Forum footnote

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.