About 1500 people went to a hearing before the county Commission on School District Organization to discuss the possible transfer of Sierra Madre schools from the Pasadena Unified School District to the Arcadia Unified School District. The hearing is the first step in a long process that involves approval by the state Board of Education and local voters before an area can transfer to another school district.
Herb Fletcher, 71, a longtime Arcadian best known for questioning city government, advising local newspapers and comforting senior citizens, died of a heart attack at Arcadia Methodist Hospital.
An application for state funds to make $8.5 million worth of repairs in 6 Arcadia schools is moving ahead. Funds for the repairs, from the Leroy F. Greene State School Building Lease-Purchase Program, a bond measure, have been exhausted. However, another bond issue, coming up in the June 1990 election, is expected to pass and provide money to continue the program.
The Arcadia Board of Education swore in newly elected member Joann Steinmeier and re-elected member Mary Dougherty at an organizational meeting. Dougherty was also elected president as the board selected its new officers.
The Arcadia Redevelopment Agency's financial obligations and development projects prevent it from saving $294,000, or 20% of its tax increment, for low-cost housing, as required under California Assembly Bill 265. The state law, concerned with agencies formed since 1976, does not affect the ARA, formed in 1974. Starting in the 1996-97 fiscal year, however, all agencies will be required to set the money aside.
Incumbent Mary Dougherty and Joann Steinmeier were elected to the School Board in an election that brought out only 9.8% of Arcadia' registered voters.
An evaluation panel of Arcadians for Arcadia has found each candidate running for the Board of Education to be well qualified. Their "best selections" are Mary Dougherty and Joann Steinmeier.
Local 280 of the Parimutuel Guild of California voted not to strike Santa Anita Park on opening day. The track had made contingency plans in preparation for the threatened strike but the clerks endorsed the proposed contract raising clerks pay at satellite wagering sites.
The local police department and humane societies in the San Gabriel Valley do not support efforts to establish a new private humane society in Arcadia.
Results of a recount of ballots cast in the recent Arcadia City Council election confirmed the original vote. Johanna A.M. Hofer, a candidate in the election, ordered the recount.