Boz Humbug

Notice the pretty eyes, no longer hidden by a horrible old cone.

Boz and I have found a lot of Christmas trees lying, drying at the curb. We wondered what the deal is so we did a bit of research. It wasn't easy to find but by searching the city's website for "christmas tree" (quotes included) I found this information at the bottom of the Pay as You Throw Program page:

"What should I do with my Christmas Tree?
There is a separate, free, Christmas tree recycling program. Notices will be sent to residents to inform them of their tree pickup date.  For your tree to be collected and recycled, you:

1.  Must place your tree at the curb by your specified time

2.  Must remove all tinsel, ornaments and decorations

3.  Must remove all metal and plastic bowls/stands

4.  Must place tree on the curb, not in the alley"

There are two kinds of people in this world: those who are so anal that when they received their notice umpteen moons ago they put it in a safe place where they would remember it and they now know exactly what their Christmas tree collection date is, and those who think they never received their notice.

Guess which kind of person I am.

Boz is an expert at disseminating information and he wants me to spread the word. Drop-off dates have already passed but you can still put your tree by the curb on your normal curbside pick-up day through January 13th. After that, I imagine you'll have to call the city to arrange for a large item pick-up.

Boz (aka Teddy Butt) suggests you get it done while the do do doing is good.

Pasadena Proud

Last week's wind storm was the kind of thing you can't prepare for--at least not in a specific way. The people who run a city's infrastructure can't sit down and say, "What are we going to do in the case of gale force winds that knock down hundreds of giant trees, downing power lines, blocking roads and damaging property?"

But they can plan for generalities--mass injuries, loss of power, or loss of communication, for example.

We've just seen how Pasadena responds to a major loss of power that could have been a disaster. Downed power lines were ready to ignite vulnerable homes and emergency vehicles couldn't get through roads blocked by toppled trees. Our city responded and kept responding and continues to respond.

Stories we hear from neighboring towns aren't as positive.

John and I called various Pasadena city services last Friday about tree removal, live wires and broken street lights. With the exception of one guy, who obviously didn't grok the magnitude of the situation ("Well, it's Friday, so you know, probly not 'til Monday...") we talked to knowledgeable, responsive people who either answered our questions or sought out the person who could.

Those persons haven't had much sleep since last Wednesday night. Now it's time for us to do our part.

First, we can bring our broken branches and tree debris to the curb per the instructions in this article from the San Gabriel Valley Tribune.

Then we can be patient. Pasadena's got a Tournament of Roses to put on in just over three weeks. It's a big deal for our city. It's our annual triumph, our "hello" to the world, and this year it's as important as ever, if not more. Pasadena has done a fantastic job of cleaning up after a historic storm. I've still got a few items on my list of things for the city to do, but I can wait.


Update from Pasadena's Public Information Officer, Ann Erdman:
(this one came in at 6:30 pm)

CITY OF PASADENA PUBLIC AFFAIRS OFFICE
NEWS FOR RELEASE:  December 7, 2011
MEDIA CONTACT: Ann Erdman, (626) 744-4755

PASADENA WINDSTORM UPDATE, DEC. 7 6:25 P.M.

Here is the latest update on recovery from the hurricane-force winds that devastated many parts of this community last Wednesday and Thursday.

Power

Pasadena Water and Power crews made significant progress over the past 24 hours, replacing damaged power poles and transformers and coordinating with Public Works Department crews and some private tree services to remove downed trees from power lines and restring the lines.

An ongoing canvass of neighborhoods has identified many properties that need replacement of wires from nearby power poles.

As of this afternoon, approximately 75 customers are without electricity. Crews will work again through the night, handling calls already logged in and any additional calls as soon as possible.

“It’s important to keep this in perspective. We’re dealing with the equivalent of a hurricane-force event that impacted most of Pasadena’s 23 square miles with 325 miles of streets,” said City Manager Michael J. Beck. “The dramatic increase in restoration of power services over the past 48 hours is a further example of the unwavering commitment by city crews that have been working in 32-hour shifts with six-hour rest periods since this disaster began.”

The crews, assisted by workers on loan from Anaheim Public Utilities and Burbank Water and Power, continue to work around the clock, and in some cases are installing temporary fixes to get electricity restored to more homes more quickly. They will return to those properties to make permanent repairs once all service is restored.

Some customers who have power may experience intermittent outages while repairs are made to nearby properties. Please report outages to (626) 744-4673.

Green Debris Removal

A systematic east-to-west green debris removal process is now underway in Pasadena and is following existing solid waste collection routes the day after normal refuse collection dates.  Residents are asked to place their green debris out as soon as possible.  The deadline for getting rid of green recyclable waste by taking it to the curb will be on residents’ normal trash pickup day the week of Dec. 12.

To recycle all the green material and avoid contamination of the resulting mulch, please place only unbagged green material out for pickup. Other non-green debris resulting from the windstorm will be collected separately by scheduling a bulky-item pickup.

Private contractors providing green material removal service for residents may dispose of material at the Eaton Wash spreading disposal site at the northeast corner of Washington Boulevard and Sierra Madre Boulevard from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m.  Only green material originating from Pasadena will be accepted at this site.  Contractors will be required to provide company name, address and client information. Contractors may also take green waste to the Scholl Canyon landfill at 7721 N. Figueroa St. in Los Angeles, where it will be used as alternative daily cover.

Absolutely no dumping is allowed at Rose Bowl Stadium and other parking lots.

Green storm debris drop-off locations are available to residents at Eaton Blanche Park, 3100 E. Del Mar Blvd., Robinson Park, 1081 N. Fair Oaks Ave.  Only Pasadena residents may use these drop-off locations.  The sites will be open Monday through Saturday from 7 a.m. to 4 p.m., from Dec. 7 through 16.  Green debris cannot be dumped on the ground and must be placed inside the large bins on site.

Proof of residency (i.e., utility bill or identification card) will be required to drop off material. No private contractors will be allowed to dispose of green materials at the park locations.

Damage Reporting

The City of Pasadena’s storm-related costs are expected to be in the tens of millions of dollars.  State and federal emergency management agencies could help mitigate storm-related costs to local governments, homeowners, and businesses, but only if they have accurate damage totals.

City and county officials are asking that homeowners and business owners report all their storm-related costs to the Los Angeles County Office of Emergency Management (OEM) so local governments can more accurately demonstrate the need for state and federal disaster aid.

OEM is tallying estimates countywide and will forward the information to the state.

To report storm-related damage by phone dial 2-1-1.  Damage can also be reported online at www.211la.org.

For more information about the city’s emergency declaration and storm-related cost estimates, contact Pasadena Emergency Management Coordinator Lisa Derderian at (626) 744-7276.

# # #

Ann Erdman
Public Information Officer
City of Pasadena
Public Affairs Office
100 N. Garfield Ave., Room S228
Pasadena CA  91109
(626) 744-4755
Cell: (626) 375-2742
www.cityofpasadena.net/publicaffairs
Facebook:  Pasadena PIO
Twitter:  pasadenapio
 
(this one came in at 2:29 pm when I was out, sorry I didn't post it sooner)

PASADENANS URGED TO REPORT PRIVATE STORM DAMAGE IN EFFORT TO GAIN STATE AND FEDERAL EMERGENCY FINANCIAL HELP

While city and private crews work to reconnect the remaining customers still without electricity and clear thousands of tons of debris from streets and parks, local governments, including the city of Pasadena, are tallying the public costs of last week’s hurricane-force windstorm.  Pasadena’s costs will certainly run into the tens of millions of dollars.

State and federal emergency agencies could help mitigate those costs but only if they have accurate damage totals.  City and county officials are asking that homeowners and business owners report their storm-related costs as well so local governments can more accurately demonstrate the need for state and federal disaster aid.

“We need any damage and costs that residents and businesses incurred to be reported to the county, which will forward them to the state,” said Pasadena City Manager Michael J. Beck. “It’s crucial that the state and federal governments have an accurate sense of the true costs of this emergency to local governments and private property owners and businesses to follow up with disaster-relief funding.”

Beck urged residents to report their storm-related costs to the Los Angeles County Office of Emergency Management, which is tallying estimates countywide.

The office may be reached by dialing 2-1-1. Damage can also be reported online at www.211la.org.

For more information about the city’s emergency declaration and storm-related cost estimates, contact Pasadena Emergency Management Coordinator Lisa Derderian at (626) 744-7276.

Recycling Efforts

I saw my friend and neighbor Linda Centell at the District 3 block party. You may remember Linda; she works with Ann Erdman, Pasadena's Public Information Officer. At the party, Linda introduced me to Gabriel Silva. Linda thinks the world of this guy and now that I know more about him, I do, too.

Gabriel is Pasadena's Environmental Programs Manager. Do you want to guess what that involves, or should I just tell you?

It'll take too long to get a consensus. I'll just tell you.

The Environmental Programs Manager is responsible for the following recycling programs: residential curbside, green waste, used oil, large venue/special events, compact fluorescent light bulb/battery, sharps (needles, syringes, etc.), e-waste (like the free collection events), composting and of course all those Christmas trees. His duties also include: elementary school education/outreach, household hazardous waste disposal, coordinating the Greening the Earth Day Festival, annual outstanding recycler awards, developing new programs to increase the City's waste diversion, managing several state grants, and reporting.

I know the above is true because I got it from Gabriel. Though it seems like a lot, a paragraph still doesn't give you the scope. Think of each of those duties as containing other duties. For example: did you know that a single Rose Bowl Game (large venue/special event) can generate as much as six tons of recycling trash? Someone has to pick up all that stuff. And sort it. Eeuw.

Silva doesn't collect all those cans himself. He coordinates the effort, though, by teaming up with the Los Angeles Conservation Corps to employ 50 to 80 young adults to help at UCLA Home Games, the Rose Bowl Game and the BCS Bowl Game.

I'd say something about how well he delegates his staff, except if I understand it correctly there's only one staffer to delegate. So I have to assume Gabriel does a lot of the work himself. When Linda introduced us, we interrupted him collecting the trash bins from the block party. It was a Saturday, but these things have to be done and when you don't have underlings to do them for you, you do them yourself.

Just take another look at Gabriel's list of duties and think about that.

Ow. My back is killing me.

Here's more information about recycling in Pasadena.

Every Day is Hump Day

You may have seen speed humps. You may have found them annoying. I used to. But I began to see speed humps from a different point of view when I moved to a residential street that some drivers seemed to think made an ideal speedway.

When our street was presented with the opportunity to get speed humps, a few like-minded neighbors joined us in canvassing the block to get the necessary votes to acquire them. It was hard work and the vote wasn't unanimous. But most of us love our speed humps because they've helped make the street quieter for us stodgy grown-ups and safer for the kids.

(They're not "speed bumps," by the way. Speed bumps are slim and high, like what you find in parking lots. Speed humps are long and low, to slow traffic on residential streets. We learned all the cool traffic pacification lingo.)

So imagine my joy when the other morning I heard John call out, "photo op!" and I ran outside to find Oscar Alvarado, Miguel Rojas and Steven Adams refreshing the paint on our beloved speed humps. It was a quick job, one-two-three.

One: they said, "Sure, you can take pictures!" and placed stencils on the street.

Two: while Mr. Alvarado held the stencil in place, Mr. Rojas sprayed the paint.

Three: while Alvarado and Rojas replaced the stencils on the truck, Mr. Adams sprinkled something on the wet paint. I figured it was something to help make the paint dry. But later, John showed me what Steven Adams had sprinkled. We found a few teeny, tiny glass beads left behind. They stick to the paint to make it glow when headlights shine on it.
We love our speed humps. Now, when I come upon them while driving in town, I know what the residents went through to get them and why. And I slow down and enjoy their quiet street.

These gentlemen were awfully nice to let me take their picture. They were efficient, too. Bonuses all around!

Missed

This orange was probably not dropped by a human but by a tree. If nobody's going to eat this item of delectability, Pasadena Department of Public Works Street Maintenance and Integrated Waste Management has a plan for it.

It cannot go into the bin on the right. That bin is for yard waste recycling. Public Works will have you know, fruit is not yard waste. Neither is dirt, your garden hose, nor your dog's art work. (Here at PDP dog waste is called "turdets," a word coined here by the witty, charming and thoughtful Dina.)

The orange can't go in the bin with the blue lid, either. That bin is for household recycling. Did you know that in Pasadena, "the more you recycle the less you pay"? We can recycle all kinds of stuff but not everything, so we have to educate ourselves. The city sends out an instructional flier at the end of each year. I keep it on the fridge and refer to it, to make sure I'm not throwing the wrong stuff into the bin. You can also check the website.

This family's doing a good job of recycling. The two biggest bins are recycling bins. The wayward orange goes in the smallest bin, the garbage bin. Yep, the orange is waste.

Unless somebody eats it. Squirrel? Skunk? Possum? Anybody?