PASADENA EDITION

 SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 1, 2018 

VOLUME 12 NO. 35

Actress 
Shot By 
Police 
in South 
Pasadena

NASA Administrator Visits JPL in Pasadena 

City Employee Receives 
Manager of the Year Award


By Dean Lee

 NASA’s controversial newly 
appointed Administrator, Jim 
Bridenstine, met and toured 
with scientists and engineers at 
the Jet Propulsion Laboratory 
for the first time Monday. 

 Appointed by President 
Donald Trump, Bridenstine, 
a three-time Congressman 
from Oklahoma, is the first 
politician to serve as NASA 
Administrator. He is also the 
first NASA Administrator 
with no direct qualifications in 
science or engineering. 

 Before Bridenstine’s day-long 
tour of JPL, he spoke with 
reporters about Trump’s push 
for a new sixth military branch 
“Space Force.”

 “We have to make sure that 
the enemies of our country, our 
potential adversaries, we need 
to make sure they understand 
that there is no advantage 
to damaging space for all of 
humanity,” Bridenstine said. 
“If they understand that, we 
can detour space from being 
wrecked for generations to 
come, which is why in the 
House of Representatives, I with 
a strong bipartisan majority, 
voted to create the Space Force.”

 Bridenstine also said he wanted 
to make clear that NASA does 
not get involved with national 
security and defense, “And 
we don’t want to get involved. 
We are a science organization 
dedicated to exploration and 
discovery,”

 As part of the tour, Bridenstine, 
saw the Mars 2020 rover mission 
under construction; and the 
space simulator chamber 
where the Mars Helicopter 
is being tested in a Mars-like 
atmosphere. He was briefed on 
the agency’s next Mars landing, 
InSight, by team members in the 
In-Situ Instrument Laboratory, 
where a full-scale engineering 
model of the spacecraft is being 
tested. 

At one point, Mimi Aung, Mars 
Helicopter project manager, 
along with other JPL officials, 
gave Bridenstine one of the 
helicopter rotor blades as a 
keepsake. He said he would put 
the blade on display at NASA in 
his office. 

 InSight will study the deep 
interior of Mars to learn how 
all rocky planets formed, 
including Earth and its Moon. 
It is expected to land on Mars 
November 26. 

 Mars 2020 is targeted for launch 
in July 2020. The rover will 
conduct geological assessments 
of its landing site on Mars. 

 Florinda Langilotti, 
Operations Manager, City of 
Pasadena, has received the 
Professional Manager of the 
Year Award – Administrative 
Management from the 
American Public Works 
Association (APWA). APWA’s 
Professional Manager of the 
Year Award in Administrative 
Management seeks to recognize 
outstanding achievement in the 
area of administration within 
a public works department 
and to inspire excellence and 
dedication in the public sector 
by recognizing the outstanding 
career service achievements of 
administrative professionals.

 Langilotti has been with 
the City of Pasadena for 17 
years and is the Operations 
Manager for the Department 
of Public Works. Her extensive 
experience in her various 
managerial administrative 
positions throughout Southern 
California prepared her to be 
an asset to the city. She now 
oversees 69 full-time employees 
and an operating budget of 
approximately $20.7 million.

 Langilotti has developed 
and implemented an 
organizational-wide
centralized fleet replacement 
program, developed and 
implemented a computerized 
maintenance management 
system (Lucity), and conducted 
a comprehensive maintenance 
optimization study. She has 
also led building automation 
upgrades and helped facilitate 
coordination of the staff to 
support the Rose Bowl. She 
further implemented a number 
of recommendations from the 
maintenance optimization 
study to improve maintenance 
operations and reduced the 
Fleet Maintenance Division 
overtime by 172% over the 
past four years. Langilotti 
has also implemented major 
construction upgrades to the 
Citywide Compressed Natural 
Gas fueling station.

 The APWA will present the 
award to Langilotti at the APWA 
National Conference in Kansas 
City, Missouri on August 27, 
2018 and will be recognized by 
the Local Southern California 
APWA Chapter President at the 
Pasadena City Council meeting 
on September 24, 2018. 

 For more information about 
APWA’s awards program, 
contact Rhonda Wilhite, 
Awards & Chapter Relations 
Associate, at (816) 595-5261 or 
rwilhite@apwa.net.


Bridenstine with a blade, Mars Helicopter, photo D. Lee MVNews

 South Pasadena police 
shot and killed a woman 
Thursday after she waved a 
BB gun at them —officers 
thought to be a handgun— 
during a check on her 
well-being. The woman 
was later identified as 
South Pasadena resident 
Vanessa Marquez, a well 
known actress that starred 
on the 90s televison show 
“ER.”

 According to investigators, 
officers and a mental health 
specialist were called just 
before noon by a landlord 
concerned about Marquez. 
When police officers 
arrived Marquez was 
having a seizure and police 
tried to offer medical 
care. Marquez became 
aggressive and waved a BB 
gun, that officers, believed 
was a semi-automatic 
handgun. Marquez was 
shot in the torso and later 
died at a nearby hospital. 

 Investigators said Marquez 
had been suffering from 
issues related to an eating 
disorder. There were on 
officers hurt in the incident 
they said. 

 The incident took place 
within blocks of South 
Pasadena High School.

Local Chamber Members 
Oppose Sales Tax Increase

Tournament 
House

Tours End

 In a recent poll of its 
members, the Pasadena 
Chamber of Commerce 
asked if they support the 
local sales tax increase placed 
on the November ballot by 
the Pasadena City Council. 
A resounding 77.91% of 
respondents oppose the sales 
tax increase. 22.09% supported 
the .¢ increase in the local 
sales tax.

 The poll, conducted through 
Survey Monkey, as sent to all 
Pasadena Chamber member 
companies. The language of the 
ballot measure was quoted in 
the poll and respondents were 
asked simply if they support or 
oppose the measure. 

 “We put the ballot language 
in front of our members 
and asked simply if they 
support the increase,” said 
Pasadena Chamber CEO 
Paul Little. “We had one 
of the highest responses 
we have ever had to a poll 
and resoundingly, our 
members do not support 
it and are looking to the 
Pasadena Chamber to 
take a leadership role in 
opposing the initiative.”

 Respondents were also 
given an opportunity 
to provide comments. 
Commenters opposed 
to the measure fell into 
three general categories:

 Those who feel the 
city should be more 
responsible in its 
spending and budgeting. 
Essentially, like their 
businesses, the city needs 
to live within its means 
and curtail spending on 
unpopular programs 
and not waste money on 
projects, initiatives and 
programs the citizens 
and businesses do not 
support.

 The city has not been 
open and transparent 
about its spending and 
budgeting.

 Pasadena business will 
be less competitive than 
those in neighboring 
communities.

 As one respondent said, 
“City Leadership need to 
be more responsible with 
spending. They should 
treat spending like it’s 
their own money and 
maybe they would make 
better decisions; The cost 
of doing business is already too 
high in Pasadena!”

 Pasadena Chamber members 
also oppose passage of the 
advisory measure to provide .¢ 
of the increase to the Pasadena 
Unified School District. 36.2% 
supported the allocation to the 
PUSD. 62.8% opposed it.

 At its meeting on Tuesday, 
the Board of Directors of the 
Pasadena Chamber voted to 
oppose the sales tax measure. 
The Board took no position 
on the split with the PUSD 
thinking that opposing the 
sales tax measure sends a strong 
message to the community. 
The Board heard presentations 
from Mayor Terry Tornek, 
PUSD Superintendent Brian 
McDonald and PUSD Interim 
Chief Business Officer 
Eva Leuck. The Chamber’s 
Legislative and Governmental 
Affairscommittee 
recommended opposition 
following presentations by the 
Mayor, City Manager Steve 
Mermell, Mr. McDonald and 
Ms. Leuck.

 “The Chamber Board 
represents a constituency that 
clearly and strongly opposes 
this measure,” said Mr. Little. 
“And, when you see that just 
this week the City staff ‘found’ 
nearly $500,000 to maintain 
funding for two positions the 
City Council determined were 
important to fund. And they 
did this without making cuts 
elsewhere in the budget, which 
seems to support the idea 
that any real effort to make 
meaningful cuts and realign 
city government has yet to be 
undertaken. I think, at some 
point, our members would like 
to see a real effort to economize 
and the development of a long-
term strategic organizational 
plan going forward.”

 The Pasadena Chamber of 
Commerce does not endorse 
individual candidates for office.


Bill to Protect Children 
from Lead Poisoning 
Heads to Governor

 
Assemblymember Chris 
Holden’s legislation that 
expands lead testing in drinking 
water within child care centers, 
Assembly Bill 2370, cleared the 
legislature Thursday and awaits 
Governor Brown’s signature.

 “Lead poisoning is a real 
threat to future generations 
of Californians,” said 
Assemblymember Chris 
Holden. “Increasing lead 
testing for California’s high-
risk children is one of the single 
biggest steps we can take to 
prevent lead poisoning.”

 A 2009 California 
Environmental Protection 
Agency report states that 
very young children absorb 
about 40 to 50 percent of the 
ingested lead when drinking 
contaminated water, while 
adults absorb between 5-15 
percent. Even small amounts of 
lead in the bodies of very young 
children can cause irreversible 
harm to their brains and central 
nervous systems. 

 AB 2370 requires the 
Department of Social Services, 
in consultation with the State 
Water Resources Control 
Board, to adopt requirements 
to ensure that drinking water 
at child care centers does not 
contain elevated lead levels.

 “Given the well-documented 
damage that lead inflicts on 
young children, water served 
at child care centers should 
be tested for lead,” said Susan 
Little, California Government 
Affairs Senior Advocate for 
Environmental Working 
Group. “Very young children 
easily absorb the lead they 
ingest, so it makes sense that 
we do all we can to ensure the 
water and baby formula kids 
drink is as safe as possible. 
We applaud Assemblymember 
Holden’s effort to protect these 
kids.”

 AB 2370 also requires child 
care providers to receive 
instruction on the risks of and 
how to prevent lead exposure, 
and requires them to give 
parents written information 
about childhood blood lead 
testing requirements.

Paul Little

 Tours of Tournament House, 
the operating headquarters 
for the Tournament of 
Roses Association, ended 
Thursday. Tours will resume 
in February 2019.

 Located at 391 S. Orange 
Grove Blvd., the house was 
once the home of chewing 
gum mogul William 
Wrigley Jr. and his wife, 
Ada. After Ada’s death in 
1958, the Wrigley family 
presented the property to 
the city of Pasadena, with 
the request that it become 
the base of operations for 
the Tournament of Roses. 
The Wrigley family had long 
enjoyed the Rose Parade as 
it unfolded just beyond their 
front yard.

 Guided tours allow 
visitors to see the 21-
room Italian-Renaissance-
style mansion designed 
and built by architect G. 
Lawrence Stimson and his 
father George W. Stimson. 
Tournament of Roses 
volunteers from its Heritage 
Committee, well-versed in 
the organization’s history 
as well as in the details of 
the house itself, conduct the 
tours.

 The interior of the house 
features richly paneled 
rooms, inlaid marble floors 
and an ornate molded plaster 
ceiling – a design element 
that Stimson would later 
become famous for creating. 
Displays related to Rose 
Bowl Games, Rose Queens 
and Royal Courts, Grand 
Marshals and Tournament 
Presidents also are part of 
the décor.

CALENDAR Pg. 2

MORE PASADENA NEWS

 Pg. 3

SAN MARINO/SO. PAS

Pg. 4

SIERRA MADRE Pg. 5

ARCADIA Pg. 6

MONROVIA 

EDUCATION/YOUTH

Pg. 7

FOOD & DRINK Pg. 8

THE GOOD LIFE Pg. 9

WORLD AROUND US 

 Pg. 10

 BEST FRIENDS Pg. 11


SECTION B: 

AROUND SAN GABRIEL 
VALLEYB1

THE ARTS B2

BUSINESS NEWS

B3

OPINIONB4

LEGAL NOTICES B5


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