Hidden behind a stack of books in her office at the Palisades Branch Library on Alma Real, Diana Lisignoli-Cochran goes about her job quietly and efficiently. And although she prefers not to draw attention to herself, she has already made a profound difference in her newly appointed position as senior librarian. ”’This community has the right to a great library and that’s what we want to give them,’ says Lisignoli-Cochran, who took over September 20 when predecessor Cheryl Collins transferred to a new library in Westwood. One of her top priorities since then has been to expand the library’s volume of books. ”’I’m really anxious to build up the collection. Right now we have about 45,000 books, which is about average for a library this size,’ she says. ‘Regional branches would have at least twice that. We’d probably be limited to about 80,000, so we still have a long way to go before we reach our limit. I noticed we’re especially lacking in biographies’particularly those of the sports, music and historical varieties.’ ”In addition to building a larger collection of books, Lisignoli-Cochran oversees the safety and maintenance of the building, works with Friends of the Library, assigns free library cards, and supervises a staff consisting of four librarians, two full-time clerks, three part-time clerks and four messenger clerks (primarily responsible for shelving books). ”Fresh starts are nothing new for Lisignoli-Cochran. She has worked at a number of Los Angeles area libraries, including her previous position in Playa Vista, where she had served since January. Before that, she worked at a branch in Woodland Hills for three years. She and her husband of 14 years, David, recently moved to Brentwood and enjoy living on the Westside. ”The Palisades branch (located at 861 Alma Real Dr.) was one of 33 libraries remodeled or rebuilt under Proposition DD, which passed in 1998. Asked about her new venue, Lisignoli-Cochran says it compares favorably to other libraries she’s worked in. ”’The layout here is very good. There are separate rooms for young adults and adults, the setting is beautiful with a nice view and the sunlight through the windows in the daytime. We have guided Internet access for all eight children’s computers, which are equipped with Kids’ Path (a child-friendly computer program). We also just updated to Windows 2000.’ ” ”Like many in her field, Lisignoli-Cochran loves to read and if one were to catch her with her nose in a book, it would probably be fiction or romance. ‘I’m a romantic at heart,’ she confesses, citing Nora Roberts, Sandra Brown and Sue Grafton as three of her favorite authors. ”Lisignoli-Cochran grew up in Santa Rosa and earned her B.A. in history from Sonoma State University. She wanted to be a P.E. teacher but didn’t have the science background. So she enrolled in graduate school at USC with the intention of working in hospitals as a medical librarian, but ultimately earned her master’s degree in library science instead. ”Computers have transformed the nature of the job since Lisignoli-Cochran started her career 20 years ago. With access to information so much more immediate nowadays, she notes how important it is for libraries to stay on the cutting edge of technology. ”’Things are quite a bit different than they used to be,’ she says. ‘Back then, if a patron wanted a book they might have to wait for our copy to be returned, whereas now we get books very quickly for people. Computers also make inventory a lot easier. We can punch a button and locate exactly where a book is. That takes a lot of the detective work out of the equation.’ ”Web sites and passwords also make checking out books, videos and DVDs easier for patrons. ‘We used to order books based on what’s being checked out more frequently, which we don’t have to do now because we can borrow from all over the system. Another thing that’s different is that patrons can renew or put holds on books from home.’ ”To reserve a book online, go to www.lapl.org. For the library call 459-2754.

Forever green and forever desirable. The Veterans Administration property, 400 acres of coveted open space between Westwood and Brentwood, straddles two city council districts, but remains an island unto itself under the jurisdiction of the U.S. government. While the south side of the campus, which is bisected by Wilshire Boulevard, houses the country’s largest veterans hospital, the north side is scattered with 150 World War II-era buildings, a few upgraded for dormitories and service operations for vets, but most in need of structural upgrades. ”Over the years, a piecemeal planning approach has resulted in dozens of ideas to develop the property, including the most recent plan to create a commerical development the size of two Century Cities. But, this September, the Department of Veteran Affairs announced it would establish a new advisory committee to work on developing a 25-year, long-range master plan. ”The VA history began in the 1880s when 700 acres were donated for an old soldiers home for Civil War veterans. The self-sustained community contained not only a hospital and housing, but also a chapel, theater and recreational facilities, including a golf course and vegetable garden. ” ”As the number of veterans diminished over the last 50 years, portions of the property were leased to outside operations, including Brentwood School and UCLA’s Jackie Robinson Stadium and Wadsworth Theatre, but much of the property remains underutilized. ”For the past 25 years, the VA property has been eyed by real estate developers and promoters, with rumored uses including an NFL stadium, biomedical research facility, commercial development and an expansion of the UCLA campus. ”But the integrity of the land has remained protected by the federal government’s Veterans Affairs department, whose main purpose remains focused on serving the medical needs of war veterans. ”’This facility is the largest in the 168-facility system,’ said Ken Clark, regional director for the VA hospitals in Southern California and Nevada, who participated in an Urban Forum panel discussion last month in Westwood on the fate of the property. ”’We serve 1.2 million ambulatory care patients annually and provide 900 beds in the hospital,’ Clark said. ‘In addition to direct service, the VA also trains medical interns and residents jointly with UCLA and conducts research. The facility also provided the first dialysis unit on the West Coast.’ In 1998, Congress instructed the West L. A. VA to develop a long-term master plan, and in 2001 a committee unveiled a plan that elicited clamorous opposition from the Brentwood community, City Councilwoman Cindy Miscikowski, County Supervisor Zev Yaroslavsky and Rep. Henry Waxman. ”Representation on that committee was limited to VA administrators, facilities consultants three Brentwood residents and Lisa Pinto, district director for Congressman Waxman. ‘Neither the county, city or Westwood residents was represented,’ said Flora Krisiloff, chairman of the Brentwood Community Council who served on the committee. ”The problem with the plan, which would have created Century City-type development, was that it was based on the highest and best use of the property if commercially developed, said Krisiloff. ‘It didn’t take into consideration environmental impacts, or that it was donated land or most importantly the needs of the veterans.’ ”Krisiloff, who is a candidate to replace Miscikowski on the City Council, was instrumental in expressing local demands that the Federal Government develop a new master plan and was recently selected to serve on the new planning committee. ”Recognizing that ‘the VA is not in land-use management, but in the health-care business, Clark said that the Secretary of Veterans Advisory Affairs, Anthony J. Principi, announced in September that a Federal Advisory Committee would be established to provide advice in the development of the new master plan. ” The major difference this time around, according to Pinto, from Congressman Waxman’s office, is that the advisory committee will seek input from all stakeholders, including political, residential and property interests. ”’The first of the year, a contractor will be selected who will develop and evaluate options for the most appropriate plan,’ Clark said. While the plan is scheduled to be completed by December 2005, both Clark and Pinto are doubtful. ‘This is the largest VA in the nation, surrounded by densely populated residential communities and heavy traffic,’ Pinto said. ‘This will require a delicate balance among all the stakeholders.’ Another consideration in developing a master plan is the historic nature of the site. The National Preservation Act stipulates that remedies be used to avoid doing harm to historic resources. Thirty-nine of the mostly Spanish Revival buildings are eligible for historic status, while the historic chapel and the red trolley station already have National Historic status, as does the national cemetery, according to Ken Bernstein, director of preservation for the L.A. Conservancy, who also participated on the panel. While recognizing that the first priority is the needs of the vets, Bernstein said that he did not think that that aim was inconsistent with adaptive reuse of historic buildings. ”Although panel members, which also included Yaroslavsky’s deputy Laura Shell, would not speculate on the planning outcome, they were consistent in their support for the change in course.” ”’I have no idea where this [planning process] will go,’ Clark said. ‘This is a clean slate, if you will.’ ”Congressional District Director Pinto is hopeful the Federal Advisory Committee will be meaningful. ‘There will be open meetings, note-taking, and the Congressman will be monitoring every step of this process, including who will serve on the committee,’ she said.

In a surprise move, Sotheby’s International Realty acquired the nine Dalton, Brown & Long Realtors offices last Thursday. The Palisades DBL office, located in the business building at 15308 Sunset, will now operate as Sotheby’s International Realty. Alan Long, formerly president of DBL Realtors and one of its founders, has been named president of the Southern California region. ‘The opportunity to become part of the Sotheby’s organization will provide our sales associates with tremendous potential to grow their businesses,’ said Long, who also told the Palisadian-Post that the Palisades office and its 45 agents would continue to serve the community ‘exactly as it does now. We are very pleased to have access to Sotheby’s client base.’ Last year, DBL Realtors was the fourth-largest real estate brokerage firm in L.A. County, posting $3.3 billion in sales. The acquisition nearly triples Sotheby’s presence in Southern California, adding more than 600 sales associates working out of DBL’s offices located in the Palisades, Santa Monica, Beverly Hills, Brentwood, Los Feliz, the Sunset Strip, Pasadena, Palm Desert and Palm Springs. Now, more than 750 agents will be affiliated with Sotheby’s. ‘Under Alan Long’s leadership, DBL Realtors has established an outstanding reputation for professionalism and enjoyed great success, as evidenced by the company’s sizable growth in this market,’ said Stuart Siegel, president of Sotheby’s International Realty, Inc. ‘We were attracted to this company because it shares many key attributes’savvy marketing, community involvement, and first-class service to their sales associates and clients.’ Asked how the acquisition came about, Long told the Post that he ‘received a call four or five weeks ago from Stuart [Siegel] suggesting we have dinner. It was that simple.’ Long said that given the continuing trend towards consolidation in the real estate industry, he had recently received several offers to buy his firm but turned them all down because ‘they all wanted me out. Sotheby’s offer provided the best opportunity for me and my associates to expand. It’s a big market out there.’ Thrilled by the news is local agent Betty-Jo Tilley, who joined DBL a year ago. ‘Sotheby’s has always had a cachet, an image of sophistication, so I think it’s an ideal match for us.’ Sotheby’s International Realty was founded in 1976 primarily to service clients of Sotheby’s auction house, which has been in operation for over 250 years and is known worldwide. In addition to Southern California, the company operates brokerage offices in key metropolitan and resort markets, including Manhattan, the Hamptons, Connecticut, Palm Beach, San Francisco, and Jackson Hole, Wyoming. The DBL acquisition by Sotheby’s is its first since the company was itself acquired in February by NRT Inc., the largest residential real estate brokerage firm in the United States. NRT also owns several other real estate franchises and brokerages, including Coldwell Banker, which has three offices in the Palisades (Sunset West, Sunset East and the Highlands). ‘We will continue to be what we have always been’friendly competitors,’ Long said. ‘While we are all now owned by the same company, we are operating under different names, different brands.’ Asked how clients will be able to differentiate one company from the other, Long said: ‘It will come down to the individual service they receive from our agents, as it always has.’ NRT is a subsidiary of Cendant Corporation, which provides consumer services worldwide. Besides real estate, its companies (including Cheap Tickets, Ramada Inn International, Travelodge, Avis and Budget Rent-a-Car) provide various travel services. Now, the only two remaining independent real estate firms in the Palisades are A.M. Realty and Palisades Realty. Prudential California Realty, located at 881 Alma Real, is owned by the country’s second-largest real estate company: Home Services of America Inc, a Berkshire Hathaway affiliate.

Negotiations between Renaissance Academy and Greg Schem, landlord of the 881 Alma Real building, came to a halt this week when the school’s board authorized the filing of a civil lawsuit against Village Real Estate, LLC, the building’s owner. Schem told the Palisadian-Post Wednesday morning that he had not yet received a copy of the lawsuit filed by the new charter high school, which has an enrollment of more than 300 students in grades 9-12. In a six-hour board meeting November 10, Renaissance Academy board members decided that no further ‘good-faith settlement proposals’ on their part could be made to resolve the ongoing landlord-tenant dispute, which began during the first week of classes in September when Schem, in a surprise move, terminated the school’s lease effective June 16, 2005. ‘Although we very much wanted to avoid filing suit, and would still prefer to resolve the dispute through negotiation, we feel we have a very strong case, and are therefore confident we will receive a good outcome in the courts,’ the RA board wrote in a press release posted on the school’s Web site (www.rahigh.org). Bill Bryan, president of the RA board and a school parent, told the Post Tuesday: ‘We’ve done all the begging that there is to do. The lawsuit speaks for itself.’ The board’s decision to file a lawsuit came after it received a settlement proposal from Schem in late October. ‘We proposed a compromise on how we’d work together with [the school] and the City [of Los Angeles] to up the number of students on the terrace level to 150,’ Schem said Tuesday. To date, the L.A. Department of 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. According to Bryan, Schem’s proposal ‘didn’t really invite a counter. In order to agree to the proposal, we’d have to agree to using less space than we are now.’ Since receiving clearance from the L.A. Fire Department in October, Renaissance has been allowing 150 students to attend classes on the terrace level. Those students have been using seven of the eight classrooms on that level. Independent study groups of about 10 students have been using the ground level. Other RA students have been attending classes at alternate Palisades locations, including the YMCA board room, a private home, Aldersgate Retreat Center on Haverford (which is owned by the United Methodist Church) and, occasionally, at Mort’s Oak Room. The press release announcing the lawsuit this week stated ‘that the strains of running a high school at multiple locations’in particular the extra challenges faced by our wonderful teachers, and the substantial extra rental costs’have become more than we can bear.’ ‘We feel we’ve been denied the fair use of the space we’ve rented,’ Bryan reiterated to the Post. ‘The necessity [for filing a lawsuit] is to attempt to get more use of the space through June.’ In addition to obtaining instructional use of the ground-level space, Renaissance wants approval to complete renovations in a second chunk of space on the terrace level, about 1,000 square feet in suite T-9, where construction was halted in its initial stages when black mold was discovered. ‘We began submitting plans to finish the space and [the landlord] has refused them,’ Bryan said. ‘T-9 is an unusable shell at the moment, but it could be [finished] easily in a week.’ Renaissance also needs the landlord’s approval to complete installation of the life safety upgrades, which would allow for more students to occupy the school’s space. ‘We have still not received approval,’ Bryan said. According to Schem, ‘The school continues to violate numerous Building and Safety codes and we’re puzzled as to why no enforcement action has taken place.’ While Schem said Wednesday morning that he had not seen the aforementioned lawsuit, he confirmed that he had not filed a suit against Renaissance, though he did not dismiss the option. ‘We can take [RA] to court and we’ll undoubtedly win,’ he said. Meanwhile, the Pacific Palisades Community Council subcommittee formed during the council’s September 23 meeting to address concerns regarding Renaissance, is ‘dormant,’ according to council vice-chairman Kurt Toppel. The committee met three times, but didn’t reach any specific recommendations. ‘It’s not the Community Council’s job to do what the school should do,’ Toppel said Tuesday. Bryan said, ‘The subcommittee proved to be an unwieldy forum for addressing the issues, and we decided one-on-one discussion between the council and the school would be more productive.’

A year ago, Paul Revere sixth grader Carlos Macario was killed in the crosswalk as he ran to catch the westbound MTA bus at the intersection of Sunset and Allenford. The tragedy was a grim reminder that this corner’a half block from the middle school that serves 2,190 sixth, seventh and eighth graders’is part of an overwhelming onslaught of traffic and congestion that plagues the neighborhood every school day. Now, a year later, little has changed. Traffic still backs up on Sunset in the morning and at dismissal, cars clog Allenford’the only access road to the school’and neighbors still complain about their inability to get in and out of their streets. Immediately after the accident last October, Revere principal Art Copper met with LAUSD representatives and West L.A. traffic officials to address the chaotic traffic situation that exists around the school at arrival and dismissal times. A number of suggestions to tame the traffic nightmare and remedy the dangerous situation were discussed, including strict enforcement of No Parking signs on Allenford, letters to parents urging carpooling, posting School Zone signs and conducting a Department of Transportation survey to determine the volume of traffic on Sunset. According to Mo Blorfroshan, DOT engineer, a three-day 24-hour traffic count conducted in June 2004 showed almost the exact same volume (25,170 vehicles) as the three-day count taken in November 2003 (25,242). Meanwhile a parent transportation committee, now under the leadership of Revere parent Sue Pascoe, has pursued ways to increase bus transportation to and from school, particularly for Palisades students, most of whom arrive or depart by private car. Although there are 22 LAUSD ‘yellow’ buses serving the school, these are designated for magnet school students, students who come from schools that are overcrowded, and those who are not otherwise served by transportation, as in the case of students who live in Topanga Canyon. At the afternoon dismissal, there is public bus service for homebound students. Three MTA ‘school trippers’ stop on Allenford; two travel westbound on Sunset to Marquez, and one travels eastbound toward Beverly Hills. Some students use the MTA commuter buses that travel east and west on Sunset in the afternoon, particularly if they have missed the school tripper or if those buses are overcrowded. Since the opening of Revere in 1955, housing has steadily grown in the Palisades, including the significant population in the Highlands, nearly 10 miles from the school. ‘There was never an adequate projection done about the number of students being added to both Paul Revere and Marquez Elementary,’ according to Pascoe. The school district stopped providing resident bus service in 1979, as a consequence of Proposition 13, but has reserved $16.7 million of its annual budget for Other Transportation Students, Pascoe told the Palisadian-Post. Antonio Rodriguez, LAUSD branch director of transportation, says that a few schools fall under the distance and hazard category, ‘in cases where there are no sidewalks on part of the walking route assigned to children, in which case the busing becomes necessary because of a safety issue.’ Pascoe cited the students who live near Chautauqua as qualifying for bus service under this category. ‘For most of the route [from Chautauqua to Allenford], the sidewalk is either a trail, a part of a sidewalk or a sidewalk that is directly next to the road, functioning as a shoulder for the road,’ she said. ‘And there are blind curves all along Sunset.’ In researching ways to provide more buses for students and thereby reduce the passenger car crush on Allenford, Pascoe investigated the idea of piggybacking on school bus service to and from Palisades High School. She soon discovered that the contract service, First Student Buses, could not provide a PaliHi bus early enough to accommodate Paul Revere students. They could provide an additional bus to Paul Revere, paid for by parents at a cost of $600 a year’an annual fee Revere booster club thought was ‘prohibitive for many families.’ Pascoe then contacted LAUSD to see if the district would contract their buses that arrive at PaliHi before 7:15 a.m. for Paul Revere, but ‘the district refuses to contract those buses out to parent groups because as a public entity they they would lose their tax and insurance status,’ she said. Having reached an impasse in trying to remedy the traffic crisis at Revere, Pascoe is appealing to the community to encourage school board member Marlene Canter to support busing students from the Palisades and Brentwood to Paul Revere. ‘Paul Revere is a school that is entitled to local busing because of the safety issue,’ Pascoe said.

Brian Clark, who has leased the historic gas station in Santa Monica Canyon for the last nine years, found himself locked out on Tuesday morning. A chain link fence surrounded the station and Clark was told by Monica Queen, who is selling the property, that he could call and make an appointment to collect his personal belongings. Even though Queen had given him notice weeks ago that the property had been sold and that the escrow could not close until he vacated the premises, Clark said he plans to file an unlawful eviction action. ‘They have no right to lock me out,’ Clark said. ‘I never thought it would come to this.’ Within an hour of receiving Queen’s permission to enter the site, Clark had several workers on the lot stripping the contents of the station, taking away the vintage Coke machines, the neon lights, and the restored gas pumps’all of which he planned to store until a settlement can be reached. As one of Clark’s workers was unscrewing the antique ‘Canyon Gas’ street sign, he was interrupted by Queen, who said the sign belonged to her. Clark, who had painstakingly restored the station, explained that ‘all the fixtures here belong to me. She said she was planning to donate all of my fixtures to the Petersen Car Museum. But how can she donate what isn’t hers? The building and the gas tanks under the ground are what belong to her.’ After being on the market for over a year, the property, which includes the service station on Entrada Drive, went into escrow in early October. Also included in the sale is a 100-year-old house, one of the last remaining homes of the Marquez family, the original owners of the Rancho Boca de Santa Monica land grant. The Palisadian-Post was unable to confirm whether escrow actually closed on Monday, as was planned according to Clark. Whoever is buying the 17,000-sq.-ft. lot is believed to be paying close to the $2.3-million asking price. ‘I’ll have to get back to you,’ is all Queen, who lives in the two-bedroom house located behind the gas station, would say when asked by the Post about the status of the sale, which appears related to settling the estate of Queen’s mother, Angelina Marquez Olivera, who died in 2002. While the property is zoned R-1, there has been a conditional use permit since 1925 for the gas station to operate in this residential neighborhood. It is leased for $2,000 a month. Tuesday’s confrontation between Clark and Queen exacerbated a game of cat and mouse which has been going on for the last two months. The wrangling began in September when Clark, along with local realtor Frank Langen, tried to purchase the property on behalf of the community and was rebuffed. ‘I feel betrayed,’ Clark said at the time. ‘We made them a full-price offer. I thought we had a deal. They seemed really happy about the idea of preserving the gas station and maybe turning the house into a museum. Then two days later there are workers here taking soil samples to see if the gas tanks are leaking. That’s how I found out they had sold the property to someone else.’ Now, in a last-ditch attempt to save the station, the Santa Monica Canyon Civic Association (SMCCA), which represents neighboring residents, has applied to the L.A. Cultural Heritage Commission to have the station, the oldest full-service gas station in Los Angeles, declared a Historic-Cultural monument. The hearing is set for next Wednesday. If SMCCA’s proposal is approved the new owner would not be allowed to demolish, alter or move the station for one year, buying Clark and the community more time. ‘It’s a race to the end,’ said Clark, who has had a lease on the distinctive orange-and-white station since 1996. ‘If escrow closes this week, before the hearing, there is nothing to prevent the new owner from obtaining a permit and tearing the station down. All we can do is hope that doesn’t happen.’ For now, the fixtures of the vintage station are in a storage facility. While acknowledging that if and when the station were to reopen there would still be zoning and variance issues to be resolved, Clark is sure a community buy-out of the property is the best way to go. ‘We can put everything back the way it was. But we need everyone to show up at the hearing on Wednesday,’ Clark said. (Editor’s note: The L.A. Cultural Heritage Commission hearing is scheduled for Wednesday, November 17 at 10 a.m. at City Hall, 200 Spring Street.)