With Coach Harvey Hyde Page 19


SATURDAY, OCTOBER 15, 2011

VOLUME 5 NO. 42

FORMER MAYOR MOSCA RESIGNS

City Loses Its Most Popular and Controversial 
Civic Leaders

SIERRA MADRE HONORED.......

Citizens and Employees Commended For Outstanding Service

 THe City of Sierra Madre held its’ annual recognition 
of exceptional volunteers, residents and 
employees last month at the Villa at Alverno 
High School. The event was attended by more 
than 200 volunteers who serve on the many 
commissions and committees that keep the city 
running. 

 Frank Hall was the Master of Ceremonies for 
the evening and was assisted with the presentations 
by Sierra Madre Mayor John Buchanan.

 One of the many highlights of the evening was 
when 87 year old Gordon Caldwell was presented 
with the George Maurer Lifetime Service 
Award. It is an acknowledgement of significant 
contributions over an entire career. Its namesake, 
George Maurer, was first presented this award 
in 2006 for his selfless acts of dedication, honor 
and service to the community and City of Sierra 
Madre. Caldwell, a longtime Sierra Madre resident, 
businessman and distinguished volunteer, 
began giving back to the community upon his arrival to Sierra Madre 
in 1958 by joining the Sierra Madre Volunteer Fire Department. Since 
then he has been involved in various organizations and devoted his 
time for the good of the community.

 A World War II Veteran he is active in the local VFW, an active 
member of the Sierra Madre Kiwanis Club. For the Red Cross, Gordon 
served first as a disaster volunteer before devoting his time to blood 
drives. Three times a year he would make over 350 telephone calls in 
Sierra Madre to recruit blood donors. During the time that called, set-
up, and entertained at blood drives more than 2,000 units of blood 
were collected.

 Lydia Kerns, a Pasadena High School Senior and active member of 
the Rotary Interact Club was awarded the Youth Service Award. 

 The 
Friends 
of The 
Library 
received 
the The 
Wistaria 
Award 
which 
is presented 
to a local business or organization whose major contributions 
to the City and community of Sierra Madre have 
demonstrated a true partnership that assists in and provides 
services and programs, or enhances the general welfare of 
the Community as a whole.

 Toni Buckner was the recipient of the Employee of The Year 
Award. Buckner recently retired after 34 years of service. 

 The Public Safety Award was presented to Casey Morrisey 
(above right) who, on October 31, 2010 saved a woman and 
child from physical abuse without regard for his own safety 
and well being.

 Officer Jeannette Dabney was bestowed with the Police 
Chief’s Special Award. Dabney, pictured left with Chief 
Marilyn Diaz, has demonstrated outstanding dedication to 
duty and service in resolving community law enforcement-
related issues. 


Left to right, Gordon Caldwell, George Maurer and Mayor 
John Buchanan Photos courtesy City of Sierra Madre

Mosca celebrates garnering the highest percentage of votes, 
20.5% for his second term in 2010. Photo MVNews Archives

City Council member 
Joe Mosca has announced 
that he will 
resign from City Council. 
Mosca was elected 
to a second term on the 
Council in April of 2010, 
and his term ends in 
2014. Mosca’s spouse, 
Matt Bosse, who has 
been the head of the 4th 
of July Committee the 
last few years, has been 
offered a job in London, 
and the couple decided 
to accept the job. They 
will move with their two 
adopted sons, Garrett (4) 
and Devan (9 months).

Mosca was originally 
elected to the Council 
in 2006, and in his first 
evening on the Council 
alienated many of his 
backers when he chose 
to vote to move forward 
with a draft of the Downtown 
Specific Plan, with 
the intent of a citywide 
vote on the completed 
DSP. The backers wanted 
a vote on the DSP in 
its draft form. 

 In 2007, Mosca was 
served with recall papers, 
but those backing 
the recall were unable 
to gather enough signatures 
to make it happen.

While the City doesn’t 
have a policy on how 
Council members are 
selected Mayor the tradition 
has been that the 
seat rotates based upon 
seniority on the council. 
When it came time 
for Mosca to rotate to 
the Mayor’s seat, he was 
overlooked twice. He 
was ultimately chosen 
to be Mayor after the 
2010 election, when new 
members Josh Moran 
and Nancy Walsh gave 
him the majority he 
needed. City Hall was 
packed with cheering 
Mosca supporters that 
night, who cheered his 
election to the mayor 
position. Mosca was the 
top vote getter in both 
elections in which he 
took part.

Mosca sent a letter to 
the entire population of 
Sierra Madre expressing 
how much he has enjoyed 
serving the community 
and thanking everyone 
for their support.

In the letter, Mosca 
pointed to some of the 
successes that occurred 
during his time on the 
Council, among them 
the beginning of paramedic 
services, enhancing 
hillside zoning to 
preserve hillsides in the 
future, and a balanced 
budget.

Mosca’s resignation will 
become effective after 
the first council meeting 
in November. 

-B. Coburn/S.Henderson


LETTER FROM THE EDITOR:

 THe Mountain Views News has 
always sought to provide accurate 
information to its readers. With 
the exception of an occaisional 
grammatical error, we strive for 
perfection. We want our readers 
to be able to rely on the news that 
we report. We go to great lengths 
to assure that accuracy. 

 Last week, in our coverage of the 
downgrading of Sierra Madre’s 
credit rating, we reported that the 
city had not fallen from an AAA 
rating as reported in the Pasadena 
Star News, and we provided readers 
with a legend from Moody’s 
explaining their rating system.

 This week, the ratings were again 
misstated in the Star News. On 
October 6, 2011 and again on October 
11, 2011, Star News reporter 
Brian Charles wrote, “.....downgrade 
in Sierra Madre’s bond rating 
from AAA to an A rating.” 

 Further, local blogger John 
Crawford sent the following email 
to the paper on Saturday, October 
8, 2011: 

 “ Just dropped a copy of today’s 
Loony Views off at the Star News 
They were howling with laughter. 
How could you have not known 
that A3 and AAA (or A1and A) 
are the same thing? John”

 Because it is important for residents 
to understand the significance 
of the downgrade, and not 
to be misled with misinformation, 
I again contacted David Jacobson 
AVP - Communications Strategist, 
Public Finance Group for 
Moody’s Investors Service to confirm 
the Mountain Views story 
and asked him the following:

“Can you tell me if this is a correct 
chart of the Moody’s ratings based 
upon the information on your website? 
(Moody’s Investors Service 
Rating Symbols and Definitions)

 

AAA

AA1, 

AA2, 

AA3

A1, 

A2, 

A3

 Baa1, Baa2, Baa3

Ba1, Ba2, Ba3 and so on? Questions 
have been raised that an AAA 
rating is the same as an A3 rating. 
Please clarify”.

Jacobson responded with the following 
statement:

“You are correct in your rating 
ranking.... Aaa is our highest rating 
and is six notches higher than A3.“

 As indicated in the response from 
Moody’s, the difference in falling 
six steps from an AAA rating and 
two steps from an A1 to an A3 is 
quite significant. To fall from an 
AAA rating to A3 would indicate 
far more serious problems than 
just a shortcoming in our water 
rate increase. Fortunately, that is 
not the case.

 

H. Susan Henderson, 

Publisher and Editor


SIERRA MADRE BUSINESS UPDATES - 
Part II Proposals, Openings, Expansion, Remodels 
and Recently Listed by Chris Bertrand 

COACH HARVEY HYDE - 

See Sports...Page 19

BOTTLE SHOP BEGINS 990 S.F. EXPANSION

Billy Sullivan, owner of The Bottle Shop at 58 W. Sierra Madre Boulevard, 
has begun construction on the 990 square foot expansion into an adjacent 
commercial building on its west side, to create a wine tasting area for 
the business, which already offers an extensive wine collection. The 
construction area has been tarped to contain dust from the demolition 
and reconstruction process. The expansion was (cont. on pg. 3)

Inside This Edition...

CALENDAR Page 2 

Sierra Madre News Page 3

Pasadena/Altadena Page 4

Around San Gabriel Valley Page 5

Arcadia Page 6

Monrovia/Duarte Page 7

Education & Youth Page 8

Nature & Environment Page 9

Arts & Entertainment Page 11

Left/Right Page 12

Opinion Page 13

Legals Page 14/15 The World 
Around Us Page 16

 The Good Life Page 17

Homes & Property Page 18


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