Star-News endorses Kovacic, Tay

The Pasadena Star-News has endorsed Arcadia City Council candidates Gary Kovacic and Sho Tay for Tuesday’s elections (mail-in ballots must be received by April 10, of they can be hand-delivered to City Hall — 240 W. Huntington Drive — on Tuesday, April 10, between 7 a.m. – 8 p.m.).

Noting a number of worthy contenders, the paper says no candidate has a stronger record of service than “Mr. Arcadia,” Gary Kovacic, but they cite his ArcadiasBest.com campaign blog which warns, “don’t take success for granted.” The Star-News points out that Tay is the Arcadia Chamber of Commerce’s Citizen of the Year for2011-2012 and applauds his pay-as-you-go attitude toward city spending, as well as his suggestion to improve the Dial-a-Ride service for seniors, which is posted on Sho Tay‘s blog on ArcadiasBest.com.

In making the endorsements, the Star-News compares the two cities, citing Sierra Madre’s most aggressive no-growth policy in L.A. County versus Arcadia, which is perhaps the only city in the region with no floor-area ratio controls on housing development that has led to “mansionization.” In addition, and perhaps related to this distinction, Arcadia “has enjoyed a huge new Asian immigration over the last 30 years,” according to the Star-News, “while almost entirely white Sierra Madre has seen virtually no demographic changes.”

— By Scott Hettrick