
What is fortunate for us here at The Tattler is that we have dealt with this malarkey before. As a matter of fact, we have the actual ordinance at hand, and have reproduced it here. You can examine this little slice of Sierra Madre history by clicking on the inset to the left. It should enlarge to a size that can be easily perused.
The truly hilarious thing about it all is you will see that this supposedly homophobic and now quite defunct ordinance, which Ms. Henderson blames on Councilmember MaryAnn MacGillivray, is actually signed by some of the LVN's most favored persons here in town. Including then Mayor Glenn Lambdin, Rob Stockley, Doug Hayes and Redevelopment Doyle. You just can't make this stuff up!
Here is what Susan had to say in this week's edition of The Looney Views News:
"In 1997, (MaryAnn) persuaded the City Council to define 'families' in a manner that excluded all 'non-traditional' households including gay couples. Although the ordinance was passed, it was later rescinded."
What Susan claims here is, as you will plainly see, a truly grotesque and despicable falsehood.
Fortunately I have an article already written and ready to go. It was originally published on the now defunct Foothill Cities blog back in May of 2008. But I also reposted this article here on The Tattler in April of 2009 due to a previous re-emergence of this resilient fib. And since Susan Henderson has once again unearthed this canard for the current issue of The Looney, I figured I'll just post it once again. And why not? It is a good story that is obviously in need of retelling.
Enjoy!
Around The Town With Sir Eric Maundry (Foothill Cities - May 16, 2008)
"A lie would have no meaning if the truth was not perceived to be dangerous." - Alfred Adler
In his recent column in the Mountain Views Observer and on Bill Coburn's Sierra Madre News.net website, irregular columnist Glenn Lambdin had his usual awful things to say about MaryAnn MacGillivray. He seems absolutely obsessed with our new Mayor Pro Tem, coming off at times almost like a frantic and jealous ex-husband. Here is part of what he had to say:
"Flashback ten years when MaryAnn left her term infecting our community with her bigoted flawed doctrine of fundamentalist intolerance."
Wow. Now I'm not really all that subject to flashbacks myself, but I can grasp that this is strong talk from the big nut. Glenn then goes on to take his maximum umbrage a step farther:
"Tuesday night I possibly witnessed a shameful seamless transition from ten years ago to the present where MaryAnn went from proudly spewing her faith-based fundamentalist hatred to actually implementing it today."
So what in the name of God is Glenn Lambdin going on about here? Apparently the thing that has him so terribly agitated is a City document called Ordinance No. 1136, also mislabeled by a few fools as the "Sierra Madre Family Values Ordinance." Originally approved in 1997, this misunderstood little item supposedly defined for this City what a family might be. And that somehow this ordinance limited the legal classification of "family" to heterosexual couples exclusively. All nonsense, of course. But what Glenn is claiming here is that because of Ordinance No. 1136, and because of MaryAnn's vote in 1997 for this so-called "fundamentalist" document, Joe Mosca was denied the office of Mayor of Sierra Madre. You see, and as this bizarre argument goes, MaryAnn was on the City Council when this "Family Values" ordinance was brought into existence, so now, as a further expression of her supposed intolerance, she voted to deny Joe Mosca the Mayor gig because he is, to use Susan Henderson's term, different.
OK, obviously I don't buy into this, and I suspect that when you get done reading this column you will find Glenn's claim to be hysterical nonsense as well. If you don't already.
So I have a rhetorical question for Mr. Lambdin. Ordinance No. 1136 was originally passed in 1997, but it was also once again voted upon, and in the exact same form, by the Sierra Madre City Council on October 8, 2001. At that time Glenn Lambdin was the Mayor here. And in that City Council meeting Ordinance No. 1136 passed unanimously. It even got the vote of, you guessed it, that notorious family values militant and fundamentalist zealot, Glenn Lambdin! Wild, eh? Along with Doug Hayes, Bart Doyle and Robert "Rob" Stockley.
So here's the question I promised you:
Glenn? If you are as adamantly opposed to this so-called "Family Values Ordinance" as you say you are, then why did you vote for this very thing when you were a member of Sierra Madre's City Council? And why, as Mayor, did you, and apparently without any reservation whatsoever, sign this document?
I have obtained a copy of the Ordinance in question, and it is reproduced here for your careful inspection. Please note Glenn Lambdin's signature, plus the names of the rest of the City Council, Class of 2001. (Click on the inset at the top of this article to see the Ordinance in full, including Glenn's signature.)
In case you are wondering how Ordinance No. 1136 happened to get voted on twice, that is in both 1997 and 2001, and therefore graced by Glenn's signature, here's the story. Sometime in the late 1990s, and due to some City Hall oversight, approximately 20 approved city ordinances were not legally presented to the public by being advertised in a newspaper. And ordinances that are not presented to the public through legal advertising cannot be considered binding. That is the law. This lamentable state of affairs was brought to the attention of then Sierra Madre City Attorney Charlie Martin, who then concluded that each of these unadvertised ordinances would have to go through the entire approval process once again. Including a City Council vote.
Let's be real here, Glenn has always known that this was never a "flawed doctrine of fundamentalist intolerance." If it was, why would so sensitive and caring man as himself have signed it? And as anyone with a literacy level above the 5th grade can tell you, this is actually a very inclusive document, one written with lifestyle diversity in mind. While it does state a definition of what a family might be, it also defines, and with equal stature, what a "housekeeping unit" is as well. That being people living together as a single unit. People who are not necessarily heterosexual, not necessarily a family as defined by California state law, and not necessarily married, either.
Would an ordinance created as part of an attempt to force some medieval interpretation of what a family is down the collective throat of this community also have something like "housekeeping units" written into it as well? Of course not.
The real purpose of Ordinance No. 1136 had nothing to do with sexual orientation or enforcing a so-called "fundamentalist" view of what it means to be a family. Rather it was designed to limit the number of unattached people living together in a dwelling. At that time there was pressure being placed on communities like Sierra Madre to allow homes to be rented with the purpose of sheltering such groups as recently released sexual predators, mental outpatients, and drug rehab halfway house inmates. Other communities in the area had succumbed to such pressure, and much was being said in the press about the threat that such clutches of troubled souls presented to children, the elderly, and others. So Sierra Madre got its NIMBY on, took action, and this ordinance was created.
Which is why Glenn Lambdin voted for it on October 8, 2001, and as Sierra Madre's Mayor signed it as well.
Of course, maybe Glenn recently took a fall, landed on his noggin, and woke up believing that this really is some sort of homophobic hate speech, and anyone who voted for it must be consumed by a hatred of gays. In which case Doug Hayes, Bart Doyle, Kris Miller Fisher, and Rob Stockley must all have problems with gays, right? Nah. Glenn's recent ranting is nothing more than junk politics being practiced by some washed up old pol hoping to re-ignite his political career by telling absurd lies about someone whose recent elevation to City office has him pea green with envy.
But really, would you have ever thought that Glenn would have actually signed the very document that he has been ranting and raving about? Funny how things turn out sometimes.
Bonus Coverage (November 30, 2010)
In today's Pasadena Star News there is an article (click here) entitled "Sierra Madre water rate hike clears hurdle." And within this otherwise misleading item the following is said:
Resident John Crawford alleges the city failed to follow state law and properly notify residents of potential rate hikes.
"It appears that litigation against the city is imminent," Crawford said.
Stay tuned to The Tattler for further developments.
And get ready.
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