Congratulations to Glendale City Council incumbents Ara Najarian and Zareh Sinanyan who retained their seats in the April 4 election and to Vrej Agajanian who will have joined them on the dais by the time this is published. I also send best wishes for a successful term to City Clerk Ardy Kassakhian, City

Treasurer Rafi Manoukian, incumbent GUSD Board Members Greg Krikorian and Armina Gharpetian and new member Shant Shakian, as well as incumbent GCCD Trustees Ann Ransford and Armine Hacopian and newcomer Yvette Vartanian Davis. Thanks to them and the others who ran for office for contributing their time and energy to serving the city.

The turnover in elected officials and term limits on board and commission members mean there are openings coming up on the various city boards and commissions. Glendale residents can check out the city’s website and see if there is an interesting position you are qualified to fill.

http://www.glendaleca.gov/government/departments/city-clerk/boards-and-commissions

I haven’t seen voter turn out figures for the recent Glendale or La Cañada Flintridge elections but anecdotal evidence indicates it wasn’t very high. I hope our neighbors to the west in Los Angeles City Council District 7 come out for the runoff election on May 16 between Monica Rodriguez and Karo

Torossian. The Sunland-Tujunga Neighborhood Council has a number of committees such as Land Use, Safe Streets, Women Issues, and Arts, Recreation & Culture that may have openings for Sunland-Tujunga residents. For more information see http://stnc.org.

We had the pleasure of hearing from John Monsen from San Gabriel Mountains Forever speaking at the April 27 CVCA meeting regarding support for expanding the San Gabriel Mountains National Monument to include all of the San Gabriel Mountains in the Los Angeles and San Bernardino national

forests. Representative Judy Chu from District 27 to our east is expected to introduce legislation to not only expand the monument but to also establish a national recreation area along the San Gabriel River administered by the National Park Service, establish and expand wilderness protections in the

Angeles National Forest and the Gabriel Mountains National Monument to better protect our pristine, undeveloped national forest backcountry, and establish Wild & Scenic Rivers to protect our watersheds and sources of drinking water. See https://sangabrielmountains.org/ for more information.

I enjoyed the Hometown Country Fair on April 29 from the Historical Society of the Crescenta Valley and Friends of Rockhaven booths. Thanks to all who signed up for CVCA email messages. If you would like alerts about upcoming Glendale, LCF, STNC, CVTC, GUSD and GCCD meetings and events please email me at Sharon@Jetcafe.org.

A couple of things occurred to me while I enjoyed the passersby, one of which was a pet goat on a leash, seemingly having a great time checking out all the offerings. Wouldn’t a small goat herd naturally disposing of weeds in our local parks be better than using Roundup? I recall that the Glendale Community College has used them in the past. I think they are charming and a wonderful way to demonstrate sustainable living.

Another move toward more sustainability would be the use of mulch sound walls. They would be a benefit along freeways because they not only deflect sound, they absorb it. They may also be able to filter fine particulate matter and reduce the pollution that reaches freeway-adjacent residents. They could also reduce noise around school athletic facilities so there can be more joint use with the greater community without disturbing residents nearby. The City of Long Beach is experimenting with such walls and I think we could use them here too.

The next Crescenta Valley Community Association meeting will be May 25 starting at 7 p.m. in the community room at the La Crescenta Library, 2809 Foothill Blvd. Park in the upper lot accessed from La Crescenta Avenue. Join us to discuss land use and other local issues. Our meetings are free and open to the public.

  SHARON WEISMAN