Notes on Glendora election

Some additional notes on Glendora’s City Council election and some recap:

Each council candidate has seemingly put the budget and the economic crisis as the major issues for this election.

Joseph Tweini wants to initiate an immediate hiring freeze, salary freeze, promotion freeze, and explore cutting bonuses.

Mayor Karen Davis wants to avoid layoffs, but “golden handshakes” are definitely on the table.

Kristen Parisi wants no one department to bear the whole burden, but instead wants it shared.

Gene Murabito wants to look at group purchasing agreements. Attack revenue streams before cut services.

In terms of business, all of them say they want to help business stay strong in Glendora.

Murabito feels the city is already “built up” and the building boom the city has seen over the last 8 years or so will begin to slow down. With that, the focus should be on attracting consumers to area businesses.

Davis points to Route 66 as one area that still could use some work, as well as building to prepare for the future Gold Line.

Tweini is all about the Gold Line. The project will “revitalize” the downtown area, in his words. People will commute to Glendora just to shop and eat, he said.

Parisi thinks the city’s efforts to help business should be more broad as some areas and businesses get more positive attention than others.

And on the issue of the often 5-0 vote council (which I think is an interesting):

Parisi doesn’t think it is healthy. Many of those who speak at the public comment time during council meetings, often chastising the council, support Parisi. She wants to add some perspective to the council.

Tweini, who isn’t very critical of the council, still believes they are often guilty of “groupthink”.

Davis says “Having a 3-2 vote doesn’t make a point more than a 5-0.” As long as there is healthy discussion, it is good for the community, she says. Also, each council members various background adds to the dynamic.

Murabito has said he has voted differently than the council on some of his Planning Commission votes, but still supports the council. His opinions are similar to that of Davis on the issue.

Some interesting quotes:

“When I hear the word cut, I hear the word eliminate and that is not what I want to do. Would I be willing to reduce a service from 8 hours to 6? Certainly. My fear is when we eliminate a service it is always difficult to bring it back.”
Gene Murabito

In response to a question about the often contentious public comment portion of City Council meetings, Davis had this to say:

“I think that comes with the job. When we agreed to put ourselves in public service, with that comes the good and bad. We have to be willing to listen to people’s input even when sometimes you may not particularly like it.”

“We need some balance on the council. Some common folk. I don’t think Glendorans are all one mind”
Parisi

“It is on us to come up with a different approach. We can improve in that area.”
Tweini

Glendora’s Fantastic Four

 

23852-gforum.JPG

That’s right, Glendora City Council hopeful Brian Pagac is no more — the news of his campaign’s termination and candidate withdrawal came via a moderator on Wednesday at a candidate’s forum, Daniel Tedford reports.

That leaves Glendora Planning Commissioner Gene Murabito, Mayor Karen Davis, Kristin Parisi, and Yousef “Joseph” Tweini vying for two open council seats.

I guess Pagac couldn’t make it to the forum to make the announcement himself.

 

Thoughts on Glendora’s candidates forum

That was…um…nice?

Given the nature of some of Glendora’s City Council meetings – often filled with contentious public comment sections – I half expected some fireworks from the candidates forum last night.

But it was, mostly, a cordial affair. Candidates responded to the question, there were no side swipes, character assassinations, or major flare ups. In fact, apart from a few moments, most candidates didn’t address any of their counterparts negatively.

While some of the questions bordered on stuff you would see at a high school election debate, most centered on issues of concern.

I don’t know if I would go as far as to call it refreshing, but it was a healthy departure from previous city council elections I have covered that have centered on personal attacks.

As far as the forum itself, each candidate seemed to represent themselves well. “Joseph” Tweini had some trouble with staying within the time constraints. His slow, methodical speech and often use (overuse?) of his notepad got him cut off and ended some of his statements prematurely. He also had some trouble hearing the questions at times due to an echo on his side of the stage, he said.

Karen Davis, as expected being a pastor and incumbent Mayor, seemed to have the best command while talking. She also was one of the only ones to crack some jokes the audience enjoyed.

Parisi did the best in terms of separating herself from the current council and the often agreement between the candidates. Some of the people I was sitting near really liked it when she talked about “adding alternate perspectives and opinions” to the council.

Murabito really seemed at home talking about the budget and money issues. He should, considering he owns a business, is an accountant and teaches accounting.

Big events upcoming for Glendora and Azusa

A couple big events coming up in Glendora and Azusa.

Glendora will host its City Council Candidates forum Wednesday night from 7:30 to 9:30 p.m. at the Glendora High School Event Center. You can find the flyer for the event here.

Also, Azusa will have its state of the city address Thursday at 7:30 a.m. More on that here. Cost is $20.

Speaking of…what is with charging to go to the state of the city address? Is it to keep the number of people in attendance down? It would seem they should have these in a place where as many city residents could show up and here what is going to be said. Lots of cities charge to see these things and I don’t understand it. Times are tough and to think that most people will shell out $20 to hear a state of the city address is somewhat far fetched.

Kelly endorses Murabito for Glendora council

Departing City Councilman Mark Kelly is going to endorse Gene Murabito, planning commissioner, to fill the seat Kelly is vacating.

Kelly announced some months back he would not seek reelection after serving one term on the City Council to spend more time with his family.

Along with incumbent Karen Davis, four others are vying for spots on the council, including Brian Pagac, Kristin Parisi, Yousef Tweini, along with Murabito.

It wasn’t exactly a shocker that Kelly chose to endorse Murabito (he already supports Karen Davis’ reelection) as Murabito already works with the city and is the more high-profile candidate. Kelly’s letter is printed below.

Mr. Tedford,

I will be endorsing Mr. Gene Murabito who currently serves on our Planning Commission. Given the Economic problems of the state which will filter down to the cities, we need an experienced person who has already established relationships with both the Council and city staff. Also, Gene knows the process and issues affecting the City. We need a candidate who can hit the ground running versus taking months to learn the job. There must remain stability on the council and I feel that Gene Murabito can offer that. I only challenge Gene to keep an open mind and equally listen to the citizens of Glendora and city staff. Any elected official needs to understand who there bosses are which is the electorate.

Mark Kelly, Mayor Pro-Tem
City of Glendora

Glendora disclosure statements posted

It’s Monday. Hope everyone had a good weekend.

I had a long weekend myself. I had Friday off and took a trip to the Long Beach Aquarium – the Dragon Horses were amazing – and saw the Greene and Greene exhibit at the Huntington Library which will be there till Jan. 26.

But, as I did have Friday off, I just noticed that Glendora has campaign disclosure statements up.

Check them out, as I will be looking them over myself. If you see anything interesting, shoot me an e-mail: daniel.tedford@sgvn.com

Glendora Library back in business

The Glendora Library, recently closed due to flooding, has reopened after the damages have been fixed.

Story time, unfortunately, has still been canceled until the new year.

WF Construction’s subcontractor (who bore responsibility for the recent flooding) fixed the damaged areas and their insurance company paid for the effort to the tune of about $100,000, according to WF Construction officials.

More to come on that subject tomorrow.

Friends of Glendora loses lawsuit against city

Erica Landmann-Johnsey and the Friends of Glendora had their lawsuit against the city rejected Friday by a Los Angeles Superior Court Judge. The judgment may signal the end to a case against a proposed assisted living facility in Glendora that Johnsey and her group felt was approved without the city vetting it the necessary environmental process. The court disagreed.

Johnsey is a regular speaker at City Council meetings, along with others who are apart of the Friends of Glendora group.

There is a scheduled council meeting for Tuesday night, and it could be expected that this decision may come up during the public comment portion of the evening.

It should be a fun time to kick off the long Christmas weekend. Here is an excerpt from today’s story and look for more online and in the paper tomorrow.

GLENDORA – A lawsuit against the approval of 125-bed assisted living facility was rejected Friday by a Los Angeles Superior Court judge.

The lawsuit brought against the city of Glendora by a group called the Friends of Glendora claimed the project didn’t meet environmental standards and failed to comply with the California Environmental Quality Act.

But the court saw it differently as Judge James C. Chalfant denied the claim.

“We are disappointed in the decision and we are weighing our options for an appeal,” said Friends of Glendora Attorney Cory Briggs. “I think the judge simply views the law differently from the way we view it. Judges are human, sometimes they make mistakes. We think he made a mistake.”

The living facility is intended primarily for seniors and is a two-story, 97,000 square foot facility on the northwest corner of Gladstone Street and Bonnie Cove Avenue. It was approved in February by the council and Planning Commission. The lawsuit originated shortly after that decision.

“Certainly, from the city’s perspective, per the city council’s direction, we undertook extensive investigation and analysis on the project, not just once, not just twice, not just three times, but four times to ensure all the environmental impacts were reviewed and analyzed,” said Glendora City Attorney D. Wayne Leech. “We feel the city not just met the level of expectations required by (California Environmental Quality Act) but went over and above that.”

Glendora fields a crowded field of five for election

GLENDORA — Competition is tight in Glendora as councilman Mark Kelly has decided not to run for reelection leaving his City Council seat open for the taking. At the same time, Mayor Karen Davis is seeking reelection.

“I think during these challenging times that our state and our nation are facing, we as a community have fared better than other places,” said Davis.

Davis is one of five community members running for the City Council. Kristin Parisi, Brian Pagac, Gene Murabito and Yousef “Joseph” Tweini have also thrown in their hats.
Pagac and Parisi did not immediately return phone calls for this story.

Murabito, who serves on the Glendora Planning Commission, had been planning a run for City Council in 2008 for about five years.

“I think the council overall has done a good job,” he said. “Can we improve? Absolutely.”
Murabito worked in aerospace for 25 years before he left that in 1999. He then opened an accounting service that is based in Glendora.

“In my business we are always looking for ways to change and improve, rather than get passed up,” he said. “My strength is in my character.”

Tweini, a chemical engineer, ran for the City Council in 2007 and received the least amount of votes of the candidates. But that experience and opportunity for residents to get to know him will help him this time around, he said.

“This time it is going to be different,” said Tweini. “I am a manager, so I can manage things, manage budgets. I do have the overall picture of what the city is looking for.”

A graduate of UCLA and a resident of Glendora for 15 years, Tweini hopes for the opportunity to serve the residents.

“I am not running against anybody, I am running to serve the community and the people of Glendora,” he said. “If (the people) like the person and vote for them, I will support the decision of the people.”

Glendora’s Kelly won’t run again

20123-kelly.jpg

Just because the presidential election is over, doesn’t mean there isn’t still interesting election news on the horizon.

Reporter Daniel Tedford reports that Glendora Councilman Mark Kelly isn’t going to be running for reelection come March 2009.

It appears Kelly wants to spend more time with his family.

Nomination papers were due in about two weeks.

Mayor Karen Davis is also up for reelection and will be running.