WPRA
West Pasadena Residents' Association 
Neighborhood Update
Saturday, September 27, 2014


Welcome

Founded in 1962, the WPRA is dedicated to maintaining the character of our neighborhoods and enhancing the quality of life in West Pasadena. 

   
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Send comments to update@wpra.net 

Chuck Hudson
Editor 
 
Editor's note: Starting next Saturday, Justin Chapman joins Ann Erdman and me as a third co-editor of Neighborhood Update. A west Pasadena resident for over two years, Justin is a writer and freelance journalist, a role he has served for more than 20 print and web publications over the past 10 years. He was elected to the Altadena Town Council at age 19 (!) and his first book about his travels through Africa is being published in January (!!). His other interests include soccer, golf, snowboarding, music and traveling ... and, of course, keeping our readers informed.  

 

View the latest and past issues of the WPRA's quarterly magazine, The News, which is mailed to more than 7,000 homes in West Pasadena.
Neighborhood Update
View past issues of this weekly WPRA eNewsletter, which is emailed each Saturday morning to more than 1,100 residents of Pasadena (and beyond).
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City Council and commission meetings
>CLICK ON HEADLINES FOR MORE INFORMATION<

Monday, September 29

 

City Council

6:30 p.m. 

Council Chamber, Room 249

Pasadena City Hall

100 N. Garfield Ave.

On the agenda: (1.) approve a Glenarm Repowering Project contingency of $2.5 million for existing contracts, give the City Manager additional authority to amend or approve contract change orders, increase the budget by $5 million (from $132 million to $137 million) and approve an additional appropriation of $10 million; (2.) adopt Level 1 Water Supply Shortage measures (following a 7/28 public hearing) and set a water conservation target of 20%; (3.) open first hearing on proposed amendment of Municipal Code to consolidate all city speed limits into one list and update the listed speed limits to match existing engineering and traffic surveys; (4.) amend the Municipal Code to add the planned Desiderio Neighborhood Park to the list of parks on which residential impact fees may be spent; (5.) conduct a workshop to discuss long- and short-term water supply issues, including the current drought conditions, water supply and delivery infrastructure projects, water conservation measures, and related state initiatives including the 2014 Proposition 1 water bond ballot initiative and the efforts to restore and secure the Sacramento Bay Delta
 
Wednesday, October 1

6 p.m.

George Ellery Hale Building

Hearing room #120

175 N. Garfield Ave. 


Thursday, October 2
  
WPRA in motion
>CLICK ON HEADLINES FOR MORE INFORMATION<

   

Help "Connecting Pasadena Plan" design "the ditch"

Currently, an empty freeway ditch, the 710 stub, divides our city. Connecting Pasadena Plan (CPP) is a citizen-driven initiative that aims to develop a draft master plan for this 35-acre strip of land flanking the 710 stub south from Union to Del Mar and California and revitalize this "dead space." CPP will hold two sequential workshops on October 25 (at Maranatha High School) and November 8. Both workshops, to solicit input, will be led by architect and urbanist Stefanos Polyzoides and other transportation, economic and land-use experts. For more information, click on the headline above. Send RSVP to aokelley@msn.com

 

You're welcome to join us ...

The next WPRA Board of Directors meeting is on Wednesday, October 1, 6:30 p.m., in the Westridge School's community room. On the agenda: a presentation by Sonja Yates, executive director of San Gabriel Valley Habitat for Humanity, which was chosen to build the Desiderio project homes; and updates on San Rafael Elementary School's fate, Rose Bowl concerts and noise and traffic mitigation efforts, the SR-710 DEIR and Connect Pasadena Plan (CPP) 

 

SAVE THE DATE: Neighborhood Candidates Forum

With Mayor Bill Bogaard's decision not to seek re-election, next year's municipal election promises to be a historic time for choosing and change. West Pasadena voters will have the opportunity to help elect a new Mayor and, possibly, a new District 6 councilmember. Although the WPRA does not endorse candidates, we do encourage all voters to become informed. To help, the WPRA on Tuesday, January 27, 2015, will host a Neighborhood Candidates Forum from 6:30 p.m. to 9 p.m., in the large courtroom of the Richard H. Chambers Ninth Circuit Courthouse, 125 S. Grand Ave. Members of the forum planning committee are Blaine Cavena, Justin Chapman, Vince Farhat and Kenyon Harbison.

 

Help us respond to the SR-710 DEIR/DEIS

The WPRA is forming a team to respond to the SR-710 Draft Environmental Impact Report DEIR) and Statement (DEIS), which is planned for release in February 2015. We're looking for experts or research-oriented amateurs to help review the following subject areas: legal, NEPA/CEQA, construction, geology, hydrology, transportation and traffic, air quality, water quality and usage, noise/vibration, hazardous materials and safety, global warming, human health, biological assessment, historic assets, cultural and social assets, economics and environmental justice. To volunteer or recommend an expert that might volunteer, contact Sarah Gavit at gavit@wpra.net.

 
The Rose Bowl Stadium has added a resident-comment section to its website. Stadium management welcomes residents to share comments and concerns about stadium events. Also, the event-day hotline, (626) 397-4141, is active during all major events.

 Neighborhoods in motion

>CLICK ON HEADLINES FOR MORE INFORMATION<
 

TRAFFIC AND CROWD ALERTS

Special-event hotline: If you have questions or concerns, call (626) 397-4141.

  • Saturday, September 27, 8 a.m. - Noon: The American Heart Association Greater Los Angeles is sponsoring Heart Walk Pasadena in Area H, Rose Bowl Loop. Attendance: 10,000.
  • Sunday, September 28, 8 a.m. - 1 p.m.: The Pasadena Humane Society is sponsoring its 16th annual Wiggle Waggle Walk in Brookside Park and the Rose Bowl Loop. Attendance: 2,500.

Japanese garden features jazz artist on September 28

The Storrier Stearns Japanese Garden, 270 Arlington Dr., on September 28 will feature jazz pianist, composer and recording artist David Arnay and internationally known woodwind artist Bennie Maupin. The performance will be at 2 p.m. and is free with the price of admission to the garden. The garden is open to the public on the last Sunday of every month (except in December) from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Admission is $7.50, in advance on the website, or $10 at the gate (12 and under are free). The garden is wheelchair accessible.

  

"Tweet treats ... and all that jazz" takes flight on October 4 

Pasadena Community Gardens and the Pasadena & Foothill chapter of the American Institute of Architects are co-hosting a bird-house building contest and fund-raising event, "Tweet treats ... and all that jazz," on Saturday, October 4 at the Pasadena Community Garden, 721 S. Pasadena Ave. Register for the birdhouse-building contest on the PF-AIA website by October 1. The event, which takes place at 11 a.m. - 3 p.m., features live music, hot dogs from the Pasadena Fire Department's grill team, raffles and a silent auction. Birdhouse awards will be given out in seven categories. Proceeds from the event will go toward the AIA chapter's young architect education scholarship and the Pasadena Community Garden's beautification and education fund. Everyone's invited, at no charge, to attend.

 

UPDATE: La Loma Bridge project  

District 6 Councilmember Steve Madison informs us that the City's long-awaited project to retrofit and rehabilitate the La Loma Bridge should go out to bid this Fall. Construction should start next Spring and be completed by Fall 2016. Stand by.

 

Library commemorates the 1930s American Dust Bowl

The Pasadena Public Library is currently hosting "Dust, Drought, and Dreams Gone Dry," a national traveling exhibition about the Dust Bowl, the disastrous drought and dust storms that wreaked havoc on the American Great Plains in the 1930s. The exhibit is on display in Central Library's Great Hall, 285 E. Walnut St. through October 9. The exhibition recalls a tragic period in our history and explores their environmental and cultural consequences.

 

Gas pipeline replacement project underway

The Southern California Gas Company has begun replacing a natural gas pipeline starting near Fair Oaks Avenue and Alessandro Place, continuing west on Bellefontaine and ending at S. Pasadena Avenue. The project will take approximately two months to complete. The north and southbound lanes along Fair Oaks, near the intersection of Bellefontaine, may be reduced to one or more lanes for approximately a week. For approximately one month, lane reductions may also occur along portions of Bellefontaine, between Fair Oaks and Pasadena Avenue, and sidewalk access access along the eastern portion of Fair Oaks will be closed between Alessandro Place and Hurlbut Street. If you have concerns about safety,call (800) 427-2200.

Editor's top news picks
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L.A. should act quickly to close loopholes in mansionization ordinance

"Amy Aquino has lived in one of the bungalows lining a lovely block of Curson Avenue in Hollywood for 23 years, Nancy Halbert has lived in her house across the street for 39 years. Last December, Aquino heard a clatter and looked out to see a bulldozer tearing down the sweet little Craftsman next door to Halbert. Conversions like this one have been going on for years across Los Angeles, and led to a 2008 mansionization ordinance aimed at reducing their size and protecting neighborhoods. But the ordinance had loopholes, as my colleague Emily Alpert Reyes reported in May, and developers are taking full advantage. So what's City Hall doing about it?" LA times

Leisure
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Looking for other ways to entertain or educate yourself and your family? 

For current events around the area, we encourage you to visit our local news outlets. Click on the publication title to visit that publication's events section (alphabetical order).

Attend WPRA board meetings each month 

Monthly WPRA board meeting dates and locations are on the WPRA website. Click on the headline above or visit our website and look under "Meetings and Events."


The WPRA needs you ... 

If you'd like to serve your community and do it with a group of your neighbors who are equally dedicated, the WPRA encourages you to join your neighborhood residents' association. If you live within our service area, we'd welcome your help. 

  • Got the local news bug? Just curious about your city (and would like to share news with 1,000 or so of your closest friends), consider serving as a co-editor of Neighborhood Update. It will only take a few hours a week (on your own schedule) in the month or two a year in which you'd serve. We'll train you.  
  • We have lots of opportunities to serve on one of our many committees:
    • Land use and planning
      If you care about how we use our land  
    • Education
      If you want to help save public education for West Pasadena  
    • Open space & conservation
      If you care about preserving open space and conservation of land and resources 
    • Membership
      If you'd like to help us continue to build our membership so we can do more  
If you'd like to chat about ways we could help you become more involved or, more likely, more effective (by helping us), send an email to WPRA President. Tell him about your interests.   
To learn more

Visit wpra.net and "like" our Facebook page  

To submit information for the Neighborhood Update, send it to update@wpra.net. 

 

Joseph Stoddard's watercolors: The WPRA is grateful to local artist Joseph Stoddard, who has generously allowed us to display his watercolors in our quarterly newsletter, The (WPRA) News; on the WPRA website; and in this publication. To explore Mr. Stoddard's work, visit josephstoddard.com.