Larchmont Chronicle
VOL. 58, NO. 10 • DELIVERED TO 76,439 READERS IN HANCOCK PARK • WINDSOR SQUARE • FREMONT PLACE • MIRACLE MILE • PARK LA BREA • LARCHMONT •
IN THIS ISSUE HALLOWEEN & HARVEST
GHOSTS and goblins leave Rimpau. 9
HOLIDAY MASKS at Farmers Market. 26
VILLAGE MUSICIAN remembered. 28
Bridge Housing to open; nod to Hattie McDaniel
Ten contested local seats on ballots this month
By Suzan Filipek Two local bridge housing facilities are opening, and a third project that is in the planning stage will pay homage to a former West Adams resident and the first African American to win an Oscar. #SheDoes Haven opened Sept. 24 in 10th District City Councilman Herb Wesson’s parking lot at 1819 S. Western Ave. It is named after a 2018 See Bridge housing, p 30
Incumbent City Councilmember David Ryu is working to keep his seat in District Four in the face of a challenge from newcomer Nithya Raman. Council District Four includes most of Larchmont, Hancock Park and surrounding Larchmont Chronicle readership areas. See the map of local political districts on pages 16-17.
n Challenges faced
Neighbors ask ‘party house’ to be shut down
Neighbors are requesting that activities at an alleged party house at 310 N. Lucerne Blvd. be reined in and laws be enforced. “A slew of activities at the location materially disrupts the quality of life of the majority of citizens in the area,” Philip Farha, Land Use Committee Chairman of the Greater Wilshire Neighborhood Council (GWNC), wrote See Neighbors, p 30
‘Hawk’ to spread wings
n Fewer crashes reported LACMA in the news. 2-10 For Information on Advertising Rates, Please Call Pam Rudy 323-462-2241, x 11 Mailing permit:
OCTOBER 2020
By Suzan Filipek Since the installation of the first HAWK crosswalk light on Sixth Street, between Fairfax and Curson avenues, the city has installed two more. Short for “High-Intensity Activated Crosswalk,” the pilot program has been credited with reducing accidents. “We do not have crash data available yet for Sixth Street since the HAWK beacon was installed, but I can say that our office has noticed a notable safety improvement and See HAWK, p 4
Dining Guide
Restaurant and entertainment news will be featured in our Fall Dining Guide in the November issue. Larchmont Chronicle advertising deadline is Mon., Oct. 12. For more information contact Pam Rudy, 323-462-2241, ext. 11.
n 12 state propositions, 1 county measure
SPOOKY TREATS AND SOCIAL DISTANCING. Wilshire Park Association Treasurer Roberta O’Donnell, dressed as “Mrs. See,” with her son and “candy butcher” Jeremy Shaw, are at right. John and Eileen Milos are at left. Photo by David Donley
Haunted holidays came early for Wilshire Park neighbors n Scavenger hunt and front-yard picnic also held By Suzan Filipek Halloween came early this year to Wilshire Park. In lieu of its annual Halloween Haunt, the neighborhood kicked off the season with an “in-your-own-front-yard” picnic and a scavenger hunt. And residents opened a ghoulish storefront, d’See’s, as in “deceased,” said Wilshire Park Association (WPA) board member Lorna Hennington. WPA Treasurer Roberta O’Donnell researched the history of Mrs. See and her chocolate empire (the first shop was at 135 N. Western) to mimic the store’s iconic black-andwhite decor.
As for her outfit, “I just threw together the classic Mary See high-collar shirt and shawl with a plain black skirt. The wig was from Amazon.” Onlookers could peer behind the glass display case — O’Donnell found it dumpsterdiving — to see an assortment of ghoulish delights including bugs and frogs made of Styrofoam and brown caulk. See’s chocolates While the haunted candy shop has closed, the Association has launched a fundraising drive selling See’s boxes of assorted chocolates, nuts and chews and other favorites. See Wilshire Park, p 6
Vote
on or before Tues., Nov. 3 See pages 16-17
Other local candidates in highly contested elections on the Nov. 3 ballot are Holly Mitchell, who is running against Herb Wesson to represent the Second District on the County Board of Supervisors, and Mark Ridley-Thomas, who is competing with Grace Yoo to represent Council District 10. Our editorial board talked with all six of those candidates in Zoom meetings last month. Those three races are nonpartisan. You can read our article on each of those candidates on pages 14 and 15, 18 and 19 and 20 and 21. This year, our four incumbent members of the U.S. House of Representatives, Adam Schiff (D), Ted Lieu (D), Jimmy Gomez (D) and Karen Bass (D), face challengers Eric See Election, p 13
New book tells history of Hancock Park n Larchmont Chronicle founding editor is author By Billy Taylor Founding editor and copublisher of the Larchmont Chronicle Jane Gilman has published a book that lifts the lid on the history of Hancock Park, an area that she describes in the book as “rich in history, classic architecture, and remarkable individuals who have called it home.” Publishing the Chronicle from 1963 to 2015, Gilman had a front-row seat to the comings and goings of the historic neighborhood. She puts
that knowledge to good use in “Inside Hancock Park,” a biography of the neighborhood and of its founder, G. (George) Allan Hancock. “I wanted people who live here to know who G. Allan Hancock was because I think that many people take the name Hancock for granted, and they don’t realize that there is this incredible man who developed this neighborhood, among the many other things that he did,” said GilSee Gilman, p 3
AUTHOR Jane Gilman.
Photo by Billy Taylor
www.larchmontchronicle.com ~ Entire Issue Online!
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Larchmont Chronicle
OCTOBER 2020
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Editorial
Calendar
By John Welborne
Re-Elect Councilman Ryu Experience matters
The Larchmont Chronicle recommended the re-election of David Ryu in the March primary. We do so again in the November 3 runoff election — where voting actually commences this month. Ryu grew up in Los Angeles and has a record of years of productive employment since college — more than 15 years in government and the private sector, all prior to his election as our Councilmember in 2015. That record is a significant contrast to his opponent, Nithya Raman, who moved to Los Angeles in 2014. In the 2000s, she obtained degrees from two great universities in Cambridge, Mass. (Harvard and MIT). Raman spent most of her time between and after those schools in India, where she was associated with a research center at the Institute for Financial Management and Research in Chennai, where she prominently initiated and directed a program (Transparent Chennai) focused on urban action research beginning in 2009. After moving to Los Angeles in 2014, Raman worked parttime in 2014 and 2015 as an administrative trainee in the City of Los Angeles Chief Administrative Office where she did research for a well-regarded report, and she worked, for about one year, as executive director of Time’s Up Entertainment from July
Join Us at the Annual Meeting The HPHOA, est. 1948 Annual Meeting will be held virtually, via Zoom, at 7:00 PM on Wednesday, October 14th. To join the meeting, go to: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/85863823319 or iPhone one-tap: US: +16699006833,,85863823319# or +13462487799,,85863823319#. This is your chance to hear from the Council Office, LAPD and the Association, as well as an opportunity for you to ask questions and volunteer to serve on a committee. Don’t forget, if you’re a member in good standing when you get your ballot, please fill it out and send it in. To find out more information, including the candidates for Board of Directors, take a few minutes and visit the website. Thanks to the hard work of the Tree Committee, board member Bill Newby, and Councilman David Ryu’s Office, the Highland median has been mowed and cleaned! Drive by and take a look and thanks to everyone who’s helped prod the City to get this done. HPHOA block captains met with the HPHOA board in September to go over security, parkway trees, the HPOZ, filming and transportation. Thanks to all of the block captains and board members who Zoomed in to ask questions and make sure we keep our neighbors informed and safe. The block captains are the key to keeping our neighborhood safe and beautiful and we thank them for volunteering. Don’t forget to fill out the Census at https://2020census. gov/en.html and make sure you’re registered to vote by going to website https://www.sos.ca.gov/elections/ registration-status. o o o If you’re planning to make any changes to the streetvisible portion of your house, including hardscaping and windows, check with our HPOZ Planner Suki Gershenhorn (suki.gershenhorn@lacity.org) before starting. The HPOZ Preservation Plan, which regulates our HPOZ, can be found at preservation.lacity.org/hpoz/la/hancock-park. There is also an online form you can fill out to help speed up the process — the Initial Screening Checklist (preservation.lacity.org/hpoz/initial.screening.checklist). Report graffiti sightings by calling 311 or at the City’s Anti-Graffiti Request System: laocb.org/programs/graffitiabatement and by calling Hollywood Beautification, 323463-5180. And don’t forget to respond to the census, if you haven’t already. Go to https://2020census.gov/?UTM_ campaign=c20m&utm_medium=partner&utm_ source=nextdoor&utm_state=ca Adv.
Sat., Oct. 10 and Sun., Oct. 11 – The Original Farmers Market Fall Festival at 3rd and Fairfax. farmersmarketla.com. Mon., Oct. 12 – Federal/ City holiday. Wed., Oct. 14 – Greater Wilshire Neighborhood Council board meeting via Zoom, 7 to 9 p.m. greaterwilshire.org. Wed., Oct. 14 – Hancock Park Homeowners Association annual meeting, via Zoom at 7 p.m. Thurs., Oct. 29 – Delivery of the November issue of the Larchmont Chronicle. Sat., Oct. 31 – Socially distanced Halloween.
That’s the question inquiring photographer Talia Abrahamson asked locals along Larchmont Blvd.
2018 to August 2019. She then announced that she was running for a seat on the Los Angeles City Council. What we residents of the Fourth Council District need is not a well-meaning, ambitious person looking for a four-year Council job. We need an experienced person — one who already has done an exceptionally good job as our Councilmember since 2015. That person is Councilmember David Ryu. We continue to urge our readers to vote to re-elect him as our representative. While Ryu and his opponent may agree, possibly 100 percent, on what are the issues of the day (homelessness, affordable housing, crime, etc.), Ryu already has made progress in addressing these issues and is far more likely to make continued progress. Ryu is aware of, and concerned about, national and global issues, but his primary goal is to serve us in this District. On or before November 3, please vote for David Ryu.
Letters to the Editor ‘Missing Middle Housing’
Abundant Housing’s up-zoning proposals (through a Facebook group they created) will not racially integrate the greater Beverly-Fairfax and Miracle Mile neighborhoods. This is because any housing that results from their up-zoning proposals will be expensive. It will reinforce existing demographic trends. This was one of the main points of my Aug. 27 CityWatchLA.com column cited in
Larchmont Chronicle Founded in 1963 by Jane Gilman and Dawne P. Goodwin .
.
Publisher and Editor John H. Welborne Managing Editor Suzan Filipek Associate Editor Billy Taylor Contributing Editor Jane Gilman Staff Writers Talia Abrahamson Helene Seifer 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
‘What are your Halloween plans?’
the “On Preservation” article on “Missing Middle Housing” in the Sept. 2020 Larchmont Chronicle. If Abundant Housing really wanted to make a difference, they would call for a major increase in the minimum wage and restoring HUD public housing programs, all drastically slashed over the past half century. Dick Platkin Beverly Grove
“If nothing’s going to happen, then I’m going to be bummed out, but if we’re passing out candy, that would be sick.” Desmond Geisler-Amhowitz “We’re not celebrating Halloween this year, and we’re really sad about it.” John-Liam Stapleton “I never go trick-or-treating, but I enjoy getting in my car and watching people trick-or-treat, and that’s always our plan, so we can’t even do that. It’s kind of sad, but it’s for a bigger purpose that we’re not doing it.” Beba Rodriguez “We’re not celebrating it because of the coronavirus, as you all know. We’re saving lives.” Marley Geisler-Amhowitz Larchmont Village
“If we do have Halloween, I think I’m probably just going to stay home and watch a scary movie and eat candy and popcorn.” Alexandria ‘Thank You’ Wyatt Malkin Last fall Alexandria House “Halloween is a horrible idea received a very generous donation from The Shekels Founda- for what’s going on in the tion, a first for us. This week we world right now. I understand participated in a call where we how much the children love it were introduced to our donors. and how much my neighborWe talked about the work that’s hood loves celebrating it. As been done at Alexandria House sad as it is for the kids, I just and the commitment and sup- think it’s another day, event, port we receive from our com- activity that has to fall by the munity. When asked how they wayside this year.” Max Malkin had heard about us, the donors Windsor Square told us they had read about us (in a report about the fire we had in March) in the Larchmont Chronicle. They, too, live in the neighborhood! Thank you for ALL you do for our shared community and for supporting our work. You help make a difference in the lives of the families we serve and many of our neighbors! Michele Richards “We heard it was not wise Alexandria House to trick-or-treat, so we’re going to try to eliminate that. Write us at letters@larch- They’re going to probably montchronicle.com. Include have some candies at home.” Kevin Uzun, center, your name, contact informaJason and Rachel Uzun tion and where you live. We Windsor Village reserve the right to edit for (Please turn to page 6) space and grammar.
Larchmont Chronicle
OCTOBER 2020
Gilman
(Continued from page 1) man last month as we met to discuss her recent book. Gilman spent nearly three years researching G. Allan Hancock, who developed the then-suburb in 1919 into the desirable neighborhood of 1200 homes that it is today. He was a man of many talents that included scientist, musician, oilman, engineer, aviator and philanthropist, Gilman learned. When asked what she most enjoyed learning, Gilman notes how Hancock’s personal history was so colorful because his family was so poor: “They were barely getting by from income on the farm,” she explains. That is, at least until the family struck oil. After the Hancock family’s fortune changed, Gilman said that G. Allan used his money wisely while supporting philanthropic causes. In addition to operating the Rancho La
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VILLAINS, HEROES.
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COUNCIL REPORT 4 AROUND THE TOWN 8 ON PRESERVATION 12 POLICE BEAT 12 SCHOOL NEWS 24
SECTION TWO VIEW:
Real Estate Museums Home & Garden
AHMANSON is down. 10 REAL ESTATE SALES 6 DINING & ENTERTAINMENT On the Menu 12 Theater Review 14 HOME GROUND 15 MUSEUMS 17 BEEZWAX 19 PROFESSOR 19 CLASSIFIED ADS 19
posed freeway set Brea Oil Co., he to divide the neighfounded the Califorborhood. Not to nia Bank, co-foundmention all of the ed the Automobile area’s “interesting Club of Southern characters” like the California, and was Native American one of the orgawho would direct nizers of the Los traffic on Wilshire Angeles Symphony Boulevard, the Orchestra. In 1923, story of Nat King Hancock donatCole coming into ed 23 acres to Los Angeles County, GILMAN’S new book the neighborhood, and when musiwhich is now the location for LACMA and the La cian Norwood Young placed 19 life-size (and anatomically Brea Tar Pits Museum. “The more I read about Han- correct) statues on his front cock, the more impressed I lawn on Muirfield Road. “All of these stories brought was with his versatility and his ingenuity. He wanted to do it back really great memories because I so enjoyed working all,” says Gilman. The history of Hancock Park on them at the Larchmont doesn’t end with G. Allan. In Chronicle. There is so much fact, Gilman says she enjoyed history in this neighborhood, researching and writing about and I got to meet so many all of the challenges that great people,” concludes Gil“kept getting thrown at Han- man. “Inside Hancock Park” is cock Park residents” over the years — including issues like available now on Amazon and palm tree removals and a pro- at Chevalier’s Books.
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Fresh flowers will be offered October 24, to benefit hospital By John Welborne Fall is here! Halloween is just around the corner. Watch out for ghosts and goblins in Hancock Park and Windsor Square! But look for fresh flowers too! Children’s Chain — a local charity that has supported Children’s Hospital Los Angeles (CHLA) for 62 years — has recruited FlowerTruckLA to come to Windsor Square on a Saturday morning so local residents may treat themselves (no tricks required, except paying!) to fresh-cut flowers direct from the flower growers. Windsor Square volunteer organizers Flo Fowkes and Georgia Howe hope lots of neighbors will support CHLA by joining in the flower-purchasing fun. The date is Sat., Oct. 24, and the flowers will only be available from 9 to 11 a.m. The flower sale will take place on Plymouth Boulevard,
SATURDAY MORNING flower vendor’s sales will benefit Children’s Hospital Los Angeles.
just a few houses south of Third Street on the west side of Plymouth. Look for the big truck parked at the curb with a colorful sign, “FlowerTruckLA — Children’s Hospital Los Angeles.” Volunteer Jill Fowkes Roscoe notes that, “Only cash and VENMO are accepted. Unfortunately, personal checks and (Please turn to page 4)
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During pandemic, support for small business is needed Los Angeles is fueled by its small businesses and entrepreneurs — and nowhere is that more clear than on Larchmont Boulevard. From restaurants to artisans to the farmers’ market, the local businesses of Larchmont aren’t just the backbone of this community, they provide the flavor and character that make it feel like home. But when a pandemic hits, small businesses face unprecedented challenges. Physical distancing requirements and dining room closures, critical for public health, can pose insurmountable challenges for even the most beloved local business. Programs to help That’s why, when COVID-19 shut down economic activity across the world, we quickly mobilized to save our small businesses. Restaurants opened for take-out,
Council Report by
David E. Ryu
and Los Angeles launched its “LA Al Fresco” program for quick and easy permitting of outdoor dining — a program which I’m working to expand and make more permanent. We created grant and loan programs, including a special Council District Four program, with no-fee and zerointerest loans for individuals and small businesses from Jewish Free Loan Association. I successfully pushed to have small citations against businesses waived — so no small business owner had to suffer penalties and fines simply for trying to stay open.
As we adjust to the new normal of COVID-19, we must continue to find ways for our local small businesses to operate. But even the most well-designed rules can be confusing — especially as they change across the county, state and nation. In September, I partnered with Bet Tzedek to launch a series of small business webinars on how to operate during COVID-19. These webinars brought legal experts and small businesses together for pro bono advice on how to operate safely and successfully during COVID-19. This resource has been crucial to small businesses navigating our new normal, and if you need any guidance, don’t hesitate to reach out to my office or Bet Tzedek for more information. Larchmont Farmers’ Market During this pandemic, I have also been working closely with the Larchmont Farmers’ Market
to ensure their continued success. We worked with the county on safe operation standards, and we worked to make sure that outdoor farmer’s markets — which can be safer than an enclosed store — were included as an essential business. We also got loud and we got creative — promoting local small businesses in newsletters and online, and finding ways to keep business going even without foot traffic — including turning to local restaurants to make the meals for a firefighter meal program. The real secret But the real secret to keeping our businesses afloat throughout this pandemic is you. When I travel the Boulevard and see physicallydistanced lines outside our beloved shops and people grabbing take-out from a local restaurant, I’m reminded of the love we all share for our
Larchmont businesses. This community is committed to its small businesses, and that is the real secret ingredient to Larchmont’s success. So order take-out tonight — and buy your produce this weekend at the farmer’s market. We are all facing challenges throughout this pandemic — but if we stick together as a community and support the businesses and workers that define Larchmont Boulevard — we will make it through.
LIGHTS FLASH at three-light HAWK signal on Sixth Street.
HAWK
(Continued from page 1) no major accidents there since the light was installed,” said Mark Pampanin, director of communications for Councilman David Ryu. The additional HAWKs installed since the Los Angeles pilot program kicked off in Sept. 2019 are at Pico Blvd. and Masselin Ave. and at Vanowen St. and Sunnyslope Ave. The city Dept. of Transportation expects to install between 11 to 13 additional HAWK crosswalks in 2021. HAWK utilizes a flashing three-light yellow-and-red signal activated when a pedestrian pushes a button to cross. Vehicles are required to come to a complete stop before giving pedestrians a countdown timer. The beacon system is useful for streets with higher speeds and longer distances. The Federal Highway Administration reports that the system can reduce pedestrian crashes by 69 percent and total crashes by 29 percent. The busy Sixth St. crossing, connecting Park La Brea to Hancock Park and its museums, had a high number of reported accidents prior to the pilot program.
LOOK GREAT AT ANY AGE ! ______________________________________________
321 N. Larchmont Blvd. Suite 906 Call: 323.464.8046 www.rebeccafitzgeraldmd.com
Flower sale
(Continued from page 3) credit cards will not be accepted.” She added that, “Masks will be required for all shoppers and social distancing will be observed.” Fellow committee member and Hancock Park resident Carlotta Keely concluded: “Decorate your home with colorful cheer and fragrance too! Always know that CHLA’s volunteers are there through thick, thin and Covid! Happy Fall and Happy Halloween!”
Larchmont Chronicle
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oliday stresses with… SPA, spin, DMH , mani ped OCTOBER 2020
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WANTS YOU!
SCAVENGER HUNT first place winner, Blue Kurosaki.
Photo by Felice Pappas
Wilshire Park
TO VISIT LARCHMONT & SUPPORT OUR “MOM & POP” BUSINESSES Sponsored by The Larchmont Boulevard Association
(Continued from page 1)
©LC1020
“See’s Candies has several fundraising programs,” including “the one we chose called Yumraising,” said O’Donnell. “The advantages are several: no door-to-door required, no face-to-face contact in these dangerous times, no frontyard stands, and See’s deals
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with the shipping and order fulfillment.” It wasn’t clear if the d’See’s shop will open again for the haunted holidays. But boxes of See’s chocolates can be purchased on the Association website, wilshirepark.org. Sept. 6 events The picnic, scavenger hunt and haunted storefront took place on Sept. 6, one of the hottest days on record for Los
Inquiring Photographer (Continued from page 2)
Angeles. “But the neighbors soldiered on and socially distanced,” Hennington told us. LAPD Senior Lead Officer Harry Cho, of Olympic Division, handed out colorful masks, and the scavenger hunt was a great success, she added. “Many kids participated [in the scavenger hunt] with the aid of their parents, who drove some of them around the neighborhood.” Parents hid treasures, and the kids were given a list in advance to help them locate their finds. The winners — Blue Kurosaki won first place, and John Bruns and Ward McLean tied for second — received gift (Please turn to page 9)
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SENIOR LEAD OFFICER Harry Cho with Vinny D’Annunzio, left, and Azalita Bruns, right.
Photos by Lorna Hennington
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Getty House celebrates 19th amendment; police officers honored Women’s Equality Day was given its due this year by the Getty House Foundation. The 100-year anniversary of the 19th Amendment was celebrated at a virtual event, hosted by Mayor Eric Garcetti and First Lady Amy Elaine Wakeland. The afternoon featured a panel
discussion with actress Mindy Kaling; former advisor to President Barack Obama, Valerie Jarrett; founder and president of She the People, Aimee Allison; and Maria Teresa Kumar, founding president of Voto Latino and an Emmy-nominated MSNBC contributor.
“We have to ask generation Z, ‘What makes you hopeful?’” said actress Kaling. “Voice equals vote,” replied Aimee Allison. “We are not asking permission anymore,” added Maria Teresa Kumar. Among those joining by remote were students at Los An-
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California law provides each of us with the ability to make sure our health care wishes are known and complied with in the event we are unable to make these decisions ourselves. In an Advance Health Care Directive, you designate an individual whom you direct to carry out your wishes regarding choice of hospital, your doctor, support staff, treatment, and end-of-life issues if you become unable to speak for yourself. Healthcare providers must follow your Agent’s instructions. The significance of having an AHCD cannot be overstated. Privacy laws and liability issues have made it increasingly difficult for doctors and hospitals to discuss medical matters with family members – even a spouse or parent! Consequently, without an AHCD, it may be the courts or hospital administrators determining your care. In response to the growing importance of every adult having an Advance Health Care Directive (AHCD), the California Secretary of State has established a state-wide AHCD Registry. Should you become injured, ill, or otherwise unable to speak for yourself, your healthcare provider or Agent may request information from the state-wide registry regarding your healthcare.
Around the Town with
Patty Hill geles Community College and members of The Ebell of Los Angeles. • • • Amazing how the history of the Los Angeles Police Reserve Foundation and the City of Los Angeles intersect — ever since the 1941 attack of Pearl Harbor. Young men enlisted in the Army, leaving volunteers to train as policemen. Thus began a venerable organization whose members continually hone their skills, lead community projects and give members of the LAPD rank-and-file a much-needed break. The annual gala “Twice a Citizen,” where funds are raised and officers are honored, was moved to Zoom last month, with President Karla Ahmanson at the helm. She was joined by LAPD Chief Michael Moore, “Bosch” actress Amy Aquino and radio host Tim Conway, Jr. (Yes, Tim Conway’s son who possesses his father’s unmistakable voice.) It was quite the event where celebrities, VIPs, LAPD Command Staff and police officer supporters saluted the dedicated individuals who donate their time and commitment to building bridges throughout Los Angeles. • • • (Please turn to page 9)
MAYOR Eric Garcetti and First Lady Amy Wakeland celebrate 100 years of the 19th Amendment.
ACTRESS Mindy Kaling joins the mayor and First Lady for the panel discussion.
LOS ANGELES POLICE Reserve Foundation President Karla Ahmanson congratulates honorees.
LOS ANGELES COUNTY District Attorney Jackie Lacey applauds Los Angeles Police Reserve Foundation.
FRESH CUT FLOWERS from FlowerTruckLA ON SALE TO BENEFIT CHILDREN’S HOSPITAL LOS ANGELES Plymouth Blvd. between 3rd St. & 4th St.
Saturday, Oct. 24
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Only Cash and VENMO accepted
Larchmont Chronicle
OCTOBER 2020
SECTION ONE
9
Rimpau resident moves his haunted, horror treasures for public exhibit
By Rachel Olivier Halloween has been (mostly) cancelled, and many theaters have gone dark for the most part, but Rich Correll’s “Icons of Darkness,” at The Montalbán Theatre, 1615 Vine St., should provide plenty of entertainment for lovers of both Hollywood film history and Halloween through the end of the year. “Icons of Darkness” is an interactive display that represents about 60 percent of a collection of horror, science fiction and fantasy masks, costumes, models and other memorabilia that Correll, Hancock Park, has been collecting for more than 60 years. Correll is an actor, director, writer and producer. He worked on “Happy Days” and “Hannah Montana,” as well as other TV comedies. He also has been a fan of Hollywood horror movies (think “Dracula” and “Frankenstein”) ever since he was a kid. A native-born Angeleno, son of Charles Correll (who created and voiced the role of Andy Brown on the radio program “Amos ‘n’ Andy”), Rich Correll was working on the set of “Leave it to Beaver” as recurring character Richard Rickover. As Correll tells it, one day, he asked the makeup person to take him to the
WITH FRIENDS. Rich Correll with Batman and Robin.
makeup lab. Correll says he wanted to see where the magic of putting together the horror masks happened. Shocked at what was being thrown out, he asked if he could reclaim what he had found in the trash. It was a half-mask of Mr. Hyde from “Abbot and Costello Meet Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde”
Around the Town (Continued from page 8)
The Advancement Project California is a multi-generational, multi-racial justice organization with expertise in research, advocacy and policy. This year they presented their Champions for Equity Award to Congressmember Karen Bass. Their Transformative
(1953). It was his first mask, but it wouldn’t be his last, in what has been called the largest private collection of film props, artifacts and memorabilia in the world. Halloween home Over the years, Correll’s collection has grown, and when he moved to Rimpau Boulevard in 1993, he saw his thennew home as the perfect place to stage a Halloween attraction for the neighborhood, using pieces from both his film memorabilia and his Halloween collection. For years, every Halloween, approximately 8,000 visitors came by to see skeletons, ghosts, monsters and villains as they walked through the grounds or looked through the windows. Then the pandemic happened. Icons of Darkness Correll, working with his
Partner Award was bestowed upon Dr. Barbara Ferrer, director of the Los Angeles County Dept. of Public Health. Supporters with contacts in our area include Molly Munger and Stephen English, Janet and Tom Unterman and Mary and Kevin O’Connell. Despite the odds, we do the best that we can, we have to… And that’s the chat!
partner David Fachman and The Montalbán’s board chair, Gilbert Smith, decided to take advantage of the theater’s closure to set up the interactive display. About 500 seats were removed from the theater and new flooring was laid to make room for the display, as well as
to make sure that there was enough room for the displays and that public health guidelines are met for keeping a sixfoot distance between visitors. Doors to “Icons of Darkness” open at noon five days a week, and the exhibit is suitable for guests ages eight years old and (Please turn to page 10)
Wilshire Park
certificates for lots of ice cream from a shop on Larchmont. In the midst of the global coronavirus pandemic, neighborhood associations are doing all they can to continue on their missions and to keep their neighbors connected, said Hennington. The WPA, through its web-
site and email newsletters, is checking in to make sure residents have what they need, especially the elderly neighbors. And they are continuing on with community activities and fundraising. The WPA’s annual Halloween Haunt, which would have been celebrating its 11th year in 2020, is expected to return in 2021. For more information visit wilshirepark.org.
WILSHIRE PARK’S annual festivities have been altered but are no less haunting and fun.
MOM Tomoko Tagawa Wagle, center, with Kimie Rabia Wagle, left, and Nadeem Kazuhiro Wagle, right, in a front-yard picnic on a recent Sunday.
(Continued from page 6)
Celebrating 35 Years Serving the Greater Los Angeles Community
35 27ththth 27 KATHY WHOOLEY PT, OCS, CSCS, CPI OWNER OF
LARCHMONT PHYSICAL THERAPY
Dr. Julie Kelman, DPT Doctor of Physical Therapy Orthopedic Clinical Specialist (OCS) Senior Physical Therapist Specializes in: Neck & shoulder pathology, SI joint dysfunction
Dr. Yi Sheng, DPT Doctor of Physical Therapy Specializes in: Running Mechanics, Movement Analysis, Manual Therapy and Musculoskeletal Injuries
COME VISIT US AT LARCHMONT PHYSICAL THERAPY
At Larchmont Physical Therapy, we are passionate about providing excellent patient care. As a privately-owned business with great integrity, we are able to attend to our patients’ physical and emotional states of being. We create an individualized plan of care for each patient that promotes optimal results. Our team’s passion, background and expertise has been carefully selected so that we may better assist you with your own rehabilitation needs.
Dr. Jason Gordon, DPT Doctor of Physical Therapy Specializes in: Sports rehabilitation, Functional training and manual therapy.
Dr. Sylvia Chac Liang, DPT Doctor of Physical Therapy Specializes in: Knee and back pathology, Pediatric physical therapy
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LPT remains open to serve the community following CDC guidelines to keep our staff and patients safe!
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OCTOBER 2020
SECTION ONE
DIRECTOR’S HOME on Rimpau Boulevard decorated for Halloween in 2017.
Rimpau
(Continued from page 9) up. Face coverings must be worn. Timed tickets begin at $20 each. Visit dice.fm/bundle/ icons-of-darkness to purchase tickets. Future for the collection Correll no longer digs through trash bins on the
back lot as he did in his youth to find new pieces to add to his collection. These days, he obtains most of them through auction. He also advises other collectors, giving them estimations on pieces they are bidding on. His collection, insured at $13.5 million, but which he estimates is worth about $17 million, now spends
most of the year in a storage facility in Columbus, Ohio. And each time the masks, set pieces, and other items are moved across country, there is the possibility of them getting damaged. Recently, Correll and Fachman have begun working on using space at the Chinese Theatre to set up the collection
Larchmont Chronicle
CORRELL CONSULTS with models of dinosaur heads from his exhibit. All photos from the personal collection of Rich Correll
permanently. Correll sees it as becoming a sort of Hollywood hall of fame for makeup artists and special effects models — a place for fans of horror, science fiction and fantasy films to “be kids again,” he said. In the meantime, fans can get a taste of the complete collection at “Icons of Darkness” through the end of the year. Visit themontalban.com/ icons-of-darkness.
LIFE-SIZED Bela Lugosi from “Dracula” (1931).
ORC MASK and costume from “Fellowship of the Ring” (2001).
PETER WELLER’S original costume from “RoboCop” (1987).
skin
deep by Dr. Rebecca Fitzgerald Maybe it’s the back to school memories from childhood but fall has always felt like a fresh start to me. With renewal and rejuvenation in mind we conceptualized Summer Skin Rehab. Choose from a range of three lasers starting with most gentle with no downtime to more effective with moderate downtime. If you’re looking to prevent and address early signs of aging and you’d like to score better skin texture and elasticity, Clear + Brilliant will do just that and bring back your glow. The gentle laser uses fractional technology which erases recovery time. We’re offering a series of three Clear + Brilliant treatments for $1,200, a savings of $150. Fraxel Dual laser treatments improve everything from age and sun spots, lines and wrinkles, even acne scars and precancerous lesions. Dual indicates two wavelengths to address all of the above, and to work in tandem to trigger new cell production and force damaged cells to turn over. You can expect a couple days of redness and swelling if we’re addressing texture, lines and scarring; a few more if we’re zeroing in on pigment. Choose one Fraxel Dual treatment of the face, neck, and chest for $1,750, and receive a savings of $650. Patients are crediting Halo with helping them achieve the best skin they’ve experienced in years. Halo is the very first hybrid fractional laser to marry ablative and non-ablative wavelengths which means it’s highly efficacious and we can customize the treatment to your complexion. After 5-7 days recovery time, you’ll face the dramatic sloughing of brown spots and sun damage to reveal positively glowing and plumped skin; then reduced crow’s feet, fine lines around your mouth and other creases; and in time, tighter, firmer, more youthful skin. Select one Halo Laser face and neck session at $2,000, a savings of $500. Contact our office to choose your Summer Skin Rehab package and receive 20% off skincare to maintain your exquisite results. Dr. Rebecca Fitzgerald is a Board Certified Dermatologist located in Larchmont Village with a special focus on anti-aging technology. She is a member of the Botox Cosmetic National Education Faculty and is an international Training Physician for Dermik, the makers of the injectable Sculptra. She is also among a select group of physicians chosen to teach proper injection techniques for Radiesse, the volumizing filler, around the world. Dr. Fitzgerald is an assistant clinical professor at UCLA. Visit online at www.RebeccaFitzgeraldMD. com or call (323) 464-8046 to schedule an appointment. Adv.
Larchmont Chronicle
OCTOBER 2020
SECTION ONE
VOTE FOR DAVID RYU DAVID RYU LEADS
“Bad apples on the City Council? David Ryu is not one of them! Ryu is progressive; he's reimagining public safety by focusing on mental health and civilian policing, not on defunding the police! Ryu is effective; he’s working to keep businesses afloat and roofs over people’s heads . . . NOW! While creating homeless housing with neighborhood input and buy-in.” Marilyn Wells, Hancock Park (and Stories From The Frontline)
DAVID RYU LISTENS
“David Ryu has a great heart, is full of compassion and has a wealth of experience. He listens and responds to the unique issues in every neighborhood in the district. Citywide, David is creating a sustainable plan for our infrastructure repair, fighting climate change and preserving our urban tree canopy, establishing ethics reform and government transparency. Improving our quality of life.” Cindy Chvatal-Keane, Hancock Park (President HOA - for identification purposes only)
DAVID RYU RESPONDS
“Since first elected, David Ryu has listened, cared, and acted for our District’s welfare. He has facilitated communication among stakeholders and city officials and provided timely responses to our neighborhood issues. David Ryu is a progressive voice in addressing homelessness, and he is a leader in opposing the corroding influence of developer money. On November 3, re-electing David Ryu is very important to protecting the interests of all who live in the 4th Council District.” Larry Guzin, Windsor Square (President HOA - for identification purposes only)
DAVID RYU IS A REFORMER
“Why David Ryu? Simple. He has led the efforts to end City Hall’s pay-to-play corruption, at great personal political cost, through campaign finance reform, the establishment of an Office of Anti-Corruption and Transparency, and the elimination of the City Council’s ability to determine land use and density zoning.” Jack Humphreville, Windsor Square
DAVID RYU DELIVERS
“David Did: Banned developer contributions. Created a resident-led discretionary funds task force. Provided excellent neighborhood services. Pushed for the creation of 600 units for our unhoused neighbors. Expanded open space, including in Griffith Park and Runyon Canyon. David Will Do: Create an office of violence prevention. Push for a FEMA-like response to our homeless crisis. Protect existing and generate additional affordable housing. THAT’S WHY I SUPPORT DAVID RYU!” Helen Eigenberg, Hancock Park (and founding member, Hang Out Do Good)
DAVID RYU CARES
“The year 2020 has been one of the most challenging on record, but every step of the way David has been pro-active, has been hands-on, and has provided true leadership. With all of the measures he has initiated to help offset the impacts of COVID-19 at every level — supporting local businesses and people with their financial and personal hardships — David has exceeded any expectations I may have had. Councilmember David Ryu has the experience and integrity to keep CD4 moving in a positive direction!” Tammy Rosato, La Brea Hancock
DAVID RYU CONNECTS
“David Ryu has actually been to our community many times and taken part in our annual events and neighborhood association meetings. Every year, he gives us his support to make sure our annual festival comes to fruition. During these gatherings, he and his office staff interact with and get to know the people who live in our area. Even during the COVID pandemic, his town hall meetings have kept him in touch with us, and responsive to our concerns. He is involved, and he cares. He is truly connected with our community” Lorna Hennington, Wilshire Park
WE NEED DAVID RYU
“David Ryu has vision and energy and wisdom — and patience. He has set achievable goals and aspirational ones — for housing, transportation, accountability and quality of life. David Ryu is an excellent, meticulous, thoughtful, open and honest man who is an even better Council member now than when he took office, and he has earned my respect, my support, and my vote.” Caroline Labiner Moser, Windsor Square / Greater Wilshire
RE-ELECT DAVID RYU Distributed by Deborah Trainer, 2049 Century Park East, Suite 1400, Los Angeles. Not authorized by or coordinated with a City candidate or a committee controlled by a candidate. Additional information is available at ethics.lacity.org.
ADV.
CITY COUNCIL DISTRICT 4
11
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OCTOBER 2020
SECTION ONE
Larchmont Chronicle
Sons of SB 50: The battle is won, but the war may not be over As my September column went to press, the last stand in 2020 of the “Sons of SB 50” — the slate of housing bills that threatened to subvert local planning control, give a boon to developers and gentrifiers and end single-family zoning as we know it — was reaching its denouement. On August 31, the last day that legislation could be voted on in the State Legislature, the most egregious of the bills, SB 1120, sponsored by Sen. Scott Wiener and Sen. President Pro Tem Toni Atkins, slithered through the Assembly and even made national headlines as Assemblywoman Buffy Wicks of Oakland came to the floor in the State Capitol holding her newborn to vote in support of SB 1120. But all turned out for naught because there was not enough time for the Senate to vote concurrence to send the bill to the governor’s desk. The clock struck 12, ending the legislative session, and with it yet another attempt by Scott Wiener to thwart the rights of homeowners throughout the state.
Of the 22 housing bills introduced during this past session, nine of which I covered in the July and August editions of this newspaper, four bills failed in committees: SB 902 (up-zoning single family zones without CEQA review); AB 3040 (rezoning singlefamily zones to satisfy Regional Housing Needs Assessment [RNHA] targets); local Assemblyman Richard Bloom’s AB 1279 (by-right development in high opportunity zones); and Bloom’s AB 3107 (supersized arbitrary development in commercial corridors.). Three other of the nine bills did not reach concurrence, meaning that although they initially passed both the Assembly and the Senate, they were required to return to the Senate for a concurrence vote to amendments made in the other house, but time ran out. This was aided by delays in the Assembly in order to whip up more votes that initially were lacking due to enormous opposition by constituents. These failed bills included: the dreaded SB 1120 (end-
On Preservation by
Brian Curran
ing single-family zoning); SB 995 (further streamlining of the CEQA process); and SB 1085 (enhancing the density bonus law). Two of the nine bills, however, will become law once signed by Gov. Newsom. AB 725 and AB 2345 passed both houses easily and will hopefully help ease the statewide housing crisis, but will now not threaten single-family zoning nor Historic Preservation Overlay Zones (HPOZs), or other historic resources. Assemblywoman Buffy Wick’s amended AB 725 uses RHNA to ensure that cities create inventories of developable land with the intention of finding sufficient room for all levels of housing. This bill requires that at least 25 percent of the city’s regional
housing need for moderateincome housing and 25 percent for above-moderate income housing be built on sites that allow at least four units of housing. Originally, the bill had specified sites that allow two units of housing, meaning single-family zones (now that second units, the so-called granny flats or accessory dwelling units, are allowed by right). Assemblywoman Lorena Gonzalez’s popular AB 2345, based on a San Diego program and similar to Los Angeles’s successful Transit Oriented Communities program, awards density bonuses in exchange for affordable housing, and, “yes,” the City of Los Angeles’ more stringent requirements will apply. (“Thank you” and “Congratulations” to Assemblywoman Gonzalez!) Horror movie sequence? Like every bad horror movie hoping to have a never-ending franchise, Sacramento’s housing justice warriors are sending tingles up homeowners’ spines, spreading rumors of “special sessions” to address
the housing legislation, which was clocked out. While chances of such a session materializing are slim, a new sequel of zombie housing bills returning from the dead in 2021 is surely in the works. One has only to ask Sen. Wiener who, before receding into the shadows following his latest defeat, declared, “WE’LL BE BACK…”
POLICE BEAT OLYMPIC DIVISION
Furnished by Senior Lead Officer Joseph Pelayo 213-793-0709 31762@lapd.lacity.org Twitter: @lapdolympic
WILSHIRE DIVISION
Furnished by Senior Lead Officer Dave Cordova 213-793-0650 31646@lapd.lacity.org Twitter: @lapdwilshire
Stay alert! Multiple robberies in area this month OLYMPIC DIVISION ROBBERIES: A male victim was walking on the sidewalk near the corner of S. Bronson and Country Club Dr. when a vehicle suddenly stopped in the middle of the street and two suspects jumped out armed with handguns. The suspects hit the victim in the head twice before taking his backpack and wallet and fleeing in the vehicle on Sept. 16 at 11 p.m. A postal worker was sorting mail at the back of his truck on the 600 block of N. Plymouth Blvd. when a suspect rushed the worker and pinned him against the mail truck while the suspect removed postal keys and the mail-truck’s keys before fleeing the location on Sept. 14 at 4 p.m. BURGLARY: Electronics, luxury goods and silverware were stolen from inside a home on the 200 block of N. Norton Ave. after a suspect pried open a rear door to gain access on Aug. 31 at 4:30 p.m. WILSHIRE DIVISION ROBBERY: A 70-year-old woman was walking on Larchmont Boulevard when a suspect attacked the woman from behind on Aug. 31 at 10 a.m. The suspect first attempted to grab the victim’s necklace and purse, but failed, instead grabbing her wallet before fleeing the location. (Please turn to page 13)
Larchmont Chronicle
OCTOBER 2020
SECTION ONE
Wilshire Capt. reports on issues, rumors
I wanted to communicate a couple additional things that have raised concern in the community, largely due to the understandable fact that tensions are a little high given the national posture, newsworthy incidents, controversy surrounding the upcoming election, etc. Within the last 24 hours [as of Sept. 24], I have fielded multiple inquiries regarding rumors which have traveled throughout various segments of our community. They have covered everything from beliefs in increasing crime in a given area, an officer-involved shooting here in Wilshire (never happened), multiple accounts of looting occurring right now, etc. Each one of them eventually made it to me through one of our valuable stakeholders who inquired as to the truth. Please know you can always reach out to me to validate or dispute these rumors and to get appropriate information and guidance. I would ask you please be confident in your sourcing before sending out any neighborhood alerts, posting on Next Door or any other app, in order to avoid undue stress to our community. Some of you may have noticed the board-up posture
CAPT. SHANNON PAULSON
which has been taken by your local CVS Stores. We have been in touch with CVS management, and their current directive from corporate headquarters is to board up all their properties as a precautionary measure whenever a noteworthy/newsworthy incident is expected (such as a sensitive judicial/court announcement). This is a regionwide directive, extending throughout Los Angeles County. So, as we move through the next couple months, you will likely see this continue — rest assured when you do see this take place at a CVS store it is not necessarily in response to any specific intelligence or information which definitively affects our local community. Finally, there was an occur-
rence late last night, starting just before midnight, which may have raised some concerns up in the area of Rossmore north of Beverly. LAPD officers from Hollywood Division ended up in a brief pursuit of a suspect in a stolen vehicle. He came south into Wilshire and stopped the vehicle in the area of Rossmore and Rosewood, then exited and attempted to flee on foot. The officers were able to establish a perimeter and ultimately a search was conducted utilizing our K9 units. The suspect was located and taken into custody without further incident. For those of you who were aware of heightened police activity and a police helicopter, that was the source of it. Be safe, everyone. Shannon K. Paulson is Commanding Officer of the Los Angeles Police Department Wilshire Division.
Police Beat
(Continued from page 13) BURGLARIES: Computer equipment was stolen from inside an office building on the 600 N. block of Larchmont Blvd. after a suspect entered the location and ransacked the interior between Sept. 3 at 6
Election
(Continued from page 1) Early (R), James P. Bradley (R), David Kim (D) and Errol Webber (R), respectively. Three incumbent members of the State Assembly, Richard Bloom (D), Miguel Santiago (D) and Sydney Kamlager (D), face challenges from Will Hess (D), Godfrey Santos Plata (D) and Tracy Bernard Jones (D), respectively.
There is one countywide race that is highly contested, the nonpartisan job of Los Angeles County District Attorney. Incumbent Jackie Lacey is facing a challenge from former San Francisco County District Attorney George Gascón. There is an article on that contest below. Finally, the Nov. 3 ballot includes 12 statewide propositions and one Los Angeles County measure.
District Attorney 2020: Lacey vs. Gascón By John Welborne What is being called the most important contest in the country outside of the presidency is the race to be top prosecutor in Los Angeles County. Sparring for the seat are incumbent District Attorney Jackie Lacey, seeking a third term, and her challenger, former San Francisco District Attorney (from 2011 to 2019) George Gascón,
p.m. and Sept. 4 at 12:50 a.m. Unknown items were stolen from inside a unit at the Windsor Hancock Park apartment building located at the corner of Beverly and Rossmore after a suspect gained access by unknown means between Sept. 6 at 12:30 p.m. and Sept. 8 at 8 a.m.
who moved south to run for the Los Angeles County job. That there is national attention on the race is evidenced by the Friends of Bernie Sanders website supporting Gascón. (berniesanders.com/ get-involved/george-gascon) In contrast, the organization representing approximately 1,000 local deputy district attorneys, the Association of Deputy District Attorneys (ADDA), has endorsed incumbent Lacey. ADDA president Michele Hanisee writes: “Jackie Lacey . . . is an experienced, career prosecutor with a record of reforming the justice system while keeping crime at historically low rates. She has kept politics out of the D.A.’s office and respect(Please turn to page 22)
We support David Ryu Paid for by David Ryu for City Council 2020-General ID #1425762 777 S. Figueroa Street, Suite 4050 Los Angeles, CA 90017 Additional information is available at ethics.lacity.org.
Real experience. Real change.
www.davidryu.com
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Vote on or before Tues., Nov. 3 Find Official Ballot Drop Box locations at: www.lavote.net
14
OCTOBER 2020
SECTION ONE
Larchmont Chronicle
CD4 candidate Nithya Raman seeks to unseat incumbent By Billy Taylor Political newcomer Nithya Raman took some by surprise on March 3 when she won 41 percent of the vote for the 4th Council District seat. Her 31,502 votes were just 2,796 fewer than received by incumbent David Ryu, who she will face in the runoff election on Tues., Nov. 3. “The message at the core of our campaign — the need for basic rights and protections for every resident of Los Angeles — is more vital and urgent now than ever before,” read a statement from Raman following the certification of primary election votes. Backed by the Democratic Socialists of America, Raman credited her campaign’s momentum to 700 volunteers that knocked on 80,000 doors in order to reach voters during the primary. Several celebrity endorsements — including Jane Fonda, Tina Fey, Mindy Kaling and Natalie Portman — didn’t hurt either. Last month, Raman joined the Chronicle staff via Zoom to talk about the issues most important to her campaign. “I’ve been very clear from the beginning of my campaign that we have an affordable housing crisis,” said Raman, who moved to Los Angeles in 2014 and now resides in Silver
NITHYA RAMAN
Lake. “The kind of housing we should be producing is housing that meets the needs of the moment. Unfortunately, in Los Angeles, I think we have been doing exactly the opposite.” Raman, who holds a graduate degree in urban planning from MIT, most recently served as the executive director of Time’s Up Entertainment. In 2017 she co-founded the SELAH Neighborhood Homeless Coalition, which connects people experiencing homelessness to housing while also providing an accessible entry point for residents who want to get involved. Frustrated by the status quo, Raman explained that one of the reasons that she decided to run for political office was the “very bleak” numbers of afford-
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able housing units that have been approved by City Council over the past five years. “We looked at this issue last year and found that 87 percent of new housing permitted was market rate or luxury housing and only 13 percent was affordable. In our district [CD4] the numbers were even worse: 93 percent was market rate or luxury housing, only seven percent was affordable.” Raman blames City Council: “Land use is one of the biggest powers of the Council, and so I do think that decision, at least in part, is a decision made by our existing representatives. I think it’s important that we don’t look away from the pretty extensive powers that we do have at the City level to promote affordable housing.” When asked what she would do as Councilmember to influence the California State Legislature to fund affordable housing initiatives, Raman suggests that funding is not the only problem: “Even when we have funding, we haven’t built affordable housing in our district,” she responds. “To me, it’s not just a question of funding affordable housing, it’s also that you have to have the will to make affordable housing come into reality. That’s important to emphasize because I think focusing on funding takes
away from the real powers that our City already has to push for affordable housing.” Raman says that political leaders need to think bigger. “If you look at people who are experiencing homelessness, the biggest group among them is single adult males. We need to have housing that serves the needs of single adult males. I think making it legal to build dormitory housing again, or SRO [Single Room Occupancy]style housing again, is an important intervention that the city can make.” According to Raman, one of the reasons that HHH has “tanked so spectacularly” is because it was designed in a way to build only expensive projects that include social services attached. “Guess what? A lot of people experiencing homelessness don’t need that. They just need a place to go,” says Raman. “We could’ve funded shared units or built dormitory-style units that would’ve been significantly cheaper. We could’ve bought old motels or container-style units and remodeled them — none of that was done,” she says. What will she do different, if elected? “One of the things is that we need to bring focus and urgency to these issues, which I haven’t seen reflected
from a lot of our council members,” says Raman. “Putting a level of focus and attention to broader goals, and feeling that sense of urgency in the work, that is something that marks me as a different kind of elected representative than many of the ones I see in power.” Asked her opinion of the nearly $150 million of funding recently redirected from the Los Angeles Police Department’s budget, Raman says it was an appropriate response to the calls for that moment: “I think we can take some of the money that is invested now in armed officers and put that into un-armed trained response, which might better address the root cause of the calls going to 911.” In a three-part plan to address the issue found on her campaign website, Raman suggests establishing a “Public Safety Department” that puts care and restorative justice rather than punishment and violence at its core. Raman says that change has to start somewhere: “We have to get new people in power that share a vision for change in Los Angeles, who share an ambitious vision for what the city can do and how the city can support residents. “I’m excited to start that process,” says Raman. Visit nithyaforthecity.com.
Larchmont Chronicle
OCTOBER 2020
SECTION ONE
Having kept his promises, David Ryu seeks reelection
By Billy Taylor Heralded as the “anti-corruption” candidate when he first won in 2015, David Ryu now is fighting to hold his seat in Council District 4. For most of 2020, Ryu has been leading his constituents through one of the most challenging years in memory all while debating with his opponent, “who, between them, is the bigger reformer”? “I plan to get reelected, rather, I need to get reelected, because there’s still so much that needs to get done,” Ryu told Chronicle staff over Zoom last month. By many accounts, Ryu hasn’t stopped working for reform since he hit the ground running in 2015 with a push to change City Council campaign finance rules. Reform, however, was not as popular with his fellow City Councilmembers then as it appears to be now, and Ryu’s initial effort failed to get even one other council member to second his motion. But he continued fighting. Then, in May 2019, after four years of advocacy, Ryu’s third attempt to limit real estate developer donations was approved. “Since the day I entered office, this is the legislation I have believed in, and this is
the legislation I have fought for,” said Ryu on Dec. 4, 2019, following passage of the longsought ordinance. Even as Ryu was celebrating his victory to ban political contributions from developers with business before the city, his political opponent was labeling him a City Hall insider. What’s that like? “I think my opponent had a perception of who City Councilmembers are, and she thought I was one of them, when the reality is that I’m the one changing it all. So when my opponent says that I am now the insider, I think she means well and has a good heart — and I would love to work with her — but I don’t think she even knew my background,” says Ryu, who grew up in East Hollywood after immigrating with his family to Los Angeles at the age of six. “People laughed at me for trying to introduce the most basic of legislation — that developers who have a project before City Council cannot donate to a Council race. I was told ‘You will never get that passed.’ It went from never being able to pass, to it didn’t go far enough. That’s where I was able to move the barometer,” he points out.
“For those people that say I haven’t done enough about corruption, are you kidding me? Where were they five years ago when I was standing by myself?” asks Ryu. Endorsed (in this nonpartisan election) by the Los Angeles County Democratic Party, Ryu also has the support of local leaders including Cindy Chvatal, president of the Hancock Park Homeowners Association, and Larry Guzin, president of the Windsor Square Association, who both tell the Chronicle that Ryu has kept each of his promises to the Larchmont community. On homelessness, Ryu says that several local projects are in the works: “In CD4, by next year, we are probably going to have the most amount of housing in relation to the number of homeless individuals. We have about roughly 1,000 homeless individuals, and we have about 300 beds now that are open and serving and another 300-plus beds that are going to open by next year,” explains Ryu, who notes that those 600 beds include multiple types of housing including bridge housing and permanent supportive housing, as well as safe parking. On affordable housing, Ryu says that when it comes to
DAVID RYU
building more housing, it’s not just about saying “no, no, no” to Sacramento. “The state is going to continuously come down with different types of legislation to build more and take away our planning rights. So what we really need to do in Los Angeles is to have our own processes to build.” Campaigning for political office is rarely easy, but in 2020 Ryu has often had to put politics behind more urgent business for CD4: “What the coronavirus did was literally expose the inequalities that already existed in our city,” he explains. In the early days of the pandemic, while cities were scrambling to source COVID-19 tests, Ryu jumped at the
15
opportunity to help: “I started calling South Korea trying to secure tests,” he says. Ryu was able to purchase 20,000 tests below market price using his discretionary funds at a time when testing was unavailable in other areas. Ryu didn’t stop there. In the last several months, he has introduced legislation in City Council to expand the rent freeze for rent-stabilized units, to implement a rental assistance program, and to fund additional cleaning of private senior homes and facilities. He also has supported measures for small business like the “LA Alfresco” program. “I would love to get to spend more time campaigning, but not only do I have a day job, but more importantly, I have a job during one of the biggest crises our city has ever faced,” says Ryu as he reflects on the upcoming runoff election. “It’s not just the pandemic,” he says. “Even before that, we had a crisis of homelessness and housing, not to mention corruption. “I didn’t come into this job to placate people and be nice. I came to make waves and change the system,” says Ryu. “But it’s a very weird time (Please turn to page 22)
We Can Re-Imagine LA County. VOTE YES ON MEASURE J to address racial injustice by prioritizing health, housing, and jobs in our Black, Brown and low-income neighborhoods that have historically been neglected and underserved. The pandemic has made the inequalities in our society even more clear than before. We need real, meaningful change that reflects our shared values and invests in our most marginalized and vulnerable communities with proven solutions.
measure j will increase countywide funding for alternatives to incarceration and direct community investment from 2.6% of the county budget to a minimum of 10% of the budget, and fund programs that include: Increasing community-based counseling and mental health services Expanding job training and placement support, and Scaling up mentoring and youth development programs.
Measure J is proudly supported by over 120 community organizations including:
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16
OCTOBER 2020
SECTION ONE
Larchmont
Ten local districts (U.S. House of Reps, State Assembly, Superv Vote
on or before Tues., Nov. 3
On the Ballot Council District 4
David Ryu davidryu.com Nithya Raman nithyaforthecity.com
Council District 10
Mark Ridley-Thomas Grace Yoo
markridley-thomas.com graceyooCD10.com
2nd Supervisorial District
Holly Mitchell Herb Wesson
hollyjmitchell.com wessonforsupervisor2020.com
U.S. Rep. 28th District
adamschiff.com ericearly.com
Adam Schiff (D) Eric Early (R)
U.S. Rep. 33rd District
Ted Lieu (D) James P. Bradley (R)
tedlieu.com bradleycongress.com
U.S. Rep. 34th District
Jimmy Gomez (D) David Kim (D)
jimmygomezforcongress.com davidkim2020.com
U.S. Rep. 37th District
Karen Bass (D) Errol Webber (R)
karenbass.com webber2020.com
State Assembly District 50
Richard Bloom (D) Will Hess (D)
richardbloom.com willhess.org
State Assembly District 53
Miguel Santiago (D) santiagoforassembly.com Godfrey Santos Plata (D) godfreyforassembly.com
State Assembly District 54
Sydney Kamlager (D) sydneykamlager.com Tracy Bernard Jones (D) tracybjones.com
District Attorney
Jackie Lacey jackielacey.com George Gascón georgegascon.org
November election: Options for voting include QR codes, b
By Rachel Olivier In an historic year such as 2020, the year of COVID-19, it’s only fitting that the options voters have for casting their ballots are not only varied, but also groundbreaking. From the standard waiting in line at the polls (now “Vote Centers”), to generating a QR code “poll pass” to drop off at a Vote Center, to mailing in a ballot, there are a number of choices for voters in Los Angeles this year. But it all begins with establishing that you are registered to vote. The registrar’s offices remain closed due to the pandemic. However, you can check that you are registered, that you have an active status, and what is your political party preference by calling 800-815-2666 or going to lavote.net/vrstatus. While on the lavote.net website, click on the box “Current Elections.” Here you will find
a few other items to check out, such as finding your voting center and looking up your sample ballot booklet. You can even subscribe to receive electronically the e-sample ballot for future elections. Poll passes New this election is the interactive sample ballot, which is set up so that you can make your choices ahead of time on the sample ballot (like when you mark up your paper sample ballot, but an online version). To find the correct ballot, visit isb.lavote.net and fill in your information (last name, birthdate, house number). Then fill in and print or download the poll pass. The poll pass generates a QR code that can be taken to any Vote Center, where it is scanned by a ballot marking device and then is transferred to an official ballot (your private information is not uploaded). At
that time, the voter can review his or her choices and make any changes before officially casting the ballot. Mail-in ballots Beginning this year, due to the pandemic, all registered voters will be mailed a Vote by Mail ballot. These ballots can be returned by U.S. Mail (no postage is necessary) or be dropped off at any Vote by Mail ballot drop box location or voting center in Los Angeles County. You can find the locations of the voting centers at lavote.net and ballot drop boxes are being installed outside of libraries and parks and recreation facilities city-wide. The drop-off locations and voting centers will be open from 29 days prior to the election up to, and including, the day of the election itself. If mailing on Election Day, note that the ballots must be postmarked by Tues., Nov. 3, which means they need to be
dropped off at the post office or into a mail box before the scheduled pick-up / cut-off time. First Class Mail generally takes two to five days to be delivered; however, the United States Postal Service recommends allowing one week for delivery of completed ballots. Vote by Mail ballot envelopes must be signed to be counted. If a signature is missing or if the signature does not match the one on file, the County will notify the impacted voter to allow the voter an opportunity, within a limited amount of time, to provide a valid signature. Voters who cannot return their ballots can designate any person to return the ballot as long as there is no compensation involved. Voting in person Vote Center locations will be listed in the sample ballot book
and can also be found online at lavote.net. These are similar to the former local polling places. Voters will have 10 consecutive days and Election Day to vote in-person at any participating Vote Center in Los Angeles County. Some Vote Centers will be available beginning Sat., Oct. 24. All Vote
Libraries, par for 123 ballot Voters in Los Angeles County can cast their ballots with confidence. StreetsLA and the city Dept. of Public Works are installing 72 Vote by Mail drop boxes outside of city public library branches, including Fairfax at 161 S. Gardner St., John C. Fremont at 6121 Melrose Ave., Memorial at 4625 W. Olympic Blvd. and Wilshire at
Chronicle
OCTOBER 2020
SECTION ONE
17
visor, Council) and countywide District Attorney up for voting
Ballot Propositions
PROPOSITION 14 — Bonds to continue stem cell research. YES: The state could sell $5.5 billion in general obligation bonds primarily for stem cell research. Requires expenditure of state funds of $260 million per year for 30 years to repay the bonds. NO: The state could not sell those bonds. PROPOSITION 15 — Split off commercial and industrial property from Proposition 13 protections. YES: Property taxes for most businesses would increase. NO: Formula for annual business property tax increases will stay the same.
ballot boxes, mailing, going to polls Centers will be available beginning Fri., Oct. 30. Vote Centers will be open every day from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. during the early voting period. On Election Day, they will be open from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. Ballot tracking Once a ballot has been mailed, dropped off at a Vote
rks locations t boxes
Center or otherwise officially cast, it can be tracked via BallotTrax. Visit california.ballottrax.net/voter. Public health and safety Election workers and voters appearing in-person at Vote Centers must wear masks and gloves, which will be provided if they are need-
ed. A six-foot distance will be maintained between voters. All surfaces and ballot-marking devices will be wiped down and sanitized between each voter. For more information, call 800-815-2666 or email voterinfo@rrcc.lacounty.gov or visit lavote.net.
149 N. St. Andrews Pl. There will be 123 ballot drop boxes installed, including an additional 51 boxes located outside and in parks and recreation facilities city-wide. All Vote by Mail drop boxes will be available to voters beginning Mon., Oct. 5. To see a complete list of drop box loca- BALLOT BOXES are being installed throughout the city, including at four local libraries. tions, visit lavote.net.
PROPOSITION 16 — Allow racial preferences. YES: Repeals current law prohibiting state and local government entities from considering race, sex, color, ethnicity and national origin. NO: The current ban remains in effect. PROPOSITION 17 — Restore right to vote after prison term. YES: People on state parole would have their right to vote restored. NO: People on state parole would continue to be unable to vote in California. PROPOSITION 18 — Allow 17-year-old voters. YES: Eligible 17-year-olds would be allowed to vote in certain situations. NO: People younger than 18 years of age may not vote in any election. PROPOSITION 19 — Change property tax rules. YES: Potential property tax savings for all homeowners over age 55 when they move. However, it restricts heirs’ property tax savings on inherited property. NO: Status quo remains, wherein some homeowners who are over 55 (or who meet other qualifications) would continue to be eligible for property tax savings when they move, and inherited properties would continue to be eligible for property tax savings. PROPOSITION 20 — Restrict parole for certain offenses and authorize felony sentences for certain offenses. YES: People who commit certain theft-related crimes (such as repeat shoplifting) could receive increased penalties (such as longer jail terms). Law enforcement would be required to collect DNA samples from adults convicted of certain misdemeanors. NO: The status quo remains. Proposition 21 — Allow expanded rent control on residential property. YES: Allows cities and counties to apply more kinds of rent control. NO: Current state limitations on city and county rent control laws remain. PROPOSITION 22 — Allow UBER, LYFT and similar drivers to remain independent contractors. YES: Exempts rideshare and delivery companies from restrictions in Assembly Bill 5 (AB 5) adopted by the California Legislature in 2019. NO: Drivers will have to become employees per AB 5. PROPOSITION 23 — Establish state requirements for kidney dialysis clinics. YES: Increases dialysis clinics’ expenses. NO: The status quo remains. PROPOSITION 24 — Amend data privacy laws. YES: Existing data privacy laws would be expanded and a new state agency to oversee those laws would be created and funded. NO: The status quo remains. PROPOSITION 25 — Referendum on law that replaced money bail with a system based on public safety and flight risk. YES: Upholds the California Legislature’s 2018 law eliminating money bail. NO: Keeps bail rules the same as before the Legislature acted. COUNTY MEASURE J — Charter amendment to permanently allocate ten percent of Los Angeles county general funds YES: At least 10% of the County’s general fund shall be appropriated each year for community programs and other alternatives to incarceration. NO: The Charter shall not be so amended, and the Board of Supervisors shall continue to use its discretion in allocating the County’s funds each year.
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OCTOBER 2020
SECTION ONE
Larchmont Chronicle
Mark Ridley-Thomas: experience and community involvement are key By Helene Seifer Supervisor Mark RidleyThomas is no stranger to local politics. Since 1991 he has held successive public offices as the city councilman for Council District 8, state assemblyman for the 48th District, state senator for the 26th district and he currently is terming out as a member of the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors in Supervisorial District 2. Now that he’s a candidate for Council District 10, the Chronicle spoke with him in a Zoom interview and we wondered why he wanted to be a councilmember again. “My highest calling is serving communities on a local level,” Ridley-Thomas explains. “It’s where you can make the greatest difference in people’s lives. Building housing, caring for parks, supporting health clinics and improving services. Those really matter. I want to bring my experience to the residents of Council District 10 to get things done.” After 29 years in the public sector, some wonder why everything hasn’t been fixed by now. “You’d rather me be here than not,” Ridley-Thomas states emphatically. “Had I not been on the City Council and on the Board of Supervisors, the number of things that were accomplished … wouldn’t have gotten accomplished. … I plan to partner with members of the City Council in a way that has not been seen, because the experiences — that I have — can be leveraged in a way that I think they’ll be very receptive to.” Some of his past accomplishments include establishing the Empowerment Congress in District 8, which expanded civic engagement in local projects and supported community hiring. RidleyThomas states that he pro-
MARK RIDLEY-THOMAS
duced over 3,000 affordable housing units in his supervisorial district, with an additional 1,300 currently under construction. He authored Measure H, which brings in $350 million annually, allowing the county to take, and provide services to, more than 200 people off the streets daily, up from 80 per day prior to the measure’s passage. A novel project he conceived and shepherded through approval and funding is a mixeduse site with 180 units of affordable housing, a grocery store and a public boarding school for 400 middle and high school students. Slated to open in 2022 at the corner of Vermont Avenue and Manchester Boulevard, the college prep facility will be one of four SEED Foundation schools in the country. Established specifically for disadvantaged children, the Los Angeles SEED school will train students for jobs in transportation and infrastructure, a response to a looming need because 40 percent of the Metro work force is eligible for retirement. The hope is that this school becomes a model for the county and city. Homelessness top priority The supervisor has earmarked six important issues,
including the environment and economic development, but his top priority is the housing crisis in Los Angeles. “I think housing, and specifically homelessness, is the defining moral issue of our time,” he asserts. “And I think there is no crisis among us that is more fundamentally solvable.” Need for redevelopment Ridley-Thomas places much of the blame for our housing crisis on the suspension of the local redevelopment agencies in 2012, and he calls for new redevelopment initiatives. He elucidates, “What redevelopment law did was to lower the risk of the private sector. … The other thing it did was effectively cause communities to have more of a say-so in terms of the kind of projects that were being built. … that’s what community involvement means. That’s what civic engagement means. … They become more activated stakeholders.” Homeless vs homeowners Some of the hot-button issues around the topic of homelessness involve sleeping on public land, locating shelters and supportive housing, and how to construct needed homes faster and for less money. Ridley-Thomas is clear. “I will never ever argue that people have a right to sleep on the street or on a park bench. I believe people have a right to shelter. A right to a roof. A right to a door. A right to housing. That is essentially what Western democracy affords us.” The supervisor does not support building shelters in every neighborhood. “The discussion is about equity today in a real important way, but need ought to inform equity, not simply geography.” He focuses on the fact that it isn’t enough
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to house people, we have to care for them, as well. “They need behavioral health centers, recuperative care centers, sobering centers, psychiatric urgent care centers, concrete alternatives to jails.” Building housing is an expensive and slow process, making it difficult to get ahead of the growing problem. “There’s only one solution to that,” Ridley-Thomas offers. “We need to innovate in a way like never before. And some [innovations] are being brought online now, through Measure H dollars, through competitions with FlyawayHomes and a whole range of other options.” (FlyawayHomes won a $4.5 million grant from a Board of Supervisors’ housing innovation challenge by presenting a way to build quicker, lowercost permanent supportive housing using modular techniques.)
Less revenue, more need The coronavirus shutdown has affected city coffers. “There’s no question about the fact that COVID-19 has significantly impacted our revenues,” Ridley-Thomas acknowledged. “Our tourism is way down and that speaks to sales tax. … So the city will have serious issues with which to contend.” When allocating limited resources, he states that “The debate is going to be driven by our priorities and how we will see ourselves.” He added pointedly, “Do we expect to honor the fact that we have a crisis in our town, namely homelessness?” In concluding his interview, Ridley-Thomas emphasizes another real toll of homelessness. “There are two to three people every day who die … on the streets of Los Angeles. That’s 1,000 people annually (Please turn to page 22)
Larchmont Chronicle
OCTOBER 2020
SECTION ONE
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Grace Yoo seeks fairness, transparency, respect for the bottom line
By Helene Seifer Attorney and community leader Grace Yoo, a first generation American, has spent the better part of 20 years advocating for the needs of under-represented groups and individuals in our community. Although her private law practice focuses on estate planning, her legal career also includes representing abused and neglected children while at the Los Angeles County Children’s Law Center. She was executive director of the Korean American Coalition and the National Asian Pacific American Bar Association (NAPABA), where she expanded language access in the courtroom. A long-time advocate for senior citizens, environmentalism and collaboration, Yoo served as advisor to both the Los Angeles Aging Advocacy Coalition and the Sierra Club Zero Waste Committee, and she co-founded the Environmental Justice Collaborative and the Asian Jewish Initiative. Yoo also spent four years as vice president of the City of Los Angeles Department of Transportation Commission, and she previously worked in the California State Treasurer’s office. In a Zoom interview last month, we asked Yoo why she’s the best person for Coun-
cil District 10. “Because I care to roll up my sleeves and actually get the work done,” she offers. “Because I’m not going to say ‘let’s do another study.’ How many studies must be done before we start getting things done?” Yoo continues, “I’m well-primed to go into City Hall and be a fighter for the people, and ‘the people’ means everybody minus the special interests, because right now the city is inundated with developers who want their 30-story, luxury-end units going up, and it isn’t helping the district.” Bottom line on housing Many recent housing bills before the State Senate and Assembly sought to expedite the building of market-rate housing. Yoo disapproves. “I was really shocked to see [legislative support] of this … and why the affordable piece is missing. I’m thinking they were just being political versus really trying to get to the bottom line, and I’m someone who looks at that bottom line.” According to Yoo, District 10 has a homeless population estimated to be roughly 6,000. “How do we deal with this emergency? It is definitely doable. We did it after the ’94 Northridge earthquake, and there were 125,000 displaced
people, and they were all in units within two years.” Yoo is inspired by successful projects elsewhere. “In Sonoma County, they were able to build 60 temporary shelters in 10 days. … In Texas, they were building homes that were … made out of a huge 3-D machine. … These units are costing less than $25,000. We do need temporary shelters now, not three years from now.” If elected, Yoo says she will look for ways to respond quickly to the housing need. As an example, she states, “We’ve got an empty parking lot. Why can’t we build temporary individual shelters for people who are on the streets right now?” Yoo believes homes and shelters should cost less. She points to the city’s first bridge housing project, completed in 2018 downtown. Named El Puente, which means “the bridge” in Spanish, the facility is meant as a bridge between homelessness and placement in permanent housing. “They were supposed to build 60 beds for $1.3 million. Ultimately they spent $2.7 million and only created 45 units.” She explains that a big contributor to the cost overrun was last-minute approval for a $700,000 wood deck. This decision made the units Americans with Dis-
GRACE YOO
abilities Act (ADA) compliant, but Yoo implies it was a costly aesthetic decision rather than an ADA mandate. “You don’t need to make every unit ADA. … I’d like a deck in my backyard, too, but we don’t have the money and so we can’t spend it.” Fairness and equity Yoo is also concerned with the needs of landlords who can’t pay their mortgage and property taxes if they’re not getting rent. “We need to care for these folks just as much as we care for a renter. We’re not being fair, and I’m about fairness.” Yoo points to small changes that can have a big impact on fairness. Take COVID-19 testing. Yoo states that the city’s
position is that there are plenty of testing sites, “But a survey shows that 24 percent of seniors over the age of 62 don’t drive. And so how are they supposed to get there?” Her solution? “That’s easy. We send workers to them. That’s how other cities, other countries, are doing this. It is not far-fetched to believe that we can go where the need is.” Improving our police force Recent protests have focused the nation’s attention on police use of force, and there have been calls to “defund the police.” “I’m someone who knows that we need our police department to service the needs of the people. ‘Protect and serve’ is their motto and I want to ensure that they protect and serve.” Yoo states. “The police need to improve on how they respond to large rallies. People who are peacefully protesting should not be shot with rubber bullets.” She continues, “I believe we would have less of a violence interaction if we had more officers that were women on the force. Studies have shown that to be true.” She is happy to have learned that the new police academy class is 50 percent women. Los Angeles earmarks 70 (Please turn to page 22)
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OCTOBER 2020
SECTION ONE
Larchmont Chronicle
‘Tweener’ Sen. Mitchell is poised to do more — as Supervisor By Suzan Filipek State Sen. Holly Mitchell has worked to support the poor and underprivileged from before she was elected, when she ran what was then the largest children and family advocacy program in the state. “When you look at my body of work as a legislator, when you look at my experience running Crystal Stairs, it really falls directly in the lane that the Board of Supervisors oversees. “That’s why this makes sense as the next step,” Mitchell told us last month on Zoom about her campaign to represent the Second District on the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors. “I’m a bridge between the old and the new,” she added. She was referring to, among other legislators, former City Councilmember Rita Walters, who died earlier this year, and former Congressmember
Gwen Moore, who died in August. “I was honored that the families of both of these icons asked me to speak at their memorials. And, I realized I’m sort of a tweener. I was a young staffer when these women were doing these amazing things.” She’s also younger than her opponent, longtime City Councilman Herb Wesson, and at 6 feet, she’s certainly taller. But, she sees herself as more than just the next generation. “I perceive myself as an activist policy maker that’s just structurally very different from Mr. Wesson.” While Wesson served as City Council president, “my path is policy making and to chair budget [committee of the state Senate] and lead those critical discussions around finance for the state as a whole.” Once de rigueur at City
325 N. Larchmont Boulevard, #158 Los Angeles, California 90004 www.windsorsquare.org 157 N. Larchmont Boulevard
Sad Year for Halloween
If Dr. Seuss could write a prequel to “How the Grinch Stole Christmas,” he might call it “How Covid-19 Messed Up Halloween.” The Los Angeles County Department of Public Health has published guidelines for celebrating this favorite holiday safely, and these include prohibiting any Halloween parties or gatherings with nonfamily members, as well as carnivals, live entertainment and haunted houses. Trick-or-treating is strongly discouraged, mainly because it’s hard to maintain safe social distancing when children (and their adults) are crowding around front doors or walking along densely populated sidewalks. For the same reason, the health department also discourages “trunk-or-treating,” a popular variation often held in church or school parking lots, when candy is distributed from the backs of parked cars. (And don’t think that costume masks will keep anyone safe from Covid-19 spread!) Get creative with on-line festivities, such as costume or pumpkin-carving contests. Try a drive-by event, at which commercially packaged treats are handed out through car windows. Refer to the Halloween guidelines on the health department’s website: www.publichealth.lacounty.gov. The website also has lots of useful general information on coping safely with this difficult pandemic. o o o Fall is the perfect time for tree planting, both in your yard or on your parkway. If you are interested in obtaining a tree for your parkway, please contact the Windsor Square Association. We will provide you with a free 15-Gallon tree, of the variety that has been carefully selected for your street. The WSA has carefully researched which trees will do best in various locations, depending on the size of the parkway and the trees already established on the block. For example, Magnolias should no longer be planted in parkways, as they are water-hungry trees that also are very susceptible to certain deadly insect infestations. Check out the new blockby-block list of recommended street trees in the Canopy section of the WSA website: www.windsorsquare.org. Please remember that you need to obtain a permit (free) from the Department of Street Services when planting a tree in the parkway, which is city property. And thanks for helping to keep our neighborhood green!
Hall, backroom deals are a throwback to another time, she says. Her style is more open and conversational, yet, “No one can argue I can’t close a deal.” Since joining the Assembly in 2010, and later the state Senate — where she was the first African American to chair the Senate Budget and Fiscal Review Committee — she’s authored 118 bills, 90 of which are now state law. Among them are bills that restore funding to childcare and education. Another helped to reverse treating teens as adults in the juvenile justice system. Her predecessor, Sen. Mark Leno, has described her as the “moral compass and social conscience” of the Senate, and maybe the whole Legislature. She now hopes to take that energy, passion, organization and her team to the Second Supervisorial District, which includes the southern por-
we own.” But how we go about fixing our housing crisis is a local issue, which is why she opposed Senate Bill 50 and its later incarnations. Legislators up north butting into our zoning issues has had an upside, she suggests. “This common enemy has brought people in, in a meaningful way. It has engaged them” like never before in her 10 years in the legislature, she says. Proposition HHH, which largely requires the approved bond funds to be spent on new construction for permanent supportive housing (versus temporary shelters), has not met expectations, deadlines or budget to solve or even reduce the homeless issue, she argues. Meanwhile, simpler solutions, utilizing these to house some of the homeless, such as board-and-care facilities, have been neglected. These would have been quicker than new construction and less expensive, she notes. “I think this notion that we just needed to build… as opposed to looking at all the options available to us… was shortsighted. We need to keep people where they are. We need to talk about incomes. Because, for many people, it’s an issue of affordability.” A third-generation Angeleno, her parents were social workers, and Mitchell hopes this time to make a differ(Please turn to page 22)
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HOLLY MITCHELL
tions of Greater Wilshire and Miracle Mile and spreads from Exposition Park to Mar Vista to Compton. The Second District is the geographically smallest of the Board’s five districts, but its representative stands tall as one-fifth of a powerful body that oversees a $35 billion budget and 10 million people. Mitchell’s election is endorsed by Councilman David Ryu and present and former Govs. Gavin Newsom and Jerry Brown. Many of the problems today are the same as when she first entered the political scene, starting with a lack of affordable housing, she notes. “Ninety-three percent of the new housing built in L.A. in the last 10 years has all been market rate… That’s a problem.” Housing is a “political hot potato… What do we build for who and where?” are questions that keep her up at night. “It has to be a two-prong strategy. There’s not enough land in L.A., given our 500,000 housing unit shortage, without talking about density…. to build what L.A. County residents need. So it has to be a dual conversation. “We also have to figure out the role government can play in that dual conversation.” A duplex owner, she voted for Accessory Dwelling Unit (granny flat)-type “bills that will marginally give homeowners, like myself, opportunity to expand units and expand capacity of the property
Larchmont Chronicle
OCTOBER 2020
SECTION ONE
Former Council President running for Supervisor —call him ‘Herb’
By Suzan Filipek Former City Council President Herb Wesson couldn’t agree more with his opponent, he says. What distinguishes them is style. And, he adds, experience. “I’m an action, in-the-community, frontline kind of a person. And I think that’s what this community wants, needs and deserves… Somebody that is not afraid to roll up his sleeves and get the job done.” Within days of learning of COVID-19, he turned his office into a community hub, delivering food and dispensing face coverings, hand sanitizers, diapers and pet food. And he partnered with senior residential facilities to provide coronavirus testing. “When COVID hit, I didn’t retreat, I attacked…. I’m a kind of in–your-face, don’t care about titles, call me Herb...,” he told us last month on Zoom. As for experience, he’ll let his record speak for itself: Six years working for the county, six more when elected to the California State Assembly (two years as Speaker) and 15 years on the Los Angeles City Council, the last eight of which he was president. “I am optimistic that, at the end of the day, they’ll go with
the little fella.” Termed out of his 10th District City Council seat, Wesson is facing state Sen. Holly Mitchell in the runoff election for the Second District on the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors. As City Council president, Wesson created a Homelessness and Poverty Committee, and more recently supported boosting the city’s minimum wage to $15 an hour. (He also helped create the single-use plastic bag policy and strawson-request ordinance.) In his district, several homeless facilities have opened, are opening or are under construction. “I think without a doubt we’re doing our share,” he said. He helped pave the way for Proposition HHH, a $1.2 billion bond that is paying for much of the permanent housing construction underway. “The major flaw,” he acknowledged, “is the mindset you could build yourself out of this problem…. “We’ve taken a lot of people off the street and put them in housing, but it doesn’t help you if you take 10 people off and replace them with 12.” Closing the spigot “If we build affordable housing, then we might have a
HERB WESSON
chance to get in front of this,” along with “rental assistance, landlord aid, small business support — it’s all part of the equation and will be more important than ever going forward — in light of the effects and after-effects of COVID-19. “I’m not just the guy on the street picking up the trash and delivering [food], but also on the council one of the first cities to put in place protection for renters… support landlords… and grants for small businesses.” A Cleveland native, the 68-year-old is married and has four adult children. “I believe the two most important days in anybody’s life are the day you’re born and the day you discover why you
were born. “I was put on this earth to help people, be it as a councilman, be it as a Speaker of the Assembly, be it as a youth football coach, which is where I started my public service in this community.” “I know how to bring people together. I know how to lead, and I know how to get things done.” A foray for a few years as a stand-up comic taught him pubic speaking skills, which would later prove invaluable as Speaker of the Assembly from 2002 to 2004. He had been chief of staff to former Los Angeles City Councilmember Nate Holden, a position he also once served for Los Angeles County Supervisor Yvonne Burke. His campaign is endorsed by Mayor Eric Garcetti, Rep. Maxine Waters and a host of labor groups, including the teamsters and police. Besides discrepancies in the health system among people of color, recent protests and demonstrations countrywide highlight issues within the criminal justice system, Wesson noted. The police are not the problem, he stressed. It’s the system, which sends police to handle mental health and
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drug problems. “My effort is to help reform the various systems that don’t provide opportunities equally. “With the entire country paying attention… I view this as the greatest opportunity for change in this country. “Being a Black guy. Being a Black elected official for many years, it’s not always easy to go out and make these huge strides forward. Sometimes what we have to do is, whenever there’s an opening, we’ve gotta take advantage of that opening to move things forward... “To miss this moment would be a crime, to miss an opportunity to create a world where my grandkids could grow up and not have to deal with a lot of the crap in life that I’ve had to deal with… I can’t miss this moment. If elected as one of five County Supervisors, Wesson will help oversee services that include homeless and mental health. Wesson knows first hand about cracks in the social system. His eldest of four sons is bi-polar; he was “chronically” homeless and suffered with a drug addiction for years. “He’s sober 11 months,” Wesson says proudly. (Please turn to page 22)
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Ryu
Ridley-Thomas
Yoo
right now. My opponent is literally copying-and-pasting the stuff that I’ve done, or that I’m working on. She is running a carefully crafted PR campaign.” Even so, Ryu is confident that he will win reelection: “The fact is, CD4 voters are not unsophisticated. Actually, CD4 voters are disproportionately to other districts educated, and, actually, they read the second line, not just the tweet. They turn the page. Because of that factor — that our voters will actually dig in deep — that is how I’m going to win,” concludes Ryu. Visit davidryu.com
who die on the streets. That’s more than the homicide rate! … We can do better than this! And we have to!” There are those who predict that Mark RidleyThomas is looking beyond Council District 10 toward the Mayor’s office. “Anyone who tells you for certain that I’m running for Mayor has not spoken with my wife! In other words, the decision simply has not been made yet. But it’s something we’ll decide in the near future, as a family.” For more information, go to markridley-thomas.com.
percent of its budget for funding the Los Angeles Police and Fire Departments, Yoo says, but she believes we can save money without weakening the force. “I would like to cut the fat wherever possible. Civilians doing desk jobs makes sense to me. Having officers doing desk duty and getting paid what they get paid doesn’t make sense to me. I look at overtime and the fact that it’s like $480 million in a year for police. We’ve got to reign it in. Police officers only work 36 hours in
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Lacey vs. Gascón
(Continued from page 19)
Wesson
(Continued from page 21)
(Continued from page 19) ed the rule of law. Gascón, on the other hand, is running on a promise of ‘turning our JACKIE LACEY GEORGE GASCÓN court system upside down.’” (tinyurl. com/y2pm4vd7) Mr. Soros and his allies “have Lacey’s own campaign web- spent well over $1 million to site is jackielacey.com. defeat Jackie Lacey.” Gascón, an author of 2014’s The so-called Progressive Proposition 47 that changed Prosecutor Movement has criminal sentencing rules, had success in electing antiis said to be a beneficiary of incarceration criminal prosethe funding of George Soros, cutors in communities across who has been underwriting the country since about 2016. the campaigns of “progressive For example, in Portland, Oreprosecutor” candidates across gon, the current Multnomah the nation. “The American County D.A., 39-year-old Mike Conservative” website (tinyurl. Schmidt, was just elected in com/y3fwm3ys) reports that May. (tinyurl.com/y25a4act)
What changed was that someone, or many persons, cared. That is why creating a social network to help people get on Gascón’s website is georgegascon.org. Among Gascón’s endorsers in this nonpartisan contest are a host of Democratic Party organizations and individuals plus prominent newspapers. (tinyurl.com/y4d5p3qs) Replacing incumbent Lacey also has been a primary goal of Black Lives Matter Los Angeles since at least 2017. See: blmla. org/jackie-lacey-must-go. In contrast, Lacey is supported by numerous peace officer associations. See: jackielacey.com/ endorsements. Voting starts when the mailed ballots are received in early October.
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a week [they work three 12hour days per week] and then they get overtime. That does not work for me financially. … We’re already missing four hours in a week. And when you multiply this by thousands, this is not a good move.” After spending so many years fighting City Hall, as it were, attorney Yoo has developed a certain reputation. “Some people just say, ‘Grace is just anti.’ Well, yeah, I’m anticorruption. I’m anti you breaking the law. But I’m really someone who’s just like, ‘How do we make things work?’” For more information, go to graceyooCD10.com. their feet is so critical to him, Wesson emphasizes. He’s also passionate about his neighborhood, and all of our neighborhoods, and has fought Sacramento ardently on several housing bills that aim to rezone single-family neighborhoods statewide. “If I was in Sacramento, I would see the city of L.A. as somebody you could partner with… I think together we could find a way to do that. They don’t dialogue with us. “This is an emotional issue for me. We’re talking about destroying the residential areas of our community.” He is a longtime Leimert Park resident. “It’s our Larchmont,” he says of the historic neighborhood that is having a resurgence. If passed, these bills “will fasttrack gentrification… people in our areas could lose their homes, and a Wall Street developer moves in and within a matter of months the integrity of my neighborhood is just erased.” “It’s an issue worth fighting for… I will always be the push back on this, so we can maintain the residential neighborhoods. We have our issues, but this is a city we all love.” Visit wessonforsupervisor2020.com
Mitchell
(Continued from page 20) ence in a district that has been plagued with unemployment, poor schools and other inequalities. She observed to us that if even half of the recommendations from the 1965 McCone Commission Report following the 1964 Watts Riots had been followed, “1992 wouldn’t have been necessary.” She was, of course, referring to the 1992 Rodney King riots. “I am hopeful that, this time, we truly keep the pedal to the metal to experience true sustainable change.” Deep cuts in early childcare in 2008 are what inspired her to run for office, when as a young mother and CEO of Crystal Stairs, a nonprofit for children and families, she knew first hand what the results of those cuts would be for working families. “I don’t deny that cuts had to be made in 2008. We were in the Great Recession. My concern was what they were cutting and how. It seemed to me to be a sledgehammer approach versus perhaps a scalpel…” Another result of all of these cutbacks is the fallback on the police force, she says. “We have been unfair to law enforcement. We have made criminal justice the backdrop to our failed systems from our lack of investments.” But, “before we take away money, it’s about how do we stand up these other systems. “We need to take nonpolicing off their plate.” Going forward, “the fiscal crisis is going to be devastating, and we, the Board of Supervisors, have to figure out how to balance the budget, how to provide services, and not to the detriment of the people who rely on those programs.” Visit hollyjmitchell.com
Join Immaculate Heart for a sneak peek at our classes — and learn how our school community forges forever friendships. Virtual offerings now available through Fall: ♥ Student Shadow Visits ♥ Information Meets on Academics & Extracurricular Activities ♥ Panel Presentations on Topics from Art to Athletics ♥ High School Academic Playday, November 14, for 7th & 8th graders Plus, visit our website for our interactive campus map!
Want to Get Involved in Your City,
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Join us every month for a series of Town Halls October 14th: LADWP On Zoom via computer, tablet, smartphone, or telephone.
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RESERVATIONS REQUIRED For high school events, register at: www.immaculateheart.org/shadowIHHS
REGULAR MEETING SCHEDULE: Board of Directors
For middle school events, register at: www.immaculateheart.org/shadowIHMS
Fourth Tuesday of each month 6:30pm | landuse@greaterwilshire.org
IMMACULATE HEART HIGH SCHOOL & MIDDLE SCHOOL Educating Hearts & Minds Since 1906 A Catholic, Independent, College Preparatory School for Girls Grades 6-12
5515 Franklin Avenue, Los Angeles, CA 90028 ♥ (323) 461-3651 ♥ www.immaculateheart.org
Second Wednesday of each month, 7:00pm | info@greaterwilshire.org
Land Use Committee
Outreach Committee
First Saturday of each month, 9:30am | outreach@greaterwilshire.org
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First Tuesday of each month, 7:00pm | sustainability@greaterwilshire.org
Transportation Committee
Fourth Monday of odd-numbered months, 7:00pm transportation@greaterwislhire.org
Links and access numbers will be available at greaterwilshire.org or The Ebell of LA 72 hours before all scheduled meeting times.
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IMMACULATE HEART By Quinn Lanza 12th Grade
As we head into our second month of virtual learning, students have gotten into the flow of things. Immaculate Heart’s first virtual Welcome Day was a success! Each grade put together a prerecorded song and a skit, which were then livestreamed to students in their homes. The entire presentation was hosted by our Associated Student Body (ASB) officers who joined ASB President Cleo Riley in leading
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students in virtual games, from the “Family Feud” to “The Price is Right.” Riley was clearly pleased with the success of the event. “Welcome Day was amazing!” she said. “I’m so proud that we were able to replicate the spirit of Welcome Day on a new online format.” Hopefully, our freshman felt as welcome as they would have been had we been on campus. Anticipation is high as Immaculate Heart’s annual Walk fundraiser approaches. Our Walk kickoff took place on Sept. 25, and continued into Saturday, with much fanfare surrounding it like last year’s senior sundae party. Students drove onto campus to receive their Walk t-shirts and
other goodies to officially launch our fundraising efforts. Meanwhile, prospective students can now register for virtual Shadow Days, information meets, and panel presentations to learn more about our classes and our school traditions. To register, visit Immaculate Heart’s website at immaculateheart.org. Additionally, seventh and eighth graders can sign up for our Academic Playday on Nov. 14 to gain further insight into student life at our school. Despite the challenging circumstances of our times, IH students have been able to maintain our beloved traditions, which are so central to the Immaculate Heart experience.
SAINT BRENDAN By Lucas Bland 8th Grade
Saint Brendan School is back, except we are all in front of our computers instead of the classroom. Our Zoom classes use features like breakout rooms and reactions in order to create opportunities for participation. We are all hopeful that we will be able to return to classrooms using hybrid learning, where we are able to safely continue learning in smaller groups at school. In order to improve this distance learning
OAKWOOD SCHOOL By Scarlett Saldaña 10th Grade
Before school started, students at Oakwood, as well as alumni, met with school leaders to improve Oakwood’s work with diversity, equity, inclusion and anti-racism. As a result of this meeting, since the beginning of the school year up until now, students have seen a drastic change in the curriculum. Now, each class has found a way to integrate the topics of social justice issues in our world. In Spanish, for example, students will explore these issues, while also expanding our understanding and ability in the language. In history, we’ll work on the
HOLLYWOOD SCHOOLHOUSE
By Emily Mansourian 6th Grade Hello, my name is Emily Mansourian. I am a sixth grader at Hollywood Schoolhouse. I am passionate about writing, cooking, and learning new languages. I have been at Hollywood Schoolhouse since I was in preschool, the youngest class on campus. My experience at HSH has been amazing from the start of my Caterpillar year. One of my favorite subjects is history, because I like to see how it can sometimes repeat itself. I really enjoyed learning about the war between the Union and the Confederacy.
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experience, the school has started a Technology Wish List fund where parents can donate to the technology program. We congratulate Monsignor on his retirement and thank him for his continued support for the SBS community. We also welcome Father Brian, who will take over as our new pastor. Saint Brendan also has a new student council. We want to congratulate all of our candidates because it can be hard to run for a position during our current circumstances. Saint Brendan has not forgotten about Halloween this year as we plan to be in our creative costumes on Zoom for the whole school to see. themes of inequality, how past events can still have an impact on today, and so on. Not only this, but even visual arts classes have found ways to explore social justice issues, and their role in art. As these changes take the proper steps into advancing our community and focusing on anti-racism, in addition to that, Oakwood holds racial equity workshops every month. Made to inform and assist parents and guardians, these workshops allow for more families to engage in conversations about these issues. Overall, with the help of students and alumni, Oakwood has worked to become a better, more inclusive community. In the future, it’s certain that more changes will occur, in order to build more awareness toward these issues, as well as gain and learn racial literacy. Being a sixth grader makes me feel accomplished because the workload and expectations are being raised. I am excited to see what new things I will learn or do in the future. For my sixthgrade year, I am hopeful that we will be able to attend AstroCamp. I am also hopeful that we will get to have our graduation dinner, graduation, and Ditch Day. This year, we are starting school virtually using Zoom as our main platform for learning. In some ways, virtual learning is not as easy as being in person at school. However, Zoom learning can also be less stressful during certain situations, like test taking, because you are in the comfort of your own home. Though I never thought I’d begin my sixth-grade journey virtually, I am excited for the experiences to come.
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Pumpkins and Baby Yoda adorn COVID-compliant masks By Helene Seifer It’s hard to speculate what Halloween will look like this year, but whether one trick-ortreats or indulges in a socially-distanced glass of pumpkin margarita with a few friends,
there are plenty of Halloweenthemed COVID-compliant masks available online to help raise the holiday spirit and still keep us safe. To order one, Google one of the company names below
with a brief description of the mask you seek. For a sweet and simple approach, try one of the many masks available on Etsy for $3.95 to $16. Or instantly become a grinning jack-o-lantern
with a black and orange mask, also available from Etsy. $15.99. “Star Wars” aficionados are able to purchase a four-pack of themed masks in various sizes from the online Disney store for $19.99. Another option in that vein, Baby Yoda masks from the Wish site offer helpful pandemic reminders such as “Wash your hands you do” for $10. The Artfire website features the colorful “Too close you are” mask featuring the creature in a field of coronavirus molecules, $13.99. “Hocus Pocus” fans have a choice of Sanderson sisters face masks, $9.99 and up at Redbubble. Animal faces are always popular costume elements, and the internet has many options, including a cat face from Redbubble $14 and child-sized masks of Pim the puppy, Kali the kitty and Tomo the tiger, among others, from Cubcoats, a brand known for animal-eared hoodies. A twopack costs $12.99. Various animal-face masks are also available on Amazon. It may be too late for Halloween ordering, but a mask made from a photograph of your pet’s face is perfect for a run to the pet store, too. Available for $15.98 from Linda and Philip Malin.
MARLBOROUGH By Avery Gough 9th Grade
VIRTUAL OPEN HOUSES OCTOBER 17 NOVEMBER 14
Visit buckley.org to register or get on our mailing list at admissions@buckley.org
This month has been very interesting and exciting for us students. Three weeks ago we had our first day of school and it was very fun, but sad at the same time. I’m sure like many others I was looking forward to going back to school in person and seeing my friends, and teachers. We have just learned that we will not be going back to school in October so that means no Fall sports like tennis. We had two guest speakers in
BUCKLEY
By Jasper Gough 11th Grade Buckley students will celebrate Founders’ Day on Oct. 2. As the name implies, Founders’ Day is the anniversary of Isabella Buckley opening the school in 1933. We don’t really do any school-wide events but there is free dress for the students. The annual Back Bash, which is our back-to-school party, has been postponed and adapted into a car parade, now scheduled for October 3rd. From Oct. 12-14, our lower
HAPPY PUMPKIN MASK from the Original Farmers Market.
The coronavirus is scary enough on its own; I’m not sure why we need full-face latex mask versions of it, but they exist. It’s unclear if they protect from the real virus, which might be the most terrifying part of it. However, to check them out, try the selection on ebay. To stick to more tried-andtrue Halloween horror masks, which do protect against the spread of the virus, Zazzle has $12.95 zombies, creepy clowns, monstrous mouths and mummies galore. Online sources have the biggest variety of masks, but the Original Farmer’s Market has a selection, as well. Sporte Fashion has several designs, including a skeleton face, a vicious jagged-tooth mouth and what appears to be a “Star Wars” stormtrooper, $3.99 each. 323-9326454. By Candlelight also has masks, including a charming happy pumpkin print, $10. our all-school meeting on Sept. 14. One worked as a senior policy adviser under President Obama and the other currently works on policy support for President Trump. We were able to ask questions of the guest speakers, and had formulated the questions in our history class. It was a great experience to learn about their different views on what is going on in the world right now. During the weekend of Oct. 3-4, there will be a virtual 5K race put on by the student council’s athletics representative. Unfortunately, for our high school students who were planning to take the SATs on campus on Sept. 26 and Oct. 3, these exams have been canceled. school will have a book fair. With the pandemic things are fluid and as of writing this column I am not sure if students will be back on campus when these events occur. Our seniors have college application week Oct. 19-23. Seniors during this time will be finishing up their college applications and this will be the last chance to send them in. They will not have homework during this week. Then, on Oct. 28, the fall musical will be announced and casting will start. We are currently unsure whether or not the students will be able to perform the musical in person to a live audience or if it will be recorded and emailed to those who pay for it. Lastly, Happy Halloween!
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COVID’s latest casualty: Halloween 2020, but candy endures By Caroline Tracy Halloween is one of this community’s, and all of greater Los Angeles’, most beloved holidays. Maybe it’s our residents’ penchant for set and costume design or our balmy late October nights? Either way, the celebrations usually begin well before Oct. 31. As with all aspects of life in the COVID-19 era, things are a bit different this year. In fact, a set of guidelines handed down by the Los Angeles County Dept. of Public Health on Sept. 9 essentially banned
THIRD STREET By Sofia Kirilov 5th Grade
Like many other schools in California and across the country, the start of this school year at Third Street Elementary has been very different. Due to the coronavirus and school closures, we cannot meet our teachers and school friends in person. Instead, all our students, teachers, and families have had to adapt to online learning. We now login to Schoology in the morning and interact with our teachers through daily Zoom meetings. I miss school as it was before the coronavirus, but I feel lucky to be at Third Street virtual school. Even though a lot of things have changed because of distance learning, some things are still the same. Most importantly, we are still learning! Through synchronous class activities over Zoom, as well as asynchronous assignments we complete on our own, everyday we are learning something new. Over Zoom, we also still have extracurricular activities like physical education, mindfulness practice, and technology lab. Our school even has virtual assemblies! For Hispanic Heritage Month, at school assemblies our principal and student volunteers had presentations on important Hispanic Americans. Our Third Street community is as strong as ever! We had a “Back to School Drive-Thru Celebration” to pick up our school materials. Our annual giving drive was a great start to our school’s fundraising activities. We also had a “Family Takeout Night” on Larchmont, with a portion of the proceeds from the Burger Lounge, Jeni’s Ice Cream and Chipotle being donated to our school. In addition to funding many key programs at Third Street, these donations now also help our school support athome learning. I look forward to reporting more positive news from Third Street Elementary throughout this challenging school year!
the holiday (listing any social gatherings, parades and door-to-door trick-or-treating as “not permitted”). The next day, however, officials released revised guidelines, upgrading trick-or-treating from “not permitted” to “not recommended.” Local Response I happened to be on the sidelines at my son’s soccer pod on the evening of the first announcement, and the reactions (on the part of four other moms) were of dismay. “They’ve suffered/endured so much loss already,” one mom lamented, speaking on behalf of the children. Of course, we adults love Halloween too and, luckily, we’ve all had a chance to sharpen our creative thinking and problem-solving skills as of late (thanks, COVID). I’ve spoken to a number of families in the area about their
plans, and many are moving forward with aspects of the holiday that involve little-tono risk. Costumes, decorations and, YES, candy “My kids will dress up as characters from Disney’s ‘The Mandalorian’ and we’ll decorate according to that theme as well,” said Nicky Coscas, Cloverdale and Third. “We are also doing a piñata smash. Even though it will just be us this year, the kids are still excited. They got to pick out the candy to fill the piñata, so there will be no ‘bad’ candy.” Neenu Uttamchandani, of Las Palmas and Third, is looking forward to decorating, both for her family and the benefit of any ogling neighbors. “We will probably make a big deal of it since it’s the kids’ favorite holiday. So,
we’ll dress up, but instead of going trick-or-treating, we’ll decorate the house in a big way for people driving by. For candy, we’ll do our own little scavenger hunt,” says Uttamchandani. The news hasn’t deterred
some from getting into the spirit early. As of the writing of this piece, Sycamore and Olympic resident April O’Brien, a self-proclaimed Halloween nut, had her house decorated for two weeks already.
Pumpkin patch, fall décor at Original Farmers Market
THE ORIGINAL FARMERS MARKET will be dressed up for fall.
Get into the spirit of the fall season with a visit to a pumpkin patch and to see the Original Farmers Market, 6333 W. Third St., decked out in autumnal splendor, Sat., Oct. 10 and Sun., Oct. 11. A limited number of visitors at a time may enjoy the pumpkin patch, with social distancing strictly enforced, and the decorations can be enjoyed all month. For more information, go to farmersmarketla.com.
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C I S U M
CALL OR TEXT 323 TO MAKE MUSIC WIT -522-4888 H US THIS FALL! LARCHMONT VILLAG E
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Neighborhood memorializes troubadour King Swami, 74 By Patricia Lombard He was known throughout the neighborhood as a kind and gentle, peace-loving man who was also quite a talented musician with a very good voice. King Swami, as he was known, a beloved figure on Larchmont, was introduced to the neighborhood nearly 20 years ago playing reggae and calypso music, first at the Larchmont Farmers Market and then later across the street. For the last 10 years, King would stop by Noah’s Bagels every morning. Manager Maria Samano told us that she first met King when
she was a student at Hollywood High School, because he would often play his music nearby. She and her staff helped King celebrate his 74th birthday a few weeks ago with a cake. “I miss seeing him everyday,” Samano told the Buzz. His legal name was Oscar Lee Lingo, but his stage name was King Swami. Friends told the Buzz that King started as a vendor at the Larchmont Farmers Market when the market started. He could be found surrounded by children listening to him play the guitar, the keyboard, the har-
John Kreis and Cathy Roe of Brookside are pleased to announce the marriage of their daughter, Alexandra Kreis, to Amanda Fish of Chestertown, MD.
Alexandra graduated from St. Brendan’s School ‘02 and Marlborough School ‘06. She also attended the University of Washington and earned a bachelor’s degree in accounting from Cal State Northridge in 2012. Amanda obtained a bachelor’s degree in print journalism from the University of Maryland in 2008. The couple was married in a private ceremony in Boulder, CO on September 19. The newlyweds reside in Denver, CO while Alex completes her clinical rotations for medical school; Amanda works in the tech industry.
KING SWAMI on Larchmont. TRIBUTE posted in front of Noah’s NY Bagels Larchmont. King Swami passed Sept. 11. Photo by Talia Abrahamson
monica and drums. “He was entirely self-taught,” Kyril Kasimoff of KasimoffBluthner Piano Co. on North Larchmont Blvd. told the Buzz. “His music is really quite good. He was very popular with families in the neighborhood and occasionally would be hired to perform at children’s birthday parties. He was very good with children. He was a living minstrel of Larchmont Blvd.” Kasimoff got to know King over the years through their shared love of music and musical instruments. He told the Buzz that King was born in Montgomery, Alabama on August 29, 1946 and was raised in Hawaii by his mother. At some point he made his way to Los Angeles. Kasimoff, like several others on the boulevard, looked out for King and tried to help out when they could. We heard stories about how Larchmont’s Ritz Dry Cleaners welcomed King when he needed space. Steve Vernetti, of Vernetti restaurant, told us how his children loved King and they purchased his music. Levena Lewis met King
years ago when she and her daughter would see him at the Larchmont Farmers Market. “King would go where he felt loved,” said Lewis, who lived in the Ridgewood-Wilton neighborhood when she met King. There are people all over Larchmont Blvd. that loved him.” “I had no idea what his life was like until I got to know him,” Lewis told the Buzz. Once she got to know him she realized he wasn’t really able to take care of himself. Lewis, a designer of handcrafted handbags and advocate for homeless women at the Downtown Women’s Center, used her connections in the city to help King get cataract surgery. But first she had to find him permanent housing. It seems that King mostly lived in his van and would travel around earning whatever he could playing music at various farmers’ markets. Thanks to Lewis, King found housing, had the surgery, and recovered, but then decided to move on from the housing. Lewis told the Buzz that it’s not uncommon for someone who has been unhoused for as long as King to prefer to live in his van. “He was a man of peace and joy and great spirituality,”
FORMER COUNCILMAN Tom LaBonge greets King Swami.
Steve Cohen told the Buzz. “I saw him everyday for nearly 24 years. He preached unity and love and always gave you a greeting of ‘one love.’” King has no family in the area so neighbors are trying to piece together how they can honor his passing. We will keep readers posted and invite you to share photos or stories you might have of King Swami, the minstrel of Larchmont. Reprinted with minor edits from the Larchmont Buzz, where the story first appeared on Sept. 15. Patricia Lombard is co-editor and publisher at larchmontbuzz.com
Village musical voice lives on
Generations have heard and played along with King Swami’s smile and his cool, rich happy music. Always a drum, rattler, tambourine and kids on toys accompanied him, Kyril Kasimoff of Kasimoff Bluthner Piano Co. told the Chronicle. In the tradition of reggae artist Bob Marley, King delivered a message of spirit, love, oneness, peace and God, said Kasimoff. Soon after his death, Next (Please turn to page 29)
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(Continued from page 28) Door was alight with tributes. “He was one of the kindest men I have ever had the pleasure of meeting and being friends with,” wrote Emilia Sparagna, who also founded the memorial on Larchmont in the musician’s honor.
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Within the first days after his death on Sept. 11, 25 neighbors had offered praise and respect to Sparagna’s post. He performed at kids’ birthdays, holiday parties, and he was the first musician to regularly play at the Larchmont Farmers Market. In addition to performing on the boulevard, King Swami
entertained on sidewalks from Larchmont to Leimert Park to Venice Beach. King Swami’s music lives on. Here are videos of King Swami G, seen with Ziggy Marley and former Councilman Tom LaBonge at the Larchmont Farmers Market: tinyurl.com/ y23ahuwa and tinyurl.com/ y3ku8k4j.
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REMEMBERING 9/11 AND GRANDPARENTS DAY, St. Vincent Meals on Wheels partnered with Project Giving Kids to make 1,000 decorated bags filled with toiletries on 9/11. The bags were distributed to seniors for Grandparents Day last month. Above, St. James’ students Madison Smith (left) and Marielle Riberi (right) with Brookside resident Gina Riberi, Project Giving Kids advisory board member and member of St. Vincent MOW’s Cuisine à Roulettes fundraising group.
James Pendleton Allen May 9, 1925 – September 2, 2020
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The Allen family mourns the passing of James Pendleton Allen, known to many as Jim (or Jimmy), who died on September 2 at his Hancock Park home of almost seven decades. In his 95 years, Jim was the beloved husband and best friend to Joyce for 68 years, who survives him. Jim was born in Los Angeles. He attended Los Angeles High School and Stanford University. He served in the U.S. Navy during WWII on the USS Blue Ridge as a radar operator. After graduating from Stanford, Jim joined his father and brother in the family-owned fine-stationery business, T.V. Allen & Company, where he worked for more than five decades. Jim oversaw global sales of the greeting cards and stationery for which the company was renowned. Jim loved traveling with Joyce, including many family trips to Hawaii, Africa and Europe. The expression “avid reader” does not begin to capture the number of books Jim enjoyed — thousands, with particular interest in history. He was an accomplished and gifted oil painter, capturing scenes and places from various trips in dozens of paintings. He is remembered for his smile, the twinkle in his eye, his sense of humor and love of a good laugh, all topped with his enduring kindness toward and interest in others. Every conversation started with Jim wanting an update from whoever he was with, and his genuine interest was apparent. In addition to Joyce, Jim is survived by his three daughters, Lynn Allen (Renè Umberger), Diane Allen, Kate Westlake (Blair), granddaughter Catherine Westlake and namesake grandson James Westlake and his wife Maggie. To honor Jim’s lifetime of generosity, donations in his memory may be made to “Good Samaritan Hospital Foundation” and be marked “In honor of James Allen” and be sent to PIH Health Foundation, 12401 Washington Blvd., Whittier, CA 90602. ADV.
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Bridge housing (Continued from page 1)
movement to bring awareness to thousands of women experiencing homelessness in Los Angeles, Wesson’s office said. Part of the citywide A Bridge Home housing developments, this $1.5 million site contains seven shipping containers reconfigured to hold 15 beds for women. Offices, an eating area, pet space and a hygiene container are also on site. These movable containers were meant to be installed quickly, “but it was more challenging than I thought to hook up power and things of that nature,” said Wesson. “But I’m still supportive of the concept, because these things can last forever and be picked up and moved to different locations.” He agreed to the location, in part of his district office parking lot, after an audience member at a meeting asked, “Why don’t you build a homeless shelter in your own backyard?” And so, he did. “I wanted to set an example,” he said. While bridge housing sites
MCDANIEL HOUSE will be a 47-unit senior housing facility on S. Harvard. Construction is expected to begin in 2021.
are designed to be temporary, permanent supportive housing projects are also under construction at Arlington and Venice boulevards and on Washington Boulevard near the council office, Wesson said. Hope on Lafayette The larger of the two bridge housing projects, Hope on Lafayette, is a one-story 70-bed dormitory-style lodging for men and women in a portion of Lafayette Park at S. Lafayette Park Pl. and Wilshire Blvd. A certificate of occupancy for this project is expected at the end of this month, said Michael Tonetti, communications depu-
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ty for Council District 10. The $4 million triangular bridge housing site also includes social service offices, a covered eating area, hygiene containers and planter gardens and landscape to include tall Mexican fan palms to match existing palms on Wilshire. Each steel pod is made from shipping containers or similar factory-built containerbased units so they can be installed quickly and will be approximately 320 square feet to sleep four people. Both Bridge Home developments were paid for by city and state funds. McDaniel House Also in the works are three shelters by Daylight Community Development, including the McDaniel House. “Our HHH Innovation Challenge projects continue to
Larchmont Chronicle
move forward pretty rapidly,” Greg Comanor, a Sycamore Ave. resident and Daylight cofounding partner, told us. The McDaniel House at 1043 S. Harvard is named for Hattie McDaniel, who lived at 2203 S. Harvard in West Adams. She played Mammy in “Gone with the Wind,” for which she won an Academy Award in 1939 for Best Supporting Actress. McDaniel led the Sugar Hill case, a lawsuit that laid the way for Fair Housing legislation, said Comanor. He expects to close financing on the 47-unit senior homeless project in June 2021 and begin construction soon thereafter. The two other Daylight projects are a 49-unit project at 11604 Vanowen St. in North Hollywood and Oatsie’s Place in Lake Balboa (Van Nuys). Downtown Women’s Center (DWC) is the service provider for the latter, a 46-unit project named after Mary Louise Oates, former society columnist for the “Los Angeles Times” and board member of DWC. (“Oatsie” is her nickname.) “These projects are coming in at around $400,000 per unit and will go through a 12-month construction timeline, which is significantly cheaper and faster than the traditional HHH project ($600,000 per unit with a 24-month construction timeline),” Comanor told us.
ACTIVITIES AT HOUSE on Lucerne Blvd. have been causing neighborhood strife.
Neighbors
(Continued from page 1) to Councilman David Ryu. The house, just north of Beverly Blvd. in the Larchmont Village Neighborhood, is rented and has been the site of countless parties, which, even without a pandemic, would be “profoundly disruptive,” according to the Sept. 18 letter. Noise at all hours of the day and night, rubbish, traffic blockage and parking shortages were among issues listed. Neighbors had notified law enforcement, the letter states. However, because of the pandemic, the rise in homelessness and social unrest as well as economic and environmental factors, the laws have not been enforced. The GWNC board voted 16-1 to send the letter to Council District Four with copies to the Mayor’s office, LAPD Wilshire Division and others.
Dorothy “Dickie” Olsen
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ifetime Hancock Park resident Dorothy Agnes Olsen, known to all as “Dickie,” passed away peacefully at the age of 99 enveloped in love. Dickie is survived by sons Chris, Paul (Judy), Ken (Mary), Steve, and daughters Pat (Mike) Smith and Jodi (Tom) Kelly. She was preceded in death by son Mike (Pam) and the love of her life, Kenneth Oscar Olsen, with whom she celebrated 75 years of marriage before his passing in 2018. Dickie was born in the family’s Los Angeles home, the youngest of eight children of Linda and Charles Von der Ahe. Mom often spoke of a charmed childhood, revealed in stories she told such as brother Walt returning from a date and waking her with an ice cream cone. With a solid foundation of love, it’s not difficult to understand how Mom grew a XXXL heart to accommodate every person she ever met. Not once did we see our mom judge another; not once did she turn someone away; not once did a moment of disappointment or anger cause her to lose her focus. When you consider she raised seven rambunctious kids and welcomed 18 grandchildren and 33 great grandchildren into her life, Mom’s legacy of love and acceptance is inspirational.
February 11, 1921 — August 22, 2020 Those of you who were privileged to know Dickie know this to be true: Mom was a woman who lived her faith. Every day. She was a selfless, deeply c o mp a s s i o n at e being with a reserve of empathy and patience that rivaled the saints. And she was ever the lady. Add to the “never” list the fact that not once did we hear her utter a cuss word. And she lived with a Norwegian! Besides her loving family, Dickie was influenced by 12 years of school at St. Mary’s Academy and a brief stint at Flintridge Sacred Heart. She majored in music at USC but chose to leave and marry Ken a year before graduating. While Mom may have left formal education, she was a lifelong learner. As her married life unfolded, in addition to raising the family, Mom learned how to minister to unwed women at St. Anne’s Maternity Hospital, how to navigate the legal system when she advocated
for and worked directly with homeless teens on the streets of downtown LA, and how to use her love of reading to chip away at inequalities in education. Mom’s contact with those less fortunate forever propped open her mind and heart, and as a result, she learned never to stand in judgment of anyone. At 97, she returned to the piano she loved and took weekly lessons until the end from a new friend, Rachel Applebaum. Dickie’s many contributions to the community did not go completely unnoticed even though she shunned the spotlight. Mom was a 1982 Larchmont Chronicle Woman of Larchmont, elected team captain at the Wilshire Country Club, and granted the title of Dame in both the Malta and St. Gregory organizations, a title that garnered the nickname Dickie—Dickie—Dame—Dame from one of her ne’er-do-well kids, the same one who introduced her to
what became a frequent retort – codswallop! The aggregate antics from the cabal of seven prompted Cathedral Chapel School to single Mom out for her endurance, perseverance and patience. While the only paycheck Dickie ever received was as an extra in a Lana Turner movie, make no mistake, Mom worked tirelessly to make life better for us all. On August 22, the same date that Dorothy Agnes Olsen first became a mom to son Mike 77 years ago, the world lost a model of how to live a life worthy of the Lord. Having known Dickie/Dickles/ Mom/Grammers/Grandma/RenRen, we have no excuse except to go forth in her memory to help make our world a better place. The family extends a special note of gratitude to Elena Ionica, Adam Guerra and Erasto Luis who went above and beyond in their expert, compassionate and loving care of Mom. And to David Cannom, MD, whose medical expertise is exceeded only by his generosity. You all will forever be in our hearts. A Celebration of Life has been held. If someone would like to honor Dickie’s memory with a donation to charity, Mom would want you to pick your favorite one.
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