Mountain Views News, Combined Edition Saturday, July 10, 2021

Mountain Views-News Saturday, July 10, 2021 

MONASTERY 
PROCESS RAISES 
QUESTIONS 

3rd

On Saturday, July , Sierra Madre 
residents received an envelope from the City 
in the mail. 

Many folks were away for the long weekend; 
many busy celebrating the July 4th holiday 
and did not open their mail. The few that 
did were surprised to see a letter from the 
Director of Planning and Community Preservation providing ‘ Notice of Public Scoping Meeting for 
the MEADOWS At Bailey Canyon Specific Plan’. ‘The purpose of the meeting is to present the EIR 
process and receive written public comments and suggestions regarding scope and content of the EIR 
currently being prepared for the housing project at the Monastery’. 


‘The meeting will not include a public hearing and no action will be taken. Participants will be able 
to provide written comments on issues to be analyzed in the EIR in an open house format’. 

Little about this hastily scheduled meeting makes sense to those residents trying to stay on top of this 
development. The City has provided information on this process with the first four steps being as 
follows: Prepare Initial Study; Prepare/Distribute Notice of Preparation (30 days); Scoping Meeting; 
and Prepare Draft EIR. The initial study has been completed; the Notice of Preparation released on 
June 24, 2020. Numerous dates for the release of the Draft EIR have been given. The first was October 
1, 2020. They further include the end of December, January , and most recently, in May, the former 
City Manager stated that it is anticipated that staff would receive a copy of the EIR for review in mid 
May 2021 with a public release date in June 2021. They made no mention of a Scoping Meeting 
months into the Draft EIR preparation process. Has there not been a draft EIR all along? Is the 
process just starting? 

Why hold a scoping meeting 8 months after the original Draft EIR release date of October 1st? The 
scoping meeting takes place prior to the preparation of the EIR, not while it is in process; not months 
after multiple release dates have been provided to the public. What’s going on? Why hasn’t the 
promised Draft EIR been released as promised on multiple occasions? The usual answer is because of 
the Covid-19 restrictions; however, various meetings have been held outdoors during the Covid -19restrictions, including our City Council meetings. Why, now, is there an urgency to hold a scoping 
meeting with such little notice? 

This meeting gets curioser and curioser. ‘Participants will be able to provide written comments onissues to be analyzed in the EIR in an open house format.’ What does this mean? The letter states that 
last August 2020, the EIR was discussed in detail and public comments added to the record. Why, 
now, ten months later, is the City providing limited notice for a non-participatory meeting the day 
after the regularly scheduled City Council meeting? What’s the big hurry now? 

This doesn’t bode well for the start of a multi-step process involving transparent, open communication 
between the City and its residents. Sending out a letter that raises more questions than it answers is a 
poor beginning that is causing confusion. 

Again, is the EIR process starting all over? It is difficult to understand the purpose of this meeting. 
Is it informational as stated or scoping as stated? Why is the meeting not open for public comments 
and attendees permitted to ask questions and obtain answers? Why isn’t there an open discussion of 
the issues that are a concern for residents at a public recorded meeting? 

There needs to be some clarification by the City of the statements made in this confusing letter and 
an explanation of the missing Draft EIR. Here’s what you can do : 

1. Email or call VincentGonzalez, Director of Planning, vgonzalez@cityofsierramadre.com, 3557138; 
Mayor Rachelle Arizmendi, rarizmendi@cityofsierramadre.com; Mayor Pro Tem Gene 
Goss, ggoss@cityofsierramadre.com ; Councilmember Kelly Kriebs, kkriebs@cityofsierramadre.com; 
Councilmember Ed Garcia, egarcia@cityofsierramadre.com; Councilmember Robert Parkhurst, 
rparkhurst@cityofsierramadre.com. 
2. Attend the City Council meeting. Tuesday, the 13th at 4:00 pm, Memorial Park. Ask during 
Public Comment at the beginning of the meeting “what is going on?” 
3. Attend the “Public Scoping Meeting “. Wednesday the 14th 6 - 7:30 pm, Memorial Park. Show 
them we ARE paying attention and we care. 
4. Have your comments ready to submit. If you can’t be there in person, email them to us and we 
will submit them for you at preservesierramadrenow@gmail.com. 
SIERRA MADRE POLICE BLOTTER

 June 27, 2021 to July 3, 2021 
During this period the Sierra Madre Police Department responded 
to 206 calls for service. 

 Theft from a Vehicle 
On 6-27-21 at 10:36PM, officers responded to an auto burglary that occurred in the 
200 block of W. Montecito Ave. between 6-26-21 at 6:00PM and 6-27-21 at 12:00PM. 
The suspect(s) entered the vehicle and took the center console cluster. Area checked 
for witnesses or cameras and met with negative results. Case to Detectives 

Attempted Burglary 
Between 6-30-21 at 9:00PM and 7-1-21 at 3:09PM, unknown suspect(s) broke the 
victim’s living room window in an attempt to gain entry into the home in the 1900 
block of Liliano Dr. Suspect(s) fled in unknown direction of travel. No property was 
taken. Case to Detectives 


WALKING SIERRA MADRE - The Social Side 

by Deanne Davis 

“It was a good day for a parade, sunny and unseasonably warm, 
the sky a Sunday School cartoon of heaven.” Tom Perotta 

“Half the people in Sierra Madre are watching the parade and the other half are in it!” 

Catherine Adde, Alan Gee and 
Stephen Tanner did an incredible 
job narrating and video-ing the 
parade on the Village Vine, which 
allowed those of us who have had 
the bad taste to leave Sierra Madre 
for one reason or another, to see our 
parade in all its glory. John and I 
moved to Sierra Madre in 1967 and 
never missed a single parade until 
he started watching it from heaven 
in 2017. We forced our children to 
be in it and our oldest daughter has 
still not forgiven us, but we loved 
going to the parade every year and 
seeing so many people we knew on 
the sidewalk or being part of the 
parade. The picture, of course, is 
Catherine and Alan broadcasting. 

The Grand Marshall, The Buccaneer 
Lounge, were having a great time. 
I had to laugh when Catherine 
and Alan said our parade doesn’t 
have horses, but we have lots of 
classic cars. They don’t remember 
Dr. Pickren riding his horse in the 
parade. Mention was made, too, of 
not having water sprayed from the fire trucks. That did happen in the past. 


After last year’s non-parade, this parade was so sweet to see. Didn’t you love all the parents 
and babies from Sierra Madre Nursery School and all the ball team kids. Great to see Judy 
Chu, who has been serving our district since 2009 and our Hometown Hero, Chief Bartlett. 
I so enjoyed, too, the comments about how many years Sierra Madre had a volunteer fire 
department and how blasts on the horn summoned the firefighters when there was a fire. You 
could hear that thing all over town…which, of course, was the point! Those guys dropped 
whatever they were doing and frequently showed up in interesting attire! 

So happy to see our Citizen of the Year, Megan Malooly, who is a constant presence when 
help is needed. I see her on Facebook and think, like I’m sure you do, she is a real asset to 
our town. 

We live in such a beautiful place. My friend, Celia Kalm, commented a few days ago how 
really nice Kersting Court is now, totally renovated with the emphasis on the Bell Tower and 
what a delight it is to drive up Baldwin toward our own personal mountains, especially when 
the jacarandas are in bloom and you see a purple cloud all the way up to the top. 

Dr. Chuck Seitz sent me a terrific video of our Rose Float, “Nature’s Classroom” currently 
under construction, but well able to drive down Sierra Madre Blvd. with all sorts of folks 
aboard. The Sierra Madre float theme certainly fits perfectly with “Dream. Believe. Achieve.” 
The Tournament of Roses theme, celebrating education’s ability to open doors, open minds 
and change lives. And I’m positive that our float will again be a winner. 

I don’t think the Adams Pack Station donkeys have been in the parade before. I could be 
totally wrong about that, but don’t remember them. How neat to see those guys! Delighted 
to see R T Rogers represented. I first met those guys when they were digging a massive 
hole in March of 2017 to install all the equipment in their building. The food truck with 
empanadas sounds delightful and, of course, their brews are excellent. “He was a wise man 
who invented beer.” Plato 

All along the boulevard, so many friends having such a great time. Don’t want to forget to 
mention that the Sierra Madre Playhouse is about to produce, “You’re A Good Man, Charlie 
Brown.” It will be in Memorial Park, which sounds like such a good place to enjoy this show. 

The Sierra Madre City College Band and float were there, of course, complete with their tuba 
guy in a kilt. They played Yankee Doodle Dandy with flair and panache! Love seeing our 
college represented (giggle!) and remember the year the college president arrived in a black 
limo surrounded by secret service guys. Hilarious! And an added feature: You can now sign 
up for online classes. Sierra Madre’s best kept joke. Thanks, Bottle Shop. 

Dear friends, how blessed we are to have our lives back to normal and pick up the events that 
were so missed this last year and a half. 

And, saving the best for last, thanks to Rich Johnson – who is now back writing for the 
Mountain Views News again – for providing his unique humor with signs proclaiming: 


HELP! 
HELD HOSTAGE! 
SEND SNACKS! 

Just wish he and Susan 
Henderson, our editor, had 
been in a convertible so we 
could actually see them. 
Speaking of Susan, thank 
you for publishing the 
supplement last week which 
included The Declaration 
of Independence and The 
Constitution. 

The Search and Rescue team 
were out in force. So many 
people can thank them for 
showing up to save their lives. 

A new restaurant, Great Bitz, was mentioned, check that out, friends and neighbors, and if 
you’d like to see the parade again, go to: villagevine.weebly.com 

It was a wonderful time and I know you all enjoyed it as much as I did. Happy 4th of July! 

My book page: Amazon.com: Deanne Davis 
Where you’ll find 
“A Treasure Map, A Drunken Owl & 47 Rattlers in A BagTrue Tales of Early California.” 
Hot summer is the perfect time to read this exciting adventure.
For you Emma Gainsworth fans, all her escapades are there AND, there’s a new Emma 
story in the works! 

 Walter Cailleteau, DVM Free Exam! 
927 N. Michillinda Ave. For New Clients 
Pasadena, CA 91107 
Bring 
this coupon to save! 
(626) 351-8863 


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