Tom Adams, who is running for Monrovia mayor, has offered $1,000 in a Facebook posting to the first person who can show from city council minutes where he voted against the Gold Line. Adams challenged Mayor Mary Ann Lutz' assertion in a campaign mailer that he voted against the Gold Line.
Comment: My suspicion is that Lutz is referring to Adams' opposition to selling the property next to Home Depot to the Gold Line for a train maintenance yard. At the time, if I recall correctly, he argued that the yard could stay in LA where it had been and that the sale of that property to a governmental agency would take that property off the tax roles. But I'm guessing and I would welcome clarification from the Lutz campaign.
- Brad Haugaard
Brad ... I wish your blog was followed by more Monrovians. Your conclusions are right on. Mayor Lutz set a big bear trap and Candidate Adams step into it with both legs. He has not yet come to realize that he's been ambushed. He voted against the campus which according to Lutz we could never get one without the other. My best guess is the court will decide this because Adams will cry foul.Kudos to Marry Ann Lutz.
ReplyDeleteMayor Lutz set a big bear trap my Adams step into it with both legs. We got the so called campus so that we could get the GoldLine. We could not have one without the other so says Mayor Lutz. Therefore when Adams voted against the campus he was voting against the GoldLine. And so on and so on. Kudos to Lutz.
ReplyDeleteIsn't it just like a bully to beat up on a woman for months and the minute she punches back he starts crying "she isn't being fair." Adams seems to enjoy dishing it out. It's not surprising that he can't take it.
ReplyDeleteAnon, I have not beat up on anyone, I have pointed out differences in Leadership, differences in Votes. I can document each and every thing I put to press, I am simply pointing out the falsehoods from the other camp. I do believe that we should all keep to the truth, others apparently disagree with that,
DeleteDishes it out, but can't take it...
DeleteI'm pretty sure Mayor Lutz is referring to this:
ReplyDeletehttp://www.monroviaweekly.com/news/featured/monrovia-city-council-discussion-of-gold-line-topped-off-with-cup-cake-frosting-negotiations-with-glca-apparently-not-a-cakewalk/
This would have been in June, 2012. The minutes posted at the city website don't go back that far, so nobody will be winning Mr. Adams's $1000, but he did, in fact, vote against bringing the Gold Line to Monrovia.
McMama, actually, the article was for a land sale, not the Gold LIne. Here is a quote from me in that article.
DeleteThe city will be voting on selling the redevelopment owned property to the GLCA for $39,627,818. This would not include the property owned by Excalibur. Adams contends the property is worth almost twice as much and suggested a selling price of $74 million.
The council was told that the land, along with the loss of future revenue, was worth closer to $80 Million Dollars. You may be okay with the council walking away from about $40 Million Dollars, I am not.
This is still not a vote for or against the Gold Line.
Thank you for providing the reference. I especially like Adam's statement after his No vote, "Let them keep their trains in L.A."
DeleteYou do realize that is referring to the maintenance yard that was/is in LA?
DeleteThe Maintenance Yard is as much a part of the Gold Line project as a handle is to a hammer. Trying to spin this off is nit picking and most people realize it.
ReplyDeleteYou are correct that it is part of the Gold Line project. But it doesn't mean it had to be in Monrovia or that we had to settle for the price paid. Big difference!
ReplyDeleteFor you to believe that this was a vote against the Gold Line, you have to believe that Metro, The County, the State and the Feds all had so little interest in bringing the Gold Line to the ESGV that they would use a mob-like tactic such as "be a shame if we couldn't bring the Gold Line to your town because of a maintenance yard."
ReplyDeleteSurely, a "successful businesswoman," like Lutz would be a savvy enough negotiator to back away from a bad deal. Surely she wouldn't give away millions in sales revenue and future tax revenue just on the first go, right? I mean, surely she considered asking other communities to share some of the burden Monrovia was taking on so Arcadia, Azusa and Montclair, etc, could have a train station (or two), right?
But, let's say this really was the case. Let's say Monrovia really had no choice but to say "Yes," because that's how little respect we get from other levels of government.
Then explain to me why she fought so hard to give away the Wilderness Preserve to folks who don't respect us.
"Let them keep their trains in LA"
ReplyDeleteAll you need to know...
again that refers to the train yard. I think the post at 4:38 sums it up quite well.
DeleteIt sums it up well if one completely ignores the fact that the Gold Line was not a priority for the state, the feds or the county and was being blocked by the City of Los Angeles - a battle that has been fought by our valley for 40 years and that Mayor Lutz finally won. It sums it up well if one ignores the actual deal that was made, which included not only the sale price of the land that Mr. Adams talks about but also tens of millions of dollars in grants and other receivables. And what has the Wilderness Preserve got to do with anything? Sorry, but 4:38 sums it up well only if one ignores facts, reason or the obvious attempt to defend Mr. Adams for his No vote on the Gold Line, his misrepresentations and equivocations and his constant negativism.
DeleteHas anyone else noticed that Mr. Adams is only arguing about one charge against him? How about the Mayor's other disclosures in that same mailer, like his voting against infrastructure repair last year or his vote to raise his pension without making any contribution himself, or his being responsible for oversight of Public Works during all the alleged problems he keeps bringing up? I haven't seen him deny any of those or offer a reward he knows he can weasel out of.
ReplyDelete9:46 you sound frustrated that your candidate is more than likely going to lose.
DeleteIs that your answer? I repeat, I haven't seen him deny any of the many other charges against him. Winning or losing isn't the question here, it's his honesty, integrity and willingness to admit when he's wrong. Win or lose, he's still throwing mud while avoiding the issues and that says a lot about him as both a council member and someone who wants to be mayor.
DeleteThe post at 8:17 is exactly right. Voting no on the maintenance yard was of course, voting no on the Goldline. Does Mr Adams really believe EVERY other council person was against getting as much money as possible for the land? That is what a 4-1 vote means. To hear Mr Adams cry about misinformation is ironic. His entire campaign has been based on partial truths and negativity. For someone who has sat on this very council for twenty years, his pernicious whining is ridiculous. To be a good leader, it takes the ability to project vision and the path ahead. Instead he is all about a personal pettiness towards ALL things Lutz. Voting NO on everything is not leading. Finding a path forward with as much consensus as possible is not done by bullying or spreading mistruths. Feeding people's anger and promoting only negativity will not do Monrovia justice.
ReplyDeleteSince Mr Adams is playing semantics with his words..why not donate the $1000 to the Robotics Team that needs the money? It's pretty obvious Adams did vote against the project..5 times, no less. It's also obvious to most that without the maintenance yard, there would be NO Goldline. I find it impossible to believe EVERY other council member would be okay with giving up the monies if the land was really worth it. ONLY Mr Adams cared? Not likely. No yard..No Train...No Minutes..No Reward. Negativity and misinformation. Give the kids the money.
ReplyDeleteExcellent idea! Not sure how much follow-through we'll get, though.
Deleteok, I'll play along. What is so bad if the goldmine didn't come to Monrovia. Do you think Caltrans would have stopped building it at Arcadia? Do you think they wouldn't later continue to Claremont as planned? Why not hold out for more money?
ReplyDeleteYou bring up tens of millions of grants. Are you referring to ones that the part time city managers didn't comply with and Monrovia lost those funds?
Infrastructure and public works issue occurred on the watch of both parties. Problem is current mayor was the one in charge not Tom.
Think of what you are saying... how can a city actually vote against the Goldline?
ReplyDelete@6:14: Again with the grants? First of all, the grants referred to above are for future work relating to Station Square and the surrounding area. We are eligible for them because we are part of the Gold Line route. As for the grants 'lost' - the only grant actually lost, the Streetscape grant, was awarded in 2006, and all the work was completed by 2008. The city did not learn that the grant was lost until we questioned the delay in reimbursement in 2009. At that time we learned that the grant was lost before the work was ever completed because required paperwork was never filed; the city didn't know because the employee who failed to file the paperwork covered up the error. The employee was fired and was later prosecuted for fraud. All of this happened more than 3 years before the first interim manager was hired. The Historic Depot grant was awarded in 2002, but after assessing the situation with the Gold Line, the city concluded it could not spend the money wisely. The roof was replaced, historic fixtures were put into storage for safekeeping, and a set of plans was drawn up for future rehabilitation of the Depot. The city applied for a reduction in scope and allowed the grant to lapse 2 years before the first interim manager was in place. The third grant is for improvements to Huntington Drive. That work was delayed because it had to be coordinated with the city of Duarte, which was already working on their end of Huntington Drive. An extension has been applied for, recommended, and is on the calendar for the Transit board's June meeting. The total of those grants is $4.5 M, nowhere near the 'tens of millions' you tried to link them to.
ReplyDelete