SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 22, 2014 
VOLUME 8 NO. 7CELEBRATING A WONDERFUL LIFE 
SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 22, 2014 
VOLUME 8 NO. 7CELEBRATING A WONDERFUL LIFE 
TRASH AND BURN 
CAMPAIGN HEATS UP IN 
SIERRA MADRE By Susan Henderson 


Photo by Jacki Raymond 

THE PROS AND CONS MEASURE U -


ELECTION COVERAGE 
On April 8, 2014, voters in Sierra Madre will go to the polls and select three people 
from a field of four to sit on the City Council. They will also vote on a local ballot 
measure to extend the city’s current User Utility Tax Ordinance. 
The Mountain Views News will provide our readers with comprehensive coverage of 
this election. Each week, as we have done in the past, we will profile the candidates and 
give each of the candidates the opportunity to introduce themselves to our readers by 
answering the following questions: 
1. Why are you running for City Council? 
2. What are you going to do for Sierra 
Madre? 
3. How do you plan on accomplishing 
your goals? 
(All candidates are being asked to 
answer the same questions and their 
answers will be published unedited.) 
The paper will also review the pros 
and cons of the proposed User Utility 
Tax Ordinance. 
The schedule will be as follows: 
February 22nd The Pros and Cons of Measure UUT 
March 1st Candidate Denise Delmar 
March 8th Candidate Rachelle Arizmendi 
March 15th Candidate Noah Green 
March 22nd Candidate Eugene Goss 
March 29th Candidate Forum Review 
It is our sincere hope that each candidate will submit their answers so that we can share 
them with our readers. A separate letter has been sent to each candidate asking them to 
participate. 
In addition to the candidate spotlights, we will attempt to cover the various forums 
sponsored by local organizations. Where possible, the unedited video of these forums 
will be broadcast on the papers website. 
Our reporting on this election will be as fair and objective as possible. However, please 
keep in mind that our columnists are always free to share their opinions. Their opinions 
are their opinions and may or may not reflect the position of the paper. This is true in all 
things, not just this election. 
We will also provide for you the calendar of important dates regarding the election. It 
is our goal to do whatever we can to help you make an informed decision on April 8, 2014. 
Susan Henderson, Publisher and Editor 
On April 8th, voters in Sierra Madre will decide the fate of 
UTILITY USER’S TAX EXTENSION. 
THis article is presenting the language of the ballot measure 
and the language, Pro and Con, unedited, of the ballot 
To maintain City Services, such as Public Safety, Paramedic 
Extend the City’s current 10% Utility User Tax ata maximum of 10% for all utilities except water and sewer;
Establish new sunset dates starting July 1, 2022;
Extend the current 9% water and sewer tax until 
July 1, 2014 when it will reduce to 7%, and then 6% on July 
THE ARGUMENT AGAINST MEASURE UUT 
Vote NO on Measure UUT – 
The tax increase is not necessary to maintain current revenue 
or service levels in the City thanks to existing revenue 
increases already built in. Authors of this User Utility Tax 
(UUT) increase measure will tell that you more tax money 
is needed. This is clearly false given that the city finished the 
2013-2013 fiscal year with over $870,000.00 in unassigned 
General Fund reserves. 
Property tax revenue (income) continues to increase. In 
the 6 months ending December 15, 2013, over 80 properties 
sold in Sierra Madre. Conservatively, the resulting estimated 
increase in property tax income will be an additional 
$50,000.00 per YEAR. Property tax income will also 
continue to increase as more homes sell for higher prices.
Income from the current UUT Law continues to increase 
as utility bills continue to go up. With large water rate 
increases scheduled for February and July 2014,, the city will 
collect MORE monthly income at the (continued on page 5) 
On Sunday, more than 175 family and friends serenaded Sierra Madrean Gordon Caldwell in celebration 
of his 90th Birthday. The event was held at Alverno High School. Gordon who has a long history of ser-
vice in Sierra Madre is shown above with his wife, Mary Lou Caldwell, children, grandchildren and great-
grandchildren. You can view a video of the event and additional photos at www.sierramadrenews.net.
Measure U - the 

statements. 

The Measure: 

and Library services, shall an Ordinance be adopted to: 

1.
2. 
3. 
1, 2015?

4. 
YES or NO 

Inside this week: 

SIERRA MADRE 

Calendar Page 2 
Sierra Madre News Page 3 

PASADENA/ALTADENA 

Two Murders - Two Days Pg. 4 
AROUND SGV Pg. 5 
Peter Dills 
Savor The Flavor 
Shops Again 
Pg. 6 

Prohibitive Pet Care Costs 
Pg. 7 

THE ARTS Pg. 8 

HEALTHY LIFESTYLES 
Pg. 9 

THE GOOD LIFE Pg. 10

Savvy SeniorSenior Happenings 

BUSINESS NEWS Pg. 11 
HOMES & PROPERTY 
WORLD AROUND US 
Pg. 12 
LEFT TURN/RIGHT 
TURN/OPINION Pg. 13 

SMTV CHANNEL 98 Pg. 14 

LEGAL NOTICES Pg. 16-21 
FYI Pg. 22 

Sierra Madre is a town known 
for its diversity of opinions and often 
high level of emotions during political 
campaigns. Sierra Madre attracted 
what most have called unwanted 
attention to this town and have had 
some rather colorful descriptions 
assigned to us by outside media 
outlets.

 With the final weeks of the Municipal 
election fast approaching, it appears 
the “Wistaria Hysteria” has dropped to 
a new low. Earlier this week, resident 
John Crawford, who is responsible for 
the controversial Tattler blog in Sierra 
Madre, posted personal pictures of 
city council candidate Noah Green 
and proceeded to use them to declare 
Green unelectable.

 The photos are from the Greens 
2011 vacation, which according to 
Green and his wife Melanie, were 
taken shortly after their marriage. 
“When we took those, we just got 
married.” “We were in a happy, playful 
phase.” “We were both on vacation and 
having fun. “This is very frustrating”, 
are quotes from Mrs. Green published 
in Wednesday’s Pasadena Star News.

 If the pictures were to be rated by 
“today’s standards they would not be 
rated X, R or possibly not even PG”, 
said one industry professional who 
looked at Crawford’s blog. 

 What has elicited the most critical 
response is the manner in which they 
were obtained and posted. Crawford 
states that the photos were sent to 
him by a blog reader. They were 
initially posted on Melanie Green’s 
private Facebook page and, because 
she identified (or tagged) her husband, 
they appeared on Green’s Facebook 
page, which is public. Allegedly, 
they were then sent to Crawford. In 
any event, neither Noah nor Melanie 
Green authorized the publishing of the 
photos on the blog. 

 In this day and age, social media 
sites are considered as personal as the 
old-fashioned family album with the 
expectation that only invited family 
and friends will share the photos. 
Nevertheless, “none of the photos 
depict anything illegal, perverse or 
immoral”, said another viewer who 
spoke with the Mountain Views News.

 In the Star News article, the 
author reports that the blog post had 
generated “more than 100 comments.” 
However, based on Crawford’s 

admitted use of the internet activity 
known as ‘Trolling’, the actual number 
of comments about the pictures is 
questionable. 

 In January 2013, Crawford, using 
pen name, Sir Eric Maundry, sent the 
following message to Councilman 
Chris Koerber regarding the 
Community Redevelopment Agency 
Successor Committee: Said Crawford, 
“Here is this week’s troll strategy”, 
revealing how he manipulates the 
comments on his blog.

 When a site is ‘trolled’, comments 
are posted either anonymously or 
with names that otherwise conceal 
the identity of the person posting. The 
comments are designed to generate 
heated discussions (in the case of the 
referenced troll, hateful discussions) 
and lead others posting on the site 
to believe that they are chatting with 
another reader. In fact, most trolling 
is done by, or with the approval of the 
moderator. 

In Crawford’s email regarding his‘troll of the week’, the comment is: 
“when are we going to go over to thatdump he lives in on Baldwin withtorches, tar and feathers…” (See copy 
of complete message on page 5). It 
is believed that the troll is referringto the home of Former Sierra Madre 
Mayor Bart Doyle, the only memberof the CRA successor committee that 
lives on North Baldwin, and a frequentobject of personal attacks by Crawfordon the blog. The Mountain Views 
News discovered this information in 
May, 2013 while researching a story onBob Matheson, the resident convicted 
of possession of child pornography inCanada. 

 Described as an internet practice 
which, according to Paul Gill of 
About.com, “ … is the anti-social 
act of causing interpersonal conflict 
and shock-value controversy online. 
Named for the wicked troll creatures 
of children’s tales, trolling is purposely 
sowing hatred, bigotry, racism, 
misogyny, or just simple bickering 
between others. Trolls themselves 
are emotionally-immature users who 
thrive in any environment where they 
are allowed to make public comments, 
like blog sites, news sites, discussion 
forums, and game chat.” 

Wikipedia notes that media 
attention in recent years has equatedtrolling with online harassment. For 
example, (continued on page 5) 


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