Mystery History -- Solved

Kevin Brechner wins with his 11:47 a.m. Wednesday guess "It is a shot of a city council meeting discussion between Issac Richards and Rick Cole."

In the photo above, a raging fire on May 26, 1992, in Centennial Square in front of Pasadena City Hall is reduced to white smoke by the quick thinking of three Pasadena Fire Department engine companies, which also provided paramedic services during the unfortunate event.

During the Pasadena City Council meeting that evening, Councilman Isaac Richard...


...and Mayor Rick Cole...


...had a disagreement over which of the two was more compassionate toward code-violating constituents in their districts (1 and 2 respectively).

The regaled each other and the audience with example after example of their righteousness.

Isaac insisted he was more compassionate, having looked the other way when a herd of cats used their matted whiskers to dial 9-1-1 so they could be rescued from their owner, a serious hoarder who had lost her sense of smell, not to mention her hair.



Unwilling to accept defeat, Rick tearfully told how he completely ignored one neighbor's complaints about another neighbor's high fence in Bungalow Heaven. Rick insisted he ignored it in the public interest: After all, the house wasn't even a Craftsman.



The one-upsmanship continued for hours.

Isaac and Rick kept their composure as long as they could but finally the heat of their anger filled the council chamber with thick smoke.

First the fire marshal cleared the room...


...then the sergeant at arms ordered everyone down to the street.


Everybody chose sides and the fists began to fly.


This behavior proved too much for Katie Nack, the only female on the council, whose delicate sensibilities could take no more.


So she transformed into her alter ego and ended the chaos for good by body-slamming Isaac Richard and cold-cocking Rick Cole.


I was there that night, people. I was forever changed.


OK, fine -- April Fools!!! I'll have the true Mystery History reveal tomorrow.

Many thanks to Larry Wilson for the photo of Isaac Richard.

In Memory of Judith Zitter

Judith Zitter died today. I first met her shortly after I started working at City Hall in early 1991. I was the public information officer, of course, and she was field representative to then City Councilman Rick Cole.

I bonded quickly with all of the field reps, but there was a certain difficult period I went through with my job a few months after I started working here when Judith showed me an abundance of support and friendship that really helped get me through the tough times. I have never, ever forgotten that. She rallied to the point that I wanted to stick it out.

When Rick left elected office, Judith put her degree in social work to great use and took a job at Kaiser Permanente on Walnut, where she worked for many years.

I don't remember exactly when Judith was diagnosed with cancer, but it was probably 15 years ago or so. Her long, flowing hair was no more, and for the rest of her life it was short and sassy!

She was in and out of remission. And in and out and in and out. Through it all, she had the love and support of her family and friends.

She didn't let the disease define her life. She never let it diminish who she was. She never let it get in the way of being Judith.

I was very blessed to be included in some intimate dinners over the past few months with a few of the former field reps from the 1990s, Judith among them. She was weak and in a wheelchair, and needed a lot of assistance, but she was in high spirits and was gabbing it up and laughing with the rest of us. From the Athenaeum in December to Saladang last month, she lit up the room and enjoyed our company as much as we enjoyed hers.

Here we are at the Athenaeum. That's Judith seated in middle with the mauve scarf around her neck. (Many thanks to Rita Moreno, who was behind the camera and provided me with this photo.)



Judith was honored in May at the Westin by Community Health Alliance of Pasadena (CHAP), and she looked beautiful and vibrant and had a great big fancy hat on. Rick Cole was there to join in the festivities, which was nice.

She met her husband, Neal Wrightson, when they were students at Blair. Their bright and talented children, Erica and Max, were her top priorities.

Judith was generous with her time, serving on many non-profit boards over the years including Day One and El Centro de Acción Sociál.

She was one extraordinary woman.

Those Other Blogs

I received one blog comment and a couple of emails from people asking about the significance of the non-local blogs listed on the right-hand side of this page.

40-Ton Tourists -- My long-time pal Mike and his wife, Lori. Lori was a successful real estate agent who got out of the business when the downturn began, then took the course to become a trucker! She and Mike always loved taking long road trips anyway, so this was a dream come true. And now Mike, who is a fellow PIO, is getting ready to retire and join Lori full-time on the road.

Jan Curran Events -- Jan and I first met in 1981, I think, when she was Jan Goldberg and we both lived in Walnut Creek and worked as account executives for the same public relations agency in the Bay Area, for the nuttiest loon of an agency president who ever lived. We made him oodles of money with our hard work, clever campaigns and superb client relations. She moved to Palm Springs to work as a senior account executive at the Jones Agency, convinced agency president and Palm Springs kingpin Milton W. Jones that she and I were a team to be reckoned with (she was right), and Milt paid all expenses for me and my children to move to P.S., where I also was a senior account executive at the agency. Among my many other clients, I handled the City of Palm Springs, which, after I left the agency, hired me to do their marketing, publicity and protocol in-house. I got to work side-by-side every day with Sonny Bono, and I've been a public servant ever since. (Jan was hired to do network TV commentary and interviews for two or three hours before Sonny's funeral started. It was a horribly sad day for us all.) But I digress. Jan went on to become society editor of the Palm Springs Desert Sun (which we used to call the Desperate Scum), then retired to do occasional consulting work after a serious health issue developed. She has been battling it for years but she keeps on tickin' and has kept her sense of humor through it all, which is half the battle. Now she lives in Ventura where it's much cooler and better for her health.

Ventura City Manager Blog -- I get asked all the time what's happening with Rick Cole and what he's doing , so I decided to add his blog so everybody can see for themselves what he's up to. Rick is a great dad, which is #1 in my book. By the way, Jan and Rick don't know each other.

OK!!! Now that that's out of the way, I'm off to San Diego Thursday morning to attend my granddaughter Kimberly's high school graduation (yes, the jig is up -- I'm a geezer), then back here on Saturday, and then. . .

-- drum roll please --

. . .HOPPING A PLANE FOR LUDWIGSHAFEN AND JARVENPAA ON SUNDAY!!!

Stay tuned!