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Mountain View News Saturday, March 16, 2024 

Pasadena 
One City, 
One Story 
Author Talk


Siques Selected as New 
Pasadena DOT Director

 
Pasadena City Manager Miguel 
Márque announced Monday the 
appointment of Joaquin Siques 
(pictured) as director of the city’s 
Department of Transportation 
(DOT), following a nationwide 
recruitment.

 According to Márque, Siques 
began his career with the City 
of Pasadena Department of 
Transportation almost 20-years 
ago and has advanced through 
engineering classifications to the 
position of Deputy Director of 
Transportation in 2020. During 
this time, he played a critical 
role in implementing dozens 
of projects and programs, 
including securing the Caltrans 
relinquishment of the 710 
freeway stub, implementing on-
street dining and “Slow Streets” 
programs during the Covid-19 
pandemic, and securing 
millions in grant funding for 
transportation projects. He 
brings a balanced approach 
to improving the safety and 
efficiency of the movement of 
people within the City, creating 
a sustainable and equitable 
transportation system, with 
a focus on the system’s most 
vulnerable road users. Joaquin 
also serves as the Executive 
Director of the Arroyo Verdugo 
Joint Powers Authority, with 
the member cities of South 
Pasadena, Burbank, Glendale, 
La Canada Flintridge, and the 
County of Los Angeles. Prior to 
his employment with Pasadena, 
Mr. Siques spent five years in the 
private sector.

 “Joaquin combines an 
engineering background with 
a passion for safety and a 
commitment to provide open 
channels of communication 
to continue to improve the 
transportation network for 
all transit users in Pasadena,” 
Márquez said.

 “My vision for Pasadena 
builds on the progress made 
over the past two decades in 
enhancing safety for all road 
users, prioritizing sustainability 
and equity, implementing 
technology-based programs, 
promoting innovation, and 
ensuring communication 
with Pasadena residents and 
businesses while providing 
data driven solutions ” Siques 
said. “The City has a great team 
in place, and the staff in the 
Department of Transportation 
work tirelessly to achieve 
the City’s vision, providing 
mobility solutions for residents 
and businesses. I am honored 
to have been selected for this 
position and I am grateful 
for the support from my City 
colleagues and my family.”

 The Department of 
Transportation is made up of 
five divisions: Transit, Parking, 
Multimodal Planning, Mobility 
Engineering and Operations, 
and Administration. With 56 
employees, the Department has 
an annual operating budget of 
$44 million and implements a 
Capital Improvement Program 
of over $230 million to pursue 
the city’s vision of creating a 
city where people can circulate 
without cars


Council to Meet on Gaza–Israel Conflict

 

By Dean Lee

The Pasadena city council is set 
Monday night to devote an entire 
special meeting to a discussion 
related to the ongoing conflict in 
the Middle East and consider a 
possible city position, including 
urging President Joe Biden to 
undertake diplomatic efforts to 
negotiate and facilitate a bilateral 
de-escalation and ceasefire. 

 The special meeting comes 
after public speakers, last 
Monday, raised concern about 
the ongoing conflict and asked 
that the city council adopt 
a Resolution calling for an 
immediate ceasefire. 

 Since then, many people in the 
community have written letters 
to city hall opposed to Pasadena’s 
involvement in the conflict. 

 “I am writing to oppose a 
potential city council resolution 
calling for a ceasefire in Gaza,” 
wrote Maureen Eagle Gelberg, 
a resident of Pasadena. “Our 
city is a diverse and inclusive 
community, and I believe that 
voting for a ceasefire would create 
division. It is in Pasadena’s best 
interests for the Council to focus 
on these pressing local issues 
while leaving complex foreign 
policy and security debates to 
the federal government. For that 
reason, I urge you to oppose any 
resolution calling for a ceasefire 
in Gaza.”

 In the last few days, Pasadena 
officials in city hall have received 
over 30 letters of opinion, only a 
few of them were in support of a 
Resolution calling for a ceasefire. 

 “A Ceasefire Resolution will 
send a message to Washington 
that our city, the city known 
around the world as the City 
of Roses, stands for peace and 
justice in Israel/Palestine,” 
Resident Anthony Manousos 
said. “It will show that we care 
about protecting lives—those 
of the hostages and the roughly 
one million children who live 
in Gaza— and seek to address 
the underlying drivers of this 
conflict, including decades of 
institutionalized oppression 
and collective punishment of 
Palestinians through brutal 
military occupation and a 17-
year Gaza blockade.” 

 At Monday’s meeting, the 
city council will consider a 
Proposed Resolution by District 
5 Councilmember Jess Rivas 
that calls for an immediate end 
to the humanitarian crisis in the 
region and directs city staff to 
deliver copies, if passed, of the 
resolution to President Biden 
and each member of the city’s 
Congressional delegation.

 Over 70 U.S. cities, 20 in 
California, have passed 
Resolutions on topics related to 
the conflict in the Middle East. 
Nearby cities of Montebello, 

 Pomona, Long Beach and Santa 
Ana have all called for Cease-
Fire in Gaza as of this writing. 

 The city council meets at 5 p.m. 
at the Pasadena Convention 
Center 300 East Greet Street,

Rooms 101-105. 

 City officials are expecting a 
large number of people at the 
meeting. Eastbound traffic on 
Green Street near Marengo 
Boulevard will be closed. 
Members of the public attending 
the meeting can utilize the Paseo 
Colorado Garages. Parking will 
be validated at the meeting they 
said. For more information visit: 
cityofpasadena.net.

 The city council 
meets at 5 p.m. at the 
Pasadena Convention 
Center

 To celebrate the 22nd year 
of Pasadena’s One City, One 
Story community reading 
project, the public is invited 
to a conversation with 
Marianne Wiggins, author 
of this year’s selection 
Properties of Thirst, 
Saturday, March 23, at 2 p.m. 
at Pasadena Presbyterian 
Church, 585 E. Colorado 
Blvd. Wiggins will discuss 
her experiences writing 
this novel. A question-
and-answer session will 
immediately follow. A Slide 
Rule Trombone Welcome 
Concert will be held from 
1:15 to 1:45 p.m. The event 
is free.

 Properties of Thirst 
is a novel that is both 
universal and intimate. It 
is the story of a changing 
American landscape and 
an examination of one 
of the darkest periods in 
this country’s past, told 
through the stories of the 
individual loves and losses 
that weave together to form 
the fabric of our shared 
history. Ultimately, it is an 
unflinching distillation of 
our nation’s essence—and a 
celebration of the bonds of 
love and family that persist 
against all odds.

 Rockwell “Rocky” Rhodes 
has spent years fiercely 
protecting his California 
ranch from the LA Water 
Corporation. It is here 
where he and his beloved 
wife, Lou, raised their 
twins, and where Rocky has 
mourned Lou in the years 
since her death.

 As twins Sunny and 
Stryker reach adulthood, 
the country teeters on the 
brink of war. Stryker decides 
to join the fight, deploying 
to Pearl Harbor not long 
before the bombs strike. 
Soon, Rocky and his family 
find themselves facing yet 
another incomprehensible 
tragedy.

 And when the government 
decides to build a Japanese 
American internment 
camp next to the ranch, 
Rocky realizes that the land 
faces even bigger threats 
than the LA watermen he’s 
battled for years.

 Marianne Wiggins is the 
author of eight novels, 
including John Dollar and 
Evidence of Things Unseen, 
which was a finalist for the 
Pulitzer Prize for Fiction 
and the National Book 
Award. 

 For more information visit: 

 cityofpasadena.libguides.
com/onecityonestory or 
call (626) 744-7076.

Women’s 
History Month 
at Pasadena 
Senior Center

 Ada Gates, the first woman 
in the United States to 
be licensed as a certified 
journeyman farrier, will 
present her fascinating 
history at the Pasadena Senior 
Center Cultural Thursdays, 
to celebrate Women’s History 
Month Thursday, March 28, at 
2 p.m.

 With a family tree that features 
Fricks and Vanderbilts, Gates’s 
grew up riding horses at her 
family’s estate in New York and 
attending prestigious boarding 
schools. During her teenaged 
and young adult years she 
was a debutante, model and 
actress who enjoyed the finest 
things in life. By the 1980s, 
she was recognized as one of 
the top racehorse farriers — 
a craftsmen who trims and 
shoes horses’ hooves — in 
the U.S. and Canada, shoeing 
every legendary horse that 
ever entered the paddock at 
Santa Anita.

 She has also been a long-
time farrier to the Pasadena 
Tournament of Roses parade, 
responsible for ensuring that 
all horses are shod correctly 
— with traction on their shoes 
— to prevent slippage on the 
pavement. In addition, she 
served as the farrier liaison for 
the 1984 Los Angeles Olympic 
Games.

 The Pasadena Senior Center’s 
mission is to improve the lives 
of older adults through caring 
service with opportunities 
for social interaction, fitness 
programs, basic support and 
needs services, education, 
volunteerism and community 
activism.

 Hours of operation are 
Monday through Friday 
from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. 
and Saturday from 8 a.m. to 
noon. To learn more, visit 
pasadenaseniorcenter.org or 
call 626-795-4331. The Center 
is located at 85 E. Holly Street 
in Pasadena.

 The presentation, a Cultural 
Thursday event, is free for 
PSC members and $5 for 
nonmembers. To register visit: 
pasadenaseniorcenter.org then 
click on Activities & Events or 
call 626-795-4331.

Symphony Continues Season 
with Beethoven Violin Concerto

 

 The Pasadena Symphony 
announced that the 23/24 season 
continues with Beethoven 
Violin Concerto on Saturday, 
March 23 with performances 
at 2 p.m. and 8 p.m. at 
Ambassador Auditorium. 
Avery Fisher-winning Spanish 
violinist Francisco Fullana will 
take center stage for Beethoven’s 
only Violin Concerto.

 Spanish-American conductor 
François López-Ferrer 
(pictured) returns as Artistic 
Partner to lead this colorful and 
majestic program. Currently 
serving as Resident Conductor 
of the Académie of the Opéra 
de Paris, López-Ferrer will 
conjure the magic and romance 
of Stravinsky’s soaring Firebird. 
Grammy-nominated composer 
Shawn Okpebholo’s Kutimbua 
Kivumbi (Stomp the Dust!) will 
open the program, showcasing 
the essence of Kenya with a 
soundscape that musically 
depicts its arid terrain and the 
dust rising from traditional rain 
dances.

 The Pasadena Symphony 
provides a vibrant experience 
specially designed for the music 
lover, the social butterfly or 
a date night out. Arrive early 
for the pre-concert discussion 
Insights, or enjoy a bite or a 
glass in the Symphony Lounge, a 
posh setting along Ambassador 
Auditorium’s beautiful outdoor 
plaza with a full service 
beverage center serving coffee, 
spirits, and fine wines from 
The Michero Family, plus 
sandwiches, soup, appetizers 
and dessert by Cynthia Brooks 
Catering before the concert and 
during intermission.

 All concerts are held at 
Ambassador Auditorium, 131 
South St. John Ave, Pasadena, 
CA. Single tickets start at $42 
and may be purchased online at: 
pasadenasymphony-pops.org 
or by calling (626) 793-7172.

Pasadena Chorale Opens 
Auditions For 24-25 Season

 

 The Pasadena Chorale, a 
distinguished auditioned 
chorus, known for its 
commitment to providing free 
high-quality choral concerts 
and educational programs to 
the community, announced 
Tuesday new singer auditions 
for the 24-25 concert season. 
Previously held in August, 
auditions for each new season 
will now take place in the 
spring. Auditions are open 
now through April 15.

 Pasadena Chorale has a two-
part audition process. The first 
part, open to all, is an online 
application that requires an 
audio recording of a melody 
without accompaniment. 
Singers invited to continue to 
the second round will attend 
a rehearsal on April 29 and 
sing a live quartet audition.

 “The Pasadena Chorale is a 
growing organization. Joining 
us now means becoming a part 
of an exciting new chapter,” 
says Jeffrey Bernstein, the 
Chorale’s Founding Artistic 
and Executive Director. “The 
24-25 season will feature 
luscious music by American 
composers including 
Margaret Bonds, Aaron 
Copland, Shawn Kirchner 
and Florence Price. It’s a great 
time for choral music!”

 The Chorale welcomes 
submissions from singers 
of all backgrounds and 
voice types and actively 
seeks to assemble a group of 
excellent singers that reflects 
our greater community — 
diverse in race, ethnicity, 
gender identity, belief, sexual 
orientation, age, and physical 
ability. Singers with low voices 
are particularly encouraged 
to audition.

 During its dozen years of 
service to the community, the 
Chorale has presented over 
one hundred performances 
and enjoyed collaborations 
with the Pasadena Playhouse, 
MUSE/IQUE, the Los 
Angeles Philharmonic, 
the Los Angeles Chamber 
Orchestra, and the Gamble 
House.

 For additional information 
on the Pasadena Chorale’s 
audition process, visit 
pasadenachorale.org/how-to-
audition. 


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