Time to Dust Off Your Yard Signs

It looks like Bob and his Outreach Team for Ponte Vista has added quite a few dollars into advertisements and sponsorships.

Why he is doing it right now is something to think about. Bob even has ads placed on the local cable channel's ad times during the Dodger games and the Lakers playoff games.

Some could imagine he is trying to add to his support base and prospective buyers base prior to the release of the comments to the Draft Environmental Impact Report.

It may also be because the Centre Street Lofts are offering, for a limited time, $100,000.00 off the prices for new lofts in that project.

A reminder is in order, though. There are still many, many months to go before the L.A. City Council votes into law anything that Bob might be able to build at Ponte Vista.

If and when any new ordinances are approved for building new structures at Ponte Vista, we all need to be reminded that Bob could still sell those 'entitlements' to others and walk away from the development completely.

Bob seems to be spending more marketing money for Ponte Vista while his development in Santa Ana is not totally completed or sold out yet.

Bob is also still in the early stages of attempting to redevelop 125 acres of downtown Baldwin Park with the City's use of eminent domain to clear out existing residences and businesses in that area.

You may have even concluded that R Neighborhoods Are 1 has been 'sleeping' since the comment period for the Draft Environmental Impact Report has ended. "Nay nay" as the comic John would say.

The Rudderless Steering Committee has been quietly reading, writing, inquiring, and working in a well-paced stride to keep information together and learn more about Ponte Vista and other projects Bob is trying to develop.

According to a respected blog, Bob's personal house is still up for a foreclosure auction on June 4, 2008. He may get another Temporary Restraining Order, or he may have gotten himself out of trouble. Of course, if the auction happens, this blog will attempt to find out the facts as soon as possible.

If you still have your yard signs, please put them out beginning this weekend. If we can keep them up until at least the hearing for the comments to the Draft Environmental Impact Report, we will remind everyone that we are still here and still very much opposed to Bob's current plans and that R Neighborhoods Are 1 still strongly states: "R1, NO COMPROMISE"!

Well, I Did it Again

Since I am leaving this blog to deal with issues supported by the Rudderless Steering Committee of R Neighborhoods Are 1 and many other 'regular' members of that group, I started a new blog.

"Issues to Ponder" at: http://sanpedroissuestoponder.blogspot.com/ has been created so we all can ponder, discuss, debate, inquire, lament, opine, and inform with others, on a whole host of issues OUR community should deal with.

It's going to take some time to break out individual issues to ponder further on. Much of what will be written in this beginning period, consist of issues that have been pondered on for some months to several years already.

Please prepare to ponder, there is much to ponder on.

Odds and Ends: Last For Some Time

It looks like the Ponte Vista is going to become more in the news and on the blogs, so I have decided to get this blog back to its first roots.

The Rudderless Steering Committee (RSC) of R Neighborhoods Are 1 has approved strong stances on only two of the issues I have been dealing with, on this blog.

It is natural to know that the RSC stands by opposing Bob's monster weapon of mass development, with his 1,950-condos. The RSC stands firm that the Ponte Vista site remains with its current zoning, as applied by the Los Angeles City Council.

Only single-family, detached residential units are supported by R Neighborhoods Are 1, at Ponte Vista.

The other issue the RSC took a quick and strong stand on was the redevelopment of the former McCowan's Market site.

The RSC supported the application of the Q qualification Condition on the three lots Michael Rosenthal bought in 2007 that were zoned C1-1XL.

We are delighted that Councilwoman Janice Hahn's motion to place the condition on the three C1 lots, was unanonymously approved by the Los Angeles City Council.

There are other issues that are very important to OUR community that R Neighborhoods Are 1 should, in my opinion, take a stand on, and I hope repersentatives of groups taking sides in those issues come to the Rudderless Steering Committee and seeks support from them.

There are three issues that groups may want to bring to the RSC for discussion, that will create major impacts on OUR community.

The South Region High School 15 issue is here annd growing in debate.

I have addressed that I hope all residential groups can come together and welcome the Clearwater Program to either Terminal Island or the Machado Lake/Harbor Lake/Reggies old digs area.

The Kaiser Point cruise ship terminal is also coming more into the picture. The Port of L.A. looks to be in some financial trouble, but they may work it out in the future and get the debate going.

With the newly announced probably Public Hearing, hopefully just around the corner for Ponte Vista, it is now time for this blog to get back to its basics, I feel.

I want this blog to focus first on the Ponte Vista issue and the McCowan's Market site redevelopment project.

Then, as the Rudderless Steering Committee comes back together to take on other issues, this blog can provide further information on those issues.

As always, development issues, especially residential development issues, like Ponte Vista and the McCowan's Market site redevelopement are included in this blog.

I have been researching the Kaiser Point issue and have quite a bit of files and information that I will use on this blog when the first matters are in a quieter period.

With the South Region High School 15 issue, I still stand very, very strong in my opposition to placing the new campus on the Upper Reservation of Fort MacArthur for the two reasons I have repeatedly stated.

I know the NOISE group is a fantastic group, and the best part about the group are the many great San Pedrans who are working for the best for all of the students in LAUSD.

It will be interesting to see if NOISE comes to a RSC meeting to seek support for opposing the 1,215-seat school on a site, I don't think should be used for a new high school campus.

The Clearwater Program is truly a community-wide issue. In fact, it is a communities-wide issue.

It is also something we need, but certainly don't want to see a shaft sunk in any residential area.

I do hope residents' groups come to an RSC meeting and seek support to have the shaft sunk on either Terminal Island or Machado Lake area. Our homeowners' need the shaft, but don't need to get shafted.

So it's back to the roots, so to write, and back to dealing with developers who claim they know what is best for OUR community while not being willing to even live in OUR community.

A Peace Rally and a Wonderful Blog

( Click on any part of flier to enlarge)

Diana Chapman sent me a copy of the flier announcing the Peace and Unity Rally my wife and I are planning to attend.

Diana is a great supporter of educating children and she has a blog at:
http://theunderdogforkids.blogspot.com/

I hope you all visit her blog from time to time and Terri and I hope to see you at the Peace and Unity Rally.

Odds and Ends 12

It seems to be getting a bit confusing attempting to keep remembering all the 'pins' that are being juggled around OUR community lately.

I think this edition will try and lump everything together to demonstrate that there are quite a few things going on in the San Pedro area.

San Pedrans are currently thinking about many things including Ponte Vista, McCowan's redevelopment, a new cruise ship terminal, the recirculation of the China Shipping Environmental Impact Report, South Region High School No. 15 (SRHS 15), the Clearwater Program, developments in downtown San Pedro, the continuing work to clear the area where the Highland Park development may be built, on North Gaffey, the implementation of the Small Learning Communities at San Pedro High School, the redevelopment of the Point Fermin Outdoor Education Center, the upcoming Palos Verdes Marathon, our getting closer to summer with Shakespeare by the Sea and Music by the Sea, the political races that are just really getting started, the talks for a new contract that is very important, and other issues that may be as important, but I just haven't looked into them as much as I probably should have.
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The Palisades Residents Association's Annual election meeting is this coming Tuesday at White Point Elementary school in the evening. Information about the meeting is placed on other posts on this blog.

The meeting will feature many issues concerning residents who live between 25Th Street and the Ocean and between Western Avenue and Gaffey Street.

Councilwoman Janice Hahn will make comments and field questions on a variety of issue, not just whether a new school is going to be built in the area.

Attendees to the meeting will get an overview of the Clearwater Program and other issues that are of interest, or should be, to folks living in the area.
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The illustrations from the Port of Los Angeles for their improvements to the harbor area include an illustration of a cruise ship at Kaiser Point.

This issue has not been formally decided yet and there are plenty of San Pedrans who are on one side of the issue or the other, to make this issue, something of a coming hot item.

It was also reported in the news this week that the Port of L.A. may have to borrow funds to keep it going, perhaps as early as next year.

With the downturn in the economy, not as many containers are being shipped into the port and revenue is decreasing.

The Port of L.A. is not the 'cash cow' many folks believe it is, so the Port of L.A. claims, and they still have to fund the projects they promised would get funding, including the improvements to the waterfront.
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No news, thankfully for these sore typing fingers, concerning Ponte Vista lately. I still don't know if Bob lost his house, and nobody from the Outreach team, who I know reads my Ponte Vista blog, has bothered to straighten me out and provide me with what really happened.

So I guess we can still dream that Bob had to move into one of the trailers on Western Avenue, or into one of the duplexes that continue to get worse, along S. John Montgomery Street.
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After watching a program on the Science Channel about what will probably happen of the volcano under Yellowstone National Park decides to explode, with a massive eruption similar to the one that happened somewhere else 74,000 years ago, just about everything I write about won't really matter at all, it seems.

If it does happen, please have all the warmest cloths you have handy, you will need them!

The Comment Period Has Ended

The period of time to submit comments for the Notice of Preparation and Initial Study for South Region High School No.15 (SRHS 15) has ended.

The clock ran out at about 5:00 PM on May 5, 2008, but I am extremely impressed with what I have seen.

The Coastal San Pedro Neighborhood Council, the Palisades Residents Association, NOISE, (hopefully) the Point Fermin Residents Association, and many individuals made comments and/or wrote letters to the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) office that will be dealing with all of the comments as they are required to publish them when they issue the Draft Environmental Impact Report (DEIR), sometime in a few months.

I know many of you are going to be surprised and perhaps dumbfounded at the amount of information contained in all the comments and letters you will find later on.

I am more than extremely proud of San Pedrans who took charge in creating letters and sets of comments that were well written, very informed, and to the point.

If there ever has been a comment period for a Notice of Preparation and Initial Study that had as many sets of comments and letters written concerning the documents, I would be very surprised.

When the Draft EIR is published, it will be much, much, much longer than the Notice of Preparation and Initial Study are and it will come with appendices that state the outcome of all the testing done on and around the Upper Reservation of Fort MacArthur.

It will be a huge set of volumes that will need to be addresses as completely as possible, by everyone.

Some NOISE members have been told that the Alternatives to building SRHS 15 at the Upper Reservation of Fort MacArthur may be quite limited and may not have many of the alternatives suggested in our comments and letters.

We should look extremely carefully at the Alternatives sections and the appendices that include the study, or lack of study of the alternatives listed and the alternatives LAUSD and CEQA chose not to include.

The studies for the Draft EIR have been underway for some time now. Traffic counters have appeared and will continue to appear throughout the local area and probably on Gaffey Street, some distance from 30Th Street.

Page 3 of the Notice of Preparation stated locations where the Notice of Preparation and Initial Study could be viewed by the general public. Unfortunately for LAUSD, and hopefully fortunately for NOISE, there were several locations listed that did NOT have the required Notice of Preparation and Initial Study available for viewing and study.

Shame on CEQA and LAUSD.

A letter was written to the CEQA office concerning this matter, but I think we may only see a light apology and a, "We'll never to that again, especially when the EIRs come out."

There is not much we can do right now, but having an historical record that NOISE members found required sites lacking in having the documents available, is yet another item we can put into the files of all the problems we have already had with LAUSD and now CEQA, concerning SRHS 15.

I hope you have saved the date of May 13, 2008. That is the date of the Palisades Residents Association's Annual meeting and election of Board members.

Ms. Janice Hahn, Mr. Rod Hamilton-LAUSD, and perhaps Dr. Richard Vladovic have promised to attend this very important meeting at White Point Elementary School.

One of the issues that information will be provided for, at the meeting, is the Clearwater Program from the L.A. County Sanitation District. If you don't know much about this issue, you may wish to attend to learn a little more.

The Clearwater Program is going to have a new tunnel drilled under OUR community to provide a third outfall system for the treated waste water from the waste treatment plant alongside the Harbor Freeway.

This issue will become very important as the Sanitation District decides where to put the massive shaft that will lower equipment into the tunnel and be the site where the dirt is removed and placed into large dump trucks.

Nobody seems to want the five-acre area which will have a giant shaft going down 500 feet, in their neighborhood. In the Palisades Residents Association area, they have at least three sites on the list of possible shaft sites.

The Sanitation District has on part of its list, Royal Palms area, part of the White Point Nature Preserve, and even on land at Angel's Gate!

It's not so much the big hole in the ground that will be every neighborhood's concern, it is the thousands and thousands and thousands of dump-truck trips and all the other construction traffic involved in a multi-mile tunnel exercise.

Other sites include, but are not limited to: Terminal Island, Eastview Park (Western at Westmont) Ken Malloy Park (Harbor Lake), and a few sites in Lomita and Wilmington.

If you are a restaurant owner, you might want the "big dig" near your place of business, but I think I don't wish to invite getting "shafted" at Eastview Park, even though it is in Rancho Palos Verdes.

Of course, the main item of interest at the Palisades Residents Association is the "elephant in the living room", SRHS 15 at Angel's Gate.

Fundraiser for White Point Nature Preserve

(Click on Card to enlarge)

The post card above, tells us about a benefit for the White Point Nature Preserve.

Terri and I feel that is it a wonderful way to help support one of the last open spaces that can be enjoyed by everyone, along California's coastline.

Adventurers do not need to travel far to find natural vegetation and an open environment where people can hike, learn about the history of the area, visit a former military installation and see wildlife in the wild.

In addition to all the great things you can do while visiting the White Point Nature Preserve, you can also become a member of S.E.T., the Snail Extermination Team where,
"We're SET on killing snails" is the slogan for a new group that has just three members at this point.

Whether you spend only a few minutes at the White Point Nature Preserve or take long walks, do some bird watching and learn about the native plants along the pathways, you can have a little slice of open spaces in the middle of a growing community.

Please help support the White Point Nature Preserve and the Palos Verdes Land Conservancy.

"The Two-Story Bungalow" and Other Tales

There are any number of individuals within LAUSD that will tell you, with the demeanor of fact that the last permanent buildings constructed at San Pedro High School were built in 1970.

Unfortunately that statement is a falsehood and it continues to be shameful that these individuals do not take the time or care to find out the truth.

Within the yellow lines in the photograph below are the Industrial Arts buildings that were, in fact built at San Pedro High School and completed in 1970.

I have placed identification labels on some of the buildings so you can have a better sense of where these buildings stand on the high school's site.

If you notice, with even very little help, you will see a building outlined by red lines.
Many folks call this building, "The two-story bungalow.

I graduated from San Pedro High School in June, 1973. I worked on two different theatrical productions at the high school during the summer of 1973, and then again during the summer of 1974. "The two-story bungalow" was not built even when I worked on the production of "The Basic Training of Pavlo Hummel" during the summer of 1974.

So, if anyone states to you that the last permanent building at San Pedro High School was built in 1970, kindly inform them they are stating something that is not true, and help them out with the facts.

Now about "the two-story bungalow". It is a permanent two-story classroom building with two classrooms on the ground floor and two classrooms on the upper floor.

The classrooms on each floor are connected to its next door neighbor by a doorway between the rooms, thus allowing for shared spaces for multiple educational experiences. The classrooms in this building are some of the largest 'regular' classrooms on campus.

One would expect by the size of each classroom that these four rooms would help educate the most number of students per class, somewhere near the 40-students per classroom that many classes have, currently at the high school.

Here again, you would be quite incorrect with that expectation. These four classrooms, some of the largest on campus, are used for Special Education classes and have somewhere between 12-20 students per classroom.

Perhaps the administration at San Pedro High School should be made more aware that it is easier to instruct a greater number of students if that instruction is conducted in a larger environment than what is happening now.

The administration should move the Special Education students to smaller classrooms and allow the truly over crowded classrooms and their students and teachers, more room with these four classrooms.

Before "the two-story bungalow" was built, there were wooden-sided bungalows that were utilized by students and faculty including the "Fore-N-Aft" classroom, and the "Black and Gold" classroom. Many students fondly remember the late Lewis Curtis Sheffield and the classes he taught in one of the old bungalows.

But I digress.

I still haven't heard or read anything from Ms. Rita Davis, the leader of the high schools part of Ms. Linda del Cueto's eighth district, which covers the harbor area and up to the south-central area.

A reliable source within LAUSD suggests that Ms. Davis was just "thrown to the wolves" by someone else in LAUSD and was completely unprepared for the questions she was given by meeting attendees at the last Coastal San Pedro Neighborhood Council's Board of Governors meeting. It was quite obvious to just about everyone in the room that Ms. Davis, even having the position she claims to have, may continue to be ill informed about many of the true facts concerning San Pedro High School.

I don't know how many of you attended classes in the stage craft classroom, which was part of the Industrial Arts buildings, built in 1970.

This particular classroom was built with something that has every professional stage person laughing whenever they see it and it is one more lasting testament to how LAUSD really thinks and considers thing.

A "fly gallery is the area above a stage where set pieces, props, curtains, and other things that are large and go up and down during a production, are stored and moved.

In most theaters the "fly gallery" is twice as tall as the area between the stage floor and the top of the normal curtains.

At San Pedro High School's auditorium, it has a "fly gallery" that is about as high as twice the distance from the stage floor to the top of the main curtains.

When the stage craft classroom was planned and built at San Pedro High School, in 1970, the room has a section that had a 30 foot ceiling, which essentially was a "fly gallery" for building, painting, and decorating set pieces and walls that would be used in productions inside the auditorium.

So, the auditorium has a "fly gallery" and side doors that are about as tall as the "fly gallery".
The classroom right across the alley has a "fly gallery" that can accommodate anything that would be used in the auditorium's "fly gallery".

Unfortunately, when the designers and builders of the new Industrial Arts Buildings came to creating the doors for the stage craft classroom's "fly gallery" they only designed and allowed for eight-foot tall doorways.

So the auditorium has a "fly gallery" and doors on the side for use, the stage craft classroom has a "fly gallery" for the benefit of the auditorium, but there is no way to move the very tall set pieces from the stage craft classroom's "fly gallery" to the auditorium's "fly gallery" because one set of doors is too short.

This is the planning done by LAUSD, it appears.

Wait, wait, it gets even better.

Nowadays there really is not problem with having doors too short for the stage craft classroom, because that classroom has been divided and now houses Special Education students.

So, a classroom designed to be used for a particular purpose, in an Industrial Arts set of buildings, claimed to be the last permanent buildings built at S.P.H.S., but really aren't, houses Special Education students and the students attending stage craft classes must meet in the auditorium just like they did before the Industrial Arts Buildings were built.

What comes around must go around, at S.P.H.S. it seems.

O.K. had enough? I've got just one more, for now.

By 1971, the light board for the stage lighting at San Pedro High School's auditorium was well beyond its last legs. We who 'worked the board' did whatever we could to keep it working as best as we possibly could.

In 1971 we had an earthquake, a big one. The earthquake did some light damage to S.P.H.S., but the school that really took a pounding in the harbor area was Banning High School.

The damage caused at Banning High School was so great that the entire school had to be demolished and rebuilt.

Banning was an old school by the time the earthquake hit and its own light board was in not much better shape than the one at S.P.H.S. was.

So what did LAUSD do? Well, they provided the brand new Banning High School auditorium with a brand new light board and you can probably guess what happened to the old light board that came out of the old Banning auditorium.

Should I continue? I guess I should for those of you who deal with LAUSD on a more daily basis.

LAUSD spent thousands of dollars taking out the old light board at San Pedro High School and installed the almost equally as old light board that came out of Banning High School.

It seemed to be no matter that LAUSD could have probably gotten a better deal if they bought two new light boards instead of one, but I guess somebody needed to make a bit of extra cash, somehow.

In fact there are so many things at San Pedro High School that came from other schools or other places, the school should probably be renamed "Hand-Me-Down High".

Oh and you are really, really going to like this last bit of trivia, which happens to be all too true.

Several years ago a vote was taken by the faculty, staff, parents, and others concerned with providing the best educational possibilities for students at San Pedro High School.

The vote taken was to find out if the voters favored having a new sports complex built at San Pedro High School, or have more classroom facilities built at San Pedro High School.

The next time you visit San Pedro High School, you will see how the voting turned out.

And yes, at this point, all three gymnasiums are slated to remain on the campus even after the newest one is completed.

It's Too Big and It's Really Ugly

The design of L.A. Unified's new arts high school is convoluted and costly.

By Steve Lopez, Los Angeles Times
May 4 2008

"What is it?" Kelly Charles asked as he walked to his job as a custodian in downtown Los Angeles and gazed up at a rather odd construction project. "A roller coaster?"

As I wandered the neighborhood, other guesses were:
A ski jump.

A toboggan run.

A water slide.

What's got everyone talking is the odd-looking tower that rises 140 feet above the 101 Freeway, directly across from the Cathedral of Our Lady of the Angels. The futuristic metallic edifice, with a wraparound spiral Dr. Seuss would love, is not part of a theme park. It is the signature adornment on a new arts-oriented public high school that will cost roughly $230 million.

That's far more than the going rate for a more conventional school, but district officials argue that they already owned the site of the former L.A. Unified headquarters. Sure, but aren't these tough times for public schools? Aren't school districts facing huge cuts? Aren't many aging schools in disrepair?

You have to wonder how this will sit with parents who are being asked to contribute several hundred dollars per student to cover programs and staff members that tax dollars used to fund.

David Tokofsky, a former school board member, said he isn't opposed to a bit of a flair on an arts-oriented campus. But given all the budget problems -- not to mention the flailing administration of L.A. Supt. and Navy Adm. David L. Brewer -- the project "just looks like an absurdity," in Tokofsky's words.

Personally, I thought the big log flume was the latest improvement on the disastrous employee payroll system in L.A. Unified. Weekly pay could be sent down the chutes to teachers below, and whatever cash doesn't blow over Chinatown or fly into Cardinal Roger M. Mahony's belfry could be pocketed by teachers.

Come to think of it, stringing a tightrope from the school tower to the cathedral wouldn't be a bad idea. Priests and administrators accused of wrongdoing or coverups could creep across the treacherous divide. Those who land safely in the cathedral's reflecting pool shall be considered saved.

Tokofsky said he likes thinking of the school as the admiral's ark, since Brewer seems to be collecting two of everything as his administration takes on water.

"He's got two superintendents now," Tokofsky said, counting Brewer and the recent hire of ex-superintendent Ramon Cortines, who seems to be taking the tiller while Admiral Aloof re-reads his tattered copy of the book "Good to Great."

"And he's got two general counsels," Tokofsky went on.

We've got two school districts too, I said, if you count the mini-district Brewer spun off to L.A. Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa. And there also seem to be at least two consulting contracts for every problem.

In defense of Brewer, whose name is on a project sign that says "Your School Bond Funds at Work," Arts High was cooked up long before he arrived on the scene.

In fact, The Times reported in 2003 that an ordinary high school with a no-frills budget was being planned until philanthropist Eli Broad lobbied school officials to "redesign the Grand Avenue campus into an elaborate visual and performing arts school" with "a soaring tower." The Times went on to say that it would "cost taxpayers at least $18 million extra and delay construction by a year."

The Times reported that Broad had a behind-the-scenes role in the redesign and the selection of an Austrian architectural firm, and our crack team of reporters noted that the snazzy new high school would nicely complement the Grand Avenue revival that was one of Broad's babies.

Broad denied exerting undue influence over the use of public funds back then, saying he was only trying to help the district build a marquee campus. But the cost of the project has gone from $30 million in 2001 for the standard-issue high school to roughly $200 million more for the new-and-improved version seven years later. The tower rises from a 950-seat performing arts theater, and this part of the project alone is priced at $49 million.

I got a tour of the site Friday morning, with school district officials and architect Karolin Schmidbaur serving as my escorts. The tower calls out and engages the city, Schmidbaur said, asking students and adults to indulge their imaginations.

"It's a symbol," she said, "for dynamic thinking."

If that's the case, I suggest they use the box at the top of the tower as Brewer's new office. Maybe a bird will fly by and tell Admiral Aloof that his job is to educate 700,000 children as if each were his own. That means he's got to inspire teachers, torpedo the deadwood and smack down anyone who stands in his way.

Speaking of the tower, my escorts all seemed to think it would be a good idea for me to climb the rickety staircase to the top. It made me wonder if Mahony was in on a deal to have them push me down the chute and straight into the tomb he's reserving for me in the cathedral catacombs.

The view's not bad up there and, to be honest, the artist's renderings of the arts high school don't look bad. When the school opens in fall of 2009, whether you love or hate the look of it, you're going to talk about it, especially when night falls and it's lit like a beacon.

I don't dismiss the value of investing in a school as a work of public art -- even if it's just a bathtub short of looking like the board game Mouse Trap.

But given the district's budget problems and the extreme needs of roughly 700,000 students, most of whom are poor enough to qualify for reduced-price lunches, a pricey jewel in the glittering Grand Avenue necklace is a badly timed extravagance.

I think I came up with a solution, though, while standing 140 feet off the ground and doing some dynamic thinking of my own.

Can you hear me out there, Mr. Broad?

Reach for the checkbook, pal. At the very least, I'm asking $49 million for the roller coaster.

Or come up with $230 million and we'll call it Eli High.

steve.lopez@latimes.com
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After the victory vote by the Los Angeles City Council concerning the redevelopment of the former McCowan's Market site, Terri and I decided to visit the Cathedral of Our Lady, Queen of the Angels, in downtown L.A.

In the plaza outside the Cathedral it is impossible not to notice this giant steel structure that sits atop what looks like a windowless concrete prison.

The structure looks as if it can be a pipeline for liquids or cement but it has an end at the top and the round tubes are completely within a square steel frame, and it all raps around a center steel structure that looks too busy to be the framework of a building.

It is a monster, no doubt about it, and knowing that it is being brought to you courtesy of your tax dollars to repay bonds voters approved of to the tune of $230 Million Dollars, it is something we should all be more than angry about, I feel.

It doesn't belong in the skyline of L.A. and it certainly doesn't belong along with the views of the Cathedral so close to it.

Steve Lopez' article pretty well sums it up for most of the readers. But it doesn't go far enough, I believe, for folks like us having to deal with another potential monster in OUR community.

As LAUSD wastes so much on the Arts High School, so shall they waste too much money if they continue to go forward with South Region High School No. 15.

Odds and Ends 11

First we begin with the issue that is current at hand.

The comment period for the Notice of Preparation and Initial Study for South Region High School No 15. (SRHS 15) ends at the close of business, this coming Monday.

If you haven't already sent in a letter or your own set of comments, and you still wish to do so, here is a FAX number and an Email address that you can use prior to 5:00 P.M. on Monday May, 5, 2008:

Fax: 213-893-7412

Email: www.ceqa-comments@laschools.org Please put "South Region High School #15" on the Subject line of the Email.

If you would like to view and/or use samples of letters concerning SRHS 15, please visit:
http://www.sanpedropalisades.org./ where you will find three sample letters.

NOISE has completed and sent in its set of comments and I think LAUSD will be surprised by what has been created. The comments will become part of the Draft Environmental Impact Report for the proposed school and it will become part of that public record when the Report is published.

Please remember to attend the Palisades Residents Association's Annual meeting and election on May 13, at White Point Elementary School.

The SRHS 15 issue will be discussed as well as the Clearwater Program from the Sanitation District, and other issuses that are very important to the Association's members.

Ms. Janice Hahn, Mr. Rod Hamilton of LAUSD Facilities Division, and hopefully, Dr. Richard Vladovic, the Board of Education for the area, will attend this meeting.

There will be much more information provided to folks who are very concerned about building a new high school campus directly next to a great Outdoor Education Center and also along Alma Street. You don't need to live in the Palisades Residents Association area to attend this meeting.

A meeting date and time for the NOISE organization members will be announced at the Palisades Residents Association meeting, and on this blog.
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As I wrote in a previous post, it is now more understandable why it is taking the L.A. City Planning Department so long to publish what they feel Bob can build at Ponte Vista.

The Planning Department is still reviewing comments and responses to comments by Bisno associates, that began at the end of the comment period for the Ponte Vista Draft Environmental Impact Report. That comment period ended in January, 2007 so even I can imagine that there were many, many sets of comments written and then the Bisno organization gets to respond to those comments.

I think we can all wait.

I still have no new information to report on whether Bob's house in Beverly Park was sold during a foreclosure auction.

Perhaps someone on the Outreach Team will straighten me out on the issue, but they usually are not very open to revealing things.
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Concerning the proposed new cruise ship terminal in the Outer Harbor, I have been gathering facts and figures, illustrations and photos and I will be creating a large post on the subject, soon.

The existing pier at Kaiser Point looks to be less than 900 feet long.

There are at least 31 cruise ships/ocean liners with passenger capacities greater than 2,000 passengers that are either under construction or have been agreed on to be built in the next five years.

There will be a new R.M.S. Queen Elizabeth built that will greet 2,092 passengers, as a matter of trivia.

Right now it seems very troubling to think about what the Port of L.A. wishes to do to San Pedro, especially the areas where our tourists usually visit.
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During the Palisades Residents Association's Annual meeting, there will be a presentation concerning the Clearwater Program from the County Sanitation District.

This issue will become more important to that area if the Sanitation District decides to place the access shaft on five acres of property either at Royal Palms or White Point Nature Preserve, or even at Angel's Gate.

The issue of where all of the double-trailer dirt haulers will travel through will probably become a very big issue as time goes by.

In other posts I have opined that perhaps, the neighborhoods should all get together with the three Neighborhood Councils and demand that the access shaft be sunk on Terminal Island where there is easier access to either the Harbor Freeway or the Long Beach Freeway.
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Victory with an asterisk was revealed on Tuesday when the L.A. City Council unanimously agreed to an ordinance creating a QC1-1XL zoning for three lots on and near the corner of 20Th Street and Walker Avenue.

The group, Vista del Oro Neighbors Against Condos (VDONAC) celebrated a great victory over the issue of building condominiums on three properties owned by Mike Rosenthal.

Mr. Rosenthal apparently cried foul because he claims he was not informed of the Council taking up the motion at their Tuesday meeting.

All Mr. Rosenthal and any and all of his associates, attorney's lobbyists, family members and/or friends had to do was read this blog after 11:05 A.M. on Monday April 28, and they would have learned of the meeting.

Any and all of them could have also visited the Daily Breeze Web site on Monday afternoon to learn of the meeting.

Somebody "assisting" Mike dropped the ball, it appears. If his lawyer was my lawyer and if his lobbyist was my lobbyist, I would have been on the phone with both of them wondering why he wasn't informed by folks who should have "had his back".

Now Mike is thinking of bringing a suit against the City. Please Mike, try that.

Mr. Rosenthal also suggested that he may attempt to build apartments. Well if he wishes to waste his money rather than building a total of six beautiful houses, one per lot, then perhaps he has the bankroll to fund all the things he would have to deal with, including VDONAC.

Let's support Mike in building six great houses that will fit into the neighborhood and strongly suggest to him that it could be folly for him to pursue any other building.
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On a personal note, I wish to thank so much all the wonderful people who wished me well in my recovery from my total hip replacement surgery.

I was able to take a walk along the cliffs at the end of Warmouth road where it meets the mobile home park, only 28 days after having the pin, plate, and screws removed from a prior failed operation, and then having a new titanium hip placed on my right side.

I now have a new 'toy' to play with, until either I encase it in Lucite to make a paperweight or Terri takes it away from me and hides it.