Sunday, February 17, 2013

Bring It On!

With Valentine's Day in the rear view mirror, we've got our sites on warmer days ahead as we head toward Spring.  Gone are the red hearts and pink candles, so sad to put away the last vestiges of holiday finery!  But, as we said, there's much ahead in the pipeline, as Easter nears.  Our front table depicts the nearness of Spring and focuses on local food products and great cook books - you'll have to come see it!



Of course, the key word in that last sentence is "local", because we love promoting our budding food businesses up here in Altadena, the new foodie capital of California!  Speaking of local, there are a couple of rather important things going on here this week.  One is the Town Council meeting on Tuesday, 2/19, where the public has been invited to give their opinions (again!) regarding big-box chain business in Altadena. The group Neighbors Building A Better Altadena has asked for a temporary moratorium on big-box development while our Community Standards are being rewritten, and we think that's a smart move. We don't see the benefit in rushing headlong into a commitment that would change our community so drastically without being entirely sure that's what we all want.  Sure, jobs are necessary, but we'd rather they come from independent business, not chain.  There's some great resources to study at The American Independent Business Alliance's latest newsletter, particularly the news that the Imperial Valley  Independent Business Alliance was able to influence the city of El Centro to pass one of the strongest local purchasing/contracting preferences we've seen yet!  The ordinance states "Local Business Enterprises" that are both locally owned and generate a majority of their revenue locally will win a contract if they come within 10% of the lowest bid by an outside company.  Food for thought for our town, too!

The other important meeting this week is being held by the good folks at the Altadena Chamber of Commerce at the Community Center on Thursday, 2/21 at 7:30 pm.  The meeting is for business owners who'd like to discuss needed updates to the Community Standards, so if that's you, please make plans to join!

In other news, our book signing with the authors and illustrator of The Chocolate Princess In The Land Of Plenty has been postponed due to an illness in the family.  We will let you know of the new date once we plan it.

Have a great week, friends, and we'll talk again next week!

Lori and Scott

2 comments:

Daniel H. said...

Quick correction it is the Altadena Chamber of Commerce holding the meeting to get input on the CSDs, not the CSD committee.

Unknown said...

Noted and corrected. Thank you, Daniel.