Mountain Views News, Pasadena Edition [Sierra Madre] Saturday, September 29, 2018

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SOUTH PASADENA - SAN MARINO

Mountain Views-News Saturday, September 29, 2018 

South Pas City Council 
Adopts UUT Repeal Plan

The Huntington Announces 
a Year-Long Celebration

Barger Calls for Investigation 
into Voter Registration Errors

 


 The Board of Supervisors 
unanimously approved 
Tuesday a motion by 
Supervisor Kathryn Barger 
calling for an investigation 
into voter registration errors 
as a result of the new “motor 
voter” program managed by 
the California Department 
of Motor Vehicles (DMV). 
Created by the Motor 
Voter Act of 2015 and 
implemented in April 2018, 
this program automatically 
registers any eligible voters 
who apply for a driver’s 
license or identification card 
and transmits this data to the 
county where that person 
lives—unless the individual 
specifically declines to 
participate.

 The state reported that 
23,000 instances of voter 
registration errors occurred 
between mid-April and early 
August. The “motor voter” 
program has experienced 
other implementation issues 
as well, with 77,000 voter 
records being misreported 
in May by the DMV to 
elections officials. 

 “We have heard from 
concerned voters in Los 
Angeles County about issues 
with the system, and this 
investigation will help us 
better understand the scope 
of the problem and give us 
a corrective action plan to 
improve voter confidence,” 
said Supervisor Barger. 

 The report back will include 
recommendations on what 
steps the County can take 
to notify and assist local 
voters who were impacted, 
how the County can work 
with the state to help correct 
the errors and address the 
root cause of the problem, 
procedures that can be 
implemented at the County 
level to proactively identify 
and correct such errors in 
the future, and expanded 
outreach measures that can 
begin to restore public trust 
in our electoral process.

 The motion includes a 
report back to the Board 
in two weeks and a five-
signature letter to the 
Governor and the Secretary 
of State in support of the 
state’s audit of the DMV.

 The Huntington Library, Art 
Collections, and Botanical 
Gardens announced earlier 
this month plans to mark 
its centennial with a year-
long series of exhibitions 
and programs celebrating 
the impact of the research 
and educational institution’s 
incomparable collections while 
exploring the interdisciplinary 
ideas that will shape the next 
100 years.

 To punctuate the 
announcement, a new variety of 
rose, ‘Huntington’s Hundredth’, 
will be unveiled on Saturday at 
this year’s annual Huntington 
Ball. The pastel yellow and 
orchid pink floribunda was 
hybridized in 2009 by Tom 
Carruth, The Huntington’s E. L. 
and Ruth B. Shannon Curator 
of the Rose Collection and will 
become available for sale for 
the first time in January 2019.

 “From the tens of thousands of 
researchers who have studied 
The Huntington’s collections 
over the past century and 
the countless people their 
research has touched, to the 
millions of visitors who have 
explored the galleries and 
gardens here, this institution’s 
reach is immeasurable,” said 
Huntington President Karen 
R. Lawrence. “We are seizing 
this moment not only to reflect 
on the legacy of our past, but 
also to explore unexpected 
synergies across the library, 
art, and botanical collections; 
to steward and grow those 
collections; and to welcome 
new audiences of scholars, 
artists, and the public whom 
they will inspire. We want to 
encourage creative exploration 
of the relationship among 
the humanities, the arts, and 
nature.”

 It was in August 1919 that 
railroad and real estate 
businessman Henry Edwards 
Huntington (1850–1927) and 
his wife Arabella (1851–1924) 
drafted the trust indenture 
document that established The 
Huntington as a collections-
based research and educational 
institution for the public’s 
benefit. Twelve miles from 
downtown Los Angeles, their 
Gilded Age estate— one of 
the first cultural centers in 
Southern California—opened 
to the public in 1928. Since 
that time, the collections have 
grown exponentially, and 
the institution has become a 
premier research center and a 
world leader in the promotion 
and preservation of the 
humanities, and its galleries 
and botanical gardens have 
become beloved destinations to 
some 750,000 visitors each year. 
With its extensive historical 
and literary archives, signature 
holdings of European and 
American art, and 120 acres of 
astonishingly varied botanical 
collections, “The Huntington 
has, in its first 100 years, by 
all estimates, established itself 
as a vital cultural treasure,” 
Lawrence said.

Exhibitions, Events, Outreach, 
and Collaborations

 The Huntington’s Centennial 
year opens in September 2019 
with “Nineteen Nineteen,” 
a major exhibition in the 
MaryLou and George Boone 
Gallery that draws from the 
library, art, and botanical 
collections to examine that 
historic year across the globe 
and the founding of The 
Huntington in the context 
of international events. In 
October 2019, “What Now: 
Collecting for the Library” 
opens in the Library’s West 
Hall, the first exhibition of a 
two-part series highlighting 
a wide variety of recent 
acquisitions of rare books and 
manuscripts. Also opening in 
the fall of 2019 is the fourth 
installment of The Huntington’s 
/five initiative, a collaboration 
in which contemporary artists 
respond to a theme drawn from 
The Huntington’s collections, 
culminating in an exhibition.

 Throughout the celebration 
year, The Huntington will offer 
a special series of programs 
that look at the collections 
in new ways and explore 
their potential impact into 
the future. The Huntington’s 
audiences will have the 
opportunity to experience 
Centennial-oriented content 
through a dedicated website 
inviting visitors to share their 
memories and impressions of 
The Huntington through text 
and images. New displays in 
the Mapel Orientation Gallery 
are planned as well.

 The Huntington’s education 
division—which engages 
some 15,000 school children 
and their teachers each year—
will continue its partnerships 
and outreach with Southern 
California schools by adding a 
special Centennial-themed tour 
to its list of programs. And to 
encourage the next generation 
of life-long learners, 100 free 
Huntington memberships will 
be offered to students attending 
Southern California colleges 
and universities.

 “During our Centennial 
celebration, we want to engage 
people in The Huntington as an 
unparalleled repository of our 
history and, at the same time, 
as a site of increasing relevance 
to the way we think, create, 
and live our lives today” said 
Lawrence. “It may seem that our 
botanical gardens are the only 
organic parts of our collections, 
but in fact, our library and art 
collections are organic as well, 
growing and changing their 
physical and interpretive shape. 
With ‘Nineteen Nineteen,’ our 
curators have the chance to 
identify objects from across 
the library, art, and botanical 
collections to tell fascinating 
stories about intellectual, 
aesthetic, and natural history, 
and suggest new directions 
for thought. Why did Henry 
Huntington, a wealthy 
industrialist, collect rare books, 
manuscripts, and fine art? Why 
did he develop among the first 
avocado orchards and desert 
gardens in Southern California? 
We believe it is because the arts, 
humanities, and the natural 
world added both pleasure 
and meaning to his existence. 
The Huntington is a wondrous 
enterprise that never ceases to 
delight its visitors in the same 
existential way.”

 Details about all The 
Huntington’s Centennial 
celebration exhibitions and 
programming will unfurl over 
the coming year.

 


 The City Council has adopted 
a financial plan that would 
cut $3.4 million from the 
municipal budget if a challenge 
to the City’s Utility Users Tax 
(UUT) is approved by voters in 
November.

 The proposed cuts include 
layoffs in the police, fire, 
library and community 
service departments, along 
with substantial reductions 
in planned street repairs and 
maintenance.

 “This plan shows clearly that 
the loss of the UUT would bring 
about a significant and long-
lasting reduction in the quality 
of life in South Pasadena,” said 
Mayor Richard Schneider. 
“Everyone in our community 
would be affected.”

 The UUT is the City’s second 
largest source of revenue, 
said City Manager Stephanie 
DeWolfe, and accounts for 
about 12 percent of the general 
fund. The UUT places a 7.5 
percent levy on utilities such 
as cable television, water, 
electricity and phone service.

 The UUT is being challenged 
by a Pasadena-based group 
that has gathered the required 
signatures to place a repeal on 
the November ballot.

 The City is obligated to prepare 
for the loss of UUT revenue 
through a draft implementation 
plan, DeWolfe said. The plan 
was informed by the results 
of a recent community survey 
that asked South Pasadena 
residents, among other topics, 
which services they would cut 
if the UUT were to be repealed.

 The draft implementation 
plan adopted by the Council 
September 19 includes:

 Layoffs of 12 public safety 
employees, including three 
paramedic-firefighters and six 
police cadets.

 The elimination of all City 
crossing guards, police air 
support, and a school safety 
officer.

Full public library closures on 
Sundays and Mondays, reduced 
hours all other days, and the 
elimination of all library special 
programs, technology upgrades 
and capital improvements.

Reduction of about $1 million 
a year in street repairs and 
maintenance.

 Elimination of the entire 
recreation department and all 
of its programs, including those 
for seniors and children.

 Elimination of community-
based crime-prevention 
programs.

 The Council voted 
unanimously to adopt the draft 
implementation plan, which 
would return to the Council for 
final approval if the UUT repeal 
is successful in November.

 Scenario includes 
deep service cuts, 
layoffs if anti-tax 
measure passes

Get Ready to Wiggle 
Waggle Walk Sunday

 Grab your walking shoes 
and a leash for the 20th 
Annual Wiggle Waggle 
Walk at Brookside Park at 
the Rose Bowl in Pasadena 
on Sunday. The Pasadena 
Humane Society & SPCA 
(PHS) hopes to raise 
$200,000 from the event, 
which will be used for food, 
shelter and medical care 
for the more than 12,000 
homeless PHS cares for 
every year.

 Thousands of people are 
expected to take part in 
the walk around the Rose 
Bowl. Animal lovers are 
encouraged to fundraise for 
the animals by registering 
as an individual or as part 
of a team on the Wiggle 
Waggle Walk website and 
asking family, friends and 
co-workers for donations. 
Supporters who are unable 
to attend the event can still 
donate via the Walk website.

 Participants can choose 
to walk a 1- or 3-mile loop 
around the Rose Bowl or 
stay behind to enjoy vendor 
booths at Brookside Park. 
Attendees do not need a 
dog to join the fun—just a 
desire to help animals. New 
teams this year include the 
Cat Lovers and Kids for 
Animals.

 The event will feature 
Makoto Taiko Japanese 
Drum Ensemble as a special 
musical guest, and both 
Pasadena and Arcadia K9 
units will be on site for 
exhilarating demonstrations.

 “The Wiggle Waggle Walk is 
a fun day out at the beautiful 
Rose Bowl to support 
the lifesaving work of the 
Pasadena Humane Society 
& SPCA,” said Julie Bank, 
the organization’s President/
CEO. “Join us at our biggest 
fundraiser of the year to help 
us care for the thousands of 
animals who come to us in 
need of help each year.”

 Pre-registration is 
encouraged, but Walkers 
may also register at the 
event. Fundraisers can 
receive a spot in the coveted 
VIP Lounge by raising $500 
or more. The VIP Lounge 
will feature complimentary 
breakfast goodies, beverages 
and free giveaways.

 Check-in opens at 8:00 
a.m. at Brookside Park. The 
Walk begins at 9:00 a.m. and 
festivities, including vendor 
booths, team photos, food 
trucks, music and even a 
canine costume contest, 
will continue until noon. 
Brookside Park is located at 
360 North Arroyo Blvd in 
Pasadena.

 For more information 
and to register, visit 
wigglewagglewalk.org.


San Marino Free Self 

Serve Compost Giveaway

 A free compost giveaway self-serve event will be held on 
Saturday, October 27th from 9 a.m. until noon at Lacy Park 
in San Marino in the west end parking lot. Bring your own 
sturdy containers. There is a 30-gallon limit during the first 
hour and no limit from 10 a.m. until noon, or while supplies 
last Plastic bags are not allowed. Bring your ID card or 
Athens bill.

 For more information, contact Ed Chen at (626) 703-
9726 or chen@athensservices.com. or Ron Serven, Code 
Enforcement Manager at (626) 300-0789 or rserven@
cityofsanmarino.org or Dana Hang, Administrative Analyst 
at (626) 300-0765 or dhang@cityofsanmarino.org 


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