SATURDAY, JUNE 12, 2021 
THE 
WEBB-MARTIN GROUP 
IN ESCROW WITH MULTIPLE OFFERS 
2250Brigden.com2 Beds + Office/Den | 2 Baths | 1,800 sf 
Congratulations 
Class of 2021! 
2250 Brigden Road 
Pasadena, 91104 

A canopy of mature oak trees frames this lovely, 
two owner traditional that has not been on the 
market since 1984. Built by prominent Pasadena 
builder, O.K. Earl. It offers 2 bedrooms, 1.75 baths, 
den/office (could be 3rd bedroom), formal dining 
room and living room with fireplace in 1800 square 
feet. Beautiful hardwood floors! Detached double 
garage and lushly landscaped front and rear yards. 

SOLD $187,000 OVER LIST PRICE 
AT $1,337,500 IN LESS THAN 2 WEEKS 
446TheresaLane.com3 Beds | 2 Baths | 1,700 sf
446 Theresa Lane 
Sierra Madre, 91024 


Your Story. Your Home. Your Team. 

Together Stronger. 

Jan Greteman 626.975.4033 

jan@jangreteman.com 
jangreteman.com #01943630 

Judy Webb-Martin 626.688.2273 

jwmartin@dppre.com #00541631 

Katie Orth 626.688.0418 

korth@dppre.com #00942500 

We are active and doing business 
safely and successfully. Call us today 
if you are looking to buy or sell! 

We're still here for you! We can 
show you homes and meet with you 
over video. 

CITY SEES $2.3 MILLION 
SURPLUS; ADOPTS BUDGET 
FOR 2021-2022 By Kevin McGuire 

Celebrating a balanced budget and a General Fund surplus of 
$2.3 million, Sierra Madre City Council unanimously adopted 
the Fiscal Year 2021-2022 budget with plenty of praise for CityManager Gabe Engeland and staff, past and present who helped 
make it happen. 

The Citywide budget sits at $24.2 million with a positive change 
in reserves estimated to be $2.4 million before Capital and debt 
expenditures. The proposed budget includes a $200,000 General 
Fund Contingency. 

The Fiscal Year 2021-2022 budget presentation was given bySelena Yang and Satnam Rait Senior Accountants with the City. 
The presesentation was made before a moderate crowd at Memorial 
Park on the sunny afternoon of June 8 with most Council 
members donning their stylish shades for the bright budget outlook. 
The surplus will be reinvested in Capital projects. 

Looking ahead to the future, some of the upcoming Capital projects 
include: 

• Library Site Plan Remodel (phase1) - $500,000
• City Hall and Public safety improvement project 
-$200,000
• Water Main replacement project - $2.5 million 
• Well Rehabilitation program - $415, 000
• Street Rehabilitation program - $965,000. 
The city is also looking to fill three full-time positions which include 
a police officer, library technician and planning technician, 
while reducing part-time opportunities. 

Due to a steady growth in property taxes (4% increase) and sales 
tax revenues as a result of Measure S, the General Fund revenue 
has seen a growth of $13.3 million. Property tax revenue came 
in at $7,239,300 which calculates 54% of the General Fund Revenue. 
Utility taxes brought in $2,650,000 or 20% of the General 
Fund Revenue. The General Fund Expenditures for the Fiscal 
Year 2021-2022 is a proposed $10.5 million. The $2.3 million 
change in reserves (surplus) is being credited to City Council 
leadership and the city pandemic response plan. 

The Pandemic Response Plan called for $450,000 for CalPERS 
Unfunded Accrued Liabilityfrom human resources internal service funds (ISF), $120,000 for 
Private Sector Adjustment Factor fund balance, and $230,000 for 
Underfund ISF. This total of $800,000 will be added back to the 
General Fund after Fiscal year ending 2021-22. 

Water revenues proposed are $6.3 million with $4.5 million for 
operating expenses. There was a surplus of $1.7 million which 
will be reinvested in Capital projects which total a proposed 
$3.05 million, a million dollar increase from the previous year. 
There was a $2.5 million increase in infrastructure replacement 
projects which includes water main line replacement recommended 
to be done every 50 to 75 years. Some of the added costs 
to this project includes an increase in materials which jumped 
almost 50% over the past year. The goal is to replace two-miles 
of pipes over the next fiscal year as the water loss through leakage 
is at 14%. The city repairs approximately 400 leaks per year 
on average. 

Sewer revenues are projected to bring in $1.1 million, but operating 
costs will run approximately $1.2 million. Capital sewer 
projects are expected to cost $125,000. 

Some Capital projects have seen setbacks as a result of the pandemic 
which paralyzed most 2020 plans. For Sierra Madre this 
caused delays in street repair projects and the purchase of a new 
ambulance. 

The finance team was met with kudos from City Council members 
for their hard work on the budget. “I want to commend 
the finance team for not only an amazing presentation…but for 
putting a lot of technical data in a very digestible form,” noted 
Council Member Kelly Kriebs. 

“This is really an awesome budget,” City Treasurer Michael Amerio 
exclaimed. “It’s over $2 million surplus in operations which 
is so commendable not only for the city staff, but for the Council 
and prior Councils and then that money is being reinvested back 
in the city in the form of Capital expenditures…that is what a 
budget is supposed to do,” Amerio said. 

“It’s really nice to see all of this work put together…and the fact 
that we are in a surplus, we went through a pandemic, we went 
through so many challenges this past year, 90% funded in our 
obligations for pension projections is almost unheard of,” noted 
Mayor Rachelle Arizmendi. “I want to commend the staff on a 
really great job especially City Manager Gabe Engeland for his 
leadership over this past year to get us to this point,” she said. 

Council Members Robert Parkhurst and Edward Garcia both 
credited the Finance Department and past City Councils for the 
positive outlook of the city budget and emphasized the importance 
of investing surplus monies back into the city. 

Mayor Pro Tem Gene Goss complimented the efforts of the 
newest Council Members as well as his former colleagues John 
Capoccia, John Harabedian, Denise Delmar and Mayor Arizmendi 
for their efforts leading to a balanced budget and surplus. 
He also praised City Manager Engeland. “The best thing we did 
was hire our City Manager,” Goss said. “We are getting great staff 
direction. This kind of budget is precisely what our Treasurer 
called it. It is exactly how government is supposed to be done.” 

Copies of the budget report can be accessed on the City’s website 
at www.cityofsierramadre.com. 

VOLUME 15 NO. 24 

Going, Going, Gone!

METRO TO STOP SIERRA 
MADRE BUS SERVICE 

Traditional bus routes to be replaced with Metro 
Micro, an on demand rideshare service. 

ust as we prepare to return to “normal”,
a big change is coming to Sierra Madre. 
On June 27th the two Metro bus lines 
that run through Sierra Madre, #487 
and #268, will be eliminated and 
replaced with a high tech, ‘on demand’ 
service called Metro Micro. “This will 
mark the first time in 114 years, that the 
city will have no regular, direct service 
to downtown Los Angeles”, according 
to local resident Howard Ruben. 

According to the Metropolitan Transit 
Authority, (MTA/Metro), in their place 
will be a service that “is for short local 
trips and uses small vehicles (seating 
up to 10 passengers)”. Access will be an 
app-based reservation system. Those 
without access to the latest technology 
will be able to make reservations via 
telephone. 

The new Metro Micro transit on-demand 
service will be available in Sierra 
Madre, Altadena and Pasadena, and 
to JPL. Reservations will be required. 
Service will be provided in a vehicle 
driven by Metro employees . who are 
extensively screened before they are 
hired and will receive specialized safety 
training, including how to protect 
against COVID-19, the agency stated. 

Riders can’t hail a Metro Micro vehicle 
from the curb, like they would a bus. 
Trips must be scheduled in advance. 
Customers must plan a separate bus 
trip to complete any trip outside the 
service area. 

According to the MTA public information 
line, a reservation using the 
Metro Micro system will require the 
rider to make an appointment to be at 
a designated pick up location (not your 
residence), and you will be taken to a 
scheduled stop along the route. Once 
at the stop, the wait times for the next 
regular bus is stated to be 10-15 minutes 
max. 

Two bus lines served Sierra Madre. The 
segment of Line 487 will now operate 
from the Gold Line - Sierra Madre Villa 
Station and proceed via San Gabriel 
Bl, Las Tunas Dr, Mission Dr, Del Mar 
Av, I-10 Express Lanes to 7th St Metro 
Center in downtown LA during weekday 
peak hours and LA Union Station 
during off-peak weekdays and all day 
weekends. 

Line 268 is also shortened and will 
operate from the El Monte Station to 
the Gold Line -Sierra Madre Villa 
Station, providing direct service on 
Foothill Bl and no longer travels alongSierra Madre Bl via Baldwin Av and 
Michillinda Av. A Metro Micro reservation 
will take you to the nearest bus 
stop. 

The hi-tech Metro Micro service has 
already been established for routes that 
service Watts/Willowbrook, LAX/Inglewood, 
North Hollywood/Burbank,
Compton/Artesia and El Monte. In addition 
to the changes in Sierra Madre,
June 27th will include changes to Northwest 
San Fernando Valley, Highland 
Park/Eagle Rock/Glendale, Altadena/
Pasadena. UCLA/Westwood/Centuryis slated for Fall 2021. 

These changes were to have been announced 
in 2020 but were delayed due 
to the pandemic. 

“Metro is pushing the envelope in order 
to give people more afforable, flexible 
options to get around Los Angeles 
County without driving alone,” Metro 
CEO Phillip Washington said. 

S. Henderson/MVNews 
Below: Yesterday - Sierra Madre's Red Car 
circa 1907 (Archive photo); Today - #487Bus and Tomorrow: Metro Micro Van 
Courtesy MTA 

broker lic. #01514230 | source: CoreLogic, Freddie Mac, Bankrate