Herbert Simmons, Altadena Town Council Member for Census Tract 4602

OMG!! Did I catch it yesterday when I received a couple of emails from friends who basically said “finally, you’re talking about something Black for a change.” Oh Lord.

I talk about subjects that are of interest to me and those subjects currently are autoimmune diseases, lupus, health issues, supplements and others living with the aforementioned diseases. For now, that’s what I’m about, that is what I’m dealing with and I have had neither the energy nor the time to actually delve into other subject matters. Quite frankly, autoimmune diseases — lupus specifically — is the little something I awake to each day and, unfortunately, I can talk about it easily without having to put too much thought into it.

Addressing other issues requires me working my often foggy brain into a batter of substantive thought — whatever that means — and sometimes this is an easy task and sometimes it is not. So, with that, onward and upward with a website featuring a brother, or brotha, or bro — pick your poison.

I will say I am delighted to see a new site for Altadenans that highlights the works of an African-American man within the community, drama notwithstanding. The site is Altandenans.com and the site owner is Albert Simmons, Town Council Member for Census Tract 4602. Also serving that area is Council Member Okorie Ezieme.

When you visit the site you will understand why I said “drama notwithstanding.” Please do dare read ATC Meeting 9/15 – Brown Act Debate. I will not add my two cents because I don’t know enough about the who, what, when, where and why of this but I did find the topic and comments very interesting and quite honestly, surprising.

Personally, I am glad to see someone from this supposed and quite mysterious Town Council doing something on the web to inform and educate because I have no clue who my Town Council Members are, never seen them, and as long as I have lived in Altadena (since 1996), I never knew there was a thing called a Town Council. At least Simmons is doing something to keep the people in his area informed and it was beneficial reading.

The site is relatively new, I’m guessing, because there is not much there sans a few articles and the most recent October Students and Teachers of the Month. The site does features articles, events, the Town Council and a list of its members — no photos though so you will only see names of ghosts you won’t recognize on the street — and interestingly enough, there is an article on Neighborhood Watch. Really? Wow and thank you Mr. Simmons because I would never have known such a thing existed in Altadena had it not been for your site.

Now I will say Altadena ain’t perfect. After reading recently the words “Hennigger Flats” posted at Altadenablog.com from a commenter who also added “as we natives call it”, during the Station Fire. Needless to say, I was none too pleased with some of my neighbors at the time but, Altadena, like any community, has its share of problems and issues. Been there, done that got the t-shirt. The comment certainly does not — at least I don’t believe it does — reflect the views or beliefs of the gentleman running the blog. He left the comments open — rightfully so — and someone made a horrible post. It happens, nuff said.

Had it not been for Altadenablog.com I never would have known a thing about the mysterious Town Council. I have talked with several folks around here over the years — Black, White, Asian, Hispanic and — no one I’ve talked with ever mentioned the Town Council. It took four years to discover there was a tree lighting ceremony here for Christmas Tree Lane. A lot of residents knew the trees were lit but never knew there was a ceremony. How did I hear about it? A friend of mine in Los Angeles told me about it.

Thankfully, since the Magic Johnson 24-Hour Sport facility opened I have been able to talk with other Altadena residents to learn more about the community and its people. What a delightful journey. However, in an age of internet access, blogs, Twitter, Facebook — which I can’t stand — and other avenues available to us, Altadena can and should do more to reach out to its residents. I am glad to see more sites coming onboard that I hope they will enlighten and inform.

I would advise folk to check out the Town Council’s website.  Though it is quite bland, grab a cup of java and have at it. You will find a lot of info but it requires some digging and yes, time.  Personally, I would start with the Altadena Connection in PDF format. In it you will find information on important numbers, community events, businesses and more.

And so, with that, please do check out Altadenans.com, their Classifieds Section and the Business of the Month, which was interesting because I did not know we had a dance company here. Oh well, too late to pull people back from Debbie Allen’s Academy. I am sure there will be more and I look forward to seeing more news and information there.