Incumbent Jon Curtis, running for reelection, sees waste haulers as a pressing issue in La Cañada
Jon Curtis, an attorney and a principal at the Los Angeles-based California Golden Fund, first came to the city council in 2013 after serving five years on La Cañada’s Planning Commission. Since then, he has been involved in several local and regional efforts, including advocacy against a 710 Freeway tunnel and assisting the La Cañada Sister Cities Assn. in its search for a international partner. Recently, Curtis, 57, helped negotiate the purchase of the former Sport Chalet headquarters building for a new City Hall location.
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Valley Sun: What do you consider to be the single most unaddressed issue facing the city today?
Curtis: An issue remaining undecided and not fully addressed today is whether to have multiple waste haulers or move to one or two. A poll was undertaken which showed a split in the city as to whether the city should move to a single-hauler system. Some citizens favored having a choice and thought competition was good. Others disagreed. The City Council will make a decision on this issue in the near future. I am in favor of having one hauler, whether citywide or in districts. By doing so, the traffic, air pollution and damage to our streets will be reduced. We can encourage competition through an RFQ/RFP (request for qualifications and proposals) to ensure quality service and the best possible pricing for citizens.
City officials have indicated a new City Hall would take up about half of the 27,881-square-foot former Sport Chalet headquarters building being purchased for $11.23 million. What would you prefer to do with the rest of the property, including the adjacent Montessori school?
The city has a tremendous opportunity for the space that will not be used for municipal functions. Initially, it should be recognized the new City Hall building is not being acquired to expand government, but to provide an efficient, modern and more customer friendly City Hall facility that can better serve the people. Options will be studied further; however, (i) a portion should be considered for multifunction space that can be used by the city, community groups and any other “user” of the excess space, and (ii) a portion should be considered for economic development purposes, including potentially small business office and/or an “incubator” focused on “space.” As to an incubator, it would be a natural as there are a number of small and emerging companies that want to be close to the Jet Propulsion Laboratory. Leasing the excess space would result in rent to the city to offset facility acquisition costs. Use of the space by emerging companies or an incubator could result in opportunities for students of our top notch public and private schools to intern or work for those companies.
Last year, the city confronted Southern California Edison about frequent power outages and were promised 9,000 feet of new underground cables and significant upgrades. The city is also considering seeking service from another utility provider. What course seems most promising to you, and what would you say to residents for whom outages are a recurring problem?
The city has the attention of SCE and is working closely with the utility now. The 9,000 feet of new underground cables was completed on an emergency basis. There are planned improvements that will commence in the second quarter of this year for new equipment and to create redundancy in service. The city is also hiring its own independent consultant so we can monitor and evaluate the system, as well as the planned improvements. So, currently, we are staying the course of working closely with SCE to address issues. It should be noted that the city technically has no jurisdiction over SCE, as it is a regulated utility overseen by the California Public Utilities Commission. As to outages, we are hopeful these actions will address the seemingly constant failures of electrical service, as reliable electrical service is critical to our businesses, schools and residents.
The Metropolitan Transportation Authority is expected to release its response to public comments on the environmental impact of the 710 Freeway Extension project, along with a potential preferred alternative from among five proposals. How should La Cañada respond if the preference is not in alignment with what city officials have advocated for?
The city through its mayor, City Council and city staff continues to work on many fronts to oppose the potential 710 tunnel. We work individually and closely with other cities, including Pasadena, South Pasadena, Sierra Madre and Glendale. This includes a legal approach (5 City Alliance) and an educational approach (C3 Coalition) that there are better alternatives and that 710 tunnel would be an environmental disaster. We are also very fortunate to have the No On 710 group that is very active. We will continue the battle against the 710 tunnel, legally if necessary, but hopefully education of other elected officials, cities, Caltrans and Metro will prevail and the 710 tunnel proposal will be abandoned.
Elected and public safety officers have said for years they are working together to prevent residential burglaries by increasing patrols and educating the public about taking precautions to secure their property. What additional measures might the city take?
The city should continue to work with the sheriff to adjust our resources to address burglaries. Although burglaries are down over the last five years, no burglary is acceptable. We need to continue (i) extra sheriff’s patrols and investigations, (ii) continue expansion of neighborhood watches — now up to over 25 from just a few, (iii) continue education of residents as to what to watch for as to suspicious individuals, (iv) continue “volunteer” patrols, (v) consider acquiring an additional “license plate reader camera” to identify suspicious and/or stolen vehicles, and (vi) continue to evaluate new best practices. One practice that was recently adopted by a city was to install motion activated cameras (like those used to track wildlife) in many public streets, so that if an incident does occur then the images can be downloaded and the perpetrators caught. It is a practice like this that we evaluate, but in doing so we must also consider competing interests such as privacy.
You are about to complete your first term on the City Council — what has been the most surprising challenge you’ve experienced in the role? Explain.
One constant challenge is the amount of time it takes to have good ideas and improvements completed. A city process can be a slow one, but it is also designed with commissions and the opportunity for public input to ensure that the right decision is being made. Other challenges include working with other governmental and quasi-governmental entities on local and regional issues that the city does not have direct control over, but the city is either impacted or must comply with “mandates.” This includes water distribution, electrical distribution, water quality, air quality, transportation improvements and funding of mandates. Another challenge can be to have citizens speak up when an issue or problem does arise, as the issue or problem cannot be addressed if it is not known — a quick call or email is always welcomed.
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Sara Cardine, sara.cardine@latimes.com
Twitter: @SaraCardine
