In a letter to Santa Monica’s City Manager this Monday, Los Angeles City Councilman Bill Rosendahl urged cooperation between the two cities to mitigate the effects of the California Incline on L.A. residents. He also warned that Santa Monica transportation planners have underestimated the effects of current Incline transportation plans on Santa Monica Canyon and Pacific Palisades. The councilman has not yet written a motion to be passed by City Hall. His staff members say that is still an option the councilman might consider, if Santa Monica does not collaborate with L.A. ‘While I applaud Santa Monica’s efforts to make essential seismic improvements to the California Incline, I am concerned that planning for the traffic mitigations is not moving quickly or thoughtfully enough, and our respective transportation departments are not working collaboratively,’ Rosendahl wrote. Engineers consider the 60-year-old incline, which connects Pacific Coast Highway to Ocean Avenue, structurally unsound. Many residents of Santa Monica Canyon worry that West Channel Road will be overwhelmed with gridlock when the Incline is closed for as long as one year, beginning in 2009. And they fear that Santa Monica will ignore the effects on their community, which is part of Los Angeles. According to Rosendahl, preliminary analysis of the draft Environmental Impact Report (EIR) by engineers at the Los Angeles Department of Transportation (LADOT) seems to justify those fears. ‘Staff at LADOT has reviewed the draft EIR, which states that those neighborhoods would suffer only a marginal increase in traffic. LADOT engineers question that assumption,’ he wrote. Among other concerns, engineers say that the construction timeline is too optimistic; Santa Monica’s traffic projections do not examine weekend traffic patterns; and they do not include a Traffic Management Plan (TMP) to detour traffic during construction. Rosendahl proposes developing a ‘joint Santa Monica-Los Angeles California Incline Working Group,’ which would be composed of the offices of Councilman Rosendahl and the Santa Monica City Manager, the two cities’ transportation agencies and local stakeholders. Santa Monica Canyon Civic Association President George Wolfberg said he was pleased by Rosendahl’s proposals. Wolfberg has closely followed Incline construction plans, which he expects could have a massive impact on the canyon. ‘If there is goodwill on the part of the city of Santa Monica, then I’m optimistic,’ he said. ‘[Santa Monica] staff seem to reasonable people who understand the issues we’ve brought up.’ —— To contact Staff Writer Max Taves, e-mail reporter@palipost.com or call ext. 28.

When Chief Ranger Walt Young successfully pushed his superiors at the Mountains Recreation and Conservation Authority (MRCA) to install a camera at Temescal Gateway Park last month that would help catch stop-sign violators on video and slap them with a $100 fine, he thought community members would be happy. Then he met Jack Allen. Through detailed mass e-mails, a 14-page legal memorandum and a heated interrogation at last week’s Palisades Community Council meeting, the former decade-long Beverly Hills city attorney has launched an aggressive attack on the MRCA. Allen, 75, charges the state joint-powers authority with illegally and furtively trying to raise revenue through its camera, which captures video of stop-sign violators from the back of their cars as they exit Temescal’s first parking lot onto a park roadway before emptying onto Sunset Boulevard. ‘This is the first time in 14 years of public service with the MRCA that I have received notice that park rangers are enforcing park safety rules to excess,’ replied Young to Allen’s charges in an e-mail message to council members. ‘At every meeting I have ever attended, citizens want more enforcement. If battle lines are being drawn, I will not compromise my position regarding enforcement of park safety regulations.’ In a press release late last month, the MRCA, which manages nearly 50,000 acres of parkland in Southern California, announced that it had begun using an automated camera at stop signs at Franklin Canyon Park off Mulholland Drive, the top of Topanga Overlook in Topanga and at Temescal–among the MRCA’s three ‘most heavily used parks.’ And the MRCA has plans to expand its use of automated camera enforcement beyond these three parks within the year. Installed by Redflex Traffic Systems Inc., an Australian company, the camera begins recording when a car’s speed at one of its sensors indicates the car will probably not be able to stop at the sign. If the car does not make a full stop, the vehicle owner–but not necessarily the driver–is sent a ticket and a link to the Web site (www.mrcapublicsafety.ca.gov), where owners can watch their car roll past the stop sign. In exchange for fully funding the installation of the cameras, Redflex will collect $20 of the $100 citation, said Young, who strongly believes that this camera is needed at Temescal. Young says many westbound commuters turn off Sunset Boulevard into the park to avoid a U-turn restriction at the Sunset-Temescal intersection. Preliminary data captured by the camera and reported by Redflex show that on average 250 vehicles exited the small parking lot in a single day. Of those, as many as 78 ‘non-stops’ were recorded, according to Young. These violations pose a risk to Canyon visitors–many of whom are children in the summer–Young says. In addition to a flurry of summertime hikers and YMCA swimmers, the park is also shared by a summer pre-school, an LAUSD science camp and a YMCA camp. But Allen, who spent 10 hours with a radar gun counting park traffic and violations, argues that Young has grossly exaggerated the dangers of the stop sign. ‘They’re not speeding through there,’ Allen said. ‘But they might roll through the stop because the limit line is so far back.’ Allen contends that the park has deliberately ignored state laws and national standards to raise revenue: The state Vehicle Code authorizes using automated traffic enforcement at stop signals, not stop signs. That omission prohibits the MRCA from using the camera to issue tickets, he says. Also, Allen notes that no traffic engineering analysis was done at the site to determine its danger and the effectiveness of an automated monitor’a fact confirmed by MRCA spokesperson Dash Stolarz. Allen’s arguments seemed to persuade many on the Community Council, which regularly rallies local governments and political leaders for more safety and traffic enforcement. ‘This is addressing a problem that doesn’t exist,’ said Mike Streyer, a council member. ‘This isn’t an area where people are going to be whipping around. It sounds like the company has an incentive to write tickets.’ Council Vice-Chair Richard G. Cohen argued that because the camera does not capture an image of the driver, the MRCA’s tickets will have little legal merit in state courts, which place the burden of proof on prosecutors to prove that a driver has committed a moving violation. MRCA Contract Legal Counsel Lance Bayer told the Palisadian-Post on Monday that the Vehicle Code covers public highways, but not necessarily roadways through parks’essentially leaving the MRCA to police its own roads. Bayer also said vehicle owners who are cited can appeal their tickets in front of a hearing officer and in Superior Court. Spokesperson Stolarz said that Redflex will review video before citations are assigned, but only rangers will decide who will receive a ticket. Actual fines will begin to be issued after July 17, after a one-month warning period. MRCA officials said they have not yet determined how many people have been given warnings so far. Like a parking violation, MRCA citations cannot count affect a driver’s record. ‘I agree with Jack [Allen] and Mike [Streyer] that this is absolutely unnecessary,’ said George Wolfberg, president of the Santa Monica Canyon Civic Association. ‘You might think it’s going to work, but you can’t make the community like it!’ ‘I’m not making this up,’ Young replied. ‘This is a disaster waiting to happen.’ Allen, who lost a lawsuit against the Santa Monica Mountains Conservancy in 2004, says he has no intent to file a lawsuit against the MRCA. But he argues that the MRCA’s interpretation will not withstand legal challenges in state courts. He plans to lobby the Community Council at its next meeting on July 12 to urge the Attorney General to review the MRCA’s action. —— To contact Staff Writer Max Taves, e-mail reporter@palipost.com or call ext. 28.

At a meeting last week with Los Angeles City Councilman Bill Rosendahl, the Westside Waldorf School committed to raising $100,000 toward the installation of a long-demanded traffic signal at the intersection of Sunset Boulevard and Los Liones Drive. The first phase of the project could begin as soon as July 14. ‘I think that this has been a great community effort,’ said Andrea Epstein, Rosendahl’s deputy who helped craft a compromise. ‘We’re really happy the school is working with our office and that the Getty has contributed so much to the project. It will benefit the community as a whole.’ As part of the agreement, Waldorf will pay $50,000 by July 14 toward the design phase of the 14-month project. In a reversal, Rosendahl has pledged to spend at least $50,000 and will cover the difference between the estimated and final costs of the signal. The councilman’s staff and community members had worried that if he offered financial support for the project, other private groups would pressure the councilman for city funding. ‘We knew a solution was inevitable but that it would take a partnership,’ said Waldorf Executive Development Director Jeffrey Graham. ‘We want a safe and secure Sunset Boulevard and we are going to take our part to participate in that.’ The Los Angeles Department of Transportation (LADOT) estimates total cost of construction will be $350,000. Construction is expected to account for $270,000 of the total cost. According to the current timeline, the signal would be complete as soon as September 2008. The Waldorf School originally estimated that the total cost of the project would be $200,000. That estimate did not account for building concrete sidewalks and grading, according to LADOT. The K-8 school relocated from Santa Monica to the site of the former Santa Ynez Inn and Transcendental Meditation Center last January. Based on its original, faulty estimate, it had set aside $50,000 and received a $150,000 commitment from the Getty Villa Community Relations Committee, which receives funding from the Getty Villa. Until last week, the school faced a $150,000 shortfall and widespread community threats. At its first June meeting, many Palisades Community Council members vowed to oppose the renewal of the school’s temporary certificate of occupancy’effectively shutting down the school. Members and residents of Los Liones argued that the school reneged on its promise to fund the construction of a light at a dangerous intersection’which the school’s presence only made more perilous, they contend. There were also calls to decrease the school’s maximum occupancy below its current cap of 246. Last school year, 100 students attended Waldorf. Graham expects that 150 will enroll next fall. At last week’s meeting, council members applauded the recent plan and dropped those threats. ‘Councilman Rosendahl and his staff facilitated a satisfactory resolution,’ Vice-Chair Richard G. Cohen wrote by e-mail. ‘When the signal is finally installed the entire community should benefit from a significantly safer intersection.’ Graham said he expects a permanent certificate of occupancy ‘as soon as this summer.’ The school’s temporary certificate must be renewed by December. Epstein said the councilman will not support permanent occupancy until all funding for the project is assured. The Waldorf is currently planning one or two events to raise $100,000. Graham said he has already received offers of help from the Palisades community. The councilman has offered to attend fundraising events to help the school, said Epstein. The Getty Villa Community Relations Committee is scheduled to meet next week. Building a signal at that intersection is an expected agenda topic of the committee, one member said. It is unknown whether the committee will contribute any additional funds toward the project. —— To contact Staff Writer Max Taves, e-mail reporter@palipost.com or call ext. 28.

Appointed to Fire Station 69 on July 1, 1995, Buddy the Dalmatian will retire to Ojai after 12 years of active duty here in Pacific Palisades. ‘He’s going to stay with firefighter Joe Avalos, who has a lot of acreage,’ Captain Craig Morrison told the Palisadian-Post on Tuesday. Buddy, who is officially identified as Firefighter III Dotski in his personal record book, is the last known surviving fire station mascot in the Los Angeles Fire Department. He will not be replaced, in keeping with recent LAFD policy related to potential liability issues. ‘Buddy is special,’ said firefighter Gene Cooper, who came to Station 69 in 1988. He and firefighter Doak Smith praised Buddy for the role he served in the community and how hard it would be to replace him. They worry that residents will try to bring them a new dog and although they don’t want to seem ungrateful, they remind everybody that Buddy’s position will not be filled after his retirement next Wednesday. For the past few years, the men at Station 69 observed that Buddy seemed to be slowing down and sleeping more. They especially noticed it on Fire Service Day on May 12, when the public is allowed free access to the station. In his heyday, Buddy would be on duty the entire day, greeting everybody who walked through the station and posing for photographs. ‘He knew how to get out there and do it,’ Cooper said. ‘Now the breaks are more frequent and he spends less time visiting.’ ‘When he looks up and sees little kids at the station, he’ll get up,’ Smith said. But the firemen have been worried because Buddy will occasionally growl and bark when strangers come into the kitchen. When Post photographer Rich Schmitt stopped by the station on Tuesday, Buddy was sound asleep on his pillow in the kitchen. He was awakened and, with a little difficulty, got up and walked over to greet his visitors, his tail wagging. After posing in front of the fire truck, he went to each visitor and waited for a head rub, then slowly walked back to the kitchen and plopped down again on his cushion. Unlike the three shifts of firemen (12 per shift) who rotate through Station 69 on different days, Buddy was a constant for the community. School field trips, families and children all gravitated to the personable dog, who was acquired as a puppy in 1995 from Sandra Jankowski of Brentwood, who bred champion Dalmatians. ‘He was rambunctious,’ Smith recalled, ‘but he had 36 people to bounce off.’ After a trial period, the men let democracy decide Buddy’s fate. ‘We voted whether to keep him,’ Cooper said, explaining that originally the decision wasn’t unanimous, but the ‘ayes’ prevailed and Buddy stayed. It is difficult for one dog to have so many ‘owners,’ but Buddy adapted well. The firemen held a contest to name the new mascot, inviting all kids 10-and-under to vote for either Sparky, Buddy, Smokey or Chief. A few years later, Mort’s Deli sponsored a contest to count Buddy’s spots. He had exactly 278. Buddy even made news. In 1996, he not only was the star of a live Alpo commercial with Jay Leno on The Tonight Show, he also appeared on the front page of the Post being rescued from the water after he slipped into the Los Angeles River during a routine river-rescue training exercise. A few years later the Post wrote about Buddy’s trip to the veterinarian to combat a brief bout with fleas, and later reported his emergency treatment for a dangerous urinary blockage. Once a permanent fixture, Buddy fit in well with the fire-station routine, riding on the truck to lesser fires (while wearing his own yellow brush jacket for protection), going with the men to neighborhood birthday parties, and riding in every Fourth of July parade. ‘He is one of a kind,’ Smith said. A personal record is kept for every firefighter, and Smith and Cooper gave the Post a copy of Buddy’s. His top skill was ‘community relations,’ closely followed by ‘testing hydrant paint.’ On the Skills Acquired through Hobbies page, Buddy’s were fetching a ball, commercial modeling, school demonstrations and birthday parties. Although his language proficiency was limited to English, he participated in several training courses, including obedience school (elementary), mounting apparatus to respond to emergency, sexual harassment training, and Pollywog studios for filming. His records also note that he received training for swift-water rescue training, although in this case Buddy was the one rescued. On October 10, 1996, the members of Fire Station 69 were on routine river rescue training when someone yelled, ‘Man in the river!’ To their surprise, it was Buddy, who had tried to take a drink from the side of the river and had fallen into the fast-flowing current. Buddy’s personal record also lists his medical woes. Before he was a year old, he was bitten in the nose by a rattlesnake. In 1995, he had kennel cough and two months later was neutered. Another medical entry reads ‘bleeding paws while chasing handball in parking lot.’ Yet another in February 1998 read ‘Hypothermia: Buddy fell into a swimming pool at the Presbyterian Conference Grounds’ and later that same year ‘Sore front shoulder after exercise’ball chasing.’ Three years later he bruised the right side of his body when he jumped over a three-foot wall that dropped 12 feet on the other side. Lately, his medical record has reflected his senior-citizen status. ‘He used to get on the fire truck whenever we got a call,’ Smith said, ‘but then his legs gave out.’ He had one knee replaced in 2005 and a second one replaced in 2006. All of his medical care has been paid for by the firefighters through their daily house dues. At one time, Buddy had a girlfriend, a fellow Dalmatian named Desiree, who lived in the neighborhood. He kept a photo of her pinned outside on his doghouse.

Two years ago, when Dr. John Nagel signed on as interim minister at the Palisades United Methodist Church for four months, he never considered it a career revival, leading to his promotion to senior pastor this week. Indeed with 42 years experience in parishes as varied as Wilshire UMC to Ojai UMC, Nagel had intended to retire. ‘At the time, I had a problem with my eyes lead me to believe that my career was over,’ he says. ‘But my vision was restored and I began to think that I still had a lot to give.’ Initially, Nagel agreed to step in as associate pastor for senior pastor the Rev. Karin Ellis while she was on maternity leave. But the four months stretched into two years, and Nagel is prepared to serve for a few more. Bishop Mary Ann Swenson appointed him senior pastor as of July 1. ‘Barbara and I really love it here, and now that I am the senior pastor, our commute will be easier as we will be living in the parsonage on Via de la Paz.’ His wife Barbara assists her husband in the day-to-day business of the church and accompanies him to the church every day. A few years ago the Nagels moved to Camarillo to be closer to their two sons and seven grandchildren. But, for now, Nagel sees his challenge to bring the Palisades’ founding church back into the community. ‘For years this church has struggled with its identity,’ he says. ‘I will try to let the community know that we’re here, that we’re a family church. ‘My perspective and my ministry is a positive one. God is a loving, forgiving and caring god, and we’re a church that’s the same.’ The Palisades United Methodist church is as old as the community, officially founded in 1922. One of its founding members Martha Patterson joined as a child in 1925, and the congregation of longtime members continues to foster a loving, caring community as well as shouldering a multitude of outreach programs. But as with all mainline churches, vitality depends on building membership, and that will continue to be Nagel’s focus. Currently, about 200 attend Sunday service. ‘We are in the process of trying to transition to open the church up for young families,’ Nagel says. Palisadian Chris Fracchiolla has recently been appointed by the Annual Conference an associate minister. A longtime member of the church and volunteer, Fracchiolla is going back to seminary and will work full time in the family ministry. He and youth minister Joey Hargrove are reaching out to families with after-school programs such as Treasure Island and the Captain’s program. Eighty kids have signed up for the church vacation bible camp. ‘I think that families will find a place within the community that is different from other mainline churches,’ Nagel says. ‘Our services are more informal than other Methodist services and I will really emphasize the personal touch in our worship service.’ Maybe Nagel didn’t know what he wanted to do when he was grown up, but the odds that he’d join the Methodist ministry were pretty good. His grandfather and his father were both Methodist ministers, each with over 40 years in Southern California churches. After receiving his bachelor’s degree from California Western University in San Diego, Nagel studied for the ministry at the Claremont School of Theology, and then directed his focus to parish ministry. ‘I always like local church ministry because I consider myself a people-person,’ he says. He was youth and education pastor for the Wilshire UMC and the Torrance UMC, senior minister in Ojai, for five years, and also in North Hollywood for another five years. He served as senior minister for the Westlake UMC for 20 years and the Rancho Bernardo UMC for three years. While Nagel says that he will be spending most of his time on the ‘nuts and bolts’ of the church, he plans to be actively engaged in evangelism and participate in the Palisades Ministerial Organization.

WEDNESDAY, JULY 11 Members of the Palisadian-Post staff will speak at the monthly Palisades AARP meeting, 2 p.m. in the Woman’s Club, 901 Haverford. The public is invited. THURSDAY, JULY 5 Zenon Neumark discusses and signs his memoir ‘Hiding in the Open,’ 7:30 p.m. at Village Books on Swarthmore. The author chronicles his escape from a Nazi slave labor camp and his experiences as a Jewish fugitive under false Polish Catholic identity, first in Warsaw, where he lived a double life working for opposing resistance groups, and later in Vienna. FRIDAY, JULY 6 The Theatre Palisades production of ‘A Few Good Men,’ 8 p.m. in Pierson Playhouse, corner of Haverford and Temescal Canyon Road. Plays Friday and Saturday at 8 p.m. and Sunday at 2 p.m. through July 8. Ticket reservations: (310) 454-1970. MONDAY, JULY 9 Pajama Storytime for children of all ages, 7 p.m., Palisades Branch Library community room, 861 Alma Real. Parents and teddy bears welcome, too. Moonday, a monthly Westside poetry reading, 7:30 p.m. at Village Books on Swarthmore. Come early to sign up for open mike. TUESDAY, JULY 10 Story-Craft Time for ages 4 and up, 4 p.m. at the Palisades Branch Library community room, 861 Alma Real. Tuesday Night Hikes with the Temescal Canyon Association will ascend Trailer Canyon to enjoy spectacular views from Radio Peak. 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, JULY 12 “How to Change Your Life with Chinese Medicine,” a three-hour introductory seminar with Shanghai physician Dr. Esther Ting, 6 p.m. in room D-105 at Palisades High School on Bowdoin Street. Learn some simple yet time-tested tips to improve one’s diet, reduce weight and keep fit. The cost is $45 and refreshments will be served. Reservations: (310) 914-3572. Pacific Palisades Community Council meeting, 7 p.m., Palisades Branch Library community room, 861 Alma Real. Public invited. Dr. Fran Pastoria discusses and signs ‘Women of the Ages: Regaining Our Ancient Memory,’ 7:30 p.m. at Village Books on Swarthmore. Fast-paced societal changes have alienated women from their internal world, causing loneliness and loss of true identity, says Pastoria, who was told by an Ancient Voice she refers to as the Woman of the Ages to write an Ancient Story that serves as a blueprint to maintain spiritual balance.