HAPPY NEW YEAR! BE SAFE AND CELEBRATE THE FUTURE!

 
SATURDAY, DECEMBER 26, 2020 

VOLUME 14 NO. 52VOLUME 14 NO. 52

broker lic. #01514230 | source: CoreLogic, Freddie Mac, BankrateJan Greteman 626.975.4033jan@jangreteman.com 
jangreteman.com #01943630Judy Webb-Martin 626.688.2273jwmartin@dppre.com #00541631 
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From the Webb-Martin GroupGEORGE MAURER 
LIFETIME SERVICE AWARDCCoonnggrraattuullaattiioonnssCCoonnggrraattuullaattiioonnssJUDY-WEBB MARTIN2020 RECIPIENT OF THE
Thank you Judy for all you do for our city! Your decades 
of devotion, passion, and leadership have inspired 
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-Katie & Jan
AND THE WINNER IS:

SIERRA MADRE BUSINESS 
BUSINESS PROPERTY 

OWNERS HAVE RARE 

OPPORTUNITY TO LOWER 
THEIR TAXES


The city of Sierra Madre is offering owners who have property 
in one of the four assessment districts downtown the 
opportunity tto lower their taxes. 

How and Why? 

The city wants to combine the current districts into one, 
forming a new district to be known as the Downtown Landscaping 
and Lighting Maintenance District. Such a consolidation 
requires approval by the property owners in the 
districts that would be impacted .

Sierra Madre currently funds landscaping, lighting and 
parking maintenance and improvements through the 
four districts. According to the fact sheet that was mailed 
to eligible voters, "two of the districts operate at a surplus 
and two operate at a deficit". By combining the districts 
the new district would generate sufficient revenue to provide 
those services and allow for a reduction in the property 
taxes with a cap that would be $100 less than what is 
currently being paid.

Should the majority of affected property owners vote yes 
to approve the changes and a new district is formed, the 
property taxes would decrease as follows:

 Current Taxes FY 20-21 $300

 New Taxes for FY 21-22 $ 0

 New Taxes for FY 22-23 $100

 New Taxes 23-24 $200 

The city is proposing to utilize surplus funds to offset 
100% of the levy in FY 21-22 and supplement 50% in 
FY 22-23. By the beginning of FY 23-24 "it is expected 
that all surplus funds will be depleted and parcels will be 
assessed according to the Assessment Roll" with a maximum 
cap of $200.

The vote by property owners is required in accordance to 
California's Proposition 218. Proposition 218 significantly 
changed local government finance when it was adopted in 
1996. In general, the intent of Proposition 218 is to ensure 
that all taxes and most charges on property owners are subject 
to voter approval, and, as in this instance, even if the 
change works in the property owners favor.

Ballots have been mailed to all eligible voters and must be 
returned via mail or drop off at City Hall before January 12, 
2020. (See hearing notice on page 14)

S.Henderson/MVNews

Photo by PhotoSanta aka Photographer Dirk Bolle for the Mountain Views News

More on page 15

THE ANGELS OF LIFE

As we enter 2021....

By Craig Haikola

Willem’s life was a failure 
and upon the day of his 
death, this opinion was 
not disputed. There were 
elements of drama, passion, 
hope and despair, however, 
in the way he lived. Let us 
walk in the world of Willem 
and explore why he was 
called “a failure.” For in the 
life and death of Willem, an 
important lesson is learned. 
He encountered a handful 
of triumphs in his life but 
shared in many tragedies. 
In those important 
moments when Willem was 
descending into the depths 
of darkness, he was escorted 
up by earthly angels who 
provided their comfort 
and kindness to a mentally 
broken man. 

Filled with optimism 
in early 20s, Willem 
enthusiastically accepted 
a ministerial position in a 
town that appears to have 
fascinated some sense in 
his soul. He penned a letter 
to his brother, Theo, about 
the people of this coal 
mining town. Describing 
the half-starved women 
who struggled to carry 
their jugs of water up from 
the river’s edge, he also 
wrote about the men whose 
forsaken families inhabited 
the wretched squalor of 
timber shacks. If the scant 
dwellings and people’s 
plight were not enough 
to curse the conscience, 
the haunting landscape 
furthered its feeling. For 
in every direction of town, 
manmade mountains 
of spent coal rose above 
the land. Any hints of 
nature that remained were 
observed in the three lonely 
trees which wore not a leaf, 
having long been suffocated 
by black coal smoke. 

Willem was grieved by 
what he witnessed here, 
and his mind harkened 
to the Biblical story of the 
rich man who was blessed 
with wealth, but lacked the 
wisdom to make the world 
a better place. Willem could 
not erase from his mind 
that the man walked away 
from Jesus in exchange for 
his earthly possessions. This 
haunting story motivated 
Willem to gather his own 
possessions, the ones he 
deemed as comfort and 
placed them for sale; but 
even after completing this 
action, 

Willem wondered about 
what more he could do. 

Then the real question 
surfaced in his mind: “What 
more am I willing to do?” 
There was a poor homeless 
man on the outskirts of town 
whom Willem remembered 
seeing. He had no visible 
possessions, and all he 
owned were the clothes 
upon his back. “If I should 
take this man out from the 
cold and give him a bed 
to sleep,” Willem thought, 
“then the world would 
become a better place.” 

Out his door he raced, 
and after discovering the 
homeless man, he brought 
him back to the room his 
parish was providing. The 
man was still in disbelief 
as Willem charitably said, 
“I give this room to you.” 
The man looked around 
the room with the awe of a 
child, a tear in his eye, and 
a thank you upon his lips. 
Willem’s work was done, 
so he gathered the few 
possessions he owned, and 
looked for another place to 
sleep. His new room was 
void of any furniture, so he 
placed a bed of straw upon 
the floor to sleep. 

This unusual act of charity 
was not greeted with favor 
by his employer who 
informed Willem that 
“he was not suited for the 
position, as sleeping upon 
straw was undignified.” 
They further reprimanded 
him with these words: “you 
care too much.” 

From this day forward, 
Willem’s life began its 
dissent. The injury felt by 
this emotional rejection 
was more than a man of his 
mental makeup could bear. 
With a single committee’s 
decision, the course of 
his life was altered. In the 
succeeding years, Willem’s 
life became more difficult, as 
he began to suffer through

(continued on page 2)

SIERRA MADRE RESIDENT 

ARRESTED ON CHARGES 

RELATED TO POSSESSION OF 
CHILD PORNOGRAPHY 

FORMALLY CHARGED

On December 1, 2020, 
Robert Nessler was arraigned 
in Los Angeles 
Superior Court and 
charged with violation of 
the states child pornography 
laws under California 
Penal Code Section 
311.1(a). 

CA PC 311.1 (a) says:

(a)Every person who
knowingly sends or causes
to be sent, or brings or
causes to be brought, into
this state for sale or distribution, 
or in this state
possesses, prepares, publishes, 
produces, develops,
duplicates, or prints any
representation of information, data, or image, including, but
not limited to, any film, filmstrip, photograph, negative, slide, 
photocopy, videotape, video laser disc, computer hardware,
computer software, computer floppy disc, data storage media, 
CD-ROM, or computer-generated equipment or any other
computer-generated image that contains or incorporates in
any manner, any film or filmstrip, with intent to distribute or 
to exhibit to, or to exchange with, others, or who offers to distribute, 
distributes, or exhibits to, or exchanges with, others,
any obscene matter, knowing that the matter depicts a person 
under the age of 18 years personally engaging in or personally 
simulating sexual conduct, as defined in Section 311.4,
shall be punished either by imprisonment in the county jail
for up to one year, by a fine not to exceed one thousand dollars 
($1,000), or by both the fine and imprisonment, or by
imprisonment in the state prison, by a fine not to exceed ten
thousand dollars ($10,000), or by the fine and imprisonment.

In public court records, Nesler entered a plea of 'not guilty' 
and a preliminary hearing has been set for January 21, 
2021. At that hearing the court will determine whether the 
matter will proceed to trial if there is sufficient evidence.

Nesler is remains out of custody.

S.Henderson/MVNews


Robert Nesler, Courtesy EMPD

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