During last week’s Community Council meeting, a chorus of members threatened to sponsor a motion at its next meeting that would urge the city of Los Angeles not to renew the Westside Waldorf School’s temporary certificate of occupancy, unless the school takes action to further fund a long-sought traffic signal at the intersection of Los Liones Drive and Sunset Boulevard. ‘You need to come up with a more concrete plan or you are going to get canned,’ Carl Mellinger warned Waldorf’s Development Director Jeffrey Graham during the meeting. ‘The vagueness of your stand is making people wonder if this is going to happen.’ For years, residents in Castellammare have complained about the dangerous intersection at Los Liones and Sunset (just north of Pacific Coast Highway), which forces them to make a treacherous left turn across Sunset as traffic speeds downhill and uphill. They say that safety has only been worsened by a recent confluence of forces: Twenty-six new condominiums on nearby Tramonto Drive recently came on the market; the Getty Villa, whose employees use a back entrance on Los Liones, re-opened last year; and the Waldorf School opened in January with 100 students and dozens of staff. Neighboring residents say these forces came together in a dangerous combination during Waldorf’s May Faire last month. Parents and their children parking on Los Liones dodged speeding cars while they crossed Sunset to the Waldorf. Local residents say they witnessed dozens of fatal near-misses that day that could have been avoided by a traffic signal. As a condition of its permanent occupancy, the school agreed to construct a signal, which Graham said was estimated to cost $200,000. The school, which has relocated from Santa Monica, set aside $50,000 and the Getty Villa Community Relations Committee pledged $150,000 toward the signal. But a more recent estimate projects that $350,000 will be required to build a signal. The first estimate skewed costs because it did not take into account the costs of building concrete sidewalks and grading, says L.A. Department of Transportation Engineer Eddie Guerrero. With a $150,000 shortfall, it is now unclear when the signal will be built. That uncertainty enraged Community Council members and neighbors at last week’s meeting, where they accused the school of breaking its promise. ‘If you make a commitment, you should live up to it,’ said Harry Sondheim. ‘I personally feel that there should be serious consequences if the Waldorf School does not comply with those obligations which they have agreed to,’ said Vice-Chair Richard Cohen. ‘I’m not trying to back away from commitment,’ replied Graham, who asked council members for compassion. ‘But I want to give you some history. When we committed to the light, the cost was $200,000.’ Graham explained that the school recently completed a $2-million renovation of the former Santa Ynez Inn and Transcendental Meditation site. ‘For this coming year, we are still trying to strengthen our financial base,’ he said. The school’s temporary certificate of occupancy lasts until December. Graham said he will meet with Councilman Bill Rosendahl in hopes of acquiring a permanent certitificate of occupancy, which he said is vital to the school’s financial wellbeing. But council members now threaten to sponsor a motion that would urge the department not to grant that certificate, effectively closing the school. According to its current permit, the school can enroll no more than 246 students. But council members said they will also consider imposing a stricter enrollment cap, limiting the school’s growth. The school expects to have 150 students this fall. Graham told the Palisadian-Post this week that if the school’s enrollment were capped ‘it would strike at the heart and viability of the school.’ He said he is speaking to philanthropists and discussing possible fundraisers between now and September to raise money for the signal. ‘The truth of the matter is that the light needs to go in,’ he explained. ‘I understand people’s impatience.’ The Getty Villa Community Relations Committee will meet on July 10. A member told the Post that increasing funding for the signal might be discussed. It is unknown whether the city would help fund the signal, if private funds do not meet the new costs. ——- To contact Staff Writer Max Taves, e-mail reporter@palipost.com or call ext. 28.

(Editor’s note: Roberta Donohue, publisher of the Palisadian-Post since 1987, delivered the following remarks at last Thursday’s Chamber of Commerce installation dinner at the Riviera Country Club.) Hi, I’m Roberta Donohue’ Cheryel Kanan and I are both past Chamber presidents and we both proudly received the Mort Farberow Businessperson of the Year award. We are honored to have been asked to present this year’s award. The Chamber of Commerce is resolved to cherish Mort’s memory. He was a local business owner for over 25 years and also a Chamber president and avid Chamber supporter. To honor him following his death in 2001, the Chamber created a yearly award that recognizes three things that Mort held dear: community, Chamber and children. If anyone understands the value of giving back, it’s lifelong Palisadian Sam Lagana. Throughout his adult life, he has dedicated his time and energy to making the community in which he lives a better place for his kids and their kids after that. In recognition of his tireless work for numerous local organizations, Sam is this year’s recipient of the Mort Farberow Businessperson of the Year Award. Sam Lagana gives back to the community as a member of the board of managers for the Palisades-Malibu YMCA, where he offers advice and insight into how the facility on Via de la Paz can better serve Pacific Palisades, Malibu and Topanga. Sam grew up in the Palisades and now lives in the Marquez area, where he and his wife Eileen are raising their two daughters. He is an active member of both the John Wooden Award national steering committee and the American Legion’s Squadron 283 executive council. Sam can also be seen and heard announcing at the annual Fourth of July parade. Sam has volunteered his time with Chamber committee work since the mid-1990’s. Last year he co-chaired the Holiday Ho!Ho!Ho! committee, which is one of my favorite “give back” events of the year. Plus, it was Mort’s favorite as well. Mort and I both believed in the spirit of Santa and how it would transform little children into a special time of excitement and wonder. On cold nights when Santa arrived on Swarthmore, Mort would transform us cold elves into warm ones with his very special tasty hot cocoa. His wife Bobbie has kept this “Mort tradition” going, and every year we toast that special evening to our dear beloved Mort. Just like Mort, Sam Lagana loves children, and he has been active as a coach for girls’ basketball at the Recreation Center and YMCA for six years. Twice he has been elected to serve as Chief of the Indian Guides and Princess Nation, and he volunteers his time extending the message of “Positive Coaching” to AYSO and YMCA colleagues. Professionally, Sam has made sports advancement his life’s work, both in the Palisades and just up the road at Pepperdine University in Malibu, where he is the assistant vice chancellor. As head of the Waves Club, he oversees a group of alumni and donors that spearhead several projects on campus, including fundraising for an athletic village that would add a 26,000-sq.-ft. enhancement to Firestone Fieldhouse. Sam was quoted in the Palisadian-Post as saying, “I was a huge fan of Mort and Mort’s Deli. I saw him work as a mentor-leader by the way he just embraced people. He opened his place to encourage leadership. He was there to support you. He and Bobbie grew their business from a counter deli to a community landmark and fostered a sense of give-back that I took to heart. If you surround yourself with great people, great things happen.” Mort would be proud to know that his friend, Sam Lagana, is this year’s recipient of an award named in his honor. Congratulations, Sam!

Construction Awaits Steel Supply

Construction to prevent dangerous erosion along a 500-ft.-long section of the storm-damaged Via de las Olas bluffs could begin as soon as July. Largely funded by the Federal Emergency Management Authority or FEMA, the $3.5-million project could provide decades more stability to a bluff with a calamitous geological history. L.A. city construction crews await a supply of dozens of large steel pilings, which are necessary to build the new bulkhead. Public Works engineers say construction could start as soon as the steel is delivered. If construction begins in July, the Department estimates that the bulkhead could be completed by the end of December, before the traditional winter storm season. As reported in the Palisadian-Post, large storms in the winter of 2005 caused soil under Via de las Olas to become supersaturated. That meant a loss of structural support for the city street, which has buckled under strain. Torrential storms brought large-scale landslides in the 1950s and 1960s at Via de las Olas. And in 1956, acres of bluffs collapsed onto Pacific Coast Highway. Ever since then, the edge of the bluffs has inched closer to houses along Via. And the bluffs’ instability has been a fact of life for residents. In January, city sanitation engineers say that land movement there ruptured sewer pipes, releasing 65,850 gallons of raw sewage. Unlike the current wooden bulkhead which is built at the edge of the bluff and braces one small segment of the street, the new bulkhead will be buried underground. According to Public Works engineers, the only improvements that will be seen after construction will be a new curb and gutter, asphalt patching adjacent to the curb and gutter, and a new metal vehicular guardrail. The smaller bulkhead currently in place will not be changed by the construction project, according to construction plans. In 2005, FEMA awarded $2.6 million for the project after locals mounted a campaign through the area’s Congressman Henry Waxman. The state and city are sharing the remaining $1-million cost. As part of her seventh-grade class project to familiarize students with government several years ago, Haley Orr was among the first to lobby Waxman on behalf of her street. Orr said that the street seemed abandoned by the city, riddled with bumps and stress fractures. ‘I saw other streets being repaired, but this one kept falling away,’ Orr recalled last week. ‘It’s pretty scary that it’s gotten this far. But I guess anything is better than nothing. And nothing is what we’ve had for years.’ The new bulkhead will start directly across from 15251 Via de las Olas and end at 15205, across the street from about a half-dozen homes. Although the multi-million-dollar project will only span the length of about a half dozen homes on the street, bluffs residents say that the benefits will be widespread. ‘If our bluffs are stronger there, all the people who live on the bluff will feel that their homes are in a safer position,’ says Fran Diamond, who lives at the end of Swarthmore Avenue. ‘It’s better for us if the bluffs around us are not in danger of falling. The bluffs are not just a place for homes. They’re also a resource for the community. It’s a park where many people come to look at the sunset and the ocean.’ Last November, the board of Public Works received five bids from independent contractors for the multi-million dollar contract. But engineers there say that a delay in steel delivery necessitated assigning the project to the Bureau of Street Services (BSS). That news dimmed Clif Carlson’s hopes of the project finishing by its December target date. The 35-year Via de las Olas resident considers the bulkhead a godsend to end ‘land-creep.’ But he worries that if the city takes over the project, it will not enforce a strict construction deadline. ‘The BSS has constructed most of the bulkheads for the city’s Storm Damage Repair Program,’ Public Works Spokesperson Stephanie Interiano told the Post. ‘They are able to construct these bulkheads quickly, cost effectively and with a high standard of quality.’ ——- To contact Staff Writer Max Taves, e-mail reporter@palipost.com or call ext. 28.

During a meeting last week, Pacific Palisades Community Council members expressed outrage over the city of Santa Monica’s current yet un-finalized plans to rebuild the California Incline ahead of a public hearing this week. The Council unanimously approved a motion’the second since last June’that calls for a change to those plans that will mitigate expected effects of traffic on Palisades residents. And it also implores Los Angeles City Councilman Bill Rosendahl to make the Incline a ‘high priority of the city of Los Angeles in its dealings with the city of Santa Monica.’ At the council meeting, Santa Monica engineers presented some of the preliminary plans for the structurally unsound Incline. Some of those plans confirmed the fears of many council members, who say Santa Monica plans will ignore the effects Palisades residents. According to Santa Monica Engineer Mark Cuneo, there might be a five-month overlap in construction between the Incline project and a bluffs restructuring plan, requiring that one lane of PCH be closed to protect workers. Also, a traffic signal could be installed at 415 PCH before Incline construction begins. ‘If you look at this project,’ said Vice-Chair Richard Cohen, ‘the overwhelming costs are going to hit residents of L.A. And the clear benefits are going to the residents of Santa Monica. We ought to raise hell! We have to stay on our elected leaders.’ Among many other complaints, members want Santa Monica to complete improvement of the bluffs before it begins working on the Incline; they want the city to reconfigure the Ocean Avenue-Moomat Ahiko Way intersection to allow two right-turn lanes; and they fear that a traffic signal at 415 PCH during Incline construction will create more congestion. Members also want to require around-the-clock construction and provide a bonus for early completion. Santa Monica’s plans for Incline construction are not yet complete. In order to proceed with construction, the city is required to answer community concerns before the project can begin. See next week’s issue for full coverage of Santa Monica’s public hearing. ——- To contact Staff Writer Max Taves, e-mail reporter@palipost.com or call ext. 28.

An application to replace the garage at the Shell gas station on Sunset Boulevard and Via de la Paz with a car wash and 24-hour mini-mart has incensed neighbors and many community groups that fear noise pollution and traffic safety hazards. ‘It’s already a busy intersection,’ said Tracey Price at the Palisades Community Council meeting last Thursday. ‘Children travel back and forth there. The bottom line is that this plan would lower the quality of life around-the-clock in the Palisades.’ Price, who lives a block and a half from the Shell station, collected more than 40 signatures from neighbors of the station, including residents of two adjacent condominium complexes. And she was among a handful of those opposed to the project who lobbied the council to block the proposed changes. Last November, the station’s owner, Jin Sung Kaw, applied for a Conditional Use Permit (CUP) through the Department of City Planning, which has authority to approve the project. Before Kaw gets approval for the project, he needs a Mitigated Negative Declaration (MND), which shows compliance with state environmental laws. If he receives the MND, that would obviate the need for an Environmental Impact Report (EIR). If approved, the 1,800-sq.-ft. main structure, which hosts a cashier’s office and a repair garage, would be replaced by a 756-sq.-ft. car wash and a 1,168-sq.-ft. food mart. Earlier this month, the boards of the Via de la Paz Homeowners Association and the Pacific Palisades Residents Association voted against changes. And the Community Council unanimously approved a motion last week that urges City Planning to require a ‘focused’ EIR. However, council members backed away from opposing the project, citing ‘fairness’ because the owner or a representative was not present. Kaw was not invited to last week’s meeting, but council members say he will be invited to the next meeting. The council’s letter expresses community concerns about both the environmental effects of the car wash and the mini-mart: ‘Even if the applicant built a sound wall at the ground level, it would not prevent noise from the car wash from being heard in the condominium units’ It would be difficult for a car wash to succeed in this community that did not use blowers to remove excess water from vehicles. It is the noise from these blowers that concerns neighboring residents. In the past, the noise from such blowers has proven unacceptable. ‘The provisions of the proposed MND do not also address the impacts that a 24-hour food mart will have on the adjacent residential areas, particularly the neighboring condominiums. There will be noise of car doors being slammed shut, of loud engines, and of loud conversations and yelling that are typical of 24-hour food marts.’ City Planning official Christopher Koontz told the Palisadian-Post that it is unlikely that the department would require an EIR for these proposed changes. ‘I have never seen an EIR done for a project this small,’ Koontz said. ‘Legally, when you do an EIR, it has to cover the whole universe of environmental impact. You would have to hire a biologist to study what impact this would have on endangered species. The point is, it becomes a very cumbersome process.’ But an MND doesn’t mean automatic acceptance, Koontz said. A public hearing will still be required to receive a Conditional Use Permit, and the department can require Shell’s owner to modify his plans to accommodate community concerns. Beyond the expected inconvenience of increased noise and traffic, many residents worry about losing their favorite mechanic, Eli Soufo. ‘I’m selfish,’ admitted Robert Bundy. ‘I don’t know where I’d go to fix my car. They’ve got very sophisticated mechanics there. My wife tells me that people who used to live here who now live in San Diego come here just so he can repair [their cars].’ Though opposition is widespread, it is not universal among Palisadians. Haldis Toppel, who lives in Marquez Knolls, agrees with detractors that the mini-mart might be a community nuisance, but she would appreciate another local car-wash alternative. ‘The car wash adds convenience, assuming that it’s a drive-through,’ said Toppel, a longtime community activist. ‘The cost is low and it’s fast. This may not be the solution for someone driving a $100,000 car. But for everyone else, it will help.’ ——- To contact Staff Writer Max Taves, e-mail reporter@palipost.com or call ext. 28.

The Palisades Letter Shop commands the best view of the Fourth of July parade, located on Via de la Paz in the thick of the parade hubbub. Letter Shop founder Phyllis Genovese and current owner Sylvia Grieb will graduate from a sidewalk view to the backseat of an open-topped convertible this year as they share honors as parade marshals, saluting the Letter Shop’s 60th anniversary. Although this will be a repeat for Genovese, who rode in the parade as 1952 Citizen of the Year, she remains as excited as a majorette. She even plans to return from an out-of-town visit with her sister on July 2 to guarantee that she’ll be rested and ready for the big day. ‘I’ve been involved with the parade committee since its inception and even though I haven’t done much for the past 15 to 20 years, I wouldn’t miss it,’ Genovese says, adding ‘when you get to be 92, it’s a little difficult.’ While she has slowed down from the early days running her shop, which she started modestly with a typewriter, a hectograph copying machine and an addressograph in 1947, she remains active in the Woman’s Club and plays bridge three days a week. Genovese sold her shop to Sylvia and the late Bill Grieb in May 1998, thinking that she would slow down. ‘Now I go over there every day to make sure they’re working hard,’ she says with a laugh. ‘They’ is really a euphemism for a crew of Genovese’s friends and longtime colleagues, including Sylvia, Alcie Wilbur (whom Genovese hired 20 years ago), Sandy Salkow and Julie Martin. When Genovese decided to sell her shop, prompted by the illness of her late husband Sherman Keely, she offered it to her friends, the Griebs. Sylvia remembers the day. ‘Bill and I were putting together a program for a one-woman show that our daughter Sybil was performing for Theatre Palisades. Phyllis had a saddle-stitcher, so we asked her if we could use it. She said, of course, and ‘what are you doing for dinner?’ We sat around her dining room table collating the program when she said, ‘You kids ought to buy the Letter Shop.’ We thought about it and thought, why not?’ Well aware of her status as the ‘silent partner’ in her 34-year marriage (Bill died of cancer in November 2006), Sylvia says she enjoyed ‘trying to keep up with him.’ Bill, who was slated to be this year’s Palisades Americanism Parade Association (PAPA) president, was a huge town booster. He spearheaded the 75th anniversary celebration of Pacific Palisades by getting each of the service groups and volunteer associations to stage an event, which they did, filling the entire year. He was also a big supporter of the parade, videotaping the festivities and posting the footage on the 90272 Web site by the following morning. While Bill was good at overview, Sylvia is good at the details, which proved to be a winning formula. And their backgrounds were congruent. A native of Wichita, Kansas, Sylvia graduated with a master’s degree in biology and went off to Washington, D.C. to work in cancer research at the National Institutes of Health. She later moved into grants management and finally into systems management for the Cancer Institute. Bill was a chemist by training, worked in Santa Monica at Systems Development Corporation and later founded Systems Interface Consultants in Maryland in 1969. The two met in an assembly language class at the computer center in D.C., she as a student, he as an observer, and the rest is history. In 1975, Sylvia and Bill returned to the Palisades, where Bill had purchased a house years before. He continued his work with Systems Interface, while Sylvia helped raise Bill’s two teenage sons, and the couple’s own daughter, Sybil, who was born in 1977. Following in her parents’ footsteps, Sybil, a 1995 PaliHi graduate, now works here in Los Angeles for the gaming company World of Warcraft in ad sales and business development. After Bill passed away last year, friends wondered if Sylvia would sell The Letter Shop, but she shakes her head vehemently. ‘This has really been a godsend,’ she says. ‘I love being in the heart of the village, where you see most everybody at some point during the day.’ After 60 years, The Letter Shop is filled with up-to-date equipment and has outlived competitors like Pips, Tops and Kinko’s, but Sylvia and Phyllis know he real secret. ‘Success is plugging and serving and doing things for customers that nobody else does, letting them think they’re the best we’ve had,’ Genovese says. ‘And kissing all the men,’ another privilege of age.