Dear Marymount

Dear Marymount,

Please take what little money is left over and first keep the promise made by Dr. Michael Brophy and quickly pay the entire cost of the Special Election and other costs sent to you by the city of Rancho Palos Verdes.

Then please begin to go forward with The Marymount College Facilities Expansion Project that so many of us support and that your representative accepted, now all that long ago.

It is hoped that you can find the funds to demonstrate a good faith effort in beginning The Project so that IF three new members of the Rancho Palos Verdes City Council take their seats in December, 2011 and the College comes back with new plans for on-campus housing WITHOUT a new City Ordinance and FOLLOWING the guidelines of Conditional Use Permits, I might become a member of a minority group still opposed to dorms at Marymount because of safety reasons.

Over 51% of the registered voters cast votes in the Special Election. This should clearly demonstrate to everyone associated with Marymount College and supportive of the already approved Project that it is important to go forward, it you can.

So darn much money was spent on what ultimately turned out to be a very slanted vote against The Marymount Plan.

I think if you return any grants Marymount has for a brick and mortar library and instead offer a virtual library and added study space in a new Student Union, your students might eventually be able to comfortably use their iPads, Kindle's P.C.'s Macs, and other devices to access a truly state-of-the-art virtual library that so many colleges and universities are turning to as a way to provide an institution clearly in the 21st Century.

I think you need to take a good look at your Administration as one way of demonstrating that your human learned something from the vote reported very early this morning.

Clearly honesty, the whole truth, valid information, and competent education are ways of changing the minds of voters as demonstrated by we opponents of Measure P and its Marymount Plan.

Our voting residents are an intelligent and caring group of citizens who know what is best for their city and they demonstrated that, yesterday.

Please consider their intelligence and caring should you try again for on-campus housing that will still for me, be a major safety concern.

I want The Marymount College Facilities Expansion Project to move forward.

I want are now very divided voter base to come back together quickly because there are so many very important issues that still need our residents' consideration, opinions, and actions.

I know some very rough times are ahead for you and your students but I hope there are some key learning we all now posses that will help all of us move forward and not look too far back.

Please make the changes necessary to help grow the school and what now looks to be a tattered reputation.

I feel that if Marymount quickly confirms that it will begin physical work associated with The Marymount College Facilities Expansion Project, it will go quite a long way to providing all sorts of opportunities and pluses for our entire community and it will show everyone that Marymount College's administration and supporters can regain the trust that was somewhat lost over the last year, plus.

Thank You All So Very, Very Much!

51.21% of the registered voters in the city of Rancho Palos Verdes voted on Measure P, The Marymount Plan.

At 2:00 AM this morning, the tabulation of votes showed that 14,127 of 27,584 registered voters in the city or Rancho Palos Verdes cast ballots on Measure P and the results posted with 100% of the precincts reporting, stated that 6,345 votes of "YES" were cast for Measure P and 7,782 votes of "NO" were cast against Measure P.

Measure P was voted down by a 55.09% to 44.91% margin.

It is simply remarkable that in a mid-term election when most of the registered voters in R.P.V. are Republicans but came out anyway to voice their choices for candidates, propositions, and measures that are so important so our city, our State, and our Country.

We Democrats and voters representing other parties knew from the onset that Congressman Dana Rohrabacher would get re-elected and he will have his office until his District changes or he chooses to not stand for re-election.

In the closing days of the campaign for Governor, the tide seemed to turn towards Jerry Brown, so that too was pretty much of a walk over, I think.

But Rancho Palos Verdes voters demonstrated democracy in one heck of a major way when they came out in the numbers they came out in to vote either "Yes" on Measure P or "No" on Measure P.

No matter whether you supported Measure P or opposed it, I hope you are as proud of your fellow residents as I am for showing up in the numbers that did to vote.

Terri is very happy with the results of the Special Election but I feel much more tempered than I thought I would feel.

I am remembering the words said by Mayor Pro Tem Long and Councilman Brian Campbell, among many others that said that today, November 3, 2010 would be an important day because we all have to now move forward and get about doing what needs to be done to work to make Rancho Palos Verdes the best place to live, work, and play in all of Southern California and beyond.

I don't know how many other cities and Special Elections generate more than half the registered voters willing to cast ballots when the Presidency of the United States is not being voted on.

Now we are back to being a city where every business and every residents have more equal rights and responsibilities and we all have to live under the same rules and laws that mandate the use of Conditional Use Permits over a Special District that would not have been liable for adhering to C.U.P.s.

Now we are back to seeking what so many of us support with The Marymount College Facilities Expansion Project and with some hope that Marymount officials will begin to redevelop their campus with the approvals already granted.

Of course I will have much more information and comments about the vote and what may lie in store for Marymount College and our city, but it is very late in the evening and very early in the morning.

There is some extremely important business and pleasure I must mention before I head to slumberland.

Throughout the many months since I first started dealing with The Marymount College Facilities Expansion Project and then added The Marymount Plan into my mix, there have been some residents of our great city that have provided me so much more than I can ever give back to them and our city.

First I would like to thank former Mayor Larry Clark and the Councilmembers during his term as Mayor and before that, too. The gave insight and guidance to me on how the processes should work and eventually did work as far as The Project's approval went.

As you probably know I did not vote for Mr. Anthony Misetich and Mr. Brian Campbell when they stood for election to the Council.

Councilman Misetich has demonstrated teamwork in its best sense, a strong stature as a gentleman even when times and events were causing him grief and frustration.

Councilman Misetich is an example of what is impressive in a new Councilman and if he decides to take the plunge as Mayor before Councilman Campbell, I will support him and Councilman Campbell when it is his turn to handle the gavel.

Former Mayor Ken Dyda was a powerhouse for me in learning more about the ways of city government and why he knew it was so important to all of the residents that Measure P had to be opposed.

His guidance and leadership in Save Our City III and his comments in front of the City Council were extremely important in educating our residents about the facts and the whole truth dealing with land use issues which I had such little knowledge of, before The Marymount Plan and its Measure came to be.

Mr. Jeff Lewis is an honorable man who knows the truth, had all the facts down pat, and provided to me a mentoring skill of his that helped me learn so much about both The Project and The Plan.

Mr. Lewis was the Chairman of the Planning Commission of the city of Rancho Palos Verdes during much of the discussion and debate processes that led to the recommendations his Commission forwarded to our City Council regarding The Project.

His knowledge and advise helped me in too many ways to mention.

I was and still am humbled by the intelligence, strength, and work by Mr. Jim Gordon and Mr. Pat Carroll of Concerned Citizen Coalition/Marymount Expansion.

Jim knew and knows the facts about the physical plant and environment both above ground and with the ground of Marymount's campus.

He and the group he is a member of have been vilified by so many residents and especially non-residents of Rancho Palos Verdes for their competent stand in opposition to Measure P, The Marymount Plan.

If ever you need statistics from an individual of great honor and trust, then there is no one better than Mr. Pat Carroll.

I don't know what I would have done to try and learn more about issues without the incredible sets of numbers and tables of facts generated and stored by Mr. Carroll.

Pat and Jim were my human libraries whenever I needed a fact checks and confirmation of the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth with both The Marymount College Facilities Expansion Project and The Marymount Plan.

The words 'brain trust' first come to mind when I think about Jim and Pat and all they have been through over the last 10+ years.

The 'brain' part is the fantastic number of facts and data both gentlemen have at their fingertips.

The 'trust' is that everything they provided to everyone was the truth which was about as trustworthy as humanly possible and their trustworthiness is beyond compare, in my book.

Now we come to Brian Campbell.

I have no other words for Councilman Campbell to express my thanks to him for all he has done for me and the rest of the residents of Rancho Palos Verdes.

Councilman Campbell is a conservative Republican and as everyone should know by now, I am not in any way, shape, or form.

Both he and Councilman Misetich have been tested during their less than first year sitting on our Council and they both are more than great and so very good for all of us.

Without all of us mentioned working together, Measure P would have passed very easily, I believe.

I place quite a bit of credit with Councilman Campbell for holding us all together and demonstrating the strength and honor necessary to get through what he and other never could have considered the 'battles' they would have to go through in his and Councilman Misetich's first year in office.

We will need all the fine citizen/residents of our city today, tomorrow, and well into the future because there so much more than just dealing with Marymount that needs every one's attention.

With the demonstrated strengths of the three Council members who will be termed out next year, along with the two new Council members, we have a leadership team with no rivals, in my opinion.

I am confident in what we have already seen demonstrated so well by our City Council with the projects and problems that were there before The Marymount Plan's vote came up and will still be around for some time.

Yes there will be reflection. Yes, there will be lots of healing required. Yes, the future of Marymount College is more uncertain now.

But yes, we have the city leadership and the strengths of a large number of truly great residents to weather what we have weathered and work towards keeping our city out of the wraths of future storms and bad weather.

So to Brian, Anthony, Ken, Jeff, Jim, Pat, and so many others, thank you so very much and now let's get back to making Rancho Palos Verdes an even better place to live, work, and play in.

Robocall At 11:30 PM!

Today is very busy day for all of us.

I got an unexpected call a little while ago about a 'robocall' that was made at "11:30 PM last night urging voters to vote "No" on Measure P, The Marymount Plan.

After some checking with a group of my associates who are opposed to passage of Measure P, it appears to me that the calls were made by someone who may actually be a supporter of Measure P's passage.

I know of no one who is very close to the opposition 'leaders' of Measure P who would call our residents at 11:30 last night but one source who got a call from a victim of the late night 'robocall mentioned the name of "Steve" but could not confirm any last name.

Our city's Mayor Stephan Wolowicz recorded a call for distribution as a private citizen but when the victim was asked whether the "Wolowicz" was the last name given, that victim said it wasn't.

After working for decades with 'the Phone Company' there is probably not one person living on The Hill that hates 'robocalls' as much as I do and I am not a big fan of opponents' of Measure P utilizing that type of campaigning as one way to deal with the huge sum of money Marymount is spending trying to get "Yes" votes on its Measure.

I assume responsibility for being the opponent of Measure P who has attacked individuals and groups supportive of Measure P, more than anyone else who opposes The Marymount Plan.

I have been attacked in print and verbally as badly as I have given out, so all in all, it is a fair match.

But I surely would never stoop to a type of dirty tricks that would call someone so late in the evening and providing comments that are opposite of my real beliefs.

I can't confirm who made the late evening 'robocalls' but I know who did not have anything to do with them and none of the elected representatives or even former elected or appointed representatives of the city or any of its Commissions or Committees made those calls.

Whoever it was, it was a rotten thing they did and if and when we learn who it was, I will post that information on this blog.

If you haven't voted yet, please vote "No" on Measure P, The Marymount Plan.

Safety. Everyone. Everywhere. Every hour.

Good Morning! Please Vote!

Good morning.

My campaign to oppose Measure P, The Marymount Plan is finally over. And not a second too soon for myself and my wife.

The post was written for publishing late last night just after I posted the letter from the city asking Marymount's President to let the city know how he and his college would resolve their promise to the residents of Rancho Palos Verdes.

I have absolutely no idea what the outcome of the Special Election will be except that I don't expect to see Dr. Michael Brophy as Marymount's President on January 1, 2011.

I think he was brought in to get dorms approved and if Measure P fails, he will be sent packing and if Measure P passes, he will head off to another College that wants on campus housing and he would have a victory under his belt to fill his resume.

No matter what happens today, I hope humor can be restored where it has been lacking for far too long.

As this day ends and tomorrow begins, Ponte Vista, The Annenberg Project, San Ramon Canyon, the new grant to extend the Coastal Trail, and a host of other things will still be issues that could benefit or harm our community.

We must not get burned out because of the results of today's Special Election, no matter how it turns out.

It may be hot and windy today so watch out for downed branches and be careful if it gets really windy.

I have been blessed and honored beyond all measure in my work with a number of fantastic Rancho Palos Verdes residents and leaders who truly have our community's residents in their hearts and on their minds during far too many of their waking hours.

I will write specific thank yous later tonight or very early tomorrow morning.

What a city. What a State. What a country.

Please vote "No" on Measure P, the Marymount Plan.

Safety. Everyone. Everywhere. Every hour.

A Letter From The City and Marymount's Response

Click on image to enlarge.

In just about 10 days, the letter above will have been with Dr. Brophy for two months.

Dr. Brophy promised that Marymount would pay all the costs of tomorrow's Special Election for Measure P because for on reason, I pointed out to him that the cost of elections are paid by taxpayers normally.

It seems Dr. Brophy's claim that The Marymount Plan and Measure P would be completed at "no taxpayer expense" is about as honest and forthright as much of the campaign he and his Board of Trustees have been undertaking.

However, in the spirit of openness and honesty, here below, encased in quotation marks is the response to the letter from the City that Marymount has so far, made in the last almost two months:

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So, Marymount's response to their claims that they would pay for the election tomorrow as been by ignoring even the letter sent months after Dr. Brophy claimed they would pay.

I think I should now have a contest on this blog to see who can come up with the best excuse Dr. Brophy will use to get out of paying for the election he has so far not provided one penny for and what it appears is going to be a big bill Rancho Palos Verdes taxpayers are going to have to foot.

This is one of my "I told you so" type of things that will happen much more frequently should Measure P pass.

I have been thinking about what promises Marymount representatives have made to residents of Rancho Palos Verdes that they have actually kept.

I know there is already a history of Marymount representatives making promises to residents of San Pedro repeatedly, that they have not kept.

Any real promise that Pacific Heights would be closed if Measure P passes is not something worth the paper and ink it is printed on because there is not one single word on any of the 51 pages of Measure P, The Marymount Plan that mention Pacific Heights and whether it would be sold IF and when on-campus housing opens up on Marymount's campus.

I don't know what better way to end the campaign opposing the construction of student housing on Marymount's campus via Measure P than to have a documented illustration of the facts so dramatically opposed to what comes from the mouth of Dr. Brophy and others representing Marymount College.

If Dr. Brophy, the Board of Trustees, and other representatives and supporters of Marymount College can't even be truthful about the financing of Measure P, why and how could our city's residents trust anything they say?

Please vote "No" on Measure P, The Marymount Plan.

Safety. Everyone. Everywhere. Every hour.

Shocking!!! Marymount Changes Things, AGAIN

For over seven of the last ten years, Marymount College officials have stalled their own plans and made it necessary for things to be changed, city resources to be hampered, discussions and debates to be drawn out, and delays continuing to stall progress towards their own redevelopment goals.

Well folks, they have done it again.

If you wish to vote "No" on Measure P, The Marymount Plan, you can do that by Tuesday November 2, 2010 at your polling location.

If you wish to vote "Yes" on Marymount's measure, you are now requested to vote on Wednesday November 3, 2010 at the address of the polling place listed on your Sample Ballot.*

Voting "Yes" on Wednesday insures that you will know how many voted "No" on Measure P and that should let you know how important your "Yes" vote on Wednesday would mean for Marymount.

Remember, vote "Yes" on Measure P, The Marymount Plan on Wednesday November 3, 2010, because you will have much more information about the voting by then.

*O.K., this is a humorous post. We must have some humor at this time.

Bits and Pieces 20

There are opponents of Measure P, The Marymount Plan who are now complaining that the "Yes on P" crowd is now distributing yard signs that look quite a bit like the "No on P" yard signs all over Rancho Palos Verdes.

For me, it produced a chuckle and a wonder what took the "Yes on P" mob so darn long.

If some opponents are now stating Marymount's campaign is using 'dirty tricks' just because of the new yard signs, I guess those opponents haven't visited this blog.

I am certainly not going to be hypocritical about Marymount's tactic of changing yard signs when I have taken quite a bit of time and effort 'recreating' many Marymount mailers to offer the truth and the whole truth on my blog instead of what the original mailers contain in the form of fiction, deception, misleading statements, and falsehoods.

Some might call what I do 'dirty tricks' and they have a right to their opinion. I just wish those folks would read the 51-page Marymount Plan/Measure P language and they would be able to read the truth about the Measure and its implications on the community.
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I am facinated by Dr. Brophy's change of language and use of rhetoric when he has been speaking and writing recently.

Once upon a time, Dr. Brophy led a group of Marymount supporters to Planning Commission meetings where he and others were chastising the members of that Commission for countless things related to what was being studied.

Now it seems, Dr. Brophy can't over-praise the same group he 'battled' no all that long ago and for so many years.

Now the City Council are Dr. Brophy's villains when they only had several months to deal with The Marymount College Facilities Expansion Project.

You haven't heard Dr. Brophy provide any reason he did not take the matter of on-campus housing directly to the Council for discussion, something he had every right and chance to do.

What you do now hear from Dr. Brophy is that the Council would not approve The Marymount Plan is its complete entirety, as mandated by State Law to do, but rather do the ONLY OTHER thing they could legally do and call for the Special Election.

Dr. Brophy won't tell you he could have, but chose not to, bring the matter of dorms to the City Council for discussion and debate and a possible vote by them.

What is also facinating is that Dr. Brophy's 'facts' change the closer to the election date it is.

Months ago, Dr. Brophy and Marymount's Land Use Attorney, Mr. Don Davis, stated that they had no objection to the lowering of the roofline of the gym by 10 feet.

Now, according to Dr. Brophy, his non-objection is something he is objecting to and he is claiming that losing 25% of the air in the gym is equal to losing 25% of the usable space inside the building.

When his lobbyist, Steve Kuykendall stated that the City Council's actions of moving the field about 60 feet and lowering the roofline of the gym by 10 feet was done by the Council because they were 'capricious' towards Marymount.

Dr. Brophy must have either known Mr. Kuykendall was going to say that or he did not and has not objected to Mr. Kuykendall's smears against Rancho Palos Verdes Residents' elected representatives.
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Eight days after the Tuesday election, there will be a meeting for the Notice of Preparation and Scoping Study for Ponte Vista at San Pedro.

The meeting on November 10, 2010 will be held inside the auditorium at the Peck Park Community Center in San Pedro.

I have information about that meeting and the comment period on my:

www.pontevista.blogspot.com blog.
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Here's a thought.

Since the new development team at Ponte Vista want to build a 392-unit 'apartment flat' building, why can't Marymount lease out a bunch of units at Ponte Vista?

Those new units would be very close to Marymount's Palos Verdes North facility and it would allow students to really reside in a higher density area than on The Hill.

It would be much less expensive to have other build rooms to live in and perhaps Marymount could cut a deal with the folks at Ponte Vista to have lower rents and lease rates for students.

It would also allow students a chance to live in much closer proximity to social, retail, work, and entertainment venues and it could mean fewer cars going in and out of Ponte Vista is shuttle buses were utilized.
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I haven't been to our Denny's in some time so I don't know how their petition drive to be open 24/7 is going.

I think it is going to be almost too long of a shot by supporters of having Denny's open 24/7 because of other businesses in R.P.V. not able to remain open 24/7 except for probably Jack in the Box's drive through on Western Avenue.

I am quite sure that if Denny's and Coco's seek and are granted approval to remain open all night, the two 7-11s in R.P.V. would have their owners and management heading first to our Planning Commission and then quickly to court to try and remain open 24/7.
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Please continue to support the many fine retail businesses in Rancho Palos Verdes.

a small but very important portion of your sales taxes comes back to our city to provide infrastructor improvements and general funding our city needs.

Should Measure P passes and IF Marymount actually does go ahead with traffic mitigation in the three areas listed in its 51-page set of language, Rancho Palos Verdes tax revenues would have to provide 86.79% of the costs of mitigation, unless and until Marymount actually gets a rebate or refund on the 13.21% of their "share contribution".

A traffic signal system at the intersection of Miraleste Drive and Palos Verdes Drive East, a mitigation contained in both Measure P, The Marymount Plan AND the already approved Marymount College Facilities Expansion Project would cost AT A VERY MINIMUM of at least $285,000 dollars.

If Marymount provides $37,648.50, taxpayer funds of $247,351.50 would be required, at a minimum.

Gee, I bet you didn't know that The Marymount Plan could cost taxpayers at least $250,000.00 more than it already has, did you?
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