Pomona Mayor’s Truck Set Ablaze

In the midst of an often-contentious reelection campaign, Pomona Mayor Donna Smith awoke early Tuesday to find her truck burning in her driveway.

“I heard a ‘whoosh’ and the front of the house lit up,” said Smith, 34, who looked out to see her 1986 Chevy Blazer engulfed in flames. She and her husband put out the fire with a garden hose.

Arson investigators have not determined the cause of the fire, Pomona Fire Department Inspector Ron Gomez said.

Former Mayor G. Stanton Selby, Smith’s opponent in next Tuesday’s run-off election, expressed disgust with the incident. “It’s terrible,” Selby said. “I hope it doesn’t have anything to do with the election, for God’s sake.”

Since her election as mayor two years ago, Smith has often been the target of criticism by some community activists who complain that she too strictly enforces a five-minute limit on public comments at council meetings. Smith said she has received several “strange” phone calls during the campaign, but no explicit threats.