El Monte : Statue Gets ‘Company’

Councilman Jeff Marrone, who does not like the city’s 22-foot-tall fiberglass replica of the Statue of Liberty and did not want it placed permanently in front of the Civic Center, knew when he walked into a recent City Council meeting that he was going to lose.

But Marrone took it all in good humor. Before casting the lone dissenting vote on Aug. 25, he likened the bright-green statue to the pink plastic flamingos that were popular outdoor decorative items in the 1950s.

Last week, passers-by on Valley Boulevard noted that the statue had company. At its feet was a scrawny pink plastic flamingo. Marrone, who denied any knowledge of the prank, said he was considering a “save the flamingo” campaign.