Beach Bikepath Dedicated to Late Councilman Marvin Braude

At a beachside ceremony Monday morning, Los Angeles County Supervisor Zev Yaroslavsky celebrated the county’s long-anticipated, $13.6-million renovation of its facilities at Will Rogers State Beach. That ceremony also doubled as the formal dedication of the Marvin Braude Bikeway, named in honor of the late city councilman who spearheaded the 22.3-mile beach bikeway stretching from Pacific Palisades to Torrance. County officials also used the occasion to posthumously honor Will Rogers, whose widow donated the beach property to the state in 1946. His great-granddaughter Jennifer Rogers accepted a plaque presented by the county. “This has been a long time in coming,” Yaroslavsky said. “But I think we can all say it’s worth it. This beach deserves to have the kinds of facilities we have today–first-rate, 21st-century facilities. And I’m particularly proud to dedicate this bikeway to Marvin Braude.” The changes completed at Will Rogers include the upgrading of the L.A. County Lifeguard headquarters at Potrero Canyon, reconstruction of a lifeguard substation, four mission-style restrooms and the main entrance at Temescal Canyon Road, and regrading and repaving of the county’s four parking lots that run along Pacific Coast Highway from Entrada Drive to the Bel-Air Bay Club. Also, all facilities were reconfigured to be disability-accessible. At the ceremony, county officials offered praise for the project and each other. “This project is a winner for public safety,” said Mike Frazer, chief lifeguard of the county’s Fire Department. “We will be able to make rescues quicker [because of the improvements].” L.A. City Councilman Bill Rosendahl was one of many who praised Braude, who represented the Palisades and the Westside for 32 years on the City Council. The daughters of the former councilman also spoke. Not mentioned at the ceremony was the still-incomplete 50-car county lot east of Castellammare Drive. County officials say that construction there has been slowed by a series of causes, including a higher-than-expected water table. They expect the lot to be complete by the end of July. Also, the rebuilt concession stand is not yet open, pending the delivery of kitchen equipment, Project Manager Mike Patel told the Palisadian-Post. A spokesperson for the county said the concession stand would not be operational until after Labor Day. In January 1999, the county Board of Supervisors hired Gruen Associates to design the refurbishment of the beach. But construction did not begin until December 2005, blocking public access to large swaths of Will Rogers’ 2,000-car main lot at Temescal until early last month. The county originally estimated that the project would cost $6.5 million. But the costs of the project have more than doubled, owing to a series of factors: By the time the construction contract was awarded in November 2005 to Gonzales Construction, Inc., a global construction boom put raw materials and construction companies in short supply. In fact, only two companies submitted bids for the Will Rogers project. That lack of competition meant substantially higher costs. County planners failed to identify a city-owned sewer-force main in the eastern half of the main lot. And that error had large reverberations, both in meeting deadlines and budgets. Construction was halted for four months while the city and county negotiated a solution to reinforce the sewer. County officials told the Post in November that protecting the sewer would cost less than $200,000. But when construction was supposed to resume in late September last year, it moved slowly–and sometimes not at all. Local residents expressed their frustrations at a Palisades Community Council meeting last fall, complaining that workers were rarely seen and that there were few noticeable signs of progress. They feared that the consequence would mean the county would miss its May deadline, limiting public access to the beach for a second summer. When the county missed its deadline in January for completion of the lifeguard headquarters and the main lot’s eastern half, some residents considered summer-long construction a foregone conclusion. County records from that time blame “inclement weather” and the heavy use of “poor subcontractors” by Gonzales Construction for many of the delays and non-compliant construction. But in mid-spring, local residents and critics of the project saw a flurry of construction activity that nearly propelled the project to meet its final deadline. Comments made by top county officials during the ceremony Monday hinted at the political intervention behind the project’s fast construction. “We ran into a lot of problems,” said Don Wolfe, director of the county’s Department of Public Works, which oversaw construction at Will Rogers. “In mid-April, I got a call on the weekend from Supervisor Yaroslavsky–which has only happened maybe one other time–asking if this project was going to get done before he retired.” Yaroslavsky declined to elaborate on what he did to fast-track construction when asked by the Post. Speaking after the ceremony, Wolfe said that Public Works negotiated with Gonzales Construction, pushing the company to hire additional workers to meet the deadline. The company was hesitant to do that because the county offered to pay no additional costs, he said. As an act of “goodwill,” the company eventually complied, said Wolfe. According to county records from the end of May, funds allocated toward construction alone rose more than $500,000. Combined with other costs, the total cost for the project rose more than $ 1 million this year to $13,617,000. Although appreciative of restored access to the beach, local residents’ feelings of the project is mixed. Palisades resident Stuart Muller, who kept a watchful eye on construction, remained highly skeptical of county assurances right up until Memorial Day. “It’s still a little rough around the edges,” said Muller, a Community Council member, “But it looks pretty good for a beach and bathroom project.” Other residents–Muller included–fear that the last-minute dash to completion has meant sacrificing quality. “Now that it’s open, I don’t think much of it,” said Brentwood resident Jeff Mack. “That kind of fake Roman pillar gazebo [next to concession stand] doesn’t provide much shade. It looks like an afterthought. That lattice work with those poorly constructed columns are already beginning to crack. My overall take is I’m under-whelmed by a project that ran considerably overtime.” County Building Inspector Mike Watkins cited the company several times for construction that was not compliant with county and state building codes. But he said the company did a “good job of fixing things.” —– To contact Staff Writer Max Taves, e-mail reporter@palipost.com or call ext. 28.

A generous $2-million grant from the Pacific Palisades American Legion Post 283 has advanced the Fisher House Foundation’s quest to build a short-term resident facility for American servicemen and women, veterans and their families on the grounds of the West. L. A. VA Health Center. A groundbreaking ceremony took place last week with guest speakers L.A. City Councilman Bill Rosendahl and Vietnam veteran Capt. Charlie Plumb. Absent from the event was County Supervisor Zev Yaroslavsky, who along with Sen. Dianne Feinstein and Rep. Henry Waxman recognize the value of a Fisher House, but declined a request to write letters of support. The representatives have gone on record in support of a master plan for the entire VA property instead of a piecemeal approach, which bypasses the public approval and environmental impact process. The $6-milliion Fisher House Brentwood, to be located adjacent to the 405 freeway at Sawtelle, will provide short-term lodging for family members of disabled or ill soldiers who are being treated in the nearby VA hospital. One of 16 Fisher Houses in the United States, the facility will accommodate 21 private bath suites, a common kitchen, laundry, dining room, living room, family lounge area and library. The building will be handicapped accessible and equipped with an elevator. Although the residents will be responsible for basic housekeeping, the West Los Angeles Health Center has volunteered housekeeping, simple breakfast supplies, linens, utilities, management and maintenance. The facilities will be free for families during the treatment period of qualified patients. Like the Ronald McDonald House, Fisher House will provide accommodations for family members while veterans or active-duty service personnel undergo long-term treatment at the VA hospital for everything from military wounds and injuries to chronic illnesses. Currently, the VA provides only small motel rooms for the patients themselves, a few miles away from the hospital. American Legion Post 283 unanimously approved the $2-million donation, bringing the Post’s total contribution to $2.15 million. The Fisher House Foundation, a family foundation that has facilitated 16 similar facilities will provide help, advice and up to half of the $6 million needed. ‘This comes at a crucial time when some members of the community are concerned about the VA property only being used for the benefit of veterans,’ said Lou Cozolino, Post 283 commander. ‘This Fisher House project is 100 percent devoted to the veterans and their families. This will make Post 283 and the American Legion a real credible organization and show that we really are working for our veterans. In addition to the California State Home for Veterans, the Fisher House is the only other project being built on the West Los Angeles campus at this time.’ The California State Home for Veterans, under construction on a former parking lot off Bringham, north of Wilshire, was approved in good faith that the Veterans Affairs Department in Washington would go forward with the VA master plan, according to Flora Krisiloff, senior field deputy for Supervisor Yaroslavsky, and a member of the Federal Advisory Committee which was established to review the VA’s plans for the almost 400-acre property and given the authority to offer options to the federal recommendations. While the master plan has been stalled for the last 2′ years, the State Home facility went through the EIR process and addressed all the concerns of the community, Krisiloff said.

Swarthmore Avenue swirled with activity Friday night as close to 500 people lined up for the 12:01 a.m. sale of the seventh and final J.K. Rowling book, ‘Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows’ at Village Books. A mock-up of Hogwarts Express, the train that students catch to Rowling’s mythical magical school, was in front of the store. Steam, produced by dry ice, floated out of the smokestack and wafted eerily over the street. The scene included children, teens and adults dressed as characters from the books, including Harry Potter, Hermione, Hagrid and Dumbledore. ‘It’s exciting, it’s like Halloween,’ said Bob Kelly, who had brought soccer sideline chairs to sit in while waiting. He thought it was nice that the chairs had a literary importance. Also in line was Corrine Bourdeau, who had just hosted a Harry Potter book party for about 20 people at her home, where she served Pottertini’s, a drink that uses ‘mudblood’ orange. ‘It’s the last Harry Potter party,’ Bourdeau said. ‘It’s so sad.’ Bordeau’s guests joined the throngs of people a festive atmosphere that was best described as a cross between Halloween and New Year’s Eve. Butterbeer and assorted donated goodies, like pumpkin pasties, cockroach clusters, cookies and cupcakes were free. Eve and Jack Capitti-Bloomfield, under the supervision of their mother, Theresa Capitti, were technically first in line at 2:30 p.m., but the winner of the poster contest, Kathyrn Wilson, was allowed to move to the front. It wasn’t a huge jump, because Wilson had come at 3:15 p.m. and was already third in line. At 11:58 p.m. Bob Lefsetz, a friend of storeowner, Katie O’Laughlin, started the countdown. ‘Okay, everybody, two minutes! Two minutes!’ he shouted, and when he completed the final 10-9-8 countdown, a big cheer went up as the door opened. O’Laughlin’s entire staff of 10 worked inside the store, distributing the books and directing people to either the cash register or the pre-paid line. Inside the store, Kenny Turan, film critic for the L.A. Times and former editor of the Book Review section, looked on with delight. ‘It’s so great to see these kids with the book and the excited look on their faces,’ he said. ‘It’s the kind of pure pleasure your rarely see in adults when they buy a book.’ The 12-year-old Piccard twins came out of the store holding a copy. ‘I’m thrilled, but it’s the beginning of the end,’ Emily said. ‘I’m excited, but I’m sad–it’s the last book,’ Grace added. At 12:40 a.m., Johanna Cooper came out with three books. ‘I have two kids and each has to have their own copy in order to prevent fighting,’ she said. The third copy was for a friend leaving for Ojai early the next morning. ‘She told me to leave it on my doorstep and she’d pick it up,’ Cooper said. ‘I had chemo today and I’m still here to slug through this.’ Near the end of the line, Beth McCarthy waited almost an hour before reaching the store. She said she knew she could buy the book for about $20 at Ralphs and Gelson’s, ‘but that’s okay, I’m just going to come and wait in line to support our local bookstore.’ O’Laughlin, who lives in the Palisades, closed her store at 2 a.m., but soon returned to open the doors at 8 a.m. Saturday. By Monday morning, many Palisadians were bleary-eyed from a weekend of reading the 759-page book. Many were trying to finish it before friends, relatives or the media leaked portions of the plot or revealed which characters die. Reviews across the country praised the way Rowley brought her epic series to a conclusion. ‘If you haven’t read any of the books, you could read this one and understand it,’ said Dayna Tortorici, who works at Village Books. ‘For people who have read them all, it’s a gift.’ According to the book’s publisher, Scholastic, Inc., 8.3-million copies were sold in the first 24 hours, and this popularity continued at Village Books, where 728 books had been sold by Tuesday afternoon. ‘This book is different because with previous Harry Potter books all the action at the store took place that night,’ O’Laughlin said. With this book, the store was packed with customers on Saturday and Sunday’and on Sunday many of the customers weren’t local. When O’Laughlin shut the doors on Saturday night, she wisely left a recorded message giving the store’s address, as well as saying there were copies available. On Sunday, when she picked up her messages, she heard a man at the Santa Monica Promenade shout out, ‘They have copies!’ Apparently Borders and Barnes and Noble were all out. (The Post will publish the winners of the Village Books poster and costume contests next week.)

Faced with high overhead and inflexible chain management, owners of the local Domino’s Pizza franchise have decided to become an independent pizzeria called Palisades Pizza. ‘We’ll have a similar menu to Domino’s pizza, but offer more options like fresh basil and artichoke hearts,’ said Chris Bandt, who owns the business with his brother William and his brother’s wife Theo. When the Bandts first opened their store in the Atrium building at 860 Via de la Paz in 1986, they offered a wider variety of options, but because of pressure from the corporate office, those selections were dropped over the years. ‘Domino’s said no to the extras because they wanted all their stores to be the same,’ Chris Bandt said. In addition to insisting that every store carry exactly the same items, corporate officials recently told the Bandts they would also be required to sell pizzas for nationally advertised prices. ‘They’re selling them for $5, but we can’t do that because of the high overhead,’ said Bandt, who added that the store has not raised prices since 2001. ‘Our profit margin has dropped so low that it’s hard to pay our bills,’ Bandt said. Rent, employee costs and insurance are much higher in Pacific Palisades than in many other areas of the country. ‘Malibu used to have a Domino’s, but they went out of business.’ The Bandts discussed selling the franchise, but with the high rent, it was not a possibility. They decided instead to try a different avenue. By dropping their franchise affiliation, they no longer have to purchase food from Domino’s, nor do they have to pay a 12-percent royalty to the corporate office. Chris Bandt lives in the Palisades and William and Theo commute from Palmdale to work at the store. ‘We want to be here because we like the Palisades a lot,’ Chris said. ‘We’re in the middle of a transition’we’re inventing ourselves.’

(Editor’s note: The following remarks were delivered by Ann Braude, daughter of the late City Councilman Marvin Braude, at Monday’s dedication of the Marvin Braude Bicycle Trail at Will Rogers State Beach, a path that travels 22 miles south to Redondo Beach. Her talk has been edited for space considerations.) By ANN BRAUDE Few of us are fortunate enough to see our dreams come true in our own lifetime. This bicycle path was my father’s dream. He lived not only to see it, but to ride on it thousands of times, virtually every Sunday morning over more than three decades between the construction of the first segment and his death two years ago. The first inklings of the dream began in the late 1950s, in those innocent and awful days before seatbelts, bicycle helmets or handicap-access curb-cuts when I balanced on the cross-bar of my dad’s bike on the Santa Monica boardwalk. I suspect the dream took shape when he taught my sister and me how to ride bicycles in the deserted beach parking lots of January in Ocean Park. Marvin must not have been the first to get the bug, because both L.A. and Santa Monica had ordinances prohibiting riding bicycles on the board walk after 9 a.m. except in the winter months. This time restriction shaped our family life–Sunday morning breakfasts at the beach became a routine so we could reach our destination by 9, and then ride home on the street. Any of you who remember my dad know that his special genius lay in his combination of commitment to public service, a trust in the voice of the people and a firm conviction that if he really enjoyed something, everybody in Los Angeles should be able to enjoy it too. He combined all these impulses in 1968, when he issued an open invitation to cyclists to join our usual Sunday morning ride to help demonstrate the need for a beach bicycle path. Nearly 400 people turned out for the 21-mile round-trip from Venice to Playa Del Rey. At one point Daddy grabbed a bullhorn. ‘You look beautiful–just beautiful!’ he told the riders. Later he explained to the crowd what was needed to create a beach bicycle path. ‘Are you with me?’ he asked. The crowd roared in response. Bicycling embodied everything my father believed in. More bicycles meant less smog, less asphalt for roads, fewer parking structures, better land use, conservation of nature, personal health for those who got out of their cars and onto their bicycles, and a more beautiful and healthful city. But perhaps more importantly, it meant an active and engaged citizenry who would see from their bicycle seats what kind of city Los Angeles could be, who would join him in working toward a different kind of city from those who wanted the beach to be lined with high-rise apartment buildings and oil derricks. Remarkably, Marvin had to wait only four years between that first ride and cutting the ribbon on the Venice Beach Bike Path in 1972. Once that first leg of the path was open, things really began to change on the beach. In 1976, a local resident riding down the bike path looked at one of the historic Venice buildings that had been shuttered for 20 years and decided to buy it. He helped open the Sidewalk Caf’, which contributed to the transformation of the Venice Beach in ways that would ultimately make it a symbol to the world of the California dream. I now live in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Nobody in Cambridge has ever heard of Marvin Braude. But when I told friends last week that I was coming to L.A. for the dedication of the Marvin Braude Bicycle Trail, everyone I spoke to knew about the bike path. They’ve seen it on television, they’ve ridden on it on vacation and it has become part of their dreams. Since his retirement in 1997 after 32 years on the City Council, my father has been graciously honored by having his name bestowed on permanent features of the city and county he loved. The Marvin Braude Mulholland Gateway Park commemorates his lifelong effort to preserve the Santa Monica Mountains and to make wilderness accessible in the midst of a great urban area. The Marvin Braude San Fernando Valley Constituent Services Center commemorates a commitment that may seem less glamorous but about which he was also extremely passionate–his belief that government agencies should be user-friendly and accessible to the people they serve. But this bicycle path will always be the most fitting tribute to my father’s life of public service. He loved this bicycle path. I’d like to personally thank Senator Sheila Kuehl for sponsoring the legislation naming the path, and to all the other legislators, especially Supervisor Yaroslavsky but also Councilmembers Wendy Gruehl and Bill Rosendahl for permanently fixing my father’s name to something that was so precious to him. Some of you may remember when he had the rear seat of his city car removed to make it easier for him to get his bicycle in and out of the car. When he left City Hall in the afternoon, he would drive down the Santa Monica Freeway past the exit for our home in Brentwood and head straight for the beach. He often told me that no day was ever wasted if you saw the sun set over the ocean. Of course, what he really meant is that no day was ever wasted if you saw the sun set over the ocean from the bicycle path. Although we unveiled headstones for both my parents yesterday at Forest Lawn, I feel as if my dad could ride down the bike path at any moment, free as the wind, free as you can only be on a bicycle on the beach. (The author is director of the Women’s Studies in Religion Program at Harvard Divinity School. Her sister, Liza, is an artist.)

THURSDAY, JULY 26 Weekly campfire program in Temescal Gateway Park, 7 to 8:30 p.m., at the campfire center past the General Store. Sing songs, tell stories, and roast marshmallows, courtesy of the Mountains Recreation Conservation Authority. Admission is free; parking is $5. Special meeting of the Pacific Palisades Community Council, regarding expansion plans for the Shell Station at Sunset and Via de la Paz, 7 p.m., Palisades Branch Library community room. Public invited. Beatrice Hohenegger signs ‘Liquid Jade: The Story of Tea from East to West,’ 7:30 p.m., Village Books on Swarthmore. Spanning a 5,000-year history, tea has played a variety of roles on the world scene’in medicine, politics, culture and religion. Now, this lively book explores the stories behind the most serene of beverages, of treachery, violence, smuggling, drug trade, espionage, slavery and revolution. Opening night of the Theatre Palisades Youth production of ‘The Wizard of Oz,’ 7:30 p.m. at Pierson Playhouse, 941 Temescal Canyon Rd. Tickets are $12. Reservations: (310) 454-1970. Other performances are July 27, 28, 29 and August 3, 4, 5. FRIDAY, JULY 27 Ehrhard Bahr discusses and signs ‘Weimar on the Pacific: German Exile Culture in Los Angeles and the Crisis of Modernism,’ 7:30 p.m., Village Books on Swarthmore. This is a compelling depiction of the Los Angeles of the ‘migr’s from Nazi Germany, including Bertolt Brecht, Thomas Mann and Arnold Schoenberg. (See Lifestyle feature, page 9.) SUNDAY, JULY 29 Summer Splash, a free, family-oriented activity hosted by the Palisades-Malibu YMCA, 5-7 p.m., in the Y’s Temescal Canyon pool. MONDAY, JULY 30 ‘Moon Mythbusters,’ a guided twilight hike in Temescal Gateway Park, 7:30 to 9 p.m. Meet in the front parking lot as you enter the park. Admission is free; parking is $5. Information: (310) 454-1395, ext. 106. TUESDAY, JULY 31 Story-Craft Time, ‘suggested’ for ages 4 and up, 4 p.m., Palisades Branch Library community room, 861 Alma Real. Public invited. Tuesday Night Hikes with the Temescal Canyon Association will seek out the secret stairways of Pacific Palisades. Meet at 6 p.m. in the Temescal Gateway parking lot. Please, no dogs. Expect to be back between 8 and 9 p.m. Visit temcanyon.org or call (310) 459-5931. THURSDAY, AUGUST 2 Weekly campfire program in Temescal Gateway Park, 7 to 8:30 p.m., at the campfire center past the General Store. All ages are invited. The program is free; parking is $5. Information: (310) 454-1395, ext. 106.