The big question in the Wolfberg household these days is: What will George do now that he’s going to have some time on his hands? Or, to be more precise: What is he going to do after he gives up half of his volunteer civic responsibilities tonight, when his two-year tenure as chairman of the Pacific Palisades Community Council ends? While Wolfberg will continue to chair the Santa Monica Canyon Civic Association, how will he spend the day ‘or two’ a week he currently devotes to PPCC business? ‘There are lots of things for him to do around the house,’ responds his wife Diane. ‘There are lots of things for me to do around the house,’ said George, playfully mimicking Diane. The very idea that George Wolfberg, 66, will really, finally, have some free time elicits a huge laugh from both of them, especially Diane, who is involved in her own volunteer causes. Three years ago she received a Golden Sparkplug Award from the Community Council for her work with Zero Air Pollution, a group dedicated to supporting L.A.’s ordinance banning gas-powered leaf blowers. She was honored for developing its Web site (www.zapla.com), which she now maintains. As the couple ponder the possibility of having more time together, they are the picture of wedded bliss after 41 years of marriage: she padding around their Santa Monica Canyon home barefoot and wearing an apron as she talks about the challah bread she will make for their Friday Shabbat dinner; he, in polo shirt and shorts, proudly showing the results of his own domestic efforts over the years, from nailing every cedar board in the raised ceiling of their living/dining area, to his handmade pottery collection, to the blue hydrangeas that are growing ‘like weeds’ by the lap pool in their back garden. George is also a cook, and made Chinese food for his three children and three grandchildren who joined the couple for last Friday’s Shabbat. The meal was kosher, of course, ‘and vegetarian,’ he said. ‘We had brocolli chow mein, Chinese peas in ginger and asparagus in garlic black bean sauce.’ Raised in Hancock Park, Wolfberg received a B.A. in political science from UCLA and a master’s degree in public administration at USC before going to work for the City of L.A. where he held a number of administrative positions, including being a key budget analyst. In 1996, after 35 years with the city, he retired from his ‘real job’ and became involved in even more volunteer activities. While Wolfberg has been involved with the SMCCA since the couple moved to the canyon in 1972, and has been a long-time AYSO referee, he only became involved in the Community Council in 2001 after reading in the Palisadian-Post that an alternate representative was needed to represent the canyon. Within a year he found himself being recruited as chairman. Wolfberg is especially proud of the fact that under his tenure the PPCC has become ‘a model’ for L.A.’s burgeoning neighborhood councils, even though the PPCC does not officially belong. ‘I am more interested in the process than in the actual outcome of what are essentially public debates on community issues,’ Wolfberg said. ‘The whole purpose of an organization like PPCC is to give residents a voice, give them a chance to be heard. My job is to be an impartial referee and to help the community maneuver its way through the bureaucratic process. I find the process, the ferreting out of facts and ideas, essential and fascinating. In the end, politics are local, and start right here in our neighborhoods.’ Wolfberg said that residents can definitely influence public policy, pointing out a Community Council meeting in early January in which 100 angry residents showed up to demand more police protection in the Palisades from LAPD Captain Mike Chambers. ‘And we got it right after the captain saw, firsthand, how upset people were,’ Wolfberg said. ‘We went from having less than one dedicated police car to two, even if they aren’t full-time in the Palisades. That was definitely progress.’ Another example Wolfberg gives is how, just last month, a motion by the Community Council to request that the Coastal Commission allow the city to sell off some lots in Potrero Canyon in order to complete the massive infill project has ‘now integrated us into the decision-making process. The city can no longer ignore us, as they have for years.’ Wolfberg said that while he is personally against term limits for publicly elected officials (‘It should be up to the voters to decide how long they want a particular individual to represent them’), he thinks that change on a board like the Community Council is ‘healthy and invigorating for everyone. I’m looking forward to my new role as chairman emeritus. There’s still a lot of work to be done.’
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