Several weeks before Palisades Bowl homeowners were notified of owner Eddie Biggs’ intention to convert the mobile park to resident ownership, residents were already concerned about Biggs’ apparent violation of mobile home resident laws. These laws require an owner to offer both a short- and long-term lease to new tenants. According to residents, Biggs was offering only long-term leases. Michelle Bolotin, a realtor for Coldwell Banker, encountered a different rent problem when trying to sell homes in the Bowl. “I was in escrow with three properties in the park when I got a call from Biggs that the rent was going to go from $500 to $1,300,” Bolotin told the Palisadian-Post. This violates Section 151.06 F2 of the RSO (Rent Stabilization Ordinance), which states the ‘maximum rent may be increased by an amount not to exceed the rent on any existing comparable site in the park, or 10 percent, whichever is lower.” ‘We realized we needed to get the homeowners association together for issues like this,’ said resident Katy Montgomery. The final push for the residents came when they received a notice August 10 about the proposed mobile park conversion. The park, which consists of people of various occupations such as teachers, musicians, computer programmers and free-lance artists, also has a large number of seniors, retirees and disabled individuals. In an August meeting, Biggs’ conversion attorney Richard H. Close explained that no one would be required to convert, but as soon as one person did, L.A. Rent Control would no longer be in effect for the park. Low-income residents would still qualify for lowered monthly rates under state guidelines, which Close maintains would be advantageous for the residents. ‘They would continue to rent under a better rent control than they do now,’ Close told the Post Tuesday. Residents who make even marginally more than $38,800 for a single taxpayer would see their rents rise to market value. Additionally, residents would not find out the purchase cost of their individual pads until far into the conversion process–after 60 days and after the city made sure that the owner is complying with all the laws and has examined all the documents. The entire conversion process could take up to two years. One of the documents required by state law is a survey of whether the residents want their park to convert to resident ownership. If the majority of the residents oppose the conversion, their opinion is factored into whether the conversion is approved. However, there are problems with the law, according to Norm Kulla, Councilman Bill Rosendahl’s district director and senior counsel. ‘The interpretation of the law is unclear whether the survey means majority,’ said Kulla. who feels the law is open to litigation. Close agreed with Kulla’s assessment. ‘Legislative history does not have power to block the conversion because of the survey,’ he said. When the first homeowners’ meeting was held in August, more than 100 people attended. They elected officers, established committees and asked for donations towards the cost of retaining lawyer Sue Loftin. She is also employed by James Goldstein, a mobile park owner who is converting his seniors Colony Cove Mobile Estates in Carson. When Palisades Bowl association president Christopher Damon was asked why they would retain a lawyer who was helping take another park condo, Damon replied, ‘That’s why we hired her. We wanted someone who knew both sides.’ In late August, the association filed a grievance with the L.A. Rent Stabilization Board about Biggs’ violation of rent stabilization laws. They also researched state and mobile-home case laws and contacted elected officials to enlist their help to stop the conversion. They prepared a conversion fact sheet that they presented to Councilman Rosehdahl, which stated: ‘Residents are opposed to the conversion because it is NOT a bona fide conversion, but is being done in bad faith and merely to get out of rent control.’ Close disagrees with their assessment. ‘I think they don’t understand the benefits to owning land next to the ocean,’ he said Tuesday. ‘The residents who don’t want to buy are fully protected. Residents will end up owning space and paying less than they currently are paying for rent.’ Close said that the conversion process is an educational process and that there are funds available for every single person in the Bowl who wants to convert. He agrees that if a single resident goes to a bank and asks for a loan, he or she won’t get it. ‘Banks are not interested in one loan,’ Close said. ‘We prepare a whole package of the number of people who are looking and the amount of money involved.’ According to Close, moderate-income residents will find that there is money available through City of L.A. community redevelopment agencies. Bowls residents have also visited other mobile home parks in the city, which have about 6,000 residents, according to the Bowl association, and are some of the last vestiges of affordable housing. Although conversions have taken place throughout the state, this is the first park in L.A. to go through the process. The only other mobile park in District 11 is Tahitian Terrace, a seniors-only park adjacent to Palisades Bowl, where residents are worried that their park will follow suit. On Monday, Councilman Rosendahl and members of his staff–Kulla, Andrea Epstein and Jim Lowenstein’toured Palisades Bowl and spoke to officers of the association. ‘People who are living here now, they’re the ones I’m concerned about and their future,’ Rosendahl said. The slippage of the hillside below Asilomar and above the Bowl is largely responsible for many of the current maintenance issues in the Bowl. And the liability that could result from the hill creating future damage is a major reason the residents oppose conversion. A week ago, Dave Keim, chief code enforcer for the Department of Building and Safety, sent an inspector to the hillside after the Post asked for his department’s input. On Thursday the inspector reported that he had observed signs of slope instability. Keim sent the report to the state, which has jurisdiction over mobile parks. If Palisades Bowl converts to resident ownership, the residents would assume liability for the hillside, including remediation, according to Close. Shortly before Biggs took ownership of the park in August 2005, the previous owner, Fred Keeler, Jr., had a 10-ft.-high cut made in the toe of the mountain. ‘It was the wrong thing to do,’ Kulla said. ‘Neither the city nor the Coastal Commission gave permission for the cut.’ Representatives from the city, state and Coastal Commission are working together to decide what the next steps will be. The residents have been told that Tahitian Terrace owner Desmond McDonald, Biggs and the city are discussing a geological study, which could cost $300,000. When Rosendahl was asked whether the city could stop the conversion process until liability from the hillside could be determined, he responded, ‘We’ll look into it and find out who is responsible and what can be done.’ ‘No, it won’t stop the process,’ Close said. ‘I believe the conversion process is the key to solve the hillside problem and provide the financial ability and necessity for the slide problem to be dealt with.’
LAUSD to Review School Cop, Police
Parents Want Cop Reassigned
The Los Angeles Unified School Board will review the personnel history of a school policeman currently under investigation for using force against students and adults in Pacific Palisades in September. The Board will also examine the internal policies of the L.A. School Police Department in a closed session within the next two weeks. ‘I understand the community’s concern,’ wrote LAUSD Board President Marlene Canter to the Palisadian-Post Wednesday morning. ‘While I’m confident that the L.A. School Police will conduct its own thorough review of the situation, the School Board will also be looking at it from both a personnel and a policy perspective. ‘This does concern me. Right now, I have more questions than I have answers so this is something that the Board will need to thoroughly review,’ wrote Canter, who represents the Palisades. At a Palisades Community Council meeting last Thursday, representatives from the L.A. School Police Department reaffirmed their agency’s decision to not reassign Officer John Taylor. That decision has angered students, parents and community members, who have expressed concern over the officer’s history of excessive force as well as the Department’s ability to conduct a thorough and timely investigation. According to Sgt. Glenn Besunder, LASPD Chief of LASPD Lawrence Mannion reviewed the case again and stood by his decision to keep Officer John Taylor on duty in the Palisades, where he monitors safety at several local public schools and areas of high student concentration. ‘Why shouldn’t we consider the Chief’s decision a slap in the face of Palisades residents?’ asked Janet Turner, a Community Council member. Turner has sponsored a proposal to be debated at next Thursday’s council meeting on whether to pressure the LASPD to reassign the officer during the investigation. Besunder fielded dozens of questions from concerned community members, but said that rules governing investigations kept him from answering most questions.The LAUSD has official jurisdiction over the School Police, and Palisades Charter High School, an independent charter, contracts its safety out to the District’s police. Local parents have expressed disappointment with LAUSD’s and PaliHi’s responses to their concerns since the September 19 incident. Bruce Ishimatsu, the parent of a Pali student who was not involved in the incident, said, ‘PaliHi cannot take a backseat to the police on this. The School Police are there at the permission of PaliHi. This affected students there, and I think the school has to be proactive.’ ‘I’m worried about him [Officer Taylor] acting the same way in another incident,’ said Carolin Herrmann, PTSA treasurer at PaliHi and the mother of two students at the high school. ‘He’s not dealing with criminals or adults. And that kind of behavior doesn’t protect children.’ LAUSD Chief Operating Officer Dan Isaaks later told the Post he is confident that an investigation will be timely and thorough, but he said he couldn’t comment further on the issue because of the ongoing investigation. Isaaks oversees operations at the District’s police department. PaliHi Executive Director Amy Held could not be reached for this article. In previous e-mails to the Post, Held has encouraged parents and students to speak with internal investigators. Tom Hill, a middle-aged businessman in the Palisades, was pepper-sprayed in the face by Taylor on September 19. Hill said that the officer’s refusal to allow medical attention for a teenage boy sprayed in the face with the chemical at close range incited the crowd. ‘The kid was screaming in pain. I wanted to jump in there and let the kid go,’ said Hill, who attended the council meeting and spoke to the Post this week. ‘He [Taylor] could have diverted the situation. But instead, he drew a lot of intense emotion.’ Based on his experience that day, Hill strongly supports removing Taylor from the area. It is still unknown if there are other internal investigations pending against Taylor. He has been investigated by Internal Affairs before, but he has never been found guilty of any wrongdoing by the LASPD. As previously reported in the Post, Taylor’s excessive use of force cost him a promotion in 2002. A superior officer refused to promote him that year based on multiple excessive use-of-force incidents. There are more than 70 internal investigations being conducted within the LASPD, and Taylor’s investigation is expected to take longer than nine weeks. Prior to 2005, an officer recommended for dismissal following an internal investigation could not be fired because the investigation exceeded the time allowed by District contracts. The Post was also told by an informed source that since 2005, multiple officers who were recommended for punishment following internal investigations were not disciplined because of protracted investigations. Lt. Tim Anderson, who oversees internal investigations, could not confirm or deny these allegations.
Waxman Charts Future of House Democrats
With Democratic prospects high, the local Congressman could lead a Democratic offensive
The future of political discourse in the country could be radically changed come November by one word, six-letters long: W-A-X-M-A-N. In a curious intersection of local and national politics, one of the country’s most powerful Democrats in the Congress is also the area’s local congressman. And in case you thought that the words ‘powerful’ and ‘Democrat’ don’t mix in an era of Republican Party domination, think again. Congressman Henry Waxman, 67, has represented Pacific Palisades and the rest of West Los Angeles since 1974. When Democrats lost control of Congress in 1994 after a Democratic landslide, Democrats like Waxman lost their seats as committee chairs. Because the rules that govern Congress give chairs a powerful role in shaping legislation, the Democratic loss was significant. But Waxman found a way out of Democratic doldrums. In 1997, he joined the Government Reform Committee as the ranking Democratic member. Long considered one of the less powerful committees in the House, it has little direct control of government agencies and even less direct control of Congress’s massive budget. In the face of the committee’s relative powerlessness and a fraction of Republicans’ human and financial resources, Waxman has transformed the Government Reform Committee into a forceful tool of Democratic power with far-reaching consequences. And Republicans have taken notice. Waxman’s research staff on the committee now pumps out hundreds of reports per year which critically examine almost every nook and cranny of the Bush Administration. From intelligence used to justify the Iraq war to abstinence-only education to global warming to steroids in professional sports to middle class economic woes, Waxman’s reports function as a second opinion to the Administration’s talking points. Last week, the chief aide to Karl Rove resigned after a Waxman report found close ties between the disgraced former lobbyist Jack Abramoff and the White House. Last month, his reports uncovered internal Commerce Department e-mails to suppress data of global climate change. In fact, his reports have become so frequent that the committee’s website features an RSS feed, mostly used by news agencies to channel large streams of stories online. Although Waxman has found a niche in the Government Reform Committee, Republican control has meant a less direct role for Waxman in crafting legislation. In his first 20 years in Congress, he was one of the most prolific authors of environmental and health legislation, writing the Clean Air Act, the Safe Drinking Water Act and several health bills, including one of the first bills to address AIDS. As Democratic hopes of retaking the House this November brighten, the possibility of a Waxman-led Government Reform Committee has enlivened his supporters. Will Waxman focus on no-bid Halliburton contracts? Or the faulty intelligence used to justify invading Iraq? Democrats and Republicans want to know. ‘The thought of Henry Waxman chairing that committee is very exciting,’ said Fran Pavley, the state assembly member, who represents Pacific Palisades and parts of western L.A. County. ‘He knows where all the bodies are buried in Washington. And he is really a constituent’s best friend to make sure the government is doing what is supposed to do.’ With fewer than three weeks before the November election, Waxman spoke with the Palisadian-Post to discuss his past work in Congress as well as his priorities for this district and the nation in the next term. What follows are excerpts from the Post’s interview with Congressman Waxman last week: You’ve been called a ‘partisan warrior’ by detractors and supporters. Is that a label you accept? Well, I’m a partisan Democrat because I strongly believe in the principles of the Democratic Party and because I’d rather see Democrats in positions of power. In terms of the job of being in Congress, I’ve always thought we need to work on a bipartisan basis. I would hope we [Democrats] would restore civility and inclusiveness to the legislative process. What about ‘liberal’? Do you reject that label? It depends on how people define it. I think the right wing has tried to redefine it. I consider myself in the liberal political tradition. By that I mean trying to use government to provide for social justice’to provide opportunities for Americans who might otherwise be left behind. I think what conservatives stand for these days is to tell you what the appropriate religious view is and to impose it on everybody. And they seem to favor the well-to-do. They forget the fact that there are people who need government assistance. Children born to poor families need healthcare. And they certainly need quality education if they are going to have a chance to succeed. Social justice requires that we give everyone a full opportunity to live the American dream. You’ve been in Congress for almost three decades. How has Washington changed? When I came to Congress 30 years ago, it wasn’t so nasty and partisan. People did work together. I authored the Clean Air Act, the Safe Drinking Water Act and laws to provide for generic drugs. And there wasn’t a bill that I authored that didn’t have Republican support. I think the Republicans who have been in Congress for 12 years have given a good example of how not to behave. They’ve tried to exclude the Democrats from consideration of legislation. They’ve negotiated legislation within the Republican ranks. And they’ve denigrated the committees, so that the committees which used to be made up of experts who can work together on a bipartisan basis now pretty much rubberstamp the bills given to us by the Republican leadership without input from the people who know a lot about it. And that’s a mistake. I always thought it desirable to hear criticism; collaborative ideas are worthwhile because not all good ideas are Democratic ideas or Republican ideas. In what specific ways does being in the minority party prevent you from pushing your agenda? We’ve touched on a number of issues that the Republicans didn’t want to deal with. But it’s not easy when you’re doing it from the minority party. We can’t call hearings. We can’t issue subpoenas. We can’t draw the public attention that the Committee in power is able to draw’by bringing people in and having them testify publicly. There’s been a lot of speculation in Democratic and Republican circles about what issues you’ll pursue if the Democrats win and you become chairman. Can you tell me what we can expect from a Waxman-led Government Reform Committee? There are a lot of issues that we won’t know until we’re at that point. But the overall theme that I would want to pursue is the waste, fraud and abuse of taxpayers’ money. I’ve seen so much of it’especially by people who call themselves fiscal conservatives. It’s really quite shocking. The billions that we’ve wasted on government contractors. The earmarks for pork-barrel projects. Bridges to nowhere, things like that. And the constant refusal to recognize that we need to watch out for taxpayers being fleeced. You’ve said that you are personally involved in the debate over the future of the Veterans Administration building in Westwood, but you’ve deferred to local authorities on a Westside subway. Why? Isn’t transportation is a big issue for your constituents? The subway and transportation is decided by the Metropolitan Transit Authority (MTA), which is made up of representatives of local governments. And they have to design the plans. They look to Congress to provide some of the funds. We have provided funds for the subway system in L.A., but when we did that over 20 years ago I insisted on a provision that would prohibit tunneling through the Fairfax and Wilshire area because it was a high methane gas area. I held hearings it at the time, and people gave us testimony that it could be the source of a ball of fire. Mayor Villaraigosa asked me at look it again. We convened an independent group of experts. They came back with the unanimous decision that it could now be done safely, although a number of them said that they doubt it could have been done safely 20 years ago. In light of that decision, we’re going to remove the provision that would stop tunneling in that area. What is your official position on the Veterans Administration building? In the case of the VA, that is strictly a federal responsibility. The VA is federal property. It is deeded to the government on the condition that it would be used for veterans. I think that the Secretary of Veterans Affairs wanting to provide leases to use the property for other purposes and then use that money for veterans’ care is not appropriate. Plus, we have such enormous traffic congestion problems already and to start privatizing the use of VA property would be a serious mistake. I’ve told that to the secretary. And I will continue to fight that development. What about the current proposals to develop liquefied natural gas facilities off the coast of Malibu? I’m following that very carefully. I’ve written to the California Public Utilities Commission. I know that the governor has the power to veto it. I’m concerned about it adding to air pollution problems in the L.A. Basin, in addition to potential threats from terrorists. If you are re-elected, you’ll be entering your 16th term in Congress. What are you most proud of? I’m proud of the legislation that I’ve sponsored that has become law. I’m also proud of the oversight work I’ve done. One of the things that I’m very proud of is the tobacco hearings that we held and the reports that we issued on the dangers of smoking and how addictive nicotine is. The hearings we had with the CEOs of the American tobacco companies brought a human face to the tobacco industry and convinced people how these businesses were willing to lie to Congress about their product. While it didn’t lead to some of the legislation that I would have liked to have seen, it has brought about a transformation in the attitudes about smoking.
Heart to Heart with Merz
A local cariodologist, recognized worldwide, speaks on heart disease
Palisadian Dr. Noel Bairey Merz is a world-renowned expert on heart disease in women and has appeared on numerous national television and radio shows to speak on the subject. She took time from her busy schedule as medical director of the Preventive and Rehabilitative Cardiac Center at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center to get the “heart” message out to women. ‘Heart disease is the leading killer in women,’ Merz says. By heart disease she includes cardiovascular disease and stroke. ‘As a proportion, there are more strokes in women than in men.’ Every year since 1984, more women than men have died of heart disease. Heart disease also claims more women’s lives every year than breast cancer, although most women would say that breast cancer is a greater danger. In 1999, 41,000 American women died from breast cancer: cardiovascular disease killed 513,000. Both sexes suffer large artery blockage, which means the artery lining becomes hardened and swollen with plaque (calcium and fatty deposits and abnormal inflammatory cells), minimizing or stopping blood flow. An angiography is used to diagnosis this condition. Unfortunately, in addition to heart disease, women also suffer from large and small artery strokes in a ratio of 3 to 1 to men. In the artery lining in women, the plaque is smooth and even, unlike in their male counterparts, which means the condition isn’t diagnosed through an angiogram and, quite often, is misdiagnosed because the symptoms for heart attacks in women are different from those in men. ‘Symptoms in women can include persistent chest pain or pressure,’ Merz says. ‘Patients describe it as a constricting band or ‘elephant on my chest’. They have fatigue and shortness of breath. Often the women have already had an angiogram and were told that nothing is wrong.’ Why do more women have small artery disease? Women have smaller arteries than men and although size might be part of it, more probably, it’s sex-related. “If you take a male donor and transplant that heart into a female, the arteries will not change, they will stay large,” Merz says. “If you take a female heart and transplant it into a male, the arteries get larger.” Part of the problem with heart disease in women is that it has been studied extensively only in the past 10 years. Tests that have been developed over the years have been geared towards males and large-artery blockage. At Cedars-Sinai Women’s Heart Center, doctors look for heart disease that may have been overlooked by using invasive coronary reactivity testing. In addition, Merz is at the forefront of trying to validate whether cardiac Magnetic Resonancing (MR) can also pinpoint small artery disease, which would be preferable to any kind of invasive testing. If a woman is diagnosed with heart disease, the treatment is medical and can take four different routes, depending on the cause: 1) If it is endothelial (the single layer of cells that line the heart and blood vessels) dysfunction caused by smoking or borderline cholesterol, the risk factors are addressed. 2) If it is a genetic micro-vascular disfunction, the patient may be given beta blockers. 3) If it is a smooth-muscle disfunction of Princemetal’s angina, the patient may be given a calcium channel agent or a smooth-muscle relaxant. 4) If a patient has a combination of problems, she will be treated with a combination of medicine, diet and exercise. Merz is convinced that the heart disease found in women in their 40s, 50s and 60s coincides with their slowing metabolism as well as less exercise. When you exercise, nitric oxide is being stimulated, which is important for the heart. ‘I had one lady who was doing well, then went on a cruise, stopped exercising and started eating and when I saw her again, she had slid back,’ Merz recalls. “Generally, the ladies who exercise every day can minimize their medication,’ Merz says. Merz, who in addition to being a full-time doctor, is a mother of three girls. ‘After having children, I became the last priority,’ she says, so she understands when people tell her they don’t have time to exercise. After having her third child, who is now 14, Merz stopped eating dessert. She runs two to three days a week on average, but on the days she doesn’t run, she takes the stairs to her office on the ninth floor rather than the elevator. “Fewer than 20 percent of Americans get regular aerobic exercise, which contributes to heart disease,” Merz says. She is sympathetic and understands that people do work hard and don’t feel as if they have time to exercise, or they work in areas that are unsafe, which doesn’t allow them an environment to exercise. According to Merz, the healthy-heart formula is simple: 30 minutes of walking a day, which is about 10,000 steps. ‘If people want a cheap insurance card, that is it.’ Merz urges people to buy a pedometer and wear it. By doing so herself, she has discovered that she takes about 6,000 steps a day at the hospital, so by adding the stairs instead of the elevator or walking a little more, she reaches the prescribed amount. The doctor also enjoys a glass of wine with dinner. ‘Research is clear that people who do enjoy alcohol in moderation have a greater longevity than those who don’t drink or drink too much.’ Her husband, Rob Merz, is also a cardiologist. ‘After taking care of heart problems all day, we shifted our style of eating to a more Mediterranean model,’ she says. ‘Half of our plate is fruit and vegetables–or something that grows out of the ground. Meat is no longer the largest portion on the plate. We don’t eat steaks and burgers.’ The Merz’s daughters are all athletes. Alexa is a sophomore on the swim team at Stanford and still holds several records on the Palisades Y Swim Team (PALY) Record Board in Temescal Canyon. Carolyn, who attends Harvard-Westlake, is a fencer and runner, and Allison, also a freshman at Harvard-Westlake is a swimmer. Merz made an effort to make sure they have enough meat for protein, but also she made her children drink milk at every meal. ‘I get the mean-mother award,’ she says. ‘Fine.’ As a physician, Merz points to the idea of early medicine in this country, which was a combination of medication and regimen, and feels we need to get back to that idea. Treating disease should include diet and exercise as well as drugs. James Fixx, the famous author/runner who died of a heart attack at 52, had a family history of heart disease and was prescribed medicine for cholesterol, but didn’t take it; he thought that he could exercise away the problem. In this case, he needed the balance of medication. ‘There’s a belief right now that over-the-counter supplements, which includes ‘natural’ in the label, are better,’ she says. ‘Supplements are unregulated and unpurified, so you have no idea what you’re taking,’ Merz says. She calls many of the products that people take ‘talcum powder,’ which means that unscrupulous manufacturers could put talcum powder into products while labeling it something else and no one would be the wiser. She points out that statins, taken by people to keep their cholesterol down, are made from natural products and are monitored and followed by the FDA; patients know exactly what they’re taking, the exact dosage, and the expiration date. According to Merz, a product labeled “natural” red-rice yeast, sold over the counter, could have the same results, but there is no guarantee of potency or purity or that the pills even contain red-rice yeast. When making the decision to take supplements one should ask is: ‘Is it doing any harm I’m not aware of?’ Merz wants to educate all of America about the dangers of heart disease in women. She tells a story about a mom whose son was a friend of one of her daughters. “She always said she should come and see me,” Merz says, “because her family had a history of heart problems. One day, she was found dead on the sofa. She was in her 50s. She left a family. She won’t be at any more PTA meetings, she won’t be here to watch her child grow up. With heart disease, you often get no warning.’
Review: Wendy Graf Probes Home and Identity in ‘Leipzig’
Playwright Wendy Graf, who examined the profound emotional and existential implications of her Jewish identity in her first two plays, is debuting the third play in her trilogy on Friday, October 20 at the Lee Strasberg Institute in West Hollywood. ‘All my plays have dealt with identity, including Jewish identity and the search for faith, although this one, ‘Leipzig,’ is the least specifically Jewish,’ Graf says, noting the resurgent focus on identity in our times. ‘Leipzig’ follows the life of a Jewish girl, Eva Kelly, who left Germany during Hitler’s terror and was raised by a Catholic family in Boston. She marries a Catholic, and her past is never spoken of again. The couple’s daughter, Helen, sensing the weight of the secret, unexpectedly opens a tiny crack in her mother’s lifelong subterfuge. Her need to discover the whole of her mother leads Helen to press to understand, an obsession which is accelerated by Eva’s rapidly developing Alzheimer’s. Confused and angry, Helen wonders what her mother’s Jewishness means to her. ‘I don’t want to be a Jew,’ she laments. All of sudden, Helen’s identity is shaken and, in her consoling conversations with ‘Jesus,’ Helen wonders why anyone would want to be a Jew, who century after century have suffered ostracism, hatred and persecution. Graf, a Mandeville Canyon resident, grew up in Brentwood and graduated from Palisades High. Her Jewishness was dormant, as her parents felt it was more important to be an American than a Jew. She began to explore the Jewish part of her identity, and out of that study emerged her first play, ‘The Book of Esther,’ named after the woman from the Old Testament who, despite adversity, stood up and claimed her Jewishness. Having discovered a more profound relationship with her Jewish identity, Graf refined her theme in ‘Leipzig’ through coincidences. Graf, who rediscovered a more profound relationship with her Jewish identity as an adult, refined her theme for ‘Leipzig’ through coincidence. A few years ago, she met a woman who had accompanied her mother, a Jewish refugee, back to her birthplace in Leipzig, Germany. ‘I was fascinated. I wondered how it felt for the mother to return to the home that had turned its back on her. Who and what had she left behind?’ From that interview, Graf went on to talk to many people who had escaped from Europe–some who had returned to their birthplace, others who refused. But all of these biographies were just that, biographies; no theme emerged. ‘The stories that I heard were so fascinating, so full of human drama, but I couldn’t seem to translate it to the stage,’ Graf says. ‘Frustrated with my abortive attempts, I put it away and started on another project. ‘Then someone close to me began to show signs of Alzheimer’s. One day, while still mostly lucid, she turned to me and said ‘What a funny disease this is. I can’t remember some things that just happened, or sometimes even what word to say, but then, out of nowhere, I remember something from so long ago.’ A light went off in my head. The refugees, the hidden survivors’What if someone had a secret they tried their whole life to forget, and now they were desperate to remember, before it was too late? Thus the birth of ‘Leipzig.” It was the theme–the moral and ethical conclusions about the story–that captured the attention and commitment for both director Deborah La Vine and actors Salome Jens and Mimi Kennedy. ‘The story was very personal for Deborah, too,’ Graf says of her director, who joined the project after the play had been workshopped at Theatre West. Graf and La Vine presented two more readings, but the play wasn’t changed substantially from what Graf had conceived and written. To be sure, there were a few tweaks, here and there, such as Kennedy’s advice that Graf call God, ‘the father,’ in keeping with the customary Catholic nomenclature. As for the actors, Graf says, the challenges in ‘Leipzig’ are great. ‘This is a very difficult play,’ she concedes. ‘You have to convey what’s in reality, and what’s out. When you are conversing with imaginary people, like Jesus, or with dead people. You also have to be clear about when Eva is in Alzheimer’s and out, and what the actors can and can’t hear.’ For the first couple of weeks of rehearsals, which began in late August, Graf stayed away. ‘I wanted the actors and director to build a relationship and I also wanted to give the actors the freedom to explore the characters.’ In the end, Graf believes that ‘Leipzig’ may be her masterpiece, for a number of reasons. ‘I consider this a well-constructed piece that addresses a lot of relevant issues, but is in no way sentimental. We are all part of all this stuff,’ she says, referring to the whole of our identity. Helen is part of a Jewish Catholic family from Boston, and a woman trying to find peace with all these identities. ‘As Jesus says in the play, ‘Everyone has to find out where they fit on the continuum.” Graf and her husband Jerry Kaplan and their two children, Liza and Michael Kaplan, have integrated their Jewish identity into their lives and are members of Kehillat Israel. ‘Leipzig’ runs for eight weeks from October 20 through December 10 in the Marilyn Monroe Theatre at the Lee Strasberg Institute, 7936 Santa Monica Blvd. For tickets, call (323) 650-7777 or visit www.westcoastjewishtheatre.org.
Review: Timeless “Six Degrees”
In 1983, a newspaper story appeared in the New York Times about a hustler, David Hampton, who pretended to be Sidney Poitier’s son and convinced several well-heeled New York notables to provide him with shelter, food and money. Hampton was eventually sent to prison for attempted burglary, and author and playwright John Guare wrote a play based on the story. “Six Degrees of Separation” opened off-Broadway to previews at the Mitzi E. Newhouse Theater in 1990. The play quickly moved to Broadway, where it ran until January 5, 1992. A movie based on the play was made in 1993. The show is currently playing at the Morgan-Wixson Theater. The beginning of the production was slow. All of that changed the moment the ‘hustler’ Paul (Catero Alain Colbert) made his entrance. The house was electrified; you could feel the energy that comes with the charisma Colbert brings to the role. All focus was on this pleasant, earnest, agreeable and ultimately dangerous character. Although most audience members already knew the story of Paul’s deception, we still became as gullible as the New Yorkers in the play. Two other actors are deserving of mention for their exceptional performances: Rich (Justin Striechman) and Elizabeth (Anne Jordan), who brought just the right amount of na’vet’ and ‘freshness’ to their roles. Striechman’s soliloquy about being ‘hustled’ by Colbert went from fun to introspective to chillingly sad. Mary Beth Pape in the role of Ouisa settles nicely into a weary-worn character who tries to make some sense out of Paul with her monologue: ‘I read somewhere that everybody on this planet is separated by only six other people. Six degrees of separation between us and everyone else on this planet. . . .I am bound’you are bound’to everyone on this planet by a trail of six people. It’s a profound thought’how Paul found us, how to find the man whose son he claims to be, or perhaps is, although I doubt it. How everyone is a new door, opening into other worlds.’ Even though it’s 15 years old, the play is timeless because it deals with universal themes: those who bring promise and those who believe that promise and that connection’the six degrees of separation. Is there really a difference between the hustler and the hustled? On one level, there are the Kittridges, who are engaged in an accepted ‘business deal,’ buying dinner and trying to talk a man into fronting $2 million to help buy a painting. On another, there is Paul, who, in exchange for a place to stay, promises them a meeting with his famous father. He secures their trust, much like the old-fashioned magic tonic peddlers who secured their sales by making an impassioned pitch. The play is humorous at times, thought-provoking and a vehicle for Colbert to shine. It is a good choice for adult audiences (it includes male nudity). The show runs Friday and Saturday at 8 p.m. and Sundays at 2 p.m. through October 28 at the Morgan-Wixson, 2627 Pico Blvd. in Santa Monica. Contact: 828-7519.
Local Painter Salutes Greek Heritage in LMU Exhibit
Pacific Palisades resident Calliope Caloyera Babu-Khan will exhibit her Greek-themed series of mixed-media and large watercolor paintings of gods and goddesses depicting mythological themes at the third annual Women’s Health and Wellness symposium. The event will be held on Saturday, October 21, from 8:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. at Loyola Marymount University, One LMU Drive in Los Angeles. Babu-Khan’s exhibition, entitled “Greece’s Salute to the United States,” will take place in the atrium of the University Hall. The symposium is sponsored by the Basil P. Caloyeras Center for Modern Greek Studies at LMU. The Center was established in 1974 with the purpose of presenting the artistic and cultural contributions of Greece during the last 200 years. Basil P. Caloyeras, Babu-Khan’s father, thought that offering university-level classes on the language, literature, history, music and dance of modern Greece would best serve this purpose. The center was originally endowed by the Caloyeras family, which continues its support today. “My background with Greek, Indian and other cultures has allowed me to develop my sense of color and line, and has influenced my inner expression,” says Babu-Khan, a native of Athens, Greece. “I have explored different techniques using oils, acrylics, drawings, printmaking and collage.” Her basic theme consists of a series of compositions and figures in line contours. Employing positive and negative shapes that often play against each other, she creates patterns of intense color. Her decisive delicacy of line, observing the details of the human form, is an exuberant celebration of life. Babu-Khan, who earned a fine arts degree from UCLA, is married to Shafi Babu-Khan, a native of India who also studied in the United States. In 1980, she established the “India Arts Council” at the Pacific Asia Museum in Pasadena, and served as president through 1987. She has been vice president of Women Painters West from 1989-1992. Most recently, Babu-Khan has created a series of “biographical paintings,” which contain elements from the lives of individuals who have inspired her. The one she made for her daughter, Nasreen, a Pisces, has fish representing each year of Nasreen’s life surrounding the colorful geometric shapes. Babu-Khan marked the year that Nasreen’s first child was born in one of the fish. The painting also includes an Indian design to represent Nasreen’s Indian heritage. “Utilizing the language of art, I speak of those unique personalities that have intrigued me,” Babu-Khan says. “They have inspired me and, in turn, I have recorded their achievements and life events.” The artist is currently accepting proposals for biographical paintings and any other projects. Contact: Calliope Caloyera Babu-Khan at 454-4151. For more information on Saturday’s event, contact: Agatha Felactu at 544-1998.
Janet E. Bailey, 72, Health Consultant
Janet E. Bailey, Health Consultant Janet E. Bailey, a health consultant who had a private practice in Pacific Palisades, died in a car accident on Encinal Canyon Road Malibu on September 28. She was 72. Born in Scituate, Massachusetts on September 26, 1934, Janet moved with her family to Rockland, where she attended local schools. After graduation from high school, Janet attended nursing school in Quincy, where she earned a R.N., nurse anesthetist. After Janet’s marriage, she and her husband moved to California where she raised three wonderful children, Delynn, Alison and John. In the 1980s, Janet renewed her career in healthcare by attending St. Mary’s College, receiving her B.A. in health care services. In 1986, she earned a master’s degree at John F. Kennedy University in the San Francisco area. Janet’s nursing career included working as a nurse anesthetist, a staff R.N./counselor in two alcohol/drug abuse hospital programs, a staff member of the I.V. team at Santa Monica Hospital, and a member of the Sheriff’s Department Acupuncture Detox Team. Her counseling experience included work at the UCLA Pain Control Unit, the Bresler Medical Group, Kaiser Permanente’s Chemical Dependency Program, Columbia/Los Robles Pain Care Center and private cancer support group facilitator. Over the past 20 years, Janet had a private practice working as a health consultant working with groups and individuals teaching stress reduction, visualization/guided imagery, healing touch, alcohol and drug abuse counseling, and alternative methods of pain control. She told the Palisadian-Post in a 2001 interview, “There are many chronic illnesses and stress-related diseases such as irritable bowel syndrome, anxiety disorders and cardiovascular disease that respond well to relaxation therapy and personal empowerment that aids healing.” In 2000, Janet married Ron Kubeck and lived in Malibu. The same year, she started her private practice in the Palisades where she was very active in the Chamber of Commerce and several health-related groups. A donation in Janet’s name can be made to Women in Recovery in Venice. Janet will by missed by all those who came into her life.
Curtis Anderson, 86, Landscape Architect
Former Pacific Palisades resident Curtis Dixon Anderson passed away from natural causes on February 17 at his home in Santa Rosa, California. He was 86. Born and raised in West Los Angeles, Anderson was employed at North American Aviation during World War II. He also had a strong creative spirit which drew him toward music, writing and composing. An accomplished pianist and author of a number of songs, he played with small dance bands in the early 1940s while a student at UCLA. Anderson and his wife, Mary Sue, moved to the Palisades in 1952. His community spirit reached out to the local Christian Science church, where he served as First Reader for three years, board chairman and Sunday School teacher (where he frequently played piano). With his three sons, Anderson was also active in Little League, Indian Guides and Boy Scouts. A letterman in cricket at UCLA, he later built on his love of athletics and the out of doors, and involved his family in sailing to Catalina Island, hiking in the Sierras, biking and photographing nature. This love actively enriched two of his sons–Craig, who is director of LandPaths, a conservation nonprofit in Sonoma County, and Brooks, a painter of land and seascapes. Son Scott, a freelance author and editor, inherited his father’s love of good writing. Anderson was an active landscape architect, whose design work still stands in homes, churches, commercial spaces and schools throughout Los Angeles County. He was equally at home with celebrities and plain folk as clients, and was a great aficionado of Los Angeles’ diverse cultural landscape. For a time, he was International President of the American Institute of Landscape Architects (AILA) and was also a president of Palisades Beautiful. After moving to a home above Mandeville Canyon in 1964, he became the first chairman of Brentwood Hills Property Owners Association, where he was credited for initiating the movement for open-space preservation in that part of the Santa Monica Mountains. He moved to Santa Rosa in 2004. He is survived by his wife of 60 years, Mary Sue Anderson; his sons, Scott of Kingston, New York, and Brooks and Craig Anderson (wife Lee Hackeling), both of Santa Rosa; and grandchildren Emily Tokheim, Jenner and Barrett Anderson, and Kai and Iris Anderson, all of Santa Rosa.
Councilman Rosendahl: His Plate is Full
What does Bill Rosendahl know about Los Angeles real estate? Plenty. Ask him about affordable housing, view ordinances, Proposition H, why there needs to be a moratorium on condo conversions and the push for mixed-use development (combined retail/residential space) in a town such as Pacific Palisades, and he will be happy to engage you–for hours. Then there’s his personal real estate portfolio. Buying property ‘is the best investment I’ve ever made,’ said the District 11 councilman in an interview in his Westchester district office last week. In 1986 he bought a fixer-upper on a small lot in Venice a few blocks from the ocean for $160,000. After putting in some skylights, a new kitchen and turning the garage into a guest room he sold it in 1991 for $300,000 “which gave me the down payment I needed to buy a house with more land, which was very important to me.’ After searching for months in Brentwood, Santa Monica and the Palisades, Rosendahl said he found exactly what he was looking for and in his price range in Mar Vista for just over $600,000. He purchased a house on a double lot with an ocean view which was 15 minutes away from Adelphia Cable in Santa Monica, where he worked as an executive and on-air host at the time. The Mar Vista house was also a fixer. Rosendahl estimates he spent about $200,000 on improvements, putting in new plumbing, electricity, windows and opening up three small rooms. ‘Now I have a big stove is the middle of the kitchen,’ he explained, ‘which I like because people can gather around while I cook.’ His specialties? ‘I make a great leg of lamb, turkey stuffing, also spare ribs.’ Rosendahl, who does not eat sweets as he is diabetic, lives with his German shepherd Lulu, who is expecting a litter in December, and two cats, Rocky and Black Lady. They share the large garden with several chickens who provide a steady stream of fresh eggs. White or brown? He didn’t say. While the councilman “has heard” that his property in Mar Vista, which happens to be not only the largest community in the 11th District but almost in the center of it geographically, is currently worth ‘from $1.5 million to $ 2 million’ to him ‘it’s monopoly money” and doesn’t really matter unless you’re ready to cash in, which he does not see doing any time soon. In fact, he enjoys his property so much that ‘I have no intention of leaving until I die!’ Rosendahl, 61, said that it was at his home in Mar Vista that he made the decision to enter politics shortly after he was laid off in March 2003 from Adelphia, where he had worked for 22 years. He said that one day as he was pondering what he would do next (he had 10 months to decide, which is how much severance he was given) he looked out at the view from his balcony and it hit him. ‘I thought that instead of just talking about the issues that maybe I could help do something about them.’ His timing could not have been better. Councilwoman Cindy Miscikowski was termed out and he had only one serious opponent: Flora Gil Krisiloff, who was endorsed by the Los Angeles Times. Rosendahl kicked off his campaign at a fundraiser held at Bill and Cindy Simon’s home in the Huntington Palisades. At the time a lot of people didn’t quite know what to make of Rosendahl, who is a great glad-hander, knows how to smile for the camera, and announced at the private gathering that he was gay. ‘NOT IN MY BACKYARD’ Since taking office in July 2005 Rosendahl has focused on limiting the expansion of LAX (favoring regional airports), promoting mass transit, improving public safety, and giving neighborhoods a greater say in decision-making through his Empowerment Congress. Asked whether he thought the Palisades Community Council should remain independent or become an official neighborhood council (there are currently 88), Rosendahl conceded that PPCC ‘would give more than it would get, given the amount of experience it has. On the other hand, Palisadians would learn some things too. It’s not just about what happens in their backyard.’ Rosendahl said that even if the community may not want it, there needs to be more discussion on affordable housing in the Palisades, which currently represents only 2 percent of the 9,600 households. ‘How it is going to happen there is the challenge. But the reality is, where are all the service workers going to live–the nannies, gardeners, waiters and clerks? That’s why there’s no place to park in the village anymore because these people have to drive there from somewhere to work.’ When asked about the plan to locate the 20 affordable housing units required as part of the Tramonto 82-condo hillside project (slated to be built above PCH and Sunset starting next year) offsite, Rosendahl said he was opposed to such a practice. ‘Affordable housing needs to be in the same community where the condos are being built. When developers say it doesn’t pencil in, I say get new pencils.’ When asked about the failure to save Lincoln Place in Venice–which was once the largest complex (800 units) providing affordable housing on the Westside–Rosendahl said that ‘at the point where I came in there were only 240 families left. We did, I think, the best we could for them by getting Amoco, the owner who does in fact have the right to go out of the rental business, to offer more generous settlements and we have been able to get several extensions for the remaining tenants. Now there are only six or seven tenants left. It will be a sad day when they go.’ After an 18 year-battle, the last of the tenants at Lincoln Place are expected to be evicted by the end of the month. Rosendahl said that even though he tried to help even before he was elected to City Council, ‘I felt the deck was stacked against me.’ CAMPAIGN PROMISES ‘This job is 24/7,’ said Rosendahl, who spends half his time on L.A. City Council business (attending meetings and serving on committees) and half at community events, ranging from ceremonial ribbon-cuttings to block parties to participating in Town Hall meetings, a format he enjoys. The councilman is chairman of the Public Works Committee, which is responsible for most essential city services such as tree-trimming, street repair, street lighting, street beautification projects and capital improvements. Does he really care that much about potholes? ‘When the rubber hits the holes in the road we have to be ready to respond. That’s our job, the city’s job. But all we can really do is go out there and fill them in,’ he explained. ‘The problem we have right now is that our roadways have been so neglected that it would take 80 years to do just what needs to be done to clean them up. Eighty years! So I’m going to be introducing a bond measure for the 2008 ballot to accelerate that process. It’s time we cleaned up our streets.’ Asked how a rookie Council member like him got to chair the PWC, Rosendahl said it was a case of quid pro quo. ‘When Eric Garcetti asked me to vote for him as Council president I said I would, and that if he won I wanted him to appoint me chair of that committee which he did.’ Besides serving on three ad hoc committees (Public Debt, Gang Violence and Homelessness, which he helped initiate), Rosendahl also serves on the Budget & Finance committee, as well as Transportation. During his campaign for office, he promised to work on traffic issues. Two weeks ago he participated in the groundbreaking of the Exposition Light Rail Line, which will connect downtown Los Angeles with Culver City. ‘This is the first baby step in getting real mass transit extended to the Westside,’ Rosendahl said in a press release. ‘The next step is extending the Expo Line from Culver City to Santa Monica. This second phase will really help to alleviate the gridlock plaguing the Westside.’ LITTLE GREEN ARROWS Although mass transit is still years away, Rosendahl is not the least bit deterred. To his delight, City Council just approved $250,000 to study intersecting the Green Line (from LAX) with the Expo Line in Santa Monica. The councilman, who often finds himself in gridlock as he bombs around town between his two district council offices (one in West L.A., the other in Westchester) and City Hall downtown in his electric-blue Ford Hybrid SUV, has another reason to be pleased. Acting on a central promise of his campaign, one of the first things he did was get the Department of Transportation to work on left-turn signals at 12 of the most congested intersections in his district (which he refers to as the ‘Dirty Dozen’), including one at Sunset and Via de la Paz. “I was fed up with the paralyses. Making a left turn in L.A. had gone from hard to nearly impossible,’ said Rosendahl, who pointed out that there were either too few left-turn arrows or arrows that don’t stay green long enough ‘and are emblematic of the traffic crisis that grips our city. We can’t tolerate the gridlock any longer.’ Now, in discussing DOT’s progress, you’d think Rosendahl invented the left-turn, even though there is still no left-turn arrow at Via and Sunset. (Editor’s note: The 11th District includes the communities of Pacific Palisades, Brentwood, Mar Vista, Palms, Marina del Rey, Playa del Ray, Playa Vista, Venice, West L.A. and Westchester.)