SIERRA MADRE EDITION

 SATURDAY, AUGUST 4, 2018 

VOLUME 12 NO. 31

CITY COUNCIL TO RAISE WATER AND SEWER RATES 
- TACKLE INFRASTRUCTURE By Kevin McGuire

CITY HALL ROCKED BY 
TRAGEDY: 

Beloved Staffer Murdered


In a special meeting, City Council 
unanimously adopted Resolution 18-43 and 
amended Section 13.08.020 of the Municipal 
Code, paving the way for increased water and 
sewer rates for Sierra Madre residents. The 
Public Hearing for conclusion of Proposition 
218, took place on Tuesday, July 31 at 6:30 
p.m., and gave a forum for residents to express 
their approval or disappointment for the 
increased rates on water and sewer services 
which, according to City Council, will be 
amplified to help provide revenue for long 
overdue infrastructure repairs to leaky pipes in 
the city. The new rates went into effect starting 
August 1, 2018. 

 The new rate structure was developed by 
Raftelis Financial Consultants, hired by the 
city back in January 2017. Residents were 
mailed notices of the proposed increases in 
June, and were given the chance to submit 
forms to protest the hikes prior to and during 
the public hearing. If the majority of protests 
were returned, the Resolution could not be 
passed. But, that wasn’t the case as final tally 
presented by Assistant City Clerk, Laura 
Aguilar, produced a total of 277 protests, of 
which 179 were sewer rate protests and 225 
were water rate protests. A total of 2,000 were 
mailed out. 

A handful of the residents who spoke out 
against the increased rates, took issue mainly 
with charges due to meter size, not with the 
proposed usage of funds for infrastructure 
repairs. 

 “We’re in an incurable situation. Water rates 
are exuberant already and they’re going to 
get worse,” said resident Scott Oliver. “My 
inch-and-a-half meter only distributed to 
me 15 units, but I pay—before a drop of 
water—$200. That’s the old rate. My wealthy 
neighbors who have three-quarter meters 
pay $100 less,” Oliver pointed out. Mr. 
Oliver noted that his new rate will cost him 
$300 and that he was told the higher rates 
for smaller meters is because of “more strain 
on the system.” “It’s grossly unfair,” Oliver 
exclaimed. 

 Residents are encourage to call the City 
Manager’s office for clarification of the various 
water meter rates. 

 The new water rate system is broken down 
into two tiers. Those single-family residents 
in Tier 1 can expect an increase of $2.70, 
while those in Tier 2 face increase of $4.23. 
Tiers three and four, from the old system have 
been eliminated. Residential sewer rates are 
expected to see an increase to $35.36 for 2019 
and a jump to $39.80 by 2023. 

 After analyzing the city’s water infrastructure, 
it was concluded that a large majority of the 
47.6 miles of the city’s pipelines are 70 years 
beyond their useful life. The general approach 
by City Council is to no longer “kick the can 
down the road” and tackle the infrastructure 
problem now. 

 “We are at a state of emergency with 
our infrastructure,” Mayor Pro Tem John 
Harabedian said after the conclusion of public 
comments. “Most of us who have been here 
over the past four to six years basically had 
a period of time where our public works 
department was fixing a main or a pipe almost 
on a daily basis,” he recalled. 

 Council Member John Capoccia blamed 
politicians for the ongoing lack of attention to 
infrastructure. “The problem is politicians…
prior councils responded that people don’t 
want to pay, so we didn’t make them pay,” 
Cappoccia sternly noted. “But, your pipes are 
not going to get fixed without money. We are 
guilty too. The first time we had to raise rates, 
we didn’t raise them enough,” Cappoccia said. 

 “The water forum we held a year ago has 
resulted in a lot of changes,” according to 
Mayor Denise Delmar. “We’ve spent a year 
working on this, getting our heads wrapped 
around it to make sure it is fair. It’s is fair for 
the city.” 

 City Council passed the vote unanimously 
with four members physically present and 
Council Member Rachelle Arizmendi on 
speaker remotely. City Council is now in 
recess for summer. 


What began as reporting on a tragic 
murder-suicide in neighboring 
Arcadia, turned out to be 
devastating news for employees of 
the City of Sierra Madre and the 
many seniors, community members 
and friends when it was discovered 
that the victim was Sierra Madre 
Senior Services staffer, Cherry Liu. 

Arcadia officers responded to a 
‘shots fired’ call early morning on 
August 1, 2018 in the area of Sunset 
Blvd and Okoboji Drive. When they 
arrived on seen at 8:20 a.m., they discovered two individuals, a 
man and woman, on the ground in the alley in the 800 block of 
Sunset Blvd. Both had gunshot wounds, according to the Los 
Angeles County Sheriff’s Department who were assisting Arcadia 
police at the scene. Because of the city's proximity to the crime 
scene, Sierra Madre PD were also dispatched.

 The woman, later identified as Cherry Liu, was pronounced 
dead at the scene and the man, her estranged husband Mel Liu was 
taken to an area hospital where he also died from a self-inflicted 
gunshot wound. according to the Los Angeles County coroner’s 
office. It is suspected that the man shot his wife prior to turning 
the gun on himself. 

Cherry has a son who was not at home at the time of the incident.

According to sources, Cherry had taken off Wednesday and 
Thursday to attend to family matters. Her mother, (Cherry was 
an only child) was having a medical procedure on Wednesday 
and on Thursday there was a hearing scheduled regarding her 
divorce. She was killed on Wednesday morning as she prepared 
to go to the hospital with her mother. But a call came into City 
Hall on Thursday morning from a person identified as the sister 
of Cherry's estranged husband requesting personnel information 
and announcing that Cherry had been murdered the day before.

Devastated by the news, grief counselors were immediately 
dispatched to City Hall to help Cherry's co-workers deal with the 
tragedy.

At press time, no additional information was available regarding 
services for Ms. Liu. K. McGuire/S.Henderson - MVNews

Cherry Liu


THIS IS 
A SCAM 
ALERT 
WARNING: 

The residents 
of Sierra Madre 
and the surrounding 
cities have received calls from 
a 323 area code requesting donations 
on behalf of the SIERRA MADRE FIRE 
DEPARTMENT. 

Our fire department has not and will 
not solicit donations over the phone. From 
time to time a request may come up, if that 
is necessary, representatives from the fire 
department will make that request in person. 
Please DO NOT agree to any phone 
solicitations that you receive from callers 
that are representing the City of Sierra 
Madre Police or Fire Departments.


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