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SEPTEMBER 2019
SECTION ONE
Editorial
Calendar
Larchmont Chronicle
‘What is your best or worst school memory?’
That’s the question inquiring photographer Talia Abrahamson asked locals along Larchmont Blvd.
By John Welborne
Killing the goose
Aesop, a former Greek slave in the late- to mid-sixth century BCE, wrote the world’s best-known collection of morality tales. Among his many fables is the tale of the Goose and the Golden Egg. “There was once a countryman who possessed the most wonderful goose you can imagine. Every day when he visited the nest, the goose had laid a beautiful, glittering, golden egg.” You know the rest. The moral is: “Greed often overreaches itself.” It seems that retail landlords on Larchmont Boulevard may be killing their own golden geese. Larchmont Boulevard was planned and zoned as neighborhood retail. It long has succeeded as neighborhood retail. However, some property owners with dollar signs in their eyes believe Larchmont should become a regional retail Mecca, a mini Rodeo Drive. How has that worked out? Not very well. With the higher rents, even some national chains are leaving (MAC Cosmetics, a subsidiary of Estée Lauder, and Goorin Brothers, are examples). And, certainly, beloved neighborhoodserving stores, often owned and operated by local residents, are having to close because of new, higher rents imposed by out-oftouch landlords. Killing their geese?
Come to the Annual Meeting and Find Out What You Can Do to Help Our Neighborhood The HPHOA, est. 1948 Annual Meeting will take place on Wednesday, October 23, 2019 at 7PM at Marlborough School in the Collins Room. The meeting will feature presentations by our Councilman, David Ryu, the LAPD, the Security Services, and updates from Association Committee chairs on important topics such as filming, concrete streets, HPOZ, security, and trees. Put the date on your calendar and plan to be there. Our community is stronger when we all participate. The Annual Meeting is also where half the Association’s Board of Directors are elected. If you are a member in good standing, you should have received a ballot and instructions for either mailing it in or bringing it to the annual meeting. The nominess are: Tim Allyn
William Newby
Martin Beck
Cami Taylor
Greg Glasser
Jon Vein
Susan Grossman
James Wolf
Mon., Sept. 2 – Labor Day Fri., Sept. 6, Sat., Sept. 7 and Sun., Sept. 8 – Larchmont Boulevard Association Sidewalk Sale. Wed., Sept. 11 – Greater Wilshire Neighborhood Council board meeting, The Ebell of Los Angeles, 743 S. Lucerne Blvd., 7 p.m., greaterwilshire.org. The GWNC and Los Angeles Sanitation & Environment Biodiversity Project will be launched before the meeting, beginning at 6:30 p.m. Sat., Sept. 14 – TarFest music and art festival at La Brea Tar Pits in Hancock Park, 5801 Wilshire Blvd., noon to 7 p.m. launchla.org/tarfest-festival/2019/. Sun., Sept. 29 – Rosh Hashanah begins. It ends the evening of Tues., Oct. 1. Thurs., Oct. 3 – Delivery of the October issue of the Larchmont Chronicle. Tues., Oct. 8 – Yom Kippur begins. It ends Wed., Oct. 9. Sun., Oct. 20 – “Larchmont’s Got Talent” auditions. 251 N. Larchmont Blvd., 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Sun., Oct. 27 – Larchmont Family Fair and “Larchmont’s Got Talent” competition on Larchmont Blvd.
Larchmont Chronicle Founded in 1963 by Jane Gilman and Dawne P. Goodwin
o o o Don’t forget: WATER YOUR PARKWAY TREES! It’s hot and they need our care to continue to do their necessary work of turning CO2 into oxygen, cleaning the air, and cooling the environment. If you’re planning to make any changes to the street-visible portion of your house, including hardscaping and windows, don’t forget that Hancock Park is an HPOZ. Be sure to check with our City Planner, Suki Gershenhorn (suki.gershenhorn@ lacity.org), before starting. The HPOZ Preservation Plan, which regulates our HPOZ, can be found at http://www.preservation. lacity.org/hpoz/la/hancock-park. There is also an online form you can fill out to help speed up the process (http://preservation. lacity.org/hpoz/initial.screening.checklist). Report graffiti sightings by calling 311 or at the City’s AntiGraffiti Request System — tinyurl.com/yyr3unhc — and by calling Hollywood Beautification, 323-463-5180. Adv.
Publisher and Editor John H. Welborne Managing Editor Suzan Filipek Associate Editor Billy Taylor Contributing Editor Jane Gilman Advertising Director Pam Rudy Advertising Sales Caroline Tracy Art Director Tom Hofer Classified and Circulation Manager Rachel Olivier Accounting Jill Miyamoto 606 N. Larchmont Blvd., #103
Los Angeles, CA 90004 323-462-2241 larchmontchronicle.com
“My best school memory is rehearsing for the talent show and having the head cheerleader come and tell us that the guy who ran the YMCA wanted us to play there for money that weekend. That was the first time I ever played for money professionally; I was 16 years old, and I’ve been a professional musician ever since.” Jeff Joseph Windsor Square
“My best school memory was when I went to Granada Hills High School. I had an educational psychologist who mentored me, which was important to me at the time. I was about 16.” Thomas Spillane, with cat Draven Larchmont Village
“My best school memory is in high school. They started developing a diversity program, so they funded me to go to San Francisco for the Young People of Color Conference. I’d never been around that many likeminded youth of color before, so it was both eye-opening and also just super fun.” Monica Soni Mid-Wilshire
“One of my best, cool memories would be in college in St. Louis and we had a snow day. There was so much snow. Teachers couldn’t get to the classes. The entire day was spent playing ping pong and indoor basketball, and we had a roller-skating rink we set up inside, because there was no faculty there. Just a complete day where the students took over the school.” Rocky Carroll Larchmont Village
2020 Census: Your voice can make the difference By Sidney Gubernick The Census, everyone’s favorite Constitutionally mandated decennial population count for the purpose of appropriating government funding and other reasons, is happening again this coming March. The U.S. Census Bureau has made some changes to the process to make it easier and more convenient. Primarily, there now will be an option to respond to the Census online Write us at letters@larchmontchronicle.com. Include your name, contact information and where you live. We reserve the right to edit for space and grammar.
or by telephone. From March 12-20, 2020, households will receive by mail an invitation to respond to the Census online. Based on the likelihood of areas responding online, some parts
of the country will receive a paper questionnaire to fill out, but the majority of the country, including Los Angeles, will be asked to respond online. The Chronicle will continue offering our readers updates on the upcoming 2020 Census.