Mountain Views News, Combined Edition Saturday, November 23, 2019

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Mountain Views-News Saturday, November 23, 2019 


Thanksgiving 
Holiday 
Closures and 
Reminders

Occasional Pasadena Doo 
Dah Parade this Sunday

 
Pasadena residents and 
businesses are reminded 
that City Hall and most 
City services will be 
closed on Thursday, and 
Friday, in observance 
of the Thanksgiving 
holiday. Specific closures, 
exceptions and reminders 
are noted below.

 Pasadena Fire and Police 
Departments will continue 
to be staffed for all patrol, 
jail, fire, paramedic and 
other emergency services. 
Always call 9-1-1 for life-
threatening emergencies. 
For non-emergencies, 
call (626) 744-4241. If 
you “See Something, 
Say Something.” Report 
suspicious activity 
to Pasadena Police 
Department at (626) 744-
4241.

 Pasadena residents and 
businesses with any power 
emergencies should call 
Pasadena’s Water and 
Power (PWP) Department 
at (626) 744-4673. For 
water-related emergencies, 
call (626) 744-4138. PWP’s 
Customer Service Call 
Center will be closed for 
the holiday, but customers 
can access their accounts 
and make payments 
through the automated 
phone system at (626) 
744-4005 or online at: 
PWPweb.com.

 The City’s Citizen Service 
Center (CSC) will be 
closed Thanksgiving Day 
and will reopen Friday, 
from 8 a.m.-noon. You 
can contact the CSC via 
the web or by calling (626) 
744-7311. Regular trash 
and recycling collection for 
Thursday (Thanksgiving 
Day) will occur on Friday 
and Friday’s collection will 
occur on Saturday, Nov. 30.

 Pasadena Transit and Dial-
A-Ride transportation 
programs will not operate 
on Thursday but will 
resume regular service on 
Friday. All parking meters 
are free and parking time 
limits will not be enforced 
on Thanksgiving Day, 
but shoppers are advised 
that all regular meter 
enforcement will resume 
on Friday. Violations 
for overnight parking 
restrictions, red curb 
parking and blocking fire 
hydrants will continue to 
be issued both days.

 All Pasadena Public 
Library sites will close at 
5 p.m. on Wednesday and 
will remain closed the 
following two days. The 
City’s Permit Center and 
Payment Centers will also 
be closed Thursday and 
Friday.

 All recreation and 
community centers 
operated by the City’s 
Human Services and 
Recreation Department 
will be closed on Thursday 
and Friday but all parks 
will be open for picnics, 
fun and play. No site 
reservations are accepted 
for the holiday.

 Celebrate responsibly 
and always designate a 
sober driver.

 For more info visit: 
cityofpasadena.net.

 

 The Occasional Pasadena 
Doo Dah Parade celebrates 
42 years of irreverent 
frolicking on the streets 
of Pasadena this Sunday 
with over 85 unique entries 
joining in the fun from all 
over Southern California. 

 Queen Jesselynn Desmond 
and Grand Marshals Seismo 
Sue and the Seismo Sistahs 
lead dozens of inventive, 
if zany, if zany, art cars, 
floats, and a legion of 
revelers past the mom-
n-pop shops along East 
Pasadena’s shady tree-lined 
streets with a memorable 
cast of local eccentrics, 
disruptors, political pundits, 
lone wolves, steam punks, 
makers, and merrymakers. 

 Doo Dah steps off at 11am. 
Immediately following the 
event, many after-parties 
will take place in the Parade 
vicinity. The Parade loops 
along Colorado Boulevard, 
between Altadena Drive and 
San Gabriel Boulevard, in 
East Pasadena. Start location 
is 2627 E. Colorado Blvd. 
The event is always free-of-
charge to the public.

 Doo Dah will also welcome 
first-time entries Heads of 
Hair Band, Mother Earth & 
Monarch, When Life Gives 
You Lemons, Nova Star, 
Cookie Monster, The Church 
of the SubGenius, Running 
with the Clowns, Tiki Kiki’s 
Moon Girl, Piano Team, 
Taco Car, Universal Basic 
Income YangBots, Monkey 
Boy and the Wild Tiger, and 
Tortilla Village. Entries also 
include perennial favorites: 
the Pasadena Scottish Pipes 
& Drums, RoboBee, Flying 
Baby, LA Derby Dolls, 
Wisdom Arts Lab, Golffin, 
Rock ‘n Roll Preservation 
Society, Murrugun the 
Mystic sword swallower, 
Recumbent Revolution, 
the Auto-ettes, Firewall 
of China, Toy Soldiers, 
Samatronics, among many 
others. Jingle Balls Junior 
College Marching Band will 
close the parade and ring in 
the holiday season. And… 
not a rose will be harmed in 
the making of this parade! 

 Known as the twisted 
sister of the conventional 
Rose Parade, the Occasional 
Pasadena Doo Dah Parade 
began as a grassroots event 
in 1978 to gain national 
attention for its eccentric 
and, often, irreverent satire. 
The parade which has 
spawned numerous off-beat 
replicants across the country 
was even highlighted in last 
year’s Wall Street Journal. It 
was also named by Readers 
Digest’s “America’s Best 
Parade,” and was featured 
in the book 50 Places You 
Must Visit Before You Die. 
To recount the fascinating 
and confusing history of 
Pasadena Doo Dah Parade 
since 1978, please visit 
our website’s ARCHIVES 
page. Anyone wishing to 
participate, visit our website 
or call!

 Plenty of street parking is 
available ~ Parade route is 
also just west of the Sierra 
Madre Villa Gold Line 
Station (at Colorado Blvd. 
and Sierra Madre Villa). 
City busses go directly to the 
area. Call Uber or a cab.

 Official After-party: 
American Legion, 179 N. 
Vinedo St. (2 blocks from 
Parade at Vinedo & Walnut) 
immediately following the 
event. New Astroturf and 
Queen Ruby Chard & the 
FunGuys, dancing, cheap 
food and drinks!! $3 cover.

 For more information go 
to: pasadenadoodahparade.
info.


Auto Dealership Could 
Displace Charter School

By Dean Lee

 The city council Monday 
night heard, for the first time, 
a proposed 100,080 square-
foot vehicle sales and service 
development proposed at 2915 
E. Colorado Boulevard by 
Rusnak Group. If approved, 
the project could displace 
artWORKS part of Learning 
Works Charter School.

 Rusnak submitted to the city 
a Predevelopment Plan Review 
(PPR) application proposing 
a two-story vehicles sales and 
service building, accessory 
battery/parts storage building, 
and an automated car wash. 
City Manager Steve Mermell 
said it would be a new Porsche 
dealership.

 The project would also 
completely remove Nina 
Street at Sunnyslope Ave. and 
demolish buildings at 2914 
East Walnut Street something 
both city council members and 
Pasadena Heritage members 
took issue with. In 1994 the 
buildings became an eligible 
historic resource. The site is also 
home to artWORKS school. 

 “It’s a school that takes in all 
of the Pasadena Unified School 
District’s expelled kids,” Vice 
Mayor Tyron Hampton said. 
“So, when looking to do this I 
hope there is some sort of plan, 
maybe from us on our side, 
or the property owners as to 
where this school would go? 
Because, without this school, 
Pasadena Unified School 
District would not be able to 
serve the needy population of 
kids that Learning Works and 
artWORKS takes on.” 

 Mermell said the city would 
explore any options for the 
school and PUSD to be helpful.

 Councilmember Gene 
Masuda also said he was 
concerned with the building 
being historic, “I’m hope there 
could be something that could 
somehow built around it?”

 Andrew Salimian Pasadena 
Heritage Preservation Director 
said the 2914 East Walnut 
building and the new project 
overlap slightly.

 “We invite Porsche to come 
here and we think it’s a great 
project, we just want them to 
move it 25 feet to the east and 
I think we can get everything 
that we want without sacrificing 
anything and they get a historic 
building.” 

 According to the city staff 
report “In the last 10 to15 years, 
Pasadena has experienced 
the closure or relocation of 
many vehicle sales businesses 
from the city, including Ford, 
Chevrolet, Acura, Mercedes, 
Saab, Chrysler, and Jeep.” This 
has had a large impact on tax 
revenue they said. 

 Councilmember Andy Wilson 
said Rusnak was moving 
Rusnak/Pasadena Porsche from 
325 W Colorado Blvd to 2915 
E. Colorado Blvd., something 
confirmed by city staff.

 The project still needs 
Environmental Review, 
Public hearing review, Design 
Commission review and final 
approval by the city council. 

artWORKS, 2914 East Walnut 
Street. Top 2915 E. Colorado 
Blvd. Photos D. Lee/MVNews

Operation

Letters 

to Santa

 As the Pasadena Jaycees’ 
longest running project, 
Operation Santa has touched 
the lives of thousands of 
children since 1934. Letters 
to Santa can be sent through 
December 20.

 Children in the Pasadena area 
can write letters to “Santa,” 
and a team of volunteers will 
read and record it. From there, 
toys are donated, collected 
and purchased to best meet 
the requests of each individual 
child. Children with greater 
needs will be given higher 
priority. While Operation 
Santa was originally rooted 
in the Christmas holiday, 
children from all backgrounds 
and religions are encouraged 
to write letters to celebrate the 
season. Do you or someone 
you know want a visit from 
Santa over the holidays? Or 
do you know someone in 
your community who could 
use a little extra support at 
Christmastime? Details about 
writing letters to Santa below.

 Letters can be submitted at 
opsanta.com or by mail to:

Santa Claus

474 W. Walnut St.

Pasadena, CA 91103.

Be a Santa

 Every year Pasadena Jaycees 
send out roughly 60 Santa 
teams to fulfill the toy delivery. 
Each team is given their 
own route, commonly with 
between 5 and 10 homes to 
deliver toys to in the evening 
on Christmas Eve. Sign-in and 
costume check-out will occur 
in the morning, and the Santa 
teams will regroup in the late 
afternoon for a group meal 
and to receive instructions 
and head out on their routes! 
Interested in being part of a 
Santa team? 

 On December 24, those 
groups of Santas, Mrs. Clauses 
and elves will hand deliver the 
collected toys to each child 
who wrote a letter. Sign-
ups for those interested in 
volunteering as part of a Santa 
team or volunteering for more 
non-Santa roles (letter reading, 
toy sorting, etc.) visit: opsanta.
com.

Donate Toys.

 Want to donate toys to 
Operation Santa? You are 
welcome to purchase the toys of 
your choosing and drop them 
off at our office (please email 
opsanta@pasadenajaycees.org 
to coordinate a drop off). We 
also offer toy barrels and gift 
tag garlands for you to have at 
your office or place of business.

Police Release Video 

in Civil Rights Claims

Thanksgiving at Senior Center

 Over the past few weeks, a 
local attorney has filed claims 
against the city of Pasadena 
asserting that the civil rights 
of two people, during separate 
incidents, were violated by 
Pasadena Police Officers. The 
Pasadena Police Department 
released officer body worn 
camera and in-car videos of 
both incidents. The videos can 
be seen at: cityofpasadena.
net/police/news/claim-13411-
traffic-stop/.

 Pasadena Police Chief John 
Perez has issued the following 
statement:

 “As the police chief, I swear 
the same oath as our police 
officers who are responsible 
to protect the public and 
serve those in need. It is a 
continued responsibility to 
hold myself and the hundreds 
of PPD personnel accountable 
for our performance and 
behavior. There is nothing 
more important than the 
responsibility of ensuring 
our community that all of 
our officers are held to the 
highest standards. It is my 
responsibility. In today’s society, 
it is important that police 
departments share with the 
public as much information as 
legally possible regarding police 
performance. In releasing 
information and, in this case, 
releasing video of incidents it 
is important to understand the 
dynamics of human interaction 
under stress, requiring critical 
decision-making, and on-going 
professional development. 
Our profession is difficult as 
we seek perfection, but it is 
never simple. This release of 
BWC video is important so I 
need to be clear: If there was 
reason to initiate a personnel 
investigation into the actions 
of any of the officers involved, 
it would have been done. In 
one incident, Pasadena Police 
Officers observed a stop sign 
violation and in another, they 
observed a speeding driver, and 
soon discovered that the driver 
was combative and intoxicated. 
You will have the same view of 
the drivers as the officers did, 
and you can determine whether 
race was visible and could have 
been a factor in the stop. None 
of us want our officers to ignore 
traffic violations or intoxicated 
drivers, placing all of us at great 
risk.”

 Anyone with information 
about this case is encouraged 
to call Pasadena Police at (626)- 
744-4241 or you may report 
information anonymously by 
calling “Crime Stoppers” by 
dialing (800) 222-TIPS (8477).

Gobble gobble! The Pasadena 
Senior Center, 85 E. Holly St., 
will offer a traditional turkey 
feast with all the trimmings 
Thursday, Nov. 28, at noon. 
They’ll even do all the cooking 
and cleanup, so all anyone has to 
do is come!

Diners will sit comfortably 
at beautifully decorated 
tables and enjoy a delicious, 
traditional Thanksgiving meal 
in a festive and fun atmosphere, 
accompanied by piano music 
performed by Morey Wolfson.

Prepaid reservations must be 
received at the Welcome Desk 
no later than Tuesday, Nov. 26. 
The cost is only $10 for members 
and $12 for non-members of all 
ages.

For more information visit: 
pasadenaseniorcenter.org or call 
(626) 795-4331.

 Membership in the 
Pasadena Senior 
Center is not required

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