January 2007 Archives

Looming retirement from public office hasn't made Pasadena City Councilman Paul Little any more succinct.

During Monday's council meeting -- a relatively brief two-and-a-half hours -- the District 2 representative, who is not seeking another term this spring, maintained his reputation as being a man with something to say about, well, most everything.

Below are the findings of a thorough study of 30 minutes or so of the meeting. Being of the empirical persuasion, I'll disclose my methods: the video archive, a stopwatch and three cups of coffee.

If Wednesday night's ACT candidate Q&A underscored anything, it's that Pasadena likes its politics polite and arguments amicable.

The only intemperate moment came during the fourth hour of the epic, 26-candidate-strong forum, when PUSD school board candidate George Lewis, of Altadena, called out a member of the audience.

Lewis was was making an appeal for all parents to become involved in their children's education and volunteer at their schools, “especially the lady with the glasses who's sitting there snickering and making comments.�

It was a blow the room's urbane sensibilities. Some in the audience grimaced. Others set their teeth and waited for the moment to pass.

The grinning, bespectacled object of Lewis' ire turned out to be Lynne Serpe, deputy director of the New America Foundation's political reform program.

Serpe was at the forum to promote instant-runoff elections, and felt she had been a good sport to weather the duration of the mostly arid session.

“I just turned to my friend and said, 'some parents do have to work,' “ she explained.

Good thing for Lewis: He didn't lose a vote. Serpe lives in neither Pasadena, Altadena nor Sierra Madre.

As was noted by one Board of Education candidate at Tuesday night's ACT forum, a little acrimonious debate is nothing new among the seven members of the school board. It seems some would prefer the board -- as is often joked at board meetings -- "to join hands and sing kumbayah."

Maybe they should have thought about that before voting in 2000 to improve representation by increasing the board's membership from five to seven?

"I think parents are disturbed and concerned with the instability of the school board. Children have been uprooted, schools have been closed and trustees have been unable to 'decide on an educational program.' "

Clipped from one of my stories? No.

In researching Anne Pursel, (at right) who died Tuesday, I turned to our incomparable Linda Hammes who holds a preternatural authority over our library of stories past. The above quote is from Marie Rivers in the March 1, 1985, edition of the Pasadena Star-News.

Rivers and Pursel were vying to succeed Marge Wyatt in Seat 5.

Not that I hadn't heard of Anne. In fact I worked for the Star-News in 1985, the year she was first elected to the school board. On my 10-speed beach cruiser, I was a newspaper distribution specialist, getting up at 5 a.m. to toss papers along Longden Avenue and surrounding streets in Arcadia.

I was laid off a year later.

I was sure to point this out to Editor Larry Wilson during my interview, who was kind enough not to hold my "shame a job out of them" strategy against me.

Update: Just spoke with Anne's daughter, Kathy, who shared the funeral arrangements:

2:30 p.m., Friday Jan. 19
All Saints Church @ 132. N Euclid Ave.

Grave side service follows at Mountain View Cemetery in Altadena, with a reception at the Woman's City Club, aka "The Blinn House" at 160 N. Oakland Ave., Pasadena.