When it came time to report back to the Town Council with suggested action items (we’d been reporting to the chair all along), a larger Altadena tree grant had just been announced as successful. However, it included only a few trees west of Lake Avenue (12 or 13 out of 120 or so). So we asked the council to write a letter to the Supervisor to nicely ask for more street trees on the west side, particularly Woodbury. But they dithered, because council members on the leafy east side who were getting the bulk of the trees were happy with the grant and didn’t want to “rock the boat.” For example, one council member’s street and census tract were getting many trees, and she moved for the issue to be tabled, saying that in any case it shouldn’t be under the purview of the Beautification Committee. Enough members of the council agreed with her to put off any action.
Tree-mendous success
We had confidence that this uneven tree planting was an oversight based in the Department of Public Work’s bureaucracy, that Supervisor Antonovich would correct if he knew about it. So when the council voted to table, the Chair of Altadena Heritage (on our committee) shot a email to members asking them to politely request more west-side trees from the Supervisor’s office. By this time the tree grant was a matter of public record, and anyone could comment on it. About 30 Heritage members did, and the letter writing campaign was published in this website, which elicited a few more letters. Indeed our Supervisor came through with the roughly 75 beautiful new street trees you now see along Woodbury Road
The council also tabled signage ideas: “You are getting ahead of yourselves, the council should be in charge of this,” several of them said. (They’d been asked to take up the task and had produced nothing more that a printed county publication that included some standard signs, nothing custom-made for Altadena.) However, they failed to act even on this non-action for more than a year, which is why our committee had been asked to try to move it along by recommending potential sign designs that were more interesting and that reflected our community’s personality.
The net-net of several months of good committee work all centered on making Altadena more beautiful was that we were sent off with our tails between our legs. This was the summer of 2012. The first thing the new chair (Ms. Broadous was elected to this position despite being a rookie member of the TC) was to get rid of our committee of devoted and talented people. She did this in a sly manner, proposing that from now on we would be “under” the Land Use Committee and report to them. After LUC got around to considering our ideas/proposals, they would vote on whether any were worthy of being passed on to TC. Well, you couldn’t devise a better way to discourage people who want to make a difference than to relegate them to a subcommittee of a subcommittee, so of course they all quit. The Town Council (and community) lost a group of smart and dedicated volunteers.
Infighting and inaction
I wish the above story were uncharacteristic, but sadly there are many more. Indeed, the story of the Town Council has too often become one of inaction and lost opportunities. When I read of Eric Pierce’s woes with the Election Committee, I had an idea what he had gone through. For the record, I should say that I don’t know him or details of what transpired in his committee in its dealings with the TC. But most importantly, it all sounded so familiar and like “business as usual” that I felt grateful someone was speaking up honestly in a public forum to air the problem of non-action and obstructionism that bedevils our Town Council. The common tendency is to just give up and walk away, shaking one’s head and wondering where else to invest one’s efforts in the community? But he spoke up, and I think that was a good thing.
Many people of talent and good will have served on the Council over the years. Yet too often, infighting and inaction have trumped efforts to make this institution what it could be: vibrant, relevant, and making skillful use of its considerable influence (I didn’t say power, but influence is a kind of power), as an elected body to speak up for the greater benefit of Altadena.
I don’t know the reasons for its failures, and do not mean to say it hasn’t also had some great successes — because it has. These have just been too rare. I do feel that the community dialogue Mr. Pierce has started has the potential to begin a new and positive era for the Town Council as a service group whose members work together to do us some good. If it is true that we get the government we deserve, we have our work cut out and need to take more responsibility for the government we have.
——
Michele Zack is a board member of Altadena Heritage, a former Town Council member, and the author of Altadena: Between Wilderness and City. She is also the current Altadena Chamber of Commerce Citizen of the Year.
—
Michele:
Darn good, and factual, assessment of the Town Council’s history of inaction.
Hopefully things will change… do keep up the pressure my friend.
Elliot Gold
Thank you, Michele – and we hope that the new Council will take the past as a lesson to take a broader view and broader action to ensure healthy development and a healthy community in Altadena. I have a lot of hope for the new council.
Michele, thank you for sharing your perspectives on the ongoing challenges of our Town Council.
Previous perspectives of what has happened in the last few weeks have also been shared online. Read the election chair Eric Pierce’s comments here: http://bit.ly/12K0HQD Tim Rutt reports on what happened at the Council meeting elsewhere on this website: http://bit.ly/193qXsR And Altadena Patch’s report is here: http://bit.ly/12K0HQD.
Tom and I have attended many of the Council’s meetings the past two years. We’ve seen that there are Council leadership style issues that need to be resolved. Clearly there are Council policies and procedures that need to be explored and addressed, perhaps in a focused retreat setting. And clearly the Council needs to *hold itself accountable* for its work and the results of that work.
We also see “green shoots of hope.” We hear comments and thoughtful questions from some Council members indicating a wider vision for the Council’s activities and an embrace of the incredible possibilities for our town. We see a few Council members who understand the volunteer commitment of time and energy that they made by running for election. We see some Council members who actively listen to community members during public comment and to their colleagues during Council discussions – listening to understand, not to rebut. We see some Council members actively reaching out to the wider community and welcoming people in to the process. These Council members see community members as allies in building a healthy and vibrant community for *all* residents.
Michele, I agree that the community dialogue that has started “… has the potential to begin a new and positive era for the Town Council as a service group whose members work together to do us some good.”
And as you’ve observed, it’s up to the entire community — all of us — to work in partnership with the Town Council to build a better Altadena.
Michele, thanks for sharing your perspectives on the ongoing challenges of our Town Council.
( For anyone who hasn’t yet read them, previous perspectives of what has happened in the last few weeks have also been shared online. The election chair Eric Pierce’s comments here: http://bit.ly/12K0HQD Tim Rutt reports on what happened at the Council meeting elsewhere on this website: http://bit.ly/193qXsR And Altadena Patch’s report is here: http://bit.ly/12K0HQD. )
Tom and I have attended many of the Council’s meetings the past two years. We’ve seen that there are Council leadership style issues that need to be resolved. Clearly there are Council policies and procedures that need to be explored and addressed, perhaps in a focused retreat setting. And clearly the Council needs to *hold itself accountable* for its work and the results of that work.
We also see “green shoots of hope.” We hear comments and thoughtful questions from some Council members indicating a wider vision for the Council’s activities and an embrace of the incredible possibilities for our town. We see a few Council members who understand the volunteer commitment of time and energy that they made by running for election. We see some Council members who actively listen to community members during public comment and to their colleagues during Council discussions – listening to understand, not to rebut. We see some Council members actively reaching out to the wider community and welcoming people in to the process. These Council members see community members as allies in building a healthy and vibrant community for *all* residents.
I agree with Michele’s assessment that a community dialogue has started that “… has the potential to begin a new and positive era for the Town Council as a service group whose members work together to do us some good.”
And as Michele has observed, it’s up to the entire community — all of us — to work in partnership with the Town Council to build a better Altadena.
Michele, thanks for sharing your perspectives on the ongoing challenges of our Town Council.
( For anyone who hasn’t yet read them, previous perspectives of what has happened in the last few weeks have also been shared online. The election chair Eric Pierce’s comments here: http://bit.ly/12K0HQD Tim Rutt reports on what happened at the Council meeting elsewhere on this website: http://bit.ly/193qXsR And Altadena Patch’s report is here: http://bit.ly/12K0HQD. )
Tom and I have attended many of the Council’s meetings the past two years. We’ve seen that there are Council leadership style issues that need to be resolved. Clearly there are Council policies and procedures that need to be explored and addressed, perhaps in a focused retreat setting. And clearly the Council needs to *hold itself accountable* for its work and the results of that work.
We also see “green shoots of hope.” We hear comments and thoughtful questions from some Council members indicating a wider vision for the Council’s activities and an embrace of the incredible possibilities for our town. We see a few Council members who understand the volunteer commitment of time and energy that they made by running for election. We see some Council members who actively listen to community members during public comment and to their colleagues during Council discussions – listening to understand, not to rebut. We see some Council members actively reaching out to the wider community and welcoming people in to the process. These Council members see community members as allies in building a healthy and vibrant community for *all* residents.
I agree with Michele’s assessment that a community dialogue has started that “… has the potential to begin a new and positive era for the Town Council as a service group whose members work together to do us some good.”
And as Michele has observed, it’s up to the entire community — all of us — to work in partnership with the Town Council to build a better Altadena.
Nicely said, Michele. Unfortunately, the TC sounds much like the PUSD. Parents give up working with the PUSD for the very same reasons.
But here’s a thought: People go to the PUSD board meetings, not for information or to see the workings of the board, but when they must to address a specific issue. It’s more like the dentist than, say, a play in Farnsworth Park.
I think if the TC would do more visible and positive things in the community, residents would be more aware that we have a TC; and if the TC were more willing to use the influence it has, people would be more willing to spend an evening at a meeting to express their needs. But otherwise, why go? Why care?
BTW, I do want to say that a few years ago, my census tract had a wonderful rep who posted on her blog and responded to residents. The last reps have not made an effort to communicate at all. It’s easier now than ever to communicate. It would be nice if each TC member–or at least each census tract–had a Facebook fan page so we could get periodic updates.
Michele, what a wonderful article and excellent clarification on the issue about the trees. I did not know the full story. Thank you!
I am glad you were able to get the trees along Woodbury and Fair Oaks. That was a good thing and the landscaping along that ugly street looks beautiful. And thank you for the information about the arrogant actions of some members of the ATC.
In my opinion, it is always better to go directly to Supervisor Antonovich with a few of my neighbors if anything important is going on. Forget about the ATC–too many silly quasi-political games. For some unknown reason, many council members act as if they were somebody important, instead of focusing on the needs of the community. The ATC is nothing more than a dummy quasi governmental body which functions like a private club elected by the residents of Altadena who are non-members of the club. That’s the oddest thing and definitely not consistent with public service. With few exceptions, the members of the ATC act like sheep and passively go along with the status quo. Those members who are vocal or oppose the ATC status quo are implicitly threatened with removal. All they have to do is read the Bylaws to know that opposition can easily be quashed by removal from office.
Michele,
Your article was really inspiring! When people who care get together, things happen. As far as the town council, I’ve heard good and bad, but I agree, it is better having one that not.