¡Muchas Gracias!

thank you all so much, whoever came out and voted not only for me, but for my opponent sarah fuller as well. yr participation in this beautiful community's town council election is greatly appreciated and duly noted.
i am in washington, DC, right now and will be unreachable starting tomorrow, june 27, until july 9, because i will be undergoing a silent meditation in shelburne, massechusetts. i hope everyone is well and have a great 4th of july.
thanks again for reelecting me and putting yr trust in me once again to serve and represent beautiful 4602, Dena, Calif.

mahalo,
justin

Attn: Karen P.

hello karen,
i just saw yr comment on my blog today, june 26, but i don't have any contact info for you.
i'd like to answer yr comments individually/personally, so please email me at:

aaronsindahouse@hotmail.com

mahalo,
justin

¡VOTO! ¡VOTO! ¡VOTO!

hey everyone,
don't forget to VOTE tomorrow, saturday the 9th!
voter turnout in Altadena is historically, unfortunately, and unnecessarily low. usually candidates receive under 50 votes. keep in mind there are roughly 46--50,000 residents living in this beautiful foothill town. where's the disconnect? is it because we're governed by a faraway, indifferent county bureaucracy? whatever the reason, i highly encourage everyone 18 and over to take about 3 minutes out of your day tomorrow to go to one of the below polling places and vote for a town council candidate in your census tract. support your local government link to the county and participate in our annual elections.
thanks for your support.

mahalo,
justin

Chapman election speech

here is my 3 minute election speech as read at the may 15 ATC meeting:

"For the past two years it has been an honor and a privilege to represent this beautiful and unique community. My name is Justin Chapman and I'm running for my second term on the Altadena Town Council. I want to continue to effectively represent the people of census tract 4602. They put their trust in me when they elected me two years ago, and everthing I've done on this council since then, all the hard work and volunteer time, has been entirely for their benefit.
I've been living in Altadena for 16 years and the Pasadena area my entire life. I've accomplished many things in my 21 years and have gained valuable life lessons through my various experiences, including student ambassadorship to four countries and two states. I've been published in many newspapers, school papers, magazines, online, and poetry books and have done travel writing and reporting in about 20 countries and many more states. Through my professional child acting career and many other endeavors, I learned early on how to work with people to get things done.
During my tenure on the town council, I have fought tirelessly for the community I love. My main focus has been and always will be education. That's the promise I made when I first ran for the council, and that's what I set out to do the past two years. I believe Altadena is underserved by the Pasadena Unified School District and have dedicated my volunteer time on the council to improve the relationship and communication between the district and the council by offering alternative and unconventional ideas to major problems and dilemmas facing our schools and community. Altadenans want to have an influential and respected voice when it comes to major issues and decisions that affect schools, education, and Altadena students. I restarted the Altadena Town Council's dormant Education Committee and began a virtually nonexistent dialogue with the district. That committee is still doing good work in terms of shaping district policy in favor of the Altadena community and I will continue to push in that direction.
I want the council to be a much more influential and active voice in our community, sharing ideas and working with residents, institutions, and businesses. I have established working relationships with important local community leaders such as congress members, state senators, assembly members, superintendents, various board trustees, mayors, city council members, activists, and county supervisors.
I have several initiatives in mind for my census tract which I will work hard to implement if reelected, such as bus service on Lake Avenue from Altadena Drive to the mountains, park and school safety, and trail and park enhancement and maintenance.
If you live in 4602, please vote for me, Justin Chapman, on Saturday, June 9, so I can continue to fight for positive change in our community. Thank you."

mahalo,
justin

ATC election heats up

well, the altadena town council 2007 election is gettin' hot after the 14 remaining candidates in all eight open census tract seats gave their speeches at the tuesday, may 15th town council meeting. the candidates are as follows in alphabetical and census tract # order (* indicates the candidate i am/will be supporting while + indicates incumbency):

4601
-tim kelly

4602
-justin chapman*+
-sarah fuller

4603.01
-keith gibbs
-alice wesson*

4603.02
-steve lamb*+
-matt littell

4610
-gene campbell*+

4611
-jerry rhoads
-michele zack+

4612
-ken balder+
-peter baumer
-laura graham*

4613
-lori judson+

in the coming weeks, as it gets closer to the SATURDAY, JUNE 9 election, i will be posting more info about the candidates, along with guaranteed polling places and other relevant campaign shiznit. if lamb and i maintain our two seats and win two seats (in 4603.02 and 4612), altadena will have the first liberal/progressive majority on the town council EVER, and the first majority to actually represent the people of altadena EVER. now that makes this one exciting election! i can't wait...
stay tuned to this blog for more info on my campaign.

mahalo,
justin

Crown City News interview

on monday, may 7, i was interviewed by tami kimball devine on crown city news, a local pasadena news show broadcast on KPAS 55/56, the same station that producer stuart johnson interviewed me on during the pasadena primary election night ballot counting at the convention center. ms. devine has an amazing story of survival. she was born on a mud floor in a mud hut during civil war in sierra leone. after her mother died when she was young, tami spent some time in a poor orphanage, where she was finally adopted by a white missionary family (the kimball's) who picked her out of a litter of young black girls because of her big bright smile. she is now the producer/anchor of crown city news in pasadena. i am just amazed and touched by her incredible life story, and it was a great honor to have been interviewed by her about my work on the altadena town council, my activism in local education issues in our school district, and my role in the whole AUSD proposal. info on how to see my episode follows:

crown city news airs at 2:30pm (newscast) and 6pm on charter cable channel 56, and 6:30pm on charter cable channel 3. if you can't watch it on TV, go to www.crowncitynews.com and click on the logo.

"we want to be your local TV news resource for the news and events happening in your San Gabriel Valley neighborhoods. so call us with calendar items, story ideas, or to advertise your business or service.
-tami devine
hens teeth square, los robles ave/woodbury dr on the pasa/altadena border
tami@crowncitynews.com/626-798-3288"

mahalo,
justin

Altadena Observed

mr. kevin roderick of LAObserved.com posted this (along with a link to 'DP) on the thursday news brief section of his blog:

"ALTADENA OBSERVED
Justin Chapman's blog 'Dena Politico has qualms about the recent town council election."

thank you for the recognition, sir.

mahalo,
justin

ATC '07 election inadequacies

i already have some qualms about the way this year's altadena town council general election is being conducted:
at the april 17 ATC meeting, it was announced that the candidate applications are available at the library, the community center, and on the ATC website. there is NOTHING on our website even now about our election, despite the fact that we have a new, $50-a-month paid webmaster. there are no downloadable applications on the site and no information at all about the election (not to mention the lack of updated agendas, minutes, and meeting info).
i went to the library to pick up my application, and they are not displayed at all, let alone displayed prominently. i had to ask the staff for one, and no disrespect against them, but it took them 15 minutes to locate the apps. how is that community availability?
how is the community (and PUSD and the city of pasadena and the star-news and the county, etc etc etc) supposed to take us seriously if the Dena community doesn't even have time to consider participating or doesn't even know an election is taking place?
i want the town council to be legit and have more power and influence. otherwise what's the point?
check out this week's Pasadena Weekly, in the Upfront section next to the City Beat section, for my brief about the election filing deadline:

www.pasadenaweekly.com/article.php?id=4589&IssueNum=69
"How to Make Change" by Justin Chapman
The Altadena Town Council is accepting candidacy applications and candidate statements for the upcoming June 9 election until 5 p.m. on May 8. Applications can be picked up at the Altadena Community Center, 730 E. Altadena Drive, and at the Altadena Library, 600 E. Mariposa St. Candidates must be Altadena residents, at least 18 years old and pay a $25 filing fee.

mahalo,
justin

Ed Comm creates AUSD subcommittee

at our april 25, 2007 meeting, the ATC Education Committee voted to create an AUSD subcommittee with Members justin chapman, jerry rhoads, and steve lamb.
the altadena town council has yet to see the voted upon and approved 3-point resolution regarding the concept and current petition of AUSD that was passed by the Ed Committee at our February 28, 2007 meeting. the latest news is that it will be presented at the May 15 ATC meeting along with the newly formed AUSD subcommittee.

mahalo,
justin

(another first) Cooper attends ATC Ed Committee

two firsts in two days. what a week.
for the first time ever, newly elected PUSD school board member Renatta Cooper attended the altadena town council Education Committee's wednesday, april 25, 2007 meeting. she expressed her desire to find the best way to work with the town council, the ed committee, and the altadena community, offering her presence at meetings of either body when called upon as well as her absence from meetings if asked. i don't think i've ever heard such a considerate and generous statement from an elected official before, let alone from a PUSD school board member to any body affiliated with the altadena town council. i thank and commend her (and the community that elected her) for her peace offering and her willingness to really work together. very admirable, i must say.

mahalo,
justin

ATC speaks officially at the PUSD BOE meeting

for the first time ever, walter olszewski and i spoke officially on behalf of the altadena town council at the pasadena unified school district board of education meeting on tuesday, april 24, 2007. when we both went up to speak during public comment on items not on the agenda, board president peter soelter tried to silence us before we got two sentences out on the grounds we were trying to comment on an agenda item. superintendent edwin diaz silenced him and let us speak, and we went about expressing our (town council's) desire to establish a cooperative, productive relationship with PUSD. when we went up to the podium to speak on the agenda item regarding the proposal to place Rythms of the Village Charter High School at Blair High School, i made the following remarks:

"Hello again Mr. President, school board members, Mr. Diaz. On behalf of the Altadena Town Council, I want to say we are not against any of these schools in question. We want what's best for Rythms of the Village, NIA, and Blair, and what's best for those respective communities. At our recent meeting, the community surrounding Edison and members from both Rythms and NIA clearly expressed their sentiment, and the town council agreed, that the combination of these two philosophically different high schools at Edison Elementary would be detrimental to the growth of both schools. There's just not enough space, and it's clear the Blair community feels the same way about their situation. So on behalf of the Altadena Town Council and the community we represent, I implore you to explore other, more suitable sites, whichever they might be, whether it's the Armory building, or the service center, or any number of other district sites, in order to allow Blair and NIA to continue to flourish, and to give Rythms of the Village the chance to grow that it surely deserves. Thank you for your time and once again I'd like to personally invite all of you to our Education Committee meeting tomorrow night at 7pm at the Altadena Community Center in the spirit of establishing a positive, productive dialogue and relationship between PUSD and the Altadena Town Council, because we want to work with you on this and many other issues. Thank you."

i would like to commend mr. diaz for changing the agenda item regarding Blair/Rythms from an action item to an information item, and for calling for a special school board meeting (although it will take place before the new board members take office on May 7) to decide this issue on Thursday, May 3. thank you also mr. diaz for allowing mr. olszewski and i to speak when the board president was less than cordial.

mahalo,
justin

Rhythms at Edison with NIA?

there will be a meeting this sunday at 3pm at the town hall regarding the school board's intention to squeeze charter school Rhythms of the Village into the Edison campus along with existing charter NIA. the purpose of the meeting will be to get everyone involved on the same page, and to gauge the community's reaction. if the residents surrounding Edison and people from both charters will be as outraged & organized as the Noyes community was, this ill-intentioned move by the board will be avoided, but if they can get away with it they will. send your thoughts and opinions on the matter to:

aaronsindahouse@hotmail.com

mahalo,
justin

Chapman/Diaz chew the fat, shoot the shit

my interview with new PUSD superintendent Edwin Diaz was published in the Pasadena Weekly yesterday, Thursday, April 12, 2007. check it out nyaw:

http://www.pasadenaweekly.com/article.php?id=4531&IssueNum=67

he had some good things to say, and perhaps some not so good things. although it ain't saying much, he's better than percy. only time will tell if he's the right man for the job of cleanup. for the community has much healing to do.

mahalo,
justin

Interviewed by KPAS at the Pasadena Conference Center

producer stuart johnson of KPAS interviewing me during election night coverage at the conference center. the tape had some audio problems so later we went live.

mahalo,

justin