Mountain Views News          Saturday, April 2, 2011

6

Mountain Views News Saturday, April 2, 2011

From The Desk of Scott Ochoa, Monrovia City Manager

SO...WHAT HAPPENED AT THE SPECIAL CITY COUNCIL 
MEETING ON TUESDAY? 

 Tuesday's special City Council meeting was made more colorful by stalling negotiations, 
a lawsuit, and politics. The sole agenda item, the consideration of the sale of land from the 
Monrovia Redevelopment Agency (RDA) to the Gold Line Construction Authority (GLCA), 
was actually tabled until the regular April 5 City Council meeting.

 Still, as the saying goes, the show must go on...

 On Monday, when the special meeting was officially noticed, I attached a cover memo to 
our staff report indicating that the City's and GLCA's negotiating teams might be at impasse 
on the terms of the proposed land sale. The memo indicated that the item might indeed be 
continued until the April 5 Council meeting. Still, with the State's threat of eliminating the 
RDA in the background, we moved ahead with opening the public hearing in order to provide 
some context for this momentous issue. And, without movement from either side, we 
asked the Council to continue the hearing until April.

 Interestingly, despite the Council's not taking an action, an attorney representing a property 
owner adjacent to the RDA-owned land presented a lawsuit alleging, among other 
things, that the Monrovia Redevelopment Agency was breaking a 2004 settlement agreement 
wherein the Agency agreed not to condemn or cause the condemnation of his client's 
property. Though this isn't the first time this attorney has sued Monrovia - or the first time 
he has sued on an action not taken by the Council - I really cannot comment on the suit, 
except to offer the obvious: the Monrovia Redevelopment Agency is not seeking to acquire 
the property, we are not condemning it, we do not control the GLCA, nor do we control 
METRO. We do not even have land-use control over either entity, as they are both independent 
governmental agencies. Thus, I must respectfully disagree with the allegation.

 Following the attorney's presentation, two speakers from the unusually large audience, and 
the clarification that the matter would not be heard until the April 5 meeting at the earliest, 
a letter from Mayor Pro Tem Tom Adams was read into the record by our City Clerk (as 
had been requested by Mr. Adams). Following this statement, Mayor Mary Ann Lutz read 
a statement of her own responding to Mr. Adams. Afterwards, each Councilmember took 
a moment to voice his or her own sentiments. This exchange seemed to gather the most attention 
from everyone, if only because of its rarity. That is, the Monrovia City Council has 
traditionally presented a unified front to the public - not to say that the five Councilmembers 
don't have disagreements; but rather, their disagreements have rarely been so confrontational 
in nature.

 That said, I think it is important to keep things in perspective and not read too much 
into this episode. Obviously, there are disagreements and fissures between members of the 
Council; but this is nothing new. What has historically set Monrovia apart from other communities 
has been that our Councils have always found ways to do the people's business 
effectively and not let personalities block community progress. Like the Showtime Lakers, 
these folks are professionals who understand the advantages and the limitations of team 
chemistry.

Grandson of Cesar Chavez Speaks to Duarte Youth

DUARTE, CA, March 28, 2011 – Anthony Chavez, (right front) grandson of the late civil 
rights leader, Cesar Chavez, works alongside members of the Duarte Area Resource 
Team on a beautification project at Westminster Gardens Retirement Community following 
a special speaking appearance there in conjunction with Duarte’s 7th annual Cesar Chavez 
Community Volunteer Day. The 25 year-old Chavez speaks around the country before 
numerous student and community groups on behalf of the Cesar E. Chavez Foundation, 
established by the family to further his grandfather’s work. He thanked the students for 
“reinvesting themselves in the community through service.” The event was sponsored by 
Duarte’s Promise – The Alliance for Youth and Westminster Gardens. 


MONROVIA 
BROWNBAG 
QUICKBOOKS 
WORKSHOP

 Bring your lunch and join Patricia 
Richardson as she demonstrates 
the small business 
accounting tool, QuickBooks. 
Learn some of the time-saving 
and profit generating features 
of this beneficial software. 
There will be time for questions 
and answers after the 
demonstration. 

 Patricia Richardson, MBA, 
has worked with computer accounting 
systems for several 
years and has been teaching 
QuickBooks to business owners 
for nearly as long.

 Registration is encouraged. 
Stop by the Adult Reference 
Desk, call 626-256-8274, or 
visit www.monrovialibrary.
org and click on the calendar 
icon on the top right of the 
page. Find DATE, click on the 
event and sign up. Walk-ins 
welcome.

Tuesday April 26

Library Community Room 

11:30 a.m. – 1:00 p.m. Free 

Changes on Huntington Drive 
Resurfacing Project

 The Monrovia City Manager’s office provided an update 
on the schedule of the upcoming Huntington Drive resurfacing 
project - Monrovia Public Works Department is re-
ordering the schedule of performance for this project.

Instead of moving ahead with West Huntington Drive 
(from Magnolia Avenue to 5th Avenue) first, the project 
will commence with East Huntington Drive (from Shamrock 
Avenue to the eastern City limits. West Duarte Road 
(from Magnolia Avenue to Encino Avenue) remains the 
second phase of work. This change will allow the smaller 
job, East Huntington, to be completed before the cities of 
Duarte and Irwindale - as well as daily commuters - are too 
deeply impacted by the refurbishment of the San Gabriel 
River Bridge. The Bridge project is a year-long structural 
rehabilitation by LA County that will begin in April. Our 
East Huntington Drive project involves only the resurfacing 
of asphalt (as opposed to the replacement of concrete 
panels, as on West Huntington); this work can be knocked 
out fairly easily.

Regardless of the order, all of the work will be completed 
by June 30 as was originally planned. If you have any questions 
about the project, construction notifications or other 
details, please feel free to contact either Public Works Director 
Ron Bow or Public Information Officer Dan Bell.

Monrovia Police Blotter

During the last seven day period, the Police Department handled 510 service events, resulting in 91 
investigations. Following are the last week's highlighted issues and events:

Crime Notification - Imposter - City Water Department Worker

On March 14 at approximately 10:30 a.m., an elderly female resident in the 600 block of West 
Maple answered a knock at her door. A 35- to 45-year-old Hispanic male wearing white pants and a 
white shirt identified himself as a "water department employee." This suspect was wearing an identification 
badge on a lanyard around his neck. He told the resident he needed to check her water 
because the water in the area was contaminated. The resident allowed the suspect inside her home. 
He checked the water in her kitchen faucet and then told the resident to check her bathroom faucet. 
When the resident left to check the bathroom faucet, the suspect removed cash and a checkbook from 
the resident's purse. The suspect left and the resident discovered the crime. Investigation continuing. 

Burglary

On March 17 at 7:40 a.m., officers responded to the report of a break-in at a camp building in the 
1100 block of North Canyon. The officer determined the suspect used a cylindrical piece of concrete 
to break the southwest window to gain entry and took a portable DVD player, 10 portable radios and 
a backpack with a medical kit. The building was unoccupied at the time. Investigation continuing.

Brandishing a Knife - Suspect Arrested

On March 17 at 4:36 p.m., officers responded to Library Park regarding a disturbance between two 
boys. On arrival, the officer detained the two subjects, one is 18 years old. Apparently, an argument 
began between the two boys and the 18-year-old produced a knife and brandished it. He was arrested 
and later released on a citation.

Vandalism - Suspect Arrested

On March 17 at 11:45 p.m., officers responded to Evergreen and Myrtle regarding a male subject 
who had been seen writing graffiti on the wall of the freeway. Officers responded and detained the 
subject. The graffiti was not gang related. The suspect was arrested for vandalism. The Monrovia Police 
Department's $100 graffiti bounty was given to the reporting party of this incident.

Possession of a Controlled Substance / Possession of Drug Paraphernalia - Suspect Arrested

On March 18 at 12:38 a.m., officers responded to a hotel in the 900 block of South Fifth Avenue 
regarding a disturbance between a male subject and female subject who were yelling at each other. 
When the officers arrived, the male subject was gone and the female was in her hotel room. A small 
plastic bag of methamphetamine was found on the ground next to the female, along with a used glass 
smoking pipe, which was found under her duffle bag next to her. The female was arrested.

Grand Theft Auto Recovery - Suspect Arrested

On March 20 at 3:46 p.m., an officer was patrolling the area of Myrtle and Huntington when he 
observed a suspicious vehicle. The vehicle was confirmed stolen and officers conducted a high-risk 
traffic stop on the vehicle and arrested the driver. The driver claimed he just bought the vehicle, but 
Los Angeles Sheriff's TRAP detectives reported the vehicle had been stolen from a dealership. Investigation 
continuing.

Dog Incident

On March 21 at 3:30 p.m., an officer was dispatched to a residence in the 500 block of Hurstview 
regarding a woman being attacked by a dog. The officer was able to scare the dog away and the female 
was able to leave the property without injury. The dog's owner was cited.

Residential Burglary

On March 21 at 7:44 p.m., officers responded to a residence in the 200 block of El Nido regarding 
a burglary alarm. When officers arrived, they discovered that someone had forced entry into the residence 
by removing a bathroom window screen and breaking the window. The resident was notified 
by the alarm company, and he reported that he had left the residence moments before the alarm activation. 
A witness was located who stated a newer, white Toyota Camry was seen leaving the location 
after the alarm activated. Investigation continuing.

Commercial Robbery

On March 22 at 9:30 p.m., an officer was dispatched to a business in the 300 block of West Huntington 
regarding a robbery. A white female suspect walked into the business and approached the 
counter brandishing a large kitchen knife. She stated that this was a robbery and demanded money 
from the clerk. The clerk behind the counter stepped back and told a customer to call police because 
they were being robbed. The suspect calmly turned and walked out of the business, down the street 
and out of sight. An area search was conducted, but the suspect was not located. It was later learned 
that two similar robberies occurred in the City of San Dimas. Video surveillance was captured of the 
incident in Monrovia. The investigation is continuing.


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