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Community Communications A Lively Affair at SM Council Meeting By Bill Coburn
(4/12/07) Three dozen people took their turn at the microphone in the last City Council meeting before next Tuesday’s special election on Measure V, and as you might expect, nearly all of them were there to discuss Measure V. Steve Geyser (sp?) was the sole person who didn’t speak to Measure V, as he wanted to discuss what the City’s plans are for the revenue generated by the sale of the Fire House in the canyon. One of the speakers spoke briefly about West Nile Virus, in reference to the earlier recognition by the Council of West Nile Virus week April 23rd to 29th but she then segued into discussion of Measure V. Two of the speakers, Lisa Spigai-Perez and Margie Simpson, have sent what they said to this website as Letters to the Editor, and you’ll find them on the Letters to the Editor page.
But while Simpson and Spigai-Perez were there to encourage people to vote No on Measure V, they were decidedly in the minority. Twenty-eight of those who stepped up to the microphone were there to encourage people to vote for Measure V. Kevin Paschall asked where the City Council members who oppose Measure V were for the Mt. Wilson Observer sponsored debate. John Crawford noted that a recent article in the L.A. Times detailed negative tactics it associated with the No on V camp that cast Sierra Madre with “a reputation we can not be proud of,” and added “this must stop.” Carol Parker read off a list of donations she said were made and the dates they were made by the California Realtor’s Associations to the No on Measure V campaign. The money poured into the campaign by realtor’s associations and builders was a common theme among the Pro-V speakers.
One woman reported that there had been a number of Yes on V campaign signs stolen on her street, as well as vandalism that had occurred on the same street.
Joann Seaman (sp?) spoke and stated that Sierra Madre was picked as a location for CLIMB, the local school for the blind, of which she is a “member” and expressed concern that there would be increased traffic that would hinder CLIMB residents. She gave a passionate endorsement of Dial-a-Ride and was concerned about the effect traffic might have on “Rosa and Gilbert” of Dial-a-Ride. She was greeted with applause when she finished by exhorting people to “Vote Yes on Measure V… We want this town to stay the way it is!”
Rene Casuto (sp?) questioned why the names of people who requested absentee ballots had been turned over to the No on Measure V campaign. She asked why the City Attorney had allowed this to happen, and wondered if the City would send out a letter of apology to each person? Mayor Buchanan, Mayor Pro Tem Enid Joffe and the City Attorney all pointed out to her that the absentee ballot voter information is public information and that it (distribution to political campaigns) is not something the City does. Mayor Pro Tem Joffe pointed out that “it’s all a matter of money, you can buy daily updates.”
One speaker who got up and spoke was the actual author of the measure, Chris Sutton, who told the Council that he had heard many of the criticisms he is hearing about Measure V in past campaigns, warnings of lawsuits, etc. He stated that in Yorba Linda, the slow growth measure he wrote had been fought hard, but won, and that despite warnings of dire consequences, including lawsuits, none had materialized.
As one might expect with the higher ratio of speakers for V, the crowd seemed to be leaning toward the Yes on V position. While both sides received applause after speaking, there did seem to be more for the Yes speakers than the No speakers. On a few occasions, the No on V speakers were interrupted by coughing and background discussion, but Mayor Buchanan did a fairly decent job of maintaining control.
But it wasn’t all Yes on V. Paul Hovespian (sp?) spoke about the differences between the Downtown Specific Plan and the Measure V, stating that Measure V is a divider and the DSP was an opportunity. He also stated that the people “elect members of the community to represent us on the City Council to make the hard decisions of policy that govern our community. They’re supposed to be influenced by the facts, not swayed by emotion.” He stated that “measure V is based on fear and usurps the authority and responsibility of our Council, and goes against one hundred years of tradition in our City.” He then gave a passionate defense of Council Member Joe Mosca, who is currently facing the possibility of recall.
Realtor Sandra Saraganian (sp?) spoke up to defend the influx of money to the No on V campaign from the Realtor’s Associations. Lisa Spigai-Perez questioned who really supports the Yes on V campaign, and asked who pays for the Mount Wilson Observer, which she described as “a direct-mail, political propaganda publication for SMRRD.” As stated previously in this article, the text of her comments can be found elsewhere in this paper. She was followed to the microphone by her husband Miguel, who began reading a list of approximately 150 names of supporters of No on V. When his time ran out, No on V backer Carol Canterbury was right behind him to finish the list. And Sierra Madre native Josh Moran, who noted that he had the rare distinction of having lived in both the Pinney House and Hotel Shirley, delivered another passionate speech, as he has at other recent Council meetings, in which he described growing up in Sierra Madre, and stated that he loves this town and wants to preserve it. He asked people to preserve our current system which he said now offers residents four opportunities to challenge any project, by voting No on Measure V. |
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