Our Readers Write

No sympathy for ‘no walk’ LCHS graduate

After reading the letter to the editor from the mother of a La Cañada High School senior who was not allowed to walk at his commencement exercises due to excessive absences, I’m having trouble controlling myself to write an articulate letter.

The child had absences that were “excused or not.” I’m sure La Cañada High has some rules in place that deal with this sort of thing. That child broke them, plain and simple. He needs to take responsibility for his actions. Why was the parent defending his irresponsibility?

It’s parents like these that make teaching and administrating schools a miserable experience these days. Why do you think La Cañada has such a high turnover rate in higher administrative positions? Too many parents like this.

The child in question here has not learned responsibility, and his parents have not helped by defending him. That kid has a lot of growing up to do.

Athleen Novak

La Cañada Flintridge

Schools’ parcel tax committee weighs in

In spring 2009, the residents of La Cañada Flintridge voted for a parcel tax of $150 a year to support our public schools. Subsequently, nine La Cañada citizens were appointed to the Measure LC Parcel Tax Oversight Committee to review the expenditure of these additional tax dollars.

About $900,000 per year will be raised through the parcel tax. La Cañada has about 6,700 parcels, of which 6,100 are subject to the $150 tax. About 600 parcels are exempt, as some senior citizens have opted out, and a few “double” lots are also exempt.

The $900,000 parcel tax revenue is very significant, as the state of California has cut back its funding to our district during these difficult economic times. The state revenue funding is $4,960 per student in 2009-10, much less than the “promised” commitment of $6,390 per student. With 4,000 students in the La Cañada Unified School District, this shortfall amounts to $5.72 million for the 2009-10 school year alone. LCUSD is able to mitigate this shortfall via the parcel tax ($900,000), La Cañada Flintridge Educational Foundation ($1million), revenue through building leases/rentals ($1.7 million), budget cuts and reserve spending.

Specifically, the parcel tax dollars received in 2009-10 have been allocated toward 13 full-time equivalent teaching and support positions. These personnel work with hundreds of students at the elementary, middle and high school levels.

The parcel tax has provided significant funding for our schools at a critical time. The tax not only generates much-needed revenue, but also involves all La Cañada Flintridge residents as participants in the financial welfare of our schools. By law, our parcel tax revenue can be used only for La Cañada schools, and the state cannot reduce its funding based on the revenue raised from this tax.

For more information regarding the LC Parcel Tax, visit the LCUSD website at https://www.lcusd.net. We would like to thank the citizens of La Cañada Flintridge for their support of Measure LC.

The LC Parcel Tax Oversight Committee

Editor’s note: The following residents serve on the committee and signed the above letter: James Andersen, Liping Fan, Becky Lankey, Kirk Broberg, Glenn Fischel, Jeff Olson, Sherrill Carbonetti, Brent Kuszyk and Diana Schulz.

Thanks for support of La Cañada’s Grad Night

The LCHS Grad Night/Senior Brunch committees would like to thank the following for their generous support of our raffle and gift bags: Sport Chalet, Jersey Mikes, the Van Wyk family, West Coast Boot Camp, Printefex, New Moon, Paradise Tan, Jasmine’s Salon, Juice it Up and Georgees Pizza.

Thanks also to the following families: the Porters, the McGlashans, the O’Haras, the Moldafskys, the Kumagais, the la Bran-Boyds, the Dicks, the YiDonoys, Tim and Debbie Clark, the Villalpandos, the Burtens, the Gosselins and the Jamisons.

The Class of 2010 thanks you for your generosity!

Kitty Reed,

Lissa Wehrle

La Cañada

More resources needed for policing activities

What I have learned in this journey of being victimized and our home burglarized, is that the police do not have the resources to do their job — “protect and serve.” They do not have enough police, enough equipment to handle solving crimes, or a willingness to work between jurisdictional lines. What you see on those cop shows is very far from the real world.

I was very excited when a friend called me and said to get a copy of the Glendale News-Press, as he thought the woman I encountered at my home four days prior to the burglary was one of the three “Knock Knock” burglars caught in Glendale. As soon as I saw the picture I was thrilled. It was her. For three days I tried to contact the detective handling the case to tell him I could identify one of the suspects.

Well, after numerous attempts, when I talked with the detective in charge and asked what they found when they issued a search warrant on each of these ladies’ homes, he said, “Oh, we did not do that and are not going to. We worked our case and took them to court for catching them after they unsuccessfully tried to break into a home in Glendale.”

I said, “Why wouldn’t you issue a search warrant to solve more crimes?” He said, “We don’t have the time, and you will need your detective who is handling your case to do it.”

After a number of phone calls and finally talking personally with my detective with numerous follow-up calls, a month later, I still don’t know if they ever searched these ladies’ homes.

These women are accused of being responsible for burglaries from Orange County to the San Fernando Valley. How many cases could be solved by finding some of the stolen goods, and why wouldn’t the various police departments want to do this?

They are overworked, have had overtime taken away, and have very limited resources. Without the communities’ volunteer help and our government officials helping to direct more resources, we will potentially encounter higher crime, fewer resolutions and an ineffective police force. So my next calls will be to the captain of the sheriff’s station, then Sheriff Baca, our local officials, and anyone else who can help. If you have been a victim of a crime and did not get resolution, please call too. It will help to not make you feel like a victim, and the more voices, the more potential change for the positive.

Jennie Manders

La Cañada Flintridge