Is The Fix On?

Since early December I have been attempting to find out if any of the three newest members of the Rancho Palos Verdes Traffic Safety Commission actually live in the eastern portion of our city.

To date, I have not been given an answer.

We should all have our chance to find out at the January 5, 2009 hearing by the Rancho Palos Verdes Traffic Safety Commission, and their attempts to deal with the Marymount College Expansion Project.

The hearing is open to the public and will begin at 7:00 PM at Hesse Park, where the City Council and other groups meet.

Hesse Park is merely 12 miles away from my home near Western Avenue, but it seems to be fairly close to where the newest members of the Commission might live.

So let's understand that Marymount College's administration and supporters have been trying for years and years to get an expansion project approved that would allow for on-campus housing of students attending a 2-year college.

To find another college with this type of arrangement, simply get into your car, buckle yourself in, and drive east of the Mississippi River to find a similar situation.

Also, the administration wishes to sell of the off-campus housing at 24th Street and Cabrillo Avenue and keep the off-campus housing it owns along Palos Verdes Drive North, in Lomita/Harbor City.

It took me quite a while to finally figure out why folks at Marymount want on-campus housing so badly.

I think I can safely state is that it is because so many parents of students who come from outside California, and particularly from across the blue Pacific, want to have more monitoring, control, and oversight of their children while they attend school. It also would create a draw for even more well-heeled overseas parents to want to send their kids to Marymount.

Do not get me wrong! Marymount College offers some of the best educational opportunities for any and all students in a private 2-year college. This fact is not in dispute and probably a very good reason overseas parents and out of state parents want their kids to attend such a fine school.

I do not believe that residents and others driving in the area of eastern Rancho Palos Verdes should be required to put up with more traffic caused by the Marymount College Expansion Project.

Some of us have learned that residents living in the area of 24th Street and Cabrillo Avenue in San Pedro, would sing high praises and enjoy it if the off-campus housing was removed from that area. I have heard tales of parking woes, partying, and a general lack of control that, it seems, parents of Marymount students now want from that school's administration.

I hope all five member of the Rancho Palos Verdes Traffic Safety Commission have some interest on our side of the city.

But it is back to the makeup of the Traffic Safety Commission.

It appears that Mr. David Kramer is the new Chair of the Commission. I worked alongside Mr. Kramer during our shared time on the Commission and he is an intelligent and caring person.

One of the reasons I was told that I was not allowed back onto the Commission was that I was a 'one issue' member. That is strange to me because I know Mr. Kramer is passionate about bicycle riders and their issues and he even wore is riding outfit at the last City Council selection process meeting where he was reappointed to the Commission.

I was told that I was a 'one issue' member by an individual who could not even correctly pronounce "Ponte Vista" and has continually demonstrated his lack of knowledge and seeming lack of care on what that development would do to our side of the city and he is a very high manager within the city's bureaucracy.

It is certainly true that I joined the Commission in 2007 with the full knowledge by everyone that I was greatly concerned by what could happen to our city and other areas if Ponte Vista at San Pedro was granted approval to build 2,300 or 1,950-units.

I also freely acknowledge that I am a member of the R Neighborhoods Are 1 Steering Comming.

But I also took a great deal of time learning about the Marymount College Expansion Project and all the other projects that would have traffic in all of Rancho Palos Verdes impacted.

I read about development plans within the city of Rolling Hills Estates and the facts that the area under consideration was almost completely surrounded by the city of Rancho Palos Verdes.

I also learned about traffic calming throughout the city, with the emphasis on the fact that I worked to get traffic calming and speed humps for my Mira Vista neighborhood.

I also read and firmly supported traffic calming for the lower Toscanini area and found delight at the site of the speed humps FINALLY placed in that neighborhood.

But it seems that the Ranch Palos Verdes City Council doesn't like to have many residents of our area serving and representing the city.

I strongly believe that because the Eastview area voters have only about 11% of the eligible voters bothering to show up for non-presidential year elections, it can be viewed that we aren't really willing to participate in our own city's government or governance.

Now back to the 'fix'.

During a straw poll taken during a R.P.V. Planning Commission meeting, a anonymous vote demonstrated that none of the Planning Commission members want on-campus dormitories built at Marymount College.

According to the DEIR and FEIR for the Expansion Project, 40% of the traffic would pass through the Mira Vista Neighborhood (eastern R.P.V.) and that the most impacted intersection during peak hours would be the intersection of Trudie Drive and Western Avenue.

Now it just so happens that I live five houses above that particular intersection.

Is the R.P.V. City Council now sick and tired of dealing with years and years of folks from Marymount College demanding an Expansion Project be approved?

Is the City Council continuing to want us, the sleeping giant, to remain quiet during the processes dealing with Marymount?

So many great folks living in San Pedro 'have our backs' with regards to Ponte Vista. I feel we owe it to our own eastern Rancho Palos Verdes residents and our good friends in San Pedro to help dissuade our city fathers from approving on-campus dormitories and the added traffic it would bring to our area.

What is it going to take to get everyone on our side of the hill to wake up, take up actions, become more involved, and help out other residents of Rancho Palos Verdes?

One thing we can do to show our support to our area, northwest San Pedro, and other communities is to take a stand against the unprecedented plans currently under consideration dealing with Marymount College.

The vast majority of all traffic and transportation issues revolving Marymount College now and in the future revolve around the roadways in eastern Rancho Palos Verdes and WE should be the ones to demonstrate what we will tolerate and what we support or oppose.

We begin 2009 right off the bat with an important issue concerning Miraleste Drive, Palos Verdes Drive East, Western Avenue, and Palos Verdes Drive North and South, and neighborhoods impacted in all of our areas.

Shouldn't we have a good deal to say on these matters?