Some More Not So Random Thoughts About Some of the Candidates and The Election.

As most of my regular readers know, I am a United States Air Force Veteran.

Unlike Councilman Campbell and Candidate Jerry Duhovic, I was not an officer, but I was a 'non-com' for a good deal of my adventures.

Every voter in this election had better be a United States citizen and true resident of the city of Rancho Palos Verdes.

When I see the flag of our country on a Web site of any candidate, I am somewhat uncomfortable with that.

'Waving' our flag anywhere can be seen as not only a sign of patriotism, which is very good, but it can also signal that other sites and those of us who do not need to wave any flags are less patriotic than those 'flag wavers'.

I know that I am a very strong patriot and I have demonstrated that time after time after time. I don't really feel that I have to offer more evidence to anyone about my devotion to our nation and I certainly HATE the concept that there should be any requirement to acknowledge our beliefs in any public venue.

Anyone and everyone who deems it necessary that everyone must salute a flag or repeat a pledge is demonstrating what continues to go on in places like China, North Korea, Venezuela, Cuba, and in places where people are ruled by a theocracy.

Don't you dare TELL me I must stand and salute my flag. I do it out of my own relationship with my government, community and the people I swore I would die for to protect.

That being written, anyone who wishes to challenge my patriotism for this nation, you are truly a nutcase!

I am also alarmed when I see as a goal of any or all candidates the call; "To restore civility to our Council."

Those words get me ticked off, especially after Brian and Anthony joined the Council.

I didn't vote for Councilman Campbell or Mayor Pro Tem Misetich, but they have been nothing but wonderful with the other members of our Council, whether they all agreed on something or some disagreed with others.

When I see anyone write about how they would work to 'restore civility' I think what I am reading is that they were not pleased with the terms of Long, Stern, Clark and sometimes Wolowicz.

It is very true that during the term of the late Dr. Peter Gardiner, there were time of less civility.

It is also very, very true that some in our city consider the issues surrounding The Marymount Plan and the issues revolving around on-campus housing at Marymount, can be viewed as less than as civil as it could have been.

HOWEVER, I have to have readers and historians looking for the real and total truth remembering there was a very wide two-way street that began long ago and continues to this day.

Many, far too many have been less than civil during the discussions, debates, and meetings concerning on-campus housing at Marymount.

I do not and will not offer more fault towards any member of the Council than I have seen from Dr. Brophy and other representatives of Marymount College.

"Restore civility" now means a set of buzzwords by those who did not appreciate the time, effort and considerations made by all the current Council members and former Mayor Larry Clark.

I am the one who uses 'that First Amendment thingy' to be civil, less than civil, and/or even uncivil should I choose to. But I do all of this remembering that I am just one person and I have seen, documented and revealed information regarding several issues that folks I disagree with also run from civil to uncivil.

For the last two years and for even longer, our City Council members have gone many extra miles to remain civil while lots of 'less-than civil' statements and other things have been thrown upon them.

Yes, there was a time during the terms of the late Dr. Peter Gardiner that were uncivil to the point of almost chaos. For this I do apportion SOME of the blame towards Council members other than Dr. Gardiner.

But to not acknowledge that Dr. Gardiner, while speaking very civilly also had supporters of his positions being less-than-civil to using the Freedom of Information act to cause the city funds, time and other resources that, in the end, amounted to a bunch of filled boxes waiting pick up to be left, without pickup.

It seems extremely uncivil to me to cause expenses to occur and taxpayer-funded staff time to be required to do work that some MAY have never intended on using.

I recently learned about campaign calls being made in support of Mr. Eric Alegria's campaign.

While some folks are reporting that "Marymount students" made those calls, not only would have that been completely LEGAL if those students did so on their own time, not using any of the Colleges funds or equipment, I cannot confirm that the callers were associated with Marymount in any way.

I would love to find someone who recorded a call. I would really love is someone who receives a call asks for more information from the caller as to their identity and whether they are associated in any way with ANY organization on The Hill.

Mr. Alegria's campaign can hire or seek volunteers to call residents, just like any other candidate can.

Now about Marymount students attempting to register and vote in this upcoming election.

I wrote quite a bit about this when Measure P was around and I still stick by what I wrote back then.

If a student lives in a residential structure, within the limits of the city of Rancho Palos Verdes AND is aged 18 year's of age or older and is sentient enough to understand which candidates they support and why then support them, they are legally qualified to register and vote, in our city.

If any student, faculty member, staff member or anyone else attempts to or even uses the address of Marymount College as the place of residence, they are a citizen of the United States having reached 18 years of age, they are in violation of election laws and can and should be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.

Why?

The campus of Marymount College, Palos Verdes is not zoned for residential housing, at this time. Even I am not legally allowed to use the address of Marymount College to register to vote.

I am pleased to report, not that it really mattered, that I found no indication of anyone voting for or against Measure P used the College's address to register to vote.

But more eyes will be watching in this election and you can all be sure if there is any indication that persons of any legal age used Marymount's address as their residence for the purpose of registering to vote and then actually voting, our city has lots and lots and lots of Attorneys that would make sure a challenge to the election of any candidate thought to have received votes from those using a non-residence as their residential address for voting purposes, will be found out.

So, as civilly or as uncivilly as I want or need to be, here goes: If any candidate considered to be supported by supporters of Marymount College's plans for on-campus housing and/or any candidate supported by groups supporting on-campus housing at Marymount College who knowingly or unknowingly receives votes by persons using Marymount College's address for voter registration purposes, they will possibly and probably will be confronted with challenges going to the Los Angeles County Registrar of voters.

I get to state this as a resident and legally registered voter who resides within the limits of the city of Rancho Palos Verdes.

I did NOT write this at the request of any candidate. I was asked by one candidate to inquire about this subject, but I constructed this post on my own, without any help from any candidate.

I am not implying any threat or any threat that could be attributed to any candidate. I have no idea what the outcome of the election will be and I have not endorsed candidates for my two remaining votes, I still am considering.

Mr. Dave Emenhiser, the only candidate I am endorsing and supporting at this time has never asked me to write about anything in particular on this or any of my blogs.

I am like a theater critic as far as my writing goes. I may listen to folks and think about things, but I write on my own and I do not necessarily consider the opinions of others while I am writing.

I had hoped that all the ugliness in this election stayed on this blog and that controversies could be hashed out in forums like this and other places on the Web.

But there are much thicker skulls in our city that just can't understand that we are going to look bad with regard to as others view our politics and issues, because of the ugliness that has reared and is rearing in this election.

We do have an opportunity to consider being very civil if we have the two debates on October 5 and October 12 and have the September 7 AND October 13 forums canceled.

That could demonstrate a willingness to offer civility during this election season.

So with that in mind, any candidate who suggests they will 'restore civility' can demonstrate that by removing himself or herself from the forums on September 7 and October 13.

Conversely, should candidates state they wish to 'restore civility' on their campaign sites yet still attend the September 7 and/or the October 13 forums, I contend their 'restore civility' is a smokescreen, not to be believed and something all voters should consider a less than truly honest statement from candidates that use those two words, like that.

Hey candidates, if you truly wish to 'restore civility' then show us that and remove yourself or yourselves from being at either the September 7 or October 13 forums.

If you choose not to, then I think we know what you really meant and what you really support.

*NOTE: Creating a blog using www.blogspot.com is free and that 'First Amendment thingy' applies to you just as much as it applies to me. If you don't like my writing, you can make comments, start your own blog or just go away.

Brian, Jerry, myself and others volunteered so that you remain having the rights to be heard and read and whatever rights you have left in our Constitution not taken away by this SCOTUS, be protected.

Bits and Pieces 40

SOME of the schools located on the east side of R.P.V. are back in session.

PLEASE BE EXTRA CAREFUL!

At the beginning and end of each school year at Miraleste I.S. I work in the library helping my wife Terri and Ms. Melanie Edelstein, the two library aides get the library ready, the textbooks issued and then help get the textbooks and other books back and put the library into summer vacation mode.

Today was the first day back for students at Miraleste and as usual, most of the kids and their parents got to the campus much earlier than we will see in a few weeks.

A 'normal' pattern will emerge for traffic and pedestrian patterns at all schools in the area and we will all 'settle in' to something approaching normal.

Opening day for some students at at least two of our intermediate schools didn't start off too well.

Some Eighth graders attending our three intermediate schools actually begin their schooldays at the high school in advanced placement classes.

As with the beginning of each school year, 'snafus' occur. The 'Zero Period' students received mixed signals as to whether they should have gone to the high school for their first class and then come back to their normal schools for the remainder of their classes.

Oops! Almost every student having a "Zero Period" class before heading to Miraleste I.S. missed their first day of class. We were also informed that this was probably the case for the majority of "Zero Period" students who head to Ridgecrest I.S. for most of their classes.

Stuff happens.

As for Crestwood Street Elementary School and Rudecinda Sepulveda Dodson Middle School, I don't think either of them are back in session, yet.

Still, when those two schools start welcoming students back, it continues to be the most important need to be careful.

For those eastern R.P.V. residents who remain bitter that we have two L.A.U.S.D. schools within the limits of the city of R.P.V. it is best if you try to be as calm as you can about that because there is really nothing you or anyone can do to have drastic changes made.

The only way we MIGHT see any types of change in the far, far future is if the student population of L.A.U.S.D. schools goes down, way, way down.

Neither L.A.U.S.D. or P.V.U.S.D. have funds to fight the lawsuits that would be filed should the two sites no longer have L.A.U.S.D. students able to attend them.

The demographics of the local L.A.U.S.D. area and the student population of communities around R.P.V. currently make it impossible to move enough students from Crestwood and Dodson to change their current status as opened schools.

Sure, it would be wonderful to lower the enrollment at Dapplegray by sending Eastview students to Crestwood. But as many as 80% of all 'our' students and especially their parents head towards P.V.P.U.S.D. schools.

IF fundamental changes were to occur with these two sites, I would hope that Crestwood would become a P.V.P.U.S.D. elementary school and the Dodson site would become a multi-use R.P.V. and/or County site for community classes, administrative functions and greater community recreational activities.

We'll all be long gone before my dream has any real chance of coming true.

For the time being, I am going to try to keep my "Bits and Pieces" post free from any and all information about the 'you know what' happening 'you know when' and involving up to eight 'you know whose.

The new Yogurtland is now open along Western in the Ralph's shopping area. We haven't tried it out yet, though.

We have heard and read that a Coffee Bean and Tea Leaf is coming as well as a Chipotle Grill. One is probably going to be in the Eastview portion of R.P.V. and the other will be nearby in San Pedro, in a shopping center along Western Avenue.

I sure appreciate all the folks heading to the Starlight Cinemas in The Terraces shopping center.

On Tuesdays and Thursdays the price for any ticket for a non-3D movie remains at $4.00 each! When attending a 3D movie, its just two dollars more.

If you are 55 years of age 'or better' all regular movies cost just $5.00 per ticket, any time.

The theaters are packed all day and well into the evenings on Tuesday and Thursday. I hope more than a few patrons also happen to stop by one our great eateries we have in R.P.V. and purchase lots and lots of food and drink.

As you probably know, the Goodwill Store has been open for several months and remains located between Bally's and Marshall's, on the topmost portion of The Terraces.

There are many clothing items for sale. I have found though, the prices are somewhat to much higher than what I see at the thrift store on the corner of Pacific Avenue and 6th Street, in downtown San Pedro.

With prices being higher at the Goodwill store, the options are greater there and the quality of items for sale appear to be higher, too. I guess it's a trade off.

For those "San Pedrans" who happen to have lived or are just moving into the eastern portion of R.P.V. take note; A new feature film will soon begin shooting in an area most of us know and have some, well how about we just admit that some of our memories of the place are not what we really would want to tell our grandchildren.

The working title of the film is "Sunken City" and filming dates are scheduled in more than a few places in the San Pedro area, including Sunken City.

Now another bit of reasonable trivia about Palos Verdes Drive South.

It should come as no surprise that if you have the fastest moving roadway in the Western Hemisphere, it is because our city has the fastest moving landslide area in the Western Hemisphere. The two go together like Mac and Cheese.

Mr. Jerry Duhovic's Web Site Has Been Published

The Web site for the campaign of Mr. Jerry Duhovic is now viewable online by clicking on the link I have posted.

http://jerryduhovic.com/ is the link.

I hope all voters dig into each of the candidates' Web sites in order to learn more about each one of them.

I am still ignorant of the Web site address for candidate Ms. Cynthia Smith and I hope a site for her campaign publishes soon.

Two Great Debates To Attend, Two, Not So Much

Time flies and events continue to brew when it's election season in our city.

I just got confirmation of a fourth debate slated for the upcoming November 8 election of three new Council members for the city of Rancho Palos Verdes.

The Rancho Palos Verdes Council of Homeowners Associations (CHOA) received confirmation from all eight candidates that they will participate in a debate.

On Wednesday October 5, at Hesse Park, CHOA is sponsoring a debate.

While some folks may wish to criticize the organization for its opposition to having on-campus housing built at Marymount College, it is one of the fairest organizations we have in our city, made up of our residents, in my opinion.

This debate is just one week before the debate sponsored by the League of Women Voters, again being held at Hesse Park, beginning at 7:00 PM.

After some pondering on my part and my learning of some greater ugliness brewing in our city, I have decided to alter my views a bit.

I am altering my views with full disclosure that I support and endorse Mr. Dave Emenhiser becoming one of our city's new Council members.

However, since there is some real ugliness by certain individuals criticizing having a debate on what can be considered Dave's home turf, I think it might be best for our residents in total to cancel the debate on September 7, 2011, sponsored by the Long Point HOA, scheduled to be conducted at P.V.I.C.

Of course and naturally, should the powers that be decide to go ahead with that debate, I'll be there, my camera ready and fully charged.

Likewise, if the September 7 debate is canceled, I would strongly urge supporters of the October 13 debate, scheduled to be held on the campus of Marymount College, to also be canceled.

But sure enough, should that debate still take place, I'll have emptied my cards in my camera and recharged the batteries, for that debate.

Both CHOA and the League of Women Voters are offering the most fair and open debates that we would likely see, for this election.

One slate of candidates has already has some supporters of those candidates vent their displeasure concerning the September 7. debate.

To be sure, some representatives and supporters of the other four candidates, the ones opposed to Marymount College having approval to build on-campus housing, are quite concerned about a debate at Marymount College.

So, it seems to me that there are two groups that offer the most impartial forum for debates and two groups that MIGHT be viewed as having agendas, hidden or not.

I don't know if more than two debates are necessary. I do think that having just two debates sponsored by CHOA and the League of Women Voters would benefit both slates in that lots of problems, real or imagined, would be eliminated.

Now, I hope to see all interested residents attending the CHOA debate on October 5 and/or the League of Women Voters debate on October 12.

If Dr. Michael Brophy, the President of Marymount College or the President of the Board of Trustees of Marymount College still go through with plans for a debate on dates other than Oct. 5 and Oct. 13, that should telegraph to all residents that they may not be offering the fairest and most impartial forum on the campus of Marymount College.

I would also hope that the officers of the Long Point HOA truly consider canceling their sponsorship of the September 7 debate unless they feel Marymount's representatives would hold their debate no matter what the HOA decides.

League of Women Voters, Candidates' Debate. October 12

PVP LWV Candidate Forum League of Women Voters - (310) - ext.

October, 12, 2011 7:00 pm - 9:00 pm Hesse Park Rancho Palos Verdes none Opportunity to hear candidates for RPV City Council. Government,Education,Public Service www.lwvpvp.org

For the last two weeks or so I had been under the impression that there were two candidates' debates set for the eight candidates for the three seats up for election to the Rancho Palos Verdes City Council.

I was pleased to find, through the sport of surfing, that a third debate has been scheduled.

The October 12 debate is being sponsored by the League of Women Voters and I am comfortable that this debate should not be taken by anyone on any side as something other than honest and respectful.

If you remember that I have been writing that this election was going to get ugly and then I wrote that is has gotten ugly?

Perhaps the debate by the League of Women Voters will quell some of that 'ugliness' at least for a few seconds.

One of the 'big uglies' revolves around the apparent creation of two separate slates of candidates in this election.

One slate 'appears' to be being supported by supporters of Marymount College's "The Marymount Plan" (please read on-campus housing for students into that plan), along with members and supporters of the group Palos Verdes Peninsula Watch. (Please read into this, a group apparently writing and offering opinions about issues in Rancho Palos Verdes and with the PVPUSD, but having little, if any, interest in P.V.E., R.H.E. or Rolling Hills).

The four candidates that are now apparently associated in this faction are Ms. Dora de la Rosa, Ms. Cynthia Smith, Mr. Eric Alegria and Mr. Jerry Duhovic, whether any or all admit it or not.

The other faction or slate is made up of the four other candidates, all opposed to The Marymount Plan (read on-campus housing).

The four are former Mayor Ken Dyda, former Mayor Susan Brooks, Mr. Jim Knight and Mr. Dave Emenhiser.

Here's how the ugly got going:

Mr. Dave Emenhiser is associated with the Longpoint HOA and that group is sponsoring a debate to be held at the P.V.I.C., scheduled for September 7, beginning at 7:00 PM.

I have learned through several independent sources that the some of the folks endorsing some or all of the four members of the Marymount/PVP Watch faction have objected to having the debate sponsored by a group in which Dave Emenhiser is greatly associated with.

Some believe that it is unfair for an HOA that may very well endorse Mr. Emenhiser is sponsoring what is supposed to be an open and honest debate held in a neutral manner.

Councilman Brian Campbell agreed to moderate that debate and that may also be problematic because of his strong opposition to The Marymount Plan.

Dr. Michael Brophy, the President of Marymount College has reportedly offered direct quotes that Marymount College will not endorse any candidate and will remain completely neutral in this election.

Dr. Brophy and others then went ahead and scheduled a debate now tentatively scheduled for October 13, on the College's campus.

This debate would be historic in that Marymount College has never hosted a candidates debate for City Council in the College's history, even after any of its Presidents was apparently quoted as stating the College would not be involved.

The four members of the group of candidates who oppose on campus housing at Marymount might very well be suggesting that there might be some lack of fairness, with this debate.

So, I think the League of Women Voters debate may be the only one that has any chance of being viewed as non partisan to any of the candidates, most 'neutral' in nature and function and it should be taken as being as independent as possible.

If my 'other' life allows, I plan on being at each and every debate, video camera in hand, extra batteries in my pocket and plenty of drive space to record the debates.

Thank you, League of Women Voters for sponsoring a debate and offering the opportunity to make this race a little less ugly...hopefully.

My Neighborhood. Neighborhood Watch. My Bad.

Click on image to enlarge.

In May, 1950, the first tract of developed housing in 'The Hill' began having residents moving in.

Western View Homes offered 200 2-bedroom houses with an attached single car garage. Included among those houses were 15 3-bedroom houses with a detached two car garage.

If you look real closely, the lot designated by yellow lines marks the location where my dad bought the family home, in 1950.

Today, Mr. and Mrs. Graham live in the home Mr. Graham also bought in 1950 and they raised their daughter Francis and their son, the late David Graham in that home.

One of my parents carried me over the threshold of the front door of the house I currently live in on May 4, 1955. If you read my history here, written on this blog last year, you'll know that between October 4, 1976 and June 30, 1998 I was other places and doing other things. Quite a bit went on during my physical absence from living in that house, but it remains having a Wells living in it from the first day my dad moved in.

The neighborhood was part of the Eastview annexation into Rancho Palos Verdes by a vote of the people. I was not living in the house when that vote was taken or the discussion flew around about which incorporated city Eastview residents wanted to become part of.

There was talk back then that some may have wanted to become part of Rolling Hills Estates or Lomita, or be folded into the city of Los Angeles. I thank the voters who were in the majority during the discussions and voting because I am pleased Eastview is now part of Rancho Palos Verdes....whether other R.P.V. residents like it or not.

If this photo really confuses you, don't be too bothered. At the bottom of the photo is a portion of the Channel Heights Apartments.

When you see the Channel Heights Market at the bottom of the photo, think Ralph's shopping area. The building sits in the spot between In and Out Burgers and the brand new Yogurt place that just opened.

The burned out weeds on the right side of the photo, think The Terraces shopping levels.

If you think you see a divided Western Avenue near the bottom of the photo, with THE car in the photo, think again, please. You are actually viewing two-lane Western Avenue and the Channel Heights Apartments road right next to Western.

The 'long' and 'wide street going 'up' in the photo is Trudie Drive. Also in the photo are Highmore Avenue, parallel to Western, Jaybrook Drive, to the right of Trudie and Homeworth, which zig-zags in the middle. Bayend is allowed for, but not paved in the photo.

I attended a Neighborhood Watch Block Party at the very top of Trudie today with Terri. She is going to be the Block Captain for our portion of our street(s). Terri was a Block Captain when she lived in the Palms area of Los Angeles, many years ago.

Neighborhood Watch is a good thing in my opinion. I just procrastinated for about as long as I could before getting as involved as I should have been, years ago.

Neighborhood Watch should not be political and I strongly agree that that organization cannot endorse candidates for any elected office.

I do think that as far as overall neighborhood safety Block Captains and others can offer opinions about issues related to safety, crime and the overall well being of residents. Residents belonging to Neighborhood Watch also should have chances to offer their opinions about safety, crime, and well-being issues.

While the city's coordinator of Neighborhood Watch got in quite a bit of hot water for writing a letter during the brew ha ha over Measure P, she kept her job.

She was in opposition to the passage of Measure P, The Marymount Plan that, had it passed, would have allowed Marymount College officials and administrators to begin building on-campus housing for up to 250 students and up to 5 advisers.

While the letter was problematic for many, I feel it was written and offered from a residential safety and residential security aspect and that is something I think is important enough for Neighborhood Watch supporters may also consider.

I got in a bit of trouble when I wrote to four C.C. candidates about the Block Party. I think the area coordinator wasn't happy when two candidates 'showed up' at the party and stated matter of fact, that the party was not political in nature.

To a point I agree but I can confirm that there were more than a few residents attending that party who were basically clueless about the governors and governance of the residents of the city they live in.

I was shocked when someone asked the question; "Why doesn't the city have its own Police Department?".

Also, many of the faces on folks being greeted by the two candidates who did attend, looked as if they were talking to aliens from another world.

Too many Eastview residents continue to be apathetic towards their own government and matters within their own city.

Eastview is NOT part of the city of L.A. Eastview is NOT in San Pedro, no matter what our hearts might wish it was.

There needs to be some points where organizations on the east side of "The Hill" offer information that our neighborhood's residents won't be voting for the new Council person for the 15Th District and that they have three votes for the three seats on our city's Council now being contested by eight candidates.

I was born at "San Pedro Community Hospital" My birth certificate has a box checked for "Outside Incorporated City". That means the big hospital where so many folks were born in, is surrounded by San Pedro, but the land it sits on is not 'in' San Pedro.

I use this comparison as a way to illustrate a similarity between the hospital and businesses and residences in the Eastview area of R.P.V. They are also not in San Pedro.

Also, when the organizer was not pleased to have two candidates attend and talk to residents, all while NOT giving any campaign speeches, I had to remind myself that Trudie Drive is a public roadway and that First Amendment 'thingy' still seems to be on the books. The organizer may have not liked two candidates being at the party, but in the environment where the party took place, the candidates had the right to be there.

Another thing I want all eight candidates to learn is, more about the residents of Eastview so the candidates can gauge how we are different than residents of other parts of our city.

I think the candidates that did show up demonstrated a willingness to engage residents who really don't yet have all that much knowledge about the city of R.P.V. and perhaps the interactions between the candidates and the residents they talked to will offer greater understanding on all sides and hopefully, larger interests by our residents becoming more aware and possibly more involved in THEIR city.

Opening Up To Those Offended By Me

This is the 374th post on this blog.

Back in June, 2010 I wrote a post titled "Admitting My Dirt Before Others Do". It was a acknowledgement of my life up to that date, my history in the community, and many of what folks might think are bad.

I wrote that piece because I wanted to head off those who would with to attack me using their own version of my life and my history.

One thing I challenge anyone to find in my posts is hypocrisy. I hate it and I try my best to keep me from being called a hypocrite, even though some people will still call me that, it is just not true.

I also challenge anyone to call me out for non-factual claims or misstatement of facts done so deliberately. Since the first post on this blog, if I have made any errors of fact and have learned the actual truth, I will edit my blog and acknowledge when I got something wrong.

The coming election has already gotten ugly and mean. I will not challenge anyone who might claim that I can also be considered a part of that. I will write what I know is true, what I feel is real and what my opinions suggest to me.

More folks seem to want to know my background and beliefs. My background is posted on that old post from June, 2010.

Folks can attack my opinions, but I am an honest person as far as facts go.

Correct me if I am factually wrong, but understand that when I see or find misstatements of facts or quotes attributed to persons I then find are not living and talking according to their quotes and I will respond, sometimes harshly.

I am not a fiscal conservative when it comes to infrastructure repair or maintaining the best quality of life for residents and business people in our city. I believe our city has a strong financial foundation that does not require needless meddling.

The new Council makeup will be more fiscally conservative than the current Council's voting records. We have to go back to a time before Larry Clark's tenure to find Councils that were not willing to spend enough dollars on infrastructure matters and other matters that might have meant a new fee or tax increase was needed.

I am somewhat fearful that this will happen again. With the current hollering about 'no new taxes', 'no tax increases' and 'get government off our backs' I fear there are those residents in our city that will use that to stifle even discussions into important matters. That could cost us plenty more in the future if we are not courageous enough to tackle some problems in the near term.

San Ramon Canyon must be permanently fixed! All talk of simply placing a temporary earthen wall or dam in the area where the side wall is collapsing is insane, in my opinion.

I fear that the 'emergency' repairs will be done and then either nothing more will be done or the giant mound of dirt thing will be used.

Our city owns some of the sewer systems in our city and those systems need maintenance. I am now fearful that a more fiscally conservative Council will listen only to those who decry government to a point and are absolutely unwilling to even consider talking about the potential of the creation of a fee or tax based sewer maintenance program.

The cost to borrow money is at its lowest rate in decades and it will remain that way until about 2013, according to some analysts.

This means that if we need to borrow money, we should not wait until rates climb back up and our city is stuck paying higher costs for money.

I do applaud and support Ms. Susan Brooks' thinking about other cities on The Hill helping out with the costs to constantly repair the slide portion of Palos Verdes Drive South. I have always wondered why our city is required to fund the repairs when residents and guests of folks and businesses in other cities use the roadway, but pay nothing for the continual repairs.

I hope to find that the candidates' debate scheduled for September 7 at P.V.I.C., beginning at 7:00 PM will have an overflow audience. I also hope it is televised on our city's CCTV channel.

I will also do my best to attend the debate offered by Marymount College for hosting purposes.

I am still unsure whether that debate can or will take place on Marymount's campus and I have problems with Dr. Brophy's quote in a newspaper about how the college will not get involved in this election, even though college funds will be used to hold the event on campus.

Ugliness is growing, concerning the Marymount debate. I'm going to bring my video camera to both debates as a way to document what goes on and if there is unfairness occurring at either or both events.

While I still have no confirmation at to the employment status of candidate Ms. Cynthia Smith, I can confirm that the address listed for candidate Mr. Eric Alegria changed ownership on March 17, 2011, for whatever that is worth to readers.

Bits and Pieces 39

What is up with multiple days of blue skies even in the morning, this particular August?

I live on the east side of The Hill as I am sure you must know by now. We normally get very hot sets of days in August, especially here in the 'Eastview' area of R.P.V.

We don't have our houses along the coast and here we all live 'north' of 9Th Street at Western Avenue.

Some of us have views of the bay, the San Pedro Bay, but it is a long way off and breezes flowing from it to us are rare and too mild.

We do get the Santa Ana's though, but that's in our future September and October, usually.

I hope all of the readers of this blog that live in our city and especially on the east side have already considered the upcoming election to three new members of our City Council.

This election will see a massive change in the architecture of how our city is governed. Many will be glad to say good-bye to 'the liberal years' when Councilpersons Long, Stern, Clark and sometimes Wolowicz made some fundamental changes that many did not appreciate.

I do not believe the new Council makeup will go back to "the good old days" because Councilman Campbell and Mayor Pro Tem have 'earned their stripes' over the last two years and they care enough to work with other members of the Council in going forward.

But to be sure, the new Council will not be as progressive in city financial matters considerations.

Any new fees or taxes will have a much more difficult time being enacted, whether we like it or not.

I don't think the new Council makeup will go back to the times when our city's infrastructure issues were repeatedly placed on the back burner.

Whether anyone likes it or not, the cost of borrowing for things is at its lowest prices in decades and that will last for at least two years. The eight years we have been through recently have seen responsible fiscal oversight to the point we have a surplus most cities in the South Bay and California can only dream of. I think that will continue with the new Council members.

The Tri Art Festival is going to be held at the south end of the Ports O'Call complex, this year.

One disturbing think I keep hearing is that folks living on "The Hill" refuse to come to downtown San Pedro to become more involved in activities and shopping because of a fear of many living in the downtown area.

Moving the Tri Art Festival to wharfside should allow for those "Hill People" coming down, without fear, to enjoy an evening or afternoon of FREE art, music and dancing.

To remind everyone, the Tri Art Festival is the weekend of September 23-25. Attendance and Parking are FREE.

The weekend prior to that weekend welcomes the San Pedro Lobster Festival, in the parking lot at Ports O'Call. Lots of folks living in R.P.V. love eating lobster, so how about attending the one in S.P. rather than the one in Redondo Beach.

Youth theatre is really more alive and well all around our local communities. There will be productions coming up that showcase quite a bit of talent from young people who live in Rancho Palos Verdes and other communities nearby.

R.P.V. has some of the very best performers anywhere in Southern California. Curtains Up Productions, South Bay Conservatory, Putting On Productions, the new Scalawag Productions and the true depth of talent at our local schools is outstanding!

Tentatively scheduled for production in the coming months are at least:

"The Wiz"

"The Dinner Party"

"White Christmas"

"White Christmas"

"Sweeny Todd"-student version

and music, dance and theater productions at many of our local schools.

The Clearwater Program is still plugging along after many interviews were conducted with local residents.

There are four different 'alternatives' as to where the tunnel for the new Outfall System will be located.

Two of the alternatives still continue to be in places where deep shafts will be placed in one of two areas on the mainland, in San Pedro. These are the least costly but both of those tunnels will be dug near where the two existing shafts are currently located; under the Western Avenue area.

I am supporting, along with many other people, the placement of shafts on Terminal Island where truck traffic won't impede residential traffic in San Pedro and where there is a very close set of railroad tracks so that dirt coming from the tunnel construction can be taken away in a more environmentally-friendly manner.

I hope to see all R.P.V. residents at the September 7 Candidates' debate at P.V.I.C. beginning at 7:00 PM. The debate will be moderated by Councilman Brian Campbell and will be quite interesting.

Hey! I Didn't Start It...This Time

This mornings Palos Verdes Peninsula News contains a letter to the editor submitted by Ms. Alicia Maniatakis.

Her letter is titles "Has college turned political?"

Included in her letter is the mention that (apparently) Ms. Cynthia Smith, one of the eight candidates for City Council is an "administrative assistant" employed by Marymount College.

The letter also includes the name of another Council candidate, Mr. Eric Alegria and the letter alleges that Mr. Alegria became an R.P.V. resident "only five months ago".

Ms. Maniatakis also asks why Marymount's administration has not begun the "council approved" expansion project.

Ms. Maniatakis also referred a quote made by Marymount's President, Dr. Michael Brophy, which appeared in the Palos Verdes Peninsula News that Marymount had no intentions of becoming involved in the current political election for the three open City Council seats.

The letter also included mention of a Marymount-hosted candidates debate, "for the first time ever", according to Ms. Maniatakis.

I do not personally know Ms. Maniatakis and I cannot remember if I have ever met her. She makes some very good and interesting points, especially when she seems to call out Marymount's administration and Dr. Brophy in particular for quote related to Marymount not becoming involved in the upcoming election, and in the same letter illustrating that Marymount officials have scheduled a first ever candidates' debate, regarding the election Dr. Brophy was quoted as saying his College would stay out of.

I do acknowledge and understand that Dr. Brophy and his associates will take the stand that Marymount, as the college entity it is, cannot and will not endorse any candidate, nor will it supply funds directly from the college to any candidates.

I am sure you all know that there are lots of well-heeled supporters of Marymount and The Marymount Plan who are legally allowed to fund candidates' campaigns, as long as they do it as individuals or through there non-Marymount-related businesses.

But having Marymount host a debate after Dr. Brophy claimed that the College would not become involved is problematic, in many ways.

I learned through several independent sources that the debate is scheduled for October 30, if I got that date correct. The debate is scheduled to be conducted on Marymount's private campus and not in a public location. I have no doubt however that members of the public are welcome to attend.

But one of my first questions is will Marymount officials allow anyone to everyone recording the debate on the campus?

Claims have been made that Marymount security guards blocked access to a public street, while classes were beginning, for the day and there have been reports that one of Marymount's security guards was struck by a car while he was standing on the public roadway, directing traffic. What measures might Marymount's security guards be instructed to take should folks opposed to certain candidates make negative comments. Might those same security guards hold favor over Ms. Smith or Mr. Alegria, if Ms. Maniatakis' remarks portend supporters of Marymount also being avid supporters of those two candidates?

There is something very ugly brewing with regards to the Marymount debate. I'm not going there with that, right now. I hope it doesn't get ugly, but please be prepared for some ugliness coming forth before October's possible debate.

I do have to remind everyone that it appears unlikely that supporters of The Marymount Plan will gain enough seats on the Council to allow it to approve The Marymount Plan, with on-campus housing, included.

It takes three votes, a majority of Council members to pass the ordinances required to begin The Marymount Plan. Our City Council has already approved, by more than a simple majority, The Marymount College Facilities Expansion Project, a project that Marymount has essentially done absolutely nothing on beginning to work on the first phase.

The current plans going through processes are neither The Project or The Plan. it is some remodeling of Air Conditioning equipment on the roofs of at least one building that would eventually be torn down should either The Project or The Plan having work begun.

*So, apparently Dr. Brophy has been quoted as saying Marymount won't become involved in the upcoming election.

*Marymount is scheduled to hold a candidates' debate in October for an election Dr. Brophy claims the college won't be involved with.

*The current plans for improvements have nothing to do with either The Project or The Plan.

*One of the candidates for a Council seat works at Marymount College, as stated in Ms. Maniatakis' letter.

*Another candidate apparently moved into our city just five months ago.

I agree with Ms. Maniatakis that voters in R.P.V. deserve answers from Dr. Brophy and others representing Marymount College to these questions about the election, the expansion project, and what Marymount officials may be attempting to support, after claiming no involvement.

This all should be taken care of by the upcoming debate scheduled for September 7 at the Point Vicente I.C., beginning at 7 PM. It could go a long way to quell any type of ugliness that some are worried about, already.

So, what's up Marymount?

Bits and Pieces 38

The Fifth annual TriArt Festival is coming to a brand new location during the weekend of September 23-25.

The Festival opens at 6:00 PM on Friday and continues from noon to 10:00 PM on Saturday and Sunday.

This is a FREE event. That means FREE parking and FREE admission to enjoy groups of dancers, musical groups from the local area and from distances further from The Hill.

This year, the TriArt Festival will take place on the brand new extension of the Promenade, along the harbor's edge, in San Pedro.

The locations is the former site of 'Whalers' Wharf', just next to Ports O'Call.

Artisans will be displaying their creations and arts and crafts will be for sale, too.

The new extension is a park setting with trees and excellent access to the harbor's edge and new lawns will be growing under you as you sit back and enjoy the music and dance and even do some dancing yourself.

More information about the TriArt Festival can be found on the Event's Web site:

http://www.triartfestival.com/index.html

Election season now finds eight candidates for three seats on the Rancho Palos Verdes City Council.

Sadly, unfortunately, and in other ways, it doesn't look like this season will be nice and friendly for all and to all.

Factions have been identified and there are hints of some folks already crying 'foul' at some of the initial goings on, with candidates and possible supporters.

I want to make one thing perfectly clear, here. I firmly believe that any candidate or any candidates' supporters who claim outright that "Marymount College" is supporting any candidate or even four candidates is not the truth and should not be used for or against anyone.

"Marymount College" as a entity cannot 'support' any candidate or any group of candidates. There would be a big group of residents heading to all kinds of courts and regulatory agencies and probably the I.R.S. if the administrators of Marymount College even consider throwing the college's support behind political candidates, no matter what the race is for.

Well, I am glad I got that first bit written. Now to the rest of the story.

There is absolutely nothing illegal for individual members of Marymount's Board of Trustees, acting as individuals, supporting candidates of their choice. Instructors, students, administrators and others affiliated with Marymount College also have rights, as individuals, to support candidates.

What appears to be coming into better focus for me is that there are folks associated with Marymount College and/or Palos Verdes Peninsula Watch who 'appear' to have a group of candidates they favor over other candidates in the upcoming election.

There is nothing illegal about that, either.

I have been getting reports from several sources that up to four candidates in the upcoming election repeat the same response to the same question asked to each of them. The response appears to be identical, each time. I think we have a new set of pre-written 'talking points' that do not offer as much openness and honesty as I think our residents deserve.

I am also beginning to notice on some of the candidates Web sites the names of supporters. That is perfectly fine and legal, just as it is fine and legal to pull our my records of the names of folks who supported Measure P, The Marymount Plan, which failed.

I am not all that worried about Marymount's supporters attempting to stack the Council with three new members who would vote in The Marymount Plan because I think the ship has sailed on any near future possibilities for on-campus housing being approved for the college's Palos Verdes Drive East Campus.

I also feel that Marymount's administration is doing a positive thing by looking to expand in the downtown San Pedro area, especially in offering more for the new four-year students and those current students who are now Juniors and/or Seniors.

Marymount's plans to expand more into the San Pedro area offers a great deal of benefits to the college and the San Pedro communities and it also offers positive things for our city, too.

I feel it is somewhat fair to write that candidates who seek and win the support of the majority of the members of Palos Verdes Peninsula Watch would also be supportive of just about anything Marymount's officials, Board members and administration wants to do.

I am now considering which of the top four of the candidates I feel would make reasonable Council members, I should support for my two remaining selections I have not already offered support for in this election.

My dilemma is that I now have to come to terms that no matter what, there is a very strong chance that the majority of the new council will have fiscal conservatives on it.

I am now looking for fiscally courageous candidates who have the guts to look at matters and issues that COULD require either some sort of fee, fee increase, or tax levied on our residents for infrastructure purposes.

A fiscally courageous candidate in my opinion, is not one who would run away from discussing even the possibility of some fee incursion by residents and businesses. They would now cower to the 'no new taxes', 'lower taxes on everyone', 'we already pay too much in taxes and fees' crowds.

Sadly, we have had a history of those types of folks keeping Council members from even attempting to deal with infrastructure issues or safety issues and that didn't really do well for our residents, some years ago.

It is also true that we have seen Council members themselves being those type of residents who decry any new or increased taxes or fees, no matter what.

I have two more votes to find candidates for. I am personally down to about three candidates who I can really consider very positively as to supporting. I know more than one of them is a fiscal conservative and I understand that our years of Stern/Long/Clark/and sometimes Wolowcz are behind us and it is unlikely we will see a majority of their likes, for a very long time. I get it, I just don't happen to love it.

I want brave candidates and not ones that follow the identical response to the same question.

We all need to learn more about the positions and who is supporting who and we will have at least two chances to watch debates among the candidates.

On September 7 at the Point Vicente Interpretative Center, a debate is scheduled.

I believe on October 30, or thereabouts, another debate sponsored by Marymount College will take place. I have heard several sets of rumblings about that one and I am not liking any of those rumblings one bit.

I am worried that a too fiscally conservative majority on our Council will not accomplish the permanent repair of San Ramon Canyon. I am hearing there are those among our city's residents who just wish to pile multiple tons of dirt at the bottom of the canyon rather than having a new drainage system tunnelled to the ocean. This worries me that there are those who will take a cheap fix over a permanent one and the cheap fix carries fewer guarantees and actually offers more problems.

The price of money is at its lowest point in decades. This should remain true throughout the remainder of the first terms of two of our current Council members. I fear if Council members fear reactions by those who decry all taxes and fees such that San Ramon Canyon might not get fixed permanently or that the Council is unwilling to even discuss things like a sewer maintenance fee, our infrastructure problems will find they will get neglected just as too many of them were, in years past.

I view Dave Emenhiser as the most logical choice to take the 'Stephan Wolowicz' seat on our Council. He knows finances and financing in our city and has offered his services and knowledge to serve all of our residents and businesses well, for many years. Yes, he may not be 'conservative' enough for some in our city, but he offers a very reasonable balance of thought and consideration and I know for a fact that he will work well with soon-to-be Mayor Misetich and soon-to-be Mayor Pro Tem Brian Campbell.

Brian and Anthony will certainly get at least one fiscal conservative on the Council to go along with Dave who I feel is a reasonable and responsible on our city's fiscal health and all matters.

I understand that Ms. Susan Brooks and Mr. Ken Dyda may be more to much more of fiscal conservatives than Dave is, but they are both very good candidates who will offer their views prior to the election.

I still don't know enough about Ms. Dora de la Rosa because I still deal with LAUSD more so than PVPUSD and Ms. de la Rosa's tenure on their Board of Education. I have no idea what her fiscal considerations are and I need to learn much more about her candidacy and her views.

I must inform folks that I have learned that on her Web site's endorsements page are names of folks I don't appear to be politically aligned with, if you get my drift.

Continuing with my honest admissions, Mr. Jim Knight was by third choice for one of the two seats up for election, last time. I will write a check for his campaign and put it in the mail and I don't have much of a problem having him as my second vote. I think he will most likely be my second vote, but I will wait until after the first debate to finalize that position.

More than a couple of people have independently told me that Mr. Alegria moved into our city, just this year. I really need to learn lots and lots about him and his candidacy. But moving into our city this year when I first came to the home I live in, in what is now R.P.V., back in 1955 has given me pause to think about a candidate who 'appears' to have spent very little time in our city, dealing with our city, and having experiences I would hope very qualified candidates have had and accomplished, in our city.

I still do not know enough about Mr. Jerry Duhovic. I have been offered information, but some of it seems good and some of it, not so good. I tried to access his Web site earlier on Sunday morning, but it appeared to still be under construction.

The latest thing I know about Ms. Cynthia Smith amounts to basically nothing and that is a shame on several levels. I wish she had a site up so I could learn more about her candidacy and experiences being an active member of the R.P.V. community.

Again to be honest, I get the following rumor coming to me all the time and I think somebody should confirm it, once and for all. It seems to be the only thing many of us have learned about her. She does deserve the opportunity to confirm or dispel 'The Rumor" that she is an employee of Marymount College. Even is she is an employee of the college, if that is the only thing folks need to know about her to either support her candidacy or oppose it, perhaps those folks need a lesson in government.

With several of the candidates, to me it comes down to their experiences in our community, how they have helped our community, what might they do on Council to keep R.P.V. on the correct tracks that have helped our city stay 'in the black' and offered their time and efforts to the residents of our city.

The New Districts Have Been Approved.

Click on image to enlarge it.

It now appears that our city is going to be within a new District layout that includes other coastal cities and at least parts of the other cities on The Hill.

It also appears that we won't be part of Congresswoman Janice Hahn's newly remapped District and they she will now likely have Congresswoman Richardson as either a constituent, her future Congresswoman, or find that both of them might lose in November, 2012.

My politics favor what I see for our new District and it just might look brighter for Ms. Marcy Winograd to find more votes from Torrance all the way past "The People's Republic of Santa Monica" and all the way up into the mountains above Malibu.

I think we will become a more solidly Democratic District, even when taking into consideration the Republican residents of our city, Rolling Hills Estates, Palos Verdes Estates, Rolling Hills and parts of San Pedro that have residential units in the higher priced ranges.

I feel our new Assembly District map and especially the new outline for our State Senate representation is better for the majority of us. Although Mr. Rod Wright is a Democrat, he affords Inglewood and other areas better opportunities that he can offer for our area.

Since the Republican Party gathered up many offices in the 2010 election, I don't see why many Republicans are now crying 'foul' with these new Districts. They had their chances to improve the economies in many areas of Southern California and it looks like they haven't come through for the voters who elected them, almost two years ago.

It might be interesting to learn the take about these new boundaries from the candidates for the three seats to our City Council.

More Trivia Dealing With Marymount's 'New' Library and Of Course, Comments

With Marymount College's "Marymount College Facilities Expansion Project" now approved and awaiting Marymount to actually begin measure under the approved project AND "The Marymount Plan, the plans for the new library for the campus are identical.

When those plans were drawn up, studied and approved, Marymount College was a Catholic Junior College.

As you all know by now, Marymount College offers four-year degrees in addition to the Associate of Arts degrees it has long provided.

So with that in mind, I sought out how many books might be required for the two different types of higher learning centers.

In my search, I used a Catholic Junior College, Manor College in Pennsylvania and Loyola Marymount University, our nearby four-year college, just north of L.A.X.

Manor College shares similarities with the 'old' Marymount College and Manor College's Library page states that its library has "over 45,000 books.

The figure reported by Manor College may just be a perfect number of books in a two-year, Junior College setting.

Marymount College, Palos Verdes is no longer just a 'two-year' college.

According to Loyola Marymount's Web site page for its library, there are "444,200" books reportedly at the library during the 2008-2009 academic year.

As we all should know, 'books' are just a portion of what is now offered in college libraries. For those interested, I have saved the 'statistics' page for L.M.U.s library and it illustrates many different types of available items including 'e-books', photographs and a whole host of reference materials.

I think illustrating the difference in the number of books between a Junior College and Loyola Marymount's library clearly shows that the library envisioned for Marymount College's Palos Verdes Drive East campus is far to small to remain in consideration.

There are surely ways for Marymount College officials to offer a library at least as good as what is found at L.M.U.

One way is to redesign the currently-approved brick and mortar structure. That would certainly entail new design, research and financial consideration.

It would also require a whole new set of studies and approvals including our city's Planning Commission and eventually, our City Council members.

Does the current Marymount campus have enough room for a physical library containing "444,200" books and other materials?

I continue to opine that Marymount supporters and others consider a different type of library for the ever expanding student population and the new expansions of educational facilities in downtown San Pedro and at Palos Verdes North and even Marymount's Pacific Heights off-campus housing facility.

What I feel might work now is several physical 'media centers' established and sites Marymount owns or rents. All of them can be tied together with a hub to create a huge virtual library providing access to the most number of people all without transportation-related issues and having a top-notch security structure to allow for the best learning opportunities with the least problems.

As downtown San Pedro has its Business Improvement District providing banners welcoming Marymount into two new facilities, it illustrates that more remote access to library items and related materials will be needed at more locations than ever before.

Since there is no way Marymount could possibly offer a library structure that allows for inventory equal or better than is found at L.M.U. a virtual library concept become ever more possible and hopefully probable for the entire Marymount community.

Virtual libraries may also be quite a bit more cost-effective than brick and mortar libraries.

Virtual libraries have already proven to be more effective for those concerned when remote or satellite educational and residential facilities are considered.

If Marymount College ultimately abandons plans for a brick and mortar library in favor of small media centers and a huge virtual library, perhaps everybody wins.

Construction work and the labor required to build a physical library on Marymount's main campus can be moved to other locations to improve Marymount's presence in communities within the South Bay.

Potentially, a virtual library for Marymount may be easily tied into library services of Loyola Marymount University.

It might require some repeating structures to 'beam' information between facilities. They would be small in size and should be designed and built to not impede visuals and other things, between them.

Many of Marymount's new grand designs can be assisted because of financial regards by avoiding having to fund a physical library, something that is becoming more extinct on campuses all over the world.

I hope folks learn more about virtual libraries and their benefits over physical, brick and mortar library buildings. There will always be a place for physical books and other materials to touch, feel and use, but those places can be collectives and housed in a more civic-central location.

The Field of Candidates is Set...........Perhaps!

According to one source, today was the last day to take out nominating papers for the three seats up for election to our City Council on November 8.

http://www.palosverdes.com/rpv/general-election.cfm

Above is the link listing eight names and Email addresses of those who submitted nominating papers by today's date.

Most of the eight names should be familiar to you by now, but a few names I heard that would be included as candidates do not appear on the list, on Friday.

You should know the following candidates:

Ms. Susan Brooks

Ms. Dora de la Rosa

Mr. Ken Dyda

Mr. David Emenhiser

Mr. Jim Knight

You all may know Mr. Eric Alegria and Mr. Jerry Duhovic better than I do.

Just today, Ms. Cynthia Smith was listed as having submitted her information. I do not know her either but I am pleased there are those who we may not know who are interested enough to enter the field of candidates.

There are two very prominent names that were not listed and as I have been traveling and out of our great city for several weeks, I haven't been informing myself the way I probably should have.

Word was provided a few week ago that Ms. Barbara Ferraro and Mr. Don Reeves would also be candidates.

Perhaps one of both of them have not completed the necessary paperwork or collected the required signatures yet. Their names may appear on the list at some time or they may not actually be running for any of the three seats available.

I have one candidate's sign up and as you might expect, it is for Mr. Dave Emenhiser. I am still quite open about the two other candidates I will support.

While away, my considerations have been going on dealing with the two other candidates I will support. I do have leanings at this point as I have some candidates I would lean against.

We may still be a somewhat 'lazy' time, except for campaign donation collections. This may be the time before the 'real' campaigning begins when candidates arm their war chests with funds to do battle after Labor Day and on until November 8.

Several candidates already have war chests other candidates can only envy. I do not subscribe to the idea that just because a candidate may have collected the most campaign money, they would be the best choice for election to the Council.

I hope is voters find that war chests are being enlarged by contributions by large companies or companies that directly do business with our city, they will look very hard at whether the funds collected would have 'notes' attached to the checks.

It will also be a good thing for all war chests to see funds coming in from all types of political thought and from every area of our city and lots of different people and businesses. I have provided checks to several candidates so far, and I will probably contribute to most, if not all of the candidates. I don't have much to offer them, because I am retired and my income is quite fixed at the moment.

The more differing views about all the issues by all of the candidates can only help voters decide who can best represent them on our City Council.

Let's remember to inform ALL of the candidates and ALL of their supporters that this blog is a good place to rant and rave with both positive and negative comments, but keeping negative comments here and not out on the streets serves the discussions and open and honest debates better.

Annenberg Project halted!

A few minutes ago I received an Email sent out to many residents from Councilman Brian Campbell.

Here is Councilman Campbell's Email:

"Fellow residents,

I’ve been informed this morning that work on the Annenberg Project proposed for Lower Point Vicente has been halted.

I have no further details at this time. I expect to hear more from the Annenberg Foundation in the very near future. However, this clearly would have been a difficult decision for them and hard on the many local supporters of this project.

The Annenberg Foundation, and their local executives, are some of the finest people anyone could have as neighbors and they have done enormously good work in Palos Verdes over the years. They were, for example, instrumental in helping RPV to acquire the final parcels necessary to complete the 1,400 acre Palos Verdes Nature Preserve that ensured this open space remained so in perpetuity and have been very generous with our local public schools. I sincerely hope that their important and valued involvement in our community will continue.

Best regards,

Brian"

For me, this is sad on many levels. It is also alarming to me.

Bits and Pieces 37

After what seems like an entire summer of travels and adventures, we are finally back at home and ready to spend some quality and quantity time NOT TRAVELING!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IHlyEoGXUUc

is the link to a Youtube view of the wedding ceremony of my son David to the former Pamela Stacey Platt, held on August 2 at the Chapel of the Shangri-La Resort on Viti Levu, Fiji.

The blond fellow standing near his brother is our Daniel. Both Groom and Best Man attended the ceremony with just their bare feet on. Their dad-me, visited Florsheim Shoes before jetting to Fiji. I didn't know bare feet were appropriate for a wedding in Fiji.

Now that we are back, I can turn to more R.P.V.-related things.

I still need to learn much about many of the candidates running for the three seats on our Council.

I will allow for the fact that I won't be voting for Barbara or Don and it is highly likely I would not vote for a candidate who doesn't have years and years-to-decades of experiences with R.P.V., if you get my drift.

Marymount is now in another "Awkward" position because of yet another possible violation of R.P.V. municipal code(s) regarding the taping of a show for the MTV network in the college's existing library.

A letter from the city was sent to Marymount College officials regarding the taping. I have a copy of that letter (naturally) and it will be interesting watching Marymount officials continue to deal with this matter.

One Marymount official who probably should have been well informed about this claimed the taping was conducted for the college's new Bachelor's Degrees program. I have been thinking about how big to type "HA!" on this blog and in other writings.

As our Super Shuttle passed the Palos Verdes North housing facility owned by Marymount, on our way to LAX to go to Fiji, I notices it was not without 'kids' being there.

What also struck me is that these 'kids' looked to be younger than college-age students. I wondered if Marymount was conducting some kind of summer camp for cheerleaders or some other group of high school-age kids.

There is certainly nothing wrong with having a summer camp environment at P.V. North, for whatever purpose it might be for, but it is something telling should Marymount continue its quest to place dorms on its P.V. Drive East campus.

With the "Awkward" situation at Marymount's library this summer and other allegations of possible code violations and possible breaches of agreements, the prospect of having summer camps where high school students attend cheer camp or band camp, while residing in dorms on Marymount's main campus should be causes for further consideration.

Now a word or two about the new library Marymount has plans to build on its campus.

I recently learned there is a difference between the number of volumes carried at a two-year college brick and mortar library as compared to a library of a four-year college, with post degree studies.

I don't really believe Marymount officials will actually build the library planned with the approval of The Marymount College Facilities Expansion Project and its same plans under The Marymount Plan. Those two plans were constructed during the time Marymount was still considered to be a Junior College well into the future, as many believed.

So, taking into account the differences between libraries of two-year colleges as opposed to a first rate library of a four-year college also offering post graduate studies, the multiples of numbers of volumes necessary between the two types of libraries are in, according to one study.

If Marymount actually were to build a 'brick and mortar' 'first class' library for the students body it seems to be seeking, the number of added volumes required to fully do that is NINETEEN TIMES the number of volumes needed to be added to create a 'first class' four-year+ library.

It seems to me the plans for the library, even using The Marymount Plan fall far too short, in this case.

I am going to continue to debate those who decry or seek major changes in the pay and benefit issues regarding R.P.V. Staff members.

I will continue to ask and even demand that all residents are provided the opportunities to know where they tax dollars are going and how much in pay and benefits city employees receive, but I am not going to call for any lowering of any pay or benefits, at this time.

It seems to me that too many folks, namely Republicans, seem to want to lower the pay, benefits and union rights of governmental employees.

What I believe they fail to appreciate is that in the case of our city staff members and other employees of government groups, these workers are being payed up to and possibly more that 30% LESS than workers in the private sector.

If we want excellence from our city workers and having them demonstrate loyalty to our city through many years of service, I feel we owe it to them to pay them as much as we can WITHOUT now considering cutting back on their benefits and opportunities.

This is an unveiled dig at Republican thinking that we have viewed in other governments recently.

Taking away from those who have provided great service to us with pay and benefit packages that are less than what might be offered in the private sector is not something we should be doing, especially at this time, I feel.

I want all of our worth staff members able to stay employed in our city and hopefully they will spend some money in our city.

If our city's staff have CalPERS, it might not matter much longer, anyway. If another credit rating agency cuts down the AAA rating the U.S. has, CalPERS has in its guidelines that it must divest itself from U.S. Treasury Bonds and that could spell disaster for CalPERS, its beneficiaries and our nation, I feel.

Bits and Pieces 36

I have been gone and will continue to be gone for a little longer, but I have kept my eyes open about some things happening in our city.

So it seems we now have our ninth candidate for one of the three seats up for election this November. Mr. Don Reeves has taken out papers to run.

Mr. Reeves has been and may possibly continue to be affiliated with and supported by Palos Verdes Peninsula Watch and that has and would continue to be a real problem for me and I hope you, too.

Mr. Reeves is not making his first attempt at gaining a Council seat, but I think he garnered more votes than the two I supported in the last Council race.

What is up with our City Manager?

I don't care if you are a far right wing (wrong wing) believer or someone on the far left like I am, I hope we can all agree that our citizens and tax payers have a duty and right to know what our staff is being paid and how they receive their benefits.

Our City Manager works for ALL of us and she was contracted to work for ALL of us by OUR City Council.

If I want to know what staff members are being paid from taxpayer funds, it is my legal right to demand that the information be produced.

I do not believe any pay is being received or benefits offered that are illegal, but I think I and others would like the opportunity to see where our tax dollars are going.

For me let's say, if a staff member saves vacation time and turns it in for a cash settlement that is within the law, I like that a lot! It means that the staff worker has provided more days of service to our city and then can go out and spend money, hopefully in Rancho Palos Verdes OR to use a healthy dose of funds to go out and make large purchases.

Wouldn't it be grand if a staff member turned in vacation time for money and then went out and bought things built by Americans? I'd love to see that money going to support local businesses, especially in these terrible economic days.

If money goes to investments in American businesses and products, that is good too, I feel.

What I don't want to see is hiding of information that our residents have a legal right to know.

What I will not stand for, nor should you, if having a City Manager that believe she feels SHE is the governing person or the one who make determinations that go against our right to know or our abilities to comment on issues.

I guess most of you probably have a good idea that I oppose most of the financial opinions being held by Mayor Pro Tem Anthony Misetich and Councilman Brian Campbell.

I think these latest 'conservative' economic tactics and dealings have led our country down a very steep and rocky road and I think that can also be said it can apply to local issues as well as State and National issues.

IF someone states that all taxes are bad taxes, please consider the source and kindly suggest to them that if they truly believe that, you can show them a map to where they should move to in Somalia or South Sudan where there is no need for taxes because government simply doesn't exist.

I side with those who consider that our city has a need to maintain its own sewer systems and if a fee or tax is necessary, it is something I feel we need to study carefully, get the best bang for our buck and if truly needed, create a relevant fee or tax.

While in Fiji and while watching a special episode of "Dirtiest Jobs" the hose spent the hour dealing with our Nation's infrastructure. The overall grade given to our Nation's infrastructure on all levels and types, is currently a "D".

There is a history in our city of City Councils having unwillingness to tackle infrastructure issues within our city.

So, now we have that our Storm Drain Levy that will continue to hound many residents, but not all, for some time to come.

Our city had to shell out a ton of money on one canyon drainage fiasco and the ever larger San Ramon Canyon issues MUST be tackles as soon as possible.

When we fail to educate ourselves about infrastructure issues and put blinders on because of the costs of repairs today, everything will surely get worse and much costlier, down the road.

Except that in one particular case, should our City Council fail in its duty to get San Ramon Canyon fixed sooner, the later could mean there will be no switchback to get down the road on.

I have heard of other rumblings and grumblings while out and about and I need to be back at home for a spell to educate myself more about some other things I am hearing, before I comment.

I know I still have lots and lots of self-education as to the positions of the candidates for City Council have at this time.

I fear the number of who can be described as 'conservative' candidates rattles me a bit. But that doesn't mean I would not vote for one or even two of them. I still have two seats to vote for and I am seeing nothing but more positive things about my first choice of Mr. Dave Emenhiser, coming out all the time.

When Dave is being supported by the two most conservative members of our City Council and he continues to have ideas I like, that should say something to everyone.

Next door to us is San Pedro. Their L.A. City Council member got herself elected to the House of Representatives. So, I think there are as many as 14 candidates vying for Ms. Hahn's former seat on L.A.s Council.

We get to have opinions on those candidates just as San Pedrans already have tauted their support for candidates in our election.

What I feel is important to know about Rudy Svornich, one of the candidates for the 15th is that he was a paid lobbyist for Bob Bisno's Ponte Vista. All over development on the 61.53 acre site directly across the street from homes in R.P.V. is a bad thing for all of us and all our 'close' friends in northwest San Pedro.

Yes, Rudy's firm has been hired to work on campaigns of some of our city's candidates and yes, even great candidate Dave seems to be using Rudy's firm in his campaign.

Using a firm is one thing. Having the lobbying firm's head as a candidate and possible decision maker for the city of Los Angeles is something very different.

I don't feel anyone should have a paid lobbyist voted into office to 'represent' them because I bet that lobbyist would be more beholden to whoever is working with his firm than to the residents who are having that person as 'their' representative.

If you want a 'conservative' to fill Janice's remaining term, why not give a look at Joe B.?

Joe is currently with the L.A.P.D. and as a San Pedro boy and former lead officer for that community, he just might be the best candidate for those who like his politics. He is a great guy and a wonderful family man who loves San Pedro.

I may weigh in more about which candidate my type of political thinking would like to see winning the seat. But that can wait.