Marquez Knolls, Council at Odds

Nearly 40 people gathered inside of the Palisades Branch Library community room earlier this month in what was a large turnout for the Pacific Palisades Community Council.

Some were there to talk about a recent influx of transients in the area, others to express frustration over what they are calling an unethical move against a recently elected area representative, Greg Sinaiko.

With more than 150 votes, Sinaiko received the largest mandate for a candidate in the group’s history, defeating Sotheby’s realtor Jim Rea, for the position of representing area three, which includes Marquez Knolls, on the council.

Sinaiko was backed by a coalition of Marquez Knolls neighbors, whose concerns were sparked in 2012 after the PPCC refused to stand with them in opposition to a LADWP proposal for a substation to be built adjacent to Marquez Elementary School.

But what many Marquez neighbors did not know at the time was that the lot directly adjacent to where children play and go to school was not DWP’s first choice.

A one-acre parcel of land owned by State Parks located near Los Liones and Sunset behind Fire Station 23 was DWP’s preferred site, according to a DWP study.

DWP officials were considering trading part of a 98-acre property in Malibu and a one-acre lot next to Marquez for the Los Liones site, had they gained the support.

The deal could have connected two recreation areas and preserved open space well exceeding the size of the one-acre parcel behind Fire Station 23.

But the Los Liones site was also part of a piece of land very dear to a group of local residents who built a native garden on the lot, technically considered part of Topanga State Park.

Behind Closed Doors

A meeting in November 2011 between a small of group of people changed DWP’s focus from Los Liones to the one-acre lot it owned next to Marquez Elementary.

DWP was hoping to gain the support of some “influential community members” so that it could begin negotiations with State Parks to acquire the Los Liones parcel, according to public documents obtained by the Palisadian-Post.

Referred to as “people of influence” in internal emails, a large number of these community members included current and former members of the PPCC, such as Norma Spak, Randy Young, Shirley Haggstrom and Barbara Kohn.

Bob Ramsdell, of the Paseo Miramar Homeowners Association, Suzanne Goode of State Parks and Norman Kulla, senior lead counsel to Bill Rosendahl, Councilmember at the time, and DWP officials were also present.

Details from the November meeting were later revealed after internal emails sent from Thomas Dailor to Mark Selacek, director of environmental affairs for DWP, and Chuck Holloway of the DWP’s Environmental Affairs Department, surfaced:

“I [Thomas Dailor, an environmental supervisor for DWP,] met with Councilmember Rosendahl’s reps, Norman Kulla and Joaquin Macias, and several residents from the local community to discuss site selection for DS-104. The local residents were strongly opposed to the preferred site next to the fire station on Los Liones, and said they would support LADWP building on its Marquez Canyon site.”

Not In Our Backyard

A few months later in February 2012, the substation’s proposed location switched from the lot behind Fire Station 23 to the lot next to Marquez Elementary, a more costly site to build on, according to a DWP site study.

Marquez Knolls neighbors rallied against plans. Signs in opposition were posted on almost every lawn along Marquez Avenue and parents, many new to the area, began forming groups like the Coalition of Palisades to Keep Marquez Charter Safe.

DWP’s hopes for a smooth transition soon erupted into fierce debates and accusations of council bias and conflict of interest.

DWP announced in 2013 that the project would be moving into the CEQA phase. It is expected to take at least six years for all the preferred sites to be evaluated, according to DWP.

The substation is an ongoing concern for many in Marquez, including the newly minted community councilmember Sinaiko.

The Committee of Three

Sinaiko submitted two names to fill alternate positions for his area, but the council’s “Committee of Three” disregarded his two choices and opted instead to select Rea and another man. The Committee of Three includes Haggstrom and Kohn, both of whom were included in that closed-door meeting with DWP officials that shifted its focus for the substation from Los Liones to the site near Marquez Elementary. The third member of the committee is Richard G. Cohen.

The alternate would fill in for Sinaiko should he be unable to attend and take over as area representative should he resign or be indefinitely unavailable.

When Rea lost to Sinaiko, he sought a position as an alternate representative and applied on his own accord, Kohn said.

“Sinaiko was the only one who submitted names for alternates, “ Kohn said. “No one else did.”

The PPCC followed its own bylaws in choosing Sinaiko’s alternates, but it could have picked less contentious alternates than Rea.

“This year we had viable candidates I recommended but neither was selected and instead, the Committee of Three selected two individuals I have never met, including the outgoing Area 3 rep, Jim Rea,” Sinaiko said.

Voters’ Mandate

Sinaiko not only beat Rea by a landslide, but he also received more votes than anyone ever before in the council’s 40-year history.

“My constituents need to be confident that the alternate will act and manage any issue with the same mindset I would,” he said in a statement to the council. “With all due respect to Jim, who obviously cares about our community and volunteers his time when many people in our town do not, since the voters made a specific choice, and given the fact that several others expressed an interest in the position, it is surprising the committee would select Jim as the most appropriate candidate.”

Sinaiko said he has no issues with accepting the three-chair committee’s recommendation of Brian Deming as an alternate but voters clearly ousted Rea, he explained politely.

Marc Zussman, an attorney and founding member of the Coalition to Keep Marquez Safe, scolded the council in a statement and said their actions were an “effort to thwart the will of the public.”

Zussman said the actions of a few have tarnished the image of the PPCC as a representative of the community, he said.

“The appointment of Jim Rea as the number two person is really a slap in face of the electorate,” Zussman said.

The problem the council has now is a small number of people are controlling the process undemocratically, Zussman said, adding there needs to be new bylaws drafted that would require more transparency and safeguards against conflicts of interest.

Councilmembers chose to table the Committee of Three’s recommendation of alternates after some discussion, but the attempt to choose Rea as an alternate brought to light a deep disconnect between Marquez Knolls neighbors and the PPCC, which touts itself as being “the eyes, ears and voice” of the Palisades.

Born from Activism 

Marquez neighbors are not alone in feeling that the “community council,” which was created from the ashes of an activist victory against Occidental Petroleum Corp. in the early 1970s, is not representative of the entire community.

Huntington Palisades Property Owners president David Peterson said he was disappointed when he discovered that a small band of people have been making decisions that have impacted the greater Palisades community.

“People here need to get more involved with the process,” Peterson said, adding groups with names no one has heard of are controlling important decisions.

The most dramatic example was the relocation of the proposed DWP station, he said.

While the community council holds no official authority over city matters, it has garnered enough influence to affect decisions made by elected officials under the banner of community representation.

Unlike L.A.’s certified neighborhood councils, the PPCC is a self-governing organization and isn’t subject to California’s Brown Act Law, the State’s public records act or conflict-of-interest laws.