Mountain Views News, Pasadena Edition [Sierra Madre] Saturday, January 21, 2017

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Mountain View News Saturday, January 21, 2017 

Walking Sierra Madre…The Social Side 

by Deanne Davis

CITY COUNCIL TO VOTE ON NEW 
CITY MANAGER CONTRACT

“I have decided to stick with love. Hate is too great a 
burden to bear.” Martin Luther King

Today, Monday, is Martin Luther King Day. Many 
folks are having a holiday, banks, the post office and 
schools are observing the day, there will be parades, 
and, happily, it’s a beautiful day. As you probably 
know, Dr. King was the chief spokesman for 
nonviolent activism in the Civil Rights Movement. 
President Ronald Reagan signed this holiday into law 
in 1983 and it was officially observed in all 50 states 
for the first time in 2000. We’ve probably all heard 
all, or portions, of his “I have a dream...” speech, but 
here is a part I wasn’t aware of:

 “I have a dream that one day every valley shall be 
exalted, every hill and mountain shall be made low, 
the rough places will be made straight and the glory 
of the Lord shall be revealed and all flesh shall see it 
together.”

 This quote is Isaiah 40:4 and is also part of 
Handel’s Messiah, which we’ve heard numerous 
times and maybe even added our voices to a choir to 
sing it, really well for some people and stumblingly 
for others, such as myself. 

 Another person’s passing, Kevin Starr, was noted 
today. I saw this quote on the front page of today’s 
Los Angeles Times and had to pass it along:

 “In the luxuriance of a bowl of grapes...in a bottle 
of wine, the soil and sunshine of California reached 
millions.”

 An historian and fourth generation Californian - 
not many of us can say that - his life work was to 
celebrate our State’s creativity, its innovation and 
its openness to new ideas. “There are all kinds of 
wonderful books on California, but they don’t seem 
to have the point of view we’re encouraged to look 
at – the social drama of the imagination.” Don’t you 
just love that! We Sierra Madreans have our own 
historian, Michele Zack, who has created a fabulous 
384 page history of our own personal town, loaded 
with photographs, maps and works of art. Dr. Kevin 
Starr liked it, too: “Here is a regional history that 
offers us real insight into American life.” They have 
it at the library, at Lizzie’s Trail Inn, at Vroman’s in 
Hastings Ranch and at Arnold’s Hardware if you 
realize your life incomplete because you don’t have 
one. We love ours.

 My walking buddy, John, and I got out for a walk 
very early this morning, while the moon was still up 
and Venus – I’m pretty sure it’s Venus – was shining 
brightly. What with the rain and all, this was our first 
walk in quite a few days. Bearded Iris are starting 
to bloom. I love those but they just won’t grow for 
me. We have Dutch Iris and daffodils putting up 
all sorts of stalks, buds on the roses. Our pink and 
white camellia, the one I was sure was a goner, is 
covered with blossoms and I brought home a couple 
of lavender plants that looked so good at Trader 
Joe’s that I couldn’t pass them up. We put them in 
yesterday afternoon, expecting that the ground 
would be soft and pliable, leaking moisture from 
every grain of dirt... Ha! Amazingly, even after all 
our rain, it’s still not all that wet down a few inches. 
The weeds, however, are aggressively growing 
everywhere!

 My family in Pleasant Hill (Northern California 
outside Oakland) report that they have had ten inches 
of rain and their drought is officially over. I confess I 
am somewhat jealous as we aren’t out of our drought 
conditions yet. My official weather prognosticator 
and rain indicator, son-in-law, Chuck, says we’ve had 
a good five inches so far. Another series of storms is 
predicted for this coming Thursday. Bring it on!

 In case you were wondering about the excerpt in 
last week’s Walking Sierra Madre, about how gold 
fever never dies. The hero of all the stories in A 
Treasure Map, A Drunken Owl & 47 Rattlers in a 
Bag is my grandfather, Solon Weed, as passed along 
by my Dad, Kim Weed. Look below if you’re dying 
to see what’s next and want this book for your very 
own.

 Don’t forget about the Sierra Madre Library’s One 
Book-One City selection, The Rise of the Rocket 
Girls! Let’s get behind this! And one last word: In a 
world where you can be anything, be kind.

 My book page: Amazon.com: Deanne Davis

Blog: www.authordeanne.com

 “A Tablespoon of Love, A Tablespoon of Laughter” 
is available from me!

 Kindle readers, give yourself the gift of: 

A Treasure Map, A Drunken Owl & 47 Rattlers in a 
Bag – True Tales of Early California

It’s on Amazon.com on my book page!

 Follow me on Twitter, too! https://twitter.com/@
playwrightdd


After receiving applications from 75 candidates, 
10 of whom had City Management experience, 
the Sierra Madre City council met in 3 closed 
sessions last week to find the person whom 
they believe to be the best fit for Sierra Madre. 
According to the staff report submitted for the 
next council meeting, they unanimously agreed 
upon Gabriel Engeland who last served as City 
Manager of Trinidad, Colorado.

Mr. Engeland will replace outgoing City 
Manager Elaine Aguilar, who retired after 
serving over 9 years in the position.

Engeland, a graduate of Central Michigan 
University with a BS in Community 
Development and a Masters in Public 
Administration from the University of 
Kansas, has been on what has been described 
as the ‘fast track’ to city management. He 
most recently served as the City Manager of 
Trinidad, Colorado (2015 to present), a town 
of 8,465 residents which is a “Home Rule 
Municipality”.1 Prior to that, he served as 
the Assistant to the Town Manager of Gilbert, 
Arizona from 2012-2015 and also served as 
the Interim Parks and Recreation Manager (9 
months) and Development Services Director (5 
months) in Gilbert.

As Sierra Madre’s City Manager, Engeland 
will become the administrative head of city 
government, responsible for the enforcement 
municipal laws, direct daily operations of the 
City, making recommendations to the Council, 
preparing and managing the city’s budget, appointing 
and supervising all City department 
heads and employees, and supervising the operation 
of all City departments. Like most cities 
in California, Sierra Madre is a general law 
city2 run under the “council-manager” form of 
government. 

The proposed contract offers Engeland a base 
salary of $182,000 per year (a substantial 
increase over City Manager Aguilar’s salary of 
approximately $156,000) plus a full benefits 
package and car allowance. It will also cover 
$5,000 of Engeland’s moving expenses. The 
contract does call for a commitment from 
Engeland of at least 5 years of employment with 
the City of Sierra Madre.

 

Mayor Gene Goss says that, “He had the best 
combination of experience, education and 
leadership characteristics” of all the candidates 
applying for the job. “I am thrilled that we 
found him and that he is willing to come and 
work for us”.

The decision to offer the position to Engeland 
was unanimous by all members of the council. 
A formal vote is expected Tuesday evening. 

1 Home Rule involves the authority of a local 
government to prevent state government intervention 
with its operations. Theextent of its power, however, is 
subject to limitations prescribed by state constitutions 
and statutes. 


2 General Law: (definition) A general law city is one 
which operates under laws and rules established by 
the State of California. The council-manager form of 
government is similar to that of a private compa-ny’s 
board of directors and CEO. The council-manager 
form is the system of local government that combines 
the strong political leadership of elected officials in the 
form of a council or other governing body, with the 
strong managerial experience of an appointed local 
government manager. This estab-lishes a representative 
system where all power is concentrated in the elected 
council who then hires a professionally trained 
manager to oversee the delivery of public services.

S. Henderson/MVNews

Gabriel Engeland, City Manager Candidate

MUCH NEEDED RAIN PROVES TO BE A CHALLENGE


SIERRA MADRE LIBRARY WINE AND CUISINE 
TASTING – A PERFECT VALENTINE’S DAY GIFT IDEA 

Friends of the Sierra Madre Library are pleased to 
announce the 47th Annual Wine and Cuisine Tasting 
Benefit. The event will be held on Friday evening, 
February 17, 2017, from 7:00-9:30 pm at Alverno’s historic 
Villa del Sol d’Oro, located at 200 N. Michillinda Avenue, 
Sierra Madre, and will be an elegant affair featuring more 
than two dozen vintners providing magnificent wines 
along with local restaurants offering imaginative and 
delicious foods and desserts. Musicians and magicians 
will serve as entertainment. The featured art this year is 
an original block print by Sierra Madre Artist, Melanie 
Campbell-Carter.

 Tickets to the premier event are $80 and allow 
admission at 6:00 pm. Those at the premier event will enjoy 
a variety of wines from Thornton Wines, a California 
winery, and gourmet hors d’oeuvres from local Sierra 
Madre restaurant Sierra Fusion. In addition to this lovely 
wine-cuisine pairing, there will be a gift basket drawing 
and entry into the main event. Tickets to the main event 
are $60 and provide admission at 7:00 pm. Both are on 
sale now at the Sierra Madre Public Library, The Bottle 
Shop, Savor the Flavor, Arnold’s Frontier Hardware & 
Gifts, and can be purchased on-line at eventbright.com.

 The Benefit is sponsored by the Friends of the Sierra 
Madre Library, an all-volunteer organization dedicated 
to supporting our community Library. All funds received 
from this event support the Sierra Madre Library. 
For more information about the event or Friends of 
the Sierra Madre Library visit our website at www.
sierramadrelibraryfriends.org 

Public Works staff was alerted to a fallen mature Coast Live Oak on Thursday, January 12th that was 
completely blocking the one-way section of Canyon Crest Drive. The following Saturday, Januarys 14th, 
Public Works staff was informed of an additional mature Coast Live Oak that had fallen and blocking Fern 
Lane, a small one-way street just off of Churchill Drive. In both cases, the trees were privately owned, as are 
essentially all trees in the Canyon areas, and the residents were diligent and had the road blockages cleared in 
a very timely manner. Staff feels that the failure of the trees is most likely due to the years of drought and then 
a sudden persistent rain that probably weighted the outer canopy portions of these trees.

SIERRA MADRE LIBRARY BEST USED BOOK SALE


Friends of the Sierra Madre Library are pleased to 
announce the upcoming Best Used Book Sale that 
will take place on Friday, February 3 between 3:00 – 
7:00 p.m. and Saturday, February 4 from 10:00 a.m. 
– 2:00 p.m.). This is our annual VINTAGE sale. We 
have been collecting interesting and collectible books 
especially for this sale. Featured in the Basement will 
be many SIGNED, FIRST, and LIMITED editions 
from the past. There are also several fascinating sets 
to choose from, such as the Imperial Dictionary of 
Universal Biography which is thought to be from 
1890, America: Great Crises in Our History (1923), 
The Nazis of Germany (1978), and the Smithsonian 
Scientific Series (1938).

 We recently received a large donation of SIGNED 
Robert B. Parker books (Spenser, Jesse Stone); some 
are First Editions as well. As always, we will have a 
large collection of “Coffee-Table Books” on cooking, 
art, contemporary culture, history and sports on the 
table in the basement. The shelves are full of fiction 
and non-fiction books in every genre.

 The parking lot will include a huge collection of 
vintage FATE magazines. Some date back to the 
1970s and include strange tales such as UFO sightings, 
paranormal experiences and unexplained phenomena. 
Children’s and teen books will be sold from $.25 - $1.00 
in the parking lot and small paperbacks are $.25 each or 
5/$1.00. Our popular $1.00 Bargain Books will include 
some vintage books as well.

 The sale will be held behind the Sierra Madre Library, 
440 West Sierra Madre Blvd. in Sierra Madre. The Book 
Sale is sponsored by the Friends of the Sierra Madre 
Library, an all-volunteer organization dedicated to 
supporting our community Library. All funds received 
from this event support the Sierra Madre Library. 
For more information about the event or Friends of 
the Sierra Madre Library visit our website at www.
sierramadrelibraryfriends.org 

 We look forward to seeing you and talking about 
books at the Best Used Book Sale!


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