Commemorative Signs to be Unveiled at Arnie Wishnick Way

Community Council Addresses Multiple Topics at First Meeting of 2020

By SARAH SHMERLING | Editor-in-Chief

Kicking off the year with a busy agenda at its Thursday, January 9, meeting, the Pacific Palisades Community Council covered several topics, including vaping, vehicle racing and speeding, and an upcoming ceremony planned to unveil commemorative signs at Arnie Wishnick Way.

Lisa Cahill, Brentwood-Palisades deputy-environmental liaison for Councilmember Mike Bonin’s office, provided updates on a fire drill being scheduled in May for The Highlands and Marquez Knolls areas, similar to one that took place in Mandeville Canyon. Drills in other areas of the Palisades are expected to follow.

Cahill also shared details about the installation of two commemorative Arnie Wishnick Way signs that will be placed on Antioch Street to honor late beloved community member Arnie Wishnick.

“A commemorative renaming of a street basically means that you can honor the person you’re trying to honor without having to do an official renaming, which sometimes can adversely impact local business owners,” Cahill explained, adding that an official renaming would make business owners reprint business cards, stationary, etc.

The two signs will be placed at Swarthmore Avenue and Via De La Paz.

The ceremony will take place on Thursday, January 16, from 3 to 4 p.m. outside of the Pacific Palisades Chamber of Commerce office, with a brief reception to follow. Longtime Palisadian Sam Lagana will serve as emcee during a ceremony that includes words from Bonin and the unveiling of the signs.

Following Cahill, Los Angeles Police Department Division Officer Ryan Basaker spoke about a traffic incident on December 15 involving a Lamborghini that made an improper turn onto Marquez Avenue from Sunset Boulevard, denting a stop sign and light pole and flipping over without injuries.

“I’m sure there was probably speeding involved, but the primary collision factor was improper turn,” Basaker said, adding that racing was not a factor based off the accident report.

He added that he and other officers make an effort to come to the Palisades and ticket speeding drivers on streets across the community.

As the meeting came to an end, the board unanimously passed a motion, with one abstention, recommended by the Westside Regional Alliance of Councils leadership to support the city attorney’s recent report that called for a ban on the sale of all flavored tobacco products used in vaping, including menthol and hookah.

The motion was co-sponsored by PPCC Secretary Chris Spitz and Chair Emeritus Maryam Zar.

“Altogether it’s to ban the sale of flavored products and for the most part, those are being marketed to young people,” Zar explained. “We think that it’s an important position to take this early in the game before vaping becomes what tobacco became to the generation before this one.”

PPCC’s motion also included a statement in support of proposed SB 793, which was recently introduced in the Senate to ban all flavored tobacco. The bill addresses sales in retail stores and vending machines, but not online sales.