Lenticular clouds are a regular occurence in the Owens Valley due to the high elevation of the Sierra Nevada Mountains but they are not so common in the San Gabriel Valley. In certain instances lenticular clouds can even take the shape of a UFO. In fact there were two of them on this evening. I wasn’t in a position to get a clear view of the other lenticular but it was almost directly above me. On a positive note, I’m happy to report that I wasn’t abducted.

See more Glendora photos.

All of the autumn leaves on the ground were on this tree the previous week. With more funding perhaps the Glendora Preservation Foundation might be able to open Centennial Heritage Park more than once per month…

See more Glendora photos.

Death can be a beautiful thing.

Most of the leaves had fallen from the liquid amber trees at Glendora Centennial Heritage Park. The week before I looked over the chain link fence and noticed that the foliage was at peak color. I longed for an opportunity to photograph it but the park wasn’t open that weekend. This is what it looked like the following week.

See more Glendora pictures.

A pretty straightforward composition but I felt a sense of comfort by looking at the Hamilton House. I guess I kind of long for the simpler things in life. I’m not much of a city person and gravitate more toward the low-key humble places. The only thing missing here is the girl next door welcoming me with open arms.

See more Glendora pictures.

Earlier this month during my interview with Kristin Parisi she mentioned one of her favorite local places was the Centennial Heritage Park. I had never heard of the place since it is tucked in between the north side of the South Hills, a wash and an apartment complex. It only opens one weekend per month so I decided to go check it out a few weeks ago when there was still a little bit of color left on the trees.

It is a pretty cool place I must admit! The star attraction is the Hamilton House but the garden consists of a citrus grove, a row of liquid amber trees lining the property and an array of old farming equipment scattered about. My tour guide, Tom, was very passionate about describing the stories behind the place. If you question your own passion for life, take this house tour and you’ll learn what passion is about from a 73 year old man. He’s been volunteering for the Preservation Foundation for 12 years since his retirement and loves it. I ended up talking to him for probably two hours off and on in between taking photos. The light outdoors was horrible at that hour anyway due to the sun rising behind the South Hills so I wasn’t able to get many photos.

I thought this picture showed how quaint the Hamilton House is. They really did a good job at restoring this place as I think it previously housed some sort of store on Route 66 and was home to the original family before that. I have the brochure around here somewhere but I can’t find it at the moment so excuse me if my facts are a little off.

South Hills Alosta Canyon Trail, Glendora, California

Tell us a little bit about yourself and your professional background.

Both my husband and I are transplants from the Midwest to California, and we chose Glendora nearly 25 years ago as the place we wanted to raise our family. Soon after our children started school, I got involved in PTA and with other local issues and was quickly “hooked”.

Growing up, my folks were small business owners and we were always active on local issues and local politics. My mother owned and operated our small town newspaper and my father was a local politician. I was raised to believe you “Can’t complain if you don’t get involved”, so it was a natural step for me to provide information that helped the community, try to get our elected officials to listen, and work on the campaigns of candidates I believe in.

As a community volunteer, I published a little paper called “Glendora Life” from 1998-2007. It was Glendora’s “alternative” source of information. We dug for facts and reported news that other local media chose to ignore. Over the past 12 years, I have gradually become more informed, more involved, and more committed to being the type of voice in city hall our citizens deserve.

In my life, I’ve held many different jobs including teacher, college administrator, and policy analyst, but none more fulfilling or rewarding than the work I do now as a Children’s Social Worker. Every day I am in touch with some of our most needy families and feel blessed to have an opportunity to try and answer those needs, whether its safety, emotional strength, food or housing.

I hold a masters degree in Public Administration. I am dedicated to public service, and I will bring my communications skills and broad experience as an administrator, educator and social worker to the Glendora city council.

What do city council members do?

At best, city council members are the most accessible face of government for the citizens. The council sets policy on everything from where you can walk your dog, to the number and size of your business signs. The council plays a huge role in land use and planning decisions that impact the future of communities. Councils make decisions that determine the amount of open space and parkland to protect, the policy on recycling, which congestion management and traffic calming efforts to fund. These are all policies the city council decides on.

Council members are expected to be responsible enough to research issues they

vote on. They should listen and give voice and consideration to the values, opinions, and preferences of their constituents as part of their decision process. Of course, there are competing interests to be considered, but council members should give them all fair consideration and seek solutions and build consensus for decisions that better the entire community, not simply appease their friends or those with the loudest voices.

Unfortunately, what council members do and what they are supposed to do are often not the same. We all know that far too many elected officials succumb to the pressure of repaying favors to those who financed their campaigns.

Kristin Parisi City Council Candidate Waving to Crowd, Glendora Christmas Parade, California

Why do you want to be a Glendora City Council member?

Again, I think the process should be inclusive. When planning to balance housing needs with sustainability, protection of open space and quality of life, for instance, the process yields better results when the process is inclusive. That balance only comes when there are independent voices on the council and a real debate about the huge changes proposed for our community, and the possible solutions.

Since I got involved locally more than a dozen years ago, I’ve shown my concern for every area of our city and the kinds of decisions that are made to protect and improve our neighborhoods by being actively involved, speaking out to the Planning Commission and the City Council, providing written comments to environmental impact reports, and challenging decisions when I thought they were made in error, like the decision to place a commercial nursery operation in a wilderness park.

I’m running for the Glendora City Council because I still believe that discussion, dialog and debate are healthy. I believe in democracy and that everyone should have a place at the table. When we listen and consider everyone’s opinions and have a real, authentic commitment to inclusion and planning, we arrive at better decisions.

Your name was brought to my attention due a blog post I made about commercial development within the Glendora South Hills. What are your views regarding past, present and future decisions regarding our local wilderness area?

Every week, I drive all over the county and there is no better argument for preservation and conservation than a tour of the Southland. We are indeed fortunate to live near the foothills, just one of California’s natural treasures.

The fact is that more could have been done to preserve our local wild areas. Those who made the decisions, however, were obviously motivated by the interests of landowners who supported development regardless of the elevation, regardless of the slope, regardless of the habitat in the area.

I’m pleased that the Glendora Community Conservancy, www.glendoraconservancy.org, with the support of California and Los Angeles County voters, have been able to preserve so many acres. We need more people like you and them, and we need local politicians who make preservation and conservation a priority.

Regarding the future, I think we need to grasp the concept that “when it’s gone, it’s gone”. Preservation should be part of the planning process – valued as much as any other factor in reaching the balance I talked about before. What we can preserve, we should, and we should be good stewards of it for future generations. There is absolutely no need for commercial developments in our South Hills, and the Glendora City Council should terminate the lease and use the land for the purpose for which it was intended.

Colorama Diesel Truck Driving Up Bonnie Cove Trail, Glendora South Hills Wilderness Park, California

Leased Private Property in Glendora South Hills

The Glendora City Manager wrote to me stating that the Glendora Wilderness Park is “zoned as open space and thus cannot be developed with houses or any commercial buildings.” Clearly this is not true because a commercial nursery operation is located smack dab right in the middle of it. Hikers have reported being harassed and run off the Bonnie Cove trail by renegade truck drivers that apparently weren’t even aware that it was originally intended to be a hiking trail. If elected to the city council, will you do what you can to preserve our remaining open spaces?

Like many other Glendorans, I disagree with the current city council’s decision to lease out publicly owned land in our South Hills Wilderness Park area to a commercial nursery. This decision was made hastily. It was a “consent calendar item” for the council, decided without public debate or thorough consideration of impacts on the public: such as public safety for citizens who visit the hills, spraying of toxic or hazardous chemicals, and damage to flora and fauna.

As a member of the council, I will work to terminate the commercial lease with minimal impact to the city’s financial resources. I am a member and supporter of the “Save the South Hills” effort and will continue to be. In addition, I will continue my efforts to protect the foothills and would like to see expanded grant writing activity to support our Conservancy’s efforts and those of other area conservancies. I hope to work with local schools and interested organizations to increase educational and recreational uses of the areas that are available to the public. Public land is a public trust. It’s time we started treating it that way here in Glendora.

Tell me some memorable experiences you have had along the Bonnie Cove trail in the South Hills.

What I love most is the sense of being somewhere away from life’s hustle, bustle and so close to nature. We are so blessed that this opportunity is so close to home. Seeing the baby hawks hatch in the hawk nest across from the Bonnie Cove trail is a wonderful site. It’s said the nest has been there since at least the 1960’s.

Sadly, one less than positive memory was the day we looked at the black walnut tree which held the old beehive, killed by a nursery employee. It was another thoughtless insult to the natural beauty and web of life, and an example of how these two land uses – commercial nursery in the middle of the public’s wilderness park are not compatible and needs to be resolved. I’m told nursery employees seem confused as to why there are hikers on the “road”. Actually, they’re driving their trucks and cars on a hiking trail! The business does not have the South Hills’ best interest in mind; it is useful in their effort to turn a profit. As I said, the uses are not compatible and the park should be returned to the public for public use.

Lupine and Mustard Wildflowers in Glendora South Hills Wilderness Park

Tell me about the Glendora Community Conservancy and your involvement with this organization.

The Conservancy and I are on the same page — preserve open space, and I am a fan and supporter of the Glendora Community Conservancy. The organization has successfully protected a significant number of acres in our foothills, although not as many as I would have hoped for. The Conservancy has a local office and website you may wish to explore.

Click on the link to learn more about the Glendora Community Conservancy and local environmental issues.

More pictures of environmental degradation.

I just wanted to wish everyone a happy holidays. I’m sure this is a tough time for some folks out there but keep the faith and you will be rewarded in ways you never thought possible.

Anyways, this photo was taken on Friday night while driving around after dinner. Glendora has been having an annual Christmas lights competition and this house has won at least twice as far as I know. It is well-deserved too because the guy who does this has probably less Christmas lights up than any other house and yet it looks amazing. He has flood lights position just in the right places and several fake snow blowing machines creating a winter wonderland in his front yard which is surrounded by a white picket fence. It really is a classic American scene. During the daytime you can see the snow-capped Mount Baldy in the background. We don’t have any tourist attractions in town but this is the closest thing to it because cars will stop off in numbers to take pictures of the house.

The dreary weather yesterday morning included a few rain drops but it didn’t put a damper on people’s enthusiasm. The local rock band, Mercy, that played behind the South Hills Hikers group, probably had the biggest fan following of any of the 60+ parade entries as evidenced by the screaming girls jumping around their caravan. I didn’t get any photos of that spectacle however.

United States Flag Painted on Street Address, Glendora, California

Equestrian Unit at Glendora Christmas Parade, California

Cafe Chloe, Downtown Glendora, California

Kristin Parisi City Council Candidate Waving to Crowd, Glendora Christmas Parade, California

See more Glendora pictures.

If you recall a couple blog posts ago, I wrote about South Hills development issues. Well I met up with the local environmental activists this morning at the Glendora Christmas Parade. The lady on the right is Kristin Parisi, who is running for one of two vacant city council member seats. She is here to give voice to those of us who appreciate our local natural resources and want to keep it that way.

We discussed doing an interview on my blog for her to give a little more background on The South Hills. Hopefully I will have this for you in the near future. All in all, it was a pretty fun parade.

Save the South Hills Twins, Glendora Christmas Parade, California

See more Glendora pictures.

I heard today that “developers” are planning on developing over my favorite exercise hiking trail in the Glendora South Hills with homes and a road.

This really makes me angry because there are already a few extremely large mansions near the end of these hills along with no trespassing signs. But the part I hike is purely wild. I see jackrabbits, skunk, red ants, and a tarantula almost every single time I have been up there. The area doesn’t look spectacular but it is special to me.

I prefer not to get into politics on this blog but environmental issues are something that is very important to me so I can’t keep this to myself. I realize that David Dreier is my local congressman and one of the worst members of the Congress when it comes to LCV score. I think at one point, he had a zero out of 100. One person’s complaints might fall on deaf ears but if enough people speak he has no choice but to listen. The whole development-first mindset has got to go.

Southern California is already a cesspool of overdevelopment and outdoor recreation lovers can’t even enjoy our little island in a sea of civilization anymore. I lost ten pounds hiking this trail 3 – 4 times a week. No matter how bad of day I might have had, everything in my life disappears as I’m hiking the trail. It clears my mind and makes me feel good. I can only hope that more people can experience the positive things that I have here.

Here are more pictures from my website:

South Hills Alosta Canyon Trail
He Loved Her, San Gabriel Valley
San Gabriel Valley Sunset, Glendora

YouTube Video
Save the Glendora South Hills

Glendora City Council and Community Redevelopment Meeting Agenda

Update 11/10/08: I received a response from the City Manager, “In answer to your question, we do not know of any housing or other development that would occur in the Wilderness Park. As you may know, the Park covers several hundred acres and is zoned as open space and thus cannot be developed with houses or any commercial buildings. I know the City Council has taken many steps to make sure the park remains in its current open space state and has applauded the Trails Committee for its fine work in maintaining the trail system that you referred to in the email.”

I hope that this really is the case and stays this way.

Update 11/30/08:
Lupine and Mustard Wildflowers

“Zoning” – This wholesale nursery occupies a pretty big chunk of the hills.

Some pictures from my cell phone -

Wholesale Nursery Development in Glendora South Hills

Leased Private Property in South Hills

Road Closure

I wrote to Mr. Dreier’s office also and their response was that land-use issues were out of his jurisdiction. Despite that, I think it is always a good idea to write to your local members of Congress to make your opinions known. Developers might have money but we the people have our rights too and together we can fight greed.

Update 1/4/09: I interviewed Kristin Parisi, a local environmental activist and Glendora City Council Candidate. She is quite knowledgeable about the land use issues.

See more of my environmental pictures.