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Arcadia WEEKLY arcadiaweekly.com
Thursday, February 24 - March 2, 2011
Community News, Arts & Opinions Since 1996
City of Fall Horse Racing Will Take Place at Santa Anita Sierra Pacific Racing Association will Meet at Santa Anita Sept 28 – Nov 6 Madre to Host State of the City Event
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Volume XXI, No. VIII
Celebration on Tap for “All Families” Sunday in Pasadena BY TERRY MILLER
On Monday, February 28, 2011 from 6:00 – 7:00 pm the City of Sierra Madre will be hosting its first ever State of the City address at the Community Recreation Center in the newly renovated Sierra Madre Room at 611 East Sierra Madre Boulevard. This year’s theme is “Working Together the Sierra Madre Way” and this event will highlight programs and services the City has provided over the past year and give residents insight to the City’s goals for the next fiscal year. Mayor Pro Tem John Buchanan will emcee the evening. A special performance by Sierra Madre School Third Grade Students will precede Mayor Joe Mosca’s State of the City Address. Representatives from each City Department will have booths highlighting current programs and projects and will be available to answer any community questions. Although the event will not be aired live on SMTV3, the event will be recorded and rebroadcast on Channel 3 for Time Warner customers and will be able to be viewed on the City’s website no later than March 7. Child care will be provided by the Library and Community Services departments and refreshments will be provided by the sponsors of the event. For more information on this event please contact 626.355.5278
revenues, but since that time revenues have fallen sharply and created a shortfall. Pasadena’s challenges are exacerbated further by a $25 billion deficit in Sacramento, as well as federal earmarks the city has relied upon are likely to be cut by the new congress even as social services are likely to be rolled back. CDBG (Community Development Block Grant) funding has
In the wake of the controversial choice by Arcadia Mayor Amundson to have a Focus on Family pastor speak at Arcadia’s Annual Community breakfast next month, organizers of those opposed to the perceived discrimination and homophobia are planning their own event in Pasadena this Sunday at Good Shepherd Church. A church in Pasadena is developing a ministry to the LGBT community. The pastor, who is not a community activist nor a social organizer, is openly gay. When Rick Eisenlord learned the Mayor of Arcadia is planning on spending more than $5000 of public money to host a “Community Breakfast” on March 4 where he has invited an official of “Focus on the Family” to be the featured speaker, Pastor Eisenlord went into action as did many others in the community. “Focus on the Family” equates homosexuality with alcoholism, and believes that homosexuality is “preventable and treatable”; they claim that anti-bullying laws are part of a “gay agenda” to “promote homosexuality” and that homosexuality can be “cured” through “reparative therapy” Eisenlord said. A few weeks ago Pastor Eisenlord and others in the LGBT community appeared before the Mayor and City Council and
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There will be considerably more horse racing in Arcadia thanks to some recent CHRB decisions - Photo by Terry Miller BY TERRY MILLER Finally some good economic news to report not only for horse racing in general but for Arcadia’s Santa Anita track specifi-
cally as well as the city itself which lost a great deal of income from Oak Tree’s transference to Hollywood Park. Although the name has yet to be officially decreed, it seems the Pacific
Racing Association will be the working title for Santa Anita’s fall racing meet. The California Horse Racing Board finalized the 2011 racing calendar last week by allocating dates
in the late summer and fall for three Southern California racetracks. The Los Angeles County Fair meet will be run at Fairplex Park from September 8 through
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Mayor Bogaard Addresses Senior Citizens in Pasadena BY VICTOR BUELL Pasadena Mayor Bill Bogaard, who expects to win his fourth term as Pasadena’s Mayor running unopposed on March 8, met with a crowd of approximately 65 senior citizens at Villa Gardens last Thursday afternoon. The talk was hosted by the Senior Advocacy Group—a group of active seniors residing at Villa Gardens and still very active in the community— and was moderated by the presiding member Toby
Osos. Mayor Bogaard covered 4 areas of his state of the city stump speech in his prepared remarks: the Rose Bowl, the current fiscal situation in Pasadena, long range plans, and the local economy’s role in Southern California. The Rose Bowl (constructed 90 years ago by members of the community, and listed as national historic site) is undergoing a 3 year, $152 million
renovation made possible by federal stimulus bonds. Construction—including upgraded concession, restrooms, improvements to the ingress and regress to the stadium, and a new scoreboard—is scheduled to complete in time for the 100th anniversary Rose Bowl contest, and the National Championship Game a week later in 2014. The fiscal situation in Pasadena is tight. In 2008 the city had excels