Mountain Views News, Combined Edition Saturday, April 17, 2021

Mountain Views-News Saturday, April 17, 2021 

Mountain Views News 80 W Sierra Madre Blvd. No. 327 Sierra Madre, Ca. 91024 Office: 626.355.2737 Fax: 626.609.3285Email: editor@mtnviewsnews.com Website: www.mtnviewsnews.com 


SIERRA MADRE CIVIC CLUB TO GIVE BACK 

Sierra Madre Civic Club wants to thank the Only Place in Town for making the effort to stay 
in business through the pandemic. So, instead of asking for donations from merchants for our 
usual spring auction, we ask the public to join us in patronizing town businesses including the 
Only Place in Town. Club members are encouraged to wear Club attire. 

Please join us. 

Who: Public, everyone is welcome; members are encouraged to 
wear Club attire 
What: Breakfast — Lunch — Dinner 
Where: Only Place in Town 110 W. Sierra Madre Blvd. 
When: Monday, April 26, 2021 All Day: 8am — 9pm. 
Restrictions: Self pay/no host; maximum of 6 to a table; masks 

Come join us and give the Only Place in Town the business. 

As we continue to celebrate National Public Safety Telecommunicators Week, we continue to highlight the 
wonderful Dispatchers of Sierra Madre Police Department.
Meet Dispatcher Lilly, thank you Lilly for your commitment to keeping Sierra Madre safe. 


City of Sierra Madre 

PUBLIC HEARING NOTICE 
From: The City of Sierra Madre 
Subject: ORDINANCE NO. 1441 AMENDING TITLE 17 (ZONING) OF THE SIERRA MADRE MUNICIPALCODE TO MAKE FAMILY DAYCARE HOMES, MODULAR AND MANUFACTURED HOMES, 
AND TRANSITIONAL AND SUPPORTIVE HOUSING A PERMITTED USE WITHIN ALL 
RESIDENTIAL ZONING DISTRICTS, TO MAKE SUPPORTIVE HOUSING A USE BY RIGHT IN 
MULTIFAMILY ZONES, AND TO AMEND EMERGENCY SHELTER PARKING REQUIREMENTS 
PURSUANT TO STATE LAW 
Applicant:
Project Location: 
City of Sierra MadreProperties in the City of Sierra Madre, County of Los Angeles, State of California 

The City of Sierra Madre gives notice, pursuant to State of California law, that the City Council will conduct a public hearing 
to consider recommending adoption of Ordinance 1441, amending Title 17 (Zoning) of the Sierra Madre Municipal Code 
to make family daycare homes, manufactured homes, and supportive and transitional housing a permitted use within all 
residential zoning districts, to make supportive housing a use by right in multifamily zones, and to amend the parking 
requirements for emergency shelters pursuant to State law. 

DATE AND TIME OF HEARING 
City of Sierra Madre City Council meeting; Tuesday, April 27, 2021 (Hearing begins at 4:00 p.m.) 

PLACE OF HEARING 

As part of the City of Sierra Madre’s COVID-19 transmission mitigation efforts, this meeting will take place at the City of Sierra 

Madre Memorial Park Bandshell located at 222 W. Sierra Madre Blvd., Sierra Madre, CA 91024. As part of the COVID-19 

transmission mitigation efforts, the City recommends that all attendees bring their own chair. 

The meeting will be streamed live on the City’s website at www.cityofsierramadre.com, on Foothills Media website at http://
www.foothillsmedia.org/sierramadre and broadcast on Government Access Channel 3 (Spectrum). 

The Brown Act provides the public with an opportunity to make public comments at any public meeting. Public comment may 
also be made by e-mail to PublicComment@CityofSierraMadre.com by 3 PM on the day of the meeting.
For further information on this subject, please contact the Planning and Community Preservation Department at (626) 
355-7138. 

ENVIRONMENTAL DETERMINATION: The adoption of this amendment is exempt from the California Environmental Quality 
Act (CEQA) under Section 15301, Title 14 of the California Code of Regulations and is also exempt from review because it does 

not meet the definition of a project under CEQAGuidelines sections 15061, subdivision (b)(3), and section 15378, subdivision 

(a) and subdivision (b)(5). The proposed changes to Title 17, as authorized and required by state law, have no potential for 
resulting in physical changes to the environment because family daycare homes, supportive housing, and transitional housing 
do not fundamentally alter the nature of the underlying residential use. Further, the parking requirements for emergency shelters 
have a negligible impact on the environment.
APPEAL: If in the future anyone wishes to challenge the decision of the City Council in court, one may be limited to raising the 
issues that were raised or presented in written correspondence delivered to the City Council at, or before, the scheduled public 
hearing. For further information on this subject, please contact the Planning and Community Preservation Department at (626) 
355-7138. 
WALKING SIERRA MADRE - The Social Side 

by Deanne Davis 

“Income tax returns are the most 
imaginative fiction being written 
today.” Herman Wouk 

“This is a question too difficult for a 
mathematician. It should be asked of a 
philosopher.” 
Albert Einstein said when asked about 
completing his income tax form. 

Today has been, in years past, the day 
when a lot of people made themselves 
crazy by suddenly realizing that their 
income taxes needed to be filed by 
midnight tomorrow. We have the 
pandemic to thank for extending that 
deadline to May 17th this year. Not to 
brag, but my dear daughter, Leah, the 
lawyer who is also a terrific accountant, 
and I got my taxes emailed off to my 
tax preparer sometime in February and 
opening my email today, here they are, 
ready to be signed in about 19 different 
places. I have signed, scanned, returned 
and can settle back and not think about 
it for almost another year. 

Remember people lining up at the Post 
Office to be sure to get that April 15th 
postmark on their envelope? 
I thought I’d take a look at tax fraud 
perpetrators, thank you Google, and discovered that just about every celebrity you can think of 
owes the IRS. And great whacking amounts of money, too. Here’s a partial list of these folks who 
just don’t want to write that check: 


· Pete Rose, famous baseball player, was accused of betting on baseball games, which he adamantly 
denied, but was later found guilty. In addition, the IRS accused him of not reporting income from 
special appearances and autographs, which led to a $50,000 fine and 1,000 hours of community 
service. In 2003, he was found guilty of not paying taxes again, and had to pay $154,000 and sell 
his condo in Los Angeles. 
· Famous bounty hunter and reality TV star Duane “Dog” Chapman reportedly owes the IRS $2 
million in unpaid taxes dating back to 2002. 
· Retail businesswoman, writer, and television personality, Martha Stewart, failed to pay $220,000 
worth of taxes on an estate she owned, claiming that she wasn’t there enough, so she shouldn’t pay 
them. The IRS disagreed and forced her to pay the amount in 2002. In 2004, Martha spent five 
months in a minimum-security prison. This was after she was charged with impeding a federal 
investigation into her sale of stock just before the price plunged. Rumor has it her current net 
worth is in the neighborhood of $400 million…which is quite a nice neighborhood! 
· Actor and comedian Chris Tucker reportedly owes the IRS over $14 million in unpaid taxes, 
dating back to 2001. 
· Richard Hatch, a contestant on the popular reality TV show, Survivor, neglected to pay income 
taxes on the $1 million prize he won on the game show in 2000. He was found guilty and sentenced 
to time in prison. After his release he was sent back to prison, this time for violating the terms of 
his release by failing to file his income taxes again. 
· Infamous real estate investor Leona Helmsley (the queen of mean) was convicted of tax fraud 
in 1992 for claiming $2.6 million in ineligible business expenses. Helmsley served 18 months in 
prison, two months on house arrest, and one online in a halfway house. She reportedly said, “We 
don’t pay taxes, only little people pay taxes”. 
· Despite selling 50 million records, thanks to his 1990 rap hit “U Can’t Touch This,” MC Hammer 
owes the IRS and the state of California a total of $671,000. 
· In 1990, country singer Willie Nelson owed the IRS $16.7 million in unpaid taxes. The IRS 
proceeded to seize most of his possessions, but that wasn’t enough to cover the amount he owed. 
He released an album specifically to raise money to pay off his tax debt. Interestingly enough, 
most of his possessions seized by the IRS were later bought at auctions by his fans and friends who 
were more than happy to return them to him. After he paid back the IRS, he sued his accounting 
firm for an undisclosed amount, blaming them for his troubles. 
· Rock n roll legend Chuck Berry spent most of his time on tour in the 1970’s and was paid in cash 
for his performances. The IRS charged him with failure to pay taxes on those earnings (totaling 
$110,000) and he pled guilty in 1979. He was sentenced with 4 months in prison and 1,000 hours 
of community service, which he fulfilled by performing benefit concerts. 
· Comedian Richard Pryor spent 10 days in jail in 1974 for not paying his taxes. During his trial 
he told the judge that he forgot to pay them. 
· In 1973, 39th U.S. Vice President Spiro T. Agnew was the second vice president to resign from 
office after being charged with tax fraud, conspiracy, and bribery. After U.S. attorney George Beall 
opened an investigation in Baltimore City, which Agnew was rumored to be involved in, Agnew 
was charged with accepting bribes of more than $100,000. At first, he refused to resign if he was 
indicted. However, he eventually agreed to resign. He received three years’ probation and was 
fined $10,000. 
· IRS commissioner Joseph D. Nunan, Jr. made (and won) a $1,800 bet that Harry Truman would 
win the presidential election. However, he neglected to report those winnings when filing his 
taxes. In 1952, his story became public and he was convicted of tax evasion. 
· Ruthless gangster Al Capone ran a bootlegging business during Prohibition, that brought him 
incredible profits, but he concealed them from the IRS. When he was captured and put on trial 
for handgun charges, the IRS was able to prosecute him for tax evasion, and in 1931 he received 
a sentence of 11 years in jail. He was also charged with $7,692 for court costs, fined for $50,000, 
and paid $215,000 and interest on his back taxes.

 One last IRS tax evader, my own mother, who one year filed a tax return stating she had given 
thousands of dollars to various charities. She hadn’t, of course, and when the IRS audited her and 
she had to admit she had exaggerated, they were kind and said, “Now, Betty, we know you didn’t 
mean to do that and please don’t do it again.” No jail time and, believe me, friends and neighbors, 
she never did it again!

 Hope you’re having a beautiful April day, relishing that little drizzle we’ve all been enjoying. 
The picture this week is Sierra Madre wistaria, way more beautiful than 1040 forms. Maybe start 
getting those 1099’s together, just saying. 

My book page: Amazon.com: Deanne Davis 
Where you’ll find “Sunrises and Sunflowers Speak Hope”
And “A Tablespoon of Love, A Tablespoon of Laughter”
Both of these books are stuffed with hope and a good recipe or two.
The Emma Gainsworth Kindle novelettes are there, too,
Along with other goodies like “A Treasure Map, A Drunken Owl& 47 Rattlers in A Bag” True Tales of Early California