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THIS IS THE MAIN NEWS PAGE
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IN THIS SITE
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Some links on these archived pages are not operative.
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This NONCOMMERCIAL site is a harmless hobby of George Garrigues, who has lived in the Westside Village district of Palms for 12 years. These pages have no connection with any organization.
Send him e-mail with corrections and comments.
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Two proposals are in the works to rectify the boundary of our community
PALMS:
'WHERE'S THE REST OF ME?'
Assembly votes to survey stakeholders in Northwest Palms ('Westside Village') on the Mar Vista border controversy
Story below
Elsewhere, a drive to 'annex' a small area in Northeast Palms is delayed Story below
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| TEST SCORES RISE IN PALMS SCHOOLS; OUR KIDS RANK HIGHER THAN THE CITY AVERAGE Story on the Education page |
| Motor Ave. will see more motoring, and more pedestrians, too Story on the Real Estate page |
OVERLAND BRIDGE WIDENING
An open house was held Thursday, Sept. 21, in the Palms-Rancho Park Library to give information about widening the Overland Avenue bridge across the I-10 Freeway. Representatives of the state and local agencies answered questions and listened to people who wanted to give their opinions on the plans.
For photos of the event, click here.
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Should we mourn or rejoice in the fate of the Los Angeles Marathon mural on the I-10 Freeway?
Both sides are given on our Features page |
Westside Democratic headquarters opens in Palms
Photo is below |
ONE YEAR AGO
1911 Craftsman house is razed; Pauline Stout is named vice-president; Palms Middle School sponsors backpack drive for young Katrina victims You go back in time to September 2005 |
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LEADERS BACK OUTREACH PLAN
FOR Westside Village
Human Relations Commission will explain its services at October committee meeting
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The Palms Representative Assembly has approved the idea of asking people in northwest Palms if they want to remain within the boundaries of the Mar Vista Community Council or if they want to switch into the Palms Neighborhood Council.
The Representative Assembly is the governing body of the Palms Council. Both councils are official agencies of the city government.
The Assembly vote on Sept. 6 was 7-1 in favor of outreach to the area. Voting yes were Neal James Anderberg, Mario Bruhwiler, George Garrigues, Matt Gaspar, June LaMoy, Todd Robinson and Pauline Stout. Lori Donahoo voted no. Willie Bell, Ingeborg Prochazka and John Riordan were absent.
The Palms Outreach and Communication Committee decided Wednesday evening, Sept. 20, to invite a representative of the city's Human Relations Commission to the next committee meeting to explain how the commission might be able to help in the outreach.
Northwest Palms is often called Westside Village, although the district in question includes much more than the single-family residential subdivision of that name famously built without sidewalks by developer Fritz Burns in 1939 and 1940.
About 8,400 people live in apartments in the district and 3,600 live in the Burns-built or other houses. There are large commercial areas at Sepulveda-Palms and Sepulveda-National, a Trader Joe's at Westwood-National, a Blockbuster |
at Overland-National and a small commercial strip at Overland-Palms-Rose.
At the Palms Council/Assembly meeting of Sept. 6, Westside Village residents Richard Leib and Neal Richman spoke in favor of uniting the two areas of Palms. A letter opposing the idea came from Ken Alpern, who is on the boards of both the Mar Vista Community Council and the Westside Village homeowners assn.; it was read aloud by Stout, the Palms Council president.
The resolution adopted by the Assembly follows:
Petitions favoring the merger of the Westside Village area with the Palms Neighborhood Council having been presented to concerned city authorities and no action having so far been taken by any city official or city agency on said petitions —
(1) It is the sense of the Palms Neighborhood Council that an Outreach Program should be conducted in the Westside Village area to determine the wishes of the stakeholders there as to the proposed merger and
(2) The Outreach and Communications Committee is directed to consider the steps whereby such an Outreach Program can be completed, and the committee is requested to report such proposed steps back to the Council and the Assembly at the first meeting in October 2006.
(3) The Mar Vista Community Council is hereby invited to attend and to participate in all meetings of the Palms Neighborhood Council concerning this endeavor before the Palms Neighborhood Council goes forward with outreach. |
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The map above shows where Westside Village (in yellow) lies with respect to the rest of Palms.
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Delay is ordered in drive to bring northeast area back into Palms
Meager return of survey forms forces re-examination of the project. |
The Palms Neighborhood Council wanted to know how the residents and business people south of the I-10 Rosa Parks Freeway, north of National Blvd. and east of Overland felt about a proposal to leave the Westside Neighborhood Council and join up with the Palms Council — so it sponsored a mail-in survey.
Thirteen of those who returned the forms favored staying with the Westside Council. Eleven favored the Palms Council. Two of the signers included statements as well. Both raised the problem of a sound wall on the adjoining I-10 Freeway as an area of concern. Their statements are reproduced below.
All this has resulted in a delay of the Palms Neighborhood Council's drive to bring that small area into Palms (see the map below). The governing body of the Palms Council voted on Sept. 13 to send the timetable back to committee for another look-see.
Some 295 packets of information were distributed by hand from door to door on Aug. 19 and Aug. 21. They contained maps of the area and reasons for and against the proposed boundary change, as well as a brochure about the city's neighborhood-council system and a phone number to call for more information.
A public informational meeting was held on Saturday, Aug. 26, in the Palms-Rancho Park Library. Two stakeholders attended, neither of them from the area in question.
Sixteen prepaid, pre-addressed envelopes were returned by the stakeholders to the Palms Council post office box by the deadline, Wednesday morning, Aug. 30. They contained signatures from 21 people — 13 favoring the Westside and eight favoring Palms. Three signatures were received after the deadline, all favoring Palms. Another unsigned form was received a week later; it favored the Westside.
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The area above National Blvd. (red line) is part of the Westside Neighborhood Council, even though it has historically been considered Palms. A blue-and-white municipal Palms sign on Motor Ave. is marked with an arrow. The former Palms train station, now a historic monument which was moved to the Arroyo Seco, is also marked. A survey carried out in late August resulted in the return of forms from 22 people — 14 favoring the Westside Council and eight favoring Palms.
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Comment from a resident of Irene Street who preferred the Westside Council:
I don't like to be in Palms neighborhood because I've been living here for 3 years and what gets our privacy away is the Palms Fire Department. They don't have the understanding that this is a residential area and @ midnight or even when there is no traffic, they turn their siren on. That is so inconservative. I see that on the other side of the freeway which is probably part of the westside council they are making these huge walls so residents don't hear the sound of freeway. Why not on our side? But one problem we always have on Irene St. is the asphalt of the street, so many deep holes for a little st. One side of our litle st. is no parking, why do we have to park 1 mile away?
In conclusion I don't mind to be in Palms area if all these problems will be fixed.
Best regards.
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Comment from a resident of National Blvd. who preferred the Westside Council:
Timing of the off ramp light (I-10 Eastbound) needs to be addressed during morning rush hour especially.
Also, what is the timeframe of the southern I-10 soundwall? Freeway noise has increased substantially since construction commenced on the north side of the freeway!
Thank you!
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A buoyant crowd of Democrats turns momentarily somber as they consider the odds of ousting Republican Gov. Schwarzenegger in the November election.
Democratic headquarters for the Westside was opened Saturday, Sept. 23, at 3317 Overland Ave. (corner of Rose Ave.) in Palms.
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