SATURDAY, JUNE 4, 2016VOLUME 10 NO. 23SIERRA MADRE POLICE BLOTTER
SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 10, 2016

VOLUME 10 NO. 37

1ST RESPONDERS TO HONOR 9/11

SIERRA MADRE CITY MANAGER ELAINE AGUILAR TO RETIRE


On Sunday, September 11, 2016, the public is invited to join 
Sierra Madre’s First Responders - The Sierra Madre Police, 
Paramedics, Firefighters and CERT members when they gather 
to honor the memory of those who lost their lives fifteen years 
ago. 

Arrive at the SMFD by 6:30 am. The Verdugo Fire 
Communications Center, the regional emergency dispatch 
facility serving the cities of Burbank, Glendale, Pasadena, 
Alhambra, Arcadia, Monrovia, Montebello, Monterey Park, San 
Gabriel, San Marino, Sierra Madre, and South Pasadena. Verdugo 
and also provides contract dispatch service for the Burbank-
Glendale-Pasadena Airport Authority Fire Department will 
sound an area wide alarm at the exact moment the first tower 
was struck.

Sierra Madre City Manager Elaine 
Aguilar recently notified the City 
Council of her retirement, effective 
December 9, 2016. Aguilar has served 
as Sierra Madre’s City Manager since 
2007 and has a combined total of 
thirty-three years of public service, 
working for three other municipalities 
since 1983. 

Aguilar came to Sierra Madre after 
serving in the Southern California 
cities of Glendale, La Puente and 
Paramount. She personally notified 
the City Council of her decision to 
retire, stating that, “It has been a 
pleasure and an honor to work with 
the City Council, the community and 
staff for the past 9 years, but after 33 
total years, it is time for me to devote 
more time to my family.” 

Upon being notified, Mayor Gene 
Goss stated, “I congratulate City 
Manager Aguilar on her pending 
retirement and her years of service 
to Sierra Madre. Elaine has been a 
tireless, dedicated public servant and 
will be difficult to replace. I know I 
speak for many by saying that she will 
be missed.” 

Former Mayor and Council Member 
John Harabedian added, “Elaine 
retiring as City Manager is a huge 
loss for Sierra Madre. We express our 
deep gratitude for her nearly decade of 
service to our community, and know 
that she will remain a close friend to 
the City for years to come.” 

 Prior to City Manager Aguilar’s 
arrival, the City had five different City 
Managers and Interim Managers in 
a short seven year period. . For staff 
stability and continuity, the City 
Council requested a minimum five 
year commitment. When reminded 
of this, Aguilar stated, “The five year 
commitment became a nine year 
commitment, because I enjoyed 
what I was doing. Sierra Madre is a 
truly special community that comes 
together to resolve problems and find 
creative solutions.” 

 Aguilar provided advanced notice 
of her upcoming retirement, so 
the City Council could initiate the 
recruitment process for the next City 
Manager. Aguilar stated, “There are 
many projects and plans in the works, 
and it is important to maintain the 
momentum.” 

The Council will be discussing the 
recruitment of the City’s new City 
Manager at their September 13, 2016 
City Council meeting. 

SIERRA MADRE’S COMMUNITY 
FOREST IN PERIL

Sierra Madre, Ca. - As many 
residents have noticed, many 
trees are suffering from drought 
stress in our community, and 
many trees are dying. This 
includes public trees, which are 
within the parkway or at public 
parks, as well as trees on private 
property. Sierra Madre is not the 
only community in Southern 
California that is experiencing 
this problem. According to the 
City’s contracted Arborist, the 
primary cause for the rapid 
decline and death of these trees 
is a reduction in soil moisture 
content and levels caused by the 
multiple-year drought. As you 
may have noticed, some species 
in our Community Forest are 
harder hit than others.

Public Works staff would like 
the community to know that 
it is our intention to have dead 
or non-viable trees removed 
as quickly as possible. Dead 
or non-viable trees may 
eventually become hazards 
from branch or total failure, 
and also become homes for 
pests that can further damage 
our Community Forest. The 
Fire Department and Code 
Enforcement Department are 
also addressing private dead 
trees for these reasons.

The Public Works staff 
would like to ask for the 
community’s assistance 
in protecting this valuable 
resource. The community has 
made tremendous efforts in 
water conservation activities, 
and while balancing water 
conservation with tree 
preservation may sound like a 
difficult task, please consider 
the following:

The USDA, US Forest Service, 
and CalFire recommend 
proper watering of young trees 
twice a week, 5 gallons each 
time and proper watering of 
mature trees once a week, 5 
gallons. For perspective, if a 
resident was concentrating on 
saving one mature and one 
young tree on their property 
it would take almost a year to 
use just one unit of water (748 
gallons). Please note that this is 
a general rule-of-thumb. Some 
species will need more or less 
water, and you may have more 
than two trees that you wish to 
save. 

Some of Sierra Madre’s mature 
trees, public and private, have 
taken decades to become the 
beautiful trees that comprise 
the Community Forest. In 
addition to aesthetic value, 
they provide shade to reduce 
energy use and costs, improve 
air quality, assist in keeping 
pollutants from the watershed, 
and many other environmental 
advantages. Trees are 
inherently much more valuable 
to the community as-a-whole 
than water intensive turf and 
other plants. 

Sierra Madre’s Municipal Code 
section 12.20.070 requires 
adjacent property owners to 
provide on-going irrigation to 
parkway trees. 

 

For more information on 
techniques to help save the 
Community’s trees during this 
extended drought, you can visit the 
Public Works Department in City 
Hall, Monday through Thursday 
from 7:30am to 2:00 pm or visit 
the City’s website here, or contact 
James Carlson at 626-355-7135 
jcarlson@cityofsierramadre.com.

Elaine Aguilar, left with former Mayor Mary Ann MacGillivray 

Photo by Bill Coburn

ANTONOVICH 
CELEBRATES 
PATRIOT’S DAY

SIERRA MADRE HONOR AWARDS IS THE CITY OF SIERRA 
MADRE’S OPPORTUNITY TO RECOGNIZE AND HONOR THE 
TRUE TREASURES OF SIERRA MADRE, ITS VOLUNTEERS, CITY 
COMMISSIONERS, AND EMPLOYEES.

Supervisor Michael D. Antonovich 
remembered those who died, the 
firefighters and law enforcement 
who perished in rescue efforts, and 
called for renewed awareness and 
preparedness. 

 “September 11, 2001 was a dawn 
that will see no sunset. I was in 
Washington D.C. on that fateful 
day and witnessed firsthand the 
devastating aftermath of the attack 
on our Pentagon. Fifteen years 
later, we remember the thousands of 
innocent victims who perished ,the 
heroic first responders and the men 
and women in our armed services 
fighting to protect our nation. Our 
thoughts and prayers are with 
their families and we will never 
forget their sacrifice . To 
prevent future acts of terror, we 
must remain vigilant and prepared . 
While our Armed Forces and allies 
fight terrorism abroad, LA County 
agencies continue to monitor and 
prevent attacks locally and prepare 
for the possibility of an incident. 
It is vital for each of us, in our 
communities and neighborhoods, 
to be vigilant in observing any 
potential threat or violent act and 
reporting it to authorities. If you see 
something, say something.” 

To Nominate: Simply e-mail 
or drop off a short letter at 
City Hall listing qualifications 
of your nominee by 5:00 pm, 
Monday September 12, 2016. 

GEORGE MAUER 
LIFETIME ACHIEVEMENT 
AWARD

PAST WINNERS: Gordon 
Caldwell | George Enyedi | 
Marilyn McKernan | Richard 
Mays | Robert Young | Bob 
Spears

Awarded to a person / entity 
whose lifetime of service 
embodies the spirit of 
volunteerism

WISTARIA AWARD

PAST WINNERS: 

Sierra Madre Little League| 
Friends of the Library | MWTR 
Committee | Historical 
Preservation Society, Fourth of 
July Committee | Civic Club. 
Recognizes a City / Community 
partnership that assists with 
providing community-wide 
programs and services.

PUBLIC SAFETY AWARD

PAST WINNERS: Hank 
Landsberg |Casey Morrisey 
|Todd Conrad | Emergency 
Communications Team 
|CERT | Joe Ortiz. Awarded 
to an employee/individual for 
protecting and maintaining 
safety in the community

PUBLIC SERVICE AWARD

PAST WINNERS: Debbie 
Henderson | Toni Buckner 
|Miguel Hernandez, James 
Carlson |Susan Clifton, Jose 
Reynoso, Selena Yang, Kyle 
Schnurr | Rosemary Garcia

The Employee of the Year 
award for the remarkable public 
and customer service.

(continued on page 2)


SAVE THE 85 S. BALDWIN FICUS: APPEAL LETTER FILED

Sierra Madre resident Daniel 
Golden filed a formal appeal 
with the city in an effort to 
save the Ficus tree on North 
Baldwin. The appeal is 
requesting a temporary halt 
to plans for removal of the 
tree pending further research 
and examination of the tree 
and the buckled sidewalk. It 
also requested that the matter 
be placed on the September 
21st Agenda of the Energy, 
Environment and Natural 
Resource Commission meeting.

The story behind the appeal was 
published in this newspaper 
August 20th. (http://
mtnviewsnews.com/v10/htm/
n34/index.htm). 

Golden believes, "there may 
be other solutions that could 
preserve the tree and ensure 
public safety for all." He offers 
the city two options:

 Option 1. Secure a 
Second Opinion. Though 
the City’s regular consulting 
Arborist is a certified and 
responsible professional,

 (continued on page 2)


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