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Thursday, FEBRUARY 15 - FEBRUARY 21, 2018
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‘Painful’ Staff Layoffs Looming Within Pasadena Unified School District PUSD board approves fiscal stabilization plan in wake of LACOE concerns
PASADENA_INDEPENDENT
Since 1996
Volume 22, NO. 7
OPINION Columnist | sierramadretattler@gmail.com
The Real Two Party System In Sierra Madre The real Sierra Madre two party system has little to do with Republicans and Democrats. National issues do concern us all, of course. Especially now that we've fallen into the hands of an unhinged nut who functions very much like a second tier mob boss. But none of that national nonsense has much to do with Sierra Madre politics. The real parties within the happy confines of Sierra Madre are the Development Party, and the Preservation
Party. One would like to cash the place in and make some big bank, the other would prefer that things stay just as they've always been. Each has its own candidates, and they usually have very little in common. Both sides accuse each other of incivility and rudeness, of course. Which is pretty much politics at its most tedious. Some people will do anything to avoid SEE TATTLER PAGE 10
COLORADO STREET BRIDGE TASK FORCE MEETING SLATED FEB. 20 The public is invited to the second community meeting of the Colorado Street Bridge Task Force regarding possible enhancements for the Colorado Street Bridge to help deter attempted suicides. The meeting is from 6:30 to 8 p.m., Tuesday, February 20, 2018, at the Maranatha High School Student Center, 169 S. Saint John Ave. The Task Force held its first community meeting Nov. 29, 2017 to gather ideas from the public on viable options for the bridge. At the Feb. 20 meeting, the Task Force will
Gus HERRERA gherrera@beaconmedianews.com
L
ast week, the Pasadena Unified School District (PUSD) Board of Education responded to county threats of potential insolvency by approving a fiscal stabilization plan that will restore the district’s required three percent reserves. The plan, approved by a vote of 5-1 (Board Member Kimberly Kenne in opposition), will look to make
approximately $6.9 million worth of budget reductions for FY2017-18 and approximately $14.2 million for FY201819, according to PUSD staff’s report. The reductions, which will impact all school sites and the district’s central office, will include a combination of staff layoffs, program reductions/eliminations, and budget re-structuring. For the PUSD, these financial difficulties have been SEE LAYOFFS PAGE 11
The fiscal stabilization plan will eliminate over 100 FTEs from the 2018-19 school site budget, including 64 classroom teachers.
BUSINESS SPOTLIGHT Happy Hour Vibes at Home Brewed Bar
- Photo by Terry Miller / Beacon Media News
ARTS AND ENTERTAINMENT
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‘Henry V’ at A Noise Within Stars PasadenaArea Native
present its evaluation of the recommendations made by the public at the first meeting and to receive additional feedback. In June 2017, the City installed 10-foot-high metal mesh fencing around the benched alcoves on both sides of the Colorado Street Bridge as a temporary deterrent measure. The City is now seeking responsibly designed permanent solutions that can be an effective deterrent while also being respectful of the SEE MEETING PAGE 10
Pasadena City Council Mulls Voter Participation Act Governor Brown signed the California Voter Participation Rights Act (CVPRA) into law on September 1, 2015, which is designed to move local elections to statewide election dates to take advantage of high voter participation. The law prohibits conducting local regular elections on any date other than a statewide election date it
if results in a “low voter turnout” election (25% less than the average voter turnout for the last four statewide General November elections within the same political subdivision). The Pasadena City Council has discussed the matter at several meetings SEE COUNCIL PAGE 11
SPORTS
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Pasadena Basketball Begins Playoffs on Friday
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