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AROUND SAN GABRIEL VALLEY Education & Youth: Peter Dills: Table For Two ONE OF A KIND YELLOW FLAG ALERT Toyota Deal For Californians PUSD ADDRESSES DROPOUT Page 7 The City of Sierra Madre has issued a Yellow Flag Alert effective Page 3 RATE WORLD AROUND US A Home With immediately. The LAPWD has issued a Phase 1 Mudflow Forecast. PASADENA Page 6 BOB EKLUND: Looking Up A Phase 1 indicates that small isolated debris and mudflows are OPINION: Private Space possible at specific locations. E-Policing ONLINE: Streets may be flooded or blocked by debris. Woodland Drive, LEFT TURN/RIGHT TURN For Everyone Skyland Drive, and other streets may be closed due to blockage and Page 4 HAYES/WELBORN Page 8 Page 11 cleanup efforts.Parking restrictions are in effect in the Upper and PUBLIC SAFETY The Good Life Page 12 Page 13 Lower Canyon during Yellow or Red Flag alerts. Vehicles may be FOCUS: Jackie Knowles HAIL HAMILTON towed at owner’s expense. Page 5 STUART TOLCHIN Page 9 SATURDAY FEBRUARY 27, 2010 VOLUME 4 NO. 8 SIERRA MADRE CAMPAIGN COVERAGE Honoring 75 Years Of Service CORRECTION: In our last edition, the name of one candidate, Pat Alcorn, was inadvertently omitted. Mrs. Alcorn is indeed running for City Council and will be profiled on April 3rd. Our apologies to Pat and her campaign. The revised calendar is below. The Editor Eminent Domain Measure - Yes Or No? By Susan Henderson On the April 13, 2010 an owner-occupied residence for blight through redevelopment municipal ballot, voters will the purpose of conveying it to a projects, for example, has been have the chance to approve private person. held by the Courts to constitute or reject an Ordinance which (c) Subdivision (b) of this section a public benefit which satisfies would prohibit the city from does not apply when State or the “public use” requirement exercising the power of eminent local government exercises of the Federal and State doman for private purposes. the power of eminent domain Constitutions. Recent cases have Voter approval will fortify City for the purpose of protecting even allowed the use of eminent Ordinance 1304 which was public health and safety; domain for the sole purpose of passed unanimously by the preventing serious, repeated increasing tax revenues. This is Council just a few weeks ago. criminal activity; responding true even though the property What is eminent domain? to an emergency; or remedying might be transferred to a private The most common use of environmental contamination developer and may never be Mayor Mary Ann MacGillivray reads a proclamation from the City of Sierra Madre eminent domain is when the that poses a threat to public open to the general public. honoring 75 years of outstanding community service by the Sierra Madre Veterans Of government, federal, state or health and safety. It would appear then, given Foreign Wars Post 3208. The group operates under the mantra, “Honoring The Dead local, seize private property by (d) Subdivision (b) of this section the lack of teeth in the state’s By Serving The Living.” Upon receipt of the proclamation, the VFW made contributions force for essential public uses does not apply when State or Constitutional change that even to the Sierra Madre Volunteer Fire Figthers and the Sierra Madre Police Department. such as schools, fire stations, local government exercises the if the local measure passes, it roads, and to eliminate threats power of eminent domain for would be for naught. Claims of Unique Sierra to public health and safety. the purpose of acquiring private Why the Sierra Madre Emergency Radio The public generally accepts property for a public work or measure is even on the ballot Station Gets Project Madre Victory Misstated such necessity for legitimate improvement. is widely debated in town, While the residents of Sierra Madre can public uses. It is an activity It appears that Proposition many suggesting that putting Manager - Green Light rejoice at the reduction of the required that is protected by the 5th 99 already covers the same it on the ballot amounts to ‘ Regional Housing Needs Assessment (RHNA) Amendment of the U.S. actions that the Sierra Madre political positioning and The Sierra Madre City Council approved numbers that were assigned to Sierra Constitution which prohibits Ordinance would impact. grandstanding by Mayor Mary the appointment of Hank Landsberg as the Madre (138 new housing units by 2014),it the taking of private property, However, according to experts Ann MacGillivray who brought Project Manager for the new Sierra Madre appears that how that reduction came about “except for public use”. on the subject, eminent the matter before the council, Emergency Radio Station, AM 1630. In has been misstated. At Tuesday’s council The second most commonly domain would still be allowed especially since there is already addition, the council agreed to advance the meeting, Mayor Mary Ann MacGillivray recognized use of eminent if the purpose is related to a Sierra Madre Redevelopment $14,672 it committed to the project in order to credited the boycott of the Southern California domain that is the basis public health and safety, Agency prohibition against it begin construction. Through the joint efforts Association of Governments (SCAG) by for widespread concern in preventing serious, repeated and a California Constitutional of the Sierra Madre Kiwanis Club and The she and Councilmember Watts as being the this state, is when the local criminal activity, responding amendment against taking Sierra Madre Fire Safe Council, community catalyst. However, according to officials at Redevelopment Agency turns to an emergency, remedying private property for personal wide fundraising has raised close to $8,000 to SCAG, including Sharon Neely, Director over land to another private hazardous environmental use already exists. date. Additional fundrai of Legislation, every city that requested a entity for their private financial contamination, or for a public The project was originally slated to cost over reduction and justified it according to the new gain. Since 1954 the U.S. work or improvement. If one REVISED MV NEWS $50,000, however, Landsberg, working with guidelines submitted by SCAG was granted a Supreme Court has allowed of these purposes cannot be ELECTION COVERAGE Management Analyst James Carlson, was able reduction. expansion of the meaning of shown, then Proposition 99 to revise the proposal submitted by an outside Next Week: Incumbent firm and reduce the costs by approximately City Manager Elaine Aguilar acknowledged public use to include economic would prohibit use of eminent Don Watts that the city did indeed quantify a reduction development, but Sierra Madre domain. $25,000. March 13th AM1630 will be a TIS radio station that based upon the information that SCAG included a prohibition against On the other hand, Property Incumbent Joe Mosca distributed to all cities disputing the allocation. such use in its Redevelopment rights analyst Timothy Sandefur, will provide emergency information during March 20th wildfires, floords and other disasters. It is not clear whether (cont. on page 3) or not Agency Plan. says that, “The fact is that Prop. Candidates Traditional examples of 99 would not protect anyone in John Crawford/Bill Tice “public uses” for which the California from eminent domain March 27th Residential Canyon Zone building on slopes along with all the other hot government might exercise abuse. It would not apply at all Candidate Nancy Walsh Meeting Held button issue such as overdevelopment. its power of eminent domain to small businesses, which are the April 3rd include such things as schools, most common victims of eminent Candidate Pat Alcorn By Dean Lee “We want to examine just how much light roads, libraries, police stations, domain. It would not protect pollution we get in the canyon, and whether it’s April 10th Although it was billed as a joint meeting fire stations and similar public people living in apartments at Candidate Josh Moran feasible to limit the amount of light given off at uses. all. It would not protect farms, between the City Council, the Canyon Zone certain late hours.” Community and Planning Commission only In 2008, California Voters or churches. It would only protect IMPORTANT DATES: He also said the committee wanted to look at passed handily Prop 99 which “owner occupied residences.” a few members of each showed up to Monday (Per the City Clerk) night’s Canyon Community Meeting, with the noise standards from both construction and “Prohibits state and local And in fact, it would not even homeownership. They also wanted to see a governments from acquiring protect them, because the small March 15-April 6 exception of the all the CZC members who Voters May Request ran the meeting. The point of the get-together limit to staging and storage on the public right- an owner-occupied residence print in the initiative eliminates a-way. for the purpose of conveying it such protections in almost every Vote-by-Mail Ballots with was public feedback said John Herrmann who to another person, with certain case of eminent domain abuse.” Regular Applicatioons chairs the committee. “We need to get those builders off the streets listed exceptions. Proposition According to the California March 23rd Council Member John Buchanan, one of two quickly at the critical rush hour,” he said. “We 99 did not change current Eminent Domain Law Group, Last Day to Mail Sample council members to show up, explained having have to deal with cement mixers and that sort rules regarding use of eminent APC, It should be noted, that Ballots and Polling Place an official agenda was a precaution in case the of thing as it relates to traffic flow.” domain for businesses. the term “public use” has been Notices whole council or planning commission came.

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