Two Mentone Ave. houses will make way for apartments

Of interest to Palms residents is the recent sale and scheduled demolition of two of the neighborhood's original houses dating from the early 1920s.  One is a Craftsman-style at 3668 Mentone Ave. and the other, a Spanish-style, is located next door at 3672 Mentone Ave.  Both will reportedly be replaced by the construction of new apartment units.

I.W. TRAUCHT
June 19, 2005

We need straight reporting about fire station tree removal

One more time: Thank you for what you do to keep the neighborhood informed. You are an invaluable resource and do more to create community than most of the events the movers and shakers get up.

Sometimes I think people have trouble differentiating what you report as a reporter and what you opine as a resident. I generally assume that if it's opinion it must be yours, even if it isn't specifically labeled as such.

Case in point, the interesting news, and great pictures, of the new fire station project [at Regent and Motor]. I remember learning that most of these old fire stations [such as the present station on National at Vinton] were built as temporary buildings that have outlived their intended life spans by a good fifty years. I also remember at least one bond proposal for renovating them failed to pass the vote. Therefore, I'm grateful that a new facility, hopefully well suited to the task, is being built.

I totally agree with you about the trees, but isn't there a law that says that public works have to be built for the lowest price? To prevent malfeasance?

Moving trees is really expensive. Doing construction around trees is really expensive. My guess is that the price of such would have been deemed an inappropriate use of taxpayers' funds.

Do the Tree People provide aid in such a situation? Or some other agency? It doesn't do any good to rail at the removal of the trees without providing context and alternatives. A valid opinion, yes, it's a shame to cut down healthy trees. But making a lot of other people unhappy about the trees without providing more information isn't really useful, like the straight reporting portions of The Sun are.

JUDITH COHEN
June 19, 2005

Keep the No. 12 Blue Bus on Charnock Rd.

No, please don't remove the No. 12 bus stop at Charnock Road Rd. and Sepulveda. This bus stop is the best location for parents and children to take the bus to the elementary school.

I also llive on Sepulveda and Charnock across the street.

MARTHASTLC
June 17, 2005

Blue Bus adds to traffic problem on National Place

I discovered your page and find it very informative. There is a lot about the area to be learn by reading it.

I live on National Place, and recently the Santa Monica bus line has changed the route and drives on the street instead of National Blvd and make a right turn on Overland (this is also the case of Culver City bus, but it happened several years ago).

This has intensified the noise and getting out of the driveway problems.

A bus is slightly larger than a car and much longer, making the timing more complicated, now with two buses.

Also the noise from the bus turbine is shaking the house at time and it seems the extra weight is affecting the street surface.

By reading previous letters it was mentioned that MTA regulates bus lines, how come that residents are not notified of a change of route that will affect them?

The MTA system map of a few years ago shows both buses using National Blvd and Overland.

You seem to know on which door to bang and your help is appreciated in resolving these issues.

ROGER VAN HELDEN
Westside Village
June 10, 2005

Sound walls are part of the 405 widening work

I enjoyed your email and the links in it...thanks for sending it to me.  I particularly like the historical stuff, like from when the area was first built in 1940.

Do you think we will ever get a sound wall on the 405?  Is that what they're working on now?

BOBBIE KALLAN
Westside Village
May 23, 2005

Homeowners' president wants off The Sun's mailing list

Please remove me from your e-mail distribution list.

TRACY MARSH
[Tracy Marsh is president of the Westside Village Civic Assn., a homeowners' group.]
May 22, 2005

Remove the No. 12 Blue Bus from Charnock Rd.

I live across the street from the Charnock Elementary School on Charnock Rd. and I thought that either the School or the 405 would be a noise issue with me — but I got to tell you, neither one is a problem but the Santa Monice Blue Line is a huge problem.

They come around far too frequently and are very, very loud! Has anyone else expressed concern about it? I mean people can't walk a half a block to Palms Blvd. to catch the bus?

Most of these busses don't even stop at the stop signs on Charnock.

I want to start the ball rolling on getting the blue line off Charnock Rd. It doesn't need to come through Charnock as far as I'm concerned. Its a four-block residential street between Sepulveda and Overland.

Let me know what you think about it and if others have expressed concern.

SCOTT CHAMBERS
May 17, 2005

A case of overwhelming pessimism

Good luck with your efforts to improve the area.  For many years I attended meetings of Neighborhood Watch when it still met at St. Mary's Church on Watseka.

After a decade of being ignored when problems were brought up, no improvements occurred, and the neighborhood continued its decline, I chose to direct my energies elsewhere.

While my pessimism is overwhelming, I nevertheless wish you luck.

I.W. TRAUCHT
May 10, 2005

A suggested shuttle-bus route is found to be deficient:
An exchange of correspondence

From: Mdavies@[omitted]
Subject: Community DASH Study
Date: April 28, 2005 9:29:16 AM PDT
To: Loudbark99@yahoo.com

George Garrigues - I am following up on our conversation yesterday at the Transportation Committee of City Council. A number of DASH Study reports and maps are viewable (and downloadable) on the project website: www.tmdinc.net/clients/LADOT. The Executive Summary (dated 03/23/05) and the recommended route maps would be of particular interest - these complement the staff report discussed yesterday by the Committee. We will be back in front of the Transportation Committee on May 25th.

[Michael F. Davies is supervising transportation planner for the city of Los Angeles.]

---

From: loudbark99@yahoo.com
Subject: Proposed DASH line in Palms-Mar Vista-Culver City
Date: May 3, 2005 9:51:04 AM PDT
To: steve.cunningham@[omitted]
Cc: Mdavies@[omitted], lennguyen@[omitted], boogiebea@[omitted]

Steve Cunningham, general manager
Culver CityBus

Dear Steve:

I am sending you this material for your information.

Briefly, the LA-DOT Dash shuttle route was originally proposed as a quadrilateral, with its sides roughly along (N) Palms Blvd., (E) Hughes Ave., (S) Washington and Culver Blvds. and (W) Inglewood Blvd.. This was known as the Palms-Culver City route.

The Hughes Ave. leg north-south from Palms Blvd. would serve central and southern Palms (south of Venice Blvd.) and would run past Culver Center then south on Ellenda, thence along Culver Blvd. to Inglewood Blvd., where it would run north-south through Mar Vista. That is the map marked DOT-OriginalRoute. This route was 6th in priority for LA-DOT (among 20 routes), which means it could stand a chance of being funded and accomplished in the next few years.

A revised route has been recommended by LA-DOT [shown here] but has not yet been adopted by the L.A. City Council. Basically it is simply an east-west line through Palms, largely duplicating the No. 12 Blue Bus route. It would be of little use to Palms residents and would not help in linking Palms and some important addresses in Culver City (like the Brotman Hospital, Culver Theater and Sony Studios). It is known as the Palms-Robertson route. The new routing dropped the Palms Dash line to 17th in priority, which basically would kill it.

I asked Mr. Michael F. Davies, supervising transportation planner for LA-DOT -- (213) [omitted] -- about these two routes and why his office prefers the latter over the former.

This is the reply he sent me:

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

From: Mdavies@[omitted]
Subject: DASH Study - Palms / Robertson route
Date: April 28, 2005 1:52:53 PM PDT
To: Loudbark99@yahoo.com

I am following up on your mid-day telephone message. As per the attendees at the 07/29/04 and 02/10/05 public meetings, I am waiting to hear back from our consultant (I'll send you the list of names).

Regarding the original "Palms / Culver City" route proposal : further field checks indicated that Hughes Avenue between Palms and Washington would not be viable for bus traffic - even for the 30-foot DASH buses.

We received several vociferous complaints (by phone and e-mail) about the prospect of DASH buses operating on Inglewood Blvd. north of Venice Blvd. - single-family neighborhoods typically oppose DASH service on their streets.

In addition, we were informed by a representative of Culver Citybus - the municipal bus operator within and around Culver City boundaries - that they would oppose extending DASH service into their territory (conflicts over bus service areas are mediated through MTA which acts as the County Transportation Commission).

In addition to this initial resistance, we have to note that approximately 30% of the route alignment is within Culver City boundaries with service provide to Culver City residents. The question was raised as to why 100% of the funding for the route should come from the City of Los Angeles, and that if this route alignment were to be maintained, that Culver City should contribute to operating costs.

Faced with those issues, the route alignment was modified to be entirely within LA City boundaries, with a modification at the northeast end to extend to Robertson + displacement of the route north of Venice Blvd. to Sawtelle from Inglewood Blvd.

There would be transfer opportunities to MTA service on Venice Blvd. and to Culver Citybus on Washington Blvd.

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

You have told me over the phone that you have had no information about this matter, and so I am sending you what I have on the subject. The Interim Governing Board of the Palms Neighborhood Council will be talking about these routes at our meeting this week.

Yours sincerely,

George Garrigues, member
IGB, Palms Neighborhood Council

---

From: Mdavies@dot.lacity.org
Subject: Re: Proposed DASH line in Palms-Mar Vista-Culver City
Date: May 3, 2005 10:34:55 AM PDT
To: loudbark99@yahoo.com

Thank you for copying me on your correspondence to Steve Cunningham.
There is some additional information to share since my last e-mail : I
have been informed that the informal response from the Culver Citybus
representative was mischaracterized by our consultant. No opposition
was expressed; what was stated was that any new DASH service proposed
for Culver City streets would need to be closely reviewed by Culver
Citybus. Also - the problem with Hughes, in addition to street width,
is the turning movement southbound from eastbound Palms / National; this
is an acute angle which forces the turning bus to encroach into the
northbound lane of Hughes - an unsafe condition. I am still waiting to
hear from the public outreach consultant regarding the attendees at the
07/29 and 02/10 meetings. Overall, we received 27 comments about this
proposed service.

---

From: steve.cunningham@[omitted]
Subject: RE: Proposed DASH line in Palms-Mar Vista-Culver City
Date: May 3, 2005 4:22:37 PM PDT
To: loudbark99@yahoo.com
Cc: Mdavies@[omitted], samantha.blackshire@[omitted], art.ida@[omitted]

George,

Thank you for the information. Upon review of the "original" design [shown below] I would have to say that I highly doubt Culver City would support it for several reasons:

1. In effect, a portion of the route is duplicative of Culver City's already existing Line 3 which cuts right through the center of that area on Motor and goes to the Culver Center. Further, a quick connection to CC's Line 1 or a Venice Blvd Metro route would take someone to Brotman and points east. In my opinion, a DASH route that covers similar territory would only siphon passengers from these services which would make them less cost effective. It would not make economic sense to overlay new services on existing services. Transit dollars are scarce and should be used toward solving unmet needs.

2. You could expect an outcry from people who live on Elenda. That alone would probably cause the City Council to nix that idea.

3. Culver City has been in discussions with Metro regarding services on Culver Blvd for years. In fact, it is highly likely that CC's #5 will run on Culver soon. A DASH route on that street also would not seem productive. However, since we may well pull off of Braddock, a route that incorporates Sawtelle to Braddock to Inglewood or Centinela or some similar variation might work.

4. I'm not sure why the City of Los Angeles would consider using scarce Prop A funds to pay for a service which has a high percentage of time in Culver City.

This is just my quick assessment. To be candid, I think an "alternate" route which ultimately would link the interim end-of-the-line Expo light rail station with areas that do not have easily accessible transit services would make sense. Yes, the "alternate" proposed duplicates SM's #12 on Palms and I'm sure they will have some comments about that.

Between CC's services on Motor and Sepulveda, SM's on Palms and National, and Metro's on Venice, the Palms area does have some fairly decent transit options.

In any event, good luck with your efforts.

Steve Cunningham
Transportation Director
City of Culver City

---

From: loudbark99@yahoo.com
Subject: DASH route . . .
Date: May 4, 2005 3:41:52 PM PDT
To: lennguyen@[omitted]

Len:

After getting an e-mail from the Culver CityBus manager and driving the route, I think it is as good as we are going to get, and that is what I will report on Thursday.

George

Troubled about location of 'sobering center'

While I personally favor any efforts to support the homeless, the mentally ill and those recovering from substance abuse, I am curious and a bit troubled that a Santa Monica-funded effort would place a facility for these efforts in the City of Los Angeles, and closer to Culver City than Santa Monica.
 
Two questions:
 
Is this project also supported financially by the cities of Los Angeles and Culver City?
 
Have there been other potential locations within the City of Santa Monica?

KEN ALPERN
April 24, 2005
[Alpern is on the board of directors of the Westside Village Civic Assn., a homeowners' group. He is also a director of the Mar Vista Community Council.

[Click here for links to articles about Santa Monica's plans to send its homeless alcoholic population to other cities.]

Nominations will be made only by petition, not by nominating committee: An exchange of correspondence

From: George Garrigues
To: Elizabeth Macias of the Department of Neighborhood Empowerment

From: loudbark99@yahoo.com
Subject: Nominations in Palms . . .
Date: April 14, 2005 11:13:09 PM PDT
To: emacias@[omitted]
Cc: lennguyen@[omitted], robintevg@[omitted]

Dear Elizabeth:

When the Bylaws Committee of the Organizing Committee of the Palms Neighborhood Council drafted its version of the bylaws, the idea was that the nominating committee would actually do the nominations and would attempt to thereby (1) find enough candidates to fill all the seats and (2) distribute the candidates properly among the various Stakeholder categories. This idea did not make it into the bylaws in the final version, but it was incorporated into the Election Procedures, as follows:

"The NEC [Nomination and Elections Committee] is responsible for working with the Independent Election Administrator (IEA) and the Department of Neighborhood Empowerment (DONE) to oversee and implement all activities related to the elections, including, but not limited to:

"Finalizing the election procedures for approval by the Interim Governing Body.
"Preparing and distributing all official election announcements and candidate information.
"Recruiting AND NOMINATING candidates for office. . . . " (emphasis supplied).

"The Nominations and Election Committee will attempt to identify at least one candidate for each Representative Assembly position."

Will you please find out for me if, based upon the Election Procedures, the NEC has the responsibility of NOMINATING candidates for office and if it can do so without the necessity of getting the 15 signatures on a petition?

It seems that the petition form of nomination pertains only to candidates who want to nominate themselves and that the committee can NOMINATE candidates on its own..

I am raising this question because, from the very beginning of the organization process, we have all been very much aware of how difficult it would be to get candidates in an area like Palms and we (the members of the Bylaws Committee) wanted to invest the Nominating Committee with the right to make nominations on its own.

Sincerely,

George Garrigues

From: jkvas@[omitted]
Subject: Palms NC questions
Date: April 23, 2005 7:06:32 AM PDT
To: loudbark99@yahoo.com, robintevg@[omitted], lennguyen@[omitted]
Cc: emacias@[omitted]

George,

First, I apologize for taking so long in responding to you question posed to Elizabeth Macias.  In future, please address election questions to me directly.

your question: . . .

1. Yes, it is the Elections Committee's responsibility to recruit candidates for the election.  They should actively recruit candidates for all positions AND set a minimum goal of 2 candidates per open position.  This is to give the voters a choice.  Without targeted and aggressive recruitment and little choice, voters are turned off and most likely will not continue to participate in the PNC.

2. Although you may have "intended" something in discussing the bylaws or election procedures, you must be specific in the actual docusments.  Your intent may be very different from someone else's intent.

3. According to your election procedures:

"All Stakeholders who wish to run for a position on the Representative Assembly must complete a Candidate Filing Form (Candidate Filing Form) beginning March 15 and must thereafter comply with the following requirements:

E. Candidates must submit the signatures of fifteen Stakeholders to become nominees."

This is very clear:  "All stakeholders who wish to run......."  This does not mean that a small group, ie the Elections or "Nominating" committee, has the authority OR power to surpass the procedures with a "nuclear option" to place in candidacy their own choices.  This could certainly be percieved by the stakeholders as an "exclusive" group, not INCLUSIVE.  Such an action would also be open to a challenge to the election and most likely be upheld and the election declared invalid.

However, the main point is that if some stakeholders are not held to procedures that other stakeholders are held to (ie the candidate application form, the 15 signatures, the deadlines, the election procedures), this would constitute an unfair and unopen election.

As the IEA [independent election administrator], I will not accept candidate applications without the 15 signatures and candidate form with documentation according to the election procedures.

I applaud you concern for a healthly candidate list and encourage you and the committee and any stakeholder to actively recruit people as candidates for this election.

Jerry Kvasnicka

Tutoring for Tots is now in business

I think that this e-mail is a great way to keep everyone posted about the community. Coming from a tight community in Orange County, sometimes I feel so out of the loop here in L.A. Especially living on a big busy street.

Now that I own property in Westside Village I would love to become more involved.

Also, I have my own tutoring business. Is it possible to get a posting on the Web site?

It is called Tutoring For Tots and it is private in-home tutoring.

SHERI BERGERON, www.TutoringForTots.com
April 2 and 12, 2005

Street name corrected

You are doing a very good job of letting us "Palmsters" know about our little corner of LA.
I loved the aerial photos of our city, but one correction . . . On the St-Marys.jpg, where you said it's the "sharpest corner in Palms." Well our duplex is on that corner and the spelling of the streets are Watseka and FARIS (not FERRIS). [Go here for the aerial photo.]

Keep up the good work.

SALLY GATI
April 6, 2005