Glendora’s Gas Station Choice Fuels Questions

It has been said that a camel is a horse designed by a committee--or was it a City Council?

Now I have met all our council members as individuals--nice, intelligent, reasonable people--but something odd seems to happen when they become a group.

I attended the Glendora City Council meeting on July 23. (On the agenda) was a beer and wine permit to be granted to an ARCO gas station and AM-PM Mini-Mart to be built on the northeast corner of Grand Avenue and Foothill Boulevard.

A number of individuals and representatives of known and sizable groups in the community argued that alcohol and gasoline don’t mix. Seemed to me they could have represented a goodly number of the Glendora electorate.

A few individuals were in favor of the ARCO station, arguing that when it comes to drugs and alcohol, setting a good example is up to parents and teachers, not government!

I think if officials on all levels of government really understood this, we could save billions of tax dollars by cutting drug and alcohol programs.

Then the council debated the issue. Dave Bodley, whose knowledge and judgment I have always admired, stated that there was a need for a place that sells Slurpees to children. Bob Kuhn, whom I believe to have great business savvy, stated that this was a new era and that he was concerned about the lack of gasoline stations in the area, so he was for it.

I guess “lack” must be a relative concept--within a one mile-radius of the proposed site there are only (six) other gasoline stations, but then they don’t sell liquor.

Mayor (Larry) Glenn gave a speech on how he has always supported anti-drug programs and then voted for ARCO. Totally confusing to me.

Molly MacLeod, the brain of a lawyer, based her yes vote on her recollection of the gasoline crunch in the ‘70s and on the “long-term” industrial philosophy of the Japanese--profound. Too profound for my brain.

What happened to Marshall Mouw--the only no vote? No longer part of the flock? Could it be that he actually shared the feelings of the majority of the people in the room or think that in Glendora an electorate’s opinion could matter even after the election?

Come to think of it, someday we are going to have another election and maybe it is not all bad if an elected official realizes his bread is buttered on the electoral side. Interesting evening. Really beats watching TV.

IRENE PAULSON

Glendora