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Wednesday, September 25, 2013

Town council and school district issues come to the fore at ACONA meeting [UPDATE]

by Timothy Rutt

ACONALogoSmlTuesday night’s ACONA meeting hosted Town Council Chair Diane Marcussen and PUSD District 1 (West Altadena) board member Kim Kenne in a wide-ranging discussion of town and school issues along with audience questions.

The Altadena Coalition of Neighborhood Associations brought in the two to discuss current issues facing their respective government bodies and possible directions to go forward.

Marcussen said that one of this year’s town council tasks was to update “foundational items”:  council bylaws and election rules for one, as well as the Community Standards District that governs Altadena’s commercial and residential land use.

The council has formed a CSD committee to look at last year’s “visioning process” and update the standards accordingly.  Marcussen said that the core of what the council does is review land use issues.  Sussy Nemer, deputy to County Supervisor Michael D. Antonovich, affirmed that, saying “in terms of land use, the Altadena Town Council plays a key role.”  While the regional planning commission makes make-or-break decisions on land use, Nemer says they look for a letter of recommendation from the town council.  

“It shows good faith (for a developer) to go to a local forum,” Nemer said.

Kenne said that PUSD was living in a “year of ambiguity” as it transitions to Common Core standards and deals with new funding options, such as the Local Control Funding Formula coming from Sacramento.  Among the challenges is that, as PUSD loses students, it loses state funding: Kenne said that there were approximately 17,500 students in PUSD, down about 500 from last year.  

Kenne said that, under the Local Control Funding Formula, the state allocates a base amount for each student, and adds supplemental and “concentration” amounts for districts where there is a threshold number of students who are English learners or who are low income or in foster care. PUSD is at a level where it qualifies for concentration grants, Kenne said.

The goals of such a funding mechanism include increasing transparancy in how education funding works, more local district control and flexibility over how the funds are spent for students, and more accountability through through local control and involving local stakeholders.

The next meeting of ACONA is scheduled for Nov. 5.

UPDATE:  And here’s the survey, even if you didn’t attend: http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/DVNG778

Posted on Wednesday, September 25, 2013 at 10:18 AM in ACONA, Education, Town Council |

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Comments

Monica Hubbard said…

We appreciated both presentations as well as additional comments made by Sussy Nemer, Town Council member Damon Hobdy, and Linda Machida, coordinator of the just-launched City/School/Community Work Plan. I was encouraged to hear that Linda will be doing focused outreach in Altadena.

I also appreciated hearing the clarification from Sussy that the Altadena Town Council is an independent body and is free to initiate and be involved in discussions and meetings beyond those related to land use. The LA County Vision Report came up, too, and Diane said that the current work of the Council’s Community Standards District Committee is the first step in a process to move that Vision Report forward. That’s good news.

Many thanks to the ACONA Steering Committee for their work seeking suggestions from residents for topics and possible speakers, and for producing these bi-monthly meetings. Looking forward to the November meeting. Maybe, since October has 5 Tuesdays, the next meeting could be a candidate meeting to hear from the three people who are running for two vacancies on the Altadena Library District Board of Trustees. All registered voters in Altadena are eligible to vote in that election. Residents in west Altadena are also eligible to vote in the Area 1 election for Pasadena City College Board of Trustees. There are three candidates for that seat.

Elliot Gold said…

Thanks for the great suggestions Monica.

Please do fill out the survey and put it in there as well, so when the ACONA planning committee meets, we’ll have your suggestion right there for them to consider.

Elliot