SIERRA MADRE EDITION
SATURDAY, DECEMBER 16, 2017
VOLUME 11 NO. 50
THE FATE OF THE SIERRA MADRE LIBRARY
SIERRA MADRE CANDLELIGHT WALK DECEMBER 17TH 7:00 PM
The season of Christmas reminds us of that glorious child who entered the world. The Candlelight Walk is held each Christmas season to celebrate the journey Joseph and Mary made to Bethlehem where Jesus was born over 2,000 years ago. With “Mary and Joseph” leading the way, the procession will begin at St. Rita’s Catholic Church in Sierra Madre, accompanied by participants holding candles and singing
traditional Christmas carols. The procession will end at Kersting Court in the center of town where the Christmas story will be read from the Scriptures. The event begins at St. Rita traveling down Baldwin to Kersting Court. It is recommended to arrive at 6:45p.m., as the walk will begin promptly at 7:00 p.m
‘TIS THE SEASON….TO BE SAFE
Residents Urged To Protect Against Burglaries, Package the house or go to bed. Even if it is for a short time, lock and Identity Theft This Holiday Season your doors. 3. Leave lights on when you go out. If you are going At press time, Sierra Madre experienced at least one to be away for a length of time, connect some lamps to burglary and one attempted burglary on opposite sides automatic timers to turn them on in the evening and off of town. Unfortunately, incidents such as these are during the day. occurring far too often, especially during the holidays. 4. Keep your garage door closed and locked. The Sierra Madre Police Department and the 5. Don’t allow daily deliveries of mail, newspapers or departments of all the cities surrounding Sierra Madre, flyers build up while you are away. Arrange with the have been admonishing citizens to be alert, to “see Post Office to hold your mail, or arrange for a friend or something, say something”. That becomes even more neighbor to take them regularly. important in the next few weeks as thieves step up their 6. Arrange for your lawn to be mowed if you are going efforts to violate unsuspecting residents. away for an extended time. There are a number of things that can be done as a 7. Check your locks on doors and windows and replace deterent however. The following list is compiled from them with secure devices as necessary. Pushbutton a variety of Police Departments on how to protect your locks on doorknobs are easy for burglars to open. Install belongings: deadbolt locks on all your outside doors. 1. Make your home look occupied, and make it 8. Sliding glass doors are vulnerable. Special locks are difficult to break in. available for better security. 2. Lock all outside doors and windows before you leave 9. Don’t Tempt a Thief: (CONT. ON PAGE 2)
As 2017 comes to an end, there have been a number of changes in Sierra Madre. Several of the city’s top management have left us: City Manager Elaine Aguilar, Public Works Director Bruce Inman and a little over a year ago this week, SMPD Chief Larry Giannone. However, with those retirements new leadership came forward, City Manager Gabe Engeland, Public Works Director Chris Cimino and SMPD Chief Joe Ortiz. All have brought in a new era of transparency, all making responding to the concerns of the citizenry their priority. One such effort to reach out to the public currently underway by Engeland… What to do with the Sierra Madre Public Library? In January, residents will receive in the mail a survey in which they are asked what the fate of the Library should be. According to staff reports, this survey will cost the city approximately $16,000 and will come from the city’s general fund. It is hoped that the results will give the city some direction as to what it should do. There are four courses of action the city could take and they will be presented to the public in the survey. Currently located on W. Sierra Madre Blvd. since 1955, the current structure does not currently meet American Disabilities Act (ADA) standards, is not earthquake safe, and needs extensive repairs on the roof, windows, electrical and heating/air conditioning. There are other issues confronting the current library. Namely, it is not large enough. There is not adequate space for the storage of valuable archives, nor is it large enough to adequately handle the amount of patron traffic. Says Library Trustee Barry Ziff, “we need a place that is safe and complies with all State and Federal requirements.” What should the city do? None of the solutions are without expense. They range from moving the library to a new location to doing absolutely nothing. The latter guarantees unpredictable financial emergencies and potential litigation. The choices are below: 1. Move the Library from its current location to the
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80 W Sierra Madre Blvd. No. 327 Sierra Madre, Ca. 91024 Office: 626.355.2737 Fax: 626.609.3285
Sierra Madre Recreation Center on East Sierra Madre Blvd. That would include expanding the current Recreation Center. This option would be funded by selling the current Library building and the back lot with no tax increase to residents.1 2. Keep the Library at its current location and move some services and events/programs to other city venues. Fund repairs by selling the back lot with no extra tax burden on residents.2 3. Enhance and expand the current Library at its existing location, expand services and programming by funding with a property tax increase.3 4. Significantly reduce Library services, limit public access to areas of the Library which are not safe until alternative funding is available and do not sell any city-owned property and do not increase property taxes for Library services.4 The Sierra Madre Library Board of Trustees and The Friends of the Library all recognize the need to come up with a solution that will enable the facility to continue to serve the 6,000+ patrons that use the library every month. They are asking are residents to give the choices serious consideration and respond accordingly when the survey arrives after the holidays. S. Henderson/MVNews
bout the Sierra Madre Public Library: The Sierra Madre Public Library, begun in 1887, is the fourth oldest city library in Los Angeles County and the tenth oldest in Southern California. The current building of 8,762 square feet houses a collection of about 70,000 cataloged items, a historical archives collection, free Wi-Fi, eBooks and DVDs. The Library Services Department is one of seven departments of the City of Sierra Madre and offers a wide range of library services to adults, teens and children. Services are expanded through participation in the Southern California Library Cooperative, a network of 39 area libraries.
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