Grassroots activists Ilene Cassidy and Dick Littlestone were announced as Golden Sparkplug winners Monday and will be among those honored at the Citizen of the Year dinner on April 23. A Community Council committee reviewed nominations submitted on behalf of various residents of Pacific Palisades and decided that Cassidy and Littlestone best fit the Sparkplug criteria for having launched or completed a project in 2008 that benefits the overall community or affects a large group of persons. Cassidy is co-founder (with John Yeh) and most vocal leader of Friends of the Temescal Pool, a nonprofit organization dedicated to reopening the former YMCA pool in Temescal Canyon. The organization, launched last November, filed a lawsuit against the Santa Monica Mountains Conservancy and its partner, the Mountains Recreation and Conservation Authority, asking the court to order the Conservancy to negotiate a pool lease, pay to repair the pool, and make the pool fully accessible to the disabled. ‘Ilene is the embodiment of a sparkplug in the community by taking up the cause of the pool in Temescal Canyon,’ wrote Cecilia Peck in her nominating letter. ‘She didn’t get discouraged at the political tides blowing either way or the fear of failure but rather that it is a good thing for the community to have that pool as a resource for the young, the old and the impaired. She is looking for solutions and working to preserve and improve the community of Pacific Palisades.’ After seven years of planning, negotiating, cajoling and persevering, retired Army Colonel Dick Littlestone celebrated the completion of a new, landscaped-median at the broad intersection of Alma Real and Ocampo last November 8. Located near Littlestone’s home, the derelict median had long presented a weed-infested ‘welcome’ to drivers entering the Huntington Palisades from the business district. Finally, Littlestone decided it was time eliminate this eyesore and build a little garden with native plants, hardly realizing it would take so long to get the $75,000 project designed, approved by the City of L.A., built and funded.

When the Pacific Palisades Community Council learned last Thursday that the Los Angeles Police Department did not respond to a local 911 call because a patrol car was not available, the Council decided to contact police and city officials to demand that at least one car be in the community round the clock. ‘We citizens deserve to be protected,’ said Haldis Toppel, who called 911 on February 27 to report an alleged drunk driver and did not receive a response because the patrol car was about seven miles away at the West Los Angeles station (1663 Butler Ave.) for a shift change. Patrol cars in neighboring areas were busy responding to other calls. LAPD Interim Captain Ruben De La Torre told the Palisadian-Post this Monday that twice a day the basic patrol car for the Palisades returns to the West L.A. station for a shift change. There are other cars out during that time within the station’s boundaries, but they may not be in the Palisades, De La Torre said. The station covers about 65 square miles bordering Beverly Hills, Culver City, Santa Monica and Malibu and is under the jurisdiction of the West Bureau. The bureau also oversees operations in Hollywood, Wilshire and Pacific stations. The patrol car leaves the Palisades to return to the station whenever an officer needs to file a report for a serious crime or has taken someone into custody, De La Torre added. On February 27, Toppel was nearly hit by a driver who entered Ralphs’ parking lot (15120 Sunset Blvd.) at a high speed. When the driver exited his vehicle to enter Ralphs, he appeared to be drunk, said Toppel, so she called the police around 4:55 p.m. When the police didn’t arrive, Toppel called 911 again 18 minutes later to report that the driver had left Ralphs and was traveling westbound on Sunset. She was told the driver would be pulled over if police spotted him. The incident concerned the Council because the Palisades did not have a patrol car in the area to respond. ‘This could be any 911 call,’ said Toppel, who serves as secretary on the Council. She pointed out that it might take one or two hours for the car to return from the station. Since Pacific Palisades is geographically isolated from the rest of the city, the Council agreed that there should be at least one car here at all times. There are points in the community that are as far as 14 miles from the West L.A. station. ‘We are not getting the basic level of safety,’ Council Chair Emeritus Steve Boyers said. The Council unanimously passed a motion at last Thursday’s meeting authorizing Council Chair Richard G. Cohen to ‘demand in writing that LAPD immediately schedule the deployment of sworn officers and cars such that at least one active patrol car is present in Pacific Palisades at all times to assure the safety of this community and to demand in writing that the police commission research the allocation policy and patrol practices in West Los Angeles to assure the safety of the community.’ Cohen was also asked to ‘establish a committee to discuss with the appropriate city departments the details of 24/7-365 days police protection in the Palisades to ensure timely implementation and continued operation.’ In response, De La Torre told the Post: ‘I absolutely agree with the community. They are isolated and at times, help is 20 to 25 minutes away.’ He said his goal is to assign another car to the Palisades as soon as he receives additional officers in the coming months. Debra McCarthy, assistant commanding officer of West Bureau, told the Post in a March 5 article (‘Local Leaders Air Concerns about LAPD Turnover’) that six more officers, detectives and lieutenants should join the station in April. Right now, the Palisades has a patrol car scheduled from 5 a.m. to 5 p.m. and 5 p.m. to 5 a.m. De La Torre envisions adding a second car from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m to provide coverage during shift changes. ‘It’s on my radar, and I’m working on it,’ he said. At last Thursday’s meeting, the Council further requested ‘that the bicycle team be returned to patrol at irregular intervals and that LAPD use the office in [the Palisades Recreation Center] designed to minimize LAPD absence from the community for administrative reasons.’ De La Torre told the Post that when he has more officers, he wants to deploy a bike team to the Palisades during school hours and on the weekends. In addition, he plans to look at the feasibility of using the recreation center’s office.

CVS Pharmacy on Swarthmore Avenue will soon have a new look inspired by the existing Clearwater mural, located on the back of the building, that depicts life in Pre-Columbian Pacific Palisades. ‘I was told the mural [created in 1999 by Palisades resident Terri Bromberg] was sacred and highly prized by the community,’ said architect Todd Conversano, whom CVS hired for the store’s exterior redesign. Therefore, Conversano decided to paint the remainder of the building blue to complement the sky colors of the mural (which faces Sunset Boulevard) and to add white stripes as abstractions of the white clouds. Bromberg will extend the lower mountain range and the clouds of the mural around the building to the Swarthmore Avenue side. The Pacific Palisades Community Council first urged CVS to remodel the building in January 2007 after hearing complaints from residents about the look and general upkeep of the store. CVS began leasing the building from American Legion Post 283 in late 2006. Prior to that, Sav-on occupied the space. Since then, ‘We have worked with the community on renovation options that would be good for the community and for us from a branding standpoint,’ said Steve Mathers, CVS architecture and engineering special projects manager. On March 11, the L.A. Department of City Planning approved CVS’s plans; the decision can be appealed until March 26. In January, the Design Review Board, which oversees the architectural plans and outward appearance of all commercial buildings in Pacific Palisades, gave its OK. The Clearwater mural will be touched up, and the outline of the former Sav-on sign, which is currently visible, removed, Conversano said. The existing stone detail on the Swarthmore side will be incorporated into the lower mountain range of the mural, and any cracked or deteriorated stones replaced. Conversano has also envisioned removing the false mansard roof on the south side of the building facing the parking lot to make the building look more attractive. ‘It’s ugly, and it was an addition to the original building,’ Conversano said. ‘The building is modern and has simple lines and nice edges.’ The CVS sign, currently on the mansard roof, will be reinstalled above the entrance. To improve the entryway, the red vinyl panels will be removed from the store’s windows and a slatted wood fence will conceal the trashcans and newspaper stands from view of the parking lot. For the rooftop parking lot, horizontal wooden slats will conceal the concrete parapet wall. Additionally, a nylon screen will wrap around the existing chain-link fence to hide the mechanical equipment stored in the northeast corner. ‘I had to make simple moves because of the budget,’ Conversano said. The estimated cost for the renovation is $200,000. Stuart Muller, a Council member who has worked closely with CVS on the remodel, said he is pleased with the plans. However, on the Swarthmore side of the building, he would like the transition from the clouds of the mural to the solid white line modified. ‘We would like to make the area much softer,’ Muller said. Conversano said that he plans to soften the left edge of the white stripe, so it disappears into the clouds. CVS still needs permits from the L.A. Department of Building and Safety, which Mathers expects will take a month to three months. He hopes to begin construction in early summer, adding that store hours should not be affected.