World War II Veteran; Beloved La Mirada Community Figure Dies at 97
OBITUARY
Founder of Oxman’s Surplus Created One of the Largest Military Surplus Stores in the Nation
La Mirada~Jerome Oxman, World War II Veteran and founder of Oxman’s Surplus passed away February 22 at his home in Buena Park after a battle with prostate cancer and a recent stoke. He was 97.
Mr. Oxman was laid to rest February 26th at Pacific View Memorial Park in Corona del Mar during a private ceremony.
During WWII he served in the United States Army-in Iran-as part of the Persian Gulf Command.
After the war, he wed Miriam Averbook of Superior, Wisconsin on June 14, 1947 and they were married over 65 years.
That year they visited California on their honeymoon and never returned, with Jerome first getting a job at Palley’s Surplus in Vernon, California.
Mr.”O,” as he is commonly known by family and friends, founded Oxman’s in 1961 after he convinced the former owner of the “Big A” property to let him use the old auto service garages on the property, located at Rosecrans and Valley View Avenues, to operate a mail-order business that would ship military “surplus.”
He bid strategically at government surplus auctions and the military and aircraft that he sold and shipped got so much attention that Mr. “O” had to open the doors to the public, and Oxman’s Surplus was born.
Today, Oxman’s, now encompasses the garages and the adjacent 7,500 square foot building and has long been considered one of the most extensive surplus stores in the nation.
In 2010, after 49 years, Oxman’s changed their main entrance from the back of the store to the front, and also opened up a 2,000 square foot museum displaying hundreds of pieces of military memorabilia from Mr. “O’s” collection. The museum is free of charge and also includes a brand new Mess Tent Café, where patrons can
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| Jerome and Miriam Oxman appeared at the 3rd Annual La Mirada Blog Fest this past August |
snack and watch some military TV.
Oxman was very active in the La Mirada community over the years. He is past president of the La Mirada Chamber of Commerce, board member of the La Mirada Meals-on-Wheels, and a La Mirada Little League sponsor for over fifty years.
There will be a Memorial Service and a celebration of Mr. “O’s” life on Sunday March 24th, 2013 at the store located at 14128 Rosecrans Avenue, beginning at 2:00 p.m. Please RSVP by March 22nd if you would like to attend this public event.
Oxman is survived by his wife, Miriam, sons Brian, Murray, and Jason; and sister Renee Oxman and four grandchildren.
Final Unofficial La Mirada City Council Results
FINAL UNOFFICIAL RESULTS FROM CITY HALL FOR 2013 CITY COUNCIL RACE:
Pauline Deal 1,903
Andrew Sarega 1,451
Steve Keithly 1,440
Gabe Garcia 980
Randy Gary 795
BREAKING: Ballot Counting Process at City Hall Ongoing
NEW UPDATED NUMBERS:
Deal 1,710, Keithly 1,316, Saregs 1,304, Garcia, 867, Gray, 735
Remaining ballots not yet counted, absentees dropped at polling places and provisionals, now being counted.
BREAKING: Ballot Counting Process at City Hall Ongoing
La Mirada~A recount of the ballots for La Mirada City Council has been taking place since 2 p.m. at La Mirada City Hall.
All vote-by-mail ballots have been counted with Pauline Deal gaining 16, Steve Keithly 15, Andrew Sarega 13, Randy Gray 11, and Gabe Garcia 8.
The current count stands at Deal 1,444, Keithly 1,125, Sarega, 1,078, Garcia, 767, and Gray 659.
Counting of additional 391 ballots not yet counted, including 63 provisional now taking place.
We will try to provide you with updates as we get them.
All Ballots to be Recounted in La Mirada City Council Race
La Mirada~In a race too close to call, all ballots will be recounted in the La Mirada City Council race along with 326 additional ballots not yet counted.
There are five candidates running for two open seats.
When vote counting ended last night late, Pauline Deal led all candidates with 1,693 votes. For second place however, Steve Keithly leads Andrew Sarega by only nine votes, 1,300 to 1,291. There are still 326 provisional ballots to be counted today, so the race for second had to wait.
However, it was announced this morning, ALL ballots will be recounted today, before the provisional, due to mechanical issues experienced last night.
The recount will take place today at 2 p.m. at City Hall.
The ballot-counting was plagued with problems last night, forcing the city to use a back-up machine, delaying the process.
Deputy City Manager Anne Haraksin told us this morning that the firm they use, Martin & Chapman advised them to recount, “They told us that due to the race being so close it would be a good idea to run all ballots through a machine again.”
She said ballot operators provided by the company experienced problems throughout the evening.
Martin & Chapman is an election and consultation service company based in Anaheim. According to their website, they “are the primary election consultant and supplier for the 65+ cities who conduct their own elections in Los Angeles County.”
Today, the firm will bring two different machines to count the ballots.
Haraksin reiterated, “No candidates contacted us to demand a recount, we are strictly going by the advice given to us by Martin & Chapman.”
After a second machine was brought in last night, and some issues still persisted, Haraksin said, “We think it might be some sort of power problem.” She said that issue will be resolved today as well before the recount.
In a different twist, the provisional ballots have not been counted at all yet, and will probably decide the race for second.
Those uncounted vote-by-mail (VBM) ballots will be tallied around 4 p.m. today, shortly after the recount.
173 of those are ballots received at city hall Monday after the city inspected the initial VBM ballots and sealed the box at a decided time, a normal process, said Haraksin. After the boxes were sealed, the city received additional ballots by residents at City Hall, as well as additional VBM ballots picked up from the P.O. Box at the Post Office, again, a normal process.
The remaining 153 VBM ballots are from residents who applied to vote-by-mail, who then decided to drop off their ballots at different polling locations throughout town.
Haraksin said the 173 additional VBM ballots received after the box-sealing is the most ever for the city, probably attributed to the fact that more La Mirada residents chose to vote by mail this time around.
She said 2,000 more people voted this way than the last election two years ago.
As of know, Mayor Gabe Garcia has captured 855 votes with Randy Gray grabbing 725.
UPDATE: Ballots not yet counted is now up to 391 with the addition of 63 additional true provisional ballots. City offiicials have been unable to get a machine to work properly at City Hall. The latest is all ballots from last night are to be counted by hand, and then the 391 additional VBM and provisional ballots will be counted immediately following.
La Mirada Community, Candidates Forced to Wait on Second Winner for City Council
La Mirada~Wow, talk about suspense.
Two candidates will have to wait until tomorrow to see who captures the final seat for the La Mirada City Council.
There are 323 provisional ballots that still need to be counted. The will be counted tomorrow at City Hall around 3 p.m.
153 of them are vote-by-mail ballots that were dropped off at precincts instead of being mailed-they are still valid. The remaining are also still valid but were not originally counted because of technicalities, but again, are still legitimate.
Pauline Deal has easily captured first place with 1,693 votes so far.
The second and final spot is too close to call and is up for grabs with Steve Keithly receiving 1,300 votes to Andrew Sarega’s 1,291. Keithly, trailing Sarega most of the night, by less than 100 votes surged in the last few precincts announced to overcome Sarega.
A broken ballot-counting machine delayed the vote.
More coming.
| La Mirada City Council Race 2013-Unofficial Results | votes |
% |
| Pauline Deal (Appt Inc) |
1693 |
29 |
| Steve Keithly | 1300 |
22 |
| Andrew Sarega |
1291 |
22 |
| Gabe Garcia (Inc) |
855 |
15 |
| Randy Gray | 725 |
12 |
La Mirada Community, Candidates Forced to Wait on Winners for City Council
| La Mirada City Council Race 2013-Unofficial Results | votes | % |
| Pauline Deal | 1693 | 29 |
| Steve Keithly | 1300 | 22 |
| Andrew Sarega | 1291 | 22 |
| Gabe Garcia | 855 | 15 |
| Randy Gray | 725 | 12 |
Residential Burglaries Spike in January
Prevent Burglaries-The City of La Mirada saw an unusual spike in residential burglaries in the month of January. Hard economic times are upon us and with that come a chance that crimes of opportunity will rise due to people being out of work and desperate to make money. La Mirada's Public Safety Team relies on you to help them prevent these types of crimes from occurring in your neighborhood.
Residential Burglary-A residential burglary was reported on the 15100 block of Alondra Blvd. Various jewelry was stolen from the residence. A burglary also occurred on the 15900 block of Dalmatian Ave. Electronics and cash were taken from the home.
Vehicle Burglary-A vehicle burglary was reported on the 15000 block of Rosalita Dr. Various electronics were stolen from the vehicle.
Grand Theft Vehicle-Two vehicle thefts were reported last week. A Chevrolet Cruze was stolen on the 15800 block of Imperial Hwy. A late model Honda Civic was also stolen on the 14000 block of Avenida Espana. The vehicle was subsequently recovered by deputies on the 12800 block of Oakwood Ln. An attempted vehicle theft was reported on the 14700 block of Crosswood Rd. Mail was stolen from the vehicle.
La Mirada Blog Endorses Garcia, Keithly for City Council
There are two spots open with five candidates running in this year’s city council election. Of the five, we believe there are three that are viable.
Two of them are not ready for prime-time, Randy Gray and Andrew Sarega.
Gray, a very nice guy, does not have enough exposure, involvement in the community, or City Hall insight. It is not like he hasn’t done anything however-he is past president of the La Mirada NJB (National Junior Basketball) and has done many other wonderful things for the community.
Sarega also has very little involvement in town, is ill-informed and much too negative. We see Sarega’s Dad around town more than we see Sarega, spieling a bunch of rhetoric, and basically sticking his nose where it doesn’t belong, irritating people, and making a mockery of the process without offering any real ideas or solutions for current issues.
That leaves Steve Keithly, Pauline Deal, and current Mayor Gabe Garcia.
Keithly is refreshing for La Mirada politics. With a strong business background and currently sitting on the city planning commission, it is indeed stimulating to hear someone from within the “organization” indicating we might want to consider doing a couple of things differently. We believe him.
By far, the number one issue or concern La Mirada residents have is the condition of our shopping centers.
Keithly speaks of finally addressing the needs of our dilapidated centers using whatever methods it takes-once and for all-instead of falling back on the same old excuses past council members have been using for decades. We believe him.
So that leaves Garcia and Deal for the last spot.
Last month, Garcia was involved in a single-car incident on Tacuba Drive, which resulted in some mangled parked cars and a DUI arrest.
There is a fine line whether you believe he should have resigned immediately or not.
Given time to think about it, we believe everyone makes mistakes and in La Mirada, Garcia deserves a second chance. We all should live in glass houses.
The current inexperienced and unmotivated city council needs his leadership and especially his experience in local government.
Deal, is a wonderful person, is more than capable and has served the community well, but she might be in the right race at the wrong time. Her appointment to council in 2011 for the departed Susan Tripp, may be hurting her, giving the perception she has not earned the position.
We believe La Mirada residents are looking for something a little bit different in the characteristics of their council members-being a little less submissive and a little more assertive.
We recommend you vote for Steve Keithly and Gabe Garcia for La Mirada City Council
La Mirada Blog Endorses Garcia, Keithly
There is two seats open with five people running in the La Mirada City Council election.
The La Mirada Blog is endorsing Mayor Gabe Garcia and Steve Keithly.
There are three candidates we deem worthy and they are Garcia, Keithly, and Pauline D
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