We'll have a full story at this headline later today, but we thought we'd share a Bill Westphal photo of the new Altadena town councilmembers being sworn in: from left, Dennis E. Bridwell (4603.01), Gaurav Malhotra (4611), Herbert Simmons (4602), Phil Barela (4601), Jamie Bissner (4612) and Ken Roberts (4603.02). Swearing them in at the podium is Rita Hadjimanoukian of Supervisor Michael Antonovich's office.
Some other highlights of last night's meeting:
- Executive council positions will be: Chair Gino Sund, Vice-chair Dennis Bridwell, Corresponding Secretary Ruth Neilan Edwards, Recording Secretary Alice Wessen, Treasurer Tecumseh Shackelford. All were recommended as a slate by a nominating committee of outgoing councilmembers. Councilman Okorie Ezieme nominated himself as vice-chair, so there was a separate election for that position, which went to Bridwell.
- Gene Campbell also won the internal council election for WAPAC representative, over former councilmember MIchele Zack.
- A presentation by Steve Wilks of IBI Group consulting firm, which is conducting a public transit needs study of Altadena (the council decided that they would form an ad hoc committee to work on this study);
- Another presentation by Altadena resident Robert Gomperz, president of the Lincoln Ave. Water Co. and chairman of the Foothill Municipal Water District board. Gomperz said that Foothill is looking at spending $7 million to improve and renew various part of its plant (some parts are 50 years old), and $13 million to create a recycled water program. Foothill, the wholesale water supplier for Altadena, La Crescenta, and La Canada Flintridge, is looking at various ways to finance these changes, including rate increases or a parcel tax to pay for improvement bonds. The average cost of a bond measure would be $4 per property per month.
- Sheriff Capt. Roosevelt Blow said that the local youth activities league went on a beach camping trip this week (12 members of Eliot Middle School had to earn the right to go); that the county board of supervisors offered a $10,000 reward for information on the murder of Jerrill Dulaney; and the local sheriffs were going to increase gang suppression efforts over the summer. "You're gonna see a lot of people going to jail," Blow promised.
- Sahag Mesrob Armenian Christian School was up again, as Sund announced that the temporary injunction to close the Palm St. campus was overturned by the state appellate court, and a hearing for a permanent injunction is scheduled for September.
- Campbell said that Mentoring and Partnership for Youth Development (MPYD) will be taking some of its young men to camp at San Diego in August, and was looking for donations to help fund the camp -- website is www.mpyd.org.
