Palms banners are flying high

Vote may be scheduled on Iraq war

Assembly seeks study of a train station in Northeast Palms

Charnock School funds, election procedures are approved

Mar Vista rejects Palms president's bid to help find out what Westside Villagers want

City attorney is studying legal issues in proposed boundary adjustment with the Westside Neighborhood Council

Apartment neighbors pull off a successful street fiesta

PALMS BANNERS ARE DRAWING ATTENTION

These and 94 other 3-foot-by-8-foot banners are now fluttering over Palms business streets.

One side reads Palms, California, U.S.A., Since 1886, while the other side bears the name of the "historic business area" where they are posted — 52 in Charnock Ranch (Overland), 26 in Palms Depot (Motor) and 18 in Pacific Electric (south of Venice). (See map below.)

They will be up for one year, said Mario Bruhwiler, who was in charge of the $9,989 city-funded project. They weren't placed on Venice Blvd. (the most heavily traveled street) because of the demand for that thoroughfare by other agencies.

He thanked Neal Anderberg for the design, Elizabeth Carlin of Council Member Herb Wesson's office and Leslie Wolfe of AAA Flags and Banners.

Click here to see the dedication ceremony

COMMITTEE SEEKS VOTE ON IRAQ WAR DURING PALMS ELECTIONS

Palms people may have a chance to vote their feelings about the war in Iraq during the Neighborhood Council election on Saturday, June 24.

The council's Representative Assembly will be asked at its meeting on May 2 to OK the idea for a straw vote on this proposal, the wording of which is similar to proposals debated in New England town meetings over the past several months:

“The majority of the voting stakeholders of Palms, California, U.S.A, in support of the men and women serving in the Armed Forces of the United States, urge President Bush to end the U.S. occupation of Iraq and immediately begin the safe and orderly withdrawal of all United States forces; and further urge President Bush and the United States Congress to provide the necessary diplomatic and non-military assistance to promote peace and stability in Iraq and the Middle East."

The Palms Outreach and Communications Committee decided on April 18 to recommend the balloting as one way to improve turnout at the local election, which will be held from noon to 5 p.m. at Palms Elementary School.

The straw vote — which is a sampling of opinion with no binding effect — would have a different ballot and be counted separately from the official vote for Palms Neighborhood Council elected representatives.

Positions up for election in June will be president, secretary, the Palms West, Motor and Exposition residential areas and the Charnock Ranch business area (see the maps here).

You'll be able to vote if you are aged 16 or over and live in, work in, own property in or have some other connection with Palms, but you'll have to be at least 18 to run for one of the seats.

PALMS ASSEMBLY SEEKS STUDY OF LIGHT-RAIL STATION IN NORTHEAST PALMS

The Representative Assembly of the Palms Neighborhood Council wants the Expo Metro Line Construction Authority to study placing a train station "behind the Price Self Storage facility on National Blvd. between Palms and Motor."

It passed a motion to that effect on April 4.

If a station were built there, it would be on the exact site of the historic Palms Grasshopper Station which served this community beginning in 1887 until the mid-1960s (drawing at right). That building is now the visitors' center of Heritage Square in the Arroyo Seco.

The term "grasshopper" refers to the double track laid in front of the station where an eastbound train could lay over while a westbound train went by on the single set of tracks used in those days.

Go here for more about the old Palms depot.

In March the Assembly recommended the northern, or Exposition route, for the planned light-rail line between L.A. and Santa Monica.

The vote on March 7 was five in favor (Todd Robinson, Willie Bell, Matt Gaspar, John Riordan and Lori Donahoo) and three opposed (Pauline Stout, George Garrigues and Mario Bruhwiler).

A second possible route would be east-west on Venice Blvd. and north-south on Sepulveda to Exposition.

• Charnock Road Elementary School will be the receipt of an allocation of "up to $2,000" for a "Big Sunday" clean-up event on April 21, the Palms Representative Assembly decided on April 4.

The allocation was opposed by Palms West Residential Representative Willie Bell (right) because of the fact that the school is shared with the Mar Vista Community Council.

Bell has stated previously his opposition to Mar Vista's control over the area of Palms north of Charnock Drive and east of Overland Ave. — in fact, he has even appeared before the city's Board of Neighborhood Commissioners to oppose that control.

• Speaking of Mar Vista, the Assembly looked with favor on a planned Woodbine Street block party and tree-planting even though the event is west of Overland, within the Mar Vista district. No vote was taken, but the feeling was that Outreach Chair Mario Bruhwiler already has the authority to commit some funds to the project in order to publicize the Palms Council.

It looks like the Palms and Mar Vista councils will have dueling information tables at the event.

• The election procedures for the spring Neighborhood Council election were approved — for the second time. They were adopted first at a special meeting in December 2006, but the Department of Neighborhood Empowerment had so many objections that they had to be rewritten by President Pauline Stout reacting to constant, and conflicting, messages from the city authorities. The bureaucratic snafu means delaying the vote from May to June.

Stephen Box was introduced as the independent election administrator. He is under contract with the city to do that job for a number of neighborhood councils.

You can always read the latest minutes of the Palms Neighborhood Council by clicking http://www.palmsvillagesun.info/Minutes/Min.Latest.html.