annual summer potluck dinner - actpasadena.org summer potluck dinner . and . act and adc meetings ....

The Official Publication of ACT P. O. Box 40074, (626) 795-2798 Pasadena, CA 91114-7074

Volume 39 Number 6 June, 2011

Annual Summer Potluck Dinner and

ACT and ADC Meetings at the home of

Wendy Gordon & Michael Gottlieb 1535 Ontario Avenue, Pasadena

Thursday, July 7, 6:30 p.m. Everyone is invited to our traditional Summer Potluck Dinner and the July meeting of ACT and theArroyo Democratic Club. Come for dinner and socializing at 6:30 p.m. (with the meeting followingat about 8 p.m.) The program will be a discussion of the preliminary Congressional, State Senate,and Assembly Districts drawn by the California Citizens Redistricting Commission.

(See http://wedrawthelines.ca.gov/.)

Your potluck assignments are:

A-G – Fruit or dessert H-M – Main dish N-Z – Salad or vegetable Please provide enough for about 6 people and bring your own serving utensils. Beer, wine, softdrinks, plates, cups, napkins and eating utensils will be provided. Everyone is welcome. Bring afriend.

Published by Chuck Hains & Sally Beer OOnn -- LLiinneeOnn - LLinneeO - i

Page two The Phoenix June, 2011

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Congratulations to Inman and Nellie We extend our heartiest congratulations toInman and Nellie Moore on their 64th!!wedding anniversary. Couldn’t happen to anicer couple.

Donald Coles Honored Donald Coles was honored by the GraduateAerospace Laboratories at CalTech (GALCIT)with the Donald Coles Lecture in Aerospace onMay 13. Donald, (husband of Ellen) andProfessor of Aeronautics, Emeritus, has been aGALCIT faculty member since 1953. Thehonor recognized his “pioneering contributionstoward our understanding of boundary layers,turbulent shear flows, bluff-body aerodynam-ics, and novel experimental methods in fluiddynamics.”

We extend our impressed! congratulations.

We’re Planning ACT’s Future Please mark your calendar for Sunday, Sep-tember 11 from 3-5 p.m. to join in a “visioning”session on the future of ACT. We’ve almostreached (January 2013) our 40th anniversaryand we want to talk about the future. Thiswill be the first meeting on the subject and wewant every interested ACT member to comeand share his/her ideas.

Watch for more details and the location in anupcoming Phoenix.

July Phoenix Deadline The deadline for the July Phoenix will beSunday, July 10. Please send items to ChuckHains at [email protected]. We willprep The Phoenix for mailing on Thursday,July 14 at 7 p.m. at Chuck’s house, 1391 LaSolana, Altadena. (Volunteer mailers pleaseverify the time with Ellen Coles, 626-798-2402.)

In Memoriam – Margaret Powell We were very sorry to learn of the death of ACT member Margaret Powell last March 4.Margaret was a teacher, bilingual in Spanishand English, who loved music, literature andpolitics. She was especially interested inLatin American culture and immigrant sup-port and advocacy. She taught English, liter-ature, drama and ESL for 23 years at GarfieldHigh School and more recently continued toteach adult ESL and citizenship in the L Aarea. She was also a dedicated volunteer.

She leaves a host of friends and survivors. Ajoint memorial service for Margaret and hermother, Margaret Lang Powell King, who diedon May 13, will be held at Villa Gardens Re-tirement Community, Pasadena, on Saturday,June 18 at 3 p.m. Memorial contributionsmay be made to Vitas Hospice or CARECEN.

2011 Steering Committee Meeting Calendar

The Steering Committee meets at 7 p.m. onthe first Tuesday, Wednesday, or Thursday ofthe month in rotation. (Note that the up-coming July meeting is not in sequence.)

Here are our 2011 meeting dates:

Thursday, July 7 – Summer potluck meeting Thursday, August 4 Tuesday, September 6 Wednesday, October 5 Thursday, November 3 Tuesday, December 6

Do we have your current Email address? Please send new Email addresses to Jon Fuhr-man at [email protected].


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The General Plan Update Advisory Committee

What should Pasadena look like for the next20 years? How will we get around? Those aresome of the questions Pasadena residents willbe asked to weigh in on this month. TheGeneral Plan Update Advisory Committee, ofwhich I am a member appointed byCouncilmember Margaret McAustin, hasdrafted four alternatives for future growththat reflect what the committee heard fromthe community.

Learn more about the alternatives at one offour community workshops:

Thursday, June 16, 6:30 p.m. - John MuirHigh School Cafeteria, 1905 Lincoln Ave.

Thursday, June 23, 2:30 p.m. - PasadenaCity College Creveling Lounge, 1570 E.Colorado Blvd.

Saturday, June 25, 9:30 a.m. - MadisonElementary School Auditorium, 515 E.Ashtabula St.

Tuesday, June 28, 6:30 p.m. - CommunityEducational Center Multipurpose Room,3035 E. Foothill Blvd.

You should have already received a specialnewsletter with information on the alterna-tives and a survey. Mail back the survey byJuly 8 and give us your feedback on whichalternative, or combination of alternatives,you prefer. You can also view the newsletterat www.cityofpasadena.net/generalplan andtake the survey. Please help us by tellingeveryone you know about the General PlanUpdate and ways they can participate.

-- Emily Stork

Recommended Reading The Watchman's Rattle: Thinking Our WayOut of Extinction by Rebecca D. Costa, (Van-guard Press 2010.) About brain plasticity andbuilding better brains. How, in the face ofcomplex challenges, our society can survivedespite our intelligence being outpaced by ourproblems. Gives Mohammad Yunus and thedevelopment of micro loans as an example ofinsightful thinking. (Recommended by GraceTiessen.)

Special Thanks to Patrons Fred and Jeanne Register, Altadena

Welcome New and Returning ACT Members: Bonnie Armstrong, Pasadena Peter and Roberta Braun, Pasadena Ed Honowitz and Ellen Pais, Pasadena William Koelsch, Pasadena Sandra Kulli, Malibu Larry and Petite Morrison, Pasadena Charles and Eileen Read, Pasadena

Special Thanks to Sustaining Members Connie O'Donnell, Altadena Neal Wrightson, Pasadena

And Thanks to Members for Ad-ditional Contributions to ACT's Operating Account Barbara Bair, Altadena

The Phoenix June, 2011

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Monday, June 13.

It's been a hot week for politicians and pun-dits here in California: a budget deal seems ohso close, the reapportionment draft maps werereleased last Friday, and on both fronts Re-publicans are confronting huge challenges.

Wednesday, June 15th is the State Constitu-tional deadline by which the Legislature mustpass a balanced (or purportedly balanced)budget. After that, legislators will permanent-ly lose their salaries and per diem paymentsunless and until a budget is enacted.Surprisingly, the Governor hinted that a bud-get deal is close at hand, including a Septem-ber special election in which the voters couldchose to extend for five years the temporaryhikes in sales, income and vehicle licensetaxes. In exchange, Democrats would includespecific, stringent reforms, like spending caps,

repeal of some state regulations, and meas-ures addressing pension abuse.

The one final sticking point, however, appearsto be the "bridge financing" -- should the tem-porary tax increases be extended throughSeptember, when the special election would beheld, or should they be allowed to lapse forseveral months. The amount of revenue atstake appears to be modest; an extra 1% onthe sales tax for three months doesn't amountto all that much, for example. But it appearsto be a critical issue of principle for Republi-cans, validating their core mantra not to votefor increased taxes. Further, it fundamentallyalters the "framing" of the campaign for Sep-tember's special election: do we simply con-tinue existing taxes for five more years, or dowe ask voters to increase taxes back to thehigher rates we currently have.

The difference would appear to be trivial se-mantics. But I suspect that private polling onboth sides shows that "increasing taxes" is amuch tougher sell than "continuing" or "ex-tending" existing tax levels. I wouldn't besurprised if the polling shows "increasingtaxes" loses, while "continuing taxes" wins --even though the end result is exactly the same(and an effective campaign, led by the Gover-nor, could win a majority even for "increasing"taxes).

So what will be the final resolution? My guessis that the salary cut-off is actually a potentand useful prod, forcing Legislative leaderstoward greater compromise than they other-wise might accept (lest one or two legislatorsbuckle under so they can get paid again). I'vealso been surprised that the Governor hasn'toffered to reduce the number of years the ex-tended taxes would continue. The budget islikely to include significantly increased rev-enue projections, thereby reducing the budgetcutbacks needed in this second round of nego-tiations. With those revenue increases, the

by Jon Fuhrman

PoolliittiiccaaP llNNootteess


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Governor could plausibly argue that threeyears of increased taxes, instead of five, wouldbe enough, thereby giving Republicans asignificant concession to tout. But apparentlythe Governor has held a tough line on the fiveyears (which is actually good news, in the longrun, for the state budget). Maybe he's holdingthat for a final concession.

It's a game of brinkmanship, which may havebeen resolved by the time you read this article.My guess is at least two Reps in eachLegislative chamber will fold, giving the Gov-ernor both the bridge financing he wants andthe special election in September, all the whilepromising to do everything they can to defeat

Republicans are hit as well: CongressmanDreier, chair of the Rules Committee and ar-guably one of the most powerful Republicansin Congress, has essentially lost his districtand appears headed for political oblivion;three Republican Assembly incumbents are inone Orange County district, GOP SenatorTony Strickland ends up in a substantiallyDemocratic district, and Republican Congress-men Darrell Issa and Brian Bilbray are in thesame district. Overall, the draft plans create13 "vacant" Congressional seats (districts withno incumbent living inside that district), six"vacant" Senate seats, and 16 "vacant" Ass-embly seats. Conversely, 11 Assembly seats, 6Senate seats and 11 Congressional districtsthe tax extensions in Sep-

tember's election. They'll hope todeflect hard-core Tea Partyattention toward defeating thespecial election measures, asopposed to defeating them inintra-party primaries. And theymay be successful, in that Re-publicans may see the reappor-tionment maps as an even great-er threat than breaching thesacred "no new taxes" pledge forthree months. The state's new Citizens ReapportionmentCommission (CRC) released their first draft ofreapportionment maps last Friday, and theyreally shook things up. They apparently did,in fact, ignore where incumbents lived, be-cause numerous incumbents, from both sides,ended up paired in new districts or living out-side their traditional districts. For example,in the Sacramento area, Democrats DarrellSteinberg -- the Senate Majority Leader -- andLois Wolk ended up in the same district toget-her; down here, Congressional membersXavier Becerra and Lucille Roybal-Allardended up in the same district; a central LAAssembly district includes four incumbentDemocrats, including the Speaker!

have more than 1 incumbent re-siding within the district, usually

servers would argue the

s due by July 16 and final maps by

setting up potential primaryfights.

From a high level perspective,most obreapportionment favors the Dem-ocrats. Dems are likely to pickup between 3 and 6 seats in theHouse. More critically, it is quitepossible that Democrats couldpick up 2 seats each in the Sen-

ate and the Assembly, giving the party a 2/3majority in both chambers and thus relegatingthe Republican party statewide to utter irrele-vancy, even with our existing 2/3 requirementsfor tax and ballot measures. The current maps are just drafts, with poten-tial revisionAugust 15th. Those final maps will be the lastword -- they do not require Legislative or Gu-bernatorial approval. They are subject only toa potential referendum, requiring signaturesequal to 5% of the votes cast in the last guber-natorial election (about 500,000 validatedsignatures). They can also be challenged incourt, as violating the Federal Voting RightsAct, and already there are indications of likely


t districts drawn by legisla-

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challenges, particularly from MALDEF. TheCitizens Reapportionment Commission willhear public input at meetings around the stateover the next month, and they are sure to getan earful. On a local level, while they may have shakenup the complacen

tors, they seem to have fractured natural dis-tricts with little underlying justification. Inthe Assembly maps, for example, Altadena iscarved away from Pasadena, landing in a"Foothills" district stretching from Sunlandout to Upland in San Bernardino County.Pasadena lands in a district with Glendaleand Burbank. South Pasadena is split in half,for no good reason at all. The CongressionalDistrict splits Pasadena roughly along the 210Freeway, connecting northern Pasadena andAltadena with Upland toward the east andBurbank toward the west. These, to me, lookexactly like the classically gerrymandereddistricts for which politicos were so roundlycriticized, harkening back to the times whenAltadena and northwest Pasadena were slicedoff into the Bakersfield district of DemocraticSen. Wally Stearns, just to add a few moreDemocrats to solidify Stearns seat. The primary strategic driver for the Commis-sion and its staff seems to be an attempt tocreate minority districts, presumably to com-ply with the Federal Voting Rights Act re-quirements. But in their zeal to create dis-tricts with majorities of minority voters, theyseem to ignore the reality that electing minor-ity candidates may depend less on the racialand ethnic composition of districts than on theestablished qualities of incumbents or candi-dates for those offices. The CRC doesn't in-crease the likelihood of expanding Hispanicrepresentation in Congress by putting XavierBecerra and Lucille Roybal-Allard in the samedistrict. In fact, either one of them could like-ly be elected in a substantially Anglo district. Further, the underlying purpose of the Voting

Rights Act was not to create districts with ma-jority minority populations; nor was it even toensure election of minority candidates. Theunderlying purpose was to empower and pro-tect minority communities by ensuring theyhave effective representation in legislaturesand Congress, ensuring they have leaders whocan effectively speak and advocate for them,who can exercise political power on behalf oftheir communities and thereby achieve goalsimportant to those communities. In real life,it is long-term incumbents -- like Cong. Becer-ra, sitting on the Ways and Means Committeeand chairing the Hispanic Caucus, or Cong.Roybal-Allard, who might chair an Appropria-tions Sub-Committee, and thus be one of thefabled "Cardinals" of the House -- who acquireand can exercise that political power on behalfof their communities. A reapportionment pro-cess that cavalierly puts two such incumbentsin the same district, forcing the community tochoose between them, in reality weakens,rather than strengthens, minority represen-tation and violates the underlying spirit, if notthe letter, of the Voting Rights Act. Incumbent politicians, for all their failings andfaults, were far more sensitive to this un-derlying truth than the Citizens Commissionseems to be. In all likelihood, the proposedmaps will stand roughly as they are, andCalifornia will survive another round of re-apportionment. But, to my mind, this is acase study in the dangers and failings of hand-ing reapportionment off to a "citizens" panel(while admitting that legislators often do aneven worse case centered entirely on self-preservation). On the national scene, just a few things ofnote. Democrats won the special Congression-al election in New York State, capturing adistrict carried by both John McCain, in 2008,and George Bush in 2004. It had been repre-sented by Republican stars like Jack Kemp,but the Republican nominee got caught be-


juggernaut. The Medicare

their com-

spend on

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tween the Tea Party purists and defending theRyan Medicare budget cuts to a substantialsenior population.

The election was emblematic of the unravelingof the Republican issue has finally crystallized the nation'sschizophrenic feelings: we want budget cuts toreduce deficits, but not if they affect anythingimportant to us (like pretty much everything).Medicare hit just too close to home, and sup-port for the Ryan budget crumbled. EvenNewt Gingrich recognized that was a bridgetoo far, but he didn't have the courage to with-stand withering criticism from the Tea Partywing for taking on the Ryan plan.

We should feel sorry for the Republicans, be-cause there is a kernel of truth toplaints. Medicare does need to be reconside-red, but in a much broader context. It is in-evitable that Medicare will cost more andmore, both in absolute and percentage terms.It is at the mercy of three fundamental costdrivers: more citizens are entering the 65 andolder group, as the baby boomer generationhits retirement age; seniors as a group areliving longer, in significant part due to thevery success of Medicare and medical research;and that very same progress in medicinemeans fewer deaths from acute causes (heartattacks and strokes) and more from lingeringillnesses (cancers, dementias) which cost muchmore in treatment and care.

So we, as a society, face two distinct issues:how much of our GNP ought wemedical care (through public systems or pri-vate insurance); and how is that burden andrisk allocated? Republicans implicitly pushthat risk onto individuals with fixed vouchers(much like their arguments against pensions,and for 401(K) type plans, put the risk of in-vesting for retirement on individuals ratherthan the society collectively). Democrats im-plicitly argue that the risk ought to be shared

collectively, with the government as "insurerof last resort", spreading the risk of individualcatastrophic costs over the entire population.That approach works effectively only if every-one is insured through the collective program,not just those individuals who contract catas-trophic illnesses. The heart of the disputebetween the Dems and Reps on Obamacareand individual mandates vs. the Ryan plan isexactly this -- how we view our individualversus collective responsibility. Layered ontop of that is the GOP axiom that any govern-ment plan or activity is inherently less efficientand more susceptible to waste, fraud andabuse, while Dems typically argue that gov-ernmental programs, like Medicare, are reallyno worse than private insurers in deliveringservices effectively.

Interestingly, while this debate is raging,Obamacare is actually

starting to be imple-mented. In Maryland, for example, the statehas already enacted laws to authorize andestablish health care exchanges and appointed6 commissioners to the State Board that metand began work on June 3. These exchangeswill function as clearinghouses for competinghealth insurers -- one-stop shopping for insur-ance policies, hoping competition will decreaseaggregate costs and lead to greater efficienciesin the system. The raging debate over Obama-care may fizzle out in two years as fear isovertaken by reality.

-- Jon Fuhrman

The Phoenix Editorial Policy: Signed articlesand letters appearing in the Phoenix represent theopinions of the individual writers and not of ACT.Their appearance does not imply endorsement byACT or agreement with the opinions expressed. Theaccuracy of facts is not guaranteed. We welcomearticles of interest and encourage members to write.


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From State Senator Carol Liu... Sacramento Update

As of this writing, the Legislature is meetingover the weekend trying to reach a budgetagreement. At this moment, the prospects aredim for a balanced cuts/new revenues ap-proach. I hope by the time you read this Ihave been proven wrong.

The other major action this week is the releaseof the proposed maps by the CaliforniaCitizens Redistricting Commission. The Com-mission will be holding hearings on the mapsthroughout the state in June and issuing afinal set of maps in August. You can check outthe maps for our region and follow the actionat http://wedrawthelines.ca.gov/.

June 3rd was the deadline for Senate billsintroduced in 2011 to advance to the Assem-bly, which will consider the measures beforethe September 9 deadline to send bills to theGovernor. Governor Brown will then haveuntil October 9 to sign or veto legislation. Ienjoyed bipartisan support in the Senate formany of my bills and look forward to present-ing them in the Assembly. My 11 bills nowawaiting Assembly Committee hearings in-clude:

SB 257 to encourage school districts to pro-mote best practices for public school teachersand improve the teacher evaluation process.

SB 406 to increase the penalties for batteryon Security Officers and Custody assistantswho staff metal detectors in Los AngelesCounty courtrooms, patrol community college

campuses and perform other duties. SB 368 to let courts appoint a responsible

adult to assist developmentally disabledchildren who need government assistance buthave no parents or legal guardian available.

SB 62,

sponsored by the Los AngelesCounty Board of Supervisors, would allow thecounty to send a mailer to homeowners andrenters when the property they occupy isfacing foreclosure. This will give residentsadditional warning and alert them to potentialfraud.

SB 43 will increase participation in thefederal Food Stamp Employment and TrainingProgram and help people acquire workexperience as they look for full-time employ-ment.

Finally, I am pleased to announce that TalinMangioglu is my new District Director andAdam Carter has joined our staff as a DistrictRepresentative. As you know, Talin was aDistrict Representative in both my Assemblyand my Senate Offices. Adam is a native ofPasadena. He previously worked in the Dis-trict Office of Assemblymember Portantinoand most recently, the Washington DC Officeof Congressman Schiff. Also, we have movedour District Office to 501 N. Central Ave.,Glendale 91203. Our telephone number re-mains the same: 818-409-0400. Senator Carol Liu represents nearly 850,000people of the 21st District, which includes Altadena,Burbank, Glendale, Pasadena, La Cañada Flint-ridge, San Gabriel, Temple City, several City of LosAngeles communities and portions of cities andcommunities stretching West to Reseda. Visitwww.senate.ca.gov/LIU.


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From 44th District Assemblymember Anthony Portantino

Greetings from Sacramento! It’s been a hectic month. I hope everyonehad a great Mother’s Day and Memorial Dayweekend. Back in Sacramento, the budgetcontinues to dominate the discourse. I waspleased that my proposed constitutionalamendment that forces us to prioritize andgovern with fiscal sanity had a hearing beforethe Budget Committee. However, I was dis-appointed that it subsequently was shelvedand that my proposal to freeze the salaries ofthe highest paid state workers was also killedby the Appropriations Committee. After $12billon dollars in real cuts and a $6 billiondollar infusion of extra revenue, we continueto face a sizable deficit. I’m still searching forthe elusive bi-partisan solution to bringingsome stability to our great state. I have had a good run of bills getting out of theAssembly and heading to the Senate. My billto ban the open carrying of unloaded handgunson Main Street, California has passed theSenate Public Safety committee. Althoughthere is a "wanted poster" featuring my pic-ture and there have been some disturbingposts on the Internet, I remain committed tomaking the streets of California safer for ourfamilies. My five-year passion for authorizingrobust academic partnerships between highschools and community colleges is also now inthe Senate. Interestingly, Chancellor JackScott and I fine-tuned the final piece of thelegislation at the ACT fundraiser. Once again,ACT played a major role in California politics.My financial aid bill and my rape-kit testing

bill also received strong Assembly support andare both in the Senate. As many of you know,accountability is also a very important issuefor me. AB 2, my bill to create anaccountability framework for our public colle-ges and universities also passed the Assembly.This bill stalled in the Senate last year, butI’m optimistic this time around. Senator AllenLowenthal, who is the chair of the Senate Ed-ucation Committee, has agreed to co-authorthe bill. Our students and families deserveconcrete goals, objectives and benchmarksfrom our educational institutions and we needto keep these institutions accountable. Once again I’

m pleased to join fellow legisla-tors Senator Carol Liu and AssemblymemberMike Gatto to honor businesswomen fromthroughout our districts for the 12th AnnualWomen in Business Awards and LegislativeUpdate. The awards, to be held July 15 at theCastaways in Burbank, celebrate women whocontribute to the workforce through the ad-vancement of business, while also serving asrole models for their community and cowork-ers. Go to our Assembly website for the de-tails: www.asm.ca.gov/portantino. On the family front, Sofia came home fromcollege to visit for Memorial Day weekend.She even rode in the parade with me. Belladitched me for the third year in a row, choos-ing to ride on the fire truck with the girlscouts over the Model A convertible with herdad. We celebrated Mother’s Day with a greatold-fashioned family dinner at Twoheys inAlhambra. I’ll be heading back East to see mymother and swing by Washington DC duringour summer break. I’m looking forward to afew days on the Jersey shore, eating somegood pizza, before the Congressional campaigngoes full throttle. Assemblymember Anthony Portantino represents the44th Assembly District of California. He can bereached by Email at: http://democrats.assembly.ca.gov/members/a44/


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ACT "Lightly Sautés" Jack Scott Over 100 ACT members and supportersgathered on a glorious Sunday afternoon, May29, to "Lightly Sauté" ACT member and Com-munity College Chancellor Jack Scott. Theevent, at the home of Molly Munger and SteveEnglish, honored Jack for his long service tothe community -- as PCC President, Assembly-member, State Senator, and now leader of thecommunity college system statewide.

Tim Wendler & Assemblyman Portantino At the same time, though, Ernestine Moore,Jeanette Mann, Assemblyman Anthony Por-

tantino, Wendy Gordon (for Wendy Soltes),Fred Register and others amused the crowd

recounting just a few of Jack'sfoibles and had a little fun atJack's expense. Pictures of theevent, courtesy of Susan Kane,will be posted on ACT's websiteat www.ACTPasadena.org. The event helped raise over$15,000 so far for ACT's Politi-cal account; our goal is to raise$20,000 to fund our support forfederal, state and local candi-dates over the next two yearcycle. Our grateful thanks go to Jack,to Molly and Steve for lendingtheir lovely home (once again),to Wendy Soltes for all her work

to make the event beautiful (those flowers!),tasty, and successful, to Jon Fuhrman for a bitof everything including organizing and keep-ing track and gracefully “M-C-ing” the event,to the sponsors and attendees and “roasters,”and finally to those who phoned for sponsors,mailed the invites, and helped with the event:Neal Wrightson, Fred and Jeanne Register,Wendy Gordon, Susan Kane, Tom Hubbard,Sally Beer, Dolores Hickambottom, Anne andRoger Wolf, Bill Hacket, Michael Gottlieb andEllen Coles.

Jeanette Mann turnin

g up the heat!


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Nine budding activists from the fifth and sixthgrades at Jordan Middle School in Burbank,CA, met with me recently to express their con-cern about this practice. These civic-mindedstudents came to my district office to presenttheir case to support AB 376, a bill that makesit unlawful for any person to possess, sell ortrade a shark fin. I support this effort. I was able to tell my student constituents howpleased I was to see our next generation en-gaged in the political process. Not yet voters,these students still expressed their thoughtson how to improve our planet and the otherbeings with which we share it. How refresh-ing it was to have a meeting with these youngpeople, who are striving to engage in a systemwhich many adults ignore!

I was able to tell the students that I am amember of the Assembly's EnvironmentalCaucus and the Legislature's Animal Protec-tion Caucus, and that I also serve on the Ass-embly Committee on Water, Parks, and Wild-life. And that I am proud to have voted for AB376 in committee and on the Assembly floor. But I am all the more proud to have been“schooled” on an important matter of publicpolicy by our next generation of leaders, ninechildren from Jordan Middle School who caredenough to ask for a meeting with their State

Red Check Time, Check Your Label! Is there a red check ( ) on your mailinglabel on this Phoenix? If so, it means we havenot yet received your 2011 renewal check.Please use the enclosed renewal coupon tosend in your dues right away. Or go to www/ACTPasadena.org and follow the renewalsteps. ACT and the Arroyo Democratic Clubneed and appreciate your continued member-ship and involvement.

(Our grateful thanks go to the 227 ACT andADC member households that have alreadyjoined or renewed this year.)

From 43th District Assemblymember Mike Gatto

Greetings from Sacramento!

Shark Fins Have you ever thought of buying a bowl of“Shark Fin Soup” at a local restaurant? Mostpeople know the name, but most don’t realizethat the growth in demand for the soup thatcan cost up to $100 a bowl has led to the incre-ase in the practice known as “shark Finning”. This is the practice of cutting the fins and tailoff a live shark, which is most often tossedback into the ocean to perish. Despite the factthis gruesome act is cruel and inhumane, agrowing number of fisherman take advantageof the market for this product, which sells at$400 per pound as too lucrative to resist.

Assemblyman.

Please feel free to contact my office too, onany matter of concern to you. Mike Gatto is the Assistant Speaker Pro Tempore ofthe California State Assembly. He represents thecities of Burbank, Glendale, and parts of Los Angel-es, including Los Feliz, North Hollywood, SilverLake, Toluca Lake, Valley Glen, and Van Nuys. Hehas served in the Assembly since June 2010.

Website of Assemblyman Mike Gatto: www.asm.ca.gov/gatto


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Calendar June 26 Anthony Portantino Fundraiser Sunday at 1177 Hillcrest Avenue, Pasa. 3-5 p.m. Tickets $75 per person, $125 per

couple. RSVP to 626-405-8130.

July 1 Friday Morning Progressive Friday Discussion Group at Conrad’s 8-9 a.m. Restaurant, NW corner Lake &

Walnut, Pasa. Call Inman Moore for info at 626-795-2201. We meet on 1st & 3rd Fridays.

July 7 ACT Steering Committee/ADC Tuesday Summer Potluck/Meeting at the 6:30 p.m. home of Wendy Gordon and

Michael Gottlieb, 1535 Ontario Ave., Pasa.

Program: Congress, State Senate and Assembly redistricting. Potluck at 6:30 p.m.; meeting at 8 p.m. (See front page for potluck assign-ments.) Everyone is welcome and urged to attend.

July 15 Friday Morning Discussion Friday Group. (Details same as 07/1.)

Aug 4 ACT Steering Committee/ADC Thursday Meeting. 7 p.m.

Aug 5 Friday Morning Discussion Friday Group. (Details same as 07/1.)

Sept 11 SAVE THE DATE. Meeting to discuss ACT’s future. Everyone is welcome!

P. O. Box 40074 Pasadena, California 91114-7074

annual summer potluck dinner - actpasadena.org summer potluck dinner . and . act and adc meetings ....

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