NEWS ALERT! Coalition to Preserve Mater Dolorosa

Dear Supporters:

The Coalition's efforts in preserving the open space at the Monastery was in the news again. You will find an article in the Sierra Madre Weekly that came out on Thursday entitled "10 Million Offer Not Enough for Passionist Land". It is available at a number of locations in Sierra Madre including the post office. However, the on-line link is http://www.sierramadreweekly.com/current-news/10-million-offer-not-enough-for-passionist-land/

As some of you know, three members of our Steering Committee met on two occasions with representatives from Mater Dolorosa including the Chairman of the Board of Directors Cameron Thorton who is quoted in the recent Star News article as well as the Sierra Madre Weekly article. A proposal was made to purchase the property for 10 million dollars if the citizens of Sierra Madre would approve a parcel tax as the residents of Monrovia did recently to preserve some open space in that community. There were also discussions about possibly raising additional monies in other ways if necessary by state or federal grants or donations. The actual proposal made to them can be seen here.

While we have a great deal of respect for Cameron Thorton, he seems to be mistaken about a certain aspect of our meeting. We concluded that our offer was turned down because the 10-15 million was simply not enough money. However, Mr. Thorton has now repeated the assertion in the Star News as well as now in the Sierra Madre Weekly that Coalition representatives themselves concluded that it was not possible to pass a parcel tax that would generate 10 million dollars. In other words, he states that we felt that our very own proposal was not achievable. To the contrary, the assessment we conveyed to them was that a parcel tax of under $100 would be probable, over $200 would be improbable and anywhere between that would be challenging but certainly possible. If Mater Dolorosa did not think a $155 to $165 parcel tax was achievable, that is certainly their prerogative, but its simply incorrect that Coalition representatives came to that same conclusion.

Despite Mater Dolorosa's decision, the Coalition intends to continue their efforts to preserve the open space that has managed to remain intact since 1926.

Steering Committee

Coalition to Preserve Mater Dolorosa and Stop the Housing Project