Bits and Pieces 50

Bits and pieces of Paseo Del Mar in San Pedro got real huge as they fell off the cliff, yesterday.

With a very wet season possibly in our future, it looks like the city of Los Angeles and the city of Rancho Palos Verdes have common problems in multiple sites that will only cost all of us more, much more.

Rain is forecasted for Thanksgiving day and while we watch repair work along 'our' slide area along Palos Verdes Drive South, we can all only stand, sit and watch more land, mud and roadway movement continues.

For reasons that my all get placed back to human interaction and development in several areas, Mother Earth reminds us that she is truly in control of many human actions.

The city of Los Angeles could not afford the necessary repair costs associated with San Ramon Canyon and the Terrapaca landslide long before last March when engineers began monitoring small fissures and other cracks appearing and growing along Paseo Del Mar, in San Pedro.

Now, looking at the photo of Paseo Del Mar, we can clearly see that the money L.A. did not have to work on San Ramon Canyon and 25Th Street, certainly won't be there to deal with 'their' new road loss.

Here again and now more than ever, I want to plug The Corner Store on the corner of 37Th Street and Barbara, in San Pedro.

That small business has taken a horrific business toll because 'tourists' who might visit that store/cafe/meeting place while they drove along the San Pedro coast on Paseo Del Mar, now can't make that drive.

While there might be some 'looky-loos' visiting the area, all the 'regulars' know that business is down, way down, at a community place that is a real treasure, many of us think.

So, if you want to be a 'looky-loo' at the carnage of that landslide, please access it via the easterly way so you can treat yourself to some food and/or beverage at The Corner Store.

O.K., now I might be going to get some eastern Rancho Palos Verdes residents very mad at me.

Just recently, the PVPUSD School Board once again rejected the idea of stadium lighting being provided to Palos Verdes Peninsula High School (PenHi).

Many residents of "The Hill" remain outraged for various reasons that stadium lighting can't be placed at the high schools so that there could be real "Friday Night Lights" for football games and other night activities. No 'home' games under the lights for PenHi or Palos Verdes High School.

But wait, wait! There happens to be a football stadium, with lights, on "The Hill". I know this is true because I can see the bright glow from my house when they are turned on.

As I hope you all know, Miraleste Intermediate School was first built to be what it was for many years; Miraleste High School.

Might some of you be getting my drift?

I know there would be lots of 'bugs' to work out and there would need to be some studies done and many opinions collected, but what if both big P.V. high schools could play their 'home games' under the lights at Miraleste?

Traffic would be horrible and I take that into consideration because I live on a popular access route between P.V. Drive East and Western Avenue.

Then there is the noise, glare, and many other issues.

But we all know that there are high school students living on 'our' side of The Hill that would love to attend their high school home games 'under the lights', so 'our' side has stakeholders with students, parents and the case of Miraleste residents, taxpayers who fund P.V. schools.

The lights are already there. The Palos Verdes Peninsula School District owns the school.

Perhaps 'home' games would require attendees to gather at either PenHi or P.V. High to be shuttle bused to Miraleste, but that could be arranged and it might also help fund P.V. Transit more.

I am quite sure that local R.P.V. eateries along Western Avenue and even Francesco's in Miraleste Plaza would not mind more business from fans attending 'home' games at Miraleste.

That's good business for R.P.V., isn't it?

The parking lot at Miraleste I.S. was built for high school parking needs.

If there are residents on 'The Hill' that really want and 'need' Friday Night Lights for PenHi, it should also make sense that many of those same folks would want the same for P.V. High.

One solution that should be studied and would be less expensive and help local R.P.V. businesses just might be having both big high schools having their home games played at Miraleste.

What do think about that?

The huge Christmas Tree that signals you are at the Christmas Tree lot on the corner of 9Th Street and Western Avenue in San Pedro, is currently laying on its trailer, at the lot.

The pumpkin patch is long gone.

I hope everyone has a safe, joyous, and festive Thanksgiving Day.

Bits and Pieces 49

It appears that the race has officially begun between the communities of Rancho Palos Verdes and San Pedro to determine which area has the fastest moving landslide.

Sadly in this race, nobody will win.

At the latest report, San Pedro's White Point landslide is moving at about 1/2 inch a day but it is more dramatic than 'ours' because the new land movement appears much more dramatic when viewing pieces falling down the cliff and into the Pacific Ocean.

The old access road down the cliff has been demolished and now giant portions of Paseo Del Mar have crumpled into pieces and begun their slides towards memories.

A new chain-link fence has been put up around the San Pedro slide area because I guess folks are so interested in getting up close and personal with their land movement while most of us just enjoy a walk through 'ours'.

If and when the landslide in San Pedro ends there are going to have to be some pretty serious discussions about the possibilities of rerouting a portion of the roadway through a portion of the White Point Nature Preserve.

That won't be an easy task because of all the agencies, rights of way and other issues that will involve a slew of governmental and environmental agencies, including the Palos Verdes Land Conservancy.

One of the real victims of the San Pedro landslide is The Corner Store on the corner of 37Th Street and Barbara.

There are some good folks who run that store which is a real hub of information and also a local gathering spot for local residents and folks who enjoy strolls along the coastline.

There are some great sandwiches and other food items at that store, quite a few different varieties of sodas and beer and some sundries that most folks don't normally see in a local store.

The Corner Store is a warm place to meet and eat and if you are of a mind to head down to the San Pedro coastline, please have a visit to The Corner Store and enjoy a beverage, some food or maybe some local crafts to shop for.

That store has taken a very hard financial hit because it is now not as easy to get to, but it is very much worth the trip. If you don't believe me, ask Terri. She loves the place!

What I am already fearing that might come to pass with our new City Council got a bit of a preview earlier this evening, at the City Council meeting.

It is known by this blogger that there will be some 'revisiting' of decisions made by the current City Council members and that what may have been settled for the benefit or our residents, may not be settled at all.

This is disturbing for me because I feel progress is better than regress and any revisiting and changing of things by the new Council, to what has been decided by the current Council will only take time out of progressing forward, in my view.

While I requested that any decision on approving the staff bonuses I feel staff has most certainly earned be held until the new Council is seated, that went as I suspected it would.

What I wanted to do is allow the new Council to verify the current Council's position on Staff bonuses and I am pretty sure the new Council would have done so. To me this would have also provided some evidence that the new Council makeup would offer to staff sort of an olive branch before I suspect they will head straight into revisiting and re deciding pension reform or some other staff compensation issue.

Our city has enough issues on its plate that the new Council makeup can work very hard and long on the issues before it, rather than trying to recreate the wheel, which I don't believe is bent or broken.

I am one who strongly believes that Mayor Tom Long, former Mayor Stefan Wolowicz and former Mayor Doug Stern provided great leadership through some very difficult times in our city and we are all better off for their good governance than some of the voters in the last election thought.

We are in a pretty good financial position and our city made it through the financial storms of 2008-2011+so far, better than many other cities and I place a hefty amount of thanks on our governors for working with staff to have our city and its residents in a much better place that where we could have been.

I have not always agreed with some of the decisions made by the three outgoing Council members, but I don't think anyone can intelligently argue that they didn't have our backs covered during some pretty tough times.

I hope these fine gentlemen come back to speak at Council meetings when the regressiveness I fear will be happening for far too long with the new Council, starts pulling our city down.

With the election of Mr. Jerry Duhovic and Mr. Jim Knight, there is now an opening on our city's Planning Commission and Finance Advisory Committee.

Interested persons are urged to contact city staff to make their wishes known.

I am not qualified to sit on either of those two bodies but I hope whoever does, is well qualified and since we have so many great residents in RPV, we have a wealth of knowledge pool we can put up against any other city.

I don't know if former Mayor Ken Dyda wants to volunteer, but I think he has already demonstrated his greatness with city planning so perhaps he wants to deal with financial matters on our Finance Advisory Committee.

The F.A.C. might also be someplace where Mr. Eric Alegria might want to seek a seat on.

Next year, we all get to vote on who will represent us in the new 66Th Assembly District.

Right now, the Daily Breeze has an article about three men who have at least announced some interest in the seat.

There is one Democrat and two Republicans apparently interested, at this point. One of the Republicans was mentioned as a young Tea Party member and the other Republican is none other than Craig Huey, who lost to Janice Hahn, for a seat in the House of Representatives.

Note to self...watch to see if Ms. Dora de la Rosa might be interested in running.

I still don't have any word on when the new Environmental Impact Report for Ponte Vista at San Pedro will be available to the public. The item was not on the agenda during the latest meeting of the Northwest San Pedro Neighborhood Council, which has the property in their area.

Increased Government Spending Coming In RPV

Newly elected RPV Councilwoman Ms. Susan Brooks answered, "Absolutely" when she was asked by a Palos Verdes Peninsula News reporter if the new City Council would revisit pension reform.

That's going to cost time and money, won't it? Sure, there might be some savings down the road, once you add in the costs of changing what has already been decided, but probably not much.

Would revisiting pension reform be just one of the first things the new Council will try to revisit to change what has been adopted by the current Council?

A common thread running through the campaigns of some candidates concerned decisions made more recently by the current City Council.

If some of those decisions are revisited by the new Council makeup, it will certainly require additional costs and staff time.

If the new Council is successful in changing what has already been decided concerning pension reform, might that embolden them to seek changes to other decisions made by the current Council?

It is time for progress forward and not rehashing the past. Let's move on because it will probably be more financially prudent to just do so.

There are those of us in RPV who are demanding transparency in our government and staff so we can learn what is legal to learn and know about all things in our city.

There are those who wish to revisit staff compensation who also want to find full transparency as allowed by law. I don't object to this but I have some 'ideas' that the new Council might attempt to make changes in pension and other compensation before everyone has the opportunity, through transparency, to see what is actually the full facts.

I agree completely with former Mayor Ken Dyda that there is not enough transparency right now.

What I fear is that the discussions and decisions regarding staff compensation will be done before or during the time we are all still trying to learn what is actually the truth.

Transparency first! Then, when we all have the same facts before us, that will be the time to discuss and if necessary, make changes.

As long as there is still no true transparency, it will not be a good idea to decide anything else, in my view and it would then seem to indicate that the new Council will make changes to what has already been decided in a more vindictive way, rather than a rational and well-discussed way.

Since 8:00 PM Tuesday evening, I have been very busy but not busy enough to not have learned a thing or two about what might be in our city's future, whether you feel it is a good thing or a bad thing.

Even before the election, it has been considered that the new Council makeup will be much friendlier to big business than many claim the current Council has been.

It is not inconceivable that the makeup of the Council will allow for even more friendlier associations with and for big businesses.

Perhaps we won't see any more 'problems' with the folks at Trump National having their hedges and other things growing higher than municipal code currently allows.

That might not be a big deal for some, but when code enforcement visits your home and tells you that trimming is required, what will you do when you see what might be allowed for others?

With the election results, I certainly did not get what I was hoping for, but I did get some comfort in the results.

"Councilman Jim Knight" is a really neat moniker and all of us are going to be positively impacted by his governance, wisdom, intelligence and constructive reasoning on all the matters that come before Council. A sometimes quiet demeanor in a very thoughtful man.

"Councilman Jerry Duhovic" is also going to be a neat moniker for this decent and strong man.

While Jerry and I will disagree on much, he has demonstrated great strengths of character and a strong will to serve at his best, on our Council.

Unfortunately for folks like me, we are now back to a 4-1 imbalance towards many leanings, with the new Council makeup.

We all had to deal with a similar situation when the late Dr. Peter Gardiner served as the more conservative member of our Council with what was viewed as four 'liberal' members.

Back in those days it got so bad that lawsuits were filed and a Freedom of Information Act usage created a true storm against the calmer tide of staff and government.

Now, with a 180 degree turnaround, we are going to have to wait and see what unfolds.

The voters have spoken and I think they got two out of three correct. I'll take the 67% and be very pleased it wasn't 100% and work as hard as I can to help RPV progress forward without revisiting what most people was a pretty bad past. (Even though I won't contend the recent past was all that bad.)

The Results!

I thank all the candidates who put themselves out there in service to all of us in Rancho Palos Verdes and I congratulate Ms. Susan Brooks, Mr. Jerry Duhovic and Mr. Jim Knight.

Candidate	Party	Votes	Percent
SUSAN BROOKS	NP	3,929	20.42
JERRY DUHOVIC	NP	3,398	17.66
JIM KNIGHT	NP	2,731	14.2
DAVE EMENHISER	NP	2,584	13.43
KEN DYDA	NP	2,529	13.15
DORA M DE LA ROSA	NP	2,319	12.05
ERIC ALEGRIA	NP	1,353	7.03
CYNTHIA SMITH	NP	396	2.06

Registration	27,264
Precincts Reporting	20
Total Precincts	20
% Precincts Reporting	100

The voters of RPV have spoken and although I am somewhat sad to be able to watch Dave Emenhiser join the council, I am very happy that we will be able to call Jim, Councilman Knight, in the near future.

I hope all the newly elected members find comfort in working with the future Mayor Anthony Misetich and most likely, Mayor Pro Tem Brian Campbell.

I voted exactly the way I wrote I would, by voting for just two candidates.

I will try to get a breakdown by precincts on the east side to see who did well in our area.

Again, I very much appreciated all of the candidates' concerns for those of us living on the east side of The Hill and they all recognized the importance of our residents and businesses 'over here' and I am waiting to see if 'we' provided more than a normal 11% voter turnout, which is embarrassing.

I also wish to thank the good folks in the Rolling Hills Riviera HOA who helped get the word out about the candidates so 'our' residents could make the most informed votes for whom they chose to vote for.

We may not agree on everything, but we just witnessed yet another victory for our right to vote, which is something so many people on this planet never have the choice to do.

24 Hours Until A Big Change

At this writing, I think the best possible outcome that will become our next city council would be to see Mayor Anthony Misetich ending the December 6, 2011 city council meeting.

Next to him will be Mayor Pro Tem Brian Campbell and the two of them will welcome Dave Emenhiser, Jim Knight and Jerry Duhovic as members.

Whoever joins Anthony and Brian will make up the biggest change in council history since the council was first seated over 3-1/2 decades ago.

Current Mayor Tom long sent out a recent Email that stated that in some past elections, the membership of the council was not decided until the votes cast on election day made all the difference.

So, even if you think the outcome has already been determined by mailed in ballots, for this election, PLEASE don't decide to skip voting tomorrow.

This is especially true for those of us living in the Eastview area of eastern Rancho Palos Verdes because we only get to vote for who will be joining our city council.

We don't have any vote for PVPUSD Board candidates and we can't vote on Measure M.

What all registered voters in Rancho Palos Verdes have is the opportunity to help decide who your governors are and there are far too many people around the world who do not have those rights which should not be taken for granted or who would willingly 'waste' their votes.

If you have not yet decided who you will vote for, please consider most positively Mr. Jim Knight and Mr. Dave Emenhiser.

If you are still trying to decide whether to vote for Ms. Susan Brooks or Mr. Jerry Duhovic, please positively consider Mr. Jerry Duhovic over voting for Susan.

I never received the multi-page document distributed to some homes in RPV.

But I also never heard from Ms. Susan Brooks anything about whether the allegations in that document are true or false, point by point.

Since I still don't know what most of the document reported, who is to really factually determine whether the items within the document are true and if so, what might that mean about those who support Ms. Brooks' campaign?

Susan Brooks, via an item regarding her candidacy, called those who distributed the document, a 'group', but she never named the 'group' she associates with the distribution.

There is something classic going on here, I feel.

Somebody says or writes something about 'person A'. 'Person A' denies it until more facts reveal that what was said or written is true. Then, 'person A' changes their story to attempt to remain believable. More facts are revealed and then 'person A' finally has to acknowledge the truth or continue to deny something that is true.

In the recent week or so, we have seen something like this from a Presidential candidate, just like we saw with former Presidential candidate John Edwards and even President Clinton.

It is not implausible to imagine someone with a 'history' that may have some negative elements 'buried', trying to discredit those who remind folks of that 'history' rather than facing up and owning the true facts in that 'history'.

I don't feel Susan Brooks has done that effectively with the 'history' purported belonging to her and that is something Jerry Duhovic has any problem with in his 'history'.

If we are going to have a conservative elected to our council, I feel it is best for that new member not have the 'history' similar to Susan's or someone who may have a more checkered past.

If this makes me skeptical, than I plead guilty to not be willing to support a candidate who cannot or will not provide factual evidence that what was purported is, in fact, only fiction.

There have been quite a few 'little birds' willing to 'chirp' to me and those 'chirps' seem to point to the possibilities of greater difficulties in the governance of our city with Susan on our council, rather than Jerry Duhovic.

Now Jerry and I agree to disagree on quite a few things and he might truly wish to see Susan joining Brian, Anthony and him. But I feel that would be problematic to all residents in our city, that's just my opinion.

As for Ms. Dora de la Rosa, I feel she would be a great administrator in the PVPUSD or some other school district....until she runs for another office.

I like Mayor Ken Dyda's ways at looking at problems and working towards solutions. He is a real mentor to others in that capacity and he works hard at knowing how to solve problems and network towards achieving common goals.

But at this time, I feel those wonderful strengths he has provided better serve our residents and city by continuing to do what he has done for many years and assist both staff and council members in a more open and outside elective office.

I hope I am still living in RPV to campaign for and help elect Eric Alegria to our city council. He is a bright gentleman who has provided great services to so many and as an educator, provided some of the most important work a person can provide.

I'd like to campaign for him after his firstborn is walking and he might have the more time necessary to gain 'RPV cred' and be the dad he surely wants to be for his kids.

Seeing what I have seen and knowing what I know, all of our current and most of our former council members need lots and lots of time to do the work for our residents to be the best members possible. Eric will be one of those members, in the future and I wish for him more time to watch his family grow as his experiences involving RPV goes.

Now, how many of you readers can't wait to see how many votes Ms. Cynthia Smith receives.

I won't vote for her because my votes are too important to me to something I think is a waste of a vote. I'd rather use my two votes for the two candidates I feel will provide the best possible council members, as far as I am concerned and leave my third vote alone.

I mentioned all the good qualities that Eric possesses and some of the more negative issues I find revolving with Susan and Dora and she has decided that her third vote will go to Eric.

I mentioned Jerry's good qualities to Terri, too. But she is like me and she won't vote for someone as conservative as Jerry is.

Please vote! Thousands have dies and millions have been maimed, in a great part, to allow you to live where you live and have the remaining freedoms that haven't been taken away, in the last few years.

Honor yourself, your city and your rights to vote for the candidates you wish to vote for.

Bits and Pieces 48

I apologized to Councilman Brian Campbell for using his viewed Email addresses he provided in error by not listing them in a "Bcc" line on an outgoing Email.

The Email was about Measure M which is a measure dealing with the Palos Verdes Peninsula School District, (PVPUSD).

I used those addresses that one time to create a 'Reply All' Email from me to address a very important issue for those of us paying property taxes in the 'Eastview' area of the city of Rancho Palos Verdes, (RPV).

My main point I wanted to get accross to those Emailed residents who don't live in Eastview is that while 'our' (Eastview living-PVPUSD schools attending) kids mostly attend PVPUSD schools rather than LAUSD schools, their parents and neighbors in Eastview have their portions of education monies collected via property taxes, going into Los Angeles Unified School District coffers and NOT PVPUSD coffers.

It is true and should be stated that Eastview school students attending PVPUSD schools allow for the state of California providing the funding going to PVPUSD schools, but for property tax payers like me, our dollars go into LAUSD because we don't have children attending either district.

Back when annexation of the Eastview area was discussed, some people considered joining either Lomita or San Pedro.

But when the vote for annexation happened (I was not living in the area at that time) the majority of Eastview residents voted to become part of RPV.

At first, being part of RPV did not mean 'our' kids could attend PVPUSD schools. After some years, 'our' kids gained and still have the option, determined by their parents, to attend either district.

I think you already know where the vast majority of 'our' kids attend schools.

But what you know yet other residents on 'The Hill' might not know is that Eastview voters have no right to vote for PVPUSD Board members or are allowed to vote on PVPUSD measures.

What many still can't or won't acknowledge is that since 'we' send 'our' kids to PVPUSD schools in such numbers, schools like Dapplegray Elementary, Miraleste I.S. and Palos Verdes H.S. are open today.

That benefits all parents and students dealing with all PVPUSD schools and all lessening of most overcrowding conditions in those schools, when finances allow for that.

The property tax dollars I pay, while living in my home, have their education portion going to LAUSD when I would much rather prefer that those dollars go to PVPUSD.

I don't get to vote for members of the PVPUSD Board and because I live in Eastview, I will not get to vote for or against Measure M, the subject of Councilman Campbell's mass Email.

I know many current and former members of the PVPUSD school board would love to have our dollars flowing into that district. I suppose they would not mind Eastview voters voting on measures dealing with schools 'our' kids attend, or at least I hope they would not mind.

In our history there were PVPUSD Board members who wished to exclude 'our' kids from attending 'their' schools, but they apparently didn't realize that 'our' impact on 'their' district would be as great as it is now.

We need our tax dollars going to PVPUSD schools because we must have a say in how the schools and district we send so many students to, is run.

We aren't taxed to the correct district and so we have no true representation in Eastview towards PVPUSD.

As just about every reader of this blog knows, there remains two LAUSD campuses within the limits of the Eastview area of the city of Rancho Palos Verdes.

Folks, there is nothing we can possibly do about that, for a very very long time. It will probably come to pass that the upkeep of Dodson Middle School will become so expensive that LAUSD will eventually shut it down.

The Mira Vista neighborhood sees a large majority of students attending Crestwood Street Elementary School coming into and out of RPV, while not residing in any portion of RPV.

Crestwood was my elementary school and its student test scores are nice and high and equal some other PVPUSD elementary schools.

Crestwood has a good campus and the best thing I can hope for is that LAUSD and PVPUSD come to some arrangement to where LAUSD students would be moved to 7Th Street Elementary School, Taper Avenue Elementary, or Park Western Place Elementary School so PVPUSD could take over that site to ease crowding at Dapplegray, Mira Catalina, and/or a few other local PVPUSD elementary schools. This is not implausible.

The 'elephant in the room' is and will continue to be Dodson Middle School.

The Rolling Hills Riviera neighborhood sees up to 600 students bussed into and out of their area of RPV without any real compensation by LAUSD, near that school site.

Neighbors of that school have had to seek parking restrictions in front of their own homes because of Dodson being used to help relieve over crowding at other LAUSD middle schools.

We are now seeing busing to these two schools because of over crowding at other schools even during a lengthening time frame where we are watching student enrollment within LAUSD shrinking.

What I find worse is that Dodson is home to at least one magnet program that sees magnet students being transported into and out of RPV by parents and others who don't live in the nearby area.

Magnet programs are fine by me, but NOT on a school site within the limits of another school district and where the truly vast majority of students attending that school do not come from homes within RPV or the "three" other cities commonly cited as being on 'The Hill'.

Folks, this is not a busing for racial reasons for me and I also attended Rudecinda Floracinda Sepulveda de Dodson Junior High School, where 'Navy kids' also attended and we saw a real 'world view' of students, which is and was not a bad thing at all (sorry Carol).

LAUSD middle schools remain over crowded in Lomita, Wilmington and other areas and I don't think the K-8 monster school is open yet in Wilmington.

My wife is one of the two library aids at Miraleste I.S. This is another reason I would like to see my property tax dollars going to better funding of PVPUSD schools, but that certainly is not the only reason.

Our one block of the street I live on now has six of the six student-age kids attending PVPUSD schools. Our seventh 'little buddy' is not yet old enough for kindergarten. He will go to Dapplegray starting in 2013.

What this illustrates to me and the parents of our block's students is that our tax dollars should go more directly to funding the schools our block's children attend. Our votes should also be used to help better educate all students in the district we send 'our' kids to.

Isn't that what democracy and representative government is all about?

Wow! It's cold! Terri and I saw snow on our local mountains when the clouds cleared up today.

Does this portend a colder and wetter late fall and winter in our community?

I'm no fan of wind and if this cold and wetter weather continues I will be pleased that local fire danger will probably be diminished. But it may also mean that the grasses that will grow tall will become more of a threat when the weather warms to hotness and we get into a long dry spell.

I don't ever wish to view again that terrible glow over the top of San Pedro Hill we all watched, not all that long ago.

Redondo Beach Police have stated they cannot afford to send Santa Claus out this year, to greet kids throughout that city. I hope that is not the case with our Lomita Sheriffs.

I think I will check with the Lomita station to see if there is a fund folks can contribute to to see that what looks to be happening in Redondo Beach doesn't happen to our communities.

Christmas or 'Holiday' shopping has begun, not in Earnest but in stores throughout the area. Whatever you want to call it is fine by me but I hope you consider shops and stores in RPV when looking for gifts for whatever you do or do not celebrate.

And while you are shopping in RPV, please consider dining there, too.

Remember, Coco's is in RPV but Carrow's is not. We have lots of great eateries in our city and now we have four supermarkets here, too.

Tom Long's Latest Email

I just read Tom Long's latest Email about this election and it is beginning to look repetitive on some of the issues. I would like to see him hammer away at PVP Watch using other issues and seeking comments from the three candidates endorsed by PVP Watch as to their own acceptance or rejection of things PVP Watch stands for.

No matter what anyone says, giving back a 6-1/2% pension contribution and then receiving just a 5% pay increase is NOT an increase. It currently amounts to a loss in a climate where workers are continuing to lose real buying power and opportunities.

I wish Tom would do more illustration that PVP Watch does not watch the Palos Verdes Peninsula.

Throughout their Web history, that group of what I feel are ultra-conservative former government or government-allied workers, have dealt with JUST Rancho Palos Verdes issues and issues related to the PVPUSD.

These senior citizens may have gleaned an education direct and/or indirect pay, pension benefits and other income directly or indirectly from governmental entites, all the while bemoaning and badmouthing governments.

I bet Tom and I would agree that PVP Watch members wish to be the puppet masters of some council members.

I think that should Susan, Dora and/or Jerry wish to 'get away' from any moniker of being under any influence of or by PVP Watch, they should do it now, in public and with a sincere determination to make us all know they are not beholding to any group.

I want all voters to be absolutely sure about this, that the three candidates endorsed by PVP Watch will not be influenced by any puppet masters whether any of believe PVP Watch is such a group or not, or with any other group in our city or beyond.

Unfortunately, Tom's last Email comes to me more like a skipping record rather than any new music that we haven't heard before. Tom can and should do much better, I feel.

When there was what I would call an almost ultra-conservative on our council, the divisiveness created brought lawsuits that cost our city thousands and thousands of dollars along with thousands of hours worked by staff that ultimately came up to be worthless when the attorney associated with that former council member never picked up the boxes of records demanded from our city, as the lawsuit seemingly vanished into thin air.

I don't have all the history on that debacle but I do remember some men who I later found out were prominent members of PVP Watch, being central in the arguments surrounding that episode that cost our city so much and created some very foul issues within our city.

I do think that if folks disagree with Tom Long's Emails, they should write their own Emails or even offer a post on this blog that I will gladly publish.

I never have to agree with a post contributor as long as they meet minimum criteria of being truthful and not hypocritical. Their opinions are their opinions and they have every right to express those opinions, whether I agree with them or not.

There is however, one RPV resident who is NOT WELCOME to post their opinions on this blog. Tom mentioned that individual in one of his Emails.

With that person, I learned that even though only one PVP Watch member has publicly stated some reasonable defamation of 'That Email's" writer, nobody else from PVP Watch or the candidates that group endorses have made any public comment about 'That Email' and they really should.

I have come to learn that the author of "That Email" has been asked to steer clear of PVP Watch, but that does not mean in any way, that group has stated in public any rebuke of the contents of 'That Email'. or its author.

Of this I really don't care how 'busy' any candidate is. I think it should be important enough for all candidates to offer their personal opinions, one way or the other, about the contents of Carol's Email.

Silence is not golden to me, in this regard. Guilt by association is still considered guilt, by some and it remains sickly and sad we have not heard from all of the candidates concerning this issue.

I do not want to see our city tarnished with even a hint that some folk who may think of PVP Watch as a prominent group, will not offer a formal rebuke and condemnation of such writings. I am sure they don't take comments written by Tom Long too kindly.

But I do realize that most of this is probably moot by now. With the attendance voting less than a week away, there are probably close to a majority of ballots already mailed into the County Registrar's office.

In Eastview, our ballots contain only ONE item. All we get to vote on is who will represent us on our city council.

We don't get to vote for new members of the PVPUSD Board and we have absolutely no vote on Measure M.

It is extremely important for everyone with any interest or knowledge of our city's workings to vote in this election but I can see lots of Eastview residents, not voting by mail in balloting, simply avoiding going to the polls. And that is a very bad thing!

At least for the rest of our city, there are three items to vote on.

This election is not going to end as pretty as it should, I suspect.

I do know for a fact that there will be fireworks in the aftermath of this election and that saddens me.

There are those more conservative than I am who are looking forward to bashing outgoing council members and I feel that negative energy would be better used in a more positive manner by working on the future of our city.

At least we probably won't see the rant about a 'wealthy' candidate winning as was stated by one candidate regarding the victor over that candidate by another person.

These remaining several days finds my calendar fairly full of casting calls. I may get a couple more posts written before November 8 and I still encourage anyone to submit their own comments or even a guest post to this blog.

On election eve I am a 'hopeless drunk' and I think I have one more zombie role between now and election day. I am not cast as anything other than my regular curmudgeon self on November 8, so I'll probably head to my elementary alma mater's auditorium about 9:00 AM to vote for Dave Emenhiser and Jim Knight.

I'm still befuddled by today's Daily Breeze news about campaign contributions provided to the seven active candidates.

It is really true that Eric Alegria only received ONE contribution to his campaign by a resident of R.P.V.?

Whey didn't the Daily Breeze report that Susan Brooks and Dora de la Rosa received $1,000 from Trump National Golf Course while both Jerry Duhovic and Dave Emenhiser received their $1,000 from "VH Properties", a Trump-associated entity, in New York? There is a difference, you know. Maybe not much, but not mentioning Emenhiser's contribution is a miss. I still fully endorse Dave and Jim.

There are at least two versions of why staff members ultimately sought union representation. Both seem plausible but I think we need full disclosure from unionizing staff members to get to which version is correct.

One version is that the huge differences in higher level staff compensation compared to the compensation packages offered to lower level staff members is the reason staff members sought unionization.

The other prominent version is a fear that a too-conservative new city council makeup will further erode staff members' compensation packages and opportunities.

It really depends on whether you are a conservative or more progressive on which of the two reasoning are more believable to you.

Good night and thanks for reading!

If You Want To Vote For One Conservative, Vote For Jerry Duhovic

This post is NOT an endorsement suggesting everyone should vote for Mr. Jerry Duhovic but if you wish to put him onto our council rather than Susan Brooks, and/or Dora de la Rosa, please positively consider Jerry Duhovic.

Jerry is a decent person, yet one who is too conservative for me to vote for and he recognizes that. He certainly does not appear to me to be someone who could be bought or buy a ficcus "hedge" from Trump.

There is one very important thing that all voters should know about where Jerry lives and what he would most likely do, concerning anything at Trump National Golf Course. It is something Dora and Susan are not affected by or potentially restricted by, either.

Jerry lives within 500 feet of the property line of Trump National Golf Course.

As such, he will most probably recuse himself from any vote on any issue regarding anything involving Trump National Golf Course. Jerry has stated that to me and restated that to others.

I agree with Jerry's position on this so I know any contribution made to him by any Trump entity would garner no vote either for or against any vote brought forth concerning Trump National Golf Course. That's just plain honest and correct.

I strongly urge all to vote for Mr. Dave Emenhiser and Mr. Jim Knight.

But since there are three seats open on our new council AND I have written previously that I do not feel any candidate who has already been elected to any office should gain a seat on this new council, it become more realistic that should voters choose to vote for a third candidate, then I feel that Jerry Duhovic would be a much better choice than Susan, Dora, Eric and yes, even Ken Dyda.

I feel there would be the best balance available to all of our residents by having the vastest amounts of experiences demonstrated on our council and having Dave and Jim joining Brian and Anthony will allow someone like Jerry to also fit in the best into the mix.

A new council made of of these five, Anthony, Brian, Dave, Jim and Jerry would bring a much greater depth of 'coverage' in most of the matters we have to deal with, in RPV.

The real estate experiences of Brian's, the business experiences and community sharing we see with Anthony's associations with both RPV and San Pedro will be bolstered quite well by the three other candidates that might join them to create the most effective and balanced council we could have.

Dave Emenhiser has been a educated leader for human resources and he has a record on the Finance Advisory Committee and now our Planning Commission that will offer all our residents and businesses very good representation throughout our city. He has worked in government and for governments so he knows all sides of the aisles, I feel.

Our city needs Jim Knight on the council, probably now more than ever. His vast knowledge of environmental, planning, development, and governmental matters are now so very important as we move forward with issues like San Ramon Canyon, our city's sewer system, Portuguese Bend, our storm drains and other infrastructure issues as well as how we can lead other cities by showing them 'how it is done so very well'.

Jerry Duhovic may add the best balance that no other conservative candidate will offer, now that our council will move from a more 'liberal' status to a more 'conservative' status, compared to every other conservative candidate now running.

Jerry is also an experienced business person. He is currently Vice Chair of our Finanace Advisory Committee.

If folks think Tom Long has been and is continuing to be divisive, I can assure you that Jerry will not bring any sort of divisiveness that I strongly suspect Susan Brooks would join the new council with, in the form of baggage she seems to have been carrying since she lost her races for Congress.

Jerry, along with Dave Emenhiser both understand that when our council was considering 'pension reform' the Finance Advisory Committee should have been given the go ahead by the council to study and then ADVISE the council. Both men have expressed dissatisfaction with our council that the Finance Advisory Committee was not asked to ADVISE council members.

Jerry also shares a strong issue with me and others that ALL of our residents need to see transparency with information from our city's staff that good folks like Ken Dyda has also been calling for.

I think Jerry and I will have better discussions about our differences related to pension reform and the unionization of our staff than I suspect I would have with Susan Brooks or even Dora de la Rosa. I know we are going to disagree, but Jerry and I have already had several decent discussions where we can disagree, but remain respectful of each other.

Sadly, neither Susan or Dora has sought to discuss many issues with me that we may agree or disagree with.

I feel it would be the far worst case scenario should Dora, Susan and Jerry all get elected, this November.

It would be a still very bad election night ending to see Susan and Jerry get elected.

But seeing Dave, Jim and Jerry taking seats this December may be the best outcome for everyone in our city. All three have demonstrated more respect and offered the most intelligent and thoughtful answers to questions in all three Forums, than I have recorded for the other candidates, even though I might not like their answers, personally.

If you are already prepared to vote for Dave and Jim, I think you are making the correct choices.

If you still wish to vote for a third candidate I can think of lots of reasons to NOT VOTE for Susan, Dora or Eric (yet).

I think that IF you decide to vote for a third candidate and you are considering between Jerry Duhovic and Ken Dyda, you have a very difficult decision to make, but if you still want that third ink-a-vote dot placed somewhere, you may want to consider the wonderfulness of an honored mentor that Ken Dyda is and should remain as you might simply place your dot by Jerry's name.

Again, I still am not willing to place a third mark on my ballot, but since I still have somewhat of a Constitution to live by, we all have the right to make the choices we feel our best.

Both Jerry and I find it a bit strange that the article about campaign contributions made by a Trump organization in The Daily Breeze did not mention a similar campaign contribution made to Dave Emenhiser by "VH Properties", the same check-writing group that provided Jerry and Dave with the $1,000 contributions. I hope it was just an error by the newspaper's staff.

Also I too find Tom Long's interpretation of the positions taken by Jerry and another candidate about the pension plan issues. Workers actually were voted a give-back by our council with the city-paid 6-1/2% portion of the pension plan that workers now must pay for.

The gain was a 5% increase in pay as an offset for a 6-1/2% 'contribution' that the city was ending and which the individual workers would now have to pay for.

No matter what anyone says, a 6-1/2% giveback for a 5% increase in pay, is a loss, not a gain.

I am sure we will get to revisit pension reform with the new council. I would much rather state my points to Anthony, Brian, Dave, Jim and Jerry than I would to a council membership that includes Susan and/or Dora.

No Susan, It's About Being Bought!

I begin this post with a quote from candidate Ms. Susan Brook which appears in today's South Bay Daily Breeze concerning her receiving a $1,000 campaign contribution from Trump National Golf Club:

"I have absolutely no problem taking money from Donald Trump. What is $1,000 supposed to buy me? A hedge, a ficus hedge? No," said Brooks, referring to a dispute over golf course shrubs.

Susan, it's not about what you can buy but what Trump might be trying to buy from you.

It has been obvious and proven over and over again that large entities use campaign contributions to, at least, gain more access to an elected official over access the elected official might provide to others.

In Tom Long's Emails today he offered facts about last night's council meeting where the Trump organization took back a proposal for something it sought approval for and Tom may be suggesting that the Trump organization will bring the issue back to the new council, after perhaps one or more of the up to four candidates it contributed $1,000 each to sit on the new council, beginning in December.

Tom also stated that the contributions made by Trump National Golf Course to Susan, and Dora de la Rosa were legal and they certainly are.

Two other candidates, Jerry Duhovic and Dave Emenhiser both received $1,000 contributions from "VH Properties" based in New York and that may also be from a Trump organization.

Only Susan and Dora received $1,000 contributions from "Trump National Golf Course".

It now seems not surprising whatsoever that the same twoTrump National Golf Course folks donated money to are the very same two candidates Palos Verdes Peninsula Watch, (PVP Watch) is endorsing.

PVP Watch also is endorsing Jerry Duhovic, who received a check similar in size to one received by Dave Emenhiser.

Now come to find out that Trump National Golf Course, PVP Watch and 'That Email' writer all endorse the same three candidates without any of those same candidates publicly stating any rebuke to the person who wrote 'That Email' mentioned in a recent mass Email from Tom Long.

Has racism and bigotry become a 'special interest', too? I sure hope it is not. But without hearing or reading any rebuke from PVP Watch and the three candidates Carol mentioned in her letter to the editor, I think it is shameful and I feel our residents are better served by those who would not even offer any condemnation to anyone who would write such a racist note.

What folks might also not know about Susan is that she has offered statements related to her loss to Jane Harman that suggests that Harmon may have won, in part, because she is wealthy or had a wealthy campaign war chest.

So when The Daily Breeze just released campaign funds information that show that Susan Brooks now has the wealthiest campaign war chest gathered from all of the seven active candidates, it seems odd that Susan would have made any negative comment about a candidate who has the most money to finance their campaign.

According to the information released today in The Daily Breeze, candidate Ms. Dora de la Rosa spent $13,783 on a campaign that raised "$9,704.

What might and should have anyone wondering is where did the $4,079 difference come from? Credit Cards?

Mr. Jerry Duhovic loaned his campaign just about half of what has been spent on his campaign. There is absolutely nothing wrong with that but had he not loaned his campaign the funds, it appears he would be the third lowest fundraiser among the candidates, only besting the two candidates who, records indicate, received no loans to their campaigns, de la Rosa and Knight.

I also found very alarming is the paragraph in the newspaper that candidate Eric Alegria received all but one campaign contribution from outside Rancho Palos Verdes. I think when Eric runs again he will be mindful that the bulk of campaign contributions for a city council seat in R.P.V. should come from residents and business within Rancho Palos Verdes.

Did you read that, Jerry Duhovic, Susan Brooks and the rest of the candidates? I hope so.

Ms. Brooks, Trump National Golf Course did not contribute a grand to your campaign just so you could buy a hedge or "ficcus hedge" from them. They may have provided you with the contribution to 'buy' them a favorable vote should you gain a seat on our council. I am surprised you seemingly don't get that, with you previous campaigns and your one term on our council. Well, maybe you did get it, but decided to offer something completely ridiculous as a response. That seems something akin to when you were asked what was the one question you wanted to be asked during the earlier part of your campaign but wasn't asked.

If I remember what you said in your response during a Forum to that question, it had something to do with not being asked out on a date. Oh yea, I have an audio recording of that, don't I.?