By Susan Motander
Shortly after former Mayor Bob Bartlett’s death in 2015, Metro announced plans to name its Maintenance and Operation Yard in Monrovia for the man many called “Mr. Monrovia.” On Tuesday at the formal unveiling of plaques in Bartlett’s honor at both the Maintenance Yard and the Gold Line Station in Monrovia. The plaques feature an embossed image of the man who served not only as the city’s first African-American member of the City Council, but also its first African-American Mayor.
At the maintenance yard the first plaque was revealed after all the dignitaries had spoken. Then those in attendance boarded a Metro bus for the short ride to the Monrovia Gold Line station for the second unveiling.
During the speeches before the first unveiling, Bartlett was lauded for his almost thirty years of public service to his hometown. Speaker after speaker rose to extol the contributions not just to Monrovia, but also to all of the San Gabriel Valley, especially in improving mass transit in the area. John Fasana, Chair of the Metro Board and Duarte Mayor Pro Tem noted that it was sad that “one of its great champions” did not see the grand opening of the extension of the Gold Line, adding, “Bob Bartlett was there in spirit.”
Fasana highlighted several of the former mayor’s contribution to mass transit including being part of the negotiations for the merger of Rapid Transit District and Metropolitan Transit Authority to create Metro, being one of the founders of Foothill Transit, serving as an alternate to the Metrolink Board, and working on the establishment of the Alameda Corridor to move freight from the port of Los Angeles.
Former LA County Supervisor Mike Antonovich also spoke of his long association, 37 years in his case, with Bartlett. He said, “Coming into local government, he had a vision and he went to work.” Later the former supervisor outlined why he felt Bartlett had been successful: “He put the people first, not himself.”
Of his work with Bartlett, Antonovich said “We had a goal: get the Gold Line to Ontario Airport.” Later he noted, “Claremont is now in view and Ontario is just beyond.”
The tributes continued as Monrovia’s current mayor, Tom Adams who served with Bartlett as a Councilman when Bartlett was the city’s mayor. Adams recalled how, in the mid 1990s Bartlett had had a full size passenger car trucked into Monrovia and lowered onto the full size tracks then running through the community. He then noted that was over 20 years ago, adding, “If we had all been as committed as Bob, it wouldn’t have taken as long to get the train here.”
Adams also noted that he and Bartlett had had their differences on the Council. However, he said, “We didn’t always agree on things, but we did it in an agreeable manner.
Mary Lou Echternach, a Metro Board staff member who worked with Bob, called him a mentor. She said she had actually moved to Monrovia, intending to become involved in local politics. “I had moved into one of the few parts of the city in the unincorporated area. I learned to pay attention to the details from this lesson” she said.
Echternach reminded those attending the unveiling of Bartlett’s regular greeting. Emulated then emulated the big man, spreading her arms wide and smilingly saying “Hey…” in the way Bartlett often did when he had an idea for another project. She said one of the most important things she learned from him was his 5 Bs of public speaking: “Be Brief, Brother, Be Brief!”
Sharon Neely, the former Chief Deputy Executive Director of the Southern California Association of Governments, related a few other lessons from Bartlett including the power of collaboration and that “anger is wasted energy.”
The final speaker was Bartlett’s brother, Darrell Carr. He added a more personal touch to the proceedings. He told personal stories of the family including the fact that their mother had come to Monrovia as a child in 1922 and had arrived at the Monrovia Depot (now being refurbished while maintaining its historic integrity). He shared that their Mother had taught her children several lessons including never giving up on the city in which they were born. She told that that “if it doesn’t work the way you want it to, don’t give up and leave, stay.
Perhaps the best story was his explanation of his big brother’s even bigger plans for the city. As a young man Bartlett had a paper route and their mother had always insisted that the children bank the money they earned. She learned that Bob was not saving the money he made from the paper route. Convinced he was spending his money at the Foster Freeze on Huntington Drive (long time Monrovians will remember that place), she staked it out, but never spotted him there.
Carr then related that in the 1990s his brother had finally admitted to his mother what he had been doing with his money all those years before. In those days Monrovia had an airport south of Huntington Drive along Shamrock Avenue. Bartlett was bribing the student pilots to give him rides, and “a bird’s eye view” as his brother put it, of his hometown.
All those years ago, Bartlett was already looking at the big picture of Monrovia.
