Bits and Pieces 5

"Hopefully next week." This was the answer Mr. Anthony Amalfitano provided to me when I asked him when he thought Amalfitano Bakery would open.

I believe there is at least one more inspection, with it probably being conducted tomorrow, before the new Bakery can open.

I think I knew it would not open today because there was not smell of freshly baked bread coming through our sliding screen door, earlier this morning.
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Although the chain-link fencing is gone from the area near the intersection of Avenida Aprenda and Western Avenue, there are still workers working on above ground items and there are probably workers continuing to finish up the two-story underground 'bunker' when the new pumping equipment was placed for the old Outflow System of the Los Angeles County Sanitation Districts.

After all these years and all this work, the Clearwater Program, the program to build a new Outfall System from Carson to the Pacific Ocean, is still in the future.

But the new pumping station will allow the old system, placed over 50 years ago, to continue to be of service until the new Outfall tunnel is constructed and all the new equipment is in place and running.

For more information about the Sanitation Districts' Clearwater Program and to view that nothing has really gone forward in some time, you can visit: http://www.clearwaterprogram.org/.
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Item #13 on the agenda of the Rancho Palos Verdes City Council meeting for Tuesday July 21, 2010:

Resolution Opposing Marymount College Initiative (Stern/Misetich)
Recommendation: COUNCILMAN MISETICH AND COUNCILMAN STERN RECOMMEND THE ADOPTION OF RESOLUTION NO. 2010-__, A RESOLUTION OF THE CITY OF RANCHO PALOS VERDES CITY COUNCIL TAKING A POSITION IN OPPOSITION TO THE MARYMOUNT INITIATIVE CERTIFIED FOR THE NOVEMBER 2, 2010 BALLOT.

Councilman Douglas Stern 'volunteered' and Councilman Anthony Misetich was willing to volunteer to write a draft Resolution, as sub-committee members, to bring to the entire Council a Resolution to offer wording concerning the entire Council's opposition to The Marymount Plan's initiative in the Special Election, this November.

Under requirements of The Brown Act, the other members of the City Council will be able to discuss, debate, change, and vote on the Resolution only in the public meeting which is the regular City Council meeting, tomorrow night.

I expect that folks from all sides will want to speak to the Council unless Marymount's President, Dr. Michael Brophy continues to have folks on his side of the issues remain silent so he can contend that it should be up to the voters who will approve The Marymount Plan.

This is what Dr. Brophy did when the City Council voted to place the measure on the ballot, a legal requirement, and then vote unanimously to oppose the measure.

Dr. Brophy was the only person to speak in favor of The Marymount Plan at that meeting while others used their rights to make comments in opposition to The Marymount Plans very few differences from The Marymount College Facilities Expansion Project, approved by the very same Council members who voted together to oppose The Marymount Plan.

I don't expect to hear about how new dorms at Marymount could be constructed and maintained at no cost to the College and then even having the College's treasury receive income from a third party's construction and operation of dorms on campus.
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If you were to bet that I will be speaking tomorrow evening to the City Council, I hope nobody takes your bet. They would lose and the payout would be less than nothing, I imagine.

I do hope to see a wider array of individuals representing a wide variety of groups get up and speak in opposition to the approval of the measure.

I can imagine that there are those who, in Sarah Palin's word usage, would "refudiate" Marymount's contentions as to why on campus student housing is so important to our community.

I think the rest of us would be more comfortable to repudiate Marymount's supporters' contentions.
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I am still waiting for someone from the Code Enforcement section of the city of Rancho Palos Verdes to come forward and tell all of us what will happen with the 'semi-nude' house on the corner of Trudie Drive and Highmore Avenue.

I have at least one photo of it on this blog.
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Starlight Cinemas is the owner of the multiplex theatres at The Terraces, in Rancho Palos Verdes.

The ticket prices are still probably the best in the South Bay.

I would recommend paying $11.00 for a bucket of popcorn and the largest size of soda as opposed to paying $10.50 for the largest bag of popcorn and the largest size of soda because with just the added $.50, you can get a refill on both the soda AND the tub of popcorn.

The movies are shown using all digital methods and there are up to two '3-D' movies playing.

The almost unbelievable ticket price for 2-D movies on Tuesday's and Thursdays for EVERYONE, ANY TIME is still $4.00. Seniors get that same ticket price on Wednesday's too. Seniors, like Terri and I still pay no more than $5.00 any time.

The only price difference still going on is that every 3-D movie ticket price is an additional $2.00.

The staff is friendly and all seem to be very good workers.
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For Rancho Palos Verdes residents who like theatre, "Forever Plaid" opens on August 13 at the historic Warner Grand Theatre, in San Pedro.

"Dixie Swim Club" opens on August 13, also. This five-women play will be performed at the Little Fish Theatre, in San Pedro.

With theatre or theater performances at the Norris Theatre, Civic Light Opera of the South Bay, productions in Torrance and El Camino College, and maybe something enjoyable at Marymount College, there are entertainment opportunities in the local area that can entertain you, without having to drive to Hollywood or points beyond.
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Now once again, here are four reasons, in my opinion, The Marymount Plan and its initiative are very bad for our city and surrounding communities:

Safety. Having college students living on Marymount's campus is a safety concern that I still have not been able to find compromise and reasonable understanding to support.

Land Use. Rancho Palos Verdes was created so that local residents could have the right to have realistic, reasonable, responsible, and respectable land use options brought to those they chose to represent them and then have those representatives provide leadership and responsibility to control land uses in Rancho Palos Verdes. That still hasn't changed.

Code Enforcement. The Marymount Plan includes a new municipal code that, if approved, would allow one private entity more rights and privileges to oversee itself rather than the representatives selected by the residents of the city having the authority to sue their representative powers granted to them by the electorate, to guide the city into the future.

Livability. Must Marymount have more power to determine how local residents live, than those residents have themselves? Why must a private entity seek to take rights and authority away from local voters and have paying customers being provided with more options than local, tax paying residents might have?
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