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THIS IS THE OPINION PAGE
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And it's The Sun's opinion that Palms actor Jason Paul Field writes a very funny blog when he feels like funny and morose when he feels like morose. Read him here.
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An individual's actions should be presumed private,
while a government's actions should be presumed public.
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FOUNDER OF SOCCER-LITERACY PROGRAM FOR KIDS IS A GREAT MEMBER OF OUR COMMUNITY
Scroll down or click here for the opinion piece
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COMPLAINANT SAYS HE'S RECEIVED E-MAIL FLAMES . . . BUT A LARGER ISSUE IS SECRECY IN GOVERNMENT
Scroll down or click here for the opinion piece
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LIGHT-RAIL SERVICE IN PALMS
Where will the trains run?
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I live literally around the corner from the charming historic shopping district in northern Palms. Did you know that it is impossible for someone to shop here unless he/she walks or takes a bus, because it is almost impossible to find a place to park in this location?
I envision this commercial district as not being destroyed by light rail but turned into one of L.A.'s hip spots. What is better than people being able to take light rail to access the shops, restaurants and bars in this area?
The French high school is being built, across my home, in the location of the historic Palms Depot, which used to be the Santa Monica Air Line Palms station. It served Palms from 1875 to 1953.
The high school is not even built yet. Why do you want to give them the squatters' rights before they even move in to become future neighbors with the future Expo Line?
If the Expo Line is built on the right-of-way, the Price self-storage facility, a disgrace to our neighborhood, will be acquired and converted into a modern transit hub with parking.
The experience learned from other light-rail lines in Los Angeles is such that most people don't like driving to the stations but take shuttles or buses, or simply walk, instead. Therefore, parking needed for the Palms station should only be moderate.
I feel that this station will provide a great transit opportunity for our neighborhood.
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I agree that we should have the study done and then read it for ourselves to see what it says.
The Expo construction authority cannot build this line right in one hundred years without the feedback from the neighbors — because we live in the neighborhood and we know our neighborhood. Our involvement is absolutely necessary for this project to be done right.
[The author is lab director of the USC Physics and Astronomy Department.]
BY KEN ALPERN
I agree with Dr. Esirgen's comments, and welcome this Expo Line study and construction as a way to bring our communities together.
The problems with the Sepulveda-Venice Blvd. diversion routing lie not so much with the Venice Blvd. component, but the Sepulveda Blvd. component.
The sharp turn at Venice-Sepulveda, the hills on Sepulveda, the narrowness of Sepulveda, the lanes of traffic lost on one or both boulevards, and the increased time it would take for Expo Line riders to use such a diversion make it unlikely it would be possible as a viable route compared to the cheaper and quicker right-of-way routing.
I am FOR the study and (hopefully) creation of a transit spur of the Expo Line that utilizes Venice Blvd. to include all of Palms (and Mar Vista, Venice and the entire Westside) in accessing this wonderful future Expo Line.
[The author is a director of both the Mar Vista Community Council and the Westside Village homeowners association.]
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ALEX SOSCHIN:
A great member of our community
Photo of Council Member Bill Rosendahl, left, and Alejandro Soschin is from Rosendahl's Web site, April 26, 2007.
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BY CITY COUNCIL MEMBER BILL ROSENDAHL
I want to introduce you to Alejandro "Alex" Soschin, a great member of our community whom I nominated as the Council District 11 local champion for youth as part of the city's Week of the Young Child.
Alejandro founded L.A. Scores, a non-profit after-school program for underserved youth in the Palms community. Since 2002, L.A. Scores has grown from a pilot program with a few dozen students in three grades to more than 250 enrolled students on four campuses from kindergarten to 8th grade learning soccer, poetry and community service.
The program has been recognized by the Mattel Children's Foundation as its Community Partner for the past two years, and he is a member of LAUSD's Beyond the Bell after-school partnership.
In addition to his work with L.A. Scores, Alejandro has worked in the nonprofit community
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as part of the Topsail Youth Program's middle-school initiatives in Los Angeles. He also served as an inner-city elementary school coordinator for Peace Games in Boston and as a consultant on nongovernmental organizations to the Inter-American Development Bank in Mexico.
A lifelong soccer fanatic, Alejandro has played, coached and refereed throughout his career.
Alejandro received his bachelor of arts from Harvard University, with a concentration in political science.
Along with his duties as executive director of L.A. Scores, Alejandro was a member of the Palms Neighborhood Council's Advisory Board and Organizing Committee, currently serves on my Empowerment Congress Education Committee in CD11,and is an adviser to the Westside Regional Center's Peer Mentor pilot program.
I want to express my deep gratitude to Alex for all of the great work he has done and will continue to do for Los Angeles youth.
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COMPLAINANT SAYS HE'S RECEIVED E-MAIL FLAMES . . . BUT A LARGER ISSUE IS SECRECY IN GOVERNMENT
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That complaint we reported on last month — about the funding of "neighborhood" newsletters by the Mar Vista Community Council — has gotten uglier.
 Rick Selan of Venice, who brought the complaint against the MVCC, sent along some jaw-dropping e-mail he said he's received from Steve Wallace, a member of the committee that was handling the matter.
Then he said he was filing a complaint against Wallace for "defamation of character and personal threats."
Nothing new there; Selan is fond of filing complaints. His beef about Wallace, though, seems to have some merit — although I don't believe it would be for "defamation of character."
A larger issue is the secrecy and lack of accountability in the committee of which Mar Vistans Wallace and Jean Ushima are both members.
I don't believe there has ever been a public notice given about meetings of this committee (at least I didn't receive any).
In apparent secrecy they drafted a grievance policy that would give civil libertarians a heart attack — and the Mar Vista Board approved it on a temporary basis at its meeting on April 10 just so the committee can handle Selan's original grievance.
Getting back to Selan's claim for "defamation": No way!
After all, he magnified the problem (if such it was) by sending copies of Wallace's e-mails to some 50 or 60 other recipients. Selan can't claim to be innocent in spreading this supposed libel about himself through the entire Internet world.
Where Wallace went wrong, I fear, is in bowing to his undoubted irritation at Selan's claim that he, Wallace, should be removed from the
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investigating committee for prejudice. Yes, Wallace did some flaming. (I think many of us may have been guilty of this indiscretion at some time.)
Wallace claimed in one e-mail forwarded to the world by Selan that he was a "private citizen." But Wallace is no more a private citizen than is Mayor Villaraigosa: He's been very active in the community (helped set up the MV Farmers Market) and is co-chair of Mar Vista's land-use committee.
I happen to like Wallace very much, and I came to like Selan, too, once I met the amusing but driven man behind the torrents of e-mails he sends to all and sundry. [* See note below.]
But Wallace made the mistake that many people do when sending electronic messages: He assumed they wouldn't go any further.
(President Bush knows better: Neither he nor anybody else on his staff uses e-mails for anything.)
And, of course, like anybody else carrying out public policy, Wallace — an MVCC activist — has to be held accountable to the public for what he does and says, just as Selan — an educational activist — has to be held accountable. (He once ran for the L.A. School Board.)
Just as I have to be held accountable.
I e-mailed Wallace for comment but didn't get a reply. He may be correct now in maintaining a discreet electronic outage.
Why am I writing about this here? The Sun is covering this issue about Mar Vista because the very large area of Westside Village, with its 12,000 residents, is included within the MV Community Council area, and until we get out of it, all of us have a right to know what's happening there — and to comment on it.
Letters about this matter are on our Mailbox page. Unfortunately some of the mail has taken on a personal tinge, instead of concentrating on the major issue of secrecy in government.
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OTHER PAGES
Click on the underlined links to bring them up
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HOME PAGE
Background of The Palms-Village Sun
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CULTURAL ACTIVITIES
Thursday afternoon jazz livens post office area
Actors Gang is resident theater company at the Ivy Station
Colorful art installation covers two sides of a Washington Blvd. building
Theaters and museums in and near Palms
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DINING OUT
Indonesian, Mexican, Ethiopian, Indian, Chinese —
you name it; we got it
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CULVER CITY
Link takes you to the Culver City home page
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