4


Mountain Views News Saturday, July 20, 2024

Heritage 
Square 
South Fully 
Occupied


The Educational Scholarship 
Contest Winners Announced

 
Pasadena Water and Power 
(PWP) announced Wednesday 
the winners of the 2024 
Educational Scholarship and 
“Water is Life” Art Contest. 
The two scholarship winners 
are Emmeline Clougherty 
(pictured) and Londyn Sewell, 
both of John Muir High 
School. The three art contest 
winners are Keira Lam, Olivia 
Hur, and Magdalena Scholze, 
from Polytechnic School and 
Westridge School. The annual 
art contest is in partnership with 
the Metropolitan Water District 
(MWD) of Southern California.

 Mayor Victor Gordo and 
City Manager Miguel Márquez 
recognized the winners at the 
July 15 City Council meeting. 
PWP provided commemorative 
certificates honoring their 
achievements.

 Each year, PWP awards an 
educational scholarship to 
two high school seniors from 
Pasadena. First place receives 
$5,000, and second place 
receives $2,500. The program 
is open to high school seniors 
residing in PWP’s service area 
who enroll as full-time students 
at an accredited, post-secondary 
institution in the following 
academic year. As part of the 
application process, students 
responded to a prompt about 
the future of electrification and 
were encouraged to consider the 
benefits and challenges.

 Clougherty, the scholarship 
first-place winner, explored 
in her winning essay the 
sustainable and reliable 
advantages of electrification in 
the community, and reflected 
on actions governments around 
the world, including Pasadena, 
are taking to incentivize citizens 
to be more thoughtful about 
electrification. Clougherty 
plans to attend UC Berkeley 
to study environmental policy. 
She says, “I’m excited to put this 
scholarship towards furthering 
my education at Berkeley, where 
I can expand my knowledge 
of environmental policy and 
legislation for a healthy, happy 
planet!”

 Sewell is the scholarship 
second-place winner. Sewell’s 
essay focused on the impact 
the widespread electrification 
of vehicles and buildings have 
on the world, and how it offers 
solutions for some of the world’s 
most pressing issues. She 
plans to attend Michigan State 
University in the fall, where 
she will study communications 
to pursue a career in sports 
broadcasting, journalism, and 
marketing. Sewell is “grateful 
to be a recipient for this 
scholarship” as it allowed her to 
“think deeply about the prompt, 
really get creative, and dive deep 
into the topic.”

 The “Water is Life” Art Contest 
is held every year in partnership 
with the Metropolitan Water 
District of Southern California 
(MWD) and is open to all 
Pasadena students in grades 
K – 12 who reside within 
PWP’s service area. Student 
artists submitted artwork with 
messaging that encourages the 
community to conserve and 
use water more wisely. Artwork 
submissions were due in late 
May 2024. All three winning 
submissions were submitted to 
MWD for consideration in their 
annual Student Art Calendar.

 “Congratulations to all 
winners,” said PWP Interim 
General Manager David Reyes. 
“As a community-owned 
utility, PWP takes pride in 
empowering local youth about 
water conservation through 
educational programs like the 
‘Water is Life’ Art Contest.”

 The next scholarship program 
will open in August 2024 and 
will conclude in April 2025. The 
art contest will open in February 
2025 and conclude in May 2025. 
For more information about 
PWP educational programs and 
to view the winning essays and 
artwork, visit PWPweb.com/
Education.

 
Sixty-nine senior citizens 
who had experienced 
homelessness in Pasadena 
are now permanently 
housed at Heritage Square 
South according to 
William Huang, Director of 
Housing. 

 Heritage Square South is 
a Permanent Supportive 
Housing (“PSH”) project 
developed by BRIDGE 
Housing for senior citizens 
aged 55+ located at 710 N. 
Fair Oaks Avenue. Lease-
up for Heritage Square 
South began on April 29 
and was completed by the 
end of June, with the last 
tenant moving in on June 
28.

 The City of Pasadena 
contributed 69 project-
based vouchers, 
development financing in 
the amount of $6,992,683 
and a below-market rate 
ground lease.

 PSH projects provide 
both permanent housing 
and supportive services 
for the residents. Union 
Station Homeless Services 
is providing the on-site 
supportive services, and 
Bridge Housing provides 
property management.

 Prospective tenants were 
matched to Heritage Square 
South through the county-
wide Coordinated Entry 
System(“CES”), which 
prioritizes permanent 
housing placement for 
the homeless community. 
The City requires that 
CES apply the Pasadena 
preference to PSH projects 
located in Pasadena that 
are matched through CES. 
The Pasadena preference 
gives priority to those 
who are became homeless 
in Pasadena or are 
experiencing homelessness 
in the city.

City Approves Restrictive Noise Ordinance

By Dean Lee

 With little discussion or public 
comment, the Pasadena city 
council unanimously approved 
changing the city’s Municipal 
Code, Chapter 9.36, the "Noise 
Restrictions Ordinance," aimed 
at recent protests held by 
members of UNITE HERE Local 
11 at the Pasadena Hilton Hotel. 

 Changes would set exterior 
noise standards, a fixed decibel 
number, based on the land use for 
particular locations. Currently 
the ordinance prohibits noise 
that exceeds the ambient noise 
level by more than five decibels, 
according to the council’s staff 
report. 

 “The exterior noise standards 
would vary based on land use, 
recognizing that noise levels 
that may be appropriate for a 
commercial or industrial area 
may not be appropriate for 
residential or mixed-use areas,” 
the report reads. “ Like the 
PMC’s interior noise standards, 
the maximum decibel level may 
also vary based on time of day.”

 District 7 Councilmember 
Jason Lyon said, “You need to 
set the use where the protests 
are happening, even if you 
are measuring from the other 
side. We need to think about 
that interface. And also, their 
numbers strike me as low, the 
numbers... for protests. So 
we may need to tweak those 
numbers and maybe we have 
three sets of hours, instead of 
just day and night. 

 Although the city council’s vote 
does not give an exact decibel 
number and sends the issue to 
the Economic Development 
& Technology Committee, 
Assistant City Attorney Danielle 
St. Clair said that a normal room 
conversation is about 50 to 60 
decibels and sounds above 85 
decibels are harmful such as a 
shouted conversation. She said 
Laguna Beach sets their limits 
to between 50 and 70 decibels 
based on land use and time of 
day. 

 Pasadena City Attorney 
Michele Bagneris said that goal 
is to ensure members of the 
public have the opportunity to 
exercise their free speech rights 
while also balancing the need 
to preserve public safety, public 
peace and the quiet enjoyment 
of property. 

 According to a statement 
from UNITE HERE Local 11 
Pasadena, criminal charges 
were filed in against protestors 
who participated in a peaceful 
picket line at the Hilton during a 
previous strike in December. The 
charges allege that the protestors 
used handheld bullhorns in 
violation of a city law. Leaders 
gathered in front of Pasadena 
City Hall in May to protest the 
citations. In June, Bagneris’ 
office droped the charges against 
the local hotel workers. 

 Changes would also include 
removing two sections of the 
code, prohibiting the “use of 
drum or other instrument 
or device of any kind for the 
purpose of attracting attention” 
and prohibiting persons from 
“shouting out loud” to sell 
anything in an area zoned for 
residential uses

 The city council members 
directed Bagneris to work with 
the city manager and staff to 
prepare and return a revised 
ordinance within 90 days.

Photo courtesy of UNITE HERE 
Local 11 Pasadena

Pasadena 
Library Patio 
Book Sale

Emily Suñez Given the 2024 
Robert Gorski Access Award

 Stop in and take home some 
treasures. Fill a paper grocery 
bag for $5. Saturday, Aug. 3 • 
11 a.m. - 2 p.m. 

 The Friends of the Pasadena 
Public Library welcome new 
Pasadena Public Library card 
holders with a gift certificate 
up to, but not exceeding, 
$5 for any books, CDs or 
DVDs available at our used 
bookstore at Jefferson Branch 
Library. Sign up for your 
library card at any Pasadena 
Public Library and receive 
your gift certificate.

Bookstore Hours Monday – 
Thursday & Saturday • 11 a.m. 
– 4 p.m. 

 Donations are gladly 
accepted! A book donation 
bin is located to the east of the 
Jefferson Branch Library on 
the grass near the huge tree. 
Donations will be accepted 
only at this location, not at 
any branch libraries. The 
Friends are accepting all used 
books in good condition, 
except textbooks, magazines 
and cassettes. Bookstore 
revenue supports library 
programming. 

 Won’t fit into the bin? For 
large donations, please contact 
Adrienne at phrogg8@gmail.
com to make an appointment. 

 The Friends of the Pasadena 
Public Library Bookstore 
originated at Pasadena 
Central Library. They moved 
to Jefferson Branch Library 
following the closure of 
Central Library. 

 Jefferson Campus, 1500 E. 
Villa Ave. (between Hill and 
Allen), east of the Jefferson 
Library Branch.

For more infomation visit: 
friendsppl.org.

 City of Pasadena officials 
announced Monday the 
recognition of Emily Suñez as 
the 2024 recipient of the Robert 
Gorski Access Award – an 
award established by the City 
of Pasadena Accessibility and 
Disability Commission and 
presented annually to a Pasadena 
resident with a disability 
who has made a significant 
contribution toward improving 
accessibility and quality of life 
for people with disabilities and 
the City of Pasadena’s disability 
community. Suñez (pictured) 
will be honored at the Pasadena 
City Council meeting on 
Monday.

 Suñez is a disability advocate, 
teacher, and artist living in 
Pasadena. She holds a Bachelor 
of Arts degree in Psychology 
from the College of William 
& Mary and a Master of Arts 
degree in Teaching from NYU. 
After being diagnosed with 
an autoimmune disease and 
autonomic nervous system 
disorder, Suñez left her career 
in classroom teaching and 
redesigned her life to manage 
her symptoms. She became an 
advocate for others battling 
chronic and invisible illnesses, 
and in 2018 she founded 
the Pasadena POTS support 
group for people with postural 
orthostatic tachycardia 
syndrome (POTS) and other 
forms of dysautonomia. The 
growth of the Pasadena POTS 
group led to Suñez co-founding 
the nonprofit Los Angeles 
Dysautonomia Network 
(LADN). Under Suñez’s 
leadership, LADN expanded 
beyond a monthly support group 
to offering patient education 
programs, community-building 
events, and a grant program to 
help low-income patients with 
medical expenses.

 Suñez now serves as Outreach 
Director of LADN and feels 
fortunate that her symptoms 
are well-managed enough to 
have recently returned to part-
time teaching as a K-5 reading 
interventionist. She has used art 
and writing as tools for coping 
with symptoms, and her award-
winning paintings have been 
featured in galleries across the 
state of California, including at 
her most recent solo exhibition 
at San Marino’s Crowell Public 
Library. Suñez wrote and 
illustrated her book The Healing 
Journal: Guided Prompts & 
Inspiration for Life with Illness 
(published in 2022), a guided 
journal for those living with 
chronic illnesses and disabilities. 
Suñez is committed to creating 
community among those with 
disabilities and to continuing 
her advocacy to empower others 
battling chronic conditions.

 To learn more about Emily 
emilysunez.com


Celebrate National Night Out 

 Join the Pasadena Library 
for Linda Vista’s first 
National Night Out Tuesday, 
Aug. 6 from 6 p.m. to 10 p.m. 
on Bryant St. between Linda 
Vista and Ontario Avenues. 
Celebrate with neighbors, 
police, fire, and more. Enjoy 
free entertainment as we 
build a stronger community. 
Everyone is welcome. 

 Linda Vista Branch Library 
is located 1281 Bryant St, 
Pasadena.

 
For more information vist: 
cityofpasadena.net/library or 
call (626) 744-7278 


Pasadena 
Parks 
After Dark 
Program

 
Director of Parks, Recreation 
and Community Services, 
Koko Panossian, and the 
department invite the public 
to the 13th annual Parks After 
Dark (“PAD”) program series. 
PAD takes advantage of 
Pasadena’s beautiful summer 
evenings by activating park 
spaces to provide youth and 
their families opportunities 
to experience healthy, safe 
recreation programming. 
Activities run on Thursdays, 
Fridays, and Saturdays through 
August 10 and include sports 
leagues and tournaments, 
recreation activities, movies, 
swimming, and more. Visit: 
cityofpasadena.net/parks-
and-rec to view the full event 
list.

9 Kersting Court. icrr.i M:idrc, A 91024 
626--355-11 0 wwwJconor.imos mm 
Hooray for the 
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