Mountain Views News, Combined Edition Saturday, September 26, 2020

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MEET THE CANDIDATES FOR SIERRA MADRE CITY COUNCILMEET THE CANDIDATES FOR SIERRA MADRE CITY COUNCIL

4 YEAR SEATS - VOTE FOR 24 YEAR SEATS - VOTE FOR 2

Mountain View News Saturday, September 26, 2020 

Having grown up in small town 
America, KELLY KRIEBS knows 
that she now lives in the best small 
town in America.

Kelly and her family bought their 
home in Sierra Madre over a decade 
ago. In those years she has been 
active in the Sierra Madre schools 
and Little League. She is in her third 
year on the Little League Board, 
currently serving as Vice President, 
was a volunteer weekly in her sons’ 
classrooms at Sierra Madre Elementary and at PTA events at both 
SME and Sierra Madre Middle School. 

Kelly has spent more than twenty years as a corporate lawyer 
advising business owners how to achieve their goals. She has 
negotiated, documented and closed dozens of transactions in her 
career. Her entire professional life has been focused on identifying 
solutions and bringing people together.

As a representative of Sierra Madre residents, Kelly Kriebs will be 
committed to making fiscally responsible choices to safeguard the 
City’s financial wellbeing. Such financial health will be crucial to 
continuing to upgrade and then properly maintain all of the City’s 
infrastructure, including the water system. She recognizes that the 
heart of the community is its downtown and will work to secure 
the long-term success of the City’s small businesses and maintain 
the local jobs they supply. 

Kelly enjoys all that Sierra Madre has to offer and wants to ensure it 
can be enjoyed for generations to come. She spends as much time 
on the local trails as she can, including in three Mt. Wilson Trail 
Races. Her favorite community event is the Fourth of July Parade 
(along with the Third of July beer garden sponsored by Friends 
of Sierra Madre Little League!). Kelly has a deep respect for the 
hard work of the City’s Community Services Department and 
will look to leverage that staff’s experience to expand recreation 
opportunities and community events. 

With the combination of her love of Sierra Madre and professional 
experience, Kelly Kriebs will bring to the City Council sensible 
decision making and a lasting commitment to the City’s quality of 
life and sustainable future.

Kelly wants to hear from you: contact her via her website 

(https://kriebsforcitycouncil.com) or on Facebook (https://www.
facebook.com/kellykriebs2020/).

In alphabetical order (l to r):

SAVE THE 
DATES...

THE SIERRA MADRE CHAMBER OF 
COMMERCE AND THE SIERRA MADRE 
WOMEN'S CLUB WILL SPONSOR THE 
SECOND CANDIDATES FORUM ON 

SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 26, 2020

4:00 PM

THE BANDSHELL IN MEMORIAL PARK

SOCIAL DISTANCING/MASKS REQUIRED

BRING YOUR OWN CHAIR

LIMITED SEATING

THE LEAGUE OF WOMEN VOTERS 
- Pasadena

 PRESENTS:

THE CALIFORNIA BALLOT 
PROPOSITIONS 

PROS & CONS

Presenters: 

Marilynne Wilander

Roger Wilander 

ZOOM ONLY

Wednesday, September 30, 2020

7:00 - 9:00 pm

Meeting ID890 8211 1678

PASSWORD: MVNEWSCA12 

LINK: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/8908
2111678?pwd=UURlN2oxaWhLOHdKaF
F5aHN0a0RjZz09

Sponsored by:

 The Mountain Views News


I am ANDY BENCOSME, 
a proven leader, volunteer, 
and problem solver that 
cares about people and my 
community. I manage Century 
21 Village Realty, a downtown 
small business that has been 
in Sierra Madre since 1988. 
For 17 years, I have trained, 
managed and mentored Real 
Estate professionals to better 
serve the community and 
those who strive to achieve 
the American Dream, with 
the largest investment they 
are likely to make in their 
lifetime.

As a business leader and 
resident, I have made it my mission to give back and be a part of 
the fabric of the community. I am on my sixth year serving on the 
Sierra Madre Community Services Commission, which provides 
oversight and direction on many City and Civic events and 
programs. I, along with my wife Julie (a near life-long resident), 
have volunteered countless hours with many Civic, Professional 
and Charitable Organizations.

I have an undergraduate degree in History and a Master’s degree 
in Business Administration. I was a Public High School teacher 
and later in upper management for Earthlink, in Pasadena, before 
Real Estate. I have managed budgets of $90 Million with 2,000 
employees and classrooms of 35 teenagers with $0 budget. 

This November, we will be electing 3 brand new Council 
Members. We need proven leadership on our Council. 

As a City we will be facing the continued COVID-19 Pandemic 
and it’s impact on our Businesses and our Residents. Our 
downtown businesses are an important part of our community 
and we have to support them and be flexible and creative to help 
them survive.

The potential Monastery Development is going to have a huge 
impact on the City as well as the current residents around it. 
We need someone with experience in zoning, land use and land 
management to think through some unintended consequences 
we may face in the future based on the decisions we make over 
the next few years.

Our infrastructure continues to feel the impacts of decades of 
neglect and we have to plan and prioritize to bring Sierra Madre’s 
infrastructure up to sustainable standards. This includes our 
Water and Sewage systems, our streets, parks and Public Library.

Operating a small business and being a volunteer leader has 
trained me to be a consensus builder and problem solver. I am 
ready to roll up my sleeves and get to work to make things better 
for Sierra Madre.

Email: andy4sierramadre@gmail.com

Phone/Text 626-921-5621

Fb: andy4sierramadre

IG: @andy4sierramadre

Web: www.andy4sierramadre.com


KURT RICHTER

LOVE OUR PAST/PROTECT 
OUR FUTURE

My family immigrated to Sierra 
Madre in 1924. You can imagine 
all the stories that came out of 
12 kids growing up in a tiny 
house on Victoria Lane. Family 
members have lived here in 
town continuously since then. 
I spent my elementary school 
years here roaming the still 
familiar streets and living in 
the lower canyon. It’s all this 
history and fond memories 
that brought me back 10 years 
ago so my kids could grow up here.

Now retired after a long successful career in business, I am ready 
to dedicate myself to working for the city I love. This is why I am 
running for office. I know my skills of managing large operations 
(sales teams, marketing departments, office staff, manufacturing 
and distribution facilities) will translate to what is needed to 
effectively manage our city.

What I plan to do for the people of Sierra Madre that I’d be 
representing is everything possible to Protect our future. What 
does this mean? Of course, we have to keep our village/small 
town environment by managing development in a way that 
protects the charm of Sierra Madre. Along with this, we must 
develop strategies that will enhance the local economy. We need 
to entice into town the type of businesses that will survive in the 
new online retail world we now live in. Highly specialized/special 
interest shops and restaurants that will draw customers from 
outside Sierra Madre to come spend their money here. Parking 
expansion will need to be thoughtful.

Another big decision affecting Sierra Madre is the future of the 
Library. The City Council will need significant guidance from 
the community to deliver a 21st century library and at what cost. 
Books are important, but the library can provide so much more 
for the new work at home population. It can be a vibrant info 
and communication center for businesses and individuals with 
workstations and private conference rooms equipped with tools 
and systems for small conferences or video meetings.

As a member of the City Council I will listen to the citizens 
of Sierra Madre so we can together accomplish all our goals 
as we address these and all the other important issues in town 
(Infrastructure, Trails, Monastery, Bears, Police and Fire Budgets, 
just to name a few). Sierra Madre, together we can continue to 
make this the best place to live in Southern California.

KurtRichter2020MadreCouncil@hotmail.com

KurtRichter2020sm.com

Facebook: KurtRichter2020MadreCouncil

ROBERT 
PARKHURST

 I love our vibrant, 
resilient, 139-year-old 
foothill community 
of Sierra Madre. I 
am running because 
I am passionate about 
taking care of our 
town and citizens. In 
addition to being a 
husband, father to 
two teenagers, 30 year 
resident of California, 
and homeowner 
(caretaker) to a historic 
home built by one of 
the early families in 
Sierra Madre, 

 I am a dedicated 
community servant 
and environmental 
steward. I’m working to support and improve Sierra Madre 
and the San Gabriel Valley community as the Vice Chair of 
Sierra Madre’s Energy, Environment, and Natural Resources 
Commission and am Vice Chair of Clean Power Alliance’s 
Community Advisory Committee. 

 I have three priorities for this great City – replace our aging 
infrastructure, strengthen our local economy, and protect our 
natural resources. 

 On infrastructure, our town has multiple areas to address from 
our water pipes to our library. For example, many of our water 
pipes have not been replaced in nearly a century. At our current 
rate, it will take nearly 30 years to replace them. I plan to develop 
a 10-year capital plan to replace our pipes in half that time and 
address other key structures.

For the economy, we have an incredible downtown with 
fabulous businesses. However, our Commercial Code has too 
many barriers for small businesses. It can take more than a year 
to get a permit, driving prospective businesses to neighboring 
communities. And the pandemic is only making the business 
climate more challenging. I will support our businesses weather 
the pandemic and I will update our commercial code to make it 
more reasonable.

 For our natural resources, as we have seen from the recent 
drought, heat wave and fires, climate change is upon us. We need 
to decarbonize our economy as quickly as possible. I volunteered 
to identify a 554 kW solar project right here in Sierra Madre. It 
will come online next year and save the City money in its first 
year of operation. I plan to continue efforts to address these and 
other areas of natural resources including wildlife protection, 
and fire safety.

 Sierra Madre is an incredible City and I am proud to live here. 
I am excited to engage and connect with you on how to improve 
our city so it continues to flourish. I promise to work hard to 
serve our community. Please vote for me on November 3. 

www.Parkhurst4SierraMadre2020.org 


PRESERVE SIERRA MADRE AND THE 
CANDIDATES TALK ABOUT 

PRESERVATION AND DEVELOPMENT 

Saturday, September 26, 2020 on Zoom

There are three people running for the two year position, and 
five for the four year position. Each candidate will speak to us 
for half an hour. If you would like to join us for the entire time, 
or just part of the time, simply go to the Preserve Sierra Madre 
website at www.preservesierramadre.com and click on the link 
on our homepage. The candidates' times are:

 9:00 Robert Parkhurst (4 year)

 9:30 Dave Loera (2 year)

10:00 Josefina Riley (4 year)

10:30 Andy Bencosme (4 year)

11:00 Tracey Verhoeven (2 year)

11:30 Ed Garcia (2 year)

12:00 Kelly Kriebs (4 year)

12:30 Kurt Richter (4 year) 


MOUNTAIN VIEWS NEWS

LOCAL ELECTION COVERAGE

On November 3, 2020 voters across the country will either cast 
ballots by mail or physically go to the polls in some have already 
dubbed, "the most important election of our lives". That may be 
very true especially on the National level. However, the election 
of capable individuals locally is equally as important. 

In the State of California alone, there are more than a dozen ballot 
measures for citizens to vote on. In the city of Sierra Madre 
residents will go to the polls and select three people from a field 
of eight to sit on our city council, vote on whether or not to elect 
or appoint our City Clerk, vote for our City Treasurer and select 
the representative to sit on the Pasadena Unified School Board.



The Mountain Views News will do our best to provide our readers 
with good, reliable, objective information on all. For the ballot 
measures we will provide you with the Pros and Cons of each 
measure.

In addition, 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 (or the

 PUSD Board)?

 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.

Saturday, October 3, 2020 California Ballot Propositions

In addition to the candidate spotlights, we will attempt to cover 
the various forums sponsored by local organizations. 

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.

Finally, 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 November 3, 2020.

Susan Henderson, Publisher and Editor


JOSEFINA RILEY

1.I am running for office because 
I want to be directly involved 
in shaping Sierra Madre’s 
future. My goals are to leave it 
a better place for our kids and 
families while protecting all the 
things that make Sierra Madre a 
distinctive and wonderful place 
to live. Sierra Madre is a wonderful 
place to raise a family, 
send kids to school, view beautiful 
scenery, and enjoy a thriving 
downtown that is full of community 
events. I want to ensure that 
we retain those things, and help 
to make things safer, and less expensive 
for our residents. 

2.Currently 75% of the revenue
in Sierra Madre comes from our 
resident’s pockets. The revenue 
generated by our businesses in 
comparison, is quite low. Additionally, 
we have a hard time 
bringing in new business and 
retaining old ones. Why is this 
the case, when we have such a 
lovely downtown? I will focus on 
alternative ideas to help bring in 
new businesses and help the old 
businesses stay. This will make 
Sierra Madre an even more desirable 
place to shop, dine, and will 
hopefully alleviate some of the 
burden on our resident's pockets. 
It is projected to take 29 more 
years to fix the entire pipeline of 
water mains (at $1M yearly) to 
deliver water to our residents reliably. 
I would like to see this project 
fast tracked so that we stop 
wasting water due to old, rusting 
mains. If we do not do something 
to grow revenue, we will have to 
continually increase taxes and 
water prices for our city to remain 
in the black. I will also address 
the parking situation. The 
city is overwhelmed with folks 
parking on our residential streets 
for the purpose of hiking. While 
it is understandable that people 
want to visit our trails as well as 
our downtown, a scalable parking 
solution needs to be put in 
place. One of my proposals is to 
leverage clean energy and bring 
in public transportation solutions 
such as a circulator or microtransit 
for example. With microtransit, 
people would be able to call 
the transit vehicle from their 
phones and it would pick them 
and drop them off at the trails 
or downtown like an uber or lyft 
type service. If we are successful 
in this, the ground level, outdoor 
eating spaces could be enlarged 
to accommodate more people, 
safely, and we could have a scalable 
solution for bringing in consumers 
to our small city, while 
preserving our natural open 
spaces, and avoiding unnecessary 
development. 

3.The first step will be to study
the problem, review successful 
plans that other cities have 
implemented and set goals. I 
will support the creation of focus 
groups that include our local 
business owners and residents to 
brainstorm solutions. The main 
focus would be to study how to 
bring in more business, how to 
retain existing businesses, so that 
Sierra Madre becomes a desirable, 
thriving and competitive 
place to do business. I envision 
a future in Sierra Madre where 
we have outdoor eateries in safe 
spaces, away from driving and 
parked cars; Where you can call 
a transit or shuttle bus from your 
house or a designated lot, it arrives 
in minutes, and drops you 
off downtown or to one of our 
beautiful destinations. I will work 
with the transportation authorities 
to put together a plan that 
makes sense. I will negotiate this 
future for Sierra Madre, because 
who wouldn't want to sit outside, 
perhaps on a rooftop lounge, eating 
delicious food and safely enjoying 
our beautiful city's views. 

Josefina Riley for City Council 

Votejoriley.com 

@votejoriley2020 

Facebook.com/Josefina.riley.5 

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