Whittier council meeting to have deja vu quality
It might seem like deja vu at Tuesday's Whittier City Council meeting. Past topics of discussion, such as fireworks and a controversial wall will be back on the 6:30 p.m. agenda.
City officials and Hugo Gutierrez couldn't reach a compromise on the 13- to 15-foot wall he built on his property on the 14800 block of Mar Vista Street. So, the council will decide Tuesday whether to grant him a variance or make him tear it down. City staff is recommending no to Gutierrez's request.
Fireworks also will be back on the agenda. Councilwoman Cathy Warner has asked the council to reconsider holding some type of July 4 celebration. This will be the third meeting in which the council will debate the issue.Warner and Councilmen Bob Henderson and Greg Nordbak had voted in February against putting on a fireworks display.
But Warner was absent at the Feb. 24 meeting when the council voted 3-1 to do nothing.
Warner has previously said that while she opposed spending $12,000 on fireworks, she had supported some kind of less expensive program, such as a flag-raising ceremony or a picnic.
I have a grand idea for July 4th in Whittier, try this one out: A Patriotic Salute to Whittier Businesses That Have Knowingly Violated Planning & Zoning Rules, with Honored Guests Battels Hardware and Steve's BBQ!! The city can utilize a public-private partnership for funding this event, using the city's never-collected real estate agent fees, with the city's new consultant Buxton of Texas paying for the fireworks.
To top it all off, I bet our good Christian friends at Uptown Flooring can get the OctoMom herself (for a small fee, of course) to make a motivational speech to the gathered crowd about the wonders of America (and capitalism) in 2009.
What a grand way for Whittier to celebrate our nation's freedom!