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MONDAY, JANUARY 19, 2015 - JANUARY 25, 2015 - VOLUME 3, NO. 3
150 Residents Attend Pasadena Mayoral Forum Wednesday BY TERRY MILLER On the evening before Mayor Bogaard’s final State of the City address, six candidates competing for his long-held Mayoral seat attended a candidates’ forum at a local church Wednesday evening. About 150 people attended the forum where the Mayoral candidates were asked to forsake “canned stump speeches” in favor of local issues, primarily three issues they feel are crucial for the city’s new mayor to address. The forum/expo was hosted by the Downtown Pasadena Neighborhood Association at the Pasadena Presbyterian Church. Mayoral hopefuls: Allen Shay, Don Morgan,
Terry Tornek, Bill Thomson, Jacque Robinson and Jason Hardin addressed a wide range of issues like reducing local emissions, which all six candidates say they support to the 710 Freeway tunnel, which all six candidates say they strongly oppose. The contentious and controversial issue of land use and economic development in a fast paced, growth oriented Pasadena were the top topics voters wanted answers to from their future mayor. The primary election is March 20. If no candidate receives 50 percent of the vote, the top two candidates will take part in a run-off election April 21. -Courtesy Photo
Sierra Madre Council Overturns Planning Commission Decision BY TERRY MILLER A major victory was celebrated Tuesday when Sierra Madre City Council unanimously voted to overturn a Planning Commission decision on One Carter’s first house. According to Residents for the Preservation of Sierra Madre: “There can no greater display of a City Council and the residents of a community performing their civic duty than what occurred at last night’s City Council Meeting which ended with a
standing ovation from a jam-packed City Council chamber. Sierra Madre’s very own City Council resisted the threats from the developer of One Carter/ Stonegate and their lawyer and courageously voted to over-turn the decision of the Planning Commission and deny approval for the first house at One Carter. It was a stunning victory for the fast-growing preservation movement in Sierra Madre.” Perhaps our friend
over at The Tattler said it best: “This isn’t going to be too long of a post. A lot of people spoke at last evening’s City Council meeting, and it should be obvious to everyone that nobody needs any lessons from me about how to save a town. Last night Sierra Madre knew how to save itself. Somebody should make a movie about how all of this happened. There Please see page 6
-Photo by Terry Miller
Assembly Majority Leader Holden Moves Measure to Repair California’s Deteriorating School Buildings Assemblymember Chris Holden (D-Pasadena) today introduced Assembly Bill 148 to offer an alternative solution to school construction funding in both K12 grades and community colleges. “California schools are in terrible shape and lack the funds to make necessary repairs. Toilets are clogged, roofs leak, and students swelter in hot classrooms. The Governor’s budget
proposal does not provide a sustainable solution for our children. AB 148 will begin discussions about the future of school financing, which may include both bond financing or tax financing, and also streamline the state facilities program, currently a burdensome layer of bureaucracy,” said Assemblymember Holden. “The time to modernize and build our school facilities is now while the
economy is in good shape. Without repairing and updating our schools, we are leaving our children in unsafe classrooms that jeopardize their futures,” added Holden. “I look forward to working with my colleagues in the Legislature to adopt a sustainable school facilities plan that improves learning and teaching conditions in California’s public schools. Let’s get the job done.”
Treasurer Chiang Tackles State’s Affordable Housing Crisis State Treasurer John Chiang today announced that he is leading a sixmonth engagement with housing leaders and key stakeholders regarding California’s growing affordable housing crisis. Currently, more than 34 percent of working renters pay more than 50 percent of their income toward housing, and the State Department of Housing and Community Development estimates that California needs to build 220,000
new homes a year to keep up with population growth. “Without action at the State level, many homeowners who were forced out of their homes during the Great Recession have little chance of becoming homeowners once again,” Chiang said. “Others will be priced out of their hometowns, or forced into housing farther and farther away from their places of employment. “One of the greatest threats to our future pros-
perity is the inadequate supply of homes affordable to low- and moderate-income households,” Chiang added. “We must address the growing imbalance in the housing market and restore Californians’ ability to afford good homes within reasonable distance of jobs and services.” The combination of private meetings and open community forums will seek to obtain a detailed Please see page 4