SATURDAY, MARCH 10, 2018 
VOLUME 12 NO. 10 
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 
SIERRA MADRE EDITION 
I am running for re-election to City Council because 
of the profound importance city government has 
for the wellbeing of our citizens. My wife and I 
have been homeowners here for 22 years. My son 
is a ‘born and raised’ Sierra Madrean. Like you, we 
love this community and all that it offers. It truly is 
a very special place that needs to be preserved for 
future generations. 
For the past four years I have served the citizens of 
Sierra Madre as your Council Member. Last year I 
was honored to serve as Mayor. In my tenure on the 
Council, I have kept the promises I made in 2014. 
These included bringing civility and decorum back 
to Council deliberations, implementing fiscally 
responsible management of financial resources, preserving local control of our police 
department and saving the SMPD, professionalizing our fire department and making 
our city more safe, developing and implementing comprehensive plans to rebuild our 
decaying infrastructure, and completing the General Plan and developing reasonable 
approaches to land use planning. Also, under my leadership as Mayor last year, we hired 
our new City Manager. 
Much has been accomplished, but we do face serious challenges, such as the persistent 
drought in Sierra Madre and related issues with water supply, the pension debt facing the 
city in the future, and the consequences resulting from years of deferred maintenance at 
our library. These challenges are not insurmountable. I will seek maximum public input 
and insist on absolute transparency in all City operations. As a team builder, I will work 
to keep the Council and management team on task. We must face our challenges head 
on. Working together, I am confident that we will move forward on all fronts with longterm 
solutions. 
I respectfully ask for your vote on April 10th. 
www.GeneGoss.com ggoss626@gmail.com 
ELECTION COVERAGE 
On April 10, 2018, voters in Sierra Madre will 
go to the polls and select three people from a 
field of four to sit on the City Council. They 
will also vote on Measure D which attempts to 
abolish the city’s current Utility User Tax and 
Measure A an Advisory Measure. 
The Mountain Views News will provide 
our readers with comprehensive coverage of 
this election. Each week, as we have done in 
the past, we will profile the candidates and 
give each of the candidates the opportunity 
to introduce themselves to our readers by 
answering the following questions: 
1. Why are you running for City Council? 
2. What are you going to do for Sierra Madre? 
3. How do you plan on accomplishing your goals? 
(All candidates are being asked to answer the same questions and their answers will be 
published unedited.) 
This paper will also review the pros and cons of Measure D and Measure A. 
The schedule will be as follows: 
March 3rd Candidate Andy Bencosme 
March 10th Candidate Gene Goss 
March 17th Candidate Denise Delmar 
March 24th Candidate Rachelle Arizmendi 
March 31st Measure D &Advisory Measure A 
It is our sincere hope that each candidate will submit their answers so that we can share them 
with our readers. A separate letter has been sent to each candidate asking them to participate. 
Our reporting on this election will be as fair and objective as possible. However, please keep 
in mind that our columnists are always free to share their opinions. Their opinions are their 
opinions and may or may not reflect the position of the paper. This is true in all things, not just 
this election. 
We will also provide for you the calendar of important dates regarding the election. It is our 
goal to do whatever we can to help you make an informed decision on April 10, 2018. 
Susan Henderson, Publisher and Editor 
CITY COUNCIL CANDIDATE GENE GOSS 
DECEPTIVE EMAIL 
TARGETS SIERRA 
MADRE ELECTION 
Breaking News: Anti-Tax 
Organizations Sends Mass 
Email with Sierra Madre City 
Seal Supporting Measure D 
Sierra Madre Voters Beware! There is an email circulating 
with the City of Sierra Madre's logo on it that 
is promoting passage of Measure D that is on the April 
10th Ballot. The problem is, the City of Sierra Madre 
did not authorize use of the city's logo and has not and 
will not take a position on Measure D. As reported in 
this paper on March 3rd, "Measure D proponents want 
to end the tax that is paid by both homeowners, renters 
and commercial properties. If the Measure passes, the 
city would lose 24% of its General Fund revenue.' 
So who sent out the email? Well the names of the 
two Sierra Madre residents who collected signatures to 
put the measure on the ballot, Earl Richey and David 
McMonigle are mentioned, but they did not send the 
email nor get approval to use the city's logo either. 
The email was sent out by the California Tax Limitation 
Committee (CTLC) an anti-tax group associated 
with TEAPAC Pasadena. Both have previously unsuccessfully 
attempted to abolish Sierra Madre's Utility 
User's Tax in 2014 and 2016. They also attempted to 
pass similar measures in Arcadia, San Marino, South 
Pasadena, and Glendale. 
This email also solicits donations to help pass the 
Measure D. 
According to the California Secretary of State's website 
and Cal Access, no resident of Sierra Madre is listed 
as part of this committee. Further, as of the group's 
and Teapac's last contribution reports, no resident of 
Sierra Madre has made a contribution to CTLC or 
TEAPAC. 
No matter how 'official' it looks, the email did not 
come from the City of Sierra Madre. It is clearly an 
attempt by outsiders to influence the decisions of residents, 
for reasons that have nothing to do with the city, 
but everything to do with their own agenda. 
It should be noted, that in upcoming City Council 
Race, all 4 candidtes are adamantly opposed to and will 
vote No on Measure D. 
SUSPENDED PASADENA 
POLICE OFFICER PLEADS 
NOT GUILTY TO 
FEDERAL GUN CHARGES 
Sierra Madre resident 
Vasken Gourdikian appeared 
in Federal Court 
on Friday and entered a 
plea of innocence for all 
of the charges listed in the 
indictment. 
As reported in February, 
2017, two truckloads 
of weapons were seized in a 
raid at his home (http://mtnviewsnews.
com/v11/htm/ 
n07/index.htm). The raid yielded more than 62 items 
of which 57 were guns. Gourdikian is also charged with 
selling the weapons without a federal firearms license. 
The indictment includes a history of gun sales as far 
back as 2015 on multiple occaisions to parties in Duarte. 
The Pasadena Weekly also reported "Under the user 
name “vgourdik,” Gourdikian sold hundreds of weapons 
on Calguns, a Second Amendment advocacy and gun 
enthusiast website. Many of those weapons were on the 
state’s off-roster list, meaning civilians cannot purchase 
them" 
Gourdikian was first put on leave with pay by the 
Pasadena Police Department but his status was changed 
to without pay recently. According to a report in the 
Pasadena Weekly, Gourdikian "collected more than 
$190,000" since his arrest. 
He is currently out on $100,000 bail and scheduled 
back in court in April.