Mountain Views News          Saturday, December 1, 2012

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Mountain Views News Saturday, December 1, 2012

MARGARET FINLAY ELECTED MAYOR, LIZ 
REILLY, MAYOR PRO TEM IN DUARTE CITY 
COUNCIL REORGANIZATION FOR 2012-2013

 Duarte City Council members voted 
4-1 to elect Margaret Finlay, Mayor, and 
5-0 to re-elect Liz Reilly, Mayor Pro 
Tem for 2012-2013 during the annual 
reorganization meeting of the Duarte 
City Council. Initially, Margaret Finlay 
nominated Mayor Pro-Tem Reilly for 
the position of Mayor. Reilly declined to 
accept the nomination at the time. 

 Finlay has been a member of the 
Duarte City Council since 1990. She has 
served as mayor four times previously. 
Finlay has been a resident of Duarte with 
her husband, Brad, for almost 30 years. 
They have raised five children, all graduates 
of Duarte public schools.

 Finlay holds a B.B.A. in Marketing 
from St. Mary’s College, Notre Dame, 
Indiana, and has a Master’s Degree in 
Public Administration from Cal State 
Long Beach. She did Doctoral work at 
Claremont Graduate University and has 
been an adjunct professor at Cal State 
Long Beach in the Public Administration 
Graduate School. Margaret is President of 
the Duarte Education Foundation, serving 
the educational needs of all students in the 
school district. She has been PTA President 
at Royal Oaks Elementary School and also 
was the President of the Monrovia-Duarte 
PTA Council. She also currently is a 
member of the Duarte Rotary Club.

Outside of the City, Margaret has served 
on the Los Angeles County Library 
Commission, has been President of the California Contract Cities Association, is on the Executive 
Committee for the California Joint Powers Insurance Authority for risk management for cities, is a 
Director on the County Sanitation Districts Board, is a member of the LA County Sheriff’s Liability 
Trust Fund Board, and is a member of the Southern California Association of Governments Regional 
Council. Nationally, Margaret was selected by her peers to sit on the National League of Cities Board 
of Directors. Her recent awards include the prestigious Coro Fellowship and being honored by 
American Mothers Inc. as the 2012 California State Mother of Achievement.

 Reilly and her late husband moved to Duarte in 1987 to raise their two now grown daughters, 
Kate a graduate of Northwestern University and Beth a graduate of U.S.C. As her children 
matriculated through the Duarte School system, Reilly became highly involved as a volunteer with 
school and community groups. Over the 25 years, she served as president of Valley View PTA, 
Northview Intermediate and Duarte High School PTSAs, and president of Monrovia-Duarte Council 
of PTAs. She also served as Chairman of the Duarte Unified School District Education Council. Reilly 
continues her support for Duarte schools in her current volunteer roles as Parliamentarian for the 
Duarte Council of PTAs and treasurer of the Duarte Falcon Booster Club. 

 Reilly graduated from the State University of New York with a degree in management and 
the University of Oklahoma with a B.A. degree in nutrition. She began her career as chief dietitian 
for the Eisenhower Medical Center in Rancho Mirage, and was food service director for Alhambra 
Community Hospital, and manager of the Tearoom for Bullock’s Pasadena before leaving the 
workforce to raise her family. As a Duarte Council member, her priorities are to create an economic 
environment that attracts new businesses, supports existing businesses, and brings tax revenue, sales, 
and jobs to Duarte. 


MAN ATTEMPTS TO LURE TEEN INTO CAR 

On Thursday, November 29, 2012, at approximately 
8:10 a.m., a 15-year-old high school student was walking 
to school in the 500-600 block of West Olive when 
she was approached by a male white suspect driving a 
white, four-door, pickup truck, unknown size. The suspect 
asked the student to get into his vehicle, but the 
student refused, stating she did not know him. He drove 
forward and turned onto the 600 block of Monterey, 
parking along the curb. He waited for the student to 
approach. As the student approached the vehicle again, 
the driver offered the student $200 to get into his vehicle. 
The student refused, and the suspect left the area. 
The student notified school officials as soon as she arrived 
at school. 

It is unknown if this is related to the incident which occurred 
on November 8, but detectives are investigating 
and are coordinating their investigation with school 
officials. 

Suspect Description: male, white, 30-35 years old, unknown 
height, thin build, black shaggy hair - medium 
length, wearing black framed prescription glasses. The 
victim could not describe the suspect's clothing.

 

Suspect Vehicle Description: older model, white, four-
door, pickup truck. 

 

Contact: Monrovia Police Department Watch Commander (626) 256-8000

Captain Alan Sanvictores (626) 256-8056

FOOTHILLS SPECIAL ENFORCEMENT TEAM NAMED 
"SWAT TEAM OF THE YEAR" BY THE CALIFORNIA 

ASSOCIATION OF TACTICAL OFFICERS

On Monday, November 27, 2012, the California Association of Tactical Officers (C.A.T.O.) selected 
the Foothills Special Enforcement Team (FSET) as "SWAT Team of the Year" for the State of California. 
FSET was founded in 2004 as one of the first regional SWAT programs in Los Angeles County. 
FSET has shown multiple agencies can work cooperatively as a team for the benefit of all the participating 
communities. FSET is in the eighth year of successful operation and in 2012, was comprised of 
police personnel from the cities of Glendora, Irwindale, La Verne, Monrovia and San Marino.

 

FSET has grown from three founding agencies to five agencies contributing personnel and resources 
to create one of the largest tactical units in Los Angeles County. The Foothills Special Enforcement 
Team trains twice each month and handles an average of one high-risk mission per month. The team's 
abilities have allowed its tactical officers to respond efficiently to complex problems. FSET includes 
a crisis negotiation team and a sniper team to assist tactical team operators on critical incidents. The 
combined resources of the five agencies allows for a larger, well prepared and better equipped team 
than each agency could field by themselves.

 

The purpose of a SWAT team is to have highly trained and well-equipped officers available to respond 
to the most dangerous situations. These highly trained team members help provide greater safety for 
our community members, the police officers responding to the call and for the suspects themselves. 
The following are examples of three incidents FSET has responded to over the last year: 

• In December of 2011, FSET responded to an active shooter incident at the Southern California Edison 
facility in Irwindale. FSET personnel conducted a tactical search for injured persons and located 
a victim who was losing a great deal of blood from a gunshot wound. The victim survived, due to the 
rapid response of the team and the immediate medical care provided. 

• In June of 2012, FSET responded to a call in the City of Monrovia of a convicted felon with weapons 
at a residence, threatening to shoot the police. FSET crisis negotiators attempted for hours to get the 
suspect to give up peaceably. Eventually, the team used tear gas in the residence and the suspect surrendered, 
unharmed. 

• In March of 2012, FSET served a high-risk search warrant in the City of Baldwin Park. The suspect 
was barricaded inside the residence. The team deployed tear gas and the suspect surrendered, unharmed. 
Four firearms, ammunition, a ballistic vest, black hoods and drugs were located. 

These types of incidents underscore the need for a highly trained, well-equipped tactical team like 
FSET. By working together collaboratively and sharing resources, these five cities have been able to 
create a well organized, more efficient team at a lesser expense to the individual agency than they 
could ever have done working independently. The cities of Glendora, Irwindale, La Verne, Monrovia 
and San Marino thank the California Tactical Officers Association for recognizing the outstanding 
work of the Foothills Special Enforcement Team by presenting them with the "SWAT Team of the 
Year Award." 


Veteran Duarte City Council member, Margaret 
Finlay (right) was elected Mayor for 2012-2013, 
and first term council member Liz Reilly, Mayor 
Pro Tem, in the annual reorganization of the 
Duarte City Council. 

Photo courtesy Mary Barrow-Huffman


PLAN MONROVIA HOSTS ALL-BOARDS & 
COMMISSIONS WORKSHOP

 

As a precursor to the community workshops to be held in December and January, Plan Monrovia 
brought together members from the Planning Commission, Community Services Commission, 
Historic Preservation Commission, Library Board, Youth Commission and the Old Town Advisory 
Board to ask the question:

What are the most important things the City should focus on over the next five years?

Through an interactive process, each Commissioner and Board member voiced what they believe to 
be the highest priorities for the community, and then voted on the top five. 

Interested in what they had to say? Check back on our website www.PlanMonrovia.org to view the 
results later next week.

Can't wait to give ideas? Join the 70 other Monrovians who are submitting their ideas online- everything 
from community gardens, to dining options at the new Gold Line station. Just click here.

 

Tuesday , December 11, 2012

Community Workshop 1

Monrovia Community Center

119 W Palm Avenue, Monrovia, CA

7:00- 9:00 p.m.

 

Saturday, January 12, 2012

Community Workshop 2

Calvary Chapel Monrovia

123 W Pomona Ave, Monrovia, cA

9:00- 11:00 a.m.