Mountain Views News          Saturday, August 3, 2013

Mountain Views-News Saturday, August 3, 2013 5AROUND SAN GABRIEL VALLEY 
“What’s Going On?”
News and Views from Joan Schmidt 
THE BUS TO THE BEACH 
AND BACK 
For several years I have heard about the Charter Oak/Duarte “Beach Bus”the 
county-sponsored one that goes to Santa Monica Pier- and have always 
said, “I’ll have to try that one of these days”. After much procrastination and 
grandkids here for five weeks, the time had arrived!
I began by making reservations on line at www.LAGoBus.info. At first I 
was confused. There are several options and I didn’t see “Duarte”. Then I realized 
you click “Charter Oaks” and up pops “Duarte/Charter Oaks.” The cost is $3 
per adult/child, and $1.50 for seniors. The total was $12- that’s the cost of the 
parking lot! Plus no aggravation of fighting traffic or the OUTRAGEOUS price 
of gasoline! They give you a confirmation number, you print out the page, and 
you must bring cash (exact change) when you board the bus at Pamela Park. 
Bob and I didn’t want to go into the freezing water. The grandkids said it was really cold, but 
went in all the way and had a great time. The youngest one spent most of the beach time building 
castles. (We had no bucket or shovel but a vendor came around. The netted bag of “goodies’ was only 
$5! It had a bucket, shovel, hoe, and a few little plastic toys of various shapes that made turrets and 
parts of a castle!)
Lunch time came and we went up on the pier for burgers, and there are vegetarian ones too! 
There were several little stores, an arcade with games and the little individual rides that you put kids 
on and put money in the slot. (50 cents) This time we passed on the rides, but there is that great Ferris 
wheel-always seen during the “weather” portion of the news, a Merry-Go-Round, a few fast rides, and 
very high swing. I also saw there was an Aquarium, but that will be good for another trip.
The bus left Pamela Park at 9:30am. It arrived at Santa Monica Pier at 10:30. It left Santa 
Monica at 3:30 and in spite of heavy L.A. traffic, we were back to the Park at 4:30. It makes for a great 
day trip. For those who may not want to brave freezing water, there’s a lot to do on the Pier. If we go 
again, we may do the Pier first, before the water. We couldn’t take kids with wet bathing suits into 
Bubba Gump’s Shrimp House for example! 
People did bring lunches but BEWARE! In front of our eyes, BOLD seagulls got into a girl’s 
tote bag and pulled her subway sandwich out! Before it could be stopped, at least 20 seagulls descended 
and devoured it. The last thing we saw was a seagull fly off with her bag of chips! They were so smart, 
that they pulled tee shirts out of a bag in hopes of finding food underneath! How bold is that?
The day we went to the beach there were two buses. Pamela Park’s Summer Camp was also 
going to the beach on a field trip, so there were two buses. We were on the bus with the kids and they 
were well-behaved. The other bus had mostly people by themselves-even Senior citizens. No fighting 
traffic and there are compartments on the bottom of the bus that have room for folding chairs! When 
we go again, we’ll bring our chairs! See you on the bus! 
Long ago in a college sociology class, 
I answered a question about who represented 
my area-much to the consternation of the 
professor. He wanted to prove a point-that the 
average person could not identify their local 
representative much less discuss any bills they 
introduced. I wondered if it was the same today, 
here in California! After the recent elections and 
redistricting, Assemblyman Roger Hernandez 
now represents unincorporated Monrovia, 
Arcadia, Duarte, Bassett, Charter Oaks and 
Valinda as well as the cities of Covina, Duarte, 
El Monte, Glendora, Irwindale, Monrovia, and 
West Covina. 
This past May I met Assemblyman 
Hernandez at a press conference. He was seeking 
support for AB 1357 introduced in January. This 
bill would require Measure B funds collected by 
the County of Los Angeles from property taxes 
in the San Gabriel Valley to remain in the San 
Gabriel Valley. Hernandez was not happy that 
the San Gabriel Valley had paid nearly 20% 
of the county’s total, ($256 million)-yet only 
received access to a helicopter to reach far-away 
facilities in addition to relatively small budgeting 
for expansion of facilities! On June 5, Hernandez 
received “overwhelming approval from the “Joint 
Legislative Audit Committee” to audit the county. 
What exactly does that mean?
Since that May conference, Primo 
Castro, from Assemblyman Hernandez’ office 
has faithfully sent me releases re: Assembly bills 
introduced and other important activities of the 
Assemblyman. In a VERY shortened explanation, 
I will try to explain the multi-step process of an 
“idea” becoming a “bill”. Then when I relate the 
status of a bill, you will realize where it is at! 
(Thank you Cal State Fullerton for the following 
explanation-which I have taken parts of.)
All legislation begins with an “idea”. 
The process starts begins a Senator or Assembly 
Member decides to author a bill. He/she sends 
the idea for the bill to the Office of the Legislative 
Counsel where it’s drafted into a bill form and 
returned to the Legislator who introduces it in 
his house. (First Reading/ Introduction) The 
bill is then sent to the Office of State Publishing, 
but cannot be acted upon for 30 days. The bill 
goes to the rules committee where it’s assigned 
the appropriate policy committee according to 
its subject matter. During Committee Hearings, 
the author presents the bill to the committee. 
When bills are passed by committee, they are 
read a Second Time in the house of origin, and 
then assigned a Third Reading. When a bill is 
read a third time, it is explained by the author, 
discussed by members and voted on by roll call. 
If a bill passes, it proceeds to the other house and 
the procedure described above is repeated. After 
both houses approve a bill, it goes to the Governor 
for his vote. The 
governor can 
sign it, allow it 
to become law without his/her signature, or veto 
it which can be overridden by two-thirds vote in 
both houses. 
Some of Assemblyman Hernandez’ bills 
include: AB 1295. On May 31, it passed the 
Assembly Floor on a 72-3 vote. This bill allows 
electricity customers the option to receive a 
greater portion of their energy from reusable 
energy. (This is for electric customers who are 
unable to install solar panels on their homes.)
On June 24, the Senate Committee on 
Appropriations approves AB 1384 authored by 
Assemblyman Hernandez. This bill establishes a 
penalty to any garment manufacturer who fails to 
properly display name, addresse and the garment 
manufacturer’s registration number outside the 
business residence. 
On June 11, Assemblyman Hernandez 
announced that AB 34 which establishes La Paz 
in Kern County as a historic landmark passed the 
State Senate Committee on Natural Resources 
with a bi-partisan vote. (La Paz is the burial site 
and home of Civil Rights Leader, Cesar Chavez. 
This champion of migrant workers founded 
the United Farm Workers Union and worked 
tirelessly to improve their working conditions. 
The short video No Grapes is a MUST-it tells 
of the horrible effects of the chemical spraying 
on the Central Valley farm communities!) Since 
President Obama had declared La Paz a National 
Historic Landmark on October 12, 2012, 
Assemblyman Hernandez authored this bill “to 
ensure La Paz proper recognition on a state level.” 
After preparing this short explanation 
of the “How a bill comes into existence”, I now 
understand really what the press releases mean! 
METRO GOLD LINE CELEBRATES 10TH 
ANNIVERSARY 
Supervisor Antonovich Announces that Ridership Has Surpassed Green Line 
LOS ANGELES COUNTY—At the 10th Anniversary of the Metro Gold Line, Supervisor Michael D. 
Antonovich praised the leadership of the transit line which transports 13 million riders every year, 
with ridership that exceeds that of the Metro Green Line. 
“Serving over 13 million riders every year – more riders than the Green Line -- the Gold Line has 
been a great success story for the San Gabriel Valley and serves as a vital component in our regional 
transportation system,” said Antonovich. “We started with only 4 million boardings in its first year 
– now we carry 13 million per year. Over 10 years, the Gold Line has carried 81 million riders – averaging 
42 thousand riders per weekday.” 
“Built on-time and on-budget, the Gold Line has spurred economic growth through transit-oriented 
development throughout the San Gabriel Valley,” he added. “Due to the persistent efforts of 
San Gabriel Valley cities, and the Gold Line advocates in the community and on the MTA Board, we 
prevented funding for this project from being raided by the Westside politicians for the gold-plated 
subway.” 
Currently under construction and scheduled to open in Fall 2015, Phase 2B will extend the line 
from Pasadena to Citrus College in Azusa. Future extensions from Azusa to Claremont and Ontario 
Airport will eventually connect the San Gabriel Valley to the Inland Empire and Ontario Airport in 
partnership with San Bernardino County. Ultimately, we can connect the Gold Line to the Bob Hope 
Airport, Burbank, Glendale and North Hollywood where the Red and Orange Lines meet. 
WHAT DOES OUR ASSEMBLYMAN ROGER 
HERNANDEZ DO IN SACRAMENTO? 
By Joan Schmidt