Voters ponder the lengthy ballot initiatives in the privacy of their illuminated voting cubicles at Mortýs Oak Room. Photo by Rich Schmitt, Staff Photographer
Ignited by a number of crucial state issues, Sixty-eight percent of Los Angeles registered voters, went to the polls Tuesday, but couldn’t agree on much, except on the need to clean up Santa Monica Bay. Proposition O gained over 70 percent of bipartisan voter support, endorsing a $500 million bond to help reduce the flow of pollutants flushed out to sea via our storm drains and culverts. The money will be used to upgrade storm drains, install catch basin inserts and screens on drains and develop new parks to filter storm-water runoff. ‘This is a real affirmation of how Los Angeles voters really understand that clean water is equal to public health,’ said Palisadian Fran Diamond, chairwoman of the Regional Water Quality Board, whose recommendations the city acted upon and who will monitor the effective and wise use of the bond money. ‘The City Council will appoint a committee of eight or nine people, all with an expertise in water quality who will select the projects that will be built,’ Diamond told the Palisadian-Post Wednesday. Equally enthusiastic was Assemblywoman Fran Pavley. ‘Prop. O speaks volumes about the support we will now get to clean up our air and water,’ said Pavley, who won reelection to her Westside seat with 60 percent of the vote. Pavley received twice as many votes as her Republican rival Heather Peters (31 percent) and Libertarian candidate Richard Koffler, the Palisadian who garnered 6,777 votes. Entering her third and final two-year term, Pavley told the Post that she will continue her focus on the environment and education. Having won a precedent-setting victory with her bill on reducing limits on automobile emission, she will be working to extend California’s regulations elsewhere. ‘Next week I will be meeting with the Canadian Parliament to discuss our plans to reduce greenhouse gases emitted by passenger vehicles.’ On another issue involving Canada, Pavley said that she is working on attracting film production in the state. ‘While it’s difficult to compete with Canada because of the difference in exchange rate, getting production back is key to our economic growth.’ She added that she may also reintroduce her bill to lower prescription drug costs, which was vetoed by the governor this fall. Health issues will be on the docket for State Senator Sheila Kuehl, who won reelection by some 60 percent to her final, four-year term. Kuehl told the Post that she may resurrect her health care bill, which would provide universal health care for all Californians through a single-payer system. Joining Pavley in her focus on the environment, Kuehl said she will continue working on both natural resources and water issues, and in particular safeguarding the Water Resources Board, which is the only watchguard commission monitoring water quality in California. ‘The governor hasn’t really focused yet on a recent performance review of hundreds of government commissions and boards, but I am worried that the Water Resources Board’which is the only way for the public to really know what is going on’might accidentally get eliminated in an effort to cut costs.’ Kuehl, an attorney, has introduced more than 100 bills that have been signed into law, including legislation to overhaul California’s child support services and to expand the rights of crime victims. While Pavley reflected on the fact that two-thirds of the new assembly will have two years or less expertise due to term limits, veteran Representative Henry Waxman, representing the 30th Congressional District, won a 16th term. The Democrat defeated his Republican challenger Victor Elizalde with 71 percent of the vote. As ranking member on the Government Reform Committee, Waxman has been studying the delay in disability benefits for veterans, the politicization of nonpartisan inspectors general in federal departments and agencies, and the Congressional failures in investigating misconduct involving Bush Administration officials. Closer to home, Waxman will continue to monitor the work of the Federal Advisory Committee Act to develop a master plan for the 400-acre West L.A. Veterans Administration land that takes into consideration the needs of veterans and seeks input from the adjacent businesses and neighborhoods. Also on Tuesday, Los Angeles voters failed to support County Proposition A, which would have raised the sales tax to 8.75 percent to put 5,000 more police officers and sheriff’s deputies on the streets.
By ARNIE WISHNICK ‘KINSEY’ ”Even today, the name ‘Alfred Kinsey’ sparks controversy. First thing to ask oneself after seeing a biopic: Do I now know more about the main subject than when I walked into the theater? The answer in this case is…definitely yes! You will learn more about Dr. Kinsey than you’ll ever need to know (if you know what I mean). Writer and director Bill Condon (‘Gods and Monsters’) recreates the emotional shock in the late ’40s that people felt reading Kinsey’s report about male and female sexuality. His degree was in zoology specializing in gall wasps. Soon he was lecturing about marriage at Indiana University when he discovered how ignorant students were about human sexuality. Liam Neeson is superb in the title role. The beautiful Laura Linney (made-up to look as frumpy as possible) is Mrs. Dr. K. Others in the cast include Peter Sarsgaard as everyone’s favorite bisexual assistant. Alfred’s dad, and almost recreating his role as the same kind of father in ‘Footloose,’ except without the dancing, is John Lithgow. Chris O’Donnell, Oliver Platt, Timothy Hutton and (try to find her) Lynn Redgrave are also featured. With plenty of clinical descriptions of the human body and some nudity (photos and otherwise), the movie is like a walk through a clinic. We know that it’s important stuff we’re seeing and hearing, but it’s still kinda dull. Yet ‘Kinsey’ is a fine recreation of the world of almost 60 years ago. Today we’re more mature with less trepidation. Yes, nowadays we can talk openly about s-e-x. Out of 5 Palm Trees, ‘Kinsey’ gets 3 Palm Trees. ‘BIRTH’ The title of this movie is ‘Birth,’ but it should be called ‘Pregnant.’ As in pregnant pause. I’d love to see the script that was co-written and directed by Jonathan Glazer: Speak your line’ then wait 30-60 seconds for response’repeat. ‘Lights! Camera! No Action!’ While jogging, Anna’s husband Sean, drops dead in Central Park. Ten years later Anna (Nicole Kidman) and Joseph (Danny Huston) announce their engagement. Showing up at the engagement party is 10-year-old Sean who claims to be Anna’s reincarnated husband. No one believes him except Anna, who still grieves. There are lots of things young Sean knows but loads of things Anna never asks him. ‘Birth’ is a mess. However, there are some good things worth mentioning. First, another magnificent performance by Miss Kidman. There is a scene during a concert that just focuses on her beautiful face and you know exactly what she’s thinking. (When you see ‘Vera Drake’ there is a similar scene of Vera’s face when she is arrested.) Next, the beautiful music by Alexandre Desplat. Then, there’s the one tidbit of information that Anna does not know, but the audience knows. And, finally there’s a touching last scene of Anna trying to cast off her long-term bereavement. There are so many unanswered questions about this movie. I only wish I could have seen it seated next to Shirley MacLaine. Out of 5 Palm Trees ‘Birth’ gets 3 Palm Trees.
The bewildered faces of tourists strolling the area around Hollywood and Vine, seeking a glimpse of Hollywood’s famed golden era, tell all regarding the fate of this once glittering mecca of the film industry. With many notable exceptions’the Egyptian, Pantages and El Capitan Theaters, to name a few’most vestiges of the early, glory days of Hollywood have met the wrecking ball. Rosemary Lord’s ‘Hollywood Then and Now’ (Thunder Day Press) takes a fascinating look, both in text and photography, of the then and now, tracing Hollywood from its earliest days when in 1883 Harvey Wilcox, a Prohibitionist from Kansas, and his wife arrived in California and bought 160 acres to develop a Protestant Christian temperance community. Author Lord, an actress and writer who moved to Los Angeles from London two decades ago, will appear and sign copies of her book on Thursday, November 11 at 7:30 p.m. at Village Books, 1049 Swarthmore. While the book spans ‘before the movies’ history of the area to the present day, the focus is mostly on the golden era of the 1920s and ’30s, when film studios lined the streets and restaurants and nightclubs filled its busy thoroughfares. When Lord first wrote ‘Los Angeles Then and Now’in 2002, she quickly realized Hollywood required its own tome. Her research was bolstered by a few key contacts, among them Bruce Torrence, who supplied much of the ‘then’ photography from his vast collection, the largest in the world on the subject of Hollywood. Torrence is the grandson of Charles Toberman, the legendary real estate developer who created and supervised the building of many Hollywood landmarks including Grauman’s Chinese Theatre and the Roosevelt Hotel. Seventy ‘then’ photos are paired with the same number of ‘now’ photos, most taken by photographer Simon Clay. Old black-and-white shots of screen legends, studios and the grand movie palaces abound, along with more obscure prints such as one of the Hollywood School for Girls, where appearing in a 1924 class picture of eighth graders is Harlean Carpenter, who later became Jean Harlow. Among the school’s great legends is the story of a young French teacher named Edith Spare, who later became the famed costume designer Edith Head. Her career got its start when Head was asked to teach art as well as French. She took art classes at night and was encouraged by her students to apply for a summer job at Paramount in the costume design department. This was the humble path leading to her status as the most honored woman in Academy Award history. While gathering information, Lord was privy to many firsthand accounts of Hollywood history, including speaking to people who remember the young Norma Jean Baker (Marilyn Monroe) when she was a resident at the Los Angeles Orphans Home Society (now Hollygrove). ‘They recall her as being a very quiet little girl who loved to play the piano,’ says Lord, marveling at the contrast to her later larger-than-life celebrity. ‘Hollywood Then and Now’ is only the beginning for Lord on the subject of Tinseltown.’ She’s at work on two other books, another history and a novel. ”’There are so many rich stories out there that need to be shared before they’re forgotten,’ says the author. ‘Hollywood is not like London or Paris or even New York, where people appreciate that it has a history. They still think it’s sort of a shallow place.’
At left: “Ray” film editor Paul Hirsch, left, and music supervisor Curt Sobel outside of Sobel’s home in the El Medio bluffs area of the Palisades. Photo: Margaret Molloy. Right: “Ray” casting director Nancy Klopper at home in the Palisades. Photo: Rich Schmitt
Director Taylor Hackford had a vision, 15 years in the making’to bring the story of Ray Charles to the big screen. ”But when it was time for his vision finally to come to fruition, he couldn’t do it himself, he needed the help of many collaborators, including three Palisadians who played key behind-the-scenes roles: casting director Nancy Klopper, music supervisor Curt Sobel and editor Paul Hirsch. ”’Ray,’ which opened on Friday, tells the story of Charles’ life through music, focusing on the years from age 17 to 35, with flashbacks to his childhood before and after he lost his sight at age 7. The movie tells about his innovation of blending gospel music with rhythm and blues, his struggles with heroin, his marriage and the affairs he had on the road, his business acumen as his career took off, and his role in the civil rights movement. ”Because the film was independently produced, and acquired by Universal only after it was completed, the creative team had an unusual degree of independence on the project. ”’The casting works and it’s so fresh because no studio was involved and no one dictated to us whom we had to cast; we got to cast whomever we wanted,’ said Klopper, who has been collaborating with Hackford since 1982’s ‘An Officer and a Gentleman.’ ”When Hackford sent an e-mail, telling her she should start thinking about a Ray Charles movie, Klopper went to see ‘Any Given Sunday.’ ‘Jamie Foxx had a supporting role and he popped off the screen. It happened again in ‘Ali.’ He pops out of the movie.’ ”Later, the producers were also interested in Foxx, and Hackford said to Klopper, ‘You’ll never guess who they’re talking about to play Ray.’ ‘It didn’t surprise me,’ said Klopper, who called the casting of Foxx a great idea that occurred to several people simultaneously. ”Fortuitously, Foxx is a classically trained pianist and talented singer. Although Ray Charles’ own piano playing is heard throughout the film, Foxx’s skill was vital for authenticity in the music scenes. ”Foxx worked closely with Curt Sobel, who was present, along with Hackford, at the first meeting between Foxx and Charles, where Charles ‘gave his blessing’ to the hiring of Foxx. ”The two sat down at the piano side by side while Sobel shot footage of them with his digital video camera. ‘Ray was testing him and playing a very difficult phrase from ‘Straight, No Chaser’ by Thelonious Monk. Jamie was struggling at first, trying to figure out the notes. They went back and forth and when Jamie got it, Ray stood up, cheering, hugging himself and saying ‘That’s my boy. He’s got it.’ It was a validation of Jamie in Ray’s eyes.’ ”’Ray approved the script [by James L. White],’ said Klopper. ‘The one thing that was most important to him was the portrayal of his mother.’ ”The casting of that actress, Sharon Warren, was a true Cinderella story, said Klopper, who calls casting ‘an instinctual craft.’ Klopper was working in Los Angeles while the location casting director she had hired, Mark Fincannon, was working in Georgia, where the movie was originally going to be filmed, before it later moved to Louisiana. ”Warren, who had worked only in local theater in Atlanta, happened upon the auditions for ‘Ray,’ and walked in without an appointment. ‘Mark Fincannon gave her scenes and told her to come back tomorrow,’ Klopper recalled. ‘She was so green, she had her back to the camera at first. He FedExed me the videotape. It was so unbelievable to see her raw power and raw intensity. ”’There’s a plethora of gifted African-American actors and not enough great parts for them. It’s exciting to let great actors do their thing,’ said Klopper, who sees every movie that comes out in her search for acting talent. ‘People just wanted to be in this movie, there’s such a reverence for Ray Charles.’ Other major parts she cast were the important women in Charles’ life, his wife Della Bea, played by Kerry Washington and his lovers; singer Mary Ann Fisher, played by Aunjanue Ellis, and Raelette Margie Hendricks, played by Regina King ”Another fun part of the casting process for Klopper was having many of the actors who would play performers sing during the audition, even if their voices wouldn’t actually be heard in the film. ‘They had to really look like they knew how to sing, they had to really be performers.’ ”Sobel, who has also been a trusted collaborator of Hackford’s since ‘An Officer and a Gentleman,’ met with Charles three times. ‘We needed music that was not available on recordings, such as a young Ray playing and singing ‘I Got a Woman’ for the first time. Ray worked with us for a week and came up with wonderful new recordings that we used primarily at the beginning of the picture.’ ”Sobel worked with Charles to find other recordings such as a live performance of ‘What’d I Say’ from Charles’ vaults. For authenticity, he asked Charles for his sheet music for some of his songs, so the musicians onscreen could play the original arrangements. At the beginning of his career, before he found his own musical voice, Charles made a living imitating Nat King Cole and other singers. For those scenes, Foxx sang the vocals along with Charles’ piano tracks, since Charles in his 70s couldn’t replicate that youthful voice. ”Lip-syncing was a particular challenge for Foxx, Sobel said, because the vocals weren’t separate from the music. ‘Jamie had to nail both the vocal and piano playing during actual shooting. Taylor and I scrutinized every take, judging the synching with the music track.” ”’There was a tremendous amount of music for Jamie to learn,’ Sobel continued. ‘It would have been overwhelming to give him all of the material to learn up front. So weekly I made a CD for him. Then, in between shots, camera and set changes, Jamie and I were at the piano, with headphones, as he practiced the hand movements for the upcoming musical scenes.’ ”Although most of the filming took place in New Orleans, Sobel found a trumpet coach in the Palisades, Larry Newman. ‘Larenz Tate, who plays Quincy Jones in the film, came over one evening. He’d never picked up a trumpet before. Larry coached him and taught him how to finger the song.’ ”Sobel even had a small part in the movie, conducting the orchestra for ‘Georgia on My Mind.’ He previously had appeared once as a conductor in ‘Cast a Deadly Spell,’ for which he won an Emmy for his song ‘Why Do I Lie?’ ”To make the film more believable, director/producer Hackford had Foxx wear prosthetics over his eyes for 12 to 14 hours during filming. ‘I asked him to go blind for the role,’ said Hackford, who wanted Foxx to not be able to anticipate things, and to bring the experience of blindness to his acting. ”’During looping [dialogue enhancement during post-production], Foxx was shocked when he saw the film, because he’d never seen his fellow actors in makeup and costume,’ recalled Paul Hirsch. ”For Hirsch, the biggest challenge in editing ‘Ray’ was to shorten the first cut from 3 hours 20 minutes down to the final 2 hours 25 minutes. ‘It wasn’t a question of throwing out scenes which didn’t work, we had to take out good material. There was no confusion or bad performances to cut around. In editing, you always have to consider the whole: imagine if the Parthenon had four more rows of columns, it would still be a beautiful building but it might look odd because the proportions wouldn’t be right’just as in a film, you try to find a form that’s suitable. ”’It’s still rather long, but it’s a very comprehensive portrait of a man’s real life, the struggles he had with drug addiction, his personal life, blindness, his artistic life, his business life, how he managed to succeed in a difficult world, where people were trying to take advantage of him. ”’Taylor gave me complete freedom on the first cut,’ said Hirsch, who won the 1978 Oscar for editing ‘Star Wars’ along with Marcia Lucas and fellow Palisadian Richard Chew ‘My approach to the first cut is to make it as close to the script as possible, which, to me, is logically the best starting place. You make choices as an editor, and the director either endorses your choices, or asks for changes to bring it closer to his sensibility. The director is the one who gets to say, ‘This is the way I’d like it to be’ and I am there to help him get what he wants.’ ”Working with Hackford for the first time, Hirsch joined the project six weeks into the filming after the original editor left due to some personal problems, and Hackford was very pleased with Hirsch’s work. ”’He told me that he could feel what I was shooting, that the footage was speaking to him, that he understood what I was trying for,’ Hackford told the Palisadian-Post. ‘I was terribly nervous before looking at his cut but when I saw it I immediately started to relax. He really did see what I had intended. Paul has intelligence, combined with a sense of music and movement.’ ”Charles was given a video of the rough cut of the movie which he listened to on a TV set in his office with poor sound quality. Although he was happy with the dramatic scenes, the filmmakers were hoping to play the movie for him on a sound stage with high-quality speakers, but he became too ill before that could happen. ”Final dubbing on the film was finished in early February and Charles passed away on June 11. ”’The timing of this film, being something Taylor wanted to do for so many years, the fact that he eventually got this going in the final years of Charles’ life is truly incredible,’ said Sobel. ‘Taylor’s brought this great story of this great performer to the screen and to the world.’ ”Hackford equally admires his Palisades collaborators. ‘They all three are really dear to my heart,’ he said. ‘You’re not a painter at an easel, or a writer at a typewriter. These three along with a lot of other people, they all go into making the film that you see. You forge bonds that turn into filial love.’
Maria Richmond Schroeter passed away at her home in Pacific Palisades on October 23. She was 81. ”Maria was born on February 2, 1923 in West Medford, Massachusetts. She was a descendant of Mayflower passenger John Howland through her father (Samuel Waterson Eldridge) and was related to Lord Nelson through her mother (Marian Louise Rothe). She and her three brothers (Marck, Bill and Robert) and her sister (Dorothy Peck) grew up in Arlington. ”After moving to San Francisco during World War II with her mother, sister and brother, and later settling in Los Angeles, Maria began her long career with UCLA in 1945. She left in 1950 to marry Ernest Huband Schroeter. The couple had a daughter (Christina Carol ‘Tina’) and a son (Carl Christian). ”The Schroeters moved to the Palisades in 1960, fulfilling a dream Maria had held since driving through the community on Sunday afternoons with her mother and brother many years before. Coincidentally, she and her husband actually became engaged while parked on a vacant lot at Sunset and Marquez overlooking the ocean, just around the corner from their eventual home. ”When both children reached junior-high age, Maria returned to UCLA in the Institute of Government and Public Affairs. She joined the Law School staff in 1974 and worked until her initial retirement in 1988. She then worked privately for David Mellinkoff on his law dictionary and retired a second time in 1992. She remained closely associated with UCLA, spending time in the Geography Department (where her daughter has worked as an administrator since 1985), supporting the department through Friends of Geography and assisting her daughter with the department’s annual fundraiser. ”Son Carl is a successful builder and is married with two lovely daughters. ”Following Ernie’s passing (in 1991), Maria and her daughter continued to share the Palisades residence and Maria enjoyed commuting to the campus with her on an almost daily basis. The two also enjoyed purchasing, restoring and driving vintage Mercedes-Benz automobiles, particularly the 1967 600 limousine they drove to the Santa Barbara Biltmore Hotel for the Christmas holidays. ”Maria was a lifelong avid reader, especially enjoying works on the Civil War and the American Revolution. ”She is survived by her daughter Christina Carol, her son Carl Christian (wife Christine), daughter-in-law Sandra Rayl (partner Ian Goodwin), granddaughters Kathryn Rose and Isabel Marie, brother Robert (wife Phyllis), nephews and nieces, and very dear friends and long-time neighbors Rudolf and Jeanne Meyer. ”In lieu of flowers, donations in her memory can be directed to Thirty-seventh Church of Christ, Scientist and mailed to the church at 15201 Bestor Boulevard, Pacific Palisades, CA 90272.
Kalman Phillips died on August 17 at his home in Pacific Palisades, due to complications from Alzheimer’s disease. He was 91. ”Kal Phillips was born in Brooklyn, New York, on January 18, 1913, the son of Samuel Phillips and Sofia Zachim, both Eastern European Jewish immigrants. He studied at Columbia University and continued to live in New York City until 1940, when he moved to California. ”Kal served in the U.S. Navy during World War II. After the war, he published more than 100 short stories and wrote, produced, or directed various television shows, including the series ‘Veloz and Yolanda’ and ‘Men Into Space.’ Kal also served as editor of a series of yearbooks, annual photographic histories of the United States in the late 1940s and early 1950s. ”In the early ’50s, Kal joined the international advertising firm of J. Walter Thompson, where he was employed for 13 years in San Francisco and Los Angeles, serving as group head, writer/producer, copy chief, and broadcast director. He created the famous ‘Don’t Be a Litterbug’ campaign for the City of Los Angeles and wrote and produced successful television and radio campaigns for other important accounts, including Douglas Aircraft and Hawaiian Punch. ”After leaving JWT, Kal worked as creative director and broadcast director at two other advertising agencies before striking out on his own, with his friend and colleague Adrian Brown, to form Phillips/ Brown Creative Services, which later became Kalman Phillips Creative Services. Kal’s most acclaimed work in advertising was a series of award-winning theatre, television, and radio commercials that he wrote, produced, and directed for the Los Angeles Times. ”He is survived by his wife of 63 years, Betty Phillips; brother Milton, of Palm Springs; daughter Karen, of Petaluma; and sons Greg and Brad, both of Pacific Palisades; and by eight grandchildren and six great-grandchildren. ”Kal’s family suggests that memorial contributions can be made to the Gladstone Institute of Neurological Disease at UC San Francisco, P.O. Box 419100, San Francisco, CA 94141.
Longtime Palisadian Arthur Kunstman passed away in his sleep on October 24 after a long illness. He was 79. He was born in Chicago on April 23, 1925 and served during World War II aboard the battleship USS Indiana. Art’s name was befitting of his love for artistic expression and his passion towards his business, Hobco Arts, a graphic design firm. He and his wife Teresa met in Chicago and in a very short time, with just pennies in their pockets and an old car, they made the two-week journey to California, where they eventually settled in Pacific Palisades to raise their family. Art loved painting, drawing and especially his sculpture work. His wonderful sense of humor and wisdom has always been admired by his family and many wonderful friends. Along with his wife of 51 years, Art is survived by his daughters, Carmen (husband Frank) of Seal Beach and Margo (husband Alan) of Santa Maria, and grandchildren Chris and Michelle of Seal Beach and Jeffrey, Brian and Alex of Santa Maria. Following Art’s wishes, his ashes will be spread at sea on October 30 in an intimate ceremony with family and friends. Art was dearly loved and will be painfully missed but his memory will live forever. In lieu of flowers, contributions may be made in the name of Arthur Kunstman to Saint John’s Health Center, attention Foundation Office, 1328 22nd. St., Santa Monica, CA 90404-2091.
Incumbent Fran Pavley (D-Agoura Hills), speaking last week at a community gathering in Malibu, attended by Palisadians Ron Dean and Sandy Eddy (middle). Photo: Lloyd Ahern
‘Toughest Rules in Nation. Challenge Expected From Automakers’ You know your voice is being heard when an initiative of yours ends up on the front page of The New York Times, which is exactly what happened to Fran Pavley, the incumbent in Tuesday’s District 41 Assembly race, at the end of September. The article detailed how the California Air Resources Board (CARB) had adopted AB 1493, which imposes stringent air emissions limits upon car manufacturers. The regulations will have enormous ramifications for industry and consumers as California is the country’s biggest automobile market, and could set a precedence: New York and six other Northeastern states have indicated they may pass similar restrictions. ‘I was proud to carry AB 1493 in the beginning, and very pleased to see the California Air Resources Board adopt the final regulations last month,’ Pavley said. ‘California is again leading the way in the fight for cleaner air for all of our citizens.’ While the regulations will only apply to vehicles manufactured in the 2009 model year or after, CARB’s adoption of AB 1493 is the culmination of the assemblymember’s four-year effort to get gas emissions from vehicles, which scientists have linked to global warming, drastically reduced’about 30 percent by 2016. Some of the technology needed to meet that target is already on the road in the form of gas-electric hybrid cars, which Pavley herself drives. Since she was elected to the State Legislature in 2000, 23 of the bills Pavley has authored have been passed into law. Besides her global warming bill’AB 1493, signed in 2002 by former Governor Gray Davis’Pavley had 12 bills recently signed by Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger. Another of her environmental bills is AB 1009, which requires trucks entering California from Mexico to meet federal emission standards. Pavley pointed out that ‘air pollution is already the number one environmental health hazard in the state, and is linked to the high rates of asthma and respiratory illnesses in both adults and children.’ Foreign trucks, because they are often older than U.S. vehicles, are generally considered to be heavier polluters. Pavley said she felt compelled to do something in response to a Supreme Court decision that allows Mexican trucks to operate in the United States even though many do not currently meet U.S. air emissions standards. She said she read about the situation ‘in the newspaper, like everyone else.’ Other Pavley bills recently passed include: ”AB 2901, which requires cellular phone makers, effective July 1, 2006, to take back their used products at no cost to the consumer for recycling, reuse or proper disposal. Most cell phones have an average life span of 18 months and currently end up in California landfills. ‘where their hazardous contents can leak out and contaminate the soil and groundwater,’ Pavley said. ”AB 2943 will prohibit, by July 2006, the injection of any pregnant woman or child under three years of age with a vaccine that contains more than trace levels of mercury. Mercury is known to cause brain damage in fetuses and young children. The bill contains an exception to allow mercury vaccines to be used in the event of a public health emergency, bio-terrorist threat, or supply shortage. ”AB 2554, which amends current law to eliminate the earnings limit ($22,000) for certain retired members of the State Teachers’ Retirement System who return to service. ‘While we need to continue to create incentives for college graduates and mid-career individuals to enter the teaching profession, we must work with school districts in the meantime to find ways to encourage highly qualified teachers to help fill the gaps,’ explained Pavley. ‘The bill will encourage more experienced teachers to step into positions such as special education, math and science, which are typically the most difficult to fill.’ While Pavley, a former teacher and former Mayor of Agoura Hills, is pleased ‘that Governor Schwarzenegger signed bills I authored that will allow hybrid vehicles to drive in diamond lanes, allow low-income seniors to postpone property tax payments, and protect consumers from identity theft,’ Pavley said, she is ‘disappointed that he did not sign other important bills of mine that would have reduced pharmaceutical costs to consumers and provided whistleblower protection to government attorneys.’ Since the current campaign began, Pavley said she has only met her Republican opponent, Heather Peters, once ‘at a community debate.’ Also running against Pavley is Libertarian Richard Koffler (see adjacent story). (Editor’s note: Palisadian-Post intern Helen Highberger contributed to this report.)
With election day just around the corner, you may have last-minute voting questions or concerns about what to expect in Pacific Palisades on November 2. Don’t fret. The answers, too, are close at hand. But first, some statistics. In last October’s California gubernatorial recall election, 48 percent of eligible Palisadians were registered Democrat, 34 percent were registered Republican, 14 percent were independents or declined to state their party, and the rest were ‘scattered among small parties,’ according to Joe Halper, Democratic Club President. He also told the Palisadian-Post that 52 percent of registered voters in the Palisades voted in that election. This year, Halper predicts that there will be ‘major shifts because of the amount of interest and depth of feelings that have gone into this election’ and the result will be a greater turnout of voters. Based on phone calls to registered Democrats and independents in the Palisades, he says that about one-third of them are voting absentee. In the last six weeks, the volunteers at the Democratic headquarters in Santa Monica (located at 900 Wilshire Blvd.), have registered over 5,000 new voters, Halper says. As of the October 18 registration deadline, L.A. County had nearly four million registered voters, according to a Los Angeles Times article that appeared Sunday (‘New Voters’ Impact Debated’). However, the article stated that ‘in most states where figures are available, it is nonpartisan voters who have recorded the largest increases’ and the ‘political significance of the new registrations remains unclear.’ What also remains unclear is which new voters will show up at the polls on election day. Palisades Republican Club president Curt Baer says that the Republican headquarters office in the 881 Alma Real building has been ‘trying to get out the vote and answer any questions our voters have.’ He adds that ‘we’ve seen a lot of enthusiastic support’ for President George Bush. One November 2, volunteers at both the Republican and Democratic headquarters will be monitoring voters and contacting registered voters who have not yet cast their ballots to remind them to vote. In response to the nationwide focus on voter protection at the polls, Democratic headquarters manager Marcy Winograd says, ‘We’re taking a more proactive stance to protect the right to vote, making sure everyone knows their rights and that they are entitled to a provisional ballot if they have a problem at the polls.’ She adds that Democratic headquarters will have a table set up on election day in front of the People’s Bank on Sunset, across from Starbucks. Should questions or concerns arise on November 2, Republican voters can call the headquarters at 454-4345. The election protection hotline for the Democratic Party is 877-321-VOTE; to set up transportation to the polls, call 451-1094. What voters should know is that those standing in line to vote at 7 p.m. are entitled to vote, and everyone is entitled to a provisional ballot, according to Winograd. She adds that ‘a voter is allowed to wear a [political] button or T-shirt as long as he or she is not campaigning [at the polls].’ With 29 precincts in the Palisades from the Riviera area to Santa Monica Canyon, voters should check their sample ballots for the address of their polling place, which may have changed from last year.
While teaching its students about successful participation and service in the Palisades community, Renaissance Academy Charter High School struggles to maintain ground at its 881 Alma Real location. At 4 p.m. Tuesday, 25 Renaissance students volunteered to empty trash cans and pick up loose trash in the Palisades business district, a project that was part of the community service component of the charter, according to Bill Bryan, RA board president and parent. ‘The school plans to make this a regular thing,’ Bryan said. ‘The real question is ‘Why haven’t we done this sooner?’ and the answer is ‘We haven’t done it sooner because we’ve been trying to survive.” And survive they have, despite being served with a Notice of Default by building landlord Greg Schem two weeks ago, and undergoing a progress inspection from L.A.’s Department of Building and Safety last week. The inspection was performed after Building and Safety ‘received a complaint about occupancy,’ said Robert Steinbach, the department’s public information officer. The school was found to be ‘exceeding what permits allow for number of occupants’ and ‘occupying parts of the building outside [the school’s] temporary Certificate of Occupancy,’ including using ground-level space as classrooms and more than the four permitted classrooms on the lower terrace level. To date, Building and Safety has officially restricted the ground level for administration and counseling, and stipulated that only 90 students occupy the four permitted classrooms on the lower terrace level. Renaissance currently has about 325 students. As a result of the inspection, Building and Safety issued the school a correction notice, which is ‘what inspectors use on any building site,’ according to Steinbach. No citation or ‘issue to comply’ was issued because there were no life safety problems and Renaissance is making an appeal to City Planning on the parking issue, Steinbach said. The parking situation needs to be resolved before Building and Safety can issue Renaissance a ‘change of use’ permit to E(ducation)-Occupancy, allowing for one person per every 20 square feet. The change of use would allow for over 350 students. Under the Pacific Palisades Specific Plan, a high school requires ‘seven parking spaces for each classroom or teaching station.’ This plan technically requires RA, if and when it is officially permitted by Building and Safety to use all 15 classrooms, to provide a total of 105 parking spaces in the building. While the underground garage can accommodate up to 268 vehicles, and the school has only 27 designated spaces in its lease’reflecting the current permitted use of four classrooms’RA said it only needs 20 spaces and has ‘initiated the process for obtaining a parking variance,’ according to Bryan. ‘Because they’re taking the necessary steps to comply [with Building and Safety], we suspend enforcement,’ Steinbach said yesterday. ‘We won’t take any further action unless there’s a [decision made about the parking variance] from City Planning.’ Meanwhile, Renaissance met its October 25 deadline for responding to landlord Schem’s Notice of Default. Last week, Schem told the Palisadian-Post that the school had ’10 days to comply with the terms of the lease’ from the time it was served. As to specific violations of the lease, Schem only said, ‘there are way more students using the building than are permitted by Building and Safety.’ When asked about RA’s response to the Notice of Default, Schem said, ‘We’d love to see them stay but they have to stay within an amount [of students] that works for Building and Safety requirements.’ Bryan emphasized that Renaissance ‘strenuously disagrees with [the landlord’s] interpretation of the lease,’ specifically in terms of ground floor use, and said, ‘We will pursue relief from that [interpretation] with the help of lawyers.’ He added that RA has told its attorneys, ‘We will follow your conservative advice as long as you aggressively pursue getting [use of] the space back.’ From a financial point of view, the public school has struggled most with ‘the complete prohibition of our class activities on the ground floor,’ which Bryan said ‘is backbreaking, but we’ve accepted it.’ This week, Renaissance has allowed 150 students to study in the terrace level because that is the number permitted by the Los Angeles Fire Department. Those students have been using seven of the eight classrooms on that level. Only independent study groups of about 10 students have been using the ground level, according to Bryan. Other RA students have been attending classes at satellite locations, including Aldersgate Retreat Center on Haverford, which is owned by the United Methodist Church. ‘We have a semi-permanent arrangement with Aldersgate,’ said Bryan, who explained that they will be using the facility (three to four rooms) almost every day for the rest of the school year, except for days when the rooms have already been reserved or planned events are taking place. Aldersgate could not be reached for comment. Students are also studying in a room at the Methodist Church, the YMCA board room and, occasionally, in Mort’s Oak Room. ‘Sometimes [the students] get scared that the school is going to go away,’ Bryan said. ‘We tell them that it’s going to be in existence for a long time.’ He added that only ‘a tiny number’ have left Renaissance. The school is still continuing to search for an alternate permanent location.
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