’ve worked.

Nowicki has been the district’s interim chief on contract since he retired at the end of January, but that contract expires Nov. 19. Former Alameda County Deputy Fire Chief Randy Bradley was appointed Wednesday as the district’s new, permanent chief.

Turns out companies are worried about their investments in cities, not just the other way around.

Lafayette City Manager Steven Falk sends out this article from Bloomberg News, which says Allstate has decided their money is not in good hands with state and city governments, at least not as much as they’d like. They’re reducing their investment in municipal bonds, specifically citing the fact that so many government agencies are running deficits.

Orinda is, of course, now looking at their investment policy after they got caught up in the bankruptcy filing of lender CIT Group. They sold their $750,000 in corporate bonds from CIT on Thursday. The council has asked staff to look at adding language discouraging the city from investing too much in one company. At $750,000, CIT was the city’s second-largest investment in one company, behind the $1.25 million in General Electric, according to the most recent investment report.

Hat tip to The East Bay Daze.

Hat tip to City Manager Steven Falk, who sent out this article from the San Francisco Business Times in his daily e-mail blast about Lafayette sign company GNU.

The article is for subscribers only, although Falk did include the entire text of the article in his e-mail, which can be found on the city’s Web site here.

For all you municipal home-rule buffs out there, now’s your chance to take a look at the draft Lafayette city charter. This is the document crafted by the city’s Charter City Committee which will be molded and revised by the City Council and, if they like the finished product, will be sent to the voters for approval next year.

The draft seems to accomplish one goal the council had when they gave direction to the committee a few months ago: Keep it simple. The draft charter is only two pages long and the language generally vague.

There are only two charter cities in Contra Costa County — Richmond and San Ramon — but all Lamorinda cities are taking a look at becoming one. A city’s charter essentially supersedes state law in areas the courts have rule to be “municipal affairs.” One thing they can do, for example, is directly elect their mayor (as in Livermore, where I grew up) or even designate districts for purposes of electing city council members (like in San Francisco or Oakland).

But the main reason why Lamorinda cities, including Lafayette, are looking at becoming charter cities is the ability to increase the property transfer tax, a levy that’s assessed whenever a piece of real property changes hands. General law cities (those that don’t have charters) get just 55 cents per $1,000 of property sold (another 55 cents goes to the state). Charter cities have the option to get more. Piedmont, for example, gets $13 per $1,000, resulting in an average of $2.5 million each year into the general fund.

Lafayette plans to survey residents about both the charter and the property transfer tax.

The Orinda City Council meeting this afternoon, listed as 4 p.m. in an earlier agenda, will actually begin at 5 p.m., the city clerk told me just now.

The council will vote on whether or not to impose a contract on workers represented by Public Employees Union Local One.

For any indie-rock fans out there, it seems the New York-based Vampire Weekend is on tour and will eschew big-name venues in San Francisco, Oakland and Berkeley and instead make it’s lone Bay Area stop at Lafayette’s Town Hall Theatre on Nov. 7.

While the group’s overseas stops include London, Paris and Sydney, their U.S. concerts are all in California, and all in relatively smaller cities like Visalia, Pioneertown and Lomita (although Santa Cruz and Bakersfield are also on the list).

Stuff I just looked up: Vampire Weekend was formed in 2006 and their eponymous debut album was named the 10th best album of 2008 by Rolling Stone magazine. Their music has also been featured in the movies “Stepbrothers” and “Nick and Norah’s Infinite Playlist.” The band’s Web site is www.vampireweekend.com.

Just got this news release from Caltrans:

Oakland — Caltrans will close the two left lanes on eastbound State Route 24 just before the connector to northbound I-680 tomorrow from 10 a.m. to noon to repair a pavement lip that has developed between the lanes and the bridge. The crews will use hot mix asphalt to repair the lane second from the left and then open that lane and continue repairs on the far left lane.

Changeable message signs will be activated in the area to warn motorists. This is the non-peak direction, but motorists are encouraged to allow extra time for travel or use alternate routes if necessary. One such route is eastbound 24 to southbound 680, exit at Main Street and return to northbound 680.