SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 15, 2014

VOLUME 8 NO. 46

COUNCIL STAYS FOCUSED 
DESPITE VERBAL ATTACK BY 
FORMER MAYOR by Susan Henderson

VETERANS DAY CELEBRATIONS GIVE THANKS FOR 
YESTERDAY, PREPARE FOR TOMORROW’S VETS


On Thursday, at a special meeting 
of the Sierra Madre City Council 
to continue their review of the 
reorganization of City Hall, the 
budget and the general plan, no one 
was prepared for what happened 
during public comment. 

Former Mayor Nancy Walsh 
approached the public podium and 
began an emotional, vitriolic rant 
which included personal attacks on 
the current council.

Walsh, who according to the 
statement she submitted to the 
City Clerk, is angry about the 
reorganization of City Hall. She 
accused at least two members of 
the council and the City Manager 
of embracing a reorganization 
agenda that would destroy the city. 
“We are about to do something at 
best, inappropriate and at worst 
illegal.” She also stated that this 
alliance had already bankrupted 
the city’s water company. 

Her presentation was laced with 
expletives as her emotions appeared 
to boil over. She even went so far as 
to compare two council members 
and the city manager to predators 
that lure children with candy.

Walsh, who served on the council 
from 2010-2014, chose not to run 
for re-election earlier this year.

 The task of reorganizing city 
staff is part of the budget process 
in anticipation of the $1 million 
dollar loss of revenue that is the 
result of the failure of the Utility 
User Tax increase. Since that time, 
the City Manager and the Council 
have been trying to reconfigure 
staff in a manner that will continue 
to provide services to the residents.

In Walsh’s written and spoken 
comments, she suggested that the 
Sierra Madre Water Company 
had been bankrupted. It has 
not. Audits performed by outside 
accountants confirm that the water 
company is solvent. Moody’s Credit 
Rating Service did downgrade 
the city in 2013 because of Sierra 
Madre’s failure to sufficiently raise 
revenues enough to cover its bond 
obligations. However, in the last 
letter issued by Moody’s in July, the 
agency indicated that there would 
be no further downgrade at this 
time.

Despite Walsh’s claims of 
conspiracies, collusion, and 
malfeasance, the council 
proceeded to focus on the matters 
on the agenda. As Mayor John 
Harabedian stated when asked 
to respond to Walsh, “As a leader, 
my objective is to be above the 
bickering and personal attacks that 
we are seeing now and have seen 
in the past. I want this council to 
work through our differences and 
come up with solutions that will 
benefit all of our residents.”

 The council did move on through 
the agenda. It declined by 
consensus a request to impose 
a city wide Property Inspection 
Ordinance which would have 
had an adverse financial impact 
on sales, rentals and/or leases in 
Sierra Madre. It also confirmed 
the remaining issues on the 
city’s reorganization, continued 
deliberations on the budget and 
made additional progress on 
approving the city’s general plan. 

On a more positive note, the city has 
received a grant of $78,000 from 
the San Gabriel Valley Municipal 
Water District and the council 
approved the use of $48,000 of it 
to be used to assist residents with 
turf removal. The remaining 
funds will be used for things such 
as water audits to help residents 
find ways to reduce consumption 
and educational materials on water 
conservation. 

The council’s next meeting will be 
held on Tuesday, November 18, 
2014 at 6:30, a Special Meeting on 
the General Plan.

Sierra Madre’s VFW 3208 was at the center of 
all Veteran’s Day activities this year, beginning 
with their annual service in Memorial Park on 
Sunday, November 9th. Congresswoman Judy 
Chu bestowed a Certificate of Congressional 
Recognition on three local heroes, World War 
II Veterans Ken Anhalt and Art Contreras and 
Korean War Veteran Bud Switzer. Chu also 
congratulated VFW 3208 for their generous 
donation of $10,000 to a veterans health care 
center planned for the San Gabriel Valley. 

 Robert Spencer the keynote speaker, discussed 
the Koran and his new book, “Arab Winter 
Comes To America” and the current threat of 
terrorism by Islamic extremists. 

 On Veteran’s Day, Tuesday, November 11th, 
the Sierra Madre Kiwanis Club hosted a 
luncheon for VFW 3208 with a menu in honor 
of Navy servicemen and women - selected 
items from The Galley on the USS Carl Vinson. 

 The guest speaker at the Kiwanis event was 
Denise Wadsworth representing United For 
Vets the organization spearheading the effort 
to establish The Veteran’s Health Center Of 
the Foothills. She too acknowledged the 
contribution of VFW 3208 and encouraged 
the public to support the project. In her 
speech, she reminded the group of the lack of 
health care facilities for returning Vets in the 
area. Currently, Veterans requiring medical 
hospital care must go either to the VA in West 
LA or Long Beach. 

 

 Pictured above left to right: VFW 3208 
Commander Dave Loera, WWII Vet Ken 
Anhalt, Korean War Purple Heart recipient 
Bud Switzer, WWII Vet Art Contreras and U.S. 
Congresswoman Judy Chu.

S. Henderson/MVNews 

Photo by Dean Lee/MVNews

IT’S THAT TIME OF YEAR - 

THE SIERRA MADRE ROSE FLOAT 
ASSOCIATION NEEDS YOUR HELP!

A unique aspect of our float 
this year will be the use of 
a particular succulent in a 
geometric design. But we 
need to find enough of this 
variety, aeonium haworthii, 
pictured right, to make the 
design work. These plants are 
very common in the gardens 
in and around Sierra Madre, 
so hopefully some of you can 
help us. 

Don’t cut your plant now!! If 
you have some to donate, call 
the float barn at 626-355-7005 
or email us at volunteers@
smrosefloat.org with your 
name, phone number and 
address and we will come out 
and look at your plant. 

On our website we have a 
color photo – it shows a red 
edge to the “rosette”. We want 
both the red edged and the 
all-green variety. We will be 
ready for them in early December. Now for the details – each “rosette” needs to be between 2 
½ - 3 ½ inches across and have an attached stem of at least 1 ½ inches. We don’t want to destroy 
your plant – we just need a handful of rosettes from each one. 

 SMRFA is also looking for people to help with a variety of things. Volunteers are needed to 
help with feeding the volunteers (grilling, serving and clean-up for lunch and dinner), helping 
with the sales booth, shuttling around the area picking up supplies and helping to coordinate 
the volunteers. We also need help on the 31st selling left-over flowers and cleaning up after the 
float moves out. It takes a village to produce a beautiful Rose Parade float which is why the City 
of Sierra Madre has been so successful for so many years.

 Do you have an RV that could sleep 6 on New Year’s Eve? The SMRFA float crew needs 
a heated place to sleep while parked near the parade route and would be grateful for a one-
night loan. We can provide a letter documenting your donation of the use of your RV for tax 
purposes.

 If you can help with any of these items or if you have further questions, please contact 
Bonnie, the SMRFA Volunteer Coordinator, at volunteers@smrosefloat.org or leave a message 
at the float barn (626-355-7005) and include your name, phone number and how you would like 
to get involved.

This year’s Rose Parade Theme is “Inspired Stories and the Sierra Madre Entry will be “I Think 
I Can”. 

THE CIVIC CLUB SHOPPE RETURNS 
TO THE WINTER VILLAGE FESTIVAL

On Nov. 29, the Sierra Madre Civic Club Shoppe will be back 
in Kersting Court as part of the Sierra Madre’s Chamber of 
Commerce’s 2014 Winter Village Festival - formerly Dickens 
Village/WhoVille).

 As in years past, we offer beautiful hand knitted items such as 
hats, scarves and baby accessories. This year we are expanding 
our offerings to include handmade jewelry, quilted Christmas 
stockings, Christmas ornaments, note cards, ceramics, and even a 
few quilts. These one-of-a-kind items are hand made by members 
of the Sierra Madre Civic Club and their friends and will get your 
holiday shopping off to a wonderful start. 

 All proceeds from the sale of the Shoppe support Civic Club’s 
philanthropic donations to local non-profits and Club’s educational 
awards to local high school seniors. Don’t miss out on this 
opportunity to buy wonderful handmade treasures while supporting 
community organizations and youth.

Inside this week: 


CALENDAR Pg. 2

SIERRA MADRE NEWS 
Pg. 3

PASADENA/ALTADENA

 Pg. 4

ARCADIA NEWS 

MONROVIA/DUARTE 

 Pg. 5

EDUCATION & YOUTH

 Pg. 6

FOOD & DRINK

 Pg. 7

BEST FRIENDS

 Pg. 8

HEALTHY LIFESTYLES

 Pg. 9

THE GOOD LIFE

 Pg. 10

ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT

 Pg. 11

ASCENSION INVITES THE VILLAGE TO GIVE 
THANKS

Soon, the American tradition known as Thanksgiving will be upon 
us. As we gather together with great enthusiasm for amazing food and 
fellowship let us remember to be grateful for all the blessings in our 
lives. 

Sierra Madre’s Village Church (Ascension) invites the community 
for celebration of the liturgy of Thanksgiving and worship during the 
Thanksgiving Mass on November 27th at 10:00 a.m. at Church of the 
Ascension, 25 East Laurel Avenue in Sierra Madre.

This event makes for a wonderful family outing to meet new neighbors 
and check out a wonderful community church. For more information, 
please call (626) 355-1133 or visit: www.ascension-sierramadre.com. 

SECTION B 

AROUND SGV Pg. B1

THE WORLD AROUND US

 Pg. B2

 BUSINESS NEWS Pg. B3

 OPINION Pg. B4

 LEGAL NOTICES Pg. B5