The Sierra Madre Tattler!

Nicely spread cedar mulch.

Mod: It appears that our coverage of Bob Harbicht's alleged California state campaign law violations, which included several kind of naive members of the Arcadia Police Officers Association, has attracted a reasonable amount of attention in Peacockistan. Several thousand people have now tuned in to our coverage, or roughly the same amount of folks who might actually vote in this City Council election. I don't know how this is all working for you, but it has given me something interesting to do. I am grateful.

Yesterday I sent a brief note to Arcadia's Chief Deputy City Clerk, Lisa Mussenden, who is also the person who runs the municipal elections in town. I had a couple of questions I needed to ask her, and she got back to me within the hour. Which was very responsive and kind of her. Not all city officials are quite that attentive or prompt. Here is how our exchange went. My e-mail first.

Lisa - My name is John Crawford and I run a regional news blog called The Sierra Madre Tattler. I have been covering Bob Harbicht's unfortunate run-ins with campaign law vis-a-vis the Arcadia Police Officers Assoc., and I have two questions for you.

1) What is the City of Arcadia's official position on this matter?

2) Will the officers pictured with Bob (and Roger) in that campaign related Facebook announcement face any kinds of discipline from the city?

The recognized violation.

This is how Lisa's speedy reply read.

Mr. Crawford:
1) The visibility of the Arcadia Police Department badge in the photo for campaign purposes was not consistent with our personnel rules or state campaign regulations. The subject campaigns have been notified that they must either remove the photographs entirely or alter them so that the badge is no longer visible. To my knowledge, this has been done sufficiently.

While we would generally discourage the use of the exterior of City buildings as part of campaign materials, they are nevertheless public spaces. We appreciate that the campaigns have removed the building identification from the subject photo, we did not require this.

2)The City cannot comment on personnel matters, except to say that in situations such as this, the matter would be properly investigated and appropriate disciplinary actions would be taken if warranted.

Lisa Mussenden, Elections Official
Chief Deputy City Clerk, City of Arcadia

There are some interesting takeaways to be found here. The first being the city's recognition that a law was likely broken. When The Tattler first broke this story I was not certain that we would ever get such an admission from anyone at City Hall. And while I personally do not agree with Lisa's assessment on the use of city owned buildings in political advertising such as Harbicht's, I'm taking what I can get.

The other thing that I find useful is the assurance that the City of Arcadia will be looking into this from a personnel management perspective. And if I am reading this right, it appears that the onus will mostly fall upon Detective Kendall"Schoolboy" Lee. Kendall is the current President of the Arcadia Police OfficersAssociation, so from a labor relations perspective this should be an intriguing investigation. Too bad none of that will ever see the light of day. It would have made for interesting reading.

The person that bears a portion of the non-judicial guilt here is Bulldozer Bob Harbicht. The officers who stood by him in that Facebook photo must have trusted that Harbicht would know how to use their likenesses properly, and wouldn't put them into the kind of jeopardy that he did. No such luck.

Bob owes all of them a public apology. Hopefully he is big enough to give it, and soon.

Now I used the term "double vision" in the title of today's post, and this is what I meant by that. As Lisa mentioned, the City of Arcadia sent out a notification to all of the candidates and their campaigns about this matter. That information is a bit different from what was sent to me. I am posting it here so you can appreciate the contrast.

From: Lisa Mussenden
Date: March 1, 2018 at 2:37:32 PM PST
Subject: Certain Campaign Prohibitions

Due to inquiries received about certain restrictions regarding employees campaigning for candidates for office or regarding ballot measure, and doing so at City building locations, the below has been prepared by City Attorney Stephen Deitsch and is being circulated to the Mayor and City Council, and all City Council Candidates.

Generally, employees have First Amendment“free speech” rights to endorse and campaign for candidates for office and regarding ballot measures. However, they must do so on their own time and using their own resources, NOT on City time or using City resources.

Arcadia City Charter Section 905 provides, in pertinent part:

“No City employee shall take any part in any political campaign while in a uniform bearing the insignia or name of the City of Arcadia. No person shall use the administrative offices and facilities of the City for the purpose of furthering a political campaign for public office.”

Pursuant to Section 905, employees may, for example, appear in a picture endorsing or campaigning for a candidate for office or regarding a ballot measure. However, in doing so, they must not wear a uniform bearing the insignia or name of the City, at least to the extent that the insignia or name is clear and identifiable. That would include a badge, such as a police or firefighter badge – again at least to the extent that the badge is clear and identifiable.

Finally, Section 905 clearly prohibits using City offices and supplies (e.g., meeting rooms, staff offices, phones, computers, printers) to campaign for candidates for elective office or ballot measures. It is significantly less clear that Section 905 prohibits using City Hall, the City Police Department Headquarters, the City Library, or the City Fire Department Headquarters (or stations) as a backdrop for picture-taking for campaigns. These are buildings, often having identifiable names or insignia, which can easily be viewed and pictured from public areas at any time. Section 905 probably does not forbid picture-taking for campaign purposes using the publicly viewed exterior of such buildings. On the other hand, using a City police vehicle or fire vehicle as a backdrop for an election-related photograph is arguably using City property for campaign purposes in violation of Section 905.

If any person believes that a violation of State statute occurs during an election campaign, a complaint may be filed by such person with the Fair Political Practices Commission.

Lisa Mussenden, Elections Official
Chief Deputy City Clerk/Records Manager
City Clerk | City Attorney Office
240 W. Huntington Drive, Arcadia, CA 91007

A more adamant yet nuanced version of what is correct and what is not, right? City Hall still has some questions, and the matter is more open ended than I was told. Together the two letters I've posted give you both the public and private faces of the city regarding this controversy. They are not quite the same.

I think you can also now see why the Harbicht campaign so quickly airbrushed the name of the Arcadia Police Department Headquarters from that building in the Facebook picture we're discussing here. Along with the official titles of the officers unfortunate enough to have posed with him. City law isn't completely clear, and obviously even Slow Bob finally recognized that he may have put his APOA cop pals in dutch with their employer.

As someone once said, and in an entirely different context, it is dangerous for commoners to get too close to the King. To which I am going to add, especially when that King is a fool. Which, in this case, he most assuredly is. A rather careless and self-involved one as well.

Arcadia March 7 Council Candidate Forum - CANCELLED

Mod: Check out this phony baloney.

Hello and good morning Arcadia City Council Incumbents and Candidates,

We regret to inform you that both the Arcadia Association of Realtors® and the Arcadia Chamber of Commerce, respectively, have elected to cancel the Candidate Forum scheduled for Wednesday, March 7. Please see below for an official announcement that we are sharing with you first, as a courtesy. We’ll be submitting this announcement officially a little later today.

The March 7, 2018 Arcadia City Council Candidates Forum scheduled to be held at the Arcadia Public Library has been cancelled. This annual forum has historically been tailored towards an “at-large” election format. After the recent changes to the City’s election process (moving from an “at-large” election format to individual district elections), the co-hosts of this forum, both the Arcadia Association of Realtors® and the Arcadia Chamber of Commerce, have concluded that the public would be better served by other upcoming district-specific forums.

Thus, both organizations felt it better to step aside and allow Arcadia residents to focus on the candidates specific to their district. The Arcadia Association of Realtors® and the Arcadia Chamber of Commerce would still like to remind Arcadia residents, again, that the election is a mail-in vote only and they encourage all residents to vote.

Thank you for your understanding. If this causes any inconvenience to you, please accept our apologies.

Andrew Cooper, RCE, CIPS
CEO - Arcadia Association of REALTORS®

The actual reason why this thing was canceled is 3 out of the 6 eligible candidates decided the AAR debate wasn't worth the time and effort, and chose not to attend. AAR screened questions, plus the anticipated presence of Sho Tay’s rude stooges, being two of the reasons given.

But you could hardly expect Andrew to fess up to something like that. It's not his style.

sierramadretattler.blogspot.com

Mod: It isn't often that a Sierra Madre resident makes national news. Unfortunately, here it wasn't for the best of reasons. But the real black eye would have to go to the City of Pasadena, which, along with the financial collapse of its schools, the racially polarized beating by Pasadena officers of Altadena resident Chris Ballew, and the embezzlement of $6 million dollars by a city employee who will seemingly never go to trial, is a place that has certainly had its share of unhappy news. Below is the press release Pasadena sent out on Friday about its latest explosive run-in with national notoriety. It almost reads like an apology.

Mod: If you head over to Google News and type in the name "Vasken Gourdikian," you will see a long menu of breaking news articles from newspapers all over the country. The Washington Post actually published two separate stories. Here is one of them.

California police lieutenant arrested on gun-selling charges (The Washington Postlink): LOS ANGELES — A Southern California police lieutenant used his job to get around the state’s strict gun laws in order to resell dozens of guns without a license, federal prosecutors said Friday.

Pasadena Police Lt. Vasken Gourdikian was arrested Friday morning and is charges with illegally selling more than 100 firearms between March 2014 and February 2017. Gourdikian, 48, of Sierra Madre, was due to appear in federal court in Los Angeles later Friday. His attorney, Mark Geragos, was expected to comment on the case after the court proceeding.

Gourdikian, who worked as the police department’s spokesman until he was placed on leave last year, used his status as a police officer to buy guns that weren’t available to the general public and then re-sold the guns, prosecutors said.

As a police officer, he was able to purchase so-called “off-roster” handguns, which aren’t available to the public and aren’t listed in a catalog of certified handguns maintained by the state, authorities said. Gourdikian posted on online gun message boards that he had weapons that were brand new and in the box, court documents said.

The investigation against Gourdikian began during a routine analysis of sales and trace reports by agents from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, according to Bill McMullan, the special agent in charge of the ATF field office in Los Angeles.

“As alleged in the indictment, Mr. Gourdikian used his position as a law enforcement officer to buy firearms from gun dealers that the general public could not. He then repeatedly sold those firearms at a profit,” McMullan said. ATF agents raided Gourdikian’s home last year and seized 62 firearms, including an unregistered short-barreled rifle, officials said.

He was also charged with possessing an unregistered gun and falsely claiming on federal firearms forms that he was buying a gun for himself, even though he had already agreed to sell the weapon to someone else, prosecutors said.

Mod: The cumulative effect of all this bad news is having an unhappy impact on the City of Pasadena's floundering local government agency. In an insightful article posted recently on the news site Pasadena Now, the Rotten Rose's increasingly ineffectual Mayor Terry Tornek attempts to explain everything to a room filled with area residents outraged over the Chris Ballew beating. It apparently did not go well.

Mayor Tornek Responds to Criticism of Pasadena Police (Pasadena Nowlink): Pasadena Mayor Terry Tornek read a prepared statement during Monday night’s City Council meeting in which he defended the Pasadena Police Department’s professionalism and integrity. Tornek faced a Chamber filled with numerous anti-police protestors and just two days earlier had officially responded to an Altadena Town Council letter accusing Pasadena police of lacking proper training, requesting the department revise its policies on use of force and racial profiling, and keep two specific officers “restricted from conducting any police business within Altadena city limits.”

It was, he said, time for him to address the issues as the City’s Mayor.

“For several weeks now we have been hearing from local residents expressing their heartfelt concerns over the use of force incident that occurred in November in Altadena,” Mayor Tornek began. “We’ve even heard from the Altadena Town Council, expressing their concern over the PPD conduct in their community. We have been given lists of demands, exhortations about inappropriate police conduct and suggestions about suspensions, policies, training and investigation methodologies. Through it all, I have been listening carefully and asking questions of my own.

“As Mayor of Pasadena,” he continued, “I think that it is time for me to speak out on the issue."

(Many bromides snipped) - The remarks were met with disdain from some audience members who earlier had crowded into City Council chambers carrying signs and shouting calls for the removal from active duty of Lerry Esparza and Zachary Lujan, the officers involved in the violent and controversial November 9, 2017 traffic stop of Chris Ballew.

Ballew, an Altadena resident, suffered a broken fibula and head injuries in the incident. A cellphone video of the arrest was widely circulated on social media, garnering more than a million views worldwide. Ballew and his family have filed a lawsuit against the City.

Police Chief Phillip Sanchez and City Manager Steve Mermell have said that the officers’ conduct is under investigation. The officers remain on active duty.

Mod: One question for me is how does this master of disaster, Pasadena Chief of Police Phillip Sanchez, continue to survive in that position? After all, he signed the paperwork that allowed Gourdikian to obtain some of his most lethal weaponry. This guy has been a serial calamity for the city paying his salary for years. What is his secret?

sierramadretattler.blogspot.com

As you are aware if you read this blog with any regularity, the non-incumbent candidate for Sierra Madre City Council, Andy Bencosme, held his campaign kickoff event in Arcadia.

And not just in Arcadia, but at the offices of the Arcadia Association of Realtors. An organization that spent a lot of time and considerable money a few years back trying to raze funky and fabulous downtown Sierra Madre and replace it with some truly awful generic stacked and packed development. Just in case you've ever wondered why Sierra Madre has Measure V, it is to keep people like that from believing they can run this town.

Obviously this was an unfortunate choice because it left a distinct impression that the constituents whose support Andy is interested in the most are not actual residents of Sierra Madre, but instead out of town developers and real estate people. Most of whom only show up here when they think there is some big money in it. Which is not often.

Soon after that kickoff event lawn signs for Andy Bencosme began appearing in Arcadia as well. Something I still can't quite figure out. If anyone has any theories please do let me know. I'd hate to think this is because Andy isn't sure where Arcadia ends and Sierra Madre begins, but who can really tell? Andy is new to this area, and the exact geography of a still unfamiliar locale might not be all that memorable for him yet. It does take some time.

That was then. Judging by his migrating lawn signs it now appears that he has zeroed in on Sierra Madre a bit more. Obviously Andy hopes to place his markers in spots where everyone can see them, if only to make people believe he does have support here. But like it was with folks in Arcadia who cannot vote for him, neither can a parking lot.

The pictures I have posted above are of the city owned parking area on Mariposa. You can see that Andy has planted some of his signage along the strip of land that borders it. This is a spot that will likely garner him few votes because nobody actually lives there.

At least not permanently.

But there is a bigger problem. According to what follows below, which is found on the City of Sierra Madre website, planting your lawn signs on city owned property is legally frowned upon. Andy might not know because he hasn't been here that long.

The city's website could be another place where he hasn't spent much time yet, either. In order to help him out I'm posting some information here, with a link for convenience.

The item that will be the most helpful here is #4, which clearly states that you cannot place your campaign lawn signs on city property. My understanding is such placement is OK in Arcadia and Monrovia, Andy's previous two locales. But definitely not here in Sierra Madre.

Don't get me wrong. It is fine to have your signs in the yards of folks that support you. You can even sneak a few on to the lots of empty houses, especially if it is a property controlled by a Realtor pal. But alongside the road, on city land attached to a city owned parking lot? No, you cannot do it.

Here that would be considered not much better than littering.

sierramadretattler.blogspot.com

Sho Tay: Elected Community Censor?

Mod: I received the following on Sunday, and I am posting it here today on The Tattler to help undo what I believe was an unacceptable act by the publisher of the "Arcadia's Best" website, Arcadia Mayor Pro Tem Sho Tay. Allowing someone to publicly - and anonymously - impugn the honesty of a reader of your publication, and then in turn refuse to publish the response of that reader when it turns out they do have the facts, facts that you don't especially like, is both dishonest and gutless. It is hard to believe he'll soon be Mayor.

Dear Tattler. My name is Laurie Thompson. I am a 45 year resident of the City of Arcadia. I have served as Chairperson of the Architectural Review Board for the Santa Anita Village for 22 years. However, this correspondence reflects my 45 years as a resident, and not that of an ARB Chair. Recently I commented on Arcadia's Best in response to a slanderous article about TomBeck written by the supposed phantom “hack,” Brett Meyer. Commenters then accused me of being untruthful and challenged me to provide proof. Below is an example:

I sent the following email to Sho Tay asking him to publish my response as a rebuttal and proof of the validity of my comments. I have not heard from him nor was my response posted. Not surprised. Truth is not his long suit. He will not post it. Will you?

Mod: What follows is Laurie Thompson's reply to "Long Time Arcadia Resident's" snarky commentary, along with more than enough proof to establish that Bob Harbicht has taken substantial sums of money from developers. The Mayor Pro Tem of Arcadia might not be able to handle the truth, but that is hardly any reason why everyone else in town shouldn't be given the opportunity.

Mayor Pro Tem Tay:
I do not know how to hack your Arcadia’s Best website, so could you please post the following as a guest blog like you did for Mr. Brett Meyer? It should appear as its own post, and not a comment to Brett Meyer’s article. It’s only fair since you allowed Mr. Meyer to do it. After all, he illegally hacked into your website and posted.

DON’T VOTE FOR BOB HARBICHT, EVER by Laurie Thompson, a real person who lives in District 2.

There have been many misstatements, false accusations and misinformation communicated on Arcadia’s Best in the last couple of weeks. I’d like to clear up some of the inaccuracies with written documentation that cannot be disputed.

First, in 2016, Bob Harbicht did receive campaign contributions from developers as reported by Harbicht on his Form 460. Continental Assets Management contributed $2,500. Continental Asset Management was owned by Andy Chang and was the property owner of the Santa Anita Inn. Continental Assets Management was seeking approval from City Council at the time of the election for a new 220 room hotel and 50 condominium tower.

In 2016, Harbicht received $1,000 from Caroline Edwards, property owner of the dump site in lower Arcadia, seeking approval of a new 1 million square foot warehouse. Yes, that’s right, 1 MILLION SQUARE FEET.

In 2016, Nevis Capital contributed $26,850 to a Political Action Committee called Homeowner’s Association. They were not filing campaign disclosures in Arcadia, but sent mailers to Arcadia. Nevis Capital indicated the $26,850 was for campaign expenditures on the campaign of Bob Harbicht. Reporting forms are attached. Nevis Capital owns 90 acres of undeveloped hillside in Arcadia and is owned by Jeff Lee.

It is pure assumption, but it is a reasonable assumption, that Bob Harbicht would feel “indebted” or “grateful” to these developers for their contributions to his campaign. One might say that this may influence his decisions when their projects come before city council. Or, one might reasonably believe that Mr. Harbicht’s opinion about development are aligned with those of these developers.

Developers are not bad people. But they naturally put their financial interests above the interests of the neighboring properties and residents of Arcadia.

Council Member Beck has not received any campaign contributions from developers. Signatures on nominating papers is not money in the bank. These are 2 different things.

Mr. Harbicht has also been touting his endorsement by the Arcadia Police Officer’s Association. This is not the Arcadia Police Department. These are 2 different things. The APOA is the group that represents the police officers in salary negotiations with the City Council. The Association endorses the candidate they feel will be the best advocate for the officers’ salary increases, benefits, pensions and health insurance payments.

This endorsement has nothing to do with public safety. Mr. Harbicht received $2,500 from the Arcadia Police Officer’s Association in 2016. Again, Mr. Harbicht now “owes” this group.

Council Member Beck did not receive the endorsement of the APOA because he is well known to be “fiscally conservative” and does not give in to the demands or threats of the APOA.

Again, the members of the APOA are not bad people. They are police officers of our Arcadia Police Department and they give a lot to our community. They do a very good job of keeping us safe, protecting us from the “bad guys”. But when the APOA is negotiating for pay raises, it’s for their own self-interests. It has nothing to do with improving the safety of this city, making more arrests, or fighting crime.

Mod: Below are the documents Laurie Thompson supplied to Sho Tay when she attempted to get her rebuttal posted on his "Arcadia's Best" site. Apparently this is information Mr. Tay is afraid of, and hoped would never see the light of day.

sierramadretattler.blogspot.com

Mod: When Arcadia's Mayor Pro Tem decides he wants to do a little communicating with his Mandarin speaking friends in Arcadia, Sho Tay goes on WeChat and let's them know what is on his mind. But is this really the wisest, or the kindest, thing he could be doing? According to a New York City based Chinese origin newspaper, Epoch Times, the answer here could very well be a no. That is, unless you really want your personal opinions being closely surveilled by Chinese state intelligence.

WeChat Confirms: It Shares Just About All Private Data With the Chinese Regime (Epoch Timeslink): China’s most popular messaging app WeChat now warns users in a privacy statement about how much of their private data the company shares with the Chinese regime. To no one’s surprise, it’s just about everything users type into the app.

Developed by the Chinese internet company Tencent, WeChat is China’s equivalent of WhatsApp and is used by 662 million mobile users, which makes it the dominant messaging app in China and one of the largest in the world.

WeChat users who updated to the latest patch are greeted with a new prompt that requires them to accept the privacy policy in order to continue using the app. Upon careful reading, the new privacy policy acknowledges that WeChat collects a whole range of data from its users, and to comply with “applicable laws or regulations” would readily share them with the Chinese regime.

Mayor Pro Tem WeChat selfie time?

Private log data from users such as “information about what you have searched for and looked at while using WeChat,” and “people you’ve communicated with and the time, data and duration of your communications” are among the things that WeChat freely stores and uses to customize advertisement and direct marketing.

WeChat also admits that it would “retain, preserve or disclose” users’ data to “comply with applicable laws or regulations.” Because China’s law enforcement agencies and security apparatus do not need a search warrant to seize a citizen’s property or private data, the Chinese regime would have access to just about everything WeChat users send through the app.

Users who refuse to accept the latest privacy policy would be unable to access WeChat with their accounts, until they change their mind and click the “accept” button. However, because users can resume using the app anytime with their pre-existing data intact, WeChat likely plans to store all the data for a prolonged period, even when a user explicitly refuses to let WeChat manage his or her own data anymore.

The new privacy policy contains few surprises for those that have long been criticizing WeChat for lacking privacy and security protections for its users. After all, observers have attributed the dominance of WeChat in China to the company’s close collaboration with the Chinese regime in implementing self-censorship and surveillance mechanisms in the app.

WeChat certainly got an assist from the Chinese regime when it started a partial blocking of WhatsApp in July. The blocking of WhatsApp eliminated one of the few remaining messaging apps available for users in China that was not controlled by the authoritarian regime.

The Chinese regime also recently announced on Sept. 7 a new regulation mandating that the participants of WeChat message groups be responsible for managing the information posted in their respective groups. Essentially, this means that a user in a message group could be held liable and even persecuted for information that others post in the group.

It has long been noted that WeChat is among the most heavily censored messaging apps. A 2016 survey done by Amnesty International that ranks the world’s most popular messaging apps in terms of privacy protection for users gave WeChat a score of 0 out of 100, meaning that users of WeChat receive little or no encryption protection for their communications and the app is completely exposed to censorship and surveillance by the Chinese regime.

Mod: Nice. What follows below is some bonus coverage.

How WeChat came to rule China (The Vergelink): China’s most popular messaging app, WeChat, has always had a close relationship with the Chinese government. The app has been subsidized by the government since its creation in 2011, and it’s an accepted reality that officials censor and monitor users. Now, WeChat is poised to take on an even greater role: an initiative is underway to integrate WeChat with China’s electronic ID system.

(Later.) Now WeChat is poised to become China’s electronic ID system, state-run Xinhua reported in December. WeChat will issue virtual ID cards, which individuals would use in lieu of physical state-issued ID cards. Since WeChat requires users to register with their real names per government policy, it’s not a stretch to imagine that one day, WeChat may fully replace state IDs. HarvardBusiness School professor of management Willy Shih, who co-authored a case study on WeChat, calls the transition to an electronic ID system a “predictable evolution.”

The pilot program began at the end of December, and it expanded across the country in January. The program was developed by the research institute of the Ministry of Public Security and Tencent’s WeChat team and is backed by banks and other government departments, including the China Construction Bank and the Guangzhou police station’s Nansha District branch.

Mod: You can read the rest at the link.

sierramadretattler.blogspot.com

Mod: I guess this could all be part of getting ready for Donald Trump's first visit to California since becoming president. Then again, it could just be chaos. It is hard to tell the difference.

Trump, Sessions escalate war with California (The Hill link): Attorney General Jeff Sessions on Wednesday announced a new lawsuit against the state of California, escalating a war of words between the conservative administration and the liberal capital of the so-called resistance. Sessions on Wednesday announced the administration would sue the Golden State over three laws that hinder its ability to enforce federal immigration laws.

The lawsuit, filed Tuesday in the Eastern District of California and announced Wednesday by Sessions before law enforcement officers in Sacramento, is only the latest in a string of decisions the Trump administration has made that has left California politicians feeling targeted.

Sessions, who gets his name from Confederate President Jefferson Davis, invoked the Civil War in reprimanding the state, accusing it of trying to nullify federal law and secede from the Union. “There is no nullification. There is no secession. Federal law is the supreme law of the land,” he said. “I would invite any doubters to go to Gettysburg, to the tombstones of John C. Calhoun and Abraham Lincoln. This matter has been settled.”

California Gov. Jerry Brown, ordinarily a cautious politician not prone to outbursts even when it comes to the Trump administration, gave an unusually passionate and at times personal rebuttal.

“This is basically going to war against the state of California, the engine of the American economy. It’s not wise, it’s not right, and it will not stand,” Brown said at a hastily-organized news conference just blocks from where Sessions spoke.

Brown, who referred to the attorney general as “Jeff” and to the president as “Donald,” said the administration is “full of liars” who are pleading guilty to charges brought by special counsel Robert Mueller. He said the lawsuit amounted to a political stunt meant to ingratiate Sessions with Trump, who Brown said would be certain to tweet his support.

“I assume, and this is pure speculation, that Jeff thinks that Donald will be happy with him,” Brown said. “Let’s face it, the Trump White House is under siege. Mueller is closing in. There are more indictments to come.”

California Gov. Jerry Brown taunts Sessions and Trump, says 'Mueller is closing in'(CNNlink): California Gov. Jerry Brown fired back at Attorney General Jeff Sessions and President Donald Trump on Wednesday after their lawsuit challenging the state's immigration laws, calling the administration "full of liars" and repeatedly referencing the special counsel investigation into Russian meddling in the 2016 US election. The Democratic governor was speaking on the heels of Sessions' visit to Sacramento to announce a lawsuit against California for its so-called sanctuary policies of non-cooperation with federal immigration enforcement.

In slamming Sessions' appearance as a "political stunt" that was full of "lies" and untruths, Brown needled Sessions personally and his relationship with the President, which is famously fraught.

"I do think this is pure red meat for the base, and I would assume -- this is pure speculation -- that Jeff thinks Donald will be happier with him and I bet Donald will be tweeting his joy with this stunt,"Brown said.

Special counsel Robert"Mueller is closing in. There are more indictments to come. So obviously the attorney general has found it hard to be just a normal attorney general. He's been caught up in the whirlwind,"Brown added. Brown accused the administration of "going to war" with California and said Sessions was acting "more like Fox News than a law enforcement officer" in his visit.

"Look, we know the Trump administration is full of liars," he said. "They've pled guilty already to the special counsel. ... What Jeff Sessions said is simply not true and I call upon him to apologize to the people of California for bringing the mendacity of Washington to California, and trying to insert discord and dysfunction ... to a state that's actually working."

Brown suggests Trump 'sanctuary' suit against California driven by fear of Mueller probe (Politico.comlink): Gov. Jerry Brown of California suggested on Wednesday that pressure related to special counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation of potential ties between the Trump campaign and Russia contributed to the Trump administration’s decision to file a lawsuit challenging new California laws protecting immigrants. Speaking to reporters in Sacramento just after Attorney General Jeff Sessions touted the new lawsuit in a speech there, Brown indicated that the suit was the result of desperation on Sessions’ part to counteract the headlines from the Mueller inquiry.

“Let’s face it: The Trump White House is under siege. Mueller is closing in. There are more indictments to come,” Brown said, without explaining the basis for his prediction. “So, obviously, the attorney general has found it hard just to be a normal attorney general. He’s been caught up in the whirlwind of Trumpism.”

Brown also invoked Russian interference in the 2016 U.S. election, comparing Sessions’ lawsuit and his speech to those attempts to influence American politics.

“It’s about dividing America,” the governor said. “There’s been a lot of concern about people foreign people trying to sow division and discord. Now, we have the attorney general doing precisely that.”

‘His credibility is shot’: Kamala Harris torches Jeff Sessions for bringing up slavery in defense of DOJ’s ‘war on California’ (Raw Storylink): Sen. Kamala Harris (D-CA) blasted Attorney General Jeff Sessions for attempting to use slavery to rationalize Donald Trump administration attacks on Californians. Sessions’ Department of Justice sued California over so-called “sanctuary city” laws. Sessions escalated his attacks by accusing California of ‘secession’ and citing slavery.

“There is basically going to war against the state of California, the engine of the American economy,” Gov. Jerry Brown (D-CA) charged. “It’s not wise, it’s not right and it will not stand.”

“Attorney General Sessions compared California’s actions — quite intentionally I think — to the actions of the slave states in nullification and secession during the Civil War,” Hayes noted as Sen. Harris chucked. “What do you say to that?”

“Indeed, indeed he did,” Harris replied. “Listen, as far as I’m concerned, Jeff Sessions should be advised — and I’ll advise him right now — that it’s a bad idea, for him, to start talking about anything to do with the history of slavery or reconstruction or the Civil War in the United States.”

“His credibility is pretty much shot on those issues,” Sen. Harris reminded.

Trump heads to California next week (CNNlink): Donald Trump will visit California next week, his first visit to the Golden State as president, the White House announced on Wednesday.

Sources familiar with Trump's plans say he is expected to visit California to the US-Mexico border to look at border wall prototypes in the San Diego area.

The President and White House have been looking to schedule a trip to the border "for a while," one source said. Trump has not visited California since he was sworn into office, though Vice President Mike Pence did a lucrative fundraising swing through the state in October.

White House press secretary Sarah Sanders confirmed Trump is traveling to California next week but did not provide more specific details.

Asked why he hasn't visited before now, Sanders said Trump had been busy enacting elements of his agenda, such as creating jobs and growing the economy.

Mod: It should be a regular love fest.

sierramadretattler.blogspot.com

Mod: So the Bob Harbicht and Roger Chandler campaigns held a hastily called press conference in Arcadia last Tuesday afternoon, which drew about 25 people. To the left here is how the Arcadia Weekly (link) described the event in this week's edition.

Which I guess is pretty good. Both Harbicht and Chandler seemed to be pleased that they had actually convinced a real actual former Mayor to stand up and say that yes, he would vote for these two candidates for City Council. This even though under the law Dr. Chang can personally only vote for one of these candidates at a time without causing himself some possible legal jeopardy. After all, even former Mayors are subjected to the ages old "one man, one vote" rule.

And that is if either live in his neighborhood. Hopefully there isn't any confusion here on this issue. I know how difficult this districting process has been for some.

Out of curiosity I looked around a little to see how the other City Council candidates were doing with their endorsements by former Arcadia mayors. Joyce Platt, who along with Jolly Wu is opposing Roger Chandler in his bid for an umpteenth term in office, seems to be doing particularly well in this category.

This from Joyce's campaign Facebook page (link).

So it would appear that as far as the former Mayor of Arcadia vote is going, Joyce Platt would be leading Roger Chandler by a pretty hefty three to one clip.

Tom Beck (link), who is being challenged by perennial City Council candidate Bob Harbicht, has the endorsement of the same former Mayors as Joyce Platt, plus one. So we're looking at yet another landslide in former Mayor votes.

Jolly Wu is endorsed by former Mayor Gail Marshall. Gail Marshall has been out going from door to door campaigning for Jolly.

Additional news on this important issue as soon as it becomes available.

Roger Chandler takes the "Lawn Signs Confiscated by the City" lead

The lawn sign king and admirers.

While Roger Chandler might be losing badly in the former Mayor endorsement category, he is by far the leader in another area that many people are following closely this election. That being the removal by the city of illegally placed campaign lawn signs race.

Earlier this week a concerned resident sent the following note to Arcadia's City Manager, DominicLazzaretto. This was accompanied by photos proving that misdeeds had indeed been committed.

Dear Dominic - Good morning. Lisa Mussenden, Arcadia election official, sent every candidate for City Council the guidelines for yard signs. She did this twice and she asked ALL CANDIDATES to comply with Arcadia zoning code article IX and with Use of Land, chapter 1, table 3-14 and 3-15. Please inform me if Ms. Mussenden is incorrect and that only some candidates need to comply, but not others.

Attached are photos of several instances of campaign signs violating city code and Use of Land. The photos were taken on March 6th, 2018, almost one month after Gail Marshall spoke at city council about the misplacement of campaign yard signs throughout the city.

Thus alerted, City Manager Lazzeretto quickly replied with this stunning information.

This morning, our code enforcement staff removed 20 Chandler signs, 4 Harbicht signs, and 1 Platt sign from the general area you had mentioned over the past few days. It should include the ones noted in the photos you sent earlier today. Please let our code enforcement staff (or Lisa) know about any other areas of concern on this matter.

We are also sending out further clarification to all candidates on what the sign regulations are related to election signs. It should be very similar to what I sent you yesterday. All candidates must comply with the regulations equally. - Dominic

The Tattler would like to be the first to congratulate Roger Chandler on his stunning performance in the "Lawn Signs Removed by the City" category. As a former City Council candidate myself (albeit it in Sierra Madre, not Arcadia), I can appreciate the backbreaking effort this must have taken.

sierramadretattler.blogspot.com

Things always get exciting here when the topic of utility taxes come up. And with each and every election real burning emotions, deeply wound within any community discussion of Sierra Madre's UUT, seem to ramp up just a little bit more.

And since this form of taxation has been a main topic of discourse for practically every election over the last decade and a half, we have now reached levels that just might make your nose bleed. That is, if you choose to participate. Not everybody does, and perhaps that is best. Certainly that would be easier on the heart.

There were three distinct episodes in the Great Sierra Madre UUT Debate this week, and I'll line them up so you can better appreciate just how bizarre things could become here very soon. This as discussion of Measure D, the ballot measure to get rid of utility taxes altogether in Sierra Madre, draws closer to its April election date with destiny.

The first came our way from the California Tax Limitation Committee, which is more familiarly known to most as the Tea Party. In this case mostly out of Pasadena.

They go on to cite a lot of the facts and figures that you might (or might not) think have some validity here. I personally thought that Sierra Madre would do just fine with a 6% UUT, but apparently a $45,000 dollar blizzard of post cards, funded mostly by people who are paid handsomely out of those utility taxes, convinced residents to abandon all previous opposition to utility tax increases.

You can link to all of that rather draconian Tea Party stuff by clickinghere.

The second UUT related event of the week is pretty much the thinnest slice of ham in today's sandwich, but I'll post it anyway. Some guy was pretty upset by what the Tea Party guys sent out, and left a couple of comments here on The Tattler saying so. Plus a link to what he claims violates state campaign law. Here is what the angry dude said.

That certainly is some colorful language. I really hope it isn't true about Earl Richey. I have always found Earl to be a fairly stand up guy. He does occasionally shoot his many causes in their feet by his too easy acceptance of reactionary propaganda from questionable sources, but I would miss his near daily emails to this blog nevertheless.

All the best, big guy. Hopefully it's just baloney.

The last thing to come my way during this week of rapidly building UUT hysteria is from an agenda report included in the City of Sierra Madre's noticing for this coming Tuesday's City Council meeting. It is from the forever a-hovering law firm of Colantuono, Highsmith and Whatley, and it deals with the possible Death of Sierra Madre.

Here is some of their crazy rhythm.

If that wasn't enough to deep chill your heart and drag you through the tattered thin veil separating us all from a world of the no longer living, you can bravely link to the rest of all that CHW rhetoric here.

One more thought, if I may. If the City of Sierra Madre does lose its UUT financial wherewithal and is forced to disincorporate and pass into that dark night, there is one bright side. We would finally, and at long last, be rid of Colantuono, Highsmith and Whatley.

That might be the only thing making a YES vote on Measure D acceptable.

sierramadretattler.blogspot.com

Mod: There is quite a bit in the news lately about Donald Trump's tryst with porn star Stormy Daniels. An affair that took place right around the time Trump's third wife had just given birth to the happy dad's fifth child, it is a story that won't be going away anytime soon. Here is what you need to know.

The Stormy Daniels-Donald Trump story explained (BBC Newslink): Adult film star Stormy Daniels is suing President Donald Trump over a so-called "hush agreement". Daniels claims she and Mr. Trump had an affair starting in 2006, but he denies the allegations. So why is this story important? And what do you need to know?

Who is Stormy Daniels? Stormy Daniels was born Stephanie Clifford in Louisiana in 1979. She moved into the adult film industry first as a performer, before in 2004 branching out into directing and also writing.

Grammar Lady - Take note.

Her stage name, Stormy Daniels, comes from Mötley Crüe's bassist Nikki Sixx's daughter Storm, and the US whisky Jack Daniels - which southerner Ms. Clifford chose after reading an ad calling the drink "a Southern favourite".

You may also recognize her from such films The 40-Year-Old Virgin and Knocked Up, and the music video for Maroon Five's song Wake Up Call. Anything else? She also thought of running for a US Senate seat in Louisiana in 2010 but called off her run after she said her candidacy was not being taken seriously.

What does she allege? It all goes back to July 2006 - when the White House was merely a twinkle in Donald Trump's eye. Ms. Daniels says she met him that month at a charity golf tournament in Lake Tahoe, a resort area between California and Nevada.

In a 2011 interview with In Touch Weekly, published in full in January, she says Mr. Trump invited her to dinner and that she went to meet him in his hotel room. "He was all sprawled out on the couch, watching television or something," she said in the interview. "He was wearing pyjama pants."

Ms. Daniels alleges the pair had sex in the hotel room (Mr Trump's lawyer said he "vehemently denies" the allegation.) If Ms. Daniels' account is true, this would all have happened just four months after the birth of Mr. Trump's youngest child, Barron.

So what more has she said? Ms. Daniels said Mr. Trump suggested he could bring her on to his TV show The Apprentice.

She also recounts watching a shark documentary with the future president. Ms. Daniels says he's "terrified" of the animal and - look away, shark fans - he apparently told her "I hope all the sharks die."

She claims the pair kept speaking for years afterwards. Ms. Daniels said the last time they spoke was in 2010, around the time she called off her US Senate bid. However, rumors of the affair started to appear before the November 2016 presidential election.

The Wall Street Journal reported just days before the vote that Ms. Daniels had been in discussions with ABC's "Good Morning America" programme to tell all about the reported affair, before abruptly cutting off talks.

Why is the story in the news now? It's been building up for a few months and isn't going away.

In January, the Wall Street Journal published an article claiming President Trump's lawyer, Michael Cohen, made a $130,000 (£94,000) payment to Ms. Clifford in October 2016, one month before the election. The Journal said the money was part of a non-disclosure agreement with Ms. Clifford, which said she couldn't discuss the affair publicly. "These are old, recycled reports, which were published and strongly denied prior to the election," a White House official said.

Mr. Cohen denied the payment. In a statement to the Journal, he called the allegations "outlandish", and said they'd been "consistently denied by all parties" for years. But in February he announced he had in fact paid Ms. Daniels the money.

In a statement to the New York Times, Mr. Cohen said neither the Trump campaign nor the Trump organization knew anything about the payment, which he had made from his own pocket. He says he wasn't repaid. "The payment to Ms. Daniels was lawful, and was not a campaign contribution or a campaign expenditure by anyone."

Shortly after the Journal article, Ms. Daniels launched her "Make America Horny Again" tour at a South Carolina strip club on the anniversary of President Trump's inauguration. The manager of the club, Jay Levy, said he had booked her the day after the Wall Street Journal article about the $130,000 payment. A leaflet for the launch poked fun of the alleged affair. "He saw her live," the flier said. "You can too!"

What's the latest news? Ms. Daniels on Tuesday said she was suing Mr. Trump, claiming he didn't sign the non-disclosure deal, or "hush agreement". Her lawyer, Michael Avenatti, tweeted about the lawsuit with a link to the documents filed in a California court.

The next day, reports surfaced saying President Trump had won a restraining order against Ms. Daniels in February. The order, won in private arbitration proceedings, reportedly stopped her from sharing "confidential information" about their alleged relationship.

"This case has already been won in arbitration and anything beyond that, I would refer you to the president's outside counsel,"White House press secretary Sarah Sanders said on Wednesday. Ms. Daniels' lawyer called the White House comments "ludicrous".

CNN reported on Thursday that President Trump was upset with Ms. Sanders for the comments, as it was the first time anyone from the White House had indicated that Mr. Trump was in any way involved with Ms. Daniels.

What's been the reaction? South Carolina congressman Mark Sanford is one of the few Republicans to comment. He told the Washington Post the claims are "deeply troubling".

"If it was a Democratic president and hush money had been paid in the campaign, would there be a series of hearings going on?"Mr. Sanford asked. "I think you could probably point to a fair number of indicators that suggest there would be."

Democrats Ted Lieu and Kathleen Rice, representatives for California and New York respectively, asked the FBI to investigate Mr. Cohen's payment to Ms. Daniels.

The Daniels-Trump debacle has also trickled down to a rather more local level. In Utah, Republican representative Mike Noel introduced a bill to rename a road to Donald J. Trump Utah National Parks Highway. But Democrat state senator Jim Dabakis told local press that if the bill makes it to the upper house, he would propose a change to rename an adjoining road the Stormy Daniels Rampway.

What could it mean for President Trump? The allegations surfaced at a tricky time for White House officials, and don't appear to be going away. As well as the ongoing investigation into possible collusion with Russia, more and more of Mr. Trump's staff have left or are under scrutiny.

The last thing the White House needs is another scandal to respond to. It's also raised the spectre of a former president. Remember that Bill Clinton faced impeachment proceedings after lying about his affair with staffer Monica Lewinsky. Lanny Davis, a lawyer who served as special counsel to President Clinton, on Wednesday accused Republicans of "utter hypocrisy" for the way they're treating Mr. Trump compared with how they treated Mr. Clinton.

David Dennison’s depravity is exposed in Trump’s lies about Stormy Daniels (New York Daily Newslink): Donald Trump almost certainly had an affair with an adult-film star while his wife raised their young son back home — and scandalously, that’s not the real scandal involving Stormy Daniels.

More troubling for the 323 million of us who count on Trump not as a spouse but as President are detailed allegations from Daniels that Trump was fully aware of, in fact instigated, a secret $130,000 payment made via his lawyer to Daniels on the brink of his 2016 election to buy her silence about their relationship.

The positively pornographic claims surface in a lawsuit that Daniels, real name Stephanie Clifford, filed Tuesday in Los Angeles. It seeks to void a nondisclosure agreement that stopped her from spilling to the media, on the grounds that while Daniels signed, as “Peggy Peterson,” a signature from the other party, “David Dennison,” whom Daniels says is actually Trump, is missing.

Yep: The mistress, who signed the agreement not under her fake porn name but under another pseudonym, is fighting in court with the marital cheater to void his hush money agreement because he didn’t sign it under his own pseudonym. At least life in Trump’s America is entertaining.

And maybe entertainingly illegal. If Dennison is Trump, which the record leaves virtually no doubt he is, the cash to Daniels— the agreement arranges for payment wired “on or before 1600 hours PST on 10/27/16” — is an expense plainly related to his presidential candidacy and, tawdry as it is, the public’s business. By law.

Stormy Daniels lawyer: People have offered to pay $1 million penalty for her to speak out (The Hilllink): Adult-film star Stormy Daniels’s lawyer said on Saturday that at least 10 people have offered to cover the $1 million penalty she would be subject to for breaking her nondisclosure agreement regarding her alleged affair with President Trump. Daniels’s lawyer, Michael Avenatti, told CNN’s Michael Smerconish that no California court would enforce the $1 million penalty for “every episode that she goes out and speaks in violation of the confidentiality.”

Asked if anyone has offered to pay her penalty to allow her to tell her story, Avenatti said “at least 10 individuals in the last three days alone” have offered. He noted that Daniels, whose legal name is Stephanie Clifford, is not considering any of the offers at the moment.

sierramadretattler.blogspot.com

I find it quite curious that back in July 2017,the City of Arcadia was facing a rather rancorous lawsuit over the lack of Asian representation on its City Council. Yet today the remedy is having very little effect, and some of those it was supposed to benefit are behaving in the strangest manner. I'm not sure anyone would have seen this coming.

City Council Candidate Jolly Wu

In a report by KPCC on July 31, 2017 titled "Arcadia among latest to switch to council district elections but not everyone's happy" (link), a resident of Arcadia expressed his disappointment with the ethnic make-up of the Arcadia City Council:

At a busy Chinese restaurant in Arcadia last week, Zig Jiang ordered dim sum and talked about the change coming to the council elections. It was a Chinese-American organization he belongs to that first threatened to sue the city.

Jiang said there’s a similarity between politics and food — what you know is often tied to your culture. "Just like eating Chinese food. Only Chinese know how to eat their own food," he said. Jiang feels the same way about Arcadia’s City Council.

"More Asians to be elected they'll be good because they know what we think,"Jiang said. Although Arcadia's population is about 60 percent Asian, only one member of the council, Sho Tay, is Asian. Jiang wants to see more Asians elected to the council.

But this certainly wasn’t the first time that the issue of a lack of Asian representation on Arcadia’s City Council had been raised. This from nearly eight years ago:

Los Angeles Daily News, April 18, 2010: "Arcadia City Council loses its diversity"(link): Realtor Lawrena Chang admits she’s disappointed. Not one of the three Chinese-American candidates she voted for garnered enough votes to win one of the three open City Council seats in Tuesday’s election. With the departure of Mayor John Wuo, who was the second Chinese-American to be elected to the council, the ethnically mixed city is reverting to an all Caucasian council for the first time in 12 years.

“They are the same race. They know what we need more,” Chang said of the Chinese-American candidates she voted for while having dinner at Arcadia Garden Cafe this week. “They understand us more. I think it’s important.”

Businessman Sho Tay, Attorney Paul P. Cheng and Attorney Jason J. Lee were defeated this week by three familiar faces; Councilman Bob Harbicht, who will be serving a fifth four-year term, former councilman Mickey Segal, who will be serving his third term, and Councilman Peter Amundson, who is serving his second.

This will also be the third term in a row that the council will not include a woman.

Having read all that, wouldn't you think that the first Chinese-American woman running for an Arcadia City Council seat would be a cause for some celebration, and that the Asian community would rally together and get her elected? Jolly Wu, who is running for City Council in District 5, would certainly be just that candidate. But sadly this does not appear to be the case, at least so far.

The Chinese media, along with the Mayor ProTem, Sho Tay, seem to have blinders on and are doing the very opposite of what they had proclaimed was the purpose of districting. They are supporting the very same old, omnipresent white guys they once hoped to replace by going to this more geographically diverse form of representation.

In the World Journal: "Arcadia Council Election, Asians Do Not Be 'Unknown'" (link), written by Zhang Hong on March 01, 2018, the reporter doesn’t even mention that Candidate Jolly Wu is running against the old school incumbent, Roger Chandler. The entire article is about how Asians need to vote for career perpetual politician Chandler, the candidate they now claim will be the best representative for the Asian community in Arcadia.

In an especially mean-spirited diatribe appearing in a recent edition of the Chinese News USA, titled: "Residents In Arcadia Issued An Appeal Calling For Support For Bob Harbicht and Roger Chandler" (link), Jolly Wu is called "a banana," a derogatory term used to mean that she is "yellow on the outside, but white on the inside." In this classic example of reverse race-baiting, they portray her as a sell out to whites. The article also claims she is a plant by City Councilmembers April Verlato and Tom Beck meant to split the Chinese vote.

So much for bringing all of the people of Arcadia together.

Recently a Chinese language mailer was sent out in District 5 to residents with Asian surnames only. In this bizarre political hit piece Jolly Wu is described as being selfish because she somehow kicked all of the students off the Dial-A-Ride so she could have it to herself. This because she is "guilty" of being in a wheelchair.

This accusation is patently untrue. Ironically, and as reported on January 24, 2016 in the Pasadena Star News: "Arcadia students use of city’s Dial-A-Ride leaving seniors stranded" (link), it was Roger Chandler himself who said that kids need to be prevented from using the Dial-A-Ride. Jolly Wu wasn’t present at the meeting where this decision was made, nor did she have a City Council vote to make it happen.

“This was never intended as a school bus service and it’s clearly outside of the regulations for receiving the funds,” Councilman Roger Chandler told the Star-News. “Quite frankly, I suppose if we were audited, we would get nicked."

From everything that I have seen and read about Jolly Wu, she seems like a pleasant, intelligent and highly qualified candidate for Arcadia City Council. I have spoken with her at length on the phone, and I came away from our conversations being very impressed by the depth of her knowledge and passion for Arcadia.

In 2001, Jolly was able to raise $1 million dollars for the LA County Arboretum towards making it more handicapped accessible. It is extremely difficult to believe that so committed a person would be, in 2018, grotesquely attacked over her disability.

It would seem intuitive that the Chinese community in Arcadia would fully support so productive a member of society. So why such mean words in the Chinese language media? Why is Sho Tay backing Roger Chandler over the only Asian candidate running for a seat on Arcadia’s City Council this year? Especially when he had been so adamant about proclaiming a need for districting?

Maybe you, our kind and often indulgent readers, can help answer these perplexing questions.
__________________________________________________________________

More: At the last Arcadia City Council meeting TheTattler was treated like a celebrity. We were mentioned several times by the speakers during public comment, which is always nice. Thank you to all the readers who have made The Tattler such a hit in Arcadia.

I have always believed that criticism from those with opposing viewpoints means that we are on the right track. Exposing the truth can get messy, you know. And look, if somehow we've harshed on your mellow and upset you, kindly remember the Tattler motto: “If you don’t like it, don’t read it.”

In other words, you should go and get your news elsewhere.

One more item. Anyone wishing to find out more information about the candidacy of Jolly Wu can visit her website at https://votejollywu.com.

sierramadretattler.blogspot.com

This very afternoon Sierra Madre City Council candidate Andy Bencosme will be holding a campaign event in Sierra Madre. This in itself is notable since his quixotic effort to achieve elective office in the Foothill Village began with a campaign kickoff in Arcadia. Plus I think he planted some of his lawn signs there as well.

I know, I've mentioned that before. But it is nice that he has finally found his way home. Many were concerned. Now if he would just hold them when people aren't at work.

If you go to Andy's campaign Facebook page (link), you will notice that his event at 4PM today has been built around a discussion he is calling "Business Spotlight on Kubed Living." Or "Cargotecture," if you prefer something slightly more well known.

Apparently there is a business in town that advocates for (and coincidentally sells) homes made out of metal shipping containers. You know, the kind they put on those big cargo ships in Long Beach and send to Asia where they are then filled up with sporks, transmission fluid and replacement parts for dishwashers. Among other useful things.

According to Facebook nine people are planning to attend this event so far, and another five claim to be interested, though maybe not quite enough to actually go. So there should be plenty of room if you wish to take part.

Putting aside any discussion of societal decline and depressed community standards for today, what is Cargotecture, and why would this appeal to Andy? I thought we should give this a moment or two of consideration. After all, this guy could be running the city soon. You need to know what he thinks might a good idea for this town.

Back in 2011, when Cargotecture had first become a hot topic, the celebrated website Fine Homebuilding posted the following article. You can link to it here.

Homeward bound.

Cargotecture: Would You Live in a Metal Box? Cargotecture, a term that was apparently coined some years ago by Robert Humble and Joel Egan over at www.hybridarc.com, refers to homes that are made out of shipping containers.

I’m sure you’ve seen a few of these projects, but have you ever considered them to be a viable building option? I’ve been stumbling upon more and more of these homes lately, and so I’ve been wondering: Do shipping containers make great homes, or are they just weird? I’ve decided my answer is … yes.

Yes, I think they make good homes, and yes they are rather weird and unconventional, which is a major part of their allure for me. To me, living in a converted metal shipping container demonstrates an open mindedness and a sense of creativity that seems to be severely lacking in a lot of homes. While shipping containers can be used to build larger homes, they seem like a great way to build an affordable, small home.

Of course, I’ve got questions. I wonder what my local building department would say of a plan to build with shipping containers (or how quickly they’d put the brakes on my project). I wonder what electrical and plumbing rough-in would be like. I also wonder if I have the design sense to make a shipping container look, feel and function like a real home, and not like some metal box that was plopped behind a mailbox.

Yeah, that would be a problem. Personally, I'd be very interested to hear what the Planning Commission might have to say about this. I think any applicant should anticipate some questions.

The Sierra Madre entrepreneurs advocating for Cargotecture locally call their outfit Kubed Living, and they have a website that you can look over by clickinghere. They have posted some conceptual pictures of what these wickiups might look like, and they do seem interesting and easy on the eyes. Here are a couple.

That could dress up your backyard, I guess. I suppose they do look like a nice enough place to stash your mother-in-law. The aforementioned "Gran in a Can." Or maybe that special kid who decided he'd prefer to spend his life cultivating a weed habit rather than getting a job, or giving you grandkids.

But you know what? This being the real world and all, and taking into account that a lot of people don't really care that much about what the place they're living in looks like, how can you be sure you won't end up with do-it-yourselfer neighbors living in something that looks like this instead?

OK, who knows, right? Maybe it would look better with a Century 21 sign out front. And so you know, someday SCAG will probably force Sierra Madre to actually build some authentic low income RHNA housing. Like right after they have sent in the National Guard. So perhaps filling up a couple of lots with shipping containers will actually get them off of everybody's backs.

After all, there are a lot of available homeless people in LA County looking for city funded housing to go to. Maybe they actually could come and live somewhere around here. In Cargo Madre.

We could call that neighborhood Andyville.

sierramadretattler.blogspot.com

Hanging up his Junta Hat.

Mod: For my money Pasadena is by far the most debauched city in this stretch of the San Gabriel Valley. And certainly in the thick of all that difficulty is the woefully administered Pasadena Police Department. Hopefully with this week's sudden resignation of PPD Chief Phillip Sanchez things will now begin to improve. But don't hold your breath. Today's double helping of coverage comes to us from Pasadena Black Pages, a news site that was first when it came to reporting on some of the things deeply troubling The Rotten Rose.

Pasadena Police Chief Sanchez Resigns Under Fire (Pasadena Black Pageslink): The City of Pasadena was caught a little off guard this week when a letter of resignation suddenly showed up from Pasadena Police Chief Phillip Sanchez. The chief has been under scrutiny during the past couple of months since two of his officers badly beat Chris Ballew (link).

This incident took place while plenty of the residents still had a bad taste in their mouths after prior incidents like when the PPD beat and killed Reginald Thomas in late 2016 (link). Shortly after that incident, a high ranking officer's home was raided by the ATF and over 100 guns and other armaments were confiscated (link).

In February 2018, that same officer was indicted by the United States Government for the illegal selling of firearms. Just last week the news came out that another Pasadena officer is being investigated by the Feds for the same crime. Shortly after that, a video came out of one of the PPD officers involved in the Reginald Thomas incident refusing to answer any questions about the night they murdered Thomas (link).

“The decision to step away from serving my community is a difficult one which took much deliberation and careful thought. For the past eight years, I have had the honor of leading one of the nation’s finest law enforcement agencies, comprised of heroic men and women who serve with distinction in keeping our city safe. Putting on the Pasadena police uniform every day has truly been a humbling experience,” Chief Phillip Sanchez said in a statement released by the Pasadena Police Department.

Last week after a District 3 meeting where Pasadena Vice-Mayor John Kennedy and citizens expressed outrage at how things have been going with the police force, Chief Sanchez suspended the officers involved in the Chris Ballew incident, but he didn't fire them, leading to a lot of additional scrutiny (link).

Perhaps he couldn't take the heat anymore and now he wants to turn his badge in. Who knows? But in the bigger picture don't be surprised if Sanchez indicted in the next few months. So much shady business has been going on in the Pasadena Police Department for so long, people are going to cooperate with the Feds to save themselves.

Perhaps Sanchez didn't just step down because he's tired of hearing what the people are having to say, maybe the Feds are in his rearview mirror now.

Could Indicted Pasadena Police Lt. Gourdikian Be A Reason For There Being So Many Guns On The Streets? (Pasadena Black Pageslink): I was driving home from the Pasadena High School CIF basketball championship games, which the Bulldogs unfortunately lost, to the sound of a helicopter hovering over my neighborhood.

After about twenty minutes I drove around the corner to the sight of police lights and caution tape. When I got there an independent videographer was on the scene and explained that someone had been shot. My interest was sparked because I knew the owner of the apartment, and my concern was for him. I made a few calls and found out that he was okay and the residences of the complex only heard the shots. By the time they came out the 39-year-old, ex-Pasadena resident (who now lives in Las Vegas), who had been shot was on lying the ground alone. Seeing the crime scene make me wonder if indicted Pasadena Police Lt. Gourdikian had anything to do with the gun used in this incident.

In 2016 over 270 guns were confiscated in the City of Pasadena, and that doesn't include the over 100 guns now indicted Pasadena Police Lt. Vasken Gourdikian had stashed away in his Sierra Madre home. Around 250 of the guns were found in Northwest Pasadena. That is way too many guns to be in one community, especially when you think about how many of the guns that haven't been confiscated.

We are necessarily concerned about gang violence and shootings. The Pasadena Police would like to make the people of this community believe that the gang problem is very intense in this city, but that's not necessarily the case. The gang shootings in December 2016 and January 2017 were aberrations, not the norm. But the fact that so many people have illegal guns is a problem. That we don't know yet if Lt. Gourdikian was selling illegally to the residents there is also a concern.

We do know for a fact that he is under fire for selling guns illegally, according to his federal indictment. While Gourdikian was being investigated by the Feds, 8 men from Pasadena were coincidentally targeted and caught by the Pasadena Police heading to Duarte with over a dozen guns, allegedly to retaliate for the three killings.

There is a possibility that the PPD has directly had their hand in a lot of violence in the city by playing both sides of the fence. If you make sure guns are on the streets, and you know where they are, you can make it seem like work is being done. But is this really just camouflage to keep the numbers right?

The fact that Lt. Gourdikian was on paid leave after Pasadena Police Cheif Sanchez said he would deal with this differently, speaks volumes. They will always protect their own no matter what the circumstances.

Mod: For the Transparent California numbers on former Chief Sanchez click here.

sierramadretattler.blogspot.com

OK, you know what they say, right? Three strikes and you're out. Though it certainly doesn't seem like there is really going to be any limitation to all this whiffing since we still have nearly a full month of spring training to go until election day.

As we have most faithfully recounted here before, Andy Bencosme held his campaign kickoff event in Arcadia. He has also planted a bunch of his lawn signs in Arcadia, even though nobody there will be able to vote for him. And now he is mailing his campaign stuff from Arcadia as well? This has become quite a pattern .

Remember, Andy is also a two time president of the Arcadia Association of Realtors. An organization that spent $10s of thousands of dollars a few years back advocating for sky high stack and pack development in certain downtown Sierra Madre areas.

Measure V exists because of the Arcadia Association of Realtors. That is what it took to fend them off. It is also likely why they're running one of their top executive officers in Sierra Madre today.

So I guess that's four strikes. I'm starting to run out of fingers.

Is there anyone here who has not seen the movie "The Manchurian Candidate?"Sierra Madre apparently now has "The Arcadian Candidate." Bring on the McMansions, stop lights, and traffic jams all of the way up Baldwin Avenue.

I'm not sure there are many Arcadia categories left for Andy to take advantage of. Of course, there is always Monrovia, where he used to live. That is, until he decided to run for office here.

Preserve Sierra Madre Email Blast On The Sierra Madre City Council Election

Dear Supporters:

The City Council election coming up on April 10th is a crucial election to the future of Sierra Madre and Preserve Sierra Madre has endorsed the three incumbent candidates, RachelleArizmendi, Denise Delmar and Gene Goss.

While much has been accomplished, profit seeking out-of-town developers have not gone away, those who wish to turn the Monastery grounds into one of the largest housing projects that Sierra Madre has seen in decades are eagerly waiting for the water meter moratorium to be lifted, historically significant homes can face the wrecking ball like what happened to the Henry A. Darling house and the pressure to demolish character homes to be replaced by 2-story McMansions squeezed onto a smaller lot is never a distant challenge despite the rules on the books.

We hope that the candidates we are supporting will not succumb to the temptations and pressures from these directions once elected to office and continue to be worthy of our endorsement as they discharge their duties in office and represent the people who elected them.

Provided below are the website addresses and email addresses for the candidates Preserve Sierra Madre is endorsing. They need support to run a successful campaign for re-election. We encourage you to provide them with that support. Because there is usually a limit to everyone's means, we also encourage you to reach out to the various candidates before offering your support and inquire about the issues most important to you.

We know the core mission of Preserve Sierra Madre and that has not changed over the years. In brief, we want to protect and preserve this "Village of the Foothills" and maintain the quality of life of its residents so that they are not subjected to excessive traffic, pollution, overcrowding, downtown parking meters, depletion of our water supply, and lack of open space.

We also want our residents and our children at some time in the future to be able to drive through the city where they once lived and grew up and actually recognize the neighborhood where they played and perhaps even see the house still standing where they once lived. We only have to look to nearby Arcadia to see the effects of unmitigated and uncontrolled development.

With that being said and with easy links to contact the three candidates we are supporting, here is their information:

Rachelle Arizmendi
rachelle.arizmendi@gmail.com
www.arizmendiforcitycouncil.com

Denise Delmar
reelectdenisedelmar@gmail.com
www.reelectdenisedelmar.com

Gene Goss
ggoss626@gmail.com
www.genegoss.com

These candidates will appreciate your questions and support, and we're sure they will be forthcoming and transparent in their answers.

As always, Preserve Sierra Madre values your support of our coalition. Together, we can make a difference and we have that opportunity right now with this important City Council election.

Steering Committee
Preserve Sierra Madre

Mod: As far as I can tell, none of the candidates Preserve Sierra Madre is supporting have campaigned in Arcadia yet.

sierramadretattler.blogspot.com

It just wouldn’t be an Arcadia City Council campaign if there wasn’t a poorly designed campaign mailer sent out by the out of town Arcadian’s Rights Protection Association (ARPA). For those of you not familiar with this non-influential group, this was the committee that sent out the hit piece against candidate for Arcadia City Council April Verlato in 2016.

Here on the left of this page is their politically ineffectual and rather lurid artistry. Just in case you have forgotten what dumb looks like.

It seems that the ARPAs are now back for Round 2, but they're trying a completely different tact as their 2016 graphic masterpieces didn’t get Harbicht elected. April Verlato was successfully voted onto the City Council while Bulldozer Bobby suffered an extremely embarrassing defeat. One that he is still whining about, and blaming everyone but himself.

Now it is 2018, and their chosen target this time is the mild mannered and politically positive Tom Beck, who is currently on the City Council and running for re-election. They are also targeting any candidate that dares to run against the timeless Roger Chandler, who has been sitting on the City Council since back when Fred Flintstone was still in diapers.

These mailers went out to a select group of residents last week. I've posted a portion of one on the left here for you to appreciate. If you feel that they might be targeting a specific demographic, you could be right. I had a hard time deciphering this mailer myself, but luckily I had a well educated friend translate it for me. You can guess the gist of it: Beck– evil, Harbicht– good. Joyce Platt and Jolly Wu-evil, Roger Chandler-good. Highly primitive political palaver especially prepared for the unsophisticated voter.

What I especially like here is the description of Beck being a mob leader causing crime to increase, property values to decrease and taxpayer money to be wasted, all at his direction. Joyce Platt is apparently a “puppet” of Tom Beck, and Jolly Wu is selfish because she wants to keep the Arcadia Dial A Ride for seniors and the disabled, herself being wheelchair bound. Your only hope, according to this group is to elect the venerable Bob Harbicht and Roger Chandler.

When checking out their website, you will find that the group seems to think property values in Temple City are doing much better than in Arcadia, and that’s a reason to get rid of the laws limiting development in Arcadia. Too bad, Temple City has a FAR that’s 35%, while Arcadia has a FAR that’s 45%. Kinda makes an argument for more restrictive development, right? Guess no one bothered to look up what the development laws were in Temple City before writing up the website, or maybe they just don’t care.

In ARPAstan you just don't let the facts get in the way of your argument. Even if you understand them.

Karfeldt Su, an attorney with an office in the City of Industry, claims to be the person in charge of the ARPA on the paperwork filed with the City Clerk ofArcadia. He’s not registered to vote in Arcadia and likely doesn't even live in town. He seems to have an awful grudge against pro-preservation candidates in a city where he doesn’t vote.

You have to wonder what is in it for him. Well, OK. Maybe you don't.

ARPA fibbing

In 2016, this group was fined $868.00 by the California Fair Political Practices Commission for failing to disclose where the money came from for the mailer against now Councilwoman Verlato. Maybe we’re going to get a sequel and another FPPC investigation as the Arcadian’s Rights Protection Association has again failed to provide the required filings.

Of course, Bulldozer Bobby and the Artful Roger deny any knowledge of these shenanigans. But they aren't asking ARPA to stop their nonsense, either. They're much much too busy endlessly whining about how unfair everybody else is being to them.

The eternal Roger Chandler is showing his true stripes with the selection of his campaign manager, Tommy Thai. Roger's too slick sidekick is hoping that the Artful Roger keeps his seat on council. Why would Tommy Thai be so committed to Roger?

As was previously revealed by TheTattler, Tommy Thai works for Tom "Badda-Bing" Crosby, the owner/broker of Coldwell Banker/George Realty on the corner of Huntington and Baldwin in Arcadia. Huge office. Lots of non-salaried real estate agents. Lots of commissions on all of those homes being bought and sold.

But that’s not it. A video on YouTube was unearthed by The Tattler's eagle-eyed investigative team and I am posting it here. This video features none other than Tom Crosby, the same owner/broker of Coldwell Banker/George Realty. And it shows him blandly confessing that he no longer represents seller and buyers of homes, but rather he has gone into the lucrative business of development. Makes sense. That’s where the badda-big money is in Arcadia.

View Crosby here.

But wait, there's more. Crosby is the same gent who is now suing the City of Arcadia over its denial of a permit to build a circular driveway for his new 6,000 square foot McMansion. So, Chandler’s campaign manager works for the guy suing the city? The one that Chandler sits in closed session discussing Arcadia's litigation strategies? You know, like how they're going to defend the taxpayer's money against Crosby's lawsuit over a vanity driveway?

Chandler can’t discuss this with his campaign manager as it would surely get back to his employer what the City of Arcadia is planning to do and what they think their chances are. Strange, right?

When is someone going to ask the City Attorney about this lurid example of a conflict of interest? How can this in any way be legal?

sierramadretattler.blogspot.com

Click here for video.

You can see this clip on Andy Bencosme's campaign for Sierra Madre City Council Facebook page if you are registered there as a "friend." Otherwise you're blocked from viewing it. So much for transparency. But thanks to an attentive and thoughtful reader of your friendly neighborhood Tattler, you will now be able to check out this lurid example of unconscionable crime right here. Be still our troubled hearts.

What you are looking at is a home security video of an individual swiping a couple of Andy Bencosme for City Council yard signs from somebody's front yard. This is, of course, behavior that is frowned upon as an election tactic, and should you get caught doing such an awful thing you could find yourself in considerable hot water with local law enforcement. Plus it makes you look like an idiot.

There is another problem here, however. It appears that this video was taken in Arcadia. The place you are looking at is located at the rather busy intersection of Arbolada Drive and Foothill Boulevard, a little bit to the south of the city where we believe that Andy thinks he is running for City Council.

Here is yet one more troubling instance that is helping to create the unfortunate impression that Mr. Bencosme is confused about where he is running for City Council.

Here is our list so far:

1)Andy held his campaign kickoff event at the headquarters of the Arcadia Association of Realtors in Arcadia.

2) His yard signs have been spotted at various Arcadia locations.

3) His campaign mailings are postmarked in Arcadia, and apparently use a stamp number registered to the Arcadia Association of Realtors. Which hopefully has been reported as an in kind campaign contribution by Andy.

What we could be looking at here is a City Council campaign with identity issues.

This raises another question. Is it illegal to swipe campaign yard signs if they are planted in the wrong city? I mean, what law enforcement agency would you call in a situation like this? The Sierra Madre Police Department, or their equally fine equivalents over in Arcadia? Would you be breaking any laws then? How would you explain your concern to the police dispatcher?

There is also the unhappy implication being made on the Andy for City Council Facebook page that this theft was an act committed by somebody from the campaign of a rival candidate in Sierra Madre. Like maybe this was done by a rabid Gene Goss fan or something. It is an unfair accusation.

In reality this might have just been some overly fastidious individual in Arcadia upset about the presence of lawn signs that shouldn't have been in his city in the first place.

More on this controversy should additional information arrive.

sierramadretattler.blogspot.com

Mod: When one of the top Generals this country has produced lately decides to tell people that he believes the President of the United States could very well be a traitor, you'd think most everyone would listen to what he has to say. Hopefully some are. The survival of democracy here could possibly depend on it.

Retired four-star Army general: Trump ‘serious threat to US national security’ (The Hilllink): A retired four-star Army general said that he believes that President Trump is a “serious threat to US national security.”

Retired Gen. Barry McCaffrey tweeted Friday that he reached the conclusion about Trump because the president “is refusing to protect vital US interests from active Russian attacks. It is apparent that he is for some unknown reason under the sway of Russian Pres. Vladimir Putin."

McCaffrey has also worked as an adjunct professor at the U.S. Military Academy and led the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy for five years during the Clinton administration.

Trump has come under fire for his response to Russian interference in the U.S. election. The president has repeatedly hit the probe into Russia's election meddling as a "witch hunt." His administration unveiled new sanctions against Russian cyber groups involved in election meddling on Thursday, including individuals and groups charged with election interference by special counsel Robert Mueller.

However, Trump had been criticized for not implementing sanctions against Russia earlier, after Congress passed a bipartisan bill last year giving him the power to do so.

U.S. Cyber Command chief and National Security Agency Director Adm. Michael Rogers testified before the Senate last month that he hadn’t received instructions from Trump to take additional steps to deter Russian cyberattacks aimed at U.S. elections.

Ex-CIA Boss John Brennan Tears Into Donald Trump Over Andrew McCabe Firing (The Huffington Postlink): Former CIA chief John Brennan did not mince his words when taking aim at President Donald Trump on Saturday morning.

In a blistering tweet, Brennan blasted Trump for celebrating the dismissal of former FBI deputy Director Andrew McCabe. Trump would take his “rightful place as a disgraced demagogue in the dustbin of history” once “the full extent” of his “venality, moral turpitude, and political corruption becomes known,” Brennan wrote. “You may scapegoat Andy McCabe,” he added. “But you will not destroy America… America will triumph over you.”

Attorney General Jeff Sessions fired McCabe from his role on Friday, just two days before he was slated to retire, over his alleged conduct during a review of an investigation into the Clinton Foundation.

Brennan’s tweet was in direct response to an earlier post from Trump, shortly after midnight, in which the president described McCabe’s firing as “a great day for the hard working men and women of the FBI” and “a great day for Democracy.” McCabe has already hit back at his dismissal via a lengthy statement.

“This attack on my credibility is one part of a larger effort not just to slander me personally, but to taint the FBI, law enforcement, and intelligence professionals more generally,” he wrote. “It is part of this Administration’s ongoing war on the FBI and the efforts of the Special Counsel investigation, which continue to this day.”

Earlier this month, Brennan said there was “deep, deep worry and concern” about America’s safety under the Trump administration.

Crowdfunding site rallies behind porn star Stormy Daniels as Trump’s lawyers seek $20m in damages (The Sunday Times link): The CrowdJustice website is usually a beacon of high-minded legal activism. It typically plays host to environmental activists or immigrants needing funds to fight deportation. But now it has rocketed to prominence thanks to an unexpected patron: a porn star. Since Stephanie Clifford, aka Stormy Daniels, started using the site to raise funds for her legal battle with President DonaldTrump, it has become the focal point of a struggle that may have serious ramifications.

Daniels is trying to break a “hush” agreement signed in 2016, during the presidential campaign, that stops her telling the full story of her alleged affair with Trump and efforts to gag her. The scale of her task was made clear on Friday when Trump weighed in on the scandal for the first time.

Court papers filed by his lawyers claimed Daniels had violated a confidentiality agreement at least 20 times, which would expose her to damages of $20m (£14m) or more. That seems to have boosted the donations to her on CrowdJustice. She raised $150,000 in 36 hours, one of the fastest fund raisings in the site’s history, rising to more than $200,000 after a flood of almost 7,000 donations.

“It definitely didn’t occur to me that I’d be so thrilled to have an endorsement by a porn star,” said Julia Salasky, the British lawyer who founded CrowdJustice. “There’s something extraordinary about people coming together to back her against the most powerful man in the world.”

Mod: Publicly pilloried by Generals and CIA heads, while also fighting it out in the media and courts with porn stars, and not necessarily winning. Pretty wild times. Next Sunday Stormy Daniels will appear on 60 Minutes, and the word is it will be one of the highest rated reports in that show's long history. Trump's disgrace only gets worse.

sierramadretattler.blogspot.com

Attentive readers of The Tattler will recall an article from March 3rd that we called "The City of Arcadia's Double Vision on Bob Harbicht's Police Picture Shenanigans" (link). There we detailed how the Bob Harbicht campaign had been busted for using a photo that had an Arcadia Police Department officer's badge featured front and center. Applicable laws do not allow for that.

This photo had been displayed on Harbicht's City Council campaign Facebook page, and he was quickly called out on it by City Hall. After which he replaced the original photo with one that had the offending police badge airbrushed out. That along with the lettering across Arcadia's Police Department Headquarters, which had been visible in the background. Also frowned upon.

After this embarrassing incident the City Clerk in charge of elections, Lisa Mussenden, sent out a riot act style memo on March 1st to all of the campaigns specifically spelling out the law. Just in case they somehow never knew, or, as in Harbicht's likely case, just chose to ignore it.

Here is the portion of Mussenden's memo that is relevant to what we are talking about today.

Arcadia City Charter Section 905 provides, in pertinent part:

“No City employee shall take any part in any political campaign while in a uniform bearing the insignia or name of the City of Arcadia. No person shall use the administrative offices and facilities of the City for the purpose of furthering a political campaign for public office.”

Pursuant to Section 905, employees may, for example, appear in a picture endorsing or campaigning for a candidate for office or regarding a ballot measure. However, in doing so, they must not wear a uniform bearing the insignia or name of the City, at least to the extent that the insignia or name is clear and identifiable. That would include a badge, such as a police or firefighter badge – again at least to the extent that the badge is clear and identifiable.

So what showed up in the Chinese language edition of The Epoch News this past week? Two full weeks after all of the above? The same Bob Harbicht campaign photo that caused so much concern back at the beginning of the month. Here is a closer version of the shot we reproduced at the top of this page.

As you can clearly see, the police badge is back. The picture you are viewing here is taken from the print version of this paper, which is available at no cost on the streets of Arcadia now. The on-line version of this Epoch News article had been reported to City Hall by concerned residents on the 18th. The badge shot was then replaced over the weekend with an airbrushed version.

Apparently somebody got in touch with The Epoch News, and they complied with a request to help cover up this act of campaign malfeasance. You can witness this sad example of craven journalism by clicking here.

I'm going to cut to the chase because I'm weary of having to write about Bob Harbicht's unabashed scofflaw behavior. That his people actually got up at the most recent Arcadia City Council meeting and whined about The Tattler's earlier reporting on this affair seems even more ridiculous than before.

It now seems obvious to me that Mr. Harbicht feels that the City of Arcadia's laws, along with those of the State of California, do not apply to him and he can do just as he pleases. And maybe he is right. Nobody being paid by the taxpayers to enforce the laws governing this issue seems willing to confront him on his now serial malefaction.

The sad irony here is Bulldozer Bob, the great crimefighter, has posited himself as the Law and Order candidate in this race. The one candidate (along with his sidekick Roger Chandler), who is going to really crack down on all forms of crime in Arcadia.

So since the only likely way The Epoch Times could have obtained this law busting photo would've been to get it from either Bob Harbicht or those working for him, when is he going to arrest himself? You know, really crack down on crime?

The bad odor of Harbicht's hypocrisy is becoming way too much to endure. It really is time for the voters to put an end to his madness.

sierramadretattler.blogspot.com

Last week, the lucky residents of District 5 in Arcadia were gifted with a satirical treat from the opposition to Roger Chandler. This piece of marketing genius capitalized on the familiar and popular Monopoly brand and transfixed the reader into a new quantitative reason for NOT voting for community backstabber Roger Chandler.

Not only do we get to chuckle at all the quirky quips modeled after the original board game, but we have real, hard facts, irrefutable evidence of the voting history of the candidate begging for re-election. It seems Chandler's actions speak louder than words.

He's a sell out, plain and clear.

A whole committee was formed just to oppose Roger Chandler in this election, and it seems to be fronted by a real person who lives and votes in the area where Roger is running. Congratulations to the people who fight back against the demagogues and their mysteriously funded war chests.

Hopefully, District 5 residents are now getting the message that Chandler cares more about the profits of developers than quality of life for the residents. Chandler's biggest lie is that limits on building will cause property values to collapse.

That certainly didn't happen in Sierra Madre, and it didn't happen in Arcadia, either. Sierra Madre has proven time and again that preservation and reasonable building codes protects the property values of the residents.

Those houses that sit next to these oversized mausoleum-looking monstrosities lose their privacy, their views, sunlight and, of course, big chunks of their property value.

Preservation has worked in Sierra Madre, San Marino, Monrovia, Pasadena and just about every other city in the San Gabriel Valley. Why the people of Arcadia keep electing those pro-development sell-outs, well, I will never understand that.

It's like paying for the rope they'll hang you with.

So what can Roger Chandler take credit for during his 30+ years on Arcadia’s City Council?

- The Mansionization of Arcadia.

- $130 million unfunded pension liability.

What can Arcadia have to look forward to if Chandler is re-elected?

- Votes to revoke the codes limiting the size of new homes.

- Votes to revoke tree preservation.

- Votes for cell towers in residential neighborhoods.

- Votes for raises to the police and fire which will balloon taxes and still end up bankrupting the City of Arcadia.

Dump the chump. Save the town.

sierramadretattler.blogspot.com

The following should help reinforce the notion that Andy Bencosme is not running a Sierra Madre centered political campaign for City Council, and that he really doesn't know very many people living here in town. Or anybody outside of his immediate associates from work since almost all of his campaign donors are either Realtors, or employed in businesses that have something to do with the selling of houses. Making this all a very narrowly focused and possibly only one issue based campaign.

Below are the currently available three pages of Andy's City Council campaign 460 Forms. These roughly cover the months of January and February, and list all of those who donated money to him in the sum of $100 or more. Like all of the candidate's 460 Forms they are available at City Hall and can be obtained there if you show up and ask the always helpful Laura Aguilar to get them for you.

The FPPC requires that the filings of candidate campaign finance disclosures be immediately available to the public upon request. All you need to do is ask nicely.

Outside of Andy himself, the one person here who actually gave a Sierra Madre address is Kristine Mathison. Yet if you check that address you'll find it is the location of the Century 21 offices where Andy Bencosme works, and that she actually lives in Arcadia. Like all of the Bencosme campaign donors listed here besides Andy himself, Kristine will not be able to vote in this election.

A cursory Internet search will help to confirm that Andy's donors are almost all in the real estate business. As an example, Andy Storch, who lists himself on the form as being a "certified life and business coach," can be found on Linked In (link) and is identified there as employed by Christie's International Dilbeck Estates in Pasadena.

This all sheds a little more light on why Andy held his campaign kickoff event at the Arcadia Association of Realtors offices rather than somewhere here in Sierra Madre. His supporters were much more likely to actually know where that was.

Mod: Switching gears, here is an interesting Pasadena Now article.

In Sierra Madre, City Demands Political Group Stop Using City Logo to "Mislead Voters"(Pasadena Now link): The City of Sierra Madre has put TeaPac and the two proponents of Measure D on notice that they must immediately cease and desist the unauthorized use of the City’s logo in their Stop the UUT campaign literature, or face legal consequences, including a potential lawsuit. After receiving telephone calls and emails from confused or angry residents demanding to know why the City’s well-known and loved wistaria logo was being used in Measure D campaign materials, the City was forced to take immediate action to stop the deception.

Use of the City’s logo without express written consent is a violation of the Sierra Madre Municipal Code and may be enjoined as a public nuisance or enforced as a misdemeanor. Use of a city logo or seal in campaign materials in a manner that misleads or gives a false impression that the campaign materials are authorized by a public official is also a violation of state law.

Unlike private committees and initiative proponents, Sierra Madre is held to a higher standard by the Fair Political Practices Commission to communicate only truthful and accurate information to the community on the impacts of proposed initiatives, and cannot produce campaign literature. The use of the City logo to communicate false information in campaign literature is deceptive and misleading.

The March 8th TeaPac email, which used the City’s logo, contained several false statements about the City’s fiscal condition. The Utility User Tax (UUT), which is a 10% local tax on utilities, produces $2.6 million in revenue annually, making up 24% of the General Fund, and pays for Police, Fire, Library and Community Services.

The rest of the article is available at the link I provided above.

Obviously Measure D is dead on arrival. By my estimate it will be lucky to garner more than 20% of the vote. Obviously nobody is going to be able to preserve much of anything in town if you murder City Hall by stripping it of a quarter of its funding. This really would be an act of community suicide.

So while I can understand why the city can't kill this measure enough, I'm not sure I buy into the notion that the Measure D campaign is based on nothing but lies. Can anyone tell us what percentage of Sierra Madre's budget is consumed by its bond debt and outsized CalPERS obligations? I know we've covered that here before.

An eternal 10% UUT didn't just happen all by itself, you know. And is certainly no guarantee that taxes won't have to be raised here again. Or so you'll be told.

sierramadretattler.blogspot.com

Mod - This was sent to me by an area resident and I am pretty much posting it verbatim. What this all means is Sacramento is in the process of monetizing land use in cities all over California, done to benefit the development industries that stuff their campaign banking accounts. Do you really think Chris Holden will vote to stop this? If you think Chris does nothing more than hand out vanity awards to area businesswomen, think again. He loves this kind of legislation, just like he loves the campaign cash he'll get when he votes for these bills. Look at what happened to Pasadena under his watch.

The developers have created nightmare bills being pushed through the legislature in Sacramento.

Ask your city council to publicly oppose the SB 827/828 Sacramento power grab.

Scott Wiener's mandatory high-density housing zoning override bill SB 827, and his unfunded housing quotas bill SB 828, are threats to local control of land use and zoning and existing city planning processes throughout the state of California. Who is better qualified to manage your city's growth: your local City Council and Planning Commission, or developer-funded politicians drawing circles on maps in Sacramento?

Email, write, and call your City Council members today and demand that they pass a public resolution opposing SB 827 and SB 828 and similar legislation that rips up existing local zoning and renders city plans and planning processes meaningless.

https://calocalcontrol.org/

More info on the impact of this legislation and its opponents:

http://www.berkeleyside.com/2018/01/22/berkeley-mayor-wiener-skinner-housing-bill-declaration-war-neighborhoods

Here's the gory details:

http://citywatchla.com/index.php/los-angeles/14982-real-estate-tycoons-beckon-erick-garcetti-caves-again

SB 827 is not a housing bill; it's a real-estate bill. It is intended to monetize real estate. This bill is not about YIMBYs vs. NIMBYs; it's about WIMBYS: Wall Street in My Backyard. With one stroke of the pen, the State Legislature could totally transform the economics of real-estate development in California cities while totally eviscerating decades of planning.

Is that what we want to do to our cities? Does Scott Wiener want to take a wrecking ball to most of the retail villages and residential communities in Los Angeles County? It's nuts. Every responsible planner with whom I've spoken to about this bill speaks of it with great disdain. It is classic overreach, a one-size-fits-all approach to the planning of the largest city in California. That is why I say this is not a transit-oriented development bill; it's a real-estate play of the worst kind."

https://www.planningreport.com/2018/03/15/zev-yaroslavsky-scott-wiener-sb-827-triumph-wimbys

If you are within the area affected, SB 827 eliminates:

All zoning limitations (that means R1, R2, setbacks, height, and yards).

All parking requirements.

All residential density or floor area ratio (FAR) requirements.

All design standards.

All unit mix requirements that require more than 40% of the units in a project to have 2 bedrooms or more.

All ordinances, plans, charters or local regulation.

For those who are ready to act NOW on SB 827, here is a short practical list of things to do:

Email the Lead Secretary for the Sacramento Senate Transportation and Housing Committee at Katie.Bonin@sen.ca.gov expressing opposition to SB 827.

Call and email the staff assigned at the office of each Committee member, especially the Chair, Jim Beall, 916-651-4015, and the Vice-Chair, Anthony Cannella, 209-577-6592.

http://citywatchla.com/index.php/los-angeles/15093-sb-827-getting-out-from-under-the-train-or-bus-to-nowhere

Mod: There you go. You've been warned.

sierramadretattler.blogspot.com

The City of Arcadia's Double Vision on Bob Harbicht's Police Picture Shenanigans

Sierra Madre Resident / Pasadena Police Lt. Vasken Gourdikian hauled in by Feds for Illegal Arms Sales

Now That Andy Bencosme Has Found Where Sierra Madre Is, He'll Need Some Advice On His Lawn Sign Placement

Laurie Thompson's Censored Rebuttal To Attacks Against Her On Mayor Pro Tem Sho Tay's "Arcadia's Best" Site

Social Media Shakedown: WeChat Admits It Gives Private User Data to the Chinese Government

Getting Ready for Donald: Trump, Sessions Escalate War with California

Harbicht and Chandler's Endorsement Deficit Disorder

The City Council Will Discuss the Possible Death of Sierra Madre Tuesday Evening

BBC News Tells All: The Stormy Daniels - Donald Trump story explained

The Arcadia City Council Districting Election Process: Was It Really Just About Mansionization All Along?

Gran In A Can: Andy Bencosme Embraces Cargotecture

Pasadena Black Pages: Pasadena Police Chief Sanchez Resigns Under Fire

Andy Bencosme's Campaign Mailer Was Postmarked In Arcadia? Of Course It Was!

Return of the Arcadian's Rights Protection Association

Shocking Video Footage Of Somebody Stealing Andy Bencosme Lawn Signs In ... Arcadia?

General McCaffrey: "Reluctantly I have concluded that Trump is a serious threat to US national security."

Do Arcadia's Laws Apply to Bob Harbicht? He Doesn't Seem to Think So, and Perhaps He is Right

Chandopoly: The Committee to Oppose Roger Chandler

None of Andy Bencosme's Campaign Donors Actually Live In Sierra Madre

Horrific development bills coming out of Sacramento