Hahamongna Upset Overturned

The Honorable Michael D. Antonovich                                3/1/11
L.A. County Board of Supervisors
Los Angeles, California

Dear Supervisor Antonovich:

On behalf of the City of Pasadena, I convey strong support for your motion on today’s Supplemental Agenda (Item 60C) pertaining to the Devil’s Gate Dam Sediment Removal Project. After due deliberations, the Council unanimously expressed support for the motion.

We recognize the seriousness of the project to be undertaken, and Pasadena is prepared to cooperate fully in its implementation in the years ahead. But like you, we strongly believe that the project must be structured in a thoughtful and environmentally sensitive manner, and we agree that the approach suggested in your motion will put us on the right track for this effort. The City will be represented at today’s meeting by either Vice Mayor Victor Gordo or Councilmember Steve Madison. 

Please share this letter with your colleagues on the Board of Supervisors.  It is our hope that the motion carries and that the short term plan, to be returned within 90 days, will take into account all material environmental concerns. In this regard, our Public Works staff stands ready to confer and cooperate with the Department of Public Works, Los Angeles County, to assure that the interests of the City of Pasadena in Hahamongna Park are taken fully into account.

Please let us know how we can be helpful in pursuing this important matter.

Sincerely,
BILL BOGAARD
Mayor

Locals may already know that Supervisor Antonovich's motion passed and there will be an Environmental Impact Report before the Department of Public Works begins removing silt from behind the Devil's Gate Dam. (Yay!) The referenced "short term plan," as I understand it, will actually be returned within 30 days as opposed to 90. During this period LADPW has permission to clean out the workings of the dam itself. I hope I've got that right.

The Hahamongna walkabout is this Saturday, March 5th, and there's room for you! Sign up and join us! (I'm leading the 9am tour.) Find out why so many people continue to push to preserve this "urbanwild" place (have done so for years and will always do so).

Big thanks to the City Council for standing up for Pasadena's interests and to Pasadena PIO Ann Erdman for sharing the Mayor's letter. Thanks to Mademoiselle Gramophone for videotaping the Supervisors' meeting and reporting. Thanks to the Pasadena Star-News for this excellent editorial that states it all so clearly and evenly. And thanks to the many, many people who signed the petition (you can sign, too) and made their voices heard in support of Hahamongna. I'd list them all, but the band would play me off the stage.

There will be more challenges. Let's stay tuned.