The Rancho Palos Verdes City Counicl met at its regular meeting last night, but that was about the only 'regular' thing done during the more than five hour meeting that stretched until today.
It isn't my regular experience to see KCBS Channel 2 news doing a story prior and during a Council meeting, but since the topic was anything but 'regular' I guess something like that could have been considered.
The big bru-ha-ha which got the Council Chambers filled to overflowing was the report to the Council concerning adding stadium lighting at Palos Veredes Peninsula High School. Since that school has not the shortest name of any high school around, I will refer to it as "Peni" for the remainder of this post.
Peni was built without permanent lighting for its football field back before it was Peni.
The current Steering Committee supporting having four light standards erected on the 50-year old campus is making the, at least third attempt to bring night football games and other evening events requiring permanent lighting to the High School, located within the city of Rolling Hills Estates.
Now the last paragraph may have provided an indication as to where this issue cannot lead to.
Since Peni is in Rolling Hills Estates, but almost 100% of the single-family residential housing encircling the school and in the adjacent neighborhoods are within the city of Rancho Palos Verdes, perhaps you can see where the entire issue is leading.
It was, is, and will be, leading just about nowhere with regards to any real decision-making authority by members of the Rancho Palos Verdes City Council.
But wait, as with so many things, there is more.
Since Peni is part of the PVPUSD and that District has the power to supersede rights and authorities granted to Rolling Hills Estates, even that city's Council may have absolutely almost no say in the matter.
After almost 27 public speakers, 15 of which supported adding stadium lighting, the Council voted to have a letter drafted by the city to make advisement to both the Rolling Hills Estates City Council and the PVPUSD Board of Education.
The supporters of stadium lighting at Peni noted repeatedly that new lights are now designed much better than old stadium lighting. The also said the broke sound system would be replaced by a state-of-the-art set of speakers, mounted on the four proposed light poles and that studies indicated the noise coming out of the speakers would be no louder, in surrounding neighborhoods that the sound coming out of a family's refrigerator. OK, laugh now, please.
The Steering Committee leadership also tauted the fact that the management of Peninsula Center has agreed to allow overflow parking on its property and that traffic would be controlled when paid persons, funded by revenues generated by ticket sales, would assist in traffic management.
Many speakers commented that since there has been no permanent stadium lighting at Peni, the varsity football home games had to be played during the afternoon when too many parents and other interested spectators have not been able to attend home games.
While I don't really consider that our residents living in eastern R.P.V. and Miraleste have a real 'dog in the fight' I can consider that we offer to either side of the discussion points that should be considered by all.
First, had Eastview students not been allowed to attend PVPUSD schools and had not done so in the numbers and percentages we see today, all discussion about stadium lighting would not be occurring due to the fact that there would be only one large public high school in PVPUSD and funding would have far fewer advantages than is currently considered.
Second, I think many residents on our side of The Hill understand that fog plays a large role in really affecting reflected lighting off of low clouds and that is something not mentioned by any speaker at last night's meeting.
As for sound, supporters and opponents pointed to the new speakers as being the biggest problem with sound amplification and noise and only a very few speakers spoke about noise issues not coming from the speakers. HELLO!
I guess PVPUSD football fans never honk their horns after a home victory. I guess the noises from the fans gathered together on the bleachers remain silent before, during, and after games. How sad is that?
I guess the one speaker who stated he know of no vandalism revolving around fans of either team playing never has happened or would happen at Peni. Really?
I guess traffic and parking will be completely mitigated by the management of Peninsula Center...well until at least the first trashing of the parking lot prior or after games.
Since this is at least the third attempt to bring permanent stadium lighting to Peni, I should have figured out that when I asked one of the members of the Steering Committee why previous attempts had failed, she would know why. But apparently she did not know all the reasons prior attempts had failed.
After more than an hour of listening to speakers and discussing the issue, the Council voted to have Staff draft a letter and send it out.
The PVPUSD Board of Education may vote as early as tomorrow night on whether to allow stadium lighting to go forward.
We will probably have a chance to read Ms. Ashley Ratcliff's and Ms. Melissa Pamer's articles in their respective newspapers in a day or so.
I was still at the Council meeting during and after the 11:00 Channel 2 news aired so I don't know if the stadium lighting package was produced during the broadcast.
Had the stadium lighting issue not taken so long, I think the entire Council meeting would have lasted no more than 2-1/2 hours, even with what I consider some long-winded comments on a variety of subjects from the Mayor and other Council members.
It was great to watch Ira, our Project Planner talk about the awards he and City Staff received because of their fantastic work with Terranea. Our city continues to shovel income in from that high-class resort and the great work of Staff and all the elected and appointed representatives of Rancho Palos Verdes deserve kudos for finally helping to get Terranea open and keeping it open and sending TOT revenue into city coffers.
With the stadium lighting discussions, the reflection about how great Terranea has been as a neighbor and how the debates and discussions between our city and Lowe's was just about the best possible, it was quite the contrast to then have to deal with the Council approving a Resolution stating the unanimous opposition, by the Council, to the ballot initiative.
Three speakers addressed the Council during public comment on the Agenda Item.
Ms. Kelly Curtis identified herself as the Director of Communications for Marymount College.
Strike one for being a paid supporter of The Marymount Plan.
Ms. Curtis may have never been to a prior City Council meeting when issues revolving around Marymount College came up because she offered many of the exact same points for approving the ballot measure as had already been approved by the Rancho Palos Verdes City Council, the five gentlemen she was speaking to, with The Marymount College Facilities Expansion Project.
Councilman Douglas Stern inquired of her, after she finished her comments, whether just about everything she tauted as being on The Marymount Plan had already been included and approved with The Project. On at least two occasions, Ms. Curtis could only affirm what Councilman Stern knew was the truth, no matter what Ms. Curtis contended.
Ms. Curtis even attempted to chide, in my opinion, Councilman Stern's comments toward her.
Really! As the College's Director of Communications, she should have been much more savvy with the information she should have already known and what she was trying to push off onto the Council.
The third speaker was a former State of California legislator, Mr. Steve Kuykendall.
Mr. Kuykendall has been identified as a paid lobbyist representing Marymount College.
Strike two for using paid persons rather than unpaid volunteers to try and make points with the Council.
Mr. Kuykendall offered apologies because Marymount's President, Dr. Michael Brophy was '6,000 miles' away at the time of the meeting.
(I wonder where he may be job-hunting?) Oops! My bad.
Anyway, Mr. Kuykendall spoke about several issues that again offered only a repeat of what had already been approved and then he noted that it looks like the issues are now getting 'political'.
HELLO!!!! When was a day ever that is wasn't political?
I seem to always submit my speaker's request before anyone else does when speaking about Marymount, so that meant I went first.
I get paid nothing to speak for anyone, by anyone, on any topic, for any reason, to anyone on Staff or elected within the city of Rancho Palos Verdes.
I am not a paid lobbyist or paid employee of any College.
Strike three. Not only am I not paid for my comments, I continue to contend that my comments provide more proof, are more complete, and do not allow for miscommunication.
I also am able to continue to state that no one representing Marymount College has found anything I have written or said to be something refutable or untrue.
Even Dr. Brophy has told me that he can't find any remark in this blog that is not truthful.
It was the issues of the placement of the new field 60 feet east of where Marymounts really wants it that held up almost immediate unanimous approval of the Resolution.
Mayor Pro Tem Long stated that he would never lend his name to a Resolution that allowed for the reason of safety as being the reason the majority of the City Council voted to move the field 60 feet to the east.
With assistance from the City Attorney towards the authors of the Resolution, a change in wording allowed Tom Long to agree to become part of the unanimous approval of the measure.
I spoke to Ms. Curtis a bit, during a break in the Resolution's debate. She claims she know who I am. I stated to her that I would continue to bring forth misstatements made by her and other representing Marymount College and that I feel that not stating complete facts and only offering partial statements is miscommunication, in my view, deceptive, in my opinion, and not right for anyone, especially a Director of Communication in an institution identified so closely with a religious organization, should do.
I await her invitation or anyone Else's invitation to discuss and debate The Marymount Plan versus The Marymount College Facilities Expansion Project, which I strongly support.
I have plenty of Ice Cube trays waiting to help cool the underworld. They will stay in storage forever, I suspect.
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