San Gabriel Valley : OUT OF THE RUNNING

San Dimas Mayor Terry Dipple has announced he might not seek reelection after pleading no contest to misdemeanor forgery charges.

“At this point I don’t see myself running for reelection,” said Dipple, who will have served as mayor in San Dimas for 21 years when his term ends in 1997. “I recognize that I made a mistake, that I violated the law, and I don’t expect everyone in the community to be as understanding and supportive as my friends and family have been.”

A Meals-on-Wheels organizer for the now-defunct San Gabriel branch, Dipple was arrested in November after Glendora police discovered the mayor had forged another organizer’s name on two cashier slips worth more than $4,700. Police said Dipple withdrew the funds from the Meals-on-Wheels account, deposited it into the nonprofit group’s checking account and eventually deposited $1,500 of that money into his own account.

Dipple, who ran unopposed in two reelection campaigns, “lost a lot of support in the community,” said Councilman Denis Bertone. “The council itself is disappointed.”

NO RAISE: The Pasadena City Council has turned down a proposal by Mayor William Paparian to place a council pay raise and a plan for campaign reform on the March 1996 ballot.

The proposal called for a council raise from $50 per meeting to $1,075 a month.

Resident Ann-Maria Villicana, criticizing the idea that the council would seek to put the measure on the ballot. “Why don’t we let people sign a petition to get it on?” she asked.

The League of Women Voters and the Chamber of Commerce also opposed the idea, citing a $58,000 election cost.

After hearing testimony on the issue at Monday’s meeting, the council did not vote on the issue after no other members came forward to support the proposal.