February 2007 Archives

Should have put this up yesterday to round out District Two-sday.

Pasadena Councilman Paul Little will have a lot more time to spend in the dog park once his term ends this spring.

Aaron Proctor, candidate for mayor and discriminating blog reader, says he saw Paul plant a lawn sign for District 2 candidate Stacy Lewis on Sunday.

After weeks of public indecision, Paul sent a message Saturday afternoon endorsing Stacy.

Reining in growth is the centerpiece of Jim Lomako's campaign for the City Council's second district.

To make sure that point isn't lost on anyone, Lomako sent a letter to City Hall yesterday urging the City Council to impose a moratorium on residential development in Pasadena's Central District.

Lomako cited a recent city report that the nearly 5,000 units built, permitted or "in the pipeline" is close to a development threshold identified in the General Plan.

"The city should carefully consider where the remaining units should go, the size of the projects, and how they can be made to fit with Pasadena's tradition of fine architecture," Lomako writes in his letter. "The character of the Central District has already been transformed dramatically."

From Pasadena Councilman Paul Little by way of Star-News reporter Janette Williams:

Still smarting after appearing as an unnamed “Pasadena City Councilman” on the off-leash dog park Web site (pilloried for being so absorbed in reading his newspaper he neglected to use it to clean up after his two enormous pets) Paul Little hits back. Or rather, his dogs, er, do.

“Following their abject humiliation at having their owner, Pasadena Council Member Paul Little, outed for allegedly not picking up after them at Pasadena’s dog park, rescued Great Pyrenees Andy and Amy, accompanied by Courtney Little, timidly venture back to ‘Alice’s Park.’

“It wasn’t bad enough that the old guy was caught neglecting his responsibility as a dog owner,” Great Pyrenees Andy remarked. “Being accused of leaving two pounds of poop behind is an affront to Pyrs everywhere who are known for their strength, sleek physique and fitness.”

“We are working dogs, after all,” Amy added. “Who are these people with nothing better to do than police poop and weigh it, anyway?”

We recently added Star-News video of District 2 candidates Stacy Lewis, Jim Lomako and Margaret McAustin as well as District 4 competitors Steve Haderlein and Gene Masuda.

Candidate snippets for the Covina and Monrovia councils are also available.

This from Star-News reporter Molly Okeon:

Former Saturday Night Live cast member Nora Dunn, who was on the popular late-night show from 1985-1990, is apparently a reader of the Pasadena Star-News.

NOTE: Rick Cole says the story below from Ray Cortinez just ain't so.

Long before he served on Pasadena's City Council or became Ventura city manager, Rick Cole had a sophomoric habit that, well, exposed itself frequently at Blair High School.

All nine candidates for the Pasadena City Council's first and second districts agreed to be Guinea pigs for a Star-News video experiment this past Thursday.

Two video segments are online now at www.pasadenastarnews.com/elections.

Look under the "Online Extra" box at the right side of the page -- but understand these links are not for the bandwidth-challenged. Until we've secured our position as Masters of the Multimediaverse, I'd recommend viewing the videos during off-peak hours. So set an alarm clock for 3 a.m. and say a prayer to the gods of server-side content streaming.

David Whitman of South Pasadena's Natural Resources Commission acknowledges he created MoveOnMargrave.org and is subject to a criminal complaint by Councilman David Margrave. Check out the story by Cortney Fielding in today's Star-News.

It's halfway through the show's two-week rotation, but be sure to catch City Beat on KPAS 55. It streams daily over the web and cable television, between encore presentations #236 and #237 of the epic talk-a-thon that was last month's ACT candidate forum.

Why? Two words: Joyce Streator, District 1 councilwoman. It was a treat to chat with Joyce, as it's no big secret she otherwise doesn't talk to reporters. Also on the show is city spokeswoman Ann Erdman and Andre Coleman, another reporter. They introduced Andre as "the weekly reporter," which must be nice, because I work every day.

I'm not entirely sure what this is. This YouTube video posted three days ago is either a Dadaist critique of our somnambulent, consumer culture; or just a trio of stoned 20-somethings with a camcorder.

Not to sound paranoid, but I think they might be making fun of us.

Obligatory warning: A saucy expletive is shouted during a particularly harrowing moment as our protagonists contend with the unilateralism of Green Street.

"It's time you quit wasting taxpayer money talking to the city attorney about your personal agenda," instructs the anonymous author of Move On Margrave! to South Pasadena City Councilman David Margrave.

According to Internet registration records, the moveonmargrave.org domain name was registered Jan. 31, but whoever is behind the site doesn't want it traced to them. It was created using an Arizona-based service that provides anonymity.

But the site does take donations via PayPal for some undisclosed purpose - yet warns that anyone contributing more than $99 will have to disclose their name, address and employer.

Show me yours, but I won't show you mine?

Margrave makes his case for another term on the council -- and slings some mud of his own -- at Margrave's Forum.

The race for Seat 4 on the Board of Education is shaping up as the most exciting of the three school board races, with candidates Milena Albert, Bob Harrison and George Lewis challenging incumbent Bill Bibbiani for a one-seventh stake in control of the Pasadena Unified School District.

All four were at a candidates forum last Wednesday at Marshall Fundamental School on Allen Avenue, but Lewis said he almost didn't make it.

Earlier in the day, he said, a man claiming to be from Marshall's PTA called and told him it had been cancelled.

Not long before the forum started, Lewis learned it had not been called off, so he un-cancelled his babysitter and hustled down to the school.

My hopes for a meme-savvy, net-powered candidate to infect this political season with a viral Internet campaign haven't panned out this year.

Perhaps some are reticent after former Sen. George Allen, R-VA, committed political seppuku in the infamous "macaca" clip streamed round the world last August.

But some of our local candidates have taken newbie steps through tentative forays into cyberspace, such as this video uploaded Sunday to YouTube.com by District 2 City Council candidate Jim Lomako.

Addressing the Bungalow Heaven Neighborhood Association, Lomako discusses growth and development over some jazzy beats. In a clip posted earlier this month, he trots out his children.

Read more for my report of our virtua-politicos.

This from Star-News reporter Janette Williams:

The death of Anna Nicole Smith prompted a call from Rose Tree Cottage owner Edmund Fry. He recalled the late starlet’s visit last year to the tearoom, a temple to all thing British on California Boulevard. An autographed photo immortalizing the event is on show with the Duchess of Devonshire, Adam Ant, Prince Andrew, the King of Rwanda, Margaret Thatcher and other luminaries who’ve sipped tea and nibbled scones there.

Edmund was so taken, he invited her to be his guest at The Queen’s Ball last June at the Ritz-Carlton, Huntington Hotel & Spa in Pasadena — an annual Anglophile bash celebrating Her Majesty’s birthday.

“We danced the night away," Edmund remembered, adding that she was charming and lovely — not drunk, drugged, or “off-the-wall" in any way.

Of course, he said, that was before “all the other stuff."

If only she’d stuck to tea.

Darrel Taylor, interim superintendent of the Pasadena schools, recently enumerated his goals in the district.

Yes, that thing you thought you saw this morning? That's 400 square feet of Robin Salzer rippling in the wind alongside the eastbound 210.

The 50-foot-by-8-foot banner unfurled last week above the International Union of Operating Engineers' building, who through their endorsement have made Robin, in a literal sense, the most visible among his competitors to represent District 1 on the City Council.

"I wanted it to be bigger," Robin deadpans. "But they couldn't put the two buildings together."