altadenablog

Imagining Altadena: searching for Saturn

by Reggie Wilkins

I got up this morning at about 5 or so.  

The house was completely silent and the sky was Altadena dark.  My goal was to use this particular alarm clock consequence of a 10 year old realizing he needed mom to remove a sleeping cat from his foot to mine the night sky.  To bring into focus an image the ringed planet, that old god of time, abundance and wealth we call Saturn:

Saturnius Mons was seen as a god of generation, dissolution, plenty, wealth, agriculture, periodical renewal and liberation. Under Saturn's rule, humans enjoyed the spontaneous bounty of the earth without labor in a state of social egalitarianism. 

Colleagues and residents of Altadena:  

We are all here because we see things of value in this place astride the mountains.  Gene, Monica, Council and audience.  On this particular night, we are here because we wish to see an Altadena that offers generation, wealth, plenty renewal and liberation.  We are also here because we seek some form of social equality – just as we are equal before the chronos – before time – and before the majesty of San Gabriel.  

Publisher's notebook: Clean Water, Clean Beaches -- who wants to know?

by Timothy Rutt

They must be pretty desperate out there.  Something happened to us that we thought we’d share:

Sunday afternoon, we got a call from a polling firm.  The nice woman on the phone said she was calling from Nevada, and wanted to ask us some questions about current issues, and we said sure.  It turned out to be more interesting than we expected.

After confirming our identity and that we were a property owner, she began asking her questions, all which which revolved around the Clean Water, Clean Beaches parcel tax idea that is up for a hearing with the County Board of Supervisors.  We sat through the poll and answered the questions honestly (transparency: we’re absolutely against the tax), and it was rather disturbing.

We asked:  who’s behind this survey?  Who’s paying for it? The pollster did not know.

Here’s one thing that disturbed us:  if you’ve received the designed-to-be-thrown-away notice, you’ll note that it has the exact dollar amount your particular property will be assessed if this measure is passed.  The proposed fee is $54 per 5,000 square foot lot -- we have a larger lot, so our assessment is greater.  The nice lady who was polling used our exact assessment amount when asking questions.  What this says to us that  somebody official participated in this poll -- like a government body with access to property records who could come up with our exact assessment.

Prioritize undergrounding utilities

Our friend the mighty Steve Scauzillo, environmental writer from the San Gabriel Valley News Group, sent us this letter worth pondering.

by Steve Scauzillo

Is the simple answer to all the wind-related power outages to put electric utility lines underground?

Well, most definitely.

However, before a city makes such a commitment, it must consider the cost, as in dollars. Some from other states estimate that to be $1 million a mile.

Wait. Before every local city official, city manager, city council member and public works director in earshot in the hit-hard San Gabriel Valley short-circuits the idea right now, they should at least have that meeting with their power provider. The discussion should at least be put on the next city council agenda, and the one after that.

It would not take much persuading if one were to ask the 226,000 Edison customers without power after the Super Santa Anas struck late Wednesday night, wreaking all sorts of havoc in Arcadia, Pasadena, South Pasadena, Altadena, Temple City, Monrovia, San Marino, Alhambra, Glendora, Azusa, etc., what they thought of the idea.

Much of these cities sat lifeless for days because old, wooden power poles snapped, sending not just wires but transformers crashing to the ground and lowering the curtain on life and business as usual. People shivered in their homes. For some in Temple City and South Pasadena, the power outage caused water pumps to shut down, so they were without water, too.

Editorial: Simmons needs to demonstrate leadership, restraint

Altadena town councilman Herbert Simmons has signed off his emails with the slogan:

"Linking Altadenans Through Technology to Make Our Community a Better and Safer Place"

If only he would follow his own words.

Instead, Simmons -- subject of an internal town council ethics investigation -- is using his website and emails in a way that does NOT make our community a better and safer place.

The town council formed an investigatory committee in August to determine if Simmons -- during his first month on the council -- had violated its ethical rules.  The council as a whole has had nothing to say pending the results of the investigation.  Officially, they haven’t even said it is Simmons they are investigating.

But Mr. Simmons has not followed the discreet example of his fellow councilmembers.  Take a look through his Altadenans.com website and note how much space he devotes to accusations against them. (Also note how he's removed "better" from his slogan.)

We’re not going to deal with the reasons and substance behind the investigation until the council has presented them.  However,  Simmons has used the council’s silence to mischaracterize the investigation as an attempt to “railroad community programs,” in his own words. 

In an Aug. 14 email (an edited version appears on his website), Simmons accuses councilmember Alice Wessen of “attacks upon me.”  What are these “attacks?”  She brought up to the council the possibility that Simmons may have violated ethics rules -- which was her duty as a councilmember -- and emailed Simmons a copy of the bylaws and ethical standards he signed off as receiving and understanding when he ran for office.  Some attack.

He also intimates that Wessen’s actions were motivated by her supporting his opponent in the last election.   First, as administrator of the Chaney Trail listserv, she sent both Simmons’ and his opponent’s candidate statements to her readers -- and second, if she did support his opponent, so what?  It’s not a crime, Mr. Simmons.

The “programs” Simmons accuses councilmembers of trying to “railroad” are Mr. Simmons’ naming of a student and teacher of the month at local schools. Winners get, among other things, a T-shirt with Mr. Simmons's name prominently displayed in several places. Since he has recently announced several winners, it's hard to tell how his program is being "railroaded."

(As an aside, Alice Wessen is an interesting choice to accuse of trying to thwart student achievement.  She manages Education Outreach for JPL and works with schools across the U.S. and the world, and with some of the poorest school districts in the U.S. on science and space education.)

Mr. Simmons’ latest volley calls for an investigation of chairman Gino Sund.  Among the charges Simmons is making and for which he demands an investigation:

• A second-hand report that he was called a bad name;
• That he hasn’t been trained and hasn’t received a copy of his duties, altho’ (1) he had to sign off that he had received and understood them before he could even run for office (2) they are readily available at many places, such as the library and town council’s own website, and (3) they were sent to him electronically (we have copies of the emails).
• That the investigation of his actions has dragged on too long --  which it has -- and that Sund bears some responsibility for it;
• And finally that Simmons wasn’t introduced properly during the NAACP Centennial Event, nor was he invited to a photo op with the governor.

Perhaps Mr. Simmons thinks that having his feelings hurt rises to the level of official misconduct, but we don’t think so.

This would all be rather amusing, if a waste of the public’s time, but we feel it creates two serious problems:

First, it sends the Altadena town council back to the days when it apparently was run by circus clowns.  The council has acquired a reputation over the years that has not been flattering: private agendas, unproven accusations, drama inside and outside of the council chambers, whispered (or sometimes shouted) conspiracy theories, egos run amok  -- and just generally a feeling that adults were not in charge here.  There is a reason why the meetings are broadcast, and not because they set a sterling example of how local government should work.  The rough-and-tumble contrarian image some Altadenans take perverse pride in doesn’t travel well outside of town. 

The present council, under Chairman Sund, has been working to turn that culture around, and has accomplished much.   Altadena deserves to be taken seriously. The hysterical finger-pointing of Mr. Simmons and his amen corner on and off the council threatens to undo the progress that has been made and drag us back to the bad old days.

Second, a council that spends more time dealing with vendettas than handling the people’s business is not attractive to the decent, civic-minded people that Altadena needs to lead us now and in the future.  Why run for this unpaid, essentially-powerless position if you’re going to spend your council time being shouted at, accused, threatened with lawsuits, investigating or being investigated?  Talented councilmembers and potential candidates have told us privately that they’ve already had it if this is what it’s going to be like.  That is Altadena’s loss at a critical time.

Mr. Simmons calls himself a community leader, and we want him to begin by acting like one.   If he wants to serve on the town council, it means he abides by its rules and decorum, which include being silent until the investigation is completed.  Mount a vigorous defense, if necessary.  Abide by the council’s decision, and continue to be a leader in the community.  The present course he has chosen is not that of a leader, not that of someone who professes to link people together, and certainly not good for the future of Altadena.


Comments are closed, but may be emailed to altadenablog@gmail.com for consideration.

"Hello, customer service?" is like saying "Hello, Bigfoot?"

Sorry that updating has been so spotty lately -- Thursday was one of those days where, if anybody had actually done their job, we would’ve died of shock.

International House of Panic

(We’re writing this for our own benefit -- the several related posts about the Altadena Library, accessibility, and modernist architecture are all over the blog, so we decided to write one piece condensing our thinking and the reactions to it.)

Here’s our first lesson learned in running a blog: you have no idea what the hot topic is really going to be or how people will respond.

And the second lesson:  most people won’t actually engage ideas -- it’s easier to lob rocks from the comfort of the computer screen, and say things in the privacy of the blue glow that they wouldn’t dare say in public.

So we learned some lessons in recent weeks.  Hence, Altadenablog’s Modernist Controversy.  More after the jump, but warning: some of the language is NSFW. 

Modernist architecture: not for everybody. Especially in a wheelchair.

Usually, we like PSN's Larry Wilson a lot, but he's way off base this time.

Yesterday's column takes issue with the comment that the Altadena Library building "stinks."  Wilson says that the Boyd Georgi 1967 building is a triumph of mid-century modernism:

His library is his masterpiece. With its built-ins, sunken reading area and big skylights, it's where the megamaniacal villain would have his headquarters if you were shooting a Bond movie on Christmas Tree Lane.

And that's about the size of it -- it's a villain's lair.  It stinks.

Wilson doesn't mention that, it addition to its clean lines and water-stained stucco, it's surrounded by a splintery wooden deck which wasn't part of the original plan.  And why the deck?  Because it's the only way anyone who isn't in the bloom of health can actually GET INTO THE LIBRARY!

Because the main entrance -- over stairs and a steep staircase -- is inaccessible to anyone who has children in a stroller or who has limited mobility, i.e. walker or wheelchair.  If you're unfortunate enough to require a wheeled vehicle to move around in -- well, you don't get to enter from the parking lot.  You have to make your way to the street side of the building, traverse the splintery deck and use an elevator to bypass the steep staircase.  And let's not talk about how the sunken reading area is basically restricted to those with working legs.

That has always been our problem with modernist architecture.  It's not for everybody. Just for adults and/or the healthy.

We once lived in West Pasadena, and there were quite a few modernist houses in our neighborhood.  They were quite beautiful, in their spare clean lines, their balconies and bridges and glass walls that thrust them into the hills and creeksides.  But we always left thinking, "I can't bring my children here, or our friends who need wheelchairs. It's too dangerous and inaccessible for them."

We have no problems with people's private homes -- they can make them as modernist as they like.  We have no problem with differences in aesthetic values.  We just knew that that kind of house was not for us, because we enjoy our children and all our friends, including the ones on wheels, and wanted a home that was welcoming for them.  Different strokes for different folks, and all that.

But a public building -- like a library -- needs to be for the public.  A library is for everyone, not just those who can climb the steep staircase of Dr. Evil.

A personal note:  one of our children has a condition that causes progressive mobility problems.  A few years hence, do we tell him that he can't go in the library with his friends because it will ruin the aesthetic?

Or to school.  Wilson also rhapsodizes about Noyes Elementary, another Georgi work, with its flat roofs and glass walls and pavilioned walkways.  Back when Noyes was Noyes, before it became a charter school, it was our neighborhood elementary school -- and one, we and PUSD agreed, that our child could not go to, because it sits on multiple levels.

No, modernist architecture isn't for everybody.  But libraries and schools are.  They need to be designed accordingly.  The Altadena Library falls short, and needs to be radically renovated or replaced.