Los Angeles Fire Department Deputy Chief Mario Rueda and Battalion Nine Chief Glenn Miyagishima fielded questions about the reduction in staffing at Station 69 during last Thursday’s Pacific Palisades Community Council meeting. ‘We don’t close the fire station, we close the resources,’ Rueda said, explaining that in an effort to balance the city’s budget, brownout days were imposed in August on stations with a task force, which have a pump truck, a hook and ladder truck, an engine company (a truck with four firefighters) and a rescue unit (ambulance). The total manpower needed to operate a task force is 12, but on brownout days (which occur about half of the month) the staff is cut to eight, closing the engine company. Station 23 only has an engine and a rescue unit with a staff of six, and is not affected by the brownouts. Station 69 firefighters were absent from the meeting. Their union president, Patrick McOsker, told the audience that the firefighters were told they could not attend. Council member Harry Sondheim asked why, and Miyagishima responded, ‘It was my decision. I apologize that they’re not here.’ Miyagishima is one of three rotating Battalion Nine chiefs in charge of Stations 19, 23, 37, 59, 69 and 71. McOsker told the Palisadian-Post, ‘If the firefighters were asked if the brownout would lead to a delayed response, they’d say ‘Yes.” Before rolling brownouts, the force consisted of 1,100 firefighters. On a daily basis, the LAFD operates with 87 fewer personnel than last year. Community Council Chairman Richard G. Cohen asked Rueda if Station 69 could have full coverage on red-flag days (high fire danger). ‘I will strongly suggest to the chief to bring back staff on those days,’ Rueda said. Officials told audience members that four days after the Station Fire started on August 26, all city stations were fully staffed for two days. That fire, which burned 160,557 acres, was fully contained on October 16. ‘They only sent two strike teams [11 firefighters per team] to help fight the largest fire in L.A. County history,’ said McOsker, who noted that this response was low compared to previous fires. He suspects it was due to budget cuts. At last Thursday’s meeting, Pacific Palisades resident Taunie Moreland asked if the three-year-old who drowned at a pool in Bel Air on August 31 could have been saved if there had not been a brownout that day at Station 37, which is on Veteran Avenue and covers Bel Air. Two calls came in at the same time, and the station responded to the first call. The second call reporting that a boy was drowning went to a station that was three-tenths of a mile further away from the incident. ‘The station reported that the traffic, hills and road curves were a factor,’ Rueda said, commenting that an investigation took place after the incident. ‘The department’s goal is to respond within five minutes of a call.’ In this case, the response time was almost 11 minutes. ‘I didn’t provide a quote at the meeting because I thought it was a terrible tragedy, and I was reluctant to comment on the loss of someone’s child,’ Rueda said. The Post received a copy of the Modified Coverage Plan for Budget Reductions written by Fire Chief Douglas Barry, which predicted: ‘ Overall increase in response times with 10 percent fewer resources available, ‘ Increased workload at the affected and adjacent fire stations. ‘ Decreased number of resources available for pre-deployment and move-up coverage. ‘ Decreased number of resources available for Mutual Aid Strike Teams. ‘ Decreased number of resources for mandatory company training. Audience members expressed other concerns to LAFD officials. Brentwood Community Council Chairman Richard Klein asked if the firefighters had considered taking a 10-percent pay cut instead of the brownout days. ‘We’re at an impasse in negotiations,’ McOsker said. ‘They want us to do both, take a 10-percent pay cut and continue brownouts.’ ‘Why are you cutting the people who are saving us?’ Moreland asked. ‘We pay for it with high taxes, and we don’t get anything for it.’ More cuts may be coming as some experts predict the city government’s budget shortfall may rise to $1 billion within two years. ‘I’m not pleased with the cuts,’ said L.A. City Councilman Bill Rosendahl, who is a member of the budget committee. ‘Realistically speaking, our City faces an unprecedented fiscal crisis. We just have to make sure that our fire stations always remain fully staffed on days when there are red flag warnings.’

A group of Palisades Charter High School parents and teachers have recently expressed concern that the selection of a contractor for the Maggie Gilbert Aquatic Center was influenced by inside connections.   Dorothianne Henne, mother of PaliHi swim coach Maggie Nance, is the office manager for the pool contractor, Sarlan Builders in Beverly Hills. Nance is on the school’s pool committee and participated in selecting the contractor from four bidders.   ’This serious conflict of interest was not disclosed ‘ a full and complete accounting is due to stakeholders,’ parent Susan Frank said at a board meeting on October 20. ‘Those found responsible, whether employees, administrators or board members, must be held accountable for their actions.’   PaliHi Executive Director Amy Dresser-Held countered that the school legitimately followed the public contract process by accepting sealed bids and awarding the contract to the lowest responsive bidder. Nance was allowed to participate in the selection of the contractor because ‘Maggie has the greatest expertise in aquatics and pool design on campus and was one of four or five people making the recommendation for the award of contract,’ Dresser-Held told the Palisadian-Post. ‘She is a salaried employee of PaliHi and her mother is a salaried employee of Sarlan, and neither has received any compensation following the award of this contract.’   On July 14, 2008, PaliHi received bids from four pool contractors (Earl Corporation, Mission Pools, Heltzer/Heritage and Sarlan Builders). Dresser-Held examined the bids with Nance, PaliHi’s Chief Business Officer Greg Wood, PaliHi English teacher Rose Gilbert (who donated $2 million towards the aquatic center, which is named after her late daughter) and PaliHi’s Project Manager Chaz Yench (who has 35 years of construction management experience and whose salary is paid for out of the pool account).   ’Heltzer was found to be the lowest bidder by a lot,’ Dresser-Held said, noting that the company placed a bid of $3 million. Sarlan Builders bid $4 million; Earl Corporation, $4.9 million; and Mission Pools, $4.9 million.   The next day, July 15, 2008, the board voted 8-3 to allow the pool committee to select a contractor. PaliHi entered into a 30-day memorandum of understanding with Heltzer.   After hearing the news, Henne, who is also the treasurer of PaliHi’s Booster Club, told the Post she was concerned. ‘It was an outlier bid [which means way out of the medium bid],’ Henne said. ‘I kept telling Maggie, this is crazy.’ Henne feared that Heltzer would submit change orders, which would increase the cost of construction, and as a result work on the pool would be delayed. However, before Heltzer could begin heavy construction, the school had to receive approval from the Los Angeles Unified School District (which owns the school’s land) and the Division of the State Architect. The pool committee submitted the drawings in May 2008. ‘We did not get Division of the State Architect approval as quickly as we expected,’ Dresser-Held said, noting that the plans were not approved until February 2009. Since 10 months had passed, the pool committee decided to re-bid the project, she added. The price of construction materials had dropped with the downturn of the economy, the scope of the project had expanded (the architect had inadvertently omitted fire alarms and lighting on the initial plans), and the school had received legal advice to do the project at prevailing wage, Dresser-Held told the Post. Prevailing wage means paying all workers on a job the predominant wage for that trade in the county. In addition, ‘Heltzer was also essentially re-bidding the project by getting all updated bids from their subcontractors,’ Dresser-Held said, noting that the administration wanted to compare Heltzer’s new price with the marketplace. On March 12, Sarlan and Heltzer (both using California Commercial Pools as subcontractor) placed bids again. The bids were delivered to Yench in sealed envelopes and subsequently submitted electronically, said Dresser-Held, who was attending a charter school conference in Long Beach with Nance, Wood, and Gilbert at the time. ‘We followed the exact same procedure, and Sarlan was the lowest bidder,’ Dresser-Held said. Heltzer bid $4.4 million and Sarlan $3.8 million. ‘There was no wrongdoing,’ Henne told the Post. ‘It was a closed bid process’they were sealed bids. We didn’t have access; we didn’t know who was even bidding the second round.’ On March 17, the 11-member board voted unanimously to authorize Dresser-Held to enter into a contract with Sarlan, which is doing the project at no profit. The total cost for the pool will be between $4.3 million and $4.5 million, which includes the cost for the contractor architect, inspectors, environmental review and permits, Wood reported. ‘We are fortunate to have a contractor committed enough to improving the Pacific Palisades community that he was willing to donate his profit,’ Dresser-Held said of Ben Lunsky, owner of Sarlan Builders. ‘That benefits not just the students and families at the high school but the greater Palisades community.’ However, Heltzer had installed temporary power and fencing before Sarlan was awarded the contract. PaliHi paid Heltzer $16,000 for those services, but ‘they felt they needed to be compensated for that time,’ Dresser-Held said. ‘They sent a letter; they did not file a lawsuit or any claims.’ On October 6, the board approved a no-fault settlement agreement with Heltzer for $25,000 in exchange for full closure and release of all claims. The money will be paid out of the school’s pool account. The board decided to settle after factoring in the cost of legal fees, Dresser-Held said. She pointed out that the school still saved money by choosing Sarlan. Frank, the parent, questioned whether Sarlan had donated to the pool ahead of the contract bidding process. She referenced unofficial pool meeting minutes from March 4, 2008 (before the first bid) that read, ‘Please be aware of ‘ The Palisadian-Post mentioned that we are getting a donation from Ben Lunsky ‘ and while this may be true, we also need to bid the job out and other contractors might not bid the job if they think it has been awarded already. When asked about this in the future, we should say that we are considering or we are getting an in-kind donation in support of ‘ but not mention what the service is or who is doing it. We are currently at $1.4 million raised without the in-kind donation of contractor fees (approx. $500,000).’ The Post reported in its February 28, 2008 story, ‘YMCA Pool Remains Closed with No Easy Solutions Available,’ that ‘PaliHi swim coach Maggie Nance, who is also helping raise money for the new aquatics center, said her group has a contractor willing to donate his time, which is potentially a $500,000 donation.’ Dresser-Held explained that Sarlan had bid the project at a no-profit basis both times, resulting in about $500,000 worth of savings, and Wood said, otherwise, ‘there has been no donation from Sarlan prior to or after.’ Sarlan began construction work on the pool in late March and is set to complete the project by early 2010. So far, the school has raised about $3.1 million, including $152,000 in pledges, Wood reported. ‘We are trying to bring as much money in as we can,’ said PaliHi fundraising consultant Jeanne Goldsmith, adding that PaliHi raised $75,000 from family swim passes. The school is currently selling wall tiles for $400 each that will be displayed in the aquatic center. Wood added that administrators are researching loan options. The loan would be paid back through revenue collected from permitting outside groups to use the pool, playing fields, parking lots, classrooms, meeting rooms and gym. ‘We are hoping that we don’t have to [take out a loan],’ Goldsmith said, noting the goal is to have the pool entirely paid for through fundraising.

Los Angeles City Controller Wendy Greuel highlighted her accomplishments and talked about her goals for the future at the Pacific Palisades Community Council meeting last Thursday.   ’Since I became the city controller, I am asked two questions,’ said Greuel, who was elected to the position in March. ”What does a controller do?’ and after I answer that question, ‘Why would you ever want that job?”   Greuel’s responsibility is to make sure that taxpayers’ money is spent wisely, so she serves as the city’s chief auditor and accountant. Greuel, who represented District 2 (the Northeast San Fernando Valley) on the L.A. City Council for seven years, wanted the controller position because she hopes to help the city conduct business more efficiently in these tough economic times.   Last Thursday, Greuel touted audits she has done on the Los Angeles Convention Center and the City’s Bureau of Street Services.   ’The Convention Center was not living up to its potential,’ Greuel said, noting that the center should be in higher demand with the addition of nearby L.A. Live (a complex with dining, the Nokia Theatre, Club Nokia, and Grammy Museum).   For one, the city could lower the cost to rent the center during slower times such as the winter holidays, Greuel said.   In the past two years, the center has spent more than $6 million on overtime pay for city employees from other departments. If the center expanded its pool of employees, who could work at regular rates, the city would save $1.4 million. One employee earned $146,000 of overtime pay in 18 months on top of an annual salary of $72,746.   Greuel also discovered that the city had lost about $6.2 million because of a poorly written contract between the City’s Bureau of Street Services and Express Environmental Corporation, which disposes of wastewater. Express also overcharged the city by $1 million because the city failed to provide adequate oversight.   ’This shows that we need to look at contracting,’ Greuel said, noting that there are numerous audits she would like to conduct, but unfortunately doesn’t have the budget. ‘I can only do 25 audits a year.’   As former chair of the City Council’s Transportation Committee, Greuel hopes to continue looking at transportation issues. For instance, she wants to examine whether the city is effectively collecting from parking meters.

When Palisadian Daisy Crane organized ‘A Look at LAPD’ for the Historical Society on October 19 at Pierson Playhouse, not only did she personally present the history of the Los Angeles police, but she also introduced L.A. City Councilman Bill Rosendahl, seven high-ranking officials from the LAPD, the Police Commission vice president, and a former 911 dispatcher. One of the officials in attendance, Deputy Chief Sergio Diaz, was one of the top candidates vying to replace Police Chief William Bratton. Three hours later, the 40 people assembled in the audience left with a greater knowledge of the structure of the LAPD, as well as specific information about police recruitment and the canine bomb-sniffing unit. Rosendahl presented Crane with a certificate for her exemplary efforts and accomplishments, and thanked her for organizing the evening. The first to speak was Pacific Palisades resident Andrea Sheridan Ordin who is the police commission vice president. She explained that the commission is in the process of selecting the final candidates for the new police chief. She is one of five civilians on the board, which sets LAPD policies and oversees operations. Crane introduced the first of the police officials, Diaz, who was originally from Cuba. He received his bachelor’s degree from Cal State L.A. and his master’s degree from Cal State Long Beach. He joined the LAPD in 1977 and is currently in charge of Operations at the Central Bureau. ‘Well-trained, well-led motivated police officers make a difference,’ the bilingual Diaz said, noting that crime numbers have decreased citywide. He said typically when the economy is down; crime goes up, and he credits the number of officers on the streets as one of the reasons for the positive statistic. ‘We can’t do what you want us to when we’re in the survival mode, running from crime to crime,’ said Diaz who acknowledged that the LAPD had developed a much closer relationship with the community during Bratton’s tenure. Debra McCarthy, a commander who is second in charge of the West Bureau, is one of the highest-ranking women in the LAPD. She explained that each of the five bureaus is roughly the size of Pasadena. The West Bureau includes divisions from Hollywood, Olympic, Pacific, West L.A., Wilshire and West Traffic. Before she was hired in 1988, she asked her husband, who is also with LAPD, if he thought she could do the job. He replied, ‘You can do it, and some day you will out promote me.’ McCarthy, who is also the mother of two children, says balancing job and career is easy: ‘There’s no trick other than time management and no sleep.’ Captain Bill Murray, who is in charge of the LAPD’s Northeast Division, told the audience about the department’s hiring and training procedures. He remembers asking a candidate to tell him about a significant achievement. The candidate thought and replied, ‘Not getting arrested.’ ‘Needless to say, he didn’t make it to the Academy,’ Murray said, chuckling. In order to be hired by LAPD, one needs to pass a written exam, an interview, physical and psychological examinations, and undergo a background check in which a candidate’s financial situation and work history are closely scrutinized. About one in 14 people who apply make it to training at the Academy. ‘We attract talent from all over the country,’ said Murray, who is originally from Boston. ‘We have the best of the best.’ Captain Evangelyn Nathan, who is in charge of the West Los Angeles Division, said that her area is 65 square miles, and serves more than 237,000 residents. ‘We’re all scrambling for resources,’ Nathan said. ‘My focus is crime, traffic and quality of life.’ She has heard community complaints about the homeless, and now has two detectives assigned to that beat. West L.A.’s second in command, Ruben De La Torre, reminded the audience of the pilot who had successfully landed his plane in the Hudson River. ‘He said that all of his training and experience came together in that one minute,’ De La Torre said. ‘That’s what we use when we go on a call.’ Silvia Sotelo, a former 911 dispatcher who works with community relations in the Northeast Division, gave two reasons why residents might reach a busy signal or be put on hold when dialing 911.    ‘Kids call up and yell profanities then hang up,’ she said. ‘Many people [also] confuse 411 and 911.’ When they discover their error, they hang up in embarrassment. But when they hang up, the 911 operator calls back. If the person doesn’t answer, the 911 operator sends a police car to the address. ‘If you dial 911, your address and phone number show up on the screen,’ she said. ‘Unless it’s a cell phone.’ She noted that if a call comes from a new cell phone, an approximate address can be traced, close to the tower. The star of the evening was a 3-year-old Labrador named Nolan, who was trained to sniff out explosives at airports and buildings. The dog was partnered with his trainer, police officer Lauraine Harrington, who brought him into the theater and told him to search the space. After going through the audience, Nolan found an object on stage that had been scented with a chemical used in explosives. The dog sat when he found it and waited for Harrington, who gave him a toy and lots of attention. ‘We don’t give food for a reward,’ she said. The police department trains dogs to either patrol (get the bad guy), or find narcotics or explosives.