It’s Our Birthday! The Courier Turns 54!
BEVERLY HILLS VOLUME: LV
NUMBER 30
$145 PER YEAR - $3.00 PER COPY
•
www.bhcourier.com
SINCE 1965
July 26, 2019
BHUSD Performance Audit Questions Metro Legal Spending
THIS ISSUE
Dexter and Miss B are two yorkies in need of a new forever home. 4
Crest Real Estate’s Jason Somers to face hearing over lobbying violations. 10 •Arts & Entertainment 8 •Birthdays 18 •Robbie Anderson Op-Ed 27
George Christy, Page 6 The Rewarding Evolution Of Women Is Documented With Photographs And Insights In Sloan De Forest’s Dynamic Dames: 50 Leading Ladies Who Made History.
CLASSIFIEDS • Announcements • Real Estate • Rentals • Sales • and More
22
BHUSD Sells $160 Million In Measure BH Bonds By Matt Lopez The Beverly Hills Unified School District sold its first set of Measure BH bonds last month, business management consultants Keygent Advisors reported to the Board of Education on Tuesday. The district sold $160 million in current interest bonds via competitive sale to Mesirow Financial, Inc. “Investors from around the nation were able to bid to get the best interest rate for taxpayers,” Keygent’s Chris Hiatt said. “We got strong results based on the Beverly Hills name and your strong credit
ratings.” Measure BH is a $385 million construction bond measure that was approved by voters on June 5, with the funds being directed to renovations at BHUSD campuses. As part of the bond issuance process, the district met with both Moody’s and Standard & Poor’s to get updated credit ratings for the district. Moody’s reaffirmed BHUSD’S ‘Aaa’ rating – which is the highest rating Moody’s hands out – based on, among other things, “strong capital and operational planning (see ‘MEASURE BH’ page 13)
Planning Commission Will Recommend End Of Hotel Room Limit By Victoria Talbot The Planning Commission, in a unanimous vote Thursday (4-0 with Chair Alan Block not present) decided to recommend to the City Council an ordinance to amend the Municipal Code to remove the 1,000-room limit on the number of hotel rooms that can be approved after Nov. 1, 1984. A study on the demand for hotel space was conducted during the One Beverly Hills approvals. According to Assistant Director of Community Development Ryan Gohlich, the City currently has approximately 900 hotel rooms, and he said that the One Beverly Hills study confirmed that the City has “a sub-
stantial ability to absorb hotel rooms and hotel supply.” “We get approached regularly to build hotels,” he said, though most often without results. The issue was first discussed by the City Council at its May 21 study session when the council unanimously directed staff to analyze the 1,000-room cap. The existing regulation, Ordinance No. 84-0-1037, was adopted in 1984 and established regulations for hotel development, Article 28.6 Hotel Regulations (§10-3-2860 of Chapter 3, Title 10 of the Beverly Hills Municipal Code. (see ‘PLANNING COMMISSION’ page 11)
ments to the proposed subway tunnel should be made. “Again,” reads the COC report, “the District does not have a budget for this litigation. Legal expenditures reduce bond funds available for construction.” “The COC is concerned that the District has not articulated a reasonable strategy for this litigation and that the litigation fees and costs are not monitored with the goal of assuring that the law firms are exercising sound legal and billing judgement. The COC requested redacted legal invoices and also has attempted to obtain a legal opinion addressing whether Measure E funds may be used for the litigation. The Board of Education has not facilitated this request, basing its refusal on attorneyclient privilege… The COC encourages the Board to engage in full transparency regarding the expenditure of Measure E bond funds.” The COC audit was performed by Moss Adams LLP and issued on June 6. In addition to the legal fees, the audit findings included several carryovers from the previous year, including expenditure and payment procedures; salaries of District employees for the bond program; compliance with state laws, District policies and other regulations; design and construction cost budget management and bidding and procurement procedures. (see ‘COC’ page 13)
A N I G H T F O R HOUNDS — The Sony Pictures’ premiere of Quentin Tarantino’s Once Upon a Time... in Hollywood will be remembered by autograph hounds with Brad Pitt, Leonardo DiCaprio, Margot Robbie, and Quentin Tarantino signing autographs for hundreds of fans on Sunset Boulevard in front of the TCL Chinese Theatre. Stewart Cook
BOLD SUMMER — Beverly Hills’ summer BOLD 2019 kicks off officially next Thursday, August 1 from 5-9 p.m. on Rodeo Drive. KTLA’s Sam Rubin and Jessica Holmes will serve as co-hosts. The event will begin with a sculpture unveiling by Mr. Brainwash, in front of Louis Vuitton. Music will be played by Miss DJ Bliss, along with a live performance from Spanish rock and opera singer Christina Ramos. Additionally, there will be food trucks, a champagne garden, a fireworks show and much more at the event, which will encompass the 200, 300 and 400 blocks of Rodeo Drive.
By Victoria Talbot The Citizens Oversight Committee (COC), established to conduct oversight on Measure E Bond expenditures and to review audit reports, found that the District has been fuzzy about expenditures for their legal battles with the Metropolitan Transit Authority. “We identified Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) and Federal Transit Administration (FTA) legal fees charged to the bond program where it is unclear whether the scope of work performed was allowable per ballot language,” reads the Annual Report of the Citizens Oversight Committee Measure E Bond Building Fund Year Ended June 30, 2018. Board members include Richard Baron – Chair, Lee Egerman, Arthel McDaniel III, Jason Rund, Richard Schreiber, Yoav Tamir, Ben Tiernan, Mary Wells and former Beverly Hills Mayor Les Bronte. The COC reported that “Measure E funds have been paid to fund the cost of litigation opposing the proposed MTA authority subway tunnel underneath Beverly Hills High School. The total amount spent from the inception of the bond measure relating to MTA litigation $15,707,000, representing 8.56% of the total expenditures of $183,549,000.” The district was unsuccessful upon appeal, and, as a result, the district filed a new Federal law suit in January 2018, asserting that adjust-
For more photos, see George Christy’s column on page 6.