Palisades Electric: Family and Community

Growing up in Pacific Palisades, Jamie McLeod had an early interest in electricity. ‘He used to take things apart, like a television set, and put them back together,’ said his older sister, Carolyn Minium. ‘He made an electric chair and constructed a phone that you could hear and talk on six blocks away.   Laughing, she added, ‘And you knew if you’d grab a doorknob, you’d get an electric shock.’   So it was no surprise to family or friends when McLeod, in 1984, opened Palisades Electric next to Amazing Music, off Swarthmore Avenue.   Realizing he also needed an office manager, he asked Carolyn if she would temporarily help out. The Marquez Elementary kindergarten teacher agreed, and 27 years later she still holds that role.   After outgrowing its Swarthmore space in 2001, Palisades Electric moved temporarily to a space off Marquez Avenue, but McLeod always had an eye on a building built by his father Bill, a realtor, at 17374 Sunset’next to Safeway (now Vons), just north of PCH.   ’We watched the building when there was a cleaners in it, and then it was a tattoo parlor,’ Minium said. ‘When we heard it was up for sale, we snatched it, because it has sentimental value for us.’   They moved their business there in 2007, not only gaining more room for electrical supplies, but space to park the company trucks.   ’The signage is also more visible,’ McLeod said. ‘We get jobs from people driving on Sunset on their way to PCH or the Highlands.’   McLeod and Minium grew up with four siblings (Kent, Tom, John and Peggy) in the Marquez Knolls neighborhood in the ’50s and ’60s. Kent, Tom and Carolyn graduated from Palisades High School, but the other three graduated from Paradise High after their parents, Bill and Jeanne, moved to Northern California.   Immediately after graduating in 1983, Jamie moved back to the Palisades and worked for brother Tom, who owned Southern California Construction, before opening his own business.   ’A lot of our clients are friends and families of the people we grew up with,’ said McLeod, who initially built a house on Livorno, but now lives in Big Rock. ‘I’m going back to work at houses that my friends lived in.’   Minium, who lives in the Palisades with husband Chuck, handles all of the office-related business, including answering the phones, scheduling, payroll, invoicing and paying bills. The couple have two sons, Jason, 32, and Ryan, 30, and a grandchild, Christian. McLeod’s daughter, Taylor, is a senior at Archer School for Girls.   McLeod is responsible for the fieldwork, such as estimates, overseeing the six electricians who work for him, and dealing with the city and permitting. ‘He’s hands-on,’ Minium said. ‘He runs the guys.’   Not all grown siblings work so well together, but Carolyn attributes part of her compatibility with Jamie to their age difference. ‘When we were growing up, I always took care of the younger ones,’ she said. On the office walls are headshots of celebrities such as Tom Hanks, Courtney Cox and Ted Danson, who are also customers.   One of the company’s early clients was Frank Sinatra. ‘He had a house on Broad Beach in Malibu and every night at 1 a.m. all of the second-story lights would go on and the shades would go up,’ McLeod recalled, noting that Sinatra was at the point of selling his house because no one could figure out the oddity.   ’I worked my way through the house,’ McLeod said, ‘until I finally isolated the problem in the master bathroom. His electric razor, which was plugged in the wall, was sending false signals to the electrical system.’ The fix was simple: ‘I plugged in a little $20 filter, which prevented the razor from sending the signals.’   After that, Sinatra hired McLeod to handle all of the electrical work at his homes in Malibu, Westwood and Beverly Hills.   Of course, Palisades Electric also takes good care of locals. ‘We offer a senior-citizen discount,’ Minium said, ‘and no job is too small, even something as simple as a plug not working. ‘Sometimes if it is a small job, we don’t charge the full house call.’   McLeod and Minium receive calls from people they know who have moved away from the area, asking them to help parents who are still living here. ‘We treat our clients like family,’ Carolyn said, noting that many of their new customers come from referrals.   With the addition of large-screen televisions, computers, printers and other electrical upgrades, many of McLeod’s jobs deal with replacing electrical panels, which contain the breakers to electrical circuits.   ’An old house may have four circuits, because when it was built, residents only had a few house lights that needed electricity,’ he said. ‘Now new homes may have as many as 50 different circuits, with a dedicated circuit for everything.’   McLeod also noted that a lot of the older electrical panels are being recalled. ‘Anything electrical that could be a fire hazard in your house should be taken care of immediately,’ he said.   In addition to subcontracting electrical wiring in new homes, Palisades Electric works with realtors and home inspections. McLeod also handles repairs of those same homes after inspections.   The company also specializes in troubleshooting, and installs landscape lighting and back-up generators. While thousands of Palisadians were without electricity during the March 26 power outage, some homes had full power because of back-up generators, powered by natural gas, propane or diesel.   ’More and more people are requesting emergency generators,’ McLeod said. ‘We have clients who are on oxygen, so its imperative they always have power.’ The brother/sister team understands that one of the reasons their business has grown is because people trust them and know they are honest. ‘My brother has told people, ‘You don’t need a whole new panel, you just need a circuit,” Minium said. Call: (310) 454-6994 or visit www.palisadeselectric.com