SATURDAY, MAY 30, 2015

VOLUME 9 NO. 22

SIERRA MADRE BUDGET TOWN HALL 
MEETING - SATURDAY, JUNE 6, 2015

Sierra Madre, CA. - The 
cool weather set an ideal 
stage for the Mount Wilson 
Trail Race this past Saturday, 
May 23rd as over 300 runners 
participated in the 2015 
Mount Wilson Trail Race. It 
was another successful year 
with optimal trail conditions, 
and a hardworking team of 
volunteers. All participants 
safely completed the 
difficult 8.6 mile course—
an impressive feat worth a 
lifetime of bragging rights. 
Hundreds of spectators 
stood along the sidelines as 
the official race starter, Bob 
Spears, fired the start gun. 

 At a time of 1:05:09 later, 
Alan Reynolds from Sausalito, 
CA came sprinting across the 
finish line. At 51 years old, 
this was not Mr. Reynolds 
first victory at the Trail Race, 
he won back to back races 25 
years ago in 1989 and 1990. 
Quite an accomplishment 25 years later! 

 Sally June Tracy, 29, ran an outstanding race 
to win with a time of 1:13:44 upsetting the last 
two consecutive year’s winner Mireya Vargas, 
coming in second with another impressive 
time of 1:16:19

 Among the Sierra Madre men who 
participated in the event, Troy Putnam, 25, had 
the best time at 1:16:24 followed by Filiberto 
Arizmendi, 45, ran a close second finishing at 
1:16:35 among the men. 

 Sierra Madre females were led by Maia 
Cohen, 16, had the best time at 1:23:34 and Jill 
Liston, 52, had the second best time at 1:31:17. 
There were a total of 34 female entries from 
Sierra Madre and 58 male entries from the city.

 The night before the race, families enjoyed the 
annual Pasta Feed Dinner in Kersting Court. 
Zugo’s of Sierra Madre catered the dinner 
which included pasta, salad, breadsticks 
(donated by StoneFire Grill) and delicious 
rice crispy treats (provided by Sierra Madre 
Civic Club). In addition to loading up on 
carbohydrates, attendees were able to enter 
an opportunity raffle, purchase souvenirs, and 
check-in for both the trail race and the Kids’ 
Fun Run. A new addition this year was a high 
performance mountain bike, donated by CENTRIC Bicycles of 
Sierra Madre and raffled off on race day. Partial proceeds from the 
night benefited Sierra Madre Search and Rescue which provides 
race day safety support on the trail the day of the race. (cont. pg. 3)

2015 MOUNT WILSON TRAIL RACE – PERFECT WEATHER FOR A 
RACE UP THE MOUNTAIN TRAIL

The Sierra Madre City Council 
will be hosting a Town Hall 
Meeting at the Fire Station 
on Saturday, June 6, 2015. 
Residents are encouraged to 
drop by between 10am and 
noon and enter to win one of 
six great participation prizes: 
A Meal with the Mayor, A 
Helicopter Ride, Dinner with 
Firefighters, a Free Park Rental, 
10 Free Library DVD Rentals, 
or a Storytime Birthday Party 
at the Library. 

At the Town Hall Meeting, 
each participant will have 
the opportunity to “balance” 
the City’s budget with the 
current projected revenues. 
Residents will be able to 
study the impacts of various 
reductions including, but not 
limited to, reduction in hours 
and programs at the Library 
and Community Services, 
fewer public counter hours 
at the Planning Department 
and City Hall, contracting 
policing services to the Sheriffs 
or paramedic services to a 
private ambulance company. 
Participants will also be asked 
to “vote” on various revenue 
measures ranging from no 
new revenues to increased 
fees and fines, or a general or 
special tax. 

The accumulation of input 
gathered at ten different 
budget input meetings that 
took place in May will also be 
available for further comment 
and discussion. 

All the information collected at 
the Town Hall Meeting will be 
presented to the City Council 
for consideration as the 
Council deliberates and makes 
decisions on how to balance 
the City’s budget at their 
regular meeting on Tuesday, 
June 9, 2015 at 6:30pm in the 
Council Chambers. Residents 
are encouraged to attend and 
provide public comment on 
this very important topic. 

Residents can send additional 
comments and suggestions 
to city@cityofsierramadre.
com for distribution to all five 
Council Members. For further 
information, please call 
626.355.7135, or visit us online 
at www.cityofsierramadre.
com or in person at City Hall 
at 232 West Sierra Madre Blvd. 
Monday - Thursday 7:30am 
- 5:30pm.


citysealsmall
Alan Reynolds of Sausalito had the overall best time of 1:05:09. Photo by Dean Lee/MVNews 


FIRE DEPARTMENT BRUSH 
INSPECTIONS

The Sierra Madre Fire Department will begin annual Brush Inspections 
on June 1st, 2015 for homes populating the Wildland Urban Interface 
(WUI). These areas are at high risk for wildfires, and as such, require 
mandatory Brush Clearance measures instated by State and Local Codes 
to protect homeowners from the risk of wildfire.

 The following list of Brush Clearance requirements can help protect your 
home and community:

· Maintain the first 30 feet around any structure free of native brush 
and hazardous vegetation.

· Aggressively thin and trim the vegetation 30 to 100 feet around any 
structure.

· Remove dead branches from trees and keep all branches 6 feet off 
the ground.

· Clear vegetation 10 feet from roadways.

· Remove tree limbs that are within 10 feet of a chimney outlet.

· Maintain 5 feet of vertical clearance between your roof and 
overhanging vegetation.

· Keep all roof surfaces clear of dead leaves and twigs.

· Post your street number on your house so it is visible from the street. 

Rabbit leads the way for the Kids Fun Run Photo by Bill Coburn

CONSTRUCTION DELAYS CONTINUE TO HAUNT 
NEW SIERRA MADRE MIDDLE SCHOOL

SIERRA MADRE NEWS BRIEFS

Inside this week: 

FALSE ALARM FRAYS NERVES

 On Friday evening, the sound of the shared helicopter filled the 
air near the 300 block of E. Sierra Madre Blvd. in Sierra Madre. 
Social Media shaared the information too. Facebook and Twitter 
as well as those who stick to traditional email had heard about the 
scanner post and began to worry about safety in our own homess. 
The word was that police were responding to a Home Invasion in 
Sierra Madre. Fortunately, that was not the case.

 According the SMPD Watch Commander Gonzalez, the entire 
incident stemmed from 3 alert teenagers who were home alone. 
and were startled when the heard what they thought were footsteps 
in the house. They immediately ran out of the house and called 
SMPD. As it turns out, there was no “home invasion” but instead 
the fear appears to have been prompted by too much ‘scary’ TV.

CITY OFFERS CLARIFICATION ON 
EXPENSES

 In last week’s edition of the Mountain Views News, a graphic 
provided by the city, was published to show the city’s income and 
expenses. One of the line items listed in the General Fund expenses 
was categorized as “Administration”. This paper received several 
inquiries and regarding it (The amount was slightly more than 
a million dollars). City Manager Elaine Aguilar was contacted 
and asked to explain what type of expenses were included in that 
figure. As it turns out, that amount is inclusive of all city overhead. 
Overhead includes such items as liability insurance, utilities, etc. 
The personnel costs included in administration total $133,000, as 
staff is allocated to specific departments.

TURF REMOVAL REBATE PROJECT A 
RESOUNDING SUCCESS

 The City of Sierra Madre, through a grant from the San Gabriel 
Valley Municipal Water District, offered rebates to qualified 
homeowners who removed their lawns in order to conserve water. 

 The city was able to reimburse 57 homeowners who removed 
more than 48,000 square feet of grass. All grant funds have 
been exhausted at this time, however, there is a waiting list of 25 
additional homes that qualifiy for participation.

 City staff is trying to secure additional grant funds so that the 
program can be extended.

CALENDAR Pg. 2

 To the dismay of students, parents and teachers, 
on Wednesday evening officials from the 
Pasadena Unified School District confirmed 
what most parents and teachers already knew: 
the new Sierra Madre Middle School would not 
be complete by the start of the 2015-2016 School 
Year on August 18th.

 Newly appointed Chief of Facilities Nelson 
Cayabyab, and newly appointed Project Manager 
Rick Kent met with parents and teachers to 
announce the new timeline. Also in attendance 
were PUSD Superintendant Dr. Brian McDonald 
and SMMS Principal Garret Newsom.

 It’s been years since this project began. 
Initially, funds from Measure TT (which passed 
in 2008), were to be used to upgrade the existing 
school. However, after sending the proprosed 
improvements out to bid, it was decided to raze 
the old building and build a brand new school. 
Portable classrooms have been used while the 
construction has been going on.

 After a string of bureacratic delays within the 
district and in Sacramento, and several changes 
in the construction schedule, a final completion 
date of April, 2015 was given. Parents, teachers 
and students were anxious to begin the new 
school year in the finished state of the art 
facility without the dust, noise and disruption of 
construction all around. 

 It was officially announced that the school 
would not be complete until November, 2015, 
almost three months after the beginning of the 
new school year. Kent explained that over the 
summer most of the portables would be moved 
and classes would be held in new Buildings E and 
F temporarily. 

 The mew schedule is predicated upon 
the approval of the 4 elevators by the State. 
According to Kent, that approval is expected by 
June 4th. Once received he committed to amp up 
the construction schedule in order to get as much 
done as possible by the start of the new school 
year.


SIERRA MADRE NEWS 
Pg. 3

 PASADENA/ALTADENA

 Pg. 4

ARCADIA NEWS 

 Pg. 6

MONROVIA/DUARTE 
Pg. 7

SAN GABRIEL VALLEY 

 Pg. 8

BEST FRIENDS

 Pg. 9

EDUCATION & YOUTH

 Pg. 10

Sierra Madre Middle School site on May 27th. After the meeting with parents, the Citizens 
Oversight Committee toured the site. S. Henderson/MVNews

FOOD & DRINK

ARTS Pg. 11

HEALTHY LIVING

 Pg. 12

GOOD LIFE

 Pg. 13

THE WORLD AROUND 
US Pg. 14

OPINION Pg. 15

LEGAL NOTICES

 Pg. 16


Mountain Views News 80 W Sierra Madre Blvd. No. 327 Sierra Madre, Ca. 91024 Office: 626.355.2737 Fax: 626.609.3285 Email: editor@mtnviewsnews.com Website: www.mtnviewsnews.com