ELECTIONS / GLENDORA : Tax Plan Defeat Urged by All Candidates

Everybody running for City Council agrees on one thing: The tax measure on the April 10 ballot should be defeated.

The special property tax measure, which would fund acquisition of hillside land for conservation, was placed on the ballot by the City Council in response to a report by a citizens panel last year.

But now, it is opposed both by a councilman who voted to place it on the ballot and by the co-chairman of the committee that suggested it as one of three funding options for hillside preservation.

Marshall Mouw, one of eight candidates competing for three seats on the City Council, describes it as a dead issue. Mouw was co-chairman of the Mayor’s Hillside Conservancy Advisory Committee, which recommended the measure as one way to protect the foothills. Mouw said he now believes that a privately funded conservancy is a better option.

Mayor Pro Tem Bob Kuhn, who voted to place the measure on the ballot, said he believes the voters should decide. But Kuhn, who is seeking his second four-year term on the council, said he thinks a better way to protect the hillsides is to restrict housing density.

The measure would assess 20 cents per $100 of a parcel’s value annually, beginning in fiscal year 1990-91. The annual assessment on an average homeowner with property valued at $250,000 would be $500. Qualified low-income property owners would receive a rebate under the measure, which requires approval by a two-thirds majority to pass.

The city estimates it would collect about $10 million over the three years the tax would be in effect.

Glendora Pride, a slow-growth group, is taking no position on the measure. The residents group, using the slogan “Save the Foothills,” last year overturned a city ordinance that would have allowed taller homes in some areas.

The candidates are united against the tax measure but all promise that they would carefully review future hillside development proposals. And there are other issues as well.

Kuhn, 46, who served on the city Planning Commission for four years before joining the council, favors limiting council members to two terms. A Glendora resident for 28 years, he owns an insurance agency and is on the board of the Chamber of Commerce.

Councilwoman Lois M. Shade, 46, has been on the council for eight years and is seeking a third term. Shade, a 26-year resident, voted against placing the tax measure on the ballot. She is campaigning for a commuter rail station in Glendora if a line is built from Los Angeles to San Bernardino. She serves on the county Commission on Local Governmental Services and the Glendora Child Care Task Force at Citrus College.

Mayor Leonard Martyns is not seeking reelection after eight years on the council.

Architect John T. Cashion Jr., 58, a 28-year Glendora resident, served on the city’s Planning Commission for 14 years. He stresses environmental protection, expansion of services for youth and seniors, and annual adjustment of the city’s fees for services. He served on the city’s Downtown Parking Committee and Preservation Ordinance Committee in 1988.

Martin Harper, 39, teaches English as a second language in the Pomona Valley Unified School District. Harper, a 27-year resident, favors more programs for youth and seniors. He holds a bachelor’s degree in English from Southern Methodist University and a master’s in education from the Claremont Graduate School.

Doran D. Hearn, 38, a superintendent for a roofing company, has not been involved in civic affairs for the five years he has lived in the city. Because of that, he said, he is a candidate “with no preconceived prejudices, . . . no obligations to any special interest groups or factions.”

He earned a bachelor’s degree in wildlife/fisheries resource management from the University of Idaho, then worked five years as a forester. He served a two-year term on the City Council of St. Maries Ida., population 2,794.

Molly MacLeod 38, an attorney and a city planning commissioner, has lived in Glendora for 10 years. She is chairwoman of the Glendora Chamber of Commerce legislative committee and helped incorporate the Glendora Crimestoppers, a citizens crime prevention group. She said one of her priorities is “keeping Glendora safe.”

MacLeod, who holds bachelor’s and master’s degrees in speech communications, has a law degree from Western State University in Fullerton.

Mouw, 47, a former director of Glendora Pride, is campaigning as a pro-heritage, pro-environment candidate. A mail carrier and a 10-year Glendora resident, Mouw is director of the Glendora Historical Society and in 1987 led a citizens campaign to fight development of one of the city’s last orange groves. He also chairs the Glendora Human Services Subcommittee. He holds bachelor’s and master’s degrees in history, served in the Marines and was a Peace Corps volunteer in Panama.

Electronics consultant Tony Miller, 47, is a 28-year resident and serves on the General Plan committee. The former owner of Finkbiners Market is a member of the Downtown Redevelopment Assn. and is vice president of the Chamber of Commerce. He wants to work toward reducing the number of vacant stores in the city.

Glendora Pride is supporting Cashion, Mouw and Shade in the election. Glendora’s Future, a property rights group formed in response to Glendora Pride, has made no endorsements.