At the Glendale City Council this Tuesday, Sept. 20th at 6:00 PM,  an agenda items to be discussed will be Route 13 into Glenoaks Canyon.

One city recommendation to be presented is the use of taxi vouchers at a round trip cost of $7.50 from Glendale Adventist Hospital to Glenoaks Park.  This would replace the current $.50 charge for the Beeline and seems to be an unreasonably high solution for those who use public transportation to get in and out of the canyon. They may also discuss the return of a limited service of Metro Line 201 (no cost to the City of Glendale).  This is the best recommendation.

Your presence and voice are very important to maintain public transportation in our canyon and to support those neighbors who need this service. Please attend the meeting if possible and/or call the city clerk at (818) 548-2090 to leave an email message with your recommendation for the city council.

Thank you for your attention to this important matter.

If you are interested in helping Save Line 13 (the Beeline Shuttle into Glenoaks Canyon),  you can reach all our City Council members by making one phone call. If you call the City Clerk’s Office at  (818) 548-2090 or the City Council Office at (818) 548-4844,   Michelle, the Administrative Clerk, will  forward your message on to the City Council members.  The City Council meeting is tomorrow (Tuesday) night, so if you wish to make a call to let our City Council know your feelings about the necessity for public transportation in our canyon, please do so tomorrow.

Thanks so much for your support of this important issue.

Coming up at this Tuesday’s City Council meeting (Aug. 30th) is a recommendation from the Transportation Department to permanently eliminate, Line 13, the Bee Shuttle  into Glenoaks Canyon because of low ridership. This is of concern to us because there are approximately 1,000 people per month who ride this line. Removal of this service would leave only  Dial-a- Ride as a transportation option.  Dial-a-Ride requires a making a reservation a week in advance a with no guarantee of a ride as they may be booked up. The cost for Dial-a-Ride is $18.05 whereas the Beeline is only $2.67.  Not only is Dial-a-Ride less reliable, it is a lot more expensive.

Please attend this important meeting so that your voice may be heard on this important issue. Contact GOCHA Board member, Angela Vukos at (818) 247-2781 for more information. The meeting will be held at the Glendale City Hall ,  613 E. Broadway, 2nd Floor at 6:00 PM on Tuesday August 30th.

Background information on City Council’s decision:
Funding for the City’s transportation programs primarily comes from a small portion of sales tax dedicated to transportation. With the recent recession, sales tax receipts have been significantly reduced and the current operating commitments in the City’s Transportation Fund are exceeding the annual operating revenues. Based on previous City Council budget discussions, it is recommended that Beeline increase its base cash fare on regular local routes from $0.25 to $0.75 beginning October 1, 2011, to be increased to $1.00 beginning July 1, 2012, and to $1.25 beginning July 1, 2013. The cash fare for the express routes will increase from $1.00 to $2.00. The remaining Beeline fare media would be adjusted to be consistent with the cash fares. Staff also recommends changing the senior age definition from 60 to 62 years of age to be consistent with Metro fare policy. It is recommended that Dial-A-Ride increase its cash fare from $1.00 to $1.25 beginning October 1, 2011, and to $1.50 beginning July 1, 2013. Staff also recommends increasing the
minimum age for new Dial-A-Ride participants from 60 to 65 years of age.

Finally, it is recommended that Beeline Route 13 serving Glenoaks Canyon be cancelled due to low ridership; that the frequency of service on Beeline Route 3 between Glendale Community College and Jet Propulsion Laboratory be reduced due to lack of ridership demand; and, that the fare subsidy program for the purchase of Metro senior passes be discontinued.

Come join Officer Sue Shine and your Glenoaks Canyon neighbors for a Neighborhood Watch training and burglary prevention meeting.

While the crime in our canyon is extremely low, the Glendale Police Department wants to help us institute a neighborhood watch program so we can keep our canyon safe for all of us.

The meeting will be held on June 29, 2011 at the Joe Bridges Clubhouse in Glenoaks Park.

Agenda:

5:30 – 6:00 Arrive early for introductions

6:00 – 7:00 Burglary prevention slideshow/Crime overview

7:00 – 7:30 What is Neighborhood Watch?

7:30 – 8:00 Meet neighbors and sign up

Click here to see the Flyer.

Come join Officer Sue Shine and your Glenoaks Canyon neighbors for a Neighborhood Watch training and burglary prevention meeting.

While the crime in our canyon is extremely low, the Glendale Police Department wants to help us institute a neighborhood watch program so we can keep our canyon safe for all of us.

The meeting will be held on June 29, 2011 at the Joe Bridges Clubhouse in Glenoaks Park.

Agenda:

5:30 – 6:00  Arrive early for introductions

6:00 – 7:00  Burglary prevention slideshow/Crime overview

7:00 – 7:30  What is Neighborhood Watch?

7:30 – 8:00  Meet neighbors and sign up

Click here to see the Flyer.

In response to the outpouring of emails, petitions signatures, and letters, the Glendale City Council has decided to keep the Chevy Chase Library open, and to not transfer it to the Dept. of Community Services and Parks!!! This is GREAT news and a powerful testament to what can be accomplished when we make our voices heard.

Many of the Library advocates are now shifting modes and instead of asking the City Council to “SAVE OUR LIBRARY” plan to express their thanks – both in letters and in person. The City Council often only hears protests, and we want them to hear the positive side of their decisions.

If you’d like, feel free to write to the Mayor and the City Council and thank them for preserving our library. At issue still, is Chevy Chase Library’s dearth of books and library-sponsored programs. The Mayor and Council are working hard to find ways to fund this. Please thank them for their efforts and express your deep hope that this can happen!!

Mayor Laura Friedman  lfriedman@ci.glendale.ca.us
Council Member Frank Quintero  fquintero@ci.glendale.ca.us
Council Member Dave Weaver  dweaver@ci.glendale.ca.us
Council Member Rafi Manoukian  rmanoukian@ci.glendale.ca.us
Council Member Ara Najarian  anajarian@ci.glendale.ca.us

If you had already planned to attend the City Council mtg on Tues, June 8th at 6:00pm, and would now like to express your thanks instead, you can join a handful of families who plan to present the kids’ letters, and express their thanks and what the library means to them.
If you have any questions or plan to go with a child, please let Pamela Tom know at Ptomfilm@yahoo.com. She would like to let the Mayor know how many kids plan to be there, so that they may make special accommodations.

Congratulations and thank you to all who signed a petition, wrote a letter, supported this effort, and made your voices heard.

The Chevy Chase Community Library may soon cease to exist.  Despite promises to make improvements to our library and update its collection, a proposal to transfer it to the Community Services and Parks department and provide “minimal library services” is now being considered by the City Council.  This will spell the end of our community library.

PLEASE ACT NOW.

You can make a difference by:

SIGNING the E-PETITION at http://www.ipetitions.com/petition/chevychaselib/

SENDING an EMAIL TO OUR CITY COUNCIL MEMBERS expressing why you feel it’s important to maintain a library in the canyon:

Laura Friedman

Frank Quintero

Rafi Manoukian

Ara Najarian

Dave Weaver

SENDING “LETTERS to the EDITOR” of 250 words or less to jason.wells@latimes.com

ATTENDING the June 7th City Council Meeting with your kids and LETTING YOUR VOICE BE HEARD

Below is a video that includes information about the proposal before City Council and what the city has already done to this vital and important community resource.

And here is a video of canyon resident Pamela Tom addressing City Council in opposition of the proposal.

Thanks to the efforts of GOCHA, the Glendale PD, the Glendale FD, and the City Council, a new ordiance was passed closing “fire hazard severity zones” or open hillsides between the hours of 10pm and 6am. This will hopefully curb partying and other activities in the hillsides that pose potential fire hazards. The ordiance is not just for our canyon but for all of Glendale.

Here is the ordinance: more…

Come join Lt. Todd Anderson and Officer Sue Shine to discuss our Glenoaks Canyon Neighborhood Watch Program.

Event will be held Thursday, May 26th, 2011 from 6pm-8pm at Joe Bridges Clubhouse in Glenoaks Park.

Come to the Greener Glendale Open House. It will be a casual, walk-through style event so you can show up at any time. Glendale need your ideas on how the community can be greener! Hope to see you there.