LA VERNE >> A nearly two-hour power outage knocked out power in La Verne along part of the Foothill Boulevard business corridor and left the City Council in the dark Monday night.
Ben Wong, Southern California Edison’s regional manager for local public affairs, had coincidentally arrived at City Hall for the council meeting when the power outage hit the civic complex at 6:15 p.m. The power also failed at McDonald’s Restaurant and Kohl’s Department Store. The two businesses in the center at the northwest corner of Foothill and Fruit Street had no power for more than an hour.
Wong immediately went into troubleshooting mode and called Edison contacts. He then reported the outage was affecting about 1,380 customers in the general area bordered by “D” Street on the west, White Avenue/Fruit Street on the east, Bonita Avenue on the south and just above Foothill on the north.
“There was a lockout, or circuit interruption, at the Edison substation at Fairplex in Pomona,” Wong told council members, City Manager Bob Russi and council watchers. “Edison is sending crews out to isolate the problem now.”
Despite the power outage, Mayor Don Kendrick and Councilmembers Donna Redman, Robin Carder, Charlie Rosales and Tim Hepburn agreed the meeting shouldn’t be cancelled. Normally casting their votes electronically, with results instantly posted on a viewing board, council members were asked to simply raise their right hands to vote. Out of habit, several still hit the electronic buzzer, but quickly corrected and voted by hand only.
Officials on the dias and speakers merely talked louder because microphones had no power. The lights came back on in the Council Chambers, La Verne Community Center and the La Verne library at 7:05 p.m. Power returned elsewhere between 7:15 and 7:30 p.m. Wong said the outage alert was removed by 7:48 p.m., but no cause has yet been found for the failure.
Rosanna Rabuy, McDonald’s Restaurant manager, said some customers got their food for free when cash registers locked from lack of power. She also had to throw away food to avoid spoilage. Even after power was restored, there were still minor problems with the automatic doors to the restaurant opening. Customers merely manually opened them, grabbing from the edges of the door.
Kohl’s sales associates Talia Fernandez and Christina Brockman said the department store was affected for about 90 minutes.
“We could do no sales transactions when the power failed, but we were also concerned about customers who were making account payments that were due today,” Fernandez said.
Brockman said it took about 20 to 30 minutes for computerized cash registers to re-boot after the power returned. Customers making payments were advised to either return before closing Monday night or to contact billing to report why account payments were one-day late at the La Verne store, Brockman and Fernandez said.
