Sierra Madre fears for its treasure

The planning and review process has always worked, he adds, saying it's irresponsible to spend $100,000 on an unnecessary election in a town with a budget of just over $5 million.

Trust City Hall?

Not Katina Dunn, whose Mt. Wilson Observer ran a screamer of a story (next to the one about the Woman's Club's Ice Cream Social) telling readers that outside real estate development interests had bankrolled the No on V campaign. As of two weeks ago, the tally stood at $119,850 -- the bulk of it from out of town -- for the No campaign and a mere $10,327 for the Yes side.

Councilman Zimmerman said those numbers are all the more reason to be suspicious that outsiders plan to ram a couple of big developments through, make their tidy little fortune and walk away, leaving locals to deal with the traffic and other nightmares never before visited upon the mountain.

But at Bean Town, the anti-V crowd called that a bunch of hysterical nonsense. They said the measure would cost a fortune in legal challenges, discourage necessary and sensible development and put amateurs instead of professionals in charge of planning review. Besides, they said, no one would ever dream of selling off the one true treasure of Sierra Madre: its small-town charm.

I never thought Sierra Madre would need a visit from Rodney King, but someone's got to ask these people what it will take for them to all get along.

"Oh, come on," said Prudential's Dan Bryant, who represented the sale of the Howie's Market land that is the site of the 72-unit proposal. "You love this stuff."

I started to argue but then realized he may have a point. No disrespect to the Huck Finn Fishing Derby or the Wistaria Festival (they spell wistaria with an A, and I'm not about to argue with these people), but I didn't see a column in either.

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steve.lopez@latimes.com