Mountain Views News, Sierra Madre Edition [Pasadena] Saturday, September 2, 2017

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Mountain View News Saturday, September 2, 2017 


DRAFT DISTRICT MAPS ARE AVAILABLE 

FOR PUBLIC COMMENT

August 28, 2017 – In accordance with the California Voting 
Rights Act (CVRA) and AB 350, the City of Arcadia has 
released proposed district maps as part of the transition 
to district based elections. The drawing of City Council 
districts is regulated by state and federal law, and districts 
must be drawn to account for equal population according to 
the latest federal census data. In establishing the boundaries 
for the districts, the City may give consideration to the 
following factors:

. Topography;
. Geography;
. Cohesiveness, Contiguity, Integrity, and 
Compactness of Territory; and 
. Community of Interest of the Districts.


The draft maps are available for review on the City’s website 
at www.ArcadiaCA.gov/districts. The community is invited 
to provide input on the draft maps at the next scheduled 
public hearing on September 7, 2017 at 6:00PM at Arcadia 
City Hall located at 240 W. Huntington Drive. Additional 
comments may be submitted to the City via email to 
mbruckner@ArcadiaCA.gov. 

 Per the CVRA and AB 350, the City must complete 
the transition to district based elections by October 
2017; however, the implementation of district based 
elections will begin with the next General City Council 
Election. 

About Arcadia

Nestled in the foothills of the San Gabriel Mountains, 
Arcadia is an 11.38 square mile community with a 
population of just over 56,000. Located approximately 20 
miles east of downtown Los Angeles, Arcadia is known for 
combining small-town charm with the conveniences and 
amenities of a mid-size city. Arcadia is a full-service charter 
city governed by a five member City Council, elected at-
large. Recognized for exceptional education and recreation 
opportunities and beautiful neighborhoods, Arcadia is also 
defined as the “Community of Homes” and has twice been 
designated the “Best City in California in which to Raise 
Kids” by Business Week Magazine.

THE ARCADIA CITY COUNCIL HAS TAKEN ACTION 
TO CONSIDER TRANSITIONING TO A DISTRICT-
BASED VOTING SYSTEM TO SELECT ITS CITY COUNCIL 
MEMBERS, REPLACING ITS CURRENT AT-LARGE 
ELECTION SYSTEM.

On June 6, 2017, the City of Arcadia (“City”) received 
a letter from Kevin L. Shenkman of the law firm of 
Shenkman & Hughes. The letter asserts that the City’s 
current citywide (or “at-large”) voting system is not in 
compliance with the California Voting Rights Act (Elec. 
Code § 14025 et seq.) (“CVRA”). The letter demands 
that the City transition from at-large to district-based 
City Council elections and threatens litigation if that 
demand is not met.\

 In order to stay within the State’s safe harbor 
protections and avoid potentially costly legal exposure 
in the event of a CVRA challenge, this process must be 
completed within a short 90-day window.

 Initiating the process does not require that the City 
convert to district-based elections. The City Council 
must subsequently adopt an ordinance to accomplish 
that result. By remaining within the timing constraints 
of the safe-harbor statute, the City will limit its 
exposure to potential litigants if it ultimately transitions 
to district-based voting.

CITY OF ARCADIA LAUNCHES INNOVATIVE SOCIAL MEDIA PROGRAM

August 31, 2017 – The City of Arcadia is announcing 
the launch of Connect Arcadia, a new social media 
program designed to provide residents, businesses, 
and visitors with City information without clogging 
up your news feed. Beginning with Twitter, this new 
medium groups similar City functions and services 
into one account in order to provide followers with 
maximum exposure to City information with the least 
amount of clutter. 

 “Social media has become the primary tool for many 
to consume news and information. With so many 
competing interests, it’s hard to keep up with everything 
without being overwhelmed,” said City Manager 
Dominic Lazzaretto. “Connect Arcadia’s innovative 
approach cuts through all the noise by combining 10 
City departments into 4 distinct channels. This is the 
future for social media.”

 Follow the City of Arcadia on Twitter using the 
following handles. For more information, please visit 
the City of Arcadia’s website at: www.ArcadiaCA.gov/
socialmedia

 @DiscoverArcadia – Explore your community with 
Discover Arcadia. Stay current on City news, special 
events, and the happenings at City Hall and around 
town. (General City)

 @ProtectArcadia – Quality of life is our mission. 
Protect Arcadia offers public and life safety tips, and 
information on crime prevention to preserve and 
protect your home or business. (Police & Fire) 

 @EnrichArcadia – Enrich Arcadia has something 
for everyone. Our goal is to provide inclusive programs 
and services to foster health and wellness, lifelong 
learning, and community. (Recreation & Community 
Services, Library, & Museum)

 @ShapeArcadia – Shape Arcadia keeps you up to 
date on City projects and smart strategies that promote 
economic growth and sustainability to enhance 
Arcadia’s unique cultural and historical character. 
(Development Services & Public Works)

 

 For additional information, please contact Laena 
Shakarian at lshakarian@ArcadiaCA.gov or 574-5434. 

About Arcadia

Nestled in the foothills of the San Gabriel Mountains, 
Arcadia is an 11.38 square mile community with a 
population of just over 56,000. Located approximately 
20 miles east of downtown Los Angeles, Arcadia is 
known for combining small-town charm with the 
conveniences and amenities of a mid-size city. Arcadia 
is a full-service charter city governed by a five member 
City Council. Recognized for exceptional education and 
recreation opportunities and beautiful neighborhoods, 
Arcadia is also defined as the “Community of Homes” 
and has twice been designated the “Best City in 
California in which to Raise Kids” by Business Week 
Magazine. 


KRIKORIAN THEATRE BEING SOLD TO STUDIO 
MOVIE GRILL, FAÇADE IMPROVEMENTS AND 
UPGRADED HIGH-BACK RECLINING SEATS SET 
TO BE INSTALLED IN THE COMING MONTHS!

EAGLE SCOUT RECGONITION


On Thursday, August 24th, 
2017, Joseph De Francisco 
achieved the rank of Eagle Scout 
from Boy Scout Troop 147 in 
Monrovia, California. This 
journey began at the age of five 
when Joseph was a cub scout 
with Troop 136. As he moved 
up in rank and into Boy Scouts, 
he has learned many valuable 
life and leadership lessons while 
earning over 34 merit badges, 
both religious medals, serving 
in his community and camping 
and hiking in the snow, on the 
beach, in the desert, on rivers 
rafting and even on trains to 
Camp Baker in Oregon. 

 For his Eagle Scout project, Joseph De Francisco 
organized his friends and fellow troop members to 
build and plant a community vegetable garden in the 
city of Monrovia. His goal along with Pastor Neil 
Tadken was to help the growing homeless population 
in the city of Monrovia. Using skills he learned in 
the welding, carpentry and gardening merit badges, 
he constructed, sanded, stained and waterproofed 
the planter as well as created a water drip system 
for the planter using the plumbing skills learned in 
the home maintenance badge . He implemented his 
leadership skills to organize fellow scouts on various 
work days to complete the project. He also used skills 
learned in the communications and 
personal finance badges to elicit 
funds for the project and to collect 
and utilize donations from local 
church members. 

 As a Boy Scout, a citizen 
of Monrovia and a faithful 
member of his church Fellowship 
Monrovia, Joseph De Francisco 
has volunteered in many ways. As 
an avid baseball player, one of his 
favorite forms of volunteering has 
been working with the physically 
and mentally disabled baseball 
players on the Challenge Little 
League team. Another favorite 
volunteer opportunity that Joseph 
enjoys on a weekly basis is helping 
at his church’s youth group by 
leading worship time through 
song and prayers. Joseph enjoyed 
earning badges but the three 
he utilizes almost on a weekly 
basis are the Theatre, Music and 
Cooking badges. When Joseph is 
not camping or playing baseball, 
he is either at rehearsal for an 
upcoming musical production 
with Center Stage Inc., singing 
with Foothill Academy of Vocal 
Arts Festive Choir or taking 
culinary art lessons from Chef Scot 
Daffron at the Boys and Girls Club 
in Monrovia. 

 Joseph’s favorite leadership position was Senior 
Patrol Leader and Assistant SPL. He was able to use 
his creative leadership abilities to organize camping 
trips, meetings and interactive ways to teach lashings, 
knots and first aid. He often incorporated relay 
games and team work to encourage the scouts to 
work together and hone their own leadership skills. 

 Joseph De Francisco was highly recommended 
for the Eagle Scout Award by his scout master, his 
pastor, his church youth group leader, several of his 
teachers, his baseball coach, his employer and fellow 
Eagle Scouts. The Eagle award will be presented to 
Joseph De Francisco on Oct. 18th, 2017 at the Court 
of Honor Ceremony. 


Last week, Krikorian Theatres reached an agreement 
to sell their theatre in Old Town Monrovia (along 
with theatres that they owned in Redlands and 
Downey) to a company based in Texas called Studio 
Movie Grill. City staff has had discussions with 
representatives from Studio Movie Grill (SMG), and 
while SMG operates primarily out of Texas, it appears 
the company is preparing for a big expansion push 
into California. At this point in time, they have only 
one theatre in California, located in Simi Valley, 
and with this recently completed transaction, their 
presence in the Golden State will be expanded to 
include Redlands, Downey, and Monrovia. 

In a bit of exciting news for Monrovia, during our 
discussions with SMG representatives, we did lay 
the groundwork for a variety of improvements and 
enhancements that SMG plans on making at our 
downtown theatre, an overview of which includes 
the following:

 SMG will be working to coordinate several 
significant renovations of the existing theatre

 The first change that patrons will see at Monrovia’s 
theatre is a transition to a reserved seating system, 
whereby patrons will be able to purchase a specific 
seat for the movie that they are going to watch.

 Moving forward, SMG representatives will be 
working with the City on initial movie theatre 
upgrade plans that involve an exterior façade 
improvement and the installation of high-back 
reclining seats

 The exterior façade improvement will be 
coordinated through the City’s existing approval 
processes, which includes an assessment of 
the new signage by the Historic Preservation 
Commission

 In addition, the new seats that will be installed 
are going to decrease overall seating capacity in 
the theatre, but will contribute to an enhanced 
customer movie-watching experience

 SMG hopes to have the initial upgrade complete 
in time for the opening of Star Wars: The Last Jedi, 
which is set to be released on December 15, 2017

 More news about this exciting transition will be 
available in the coming weeks! 

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