Mountain Views News, Combined Edition Saturday, April 13, 2019

3

Editorial

TAX ME PLEASE

WALKING SIERRA MADRE by Deanne Davis

SPEND YOUR KISSES

“Jenny kissed me when we met, jumping from the chair she sat in;
Time, you thief, who love to get sweets into your list, put that in!
Say I’m weary, say I’m sad, say that health and wealth have missed me,
Say I’m growing old, but add…. Jenny kissed me.” James Henry Leigh Hunt

We’re coming to the end of Lent here 
shortly, with Easter right around the 
bend on April 21st, and I don’t know if 
it’s a kinder, gentler spirit, due to the 
Lenten season, that has overtaken us, 
but I’ve been observing a nice thing 
lately, walking through Sierra Madre. 
It’s people kissing. Couples sharing 
a quick kiss as they’re heading off 
to work, jumping into separate cars 
with a cup of coffee; friends giving a 
goodbye smooch after class in front of 
Sierra Fit Pilates as they scatter to start 
their day; a kiss on top of the head for 
a dog who has sat patiently in front of 
Starbucks waiting for his/her owner to 
return; and best of all, parents kissing 
their little ones goodbye before they race off to school. The daily morning scramble is a very hectic 
time, an hour packed with trying to get little people dressed, teeth brushed, something nutritious in 
their tummies, organizing the backpack, getting the hair combed, finding the permission slip and 
the lunch, and not losing the parental temper because wee ones have a tendency to move at snail 
speed in the morning. I shudder to think how many times I did not kiss my little ones goodbye 
before they left for school. I think parents are doing it better these days. Spending all their kisses 
in the picture are daughter, Crissy, and granddaughter, Jessie, who was about three at the time. 

Recently I came across one of my favorite books, autographed by the author and given to me by my 
Aunt Helen, who was the jewelry and gift buyer for I. Magnin’s department store, long defunct, but 
such a beautiful store there on Lake Street just south of Bullock’s, now Macy’s. The book is “Spend 
All Your Kisses, Mr. Smith” by Jack Smith, a columnist for the Los Angeles Times that I read 
faithfully for years and years. Jack Smith was acerbic, opinionated, and funny. He held back very 
little regarding his personal life and family. Of course, personal stuff is the most interesting thing 
anyone can write about as we are all consumed with curiosity about how those around us live. He 
wrote: “For Helen Sessions, Vaya con Dios, Jack Smith.”

Jack came across the quote, “Spend All Your Kisses,” in a book which he put down and was never 
able to locate again among his stacks and stacks of books. He attributed it to a Roman Philosopher, 
but wasn’t sure which one. The phrase and the concept stuck with him, and, apparently, with his 
wife, Denny, too, and a couple of years later on Christmas morning Jack found she had “laid out 18 
pieces of wooden type – each piece . of an inch thick and one inch tall, backwards, of course, the 
words being in reverse order and each letter backwards, in the way of moveable type. The type face 
still bore the stain of the ink used to print out the message on a long piece of coarse linen, which 
was also laid out on the couch - Spend All Your Kisses.” He was beyond delighted.

Jack Smith went on to conjecture about the fact that “there is no point in taking any of one’s wealth 
into the next world. Why keep a kiss, a gesture, a word that might give a moment’s pleasure or 
reassurance to someone else.” He finished, “there is little chance, that I will get out of this world 
with money…and now, thanks to my wife, an ancient poet and my ability to read backwards – I 
am not likely to get out with any unspent kisses, either.”

Maybe the reason I’ve been noticing kiss giving and receiving a lot lately is that we’ve just passed 
April 1st, which would have been John’s and my 52nd anniversary. As we spent all our spare time 
together, and worked together, too, before we were married, I figure I spent 54 years kissing that 
same nifty guy before he relocated to heaven. That’s a lot of kisses! But, just like Jack Smith, I want 
to spend all my kisses...

“Just Today…Spend All Your Kisses!”

If each of us had time, and time, and time enough to spare,

There still would not be time enough to turn away from love.

But each of us has just today, held tightly in our hands.

So what’s the perfect thing that we can do with our today?

We can spend all our kisses, and squander our smiles!

We can hug everyone that we see.

We can find something wonderful in everything,

And folks will find something wonderful in you and in me.

We’ll delight in our dinner, and eat dessert first.

We can live out this day and make it our best,

A day filled with joy and fun, laughter and zest.

So let’s plant a flower, and pull out a thistle!

And notice! Oh notice!

If God has put a rainbow in our sky.

Let’s spend all our kisses today...at least give it a try!

My book page: Amazon.com: Deanne Davis – check out

The Crown,

now that Easter is on its way.

 It will change your perspective on what happened on the Hill called Golgotha.

Star of Wonder the CD is now on TuneCore! Take a look!

Blog: www.authordeanne.com

Follow me on Twitter, too! https://twitter.com/@playwrightdd

“Please Tax Me” 
--said no one ever.

But if I’m going to 
be taxed, I want 
to maximize the 
amount that stays 
right here in the 
Village of the 
Foothills: Our quaint 
City of Sierra Madre.

When you compare 
the taxes of 
California to other 
states, it should 
come as no surprise 
that California ranks 
amongst one of 
the highest in the nation. SST Then you add the 
Districts’ 2.25% Sales Tax on top of the State Sales 
Tax and Sierra Madreans end up paying a grand 
total of 9.50% in taxes any time we buy a pair of 
socks or a box of paper towels in town. 

 it means that 

The most notable concern for us is the District 
Tax. It is supposed to cap at 2.0% but because 1% 
is exempted by the State, there is still a remaining 
0.75% that can be taxed under the limit.

There are multiple entities fighting for that 0.75% 
and it’s only a matter of time. If the past decade 
has demonstrated a trend, in LA County alone we 
have seen 7 of 9 different taxes pass. We expect 
more tax proposals on the upcoming November 
2020 General Election ballot.

If that happens, and other tax measures pass, 
Sierra Madre may only be left with the 1% sales tax 
the State automatically allocates.Doing nothing 
and waiting for others to take our money is not 
an option.

The way I see it, we need to establish our own 
District/City Sales Tax to 1) keep our dollars 
local; and 2) block the ability of other entities’ to 
collect revenues through sales tax. We have three 
ways to accomplish that: Firstly and ideally, we 
gather signature from voters that support a City 
Sales Tax of 0.75%. Of the 8149 registered voters 
in Sierra Madre, if at least 15% of those sign the 
initiative- the City Council has the authority to 
adopt this Citizen’s Initiative.

• Not as attractive, but achievable, is the 
second option of gathering 10% of registered 
voters signatures and call for a special election in 
November 2019. Assuming there are surrounding 
cities that would participate in a special election- 
it may cost approximately $200,000 from our 
general fund. 
• Thirdly, we wait until November 2020 to 
put a Sierra Madre Sales Tax on the Ballot where 
it is likely that competing tax measures will pass. 
If this happens, we may have to share any voter 
approved tax measures but can’t exceed the 0.75% 
cap (unless the entity is exempted by the State). 
The need for action is evident- we need to keep 
Sierra Madre Dollars IN Sierra Madre to maintain 
our quality of life.The window of opportunity is 
small and we only have until the end of May to 
gather enough signatures if we’re serious about 
keeping our sales tax revenue local.


I know I’ll be signing the petition to establish a 
local sales tax. Will you?

“Please Tax Me.” 
- Rachelle Arizmendi, Resident of Sierra Madre 
Rachelle.Arizmendi@gmail.com


KATIE Tse..........This and That


THROWBACK: WINDSTORM

 Oh, you don’t know how close I was to breaking 
my New Year’s resolution of not recycling old 
articles! It’s been one of those weeks. But, as you 
can see, I rose to the occasion and came up with 
something new. Actually, it’s not a new topic, but 
it’s a new article, so resolution preserved.

 This last week we had a couple days of high 
winds. I read that they even lost power in some 
parts of L.A. Knock on wood Sierra Madre’s been 
alright so far, at least where my husband and I live and at my parents’ 
place. It reminded me a little of that crazy wind storm we had that 
knocked out power for days. Do you remember it?

 I don’t remember the exact date, but I want to say it was maybe 
ten or so years ago. I think it happened on a Thursday night. I was 
carpooling with one of my friends from work at the time and enroute 
the next morning we got an automated call that school was canceled 
due to damage from the storm.

 That thing was insane! Street signs were bent like matchsticks, in 
addition to other impressive examples of the power of the unleashed forces of nature. Of course trees 
came down. Although the damage was nothing to laugh at, I thought it kind of funny that some of the 
more dramatic felled trees came to be used as photo ops. One ripped up a big chunk of the sidewalk 
and parents would set their children on the upturned ledges to take their picture.

 Driving was rough while the roads were being cleared, but the lack of electricity was more 
inconvenient. Thank God that we personally didn’t have any structural damage --it could’ve been a lot 
worse!

 It’s during long power outages that you truly appreciate gas water heaters. Those who are tankless 
have to take cold showers, and the only thing worse than being without power is shivering in a cold 
water while you wait for the electricity to come back on. Think I’d rather stay dirty in that case.

 Of course here in Southern California we don’t have to contend with serious wind disasters like 
hurricanes or tornadoes. My mom’s from Michigan and is fond of telling about when she and my dad 
(a Southern California native) went back there for their honeymoon.

 The trip started out fine, but one night the sky turned green and their hotel sent out a tornado 
warning and told all the guests to report to the lobby. It was like that scene from “The Birds” when all 
the old timers told of previous instances of birds gone murderously wild. The locals bided their time 
swapping horror stories of tornados from the past while my dad’s knuckles turned white and his face 
began to match the green sky outside. 

 Luckily no tornado touched down, but it was still a memorable experience. Those kinds of experiences 
of the power of nature are the best --the ones you just hear about instead of actually experiencing. 


SIERRA MADRE POLICE BLOTTER


March 13 to April 7, 2019 
During this period, the Sierra Madre Police Department responded to 
approximately 377 day and night time calls for service. 

Tuesday, April 2 
At about 7:03PM. a domestic battery occurred in the 300 block of Mariposa Ave. Following the 
investigation, the victim signed a private person’s arrest form placing the subject under arrest. 
Case to DA’s office 

Saturday, April 6 
A case of hit and run occurred in the 300 block of Montecito Ave. at about 
12:03AM, witnesses reported that the driver appeared to be under the influence. Damage was to 
city property. 
Case to Detectives for follow up to complete investigation 

Saturday, April 6 
Officers responded to a call about 8:30PM, of a traffic collision in the 200 block of N. Mountain 
Trail Ave. Following an investigation, it was determined that the driver was DUI and struck 
one parked vehicle, starting a chain reaction causing 3 other parked vehicles to be damaged. 
The driver was transported to a local hospital for treatment of injuries then transported to the 
Pasadena Jail for booking.
Case to DA’s office


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

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