In the 20 years that Tom has served our community, the last six have been the hardest. In the 1970’s some thought Monrovia was dying, and the last person out of town should turn out the lights. For years Monrovia has worked tirelessly to become the city we all love. Today we are going backwards. Look at our streets, sidewalks, parks and municipal property.
Monrovia has Tens of Millions of Dollars of Deferred Maintenance yet there is no plan to address the problem. The current Mayor’s budget did not address this.
Tom Adams will prioritize a plan and provide the leadership that will initiate a solution.
The current Mayor has brought us seven different City Managers in the past six years and voted for a failed attempt to include Monrovia property in a National Recreation Area against Monrovia’s wishes. Monrovia deserves better. Tom Adams’ vision as Mayor will insure that Monrovia always comes first.
We must stop the sweet heart loans to prior employees!
We must stop giving the Federal Government control over our Wilderness Preserve!
We must stop the seemingly endless cycle of turnover at City Hall!
We must do a better job of protecting our neighborhoods, for Monrovians!
We must rebuild Monrovia, for Monrovians!
Monrovia is at a cross roads, the path that we take will determine our future. Six years of failed leadership is enough, we need to reverse our direction and take us back to the Monrovia that we all love.
This election we all have a choice to make, we can continue down the path of failed leadership and photo ops, or we can change directions, Tom Adams is the change we need.
Tom Adams promises that Monrovia’s needs will always come first!
I advise all voters to be at the state of the city address.
ReplyDeleteTom has my vote. It would be nice to have a plan in place to repave Foothill, fix the sidewalks and city trees. I've got one that an arborist told me needs to be taken out asap as it is diseased but city said no as there are others in worse condition.
ReplyDeleteAs a regular citizen, I just don't see this 6 years of failure that Tom is putting exclamation points behind. Downtown and the city seems to be thriving more and more every day. We made it through a heavy economic period very nicely while other cities really had issues. I'm not seeing why we need to "rebuild Monrovia", bu I'm not sure what "rebuild Monrovia" means. I am offended that he even brings up the Wilderness Preserve as he is the longest running politician and has done absolutely nothing to fully open up the preserve to us (after 15 years). I don't know who I am voting for, but crying out that Monrovia is in shambles doesn't ring true to me. I love Monrovia and shop and eat here more than I ever have in 25 years.
ReplyDeleteI am disappointed at the slow pace of the opening of our Wilderness Preserve as you are. The legal challenges have been many and thankfully are close to being behind us. My mention of the Wilderness Preserve has to do with the Mayor voting to turn over control of it to the Federal Government; something the entire council reprimanded the Mayor for doing. In fact the entire council put forth a new policy to prevent this type of overreaching abuse from occurring in the future.
DeleteVoting to have the San Gabriel Mountains declared a National Recreation Area does not equate to turning over control of the Preserve to the federal government. It allows the Park Service to contribute to community-based and community-driven projects; in other words, it would increase funding of the projects OUR COMMUNITY creates so the Preserve could be opened more quickly. It does not change ownership or control of the land in any way, as you know.
DeleteRE: "Voting to have the San Gabriel Mountains declared a National Recreation Area does not change ... control of the land in any way."
DeleteIn any way?!?!?
That sounds inherently bogus. The intrinsic nature of any government is to meddle. Please specify how you can assert this would somehow be an exception to that otherwise immutable law of human nature.
@ anonymous 4:46 If you ask Tom he will explain his views on Monrovia quite clearly. You deserve answers and WE only have a couple of months before WE will cast OUR enlightened votes. Let's get it right for ourselves and OUR families who love calling this place HOME Sweet HOME.
ReplyDeleteI do believe that Mayor Rob Hammond set this great city up for success in case of economic turmoil. Every Mayor has their bumps and bruises, I do think change is needed in our city government.
ReplyDelete4:46, that is just one part of Monrovia. Do you walk through the neighborhoods and see the buckling sidewalks? Why is half of the shopping center on Shamrock and Huntington still vacant? Group of homeless who reside in the park? There are 3+ vacant stores at the Pavilons shopping center.
ReplyDeleteAt least Tom is talking about it. The other thing about Tom is he is a council member who will actually sit down with you or take a phone call.
Let the demogoguery begin ... Mr. Adams knows very well that it's not the mayor's budget, but the council's. The mayor doesn't propose it or approve it; the professional staff proposes and the council and mayor jointly consider it. If Mr. Adams didn't like the current budget, why didn't he offer an alternative when he voted on it? The budget was no different than all those he voted for in his 20 years of service, which, by the way, makes his claim to be an instrument of change just as hollow as the rest of his rhetoric. I had hoped for better from a man who has been a good councilman, but is now apparently a bit too hungry for the Mayor's title to stick to the whole truth.
ReplyDeleteActually, the Mayor did approve the budget and actually, I didn't. Actually, I did offer alternatives, in fact for several years now I have tried to get more attention to our infrastructure and when I voted against the budget I said then, this budget doesn't address our needs at all and was a result of failed leadership and part time management. The current leader has had 6 years to show what we could do and if you walk around town the lack of maintenance is obvious.
DeleteActually, the mayor and three other council members approved the budget. How will your being mayor make you any more effective? The mayor has no more power or authority over the budget than you have right now.
DeleteThe Mayor should have the ability to lead. If you are pleased with what you see in Monrovia then you should vote for the status quo. I believe that things are not as good as they were 6 years ago. I hear from many that things in Monrovia have gone backwards and that needs to change. Failed leadership is not something that should continue.
DeleteSeven different city managers in the last six years? Really? I guess he's counting Scott Ochoa, who was with the city for something like 15 years and six or seven as city manager, then the woman who replaced him for a little over a year before quitting, and then the current city manager, who was hired just a few months ago. But he also seems to include both the finance director and the part-time manager who were paid to fill in while the new hires were underway, and I guess he's counting each of them twice because they worked in different shifts. That's not seven city managers, that's three. But if you take out Scott Ochoa,who was here for a long time and left for a much bigger city, and Mr. Chi, the current city manager who was just hired, that leaves just the one who came and went - not seven.
ReplyDeleteIn fact Monrovia went from Scott Ochoa to Oliver Chi with 5 different changes in between, 4 of which were part time managers. In voting against all of the part time managers I said the same thins, Monrovia deserves to be run on a full time basis and the condition you see today is a result of that. A pert time manager is a little like a substitute teacher in school, not much gets done.
DeleteAs a substitute teacher, I find that remark both offensive and misinformed.
ReplyDeleteAs a student who was taught by substitute teachers I can tell you that was my experience. I am sorry if you were offended, it was not my intention to. It is always easier to address people who are not anonymous. One thing I do know is that people who know they are temporary normally don't take the ownership that a long term employee does.
DeleteJeez get over yourself and get thicker skin
DeleteI for one will jump on the Tom Adams for Mayor Bandwagon. He's been the sole voice of reason and often helpful in getting answers for my neighborhood issues.
ReplyDeleteHe was one of 2 that spoke up against and voted against that stupid bag ban. Thats a state issue that should be before all the voters. Monrovia has bigger issues than that.
Monrovia has a crumbling infrastructure that needs attention and I think Tom has the chutzpah to take on those that want to divert our attention from what needs to be done.
I'm curious, Frank. Why would you think that anyone would want to divert attention from "what needs to be done?" Are you implying that the mayor and three other council people are deliberately letting infrastructure "crumble" for some secret purpose, or are you just engaging in some overblown rhetoric? And specifically what infrastructure do you see is crumbling?
DeleteI see streets that have not been paved in what looks like decades. When is the last time you drove on Foothill? Can they paint some lanes?
DeleteI take walks in the evening and have broken stroller wheels on the cracks in the sidewalks.
Why do most of the street corners not have ADA compliant curbs?
Look at the trees on most streets. Haven't been cut/pruned in years.
Nonsense.
DeleteFrank ... about that plastic ban ... a magnificent city council master-minded hoax. Hay ... I fell for it too. If you need plastic bags I'll turn on to where to get them right here in town. Same bags we once got for free.now only 10 cents per bag no limit.
DeleteI for one will jump on the Tom Adams for Mayor Bandwagon. He's been the sole voice of reason and often helpful in getting answers for my neighborhood issues.
ReplyDeleteHe was one of 2 that spoke up against and voted against that stupid bag ban. Thats a state issue that should be before all the voters. Monrovia has bigger issues than that.
Monrovia has a crumbling infrastructure that needs attention and I think Tom has the chutzpah to take on those that want to divert our attention from what needs to be done.
Mayor Lutz has betrayed the People of Monrovia. She has seemingly lied and has convinced another council member too swear to a lie.
DeleteAs a tax payer and voter I will demand to see that private citizen invitation from the White House.
Did she request Spicer to validate her statement that the invitation was addressed to her as a private citizen from the White House? If so why.
Was her presence on the platform behind President Obama as Marry Ann Lutz private citizen or Mayor Lutz of Monrovia?
As a private citizen what efforts did she put into "making this thing happen" ie The National Monument , as President Obama acknowledged her and others for?
The people of Monrovia should be given answers to these question as well as seeing the White House invitation she received address to her as Mary Ann Lutz.
I will seek her answers personally. Yes ... This does matter.
What is nonsense?
ReplyDeleteMonrovia. Standard & Poor's sharply downgraded the city's credit rating, citing a "substantially weakened general fund and liquidity position'' coupled with the possibility it could lose pending litigation with a developer. It said the city's general fund consisted "entirely of restricted and non-spendable assets.'' Faced with declining tax and other revenue sources, the city cut staff 17% and reduced services, including street repaving, to balance its budget. Monrovia is 20 miles east of Los Angeles and one of several small cities along the foothills of the San Gabriel Mountains.
http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2013/05/15/ten-california-cities-in-distress/2076217/
The past eight years have been very tough on Monrovia and the council,.It's been tough on the state, too.
ReplyDeleteMonrovia was hit with bad economic times that was compounded with the loss of the redevelopment agency,retirement of several key staff members and the changing of the city manager,services had to be scaled back and infrastructure in many areas suffered. I believe the city did well to survive through these troubling times and the council did well all things considered. One person would not have made a difference then and now as the city begins its move forward toward better economic times.A change in mayors is not the answer.
Tom ... If I may make a suggestion ... Quick arguing with that moron-ish Anonymous family. They are all over this town and you probably won't get a vote from any of them. Please spend time talking to "REAL" people with wisdom and vision for this city. Respectfully
ReplyDeleteAnonymous, leaders take responsibility, other make excuses. Many of the issues I address have nothing to do with money and have everything to do with failed leadership. Hiring part time people to run our town while missing out on Millions in grant is foolish. Good leader make no excuses, the Buck Stops with the best of them.
ReplyDelete