Daily customers who stopped by for coffee, sandwiches and neighborhood news at Ronny’s Market in Marquez Knolls were surprised to learn that after 14 years, Ronny Naidoo and his wife Debi had sold their business to Jerry and William Durghalli. Last Thursday, the Pacific Palisades couple talked to the Palisadian-Post about the sale, their store and their future plans. The first thing one notices about Ronny Naidoo is his smile, the kind of smile that welcomes everyone from familiar customers to people he’s meeting for the first time. Debi is equally affable. A private conversation with the couple in front of the market is impossible because Ronny is constantly stopped by neighbors wanting to chat, and even motorists who drive by and roll down their windows and yell out to him. ‘He should run for mayor,’ Debi said as she watched the interactions. Back at the Naidoos’ condo, which they moved to five years ago from Calabasas, a five-foot poster covered with signatures and good wishes from all their customers, neighbors, babysitters and housekeepers hangs on their living-room wall. It has been a long time since Ronny wasn’t behind his market’s counter in the afternoon. He worked seven days a week: Monday through Saturday he was at the store from 6:30 a.m. to 9 p.m. and on Sunday from 8 a.m. to 9 p.m. Perhaps no one was more astonished at the sale than his wife of 33 years. ‘When Ronny told me, I was surprised and shocked because he loved his customers so much and he loved being there,’ she said. Naidoo started working in the Palisades in 1988 at Hughes Market (now Ralphs), where he was a manager in the liquor department, which was ironic because he doesn’t drink. Five years later he and Debi bought the Marquez Liquor Store. At first they sold only liquor, but after two years, they opened a deli and started selling groceries. ‘I hired Olga [Garcia] and trained her,’ Debi said. Garcia still works in the deli. They also hired Patima Lopez, who works part-time and fills in when Garcia is out. A third employee, Melvin Arfaro, helps with stock and Marcelino Ruelas worked part-time on the weekend as a cashier. The store became a popular stopping place for kids after school, although Debi said Ronny was insistent on politeness. ‘The kids had to say ‘Hi, Ronny’ before they looked for candy,’ she said. Every child who came through the door knew about the gummy worms and how Ronny would dangle them in front of the child and it was up to the child to ‘catch’ the worm. ‘I could see the joy on their faces,’ he said. His wife added in wonderment, ‘Yes, from just one little worm.’ Neighborhood mothers also depended on Ronny in a way that was beyond most store owners. ‘He knew my kids, he practically raised them,’ said Patti Brockman, who moved into Marquez Terrace when she was pregnant with her daughter, now 21. ‘For as long as I can remember, he’s been there.’ She also has a son, 19. Ronny would occasionally get calls from moms asking if their kids were at the store and then telling him, ‘Keep them behind the counter until I can get there.’ He cheerfully did. ‘Moms felt their kids were safe with Ronny,’ Debi said. ‘I saw kids grow up, graduate and marry,’ Ronny added. Candy Hynes, an employee at Knolls Pharmacy next door, bought a blank book and invited Ronny’s customers to sign it. The thick book is full of remembrances and good wishes for the couple. It turns out that not only did Ronny know all of the neighborhood children’s names and let them catch ‘gummy worms,’ he also knew all the dogs. One of the entries in the book was from the owner of a white dog named Bull (aka ‘the brat’). ‘Only one question, Ronny: Who will give me biscuits now?’ Sentiments from former customers were heartfelt. ‘I’m envious and sad,’ said one. ‘I hope the new guys also give hugs and advice and listen to my gripes, too,’ said another. Yet another wrote, ‘Ronny was the shoulder for everyone who had a problem; he listened to them.’ Although their customers were obviously appreciative, that appreciation went both ways. ‘We’d like to thank our customers from the bottom of our hearts for their love, support and kindness over the years,’ the Naidoos said. ‘It sustained us.’ With their newfound time, the couple are planning a 10-day trip to Hawaii this month, and in December they will travel to South Africa for six weeks. Both were born in that country and still have relatives living there. They also hope to spend more time with their grandchildren, Amanda (12), Matthew (7) and Kaitlin (2), who live in Aliso Viejo with Naidoo’s daughter Samantha and son-in-law David Bates. Ronny is a notary public and plans to continue as a mobile notary in the Palisades. ‘Maybe we’ll get tired of traveling and we’ll come back and do something else,’ Debi said. ‘We’ll leave it open,’ Ronny said with a smile.

In the first significant change to its organizational structure since becoming independent, the Board of Palisades Charter High School voted on Monday to create two positions that will lead and manage the school’s academic instruction. The board’s 7-2 vote will add a new position, director of instruction, and it will reshape the role of principal while keeping the title. The decision preserves Executive Director Amy Held’s position, leaving her as the single head of the school. After Principal Gloria Martinez announced that she would not return to the 2700-student school in late April, a broad group of school officials, parents and faculty began critically examining the school’s administrative structure, including the position of principal. Influenced, in part, by a tumultuous application process and a divisive administrative attempt to change the school’s academic calendar, they complained of a lack of clearly defined roles for the principal and executive director that often meant unaccountability, especially among assistant principals. Rather than immediately replacing Martinez with another principal, board members discussed ways to re-imagine the school’s top academic job. One main idea that emerged from these discussions was to scrap the position of principal altogether. Many board members felt that the title was outmoded and communicated too much authority at a school where much of the decision-making is made by the executive director. As an independent charter, the school operates autonomously from the Los Angeles Unified School District, giving it control over its budget, personnel, curriculum and facilities. Since Held was hired last summer, she has managed almost all of the school’s operations outside of instruction and curriculum’and without a staff of her own. A four-member task force, appointed by the board to envision administrative reorganization, returned to the board on Monday with a recommendation that surprised many teachers and parents: divide management of the school’s academics between the principal and the director of instruction. As envisioned by task force members, the director of instruction, who will report to the principal, will be involved in day-to-day instruction at the school. Once hired, the director will work closely with department heads and manage existing academic programs like the Pyramid of Interventions, Dolphin Days and Literacy Program. Among a large array of other duties, members want the new hire to work directly with teachers by frequently visiting classrooms, leading faculty meetings and overseeing the school’s professional development programs. The director would also meet with parents to mediate classroom instruction. Freed from the daily details of the school’s instruction, the principal will be the ‘big-picture’ instructional leader of the school, say task force members. The principal will create and implement short- and long-term strategic plans. He or she will manage budgets for instructional programs and benchmark school performance against school goals and state standards. The principal, who will oversee the director of instruction, will report to the executive director. The board’s nearly unanimous vote in favor of the organizational shift masks significant disagreements among school faculty. Sometimes expressing a wide array of opinions, many teachers wanted the board to shelve the one-head school structure with Held, who has more experience in management than in education, at the top. At the board’s meeting Monday night, longtime PaliHi English teacher Rose Gilbert presented an alternative plan, in which the principal and executive director would share equal power but manage separate spheres at the school. She also expressed concern that dividing instructional leadership of the school would frustrate accountability. ‘Where does the buck stop?’ Gilbert asked. ‘That’s what I want to know. Does it stop at the principal or with the executive director? Class sizes, teacher-traveling’these are big issues. Who would be in charge of them?’ ‘I agree with the focus on instruction,’ said fellow English teacher Olivia Castro. ‘But I would still rather have two heads than one. And if we are going to have one head, the principal should be the one at the top.’ Board Member Rene Rodman, who also helped create the approved plans, defended the task force’s recommendations. ‘In the charter, the executive director is above the principal,’ she said. ‘We felt that if the principal had to run the entire school that person could never be involved in instruction. ‘We [on the task force] heard that teachers want more support and professional development,’ Rodman said, ‘Personally, I went into this process with [only having] one director of instruction. But there were all these big-picture items. We have all these lofty goals. And we see the principal as that person.’ Teachers and administrators who spoke Monday night urged the board members to delay taking immediate action on the approved plan and asked them to reconsider the large scope of work assigned to the director of instruction. ‘I think it’s moving too fast,’ said Assistant Principal Anne Davenport. ‘I disagree with the director of instruction position. I think you’re going to kill that person. One person can’t handle all of these things.’ ‘You’re sending this person to an early funeral,’ chimed Margaret Evans, another assistant principal. After the meeting Board Member Eileen Savage told the Palisadian-Post, ‘I think we made the right decision. It wasn’t my first inclination to add another layer. I can see now that this is really an important thing for us to do. There have been e-mails sent around, saying that we have made the school too top heavy. But I think current structure was really hard to work with.’ The task force made other recommendations that could significantly strengthen the role of the executive director. Those suggested changes that have not yet been approved by the board include: ‘ Giving the executive director oversight of the current assistant principals in charge of human resources, facilities and athletics, admissions and attendance. Currently, those assistant principals report to the principal. ‘ Renaming assistant principals as directors. The task force hopes that the new names will promote more accountability. The board will discuss these recommendations at upcoming meetings. But they will not necessarily be decided before the school year ends this month. A hiring committee is currently vetting candidates for the director of instruction. Members say they have several ‘highly qualified’ applicants for the position. The board’s decision means that the school can begin searching for candidates to fill the position of principal. Because it was uncertain that the school intended to hire a principal until this week, the school has not advertised for the position. Several board members, including Executive Director Held, expressed concern that finding qualified applicants this late in the school year will be difficult. Many board members say that the school will hold off hiring a new principal if it cannot find the ‘right candidate.’ ——- To contact Staff Writer Max Taves, e-mail reporter@palipost.com or call ext. 28.

Pacific Palisades residents have been complaining about the unsightly chain-link fence next to the Department of Water and Power building at Sunset and Via de la Paz. What these concerned citizens don’t realize is that residents in the condominiums on Albright Street, directly behind the DWP building, had a more serious complaint: a loud, humming vibration 24 hours a day. Last spring, fed-up residents complained to Councilman Bill Rosendahl that the noise emanating from Distributing Station No. 29 seemed excessive. Rosendahl’s field deputy Andrea Epstein contacted DWP, which sent investigators who found that the noise level indeed exceeded the normal range specified in the Los Angeles Municipal Code. In order to rectify the situation, the transformer bank, which consists of three single-phase transformers, needed to be replaced with special transformers that produce low noise. The building also needed insulation. About $400,000 has since been spent to soundproof the building (which was completed in March), place the temporary transformers and design the installation. New transformers cost $165,000, and installation and cleanup will push the projected cost to about $1 million. In April, in order to ensure there was no disruption of electrical service to the Palisades, a temporary 12-ft.-high, three-phase transformer, with the capacity to replace the single-phase transformers, was set alongside the building and an eight-foot-high fence placed around it. The temporary transformer has the same noise level as the current one. Originally, the entire process was expected to be completed in early June, but is now projected for mid-July, because the new transformers have to be repainted, according to DWP spokesperson Darlene Battle. ‘It appears that they were not adequately protected during the transportation process,’ Battle said. ‘This was something that was not anticipated and we’re working on it as quickly as we can.’

When the Atrium building on Via de la Paz sold for $12,150,000 to Jeffrey Seltzer and a joint venture partner in March, Seltzer said that his company targeted properties that included those with high vacancies. He made it clear that the Atrium, which had 42 spaces and only two vacancies, didn’t fit that category. That soon may no longer be true. According to sources within the retail/professional building, up to 50 percent of the tenants are moving or are considering moving owing to significant rent increases. One source said, ‘Most of the people offered leases are vacating,’ referring to about 21 tenants who had month-to-month leases or were waiting to negotiate new leases when the building was bought from Peter Caloyeras. In today’s Palisadian-Post classified ads, Highpoint Capital, Jeffrey Seltzer’s Santa Monica company, is advertising more than 11, 000 square feet of available office space. The building has a total of 34,533 sq. ft., including the garage and common areas. Biodynamics, a 15-year tenant with 4,000 sq. ft., is moving to the Sunset Coast Plaza on Sunset at PCH. ‘We didn’t think the pricing was realistic,’ said owner Parris Ward, who was on a month-to-month lease. ‘Ultimately, the market will decide.’ Tenants have told the Post that new rent being asked is about $5 a square foot. ‘We are increasing rents to bring them in line with the overall market which is currently between $3 and $4.25 a square foot,’ Seltzer said in an interview. The difference between what tenants say they would pay per square foot and what the landlord says he will charge seems to arise because the calculation of office space in the building has been reconfigured. In other words, even though tenants retain the same interior space, a new formula means that landlord will charge them for more space by including common areas. Jeff Pion, Executive Vice President at CB Richard Ellis Brokerage Services, who is the leasing agent for the 881 Alma Real building, said that the Building Owners Management Association (BOMA) changed standards in 1996 to increase what could be called common space and allow owners to charge tenants for that space. ‘As buildings sell, most new owners are measuring by the new standard,’ Pion said. Currently, 881 Alma Real has one third-floor office suite (1,245 sq. ft.) for least at $4.10 a sq. ft. foot. Other office buildings in the Palisades are near capacity and have space renting for considerably less. For example, two offices above Jacopo’s are available for $3 a sq. ft., and an empty office at 984 Monument is $2.25. One tenant in the Atrium building said that the current monthly rent for her 250-sq.-ft. space is $795 and parking is $60. Her new lease puts the square footage at 286 ft. and increases parking to $90. A three-year lease would be $1,214 per month, a one-year lease $1,389 and a six-month lease $1,439. If the lease negotiation is not settled within a 30-day period, the rent would rise to $1,821 per month, she said. Many Atrium tenants told the Post they don’t want to see tenant/landlord disputes in the paper because they don’t feel that it is helpful to either side. ‘They [Seltzer and company] think the current rents are under market,’ one tenant said, ‘and they may not be far off.’ Another tenant commented, ‘It’s his building; he can do whatever he wants.’ Tenants argued that eventually the landlord will either be proven right that demand trumps price for people who want to have an office in Pacific Palisades, or the building may have an abundance of available space for a long period. ‘When we bought the building, we anticipated that 15 percent of the tenants would decide to relocate because of the rent,’ Seltzer said. ‘We’re not concerned.’ He acknowledges that some tenants might be unhappy. ‘What they’re upset about is what the market is,’ he said. ‘We have had a tremendous response from new tenants and are not concerned with turnover vacancy. We’ve already completed two to three deals with new tenants. ‘ Current Atrium tenants signing new leases are promised improvements to the high-rise commercial building, built in 1980. In an interview in April, Seltzer said that ‘over the course of the first year, we will do a full renovation.’ To date, tenants have said that new lights have been installed in the bathroom along with timed air-freshener mists, which have been placed at eye level by the sinks. Two tenants said that they’ve taken blasts to the eyes while washing their hands. More than one tenant commented that the elevator was constantly broken down and that the firemen have had to come to rescue trapped people. Another tenant said that the door doesn’t have a sensor. Asked about this situation yesterday, Seltzer said: ‘We recently finalized our design plans with the architect and plan to commence in the next few weeks with the more than $600,000 renovation of all the bathrooms, new lighting and landscaping fixtures, deck and window upgrade, a full renovation of the elevator cab and painting of stairwells, garage and the building’s interior and exterior.’ Another tenant said the building had problems with mold. ‘Prior to our purchase, the building suffered from some water leakage and that common mold in one or two isolated areas was identified and fully abated,’ Seltzer said. ‘Since that time we have conducted a full analysis of the building and confirmed that the building is totally clean.’ Seltser continued, ‘In the purchase of the building, we fully expected that some tenants would be surprised by the recent increase in market rental rates and that some unfortunately would decide to relocate. This is occurring not only in the Palisades but also throughout all the Westside markets.’

THURSDAY, JUNE 14 Pacific Palisades Community Council meeting, 7 p.m., Palisades Branch Library, 861 Alma Real. Public invited. Los Angeles writer Erika Schikel, the daughter of film critic Richard Schikel, signs ‘You’re Not the Boss of Me,’ 7:30 p.m. at Village Books on Swarthmore. In this wickedly witty ‘momoir,’ Schikel chronicles her misadventures in parenting, beginning with a candid account of her pregnancy as her embryo grows from the size of a pinhead to the size of Marlon Brando. It takes a toll on her body, but not on her spirit! FRIDAY, JUNE 15 Palisades Beautiful meets at 10 a.m. in the community room at the Palisades Branch Library, 861 Alma Real. Free screening of ‘Mr. Smith Goes to Washington,’ starring James Stewart, Claude Rains and Jean Arthur, 2 p.m. in the Palisades Branch Library community room, 861 Alma Real. The public is invited. Light refreshments will be provided. Snap Shots Literary Troupe presents ‘Bloomsday: In Honor of James Joyce and the Irish Imagination,’ 7:30 p.m. at Village Books on Swarthmore. 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. (See review, page 12.) SATURDAY, JUNE 16 Volunteers are invited to join the monthly work party on the Village Green, 9 to 11 a.m. Just bring shears and gloves. Contact: Marge Gold at 459-5167. SUNDAY, JUNE 17 The Jazz Forum features The Bobby Rodriguez Trio from 1 to 5 p.m. at the Woman’s Club, 901 Haverford. Public invited. (See story, page TK.) TUESDAY, JUNE 19 Tuesday Night Hikes with the Temescal Canyon Association will take the loop trail in Temescal Gateway Park and have supper under the stars. Meet at 6 p.m. in the Temescal Gateway parking lot. Please, no dogs. Expect to be back between 8 and 9 p.m. (E-mail Carol Leacock at temcanyon.org for details). Cymbidium grower George Hatfield addresses the Malibu Orchid Society at 7 p.m. in the Woman’s Club, 901 Haverford. Public invited. The Chautauqua Series presents ‘Life as Mark Twain’s Daughters,’ a talk by naturalist Steve Botts, 7:30 p.m. in Woodland Hall in Temescal Gateway Park. The program is free; parking is $5. THURSDAY, JUNE 21 The Classics Under 200 Pages Book Club meets and discusses ‘The Loved One’ by Evelyn Waugh, 6:45 p.m., in the Palisades Branch Library community room, 861 Alma Real. The public is invited. Contact: John at the library (459-2754). Mary Amin Ayubi, a brave young Afghan filmmaker who has a fellowship at Villa Aurora, will show her documentary ‘Shadows’ about the status of women in Afghanistan, 7:30 p.m. at the Villa Aurora on Paseo Miramar. RSVP: (310) 573-3603.

Parents and teachers at schools in Pacific Palisades are helping students–and community members–to be stewards of the environment. * First graders at Marquez Charter Elementary are being introduced to composting using five compost bins and five worm bins from the Dept. of Sanitation, and 2,500 free worms from Santa Monica City College. Fruit and vegetable waste are fed to the worms. The worm castings make great fertilizer which will be used in the school garden. Contact: Roberta Bogie at (310) 459-9992 for details. Wendy Stretten, wstretten@verizon.net, wrote and received a $2,500 grant from the state for improvements to the school garden. The PTA is selling blue reusable Marquez-logoed polypropylene bags at five bags for $20 or $5 for one. * The middle school Green Team at Calvary Christian School has met four times a week for the last 12 weeks. Two weeks ago, they organized Green Week. The students made PowerPoint presentations to the elementary school classes on ways to help the environment, including unplugging cell- phone chargers and recycling. They also explained ways Calvary is being eco-friendly: white paper is being recycled in every classroom, low-VOC paint is being used, most carpet in the school is made from recycled carpet fibers, the preschool playground is made from recycled tires, and lights are on motion sensors. Recycling containers have been placed in every office and classroom. Earlier this spring, the Green Team organized an Electronics Waste Pickup Day for their school community. Calvary is also planning on installing solar panels. The Green Team has run several fundraisers to support the recycling program, including a recent root-beer float day. Contact Amen Bains at abains@calvarychristian.org for information. In addition, the second graders are combining recycling with community service. They are collecting plastic bottles, redeeming them with the help of their parents, and using the funds to buy school supplies for Iraqi schoolchildren. * This year, Anastasia Betts, director of curriculum at Seven Arrows, applied for and received a $10,000 BP (British Petroleum) A+ for Energy Grant. The money will facilitate the creation of the M.A.S.T.E.R.S. Program (Math And Science Team for Energy Resource Solutions), a leadership program for fourth-sixth graders that uses math and science to educate the community about responsible energy use and environmental awareness. For information, contact abetts@sevenarrows.com or (310) 230-0257. The school continues to recycle plastic, paper, cardboard, copier and printer cartridges and cell phones and use post-consumer toilet paper and paper towels. * Palisades Charter Elementary will have an Eco-Fest on June 11 featuring the Action Sports Environmental Coalition, a group of extreme sports performers who communicate the importance of caring for the environment. There will be other environmental activities as well. School parents are selling reusable bags. Nylon fold-up grocery bags sell for $4 each; cotton veggie bags (hand-stamped by fifth graders) sell for $1.50 each or eight for $10. Call Sid Greenwald (573-1885) if you wish to purchase them.