Bits and Pieces 45

This post begins with an admission that I may have been incorrect since 2007 about whether the address I currently reside at is within or outside the area assessed for the R.P.V. Storm Drain User Fee.

I had thought back then, that our house was outside the area where voting took place, two time, regarding the establishment of the Storm Drain User Fee.

At this time I have written to our city seeking guidance as to whether our house should be assessed the User Fee that appears in the "DIRECT ASSESSMENTS" section of the property tax bill, recently received.

It looks more ominous than ever that city of Los Angeles Transportation funds will head towards the repairs needed for Paseo Del Mar in San Pedro rather than being saved and spent to work on that city's portion of the permanent repair of the San Ramon Canyon area.

HOWEVER, this is not really a good time to speak or write harshly of the real problems many people are now facing, along the San Pedro coastline.

There is a new high school annex that will open next year less than one mile from the fissures now growing along Paseo Del Mar and transportation issues involving residents of The Palisades area of San Pedro along with all involved with the John M. and Muriel Olguin Annex of San Pedro High School are going to face impacts not dissimilar to what many of us faced when sinkholes appeared along Western Avenue.

L.A. City transportation dollars, already tight, may simply vanish before any expenses that L.A. may incur, dealing with their portion of the San Ramon Canyon fix.

But I hope there is someone now in Washington D.C. who can really help with both major issues.

When Congresswoman Janice Hahn was recently elected, she brought to Congress a much better set of facts, opinions and ideas regarding the San Ramon Canyon issues because as the City Councilwoman for San Pedro, she and her city staff worked long hours dealing with border issues with our city, including San Ramon Canyon.

There may be little time for her to help get both projects funded, but I think we all need to provide encouragement to her and her staff in that we hope that all of us can work with her and with some help from our current Congressman, who sadly may now only be willing to ignore us. But hope we must!

Another reason why the failure of the roadbed along Paseo Del Mar is bad is because when 'tourists' from everywhere now wish to take a local coastal drive, their options of two directions has recently been cut by one and that one is along the Rancho Palos Verdes coastline.

In fact, now pedestrians wishing to walk just about cliffside along Paseo Del Mar must now detour through a portion of the White Point Nature Preserve.

Ouch! IF the city of L.A. wished to provide a temporary or even a permanent detour around their new slide area by involving a significant portion of the White Point Nature Preserves land, that is going to take some real doing, some long time periods and studies that will take time, effort and lots and lots of money.

I really wish and hope for the best outcomes possible for both San Ramon Canyon and Paseo Del Mar but it is going to take work by many folks on both problems, unfortunately at the same time.

Good fortune to all of us.

It now appears that the next time I will be on network television will be in a Public Service Announcement (PSA) that was recorded this past Sunday.

"Stand Up To Cancer" was shot using 'regular' folks who have either have or had to deal directly with Cancer or those affected by family members who had to deal with cancer.

There were at least 7 individual scenes shots and at least part of me appears in "The French Quarter Restaurant" scene and "The Coffee Bean and Tea Leaf" scene. I am a background/extra person so there may be no close or even middle shot of me.

Throughout the PSA some very well known V.I.P.s super stars, notable persons volunteered to be part of the PSA whether you will recognize them or not. Many of them did what most of us did, only used as backgrounds to others who are voiced in the PSA.

I think if you try to spot or guess some of the big name stars that appear in the PSA, you won't have a very good chance finding them all. I was extremely impressed by some of the biggest names in entertainment, fashion and other fields who came in on a Sunday and did just what the rest of us did for absolutely no recognition on camera.

To the you-know-who's I 'crossed paths' with and did other scenes with, thank you. I am not more impressed with you than I might have been earlier. We all done good!

Anyway, the PSA will begin as part of the first World Series Game. Major League Baseball is a huge sponsor of the organization that worked to produce the PSA and many other sponsors lent their hands and efforts to get the huge PSA done in just one day.

My guess is that the PSA will be shown throughout the World Series and probably beyond it.

I Got It Really Wrong!

I 'oopsed' really big and it took me about four years to finally get it correct.

I had originally thought that my address was outside the area for the R.P.V. Storm Drain User Fee assessment.

For all this time until now, I opined that I couldn't support or vote on a fee that I didn't benefit from and that others would have to pay, in our city.

I know the first vote was taken by mailed ballots and the results showed an every too slightly approval of the fee, so a second vote was taken.

I don't think I received a mailed ballot, but perhaps I did. Had I received the ballot and still considered that I was not a part of the area, I would have not voted. I don't vote when there is only one candidate for that office or there is only one way to vote on some type of measure.

Anyway, I was also informed that the second vote was held during a General Election.

Back then, had that also been on my ballot and had I still thought I was not living within the fee area, I would have not voted either way or perhaps I would have voted 'no' because I do not feel it is correct to receive a benefit without being charged a fee others in our city were going to be charged.

This also means I probably didn't take as good of a look at the small print of the property tax bills I have paid on the property I live at, since 1998. My bad, there, too.

When I took a good look at the property tax bill I usually only look at the total amount owed and the two payments, I found the fee in the "Direct Assessment" portion of the bill.

I think I did a fairly good job in straightening out my error that I gave myself, before hooping and hollering.

I've owed the fee. I have paid the assessment and I am certainly not all that unhappy that I found out how incorrect I was.

I do believe that if I am going to receive a benefit others in our city have to pay for, I should have to pay for it, too. I guess that is just too 'progressive' for some in our city.

I think that since I have paid the Storm Drain User Fee I now can deal better with all prospects with any discussions about a city Sewer maintenance levy, fee, assessment or tax.

I do think the maintenance of our city's owned sewer system is very important and I will make more sure whether I might fall into the realm of a resident who could be subject to such fee.

What all this means may amount to nothing since so few R.P.V. residents actually read this blog.

I don't mind though. Writers write, no matter who necessarily reads what they write.

I REALLY DO APPRECIATE EVERY SINGLE ONE OF MY REGULAR READERS AND EACH AND EVERY 'VISITING' READER OF ANY POST ON THIS BLOG.

Mayor Tom Long's Email Blast And More From Mayor Long

This is the Email blast sent out by Mayor Tom Long regarding the candidates in the upcoming Council Election on November 8, 2011.

Naturally, I will opine on some of the content in the Mayor's Email and you are also welcome to.

"From: tomlong@palosverdes.com

Subject: RPV Council Election November 2011


Message:

October 9, 2011


Dear RPV Residents:

On Tuesday November 8th RPV residents will vote to select 3 new councilmembers to replace Steve Wolowicz, Doug Stern and myself. There are 8 candidates, 7 of whom have been actively campaigning. I have posted connections to the candidates’ webpages here http://www.palosverdes.com/tomlong/index.cfm?go=websites
and answers to my questions here http://www.palosverdes.com/tomlong/index.cfm?go=election2011 RPV TV (Channel 33 on Cox and 38 on Verizon) will be running broadcasts of city council candidate debates every day except Friday at 8 p.m. and school board candidate debates at 10 p.m. also every day except Friday. This election may be among the most important in the city’s history.

Over the last 8 years that Steve, Doug and I have been on council some important changes have been made. The city obtained grant monies that funded the acquisition of the Palos Verdes Nature Preserve, establishing 2 square miles—15% of the city’s land area--as open space in perpetuity. City revenues have increased from about $1 per resident per day to about $1.30. Most of the added revenue has been devoted to increase spending to restore decayed infrastructure that the city had neglected for decades. The council specifically decided to devote all of the new revenues from the Terranea resort to capital improvement projects rather than to the city’s operating budget. We are on the brink of obtaining a $9.4 million grant toward the repair of San Ramon canyon where the city and its staff outdid other applications from much larger agencies. We can also begin to plan for other civic improvements as well if we stay on course. All of this has happened with one of the smallest
city payrolls and employee headcounts and, until last week, without a city employees’ union—unlike most cities.

I am confident that the three candidates I endorse, Eric Alegria, Dave Emenhiser and Jim Knight will keep us on the constructive path the city chose 8 years ago with the 2003 re-election of Doug Stern and the election of Steve Wolowicz and me. Both Doug Stern and Steve Wolowicz have endorsed both Dave Emenhiser and Jim Knight as well. Dave and Jim both have considerable experience serving the city. Dave is a communications executive and a current planning commissioner and also previously chaired the city’s finance committee. Dave is an exceptionally skilled consensus builder. Jim is a retired real estate professional and has been a planning commissioner for 8 years. Jim is exceptionally intelligent and detail oriented. Currently I am the only former planning commissioner on the council. The city has almost always had former planning commissioners on council. Eric is a health care executive. Eric is new to the city but has experience with other city governments and non-profits and is a state commissioner such that he can bring a valuable and different perspective to governing our city. I have seen that Eric is a quick study on the issues facing the city. Our current city manager had not lived in the area before she was hired and yet the perspective she has given us has been very helpful. Many residents of the city moved here relatively recently and deserve a voice as well. Eric can provide that voice.

I am less confident that the 5 candidates I do not endorse will stay on a constructive path and I want to explain why. Unlike most voters I personally know all but one of the candidates and have had an opportunity to learn about their backgrounds and views. I address the candidates I do not endorse in alphabetical order below. Scroll down after my name if you are interested in these thoughts.


Tom Long
Mayor, Rancho Palos Verdes


Susan Brooks is a former one-term councilmember from about a decade ago. She spent much of that term running for Congress. She is a charismatic public speaker, president of her HOA, and has been very involved in local issues, particularly opposition to Marymount’s Measure P, although she is now supported by that Measure’s proponents. Ms. Brooks has been candid about her stand on the issues. She has stressed that the city had half the employees it has now when she was on council. Even though RPV has far fewer public employees and much lower payroll costs than most other cities our size, Brooks will reduce public employment—and services--even further in a quest to return to the “good old days.” Ms. Brooks claims that as mayor she “turned a $2 million budget deficit into a $2 million budget surplus.” But she doesn’t tell you she did so by abdicating the city’s responsibilities. City infrastructure was neglected during Brooks’ prior council term leaving the current council to deal with millions of dollars of deferred maintenance and property damage she and others left behind. Look for Brooks to seek abolition of the storm drain user fee and the utility user tax, which her PVP Watch supporters oppose and which combined make up about 20% of city revenue and are vital to street and storm drain maintenance. We could each save as much as $90 per resident per year as a result, but the impact on our public infrastructure would damage our property values. Brooks and her fellow PVP Watch slate candidates Duhovic and De La Rosa should also be credited with the city employees’ vote to form a union last week. Brooks and her supporters have exaggerated staff salary increases and have falsely stated that the council recently increased pension benefits. The council actually decreased pension benefits to the tune of estimated net savings of $1.2 million to $1.6 million over the next 6 years. By waging an anti-government, anti-staff campaign based on
falsehoods, Brooks and her supporters have given the city a union for the first time in its history. This will lead to increased costs and reduced efficiency and undermines a positive employer-employee relationship that took years to achieve and is instrumental to the city’s success in obtaining competitive grants.

Dora De La Rosa is the President of the School Board where she has served as a trustee for 8 years, a clear demonstration of her commitment to public service. Ms. De La Rosa is well spoken, intelligent, and the only lawyer among the candidates, although she has not actively practiced law for some time. Her views on city issues are a bit of a mystery. Although she is a registered Democrat, her support comes primarily from the Libertarian PVP Watch group, one of whose founders indicated that its goal is “to drive government toward zero” and which consistently opposed the city’s open space preservation policies, recently describing them as “mismanagement.” Ms. De La Rosa declined to answer any questions about her views indicating that “As to specific issues, I will wait until I am seated on the council and have all the information before making any decision on any issue.” In sum, De La Rosa appears to be a mystery candidate. Her prior history does give some clue to her views, though. De La Rosa is a close political ally of Erin LaMonte a PVP Watch member who is currently running for School Board. LaMonte is the former PTA President who, while on a lobbying trip to Sacramento with then Board President De La Rosa met with the state official in charge of the city’s grant application for millions in state funding for the Palos Verdes Nature Preserve to urge the state to reject the city’s application. (Former RPV Mayor Larry Clark confirmed the meeting by talking to the state official involved.) De La Rosa has been unhelpful on other issues important to RPV as well. Under her leadership the school board refused to cooperate with efforts to bring Eastview into the district and efforts to allow military dependents from the LA Air Force base to attend. The board also rejected the city’s advice to put the Peninsula HS lights issue through the normal planning process, instead triggering a lawsuit through a confused and chaotic process that treat
ed both sides of the question unfairly. Finally, as board president, De La Rosa has misapplied the Brown Act suggesting that it forbids board members from responding to public questions and public meetings and has stifled dissent from board members who have sought to change policy or just express an opinion De La Rosa did not like.

Jerry Duhovic is a financial services executive who has donated his time to public service as a member of the city’s finance committee. Jerry is very well spoken and exceptionally intelligent. Although he declined to directly answer my questions, the issues page on his website provides a very good summary of his thinking and is very thoughtful and well written. Mr. Duhovic indicated that he would not accept endorsements from any sitting councilmembers. But he does have the endorsement of PVP Watch and appears to share their views and distrust of city councilmembers, city staff and city government in general. He has also repeated some of the misinformation Brooks and others have spread about city staff benefits and salaries. But his time in city government has been limited to only a couple of years so perhaps with more time he will be able to better focus on the real issues and less on political dogma. Until then I cannot support him despite his good qualifications.

Ken Dyda was on the second city council and was one of the city’s founders and first mayors. No one has given more heart, soul, and time to the city than Ken Dyda and all of what he has given has been motivated purely and solely by a desire to serve the city with no thought to what is in his own best interest. Mr. Dyda is intelligent, well-spoken and a real assert to the city. He served on the council for several months with me filling a temporary vacancy. This allowed me to see that he is definitely up to the job despite his age (late 70s). Mr. Dyda would surely do his best to figure out what is best for the city. However, I think electing Mr. Dyda to council at this time would be wrong. Mr. Dyda is not shy with his opinions, so the new council will have the benefit of his views whether he is elected or not. When he was appointed to serve for a few months he hit the ground running because he was already familiar with all of the issues. He will spend the same amount of time helping the city as an elder statesman (which has been his role now for decades). It is time to develop new leadership for the future and electing Mr. Dyda would only delay developing that new leadership. I am also concerned that as a councilmember Mr. Dyda would micromanage the city. The city has changed in the decades since Mr. Dyda was first elected. It is no longer a brand new city with inexperienced staff. Instead it has a highly professional staff that needs to be allowed to run day to day affairs without improper interference. Indeed state law requires as much, making “councilmanic interference” illegal. The council is a board of directors and sets policy. Day-to-day decisions are handled by staff without favoritism toward the friends of particular councilmembers. Mr. Dyda’s desire to put individual councilmembers into city hall and supervising departments, however well intentioned, would be a serious mistake. Moreover, realistically, Mr. Dyda may no
t be able to serve 2 terms. Term limits means we will be having a lot of turnover on council in the future. We should not make the situation even worse by electing people who are much less likely to be able to serve a second term.

Cynthia Smith is the candidate about whom I know nothing. She did not respond to my efforts to contact her and I have been unable to find a website or any campaign information about her. I have no knowledge of her background or views and have seen no means for me or other voters to learn more about her."

---------------------------------------------------------

I wish Mayor Long had used an option to not endorse a third candidate.

It is tough to find what I have found in others in our community who have agreed with me that it might be the better thing to simply endorse candidates that they feel would do the best job in our city and for our residents, without necessarily needing to endorse a candidate for all three of the seats opening up.

It remains difficult for me to stick by my guns with the decision to not have a third endorsement offered. But I feel strongly enough, as others seem to tell me they also do, in endorsing those we feel would be best and remaining silent on who could best fill out the third or sometimes, second endorsement.

There may be some in our city who might also 'endorse' "none of the above", but I hope there are very few of them.

I am still at odds with someone like Tom Long who endorses someone like the wonderful-but-not-credible-enough-candidate Mr. Eric Alegria.

Sure, he may be a progressive Democrat. Yes, he may have a skillset that WILL benefit our city sometime in the future.

Of course he volunteers his time, intelligence and efforts in the greater good.

But he lacks a tenure in our city, with our city and its residents to make him, in my opinion, a candidate who I could vote for in this election.

He was not endorsed by Palos Verdes Peninsula Watch, so I give him great credit for not meeting what I feel is a narrow mindedness toward more progressive views and lasting progress in our city.

I truly feel he would make a wonderful Councilman and Mayor of Rancho Palos Verdes, SOMEDAY, but not in the next four years.

With regards to the paragraphs Mayor Long wrote concerning the five candidates he does not endorse, I am pretty comfortable with what he has written.

I do continue to find it alarming that one of the five appears to have harsh feelings towards a certain 'wealthy' Demorcart she ran against for Congress. Does this mean this candidate deminishes 'wealth' on members of the Democratic Party while possibly celebrating 'wealth' of members of the Republican Party?

Would this same candidate, claiming to be a mediator offer an indication that several members of our current City Council engaged in a possible Brown Act Violation, worded during a Forum for candidates, recently?

I'm not a mediator, so I don't always know when it is best to 'hold my tongue'.

Mayor Long did offer that Mr. Jerry Duhovic has "good qualifications". I think in financial matters, Mr. Duhovic has some good qualifications.

I must hope his qualifications are good because taxpayers paid for his College education at the U.S. Air Force Academy.

Academy grads are top notch people, no matter which academy they received their fully taxpayer funded education at.

The point I am making about a taxpayer-funded education is that is such a recipient of such an education then turns around and begins harsh criticism of taxpayer funded projects and taxation in general, it must come as no shock to that person that they have received a education that will serve them for the rest of their lives and offered them the abilities to grow in stature, wealth, and have some greater possibilities than others who did not receive a full ride from taxpayers.

*NOTE* Jerry's service to our country is something that MUST BE HONORED!. His services to all of us as a member of the U.S. Air Force must also be commended. But that doesn't mean he can't be reminded that his education was paid for by the dimes of other people and his paychecks while serving in the Air Force were also paid by taxpayers, just like mine were when I served as a Non-Com, in the very same Air Force.

O.K. lets continue working on another 'Air Force' theme, but with a different candidate.

I am still working on confirmation about the history regarding Ms. Dora de la Rosa's tenure on the PVPUSD School Board and the attempts and 'contempts' of having the children of U.S. Air Force members, living in San Pedro, attending PVPUSD schools.

There are some in our community who still try and make that issue more 'mirky' than I feel is necessary.

I would hope, as another U.S.A.F. vet, Jerry would also wish to know whether Ms. de la Rosa campaigned against having children with special needs, who are the children of Air Force members attempting to be kept out of schools which have higher test scores but are closer to their homes than schools in El Segundo.

I would also hold out for allowing all children of current members of our military being allowed to attend PVPUSD schools, whether they have special needs or not.

I feel Mayor Long's opinion that Mayor Dyda's election to the new council would delay new leadership in our city, might also be true for the election of Ms. Brooks and/or Ms. de la Rosa, too.

"The Only Thing We Have To Fear..."

Being cautious is one thing.

Being fearful is another, in my book.

If you fear those who don't look like you, speak like you, come from the same place you come from and most of all, don't believe what you claim to believe, then that is a real problem, in my book.

We have seen so much fear by too many who don't seem to like what they have seen during the past three years, even after the banks and other financial institutions ran our economy into the ground.

What to some feel might be the answer to the fear they really should not fear? Tea Party rationale or what I know to be the irrationality of so many folks who stick to corporate-sponsored 'Tea Party propaganda.

It is time to not be fearful! It is time to move forward and not back.

We see far too many candidates using fear as a weapon against others. That is really sad because I know we are better than that.

I think those candidates should know that, too.

Tonight's Forum for Candidates

The Rancho Palos Verdes Council of Homeowners Association hosted a Forum for candidates in the upcoming November 8 election for three seats on our City Council.

Ms. Cynthia Smith is still listed on the ballot but that seems to be the only place where more than a handful of folks can view anything about her.

Mr. Eric Alegria did not attend tonight's Forum because he was attending an important meeting of a Statewide Commission he belongs to.

For me, tonight's debate provided more separation of philosophies between those who could be thought of as 'moderate' in my opinion; Dave Emenhiser and Jim Knight and others.

I think the audience attending at Hesse Park and those who will watch the Forum on our city's channel will be able to tell which candidates are from somewhat conservative, to very conservative, because of many of the answers and opinions expressed during the Forum.

When the opinions about our city's staff possibly becoming unionized, it provided a stark contrast in opinions, among the candidates.

Jim Knight basically did not touch that with a ten foot pole. I don't feel he is all that objective to workers organizing into unions or having a union come in to represent staff members.

Dave Emenhiser sounded a bit objectionable to staff members becoming unionized but his remarks were more humorous in that he seemed to say he didn't feel it would come to that.

Dora de la Rosa says she has to deal with two unions as President of the School Board. I didn't get a resounding approval of unions from her.

As totally expected, Ken Dyda, Susan Brooks and Jerry Duhovic oppose staff members becoming unionized. This is not remarkable at all when folks consider that any of them being elected to the new Council would probably mean more work by staff members in becoming unionized.

I feel there is a fear factor coming from some city staff members after what they have seen and heard from Brian Campbell, Anthony Misetich and the three candidates I have mentioned.

I don't blame those staff members, one bit.

For the vast majority of questions and answers at tonight's Forum, there could have been a repeating parrot during most of the evening, concerning some of the issues.

But there are also differences coming out between the candidates on some issues and that is a very good think in deciding which candidate to support.

Stadium lighting at PenHi was such an issue. While most objected to the permanent placement of lighting on the field, various reasons were stated by some of the candidates.

Some candidates stated that, even though the lighting would be located in Rolling Hills Estates, that lighting would be in opposition to our city General Plan.

Dora de la Rosa stated she could not technically comment about lighting, due to litigation, she offered that she felt that as a 'community issue' lighting went against the wishes of the R.P.V. community members living near the school.

Jerry Duhovic, a former H.S. and A.F. Academy football player, opined that he would like to find a way for non-permanent lighting. His focus seemed to be more towards football events.

Dave Emenhiser or Jim Knight opined that since there are mandates on lighting for sports other than male-football, there might be other requirements to light the field, which can not be ignored.

None of the candidates were pleased with the outcome of the latest staff salary and pension decisions, for one reason or another.

I found that Susan and Jerry's opinions on this suggest they follow what Brian and Anthony supported, including Mayor Pro Tem Anthony Misetich's attempts with what he brought forth.

I think the candidates and I all agree that the entire matter was done poorly, for one reason or many reasons. This might also be one reason that some on city staff are looking favorable at unionizing, I believe.

The Skate Park issues also seemed to be a place where the more conservative candidates held views that are different than some candidates who are closer to the middle of the road or to the left.

While all stated some sympathy, NIMBY came more from those I feel are more conservative and others.

The question posed about whether the candidates were running to eventually run for 'higher office' seemed fairly even on the surface, it did bring a though to me I have to share.

All of the candidates in attendance stated they would not run for 'higher office'. But Dora had a different answer which begged in me a question I am still wondering about.

Dora de la Rosa that since she spent four of her eight years on the School Board as its President, she seemed to admit that being an R.P.V. City Council member might be regarded as a 'step down' by some, perhaps.

And that got me thinking. Aren't there lots and lots of Californians who object strongly to politicians 'office hopping' as in members of the State Assembly turning to the State Senate until their they are termed out, or vice versa?

While I am sure Ms. de la Rosa has wonderful intentions in her quest for a seat on our Council, she also admitted some lack of knowledge in what is currently going on in our city and that she sometimes participates in our city's municipal activities by watching it on T.V. or on the Internet, rather than actually participating.

Maybe that is also a reason I have opined that I don't think any former elected person should sit on this new Council.

I also had a strong objection to the former Mayor who offered something about 'on the job training' during her closing remarks.

Ms. Brooks, I don't agree with Brian and Anthony all the time, but they both have earned more than a few stripes and a whole heck of a lot of on the job training during these last two years. Neither of them need anyone showing them the ropes because they have been climbing on them, pulling them and working with three other Council members at securing the ropes in our city, quite well!

I found the question about our city's relationship with Donald Trump to be quite interesting, again in a split political way.

When Jerry Duhovic commented that he lives directly accross the street from Trump National and that he feels The Donald was treated bad by our city, Jim Knight stated that at the very first meeting with The Donald, in R.P.V. that he attended, Donald Trump "lambasted neighbors across the street".

Dave Emenhiser pointed out that he believes there is a read difference between the Trump Organization at Trump National and Donald Trump, himself. I felt Ken Dyda agreed with that.

Susan Brooks' opinion included her thought that there may have been "too much testosterone".

I didn't quite get Susan's reference to the American Flag The Donald illegally raised. I hope I can find clarification in her remarks. I hope she understands that people still need to follow the laws of our city, no matter what they hang on their land.

With the question that was posed about what did each candidate disagree with, in what the current Council has decided, it also was along more political lines.

Ken, Dora, Jerry and Susan all held disagreement with the Council's recent decisions regarding the pension reforms.

I got that Ken and Dora also objected to the 'quickness' of the decision-making and Jerry wanted to see more discussion and possibly approval of Anthony Misetich's motion.

Susan, in her disagreement with the pension reform decisions also stated displeasure with what she may believe was a 'gang-up' by three Council members at Tuesday's Council Meeting.

And then she did it. She states something we have heard from others who have had disagreements with three of the current members of our City Council.

What she stated is now recorded and I wrote it down. She mentioned the possibility that there may have been a "violation of the Brown Act".

When I hear those words coming from someone who has political differences with three current members of our City Council, I am reminded of events that happened not all that long ago which sent our city into a very dark and troubling place.

If Ms. Brooks has proof, then she needs to state it up front, demand an investigation, immediately or simply put it to rest. We don't need another Freedom of Information Act and collecting of documents order in our city, again. This is no way for anyone claiming to be a mediator should say, in my opinion.

Both Dave and Jerry objected to the way our Council acted concerning the Ladera Linda property and the pre-school, formerly there.

I don't have a real clue as to how that could have been solved. it was a private business that didn't have the funds to make the necessary repairs it needed to contribute to, to stay in the city's building. I know that is tough but why should our taxpayers subsidize private businesses, just to keep them operating for the few who would use them?

I would have loved to see the preschool stay, but our taxpayers should not fund a private business if folks are really truly concerned about municipal spending.

Even though I have stated that I cannot endorse a former elected official gaining a seat on the new Council, I continue to feel that if folks vote Dave Emenhiser, Jim Knight and Ken Dyda into office, I think we will see city staff lean away from becoming unionized and I think our city infrastructure would get the very best oversight and management with these three gentlemen joining Anthony Misetich and Brian Campbell on our Council.

I do continue to feel that Ms. Susan Brooks might be the top vote-receiver and if that is the case, I hope she joins Dave and Jim as the three 'new' Council members.

I know Jerry is a great fellow and he has great feelings towards our city and its people. He remains far too conservative for me to wish him great success at getting elected on our Council.

I continue to learn more misgivings about Ms. de la Rosa and that new wonderment about 'office hopping' now concerns me.

As I have written about Eric Alegria, I hope to vote for him onto our Council in at least 6-8 years and I do think he will make a remarkably wonderful servant to our residents and business owners, down the road.

The ONE question that was truly asked is the ONE question EVERY candidate MUST answer, either on Oct. 12 or before and certainly by or during the October 13 Forum at Marymount College.

It's a simple question, really: What is your opinion on Marymount College's request to increase the time frame for The Marymount College Facilities Expansion Project to 20 years AND do you favor Marymount's request to increase the student population at the Palos Verdes Drive East campus to 1,200 students?

Unionize? Unionize!

Tonight turned out to be a pretty informative Forum by six of the eight candidates for the three seats becoming open.

Mr. Eric Alegria did not attend this Forum because he was attending to his duties in a Statewide Commission, he still works with.

Ms. Cynthia Smith remains MIA, it appears.

An Email was recently sent out that commented on the prospect that members of our city's staff may seek to unionize.

I am a great supporter of unions and having more workers seeking benefits associated with becoming unionized, but learning of this before the election puts union-supporting staff members in a bad light for me and others.

It was bad enough that Marymount College officials placed into consideration, during this election season their "20-1,200" plan, in my opinion. That could pose problems for all of the candidates for the three Council seats. Now they may need to answer voters' questions as to their support or opposition to Marymount's new plans.

Now our own city staff comes along, again during the election season, bring forth comments that may have been placed to sway the election one way or another.

And it might, good, bad or ugly.

There are going to be lots of far 'wrong' conservatives madder than heck at some staff members trying to sway this election by even mentioning unionization.

I wish they would have waited and I write this acknowledging that I am basically on their side, but they put a 'Marymount affect' into the process, which I find ugly.

With the falderal concerning pay and pension benefits that have been swirling around staff and elected officials recently, I think union-supportive staff members have a very good reason to create an outlook that suggest they will try to unionize.

As we have witnessed recently in our city's politics and even in National politics, unions and their members have been under attack and now it appears our little city might be a new cornerstone of workers turning back anti-union and anti-worker rights by having our staff becoming unionized.

I don't blame them for doing this one bit and I personally view it as a way of defending themselves against the prospect of a far too conservative Rancho Palos Verdes City Council being seated on the first Tuesday in December.

Especially over the last 3-4 years we have seen workers get trounced by big business and conservative governments who seek to lower the way of life for the middle class by using workers' rights and pay as weapons.

I think that some members of our city's staff have looked down the road and have considered their best defense against what they may feel as a loss of pay, benefits and retirement options by too conservative members of decision-making bodies is the more natural reaction we see today.

If the writing on the wall looks to see Susan Brooks, Jerry Duhovic, and/or Ken Dyda join Anthony Misetich and Brian Campbell on our Council, some staff members would not be very willing to work with that setup of Council membership, as far as union organizing goes.

We heard some leanings by candidates at tonight's Forum that strongly suggest they are totally against workers organizing into a union, especially folks who work on our city's staff.

It is just my opinion, but I feel the best way to create the best atmosphere where staff members consider not joining a union is to have Dave Emenhiser and Jim Knight joining Brian and Anthony, along with probably Ken Dyda as the fifth Council member.

I think that 3-2 more conservative split is the best alignment to dissuade city staff members form more actively seeking unionization.

If folks like Jerry Duhovic, Susan Brooks join Anthony and Brian and Dave or Jim on the Council, staff members supportive of unionization will work much stronger and longer to become unionized...and I'll stand with them in that.

Should Brian and Anthony be joined by others on the Council, not including Dave and Jim, not only will the staff members work even harder to become unionized, that effort may bring more news making to our city and more 'outside' influences into our politics...for many reasons.

I have no intention of supporting groups of conservatives or progressives coming into this city to fight for or against our staff members unionizing because that all takes away from some very important work we ALL must do. This is one reason I truly believe Dave and Jim can work with Brian, Anthony and one other new member to keep all this to a minimum.

So in the end for me, shame on Marymount and some staff members, for bringing up issues when they should have been left until after the election. But I do think that, because of some current issues surrounding staff these days, efforts to become unionized may be in their best interests, no matter how much it costs all of us.

Bits and Pieces 44

One of the best sources for information about Ponte Vista at San Pedro and the Rancho Holdings Butane Tanks (LPG) tanks is the Web site for The Northwest San Pedro Neighborhood Council:

http://www.nwsanpedro.org/index.asp

In truth and fact, a piece of Rancho Palos Verdes is located EAST of Western Avenue and 'our' residents living there are true stakeholders in one of L.A.'s strongest Neighborhood Councils.

It is always best to keep residents and business owners on the East side of R.P.V. connected with the great residents and volunteers that make up the Board of Governors at Northwest.

We have a pretty good chunk of residents of our city living in the Eastview area and what happens 'here' also happens to the good people who are stakeholders in Northwest San Pedro, eastern R.H.E. and parts of Harbor City and Lomita.

Joining forces, I think our residents, working with residents living in Los Angeles/San Pedro can move mountains as we helped to demonstrate to Robert H. (Bob) Bisno.

Knowledge is power and sharing information and work creates a more powerful base for the betterment of everyone, living in these great areas.

Really? Really! did you read about what are some new plans for Marymount College in today's South Bay Daily Breeze?

Along with some previously announced plans for the four-year liberal arts college is a distant campus, possibly just about an hour NORTH of San Francisco. Really! Really?

For the record, I find wonderful enjoyment doing 'volunteer' work at a Catholic university in Southern California.

I have calendared another three projects to help students work on various projects based out of the Communications Arts building on the campus of Loyola Marymount University.

I work as a background/extra/bit part player in student produced projects and it is something I very much enjoy doing.

ALL of the students I am working with are great 'kids' and they all treat everyone else with class, dignity and in a style the faculty, staff and administration of LMU can only be proud of.

I do hope that if and when opportunities for me helping film and T.V. school students at Marymount College become available, I will be able to help them in their studies and productions as much or more than I do at LMU and other student productions at the other teaching institutions I volunteer at.

You know, the downtown San Pedro area, its waterfront and all along the coast have all had a very long history in movie and T.V. productions. It is only natural that Marymount College students would want to produce entertainment in our local areas so they could have greater opportunities in furthering any career plans in the larger area known for the legendary movies and television that has been created in the greater L.A. basin, since about 1902.

Administrators from Marymount travel all over the world seeking parents of students sending their kids to Southern California to learn and sometimes establish 'homes' in the L.A. basin.

The William H. Hannon Library looks like a wonderful library for students and others to use for its educational opportunities and it has been doing so, quite well, for decades.

It might be possible for the William H. Hannon Library to become a hub for information sharing, with its great number of volumes and its vast amount of information that could be digitized, stored, and offered for sharing to students at other institutions.

Folks, when you read that Marymount College ("Palos Verdes") may spend millions of dollars building the William H. Hannon Library, might you not wonder whether that is all that physically necessary when the William H. Hannon Library is sitting quite pretty, about 30 miles away?

That's right! Marymount College ("Palos Verdes") has plans to build The William H. Hannon Library about 30 miles, or less, from The William H. Hannon Library.

Since the administration of Marymount College hasn't gone out for permits to begin phase one of The Marymount College Facilities Expansion Project, while they are now publishing news about possibly having a distant campus in Northern California, while seeking to elongate The Project out about 2-1/2 times the approved timetable, why don't they just rethink plans for what would amount to just a secondary William H. Hannon Library to The William H. Hannon Library?

Are you watching L.A. City Department of Transportation dollars, that could be used on 25Th Street near San Ramon Canyon being spent on the new sinkhole and fractures along Paseo Del Mary?

Yes, it is horrible that Paseo Del Mar has not really been closed in the area near the White Point Nature Preserve. It is going to take time and a whole lot of money to try and stop the holes and fractures from growing and to find a permanent repair to such a scenic and peaceful drive along the San Pedro coast.

And yes, this should be another reason why The Clearwater Project folks need to look away from placing any Outfall Access hole either at Royal Palms or Angel's Gate.

After all, there is a real cliff and a very big ocean closer to the sinkhole/fractures than there is in San Ramon Canyon.

But that should not matter, in my opinion. a true distress is if 'we' (governors and government) fail to understand the importance of both projects and partially go blind to the requirements in San Ramon Canyon just to find permanent fixes along Paseo Del Mar.

Right now, one project is far more urgent than the other project, but both are urgent.

Rains are coming. Forecasters tonight stated that some 'real' rain might fall as early as Wednesday. I am sure it won't cause too much more damage in San Ramon Canyon. I don't think anyone can say what the effects along Paseo Del Mar might be.

Heck, I don't think the 'authorities' in San Pedro are willing to reveal WHY the first sinkhole/fracture occurred, this past March or what they think can be done to prevent further damage.

My guess is that the irrigation added to White Point Nature Preserve after decades of no irrigation in that area, may be a factor to consider.

I know I promise to include as little to nothing about a certain event occurring on Nov. 8 on this blog, so I guess I'll just hint.

Something is happening on Wednesday, October 5 at the big building at Hesse Park, beginning at 7:00 P.M.

Many V.I.P.s from our city will be there to listen and learn. I am sure they want everyone in R.P.V. to listen well and learn as much as possible. I hope it is carried on our city's T.V. station and left on our city's Web site.

My mug has begun appearing more on the Internet and will soon be viewed by a whole bunch of people, in the coming months.

Some of my 'work' will be seen when the latest batch of LMU student productions premiere in late October. No, I won't walk any red carpet and I hope and expect that nobody will 'see' me because as a background/extra, we only add seasoning to any dish and should not be given any more importance than that.

There will be probably too much of my mug available for viewing in an episode of a T.V. series, but I really am contractually bound not to disclose more until that show premieres, late in November.

I may be able to update folks when I learn which 'episode' I am featured in. Oh, what fun.