Brentwood News 9.30.22

Antisemitic Flyers Distributed to Homes in Pacific Palisades and Brentwood

Congressman Ted W. Lieu calls on FBI to launch formal investigation

By Sam Catanzaro

Last month Congressman Ted W. Lieu (D-Los Angeles County), Co-Chair of the Bipartisan Anti-Semitism Task Force, called on the FBI to launch a formal investigation into hateful flyers that were distributed to homes in Brentwood and Pacific Palisades.

In a letter to FBI Director Christopher Wray, Rep. Lieu urged the FBI to do more to address the recurrent acts of antisemitism committed in and around Los Angeles County, noting that this week’s incidents were not the first time members of the community have received such flyers.

According to Lieu’s office, on August 21, 2022, residents of Brentwood and Pacific Palisades reported to local law enforcement that they discovered antisemitic flyers at their doorsteps. According to the Brentwood Community Council, neighborhoods in which

flyers were found include the northern portion of Brentwood Glen

“I condemn in the strongest possible terms the antisemitic flyers distributed in Brentwood and Pacific Palisades over the weekend. These recent incidents follow a string of antisemitic acts that have shocked and appalled our community. We need the Department of Justice to help local law enforcement track down those responsible for these flyers, and to address the antisemitism that is on the rise here and all over the country. We have to hold perpetrators accountable and prevent these incidents. I stand in solidarity with our Jewish neighbors and urge the FBI to do more to keep our community safe,” Lieu said.

In recent years, similar incidents have occurred in Beverly Hills, Manhattan Beach, Santa Monica, and other areas in the region. In addition.

In December 2019, the Nessah Synagogue, a Persian Jewish congregation in Beverly Hills, was vandalized, resulting in damage to the sanctuary and several Jewish relics. Days after, three Los Angeles Jewish schools were tagged with antisemitic graffiti. According to police reports, a swastika and hateful messages, including the phrase “time to pay,”

were found spray painted at the American Jewish University in Bel Air, the Westwood Charter School, and Milken Community High School. Similarly, in January 2022, antisemitic fliers were found at seven elementary and middle schools in Santa Monica.

“I am deeply concerned because if these acts continue to happen without appropriate

consequences, they will eventually lead to violence,” Lieu said. “I am committed to rooting out the kind of intolerance and bigotry that leads to these kinds of hateful acts. I will continue to work with local Jewish leaders, elected officials, and law enforcement to address anti-Semitism in our community.”

Developer Plans 136 Units of Housing Near Brentwood

Carmel Partners looking to bring development to area around Expo/Bundy station

By Dolores Quintana

A new development could be on the way near the Metro Expo/Bundy station in the future if the plans that Carmel Partners have in store are approved. The plans were submitted recently to the Los Angeles Department of City Planning and would replace six single-family homes currently across the street from Expo/Bundy.

Carmel Partners bought the homes in January of 2022 for a little over $17 million per city records. Those homes’ addresses are 2200 S. Amherst Drive, 2201 S. Bundy Drive, and 12102 through 121114

W. Exposition Boulevard. The developer’s plans are to use the entire plot, .64 acre, to develop an eight-story building that would hold 136 one and two-bedroom apartments, in a mixed use setting with ground floor retail space with 486 square feet above a two-level subterranean parking structure that would hold 93 vehicles.

TCA Architects are responsible for the development’s structural design and Ground Level, a landscape architectural firm, will be responsible for the outdoor design. According to Urbanize Los Angeles, the structure will be “clad in a combination of stucco, metal panels, and composite wood panels.” Plans also call for a recreation room and two amenity decks on the rooftop. Only some of the building’s frontage is dedicated to the ground floor retail and on the Exposition Boulevard side, some of the housing units will face the street on the ground level and the plans call for more living space on the Bundy side as

well.

Carmel Partners applied for Transit Oriented Communities incentives because of the density of the building and its proximity to the Expo/Bundy Metro Station

which would bend the zoning rules to allow for the height of the proposed building. In exchange, Carmel would have to reserve 15 of the units for extremely low-income level tenants.

Rendering: TCA Architects

Brentwood Community Council Board Application Period Open

Applications for open 2023 board positions should be submitted by the end of October

Looking to get involved with the community? The Brentwood Community Council (BCC) Board Application period is open for any person living or working in Brentwood.

The BCC is accepting applications for Board positions for the 2023-2024 term. Any person living or working in Brentwood is eligible to serve. For information and to fill out an application go to www.brentwoodcommunitycouncil.org.

Applications for open 2023 board positions should be submitted by the end of October.

The BCC meets on the second Wednesday of the month from 5:30-7:30 pm. By serving as a representative, you are a voice for Brentwood and help make decisions that come to the BCC from the City and State as well as promote the good of the community in local activities.

Any questions can be forwarded to info@ brentwoodcommunitycouncil.org.

Westwood Financial Returns Corporate Headquarters From Brentwood to Westwood

Company moves to 11th floor of Center West building on Wilshire

Westwood Financial, a leading retail real estate investment firm, announced recently the relocation of its Los Angeles corporate headquarters from Brentwood to Westwood, effective August 29, 2022.

The company’s offices were initially located in Westwood when the firm was started over 50 years ago.

“We are thrilled to be relocating back to Westwood where it all began. This move marks the beginning of a new chapter for Westwood Financial,” said Mark Bratt, CEO. “The modern workspace promotes innovation,

collaboration, and appeals to both current and future employees which is important in today’s competitive labor market and to our continued growth. The move will also reduce operating costs by approximately 50%, giving Westwood more working capital.”

The nearly 8,000 SF space is located on the 11th floor of the Center West building at 10877 Wilshire Boulevard in Westwood, California. The 23-story high-rise is situated in the heart of Westwood Village, across the street from the Hammer Museum and adjacent to UCLA. Westwood Village features over 120 shops and restaurants, many within walking distance, making it an ideal location.

Westwood Financial owns, manages and operates over 124 high-quality shopping centers located in top U.S. metropolitan markets including Atlanta, Charlotte, Dallas, Denver, Jacksonville, Los Angeles, Orlando, Phoenix, and Raleigh.

Photo: Westwood Financial

The Center West building.

Photo Cred. Robin Aronson Photography

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There has been much political theater at the national level in recent weeks, with Governors Ron DeSantis and Greg Abbott sending immigrants who cross over from Mexico to Martha’s Vineyard and Democratically run cities like New York and Chicago.

The Republicans are making a statement about the lack of border control and Democrats are saying the Republicans are cruel for using the immigrants as pawns in today’s partisan conflicts.

Governor Gavin Newsom made some snarky remarks about DeSantis, and DeSantis said all that hair gel was affecting Governor Newsom’s judgment.

I’m not sure how any of this actually solves our country’s long-overdue need to come up with an immigration policy that makes sense, but we live in an entertainment age, when political stunts and a snarky soundbite substitute for smart policy.

I think we see this at the local level, as well. Everyone knows we have a homelessness crisis, but nobody seems to be able to do anything about it. Westside moderates and conservatives say we need more tough love; liberals and ultraliberals say we need more compassion.

But leaving people on the street year after year isn’t compassionate. Tons of money gets

spent on this each year, but the problem keeps growing. Because of our great weather and socially tolerant politics, many homeless from other states come to California.

We shuffle encampments from one location to another and hope people will see it as “progress” when an encampment disappears. But once the problem has been moved from our backyard to someone else’s backyard – as happened in Brentwood this year when the encampment along the VA was removed – we tend to forget about the issue. But how many of these people really landed well?

It is not unreasonable for those who feel put upon to want to move the problem elsewhere. Just as residents of Texas, Florida and Arizona want to ship the immigrants off to Chicago, New York, Sacramento or Martha’s Vineyard, the residents of Venice Beach no longer want to be the dumping ground for the region’s –and even the country’s – homeless population.

Just as those in Texas, Arizona and Florida want the rest of the country to share in the burden of absorbing immigrants, I foresee the day when residents of Venice Beach will demand that the homeless population be spread around to other parts of the Westside, including Brentwood.

Brentwood has clout and has a way of protecting itself, but is that fair to Santa Monica, Venice Beach, Del Rey and other areas that absorb more than their fair share of the homeless?

What’s really needed is a big, FEMAlike approach to all this: We need much

more temporary shelter -- and quickly; we need much more in the way of mental health services – also quickly; and we need much more streamlining of services (and accountability for results) from the agencies that are supposed to be handling all this. We need to federalize our response to both homelessness and immigration; it’s not right certain communities and states bear more than their fair share of the burden.

There is no way we can afford or build enough permanent supportive housing fast enough to deal with the crisis at hand; we need a strategy to get from here to there. We need temporary shelters like tiny homes and

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Where, exactly, are we going to put these new, temporary shelters? Where will the tiny homes go? Which buildings can be converted to housing? Which landlords are willing to take in the homeless?

At some point – quickly, I hope – we need to get from the general to the really, really specific. Otherwise, this problem will never get solved. We are fiddling while Rome burns.

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Famous Italian Singer Zucchero to Play Beverly Hills Theatre on Sept. 30

By SuSan Payne

The famous Italian rock singer Zucchero Fornaciari is bringing his talents to the Los Angeles area at the end of September.

Hailed as the “father of Italian blues,” Zucchero will play at Beverly Hills’ Saban Theatre on Sept. 30, one of several American stops on his World Wide Tour that started in April.

In July, Zucchero opened for the Rolling Stones for the second time in his career in Germany, which was “a great honor for me,” the Italian singer said. Zucchero played shows in London, France, Spain, Luxembourg, Belgium, Netherlands, Slovenia and Switzerland, before coming to the United States in September to finish out the rest of his tour.

“I have always loved Los Angeles. I have recorded many of my albums there with Don Was as my producer and used some of the best musicians in the world. The LA audiences are so great and it’s the center of the music industry,” he said.

Nicknamed “Sugar,” the artist has a 45year long career in what he calls, “blues and rock, coupled with some R&B and pop thrown in, a real mix,” he explained. His stage name Zucchero means “sugar,” a nickname given to him in elementary school, according to the New Straits Times, an Italian newspaper in 2016.

“I have been lucky and have had a lot of success with many songs, but if I had to choose the most well-known, it would be, ‘Senza Una Donna’ (Without a Woman) that I recorded with Paul Young, ‘Miserere’ which I recorded with Luciano Pavarotti and ‘Baila’ which became a number one hit in many countries,” Zucchero said.

Zucchero’s musical career carries a wide range of influences including BB King, John Lee Hooker, Otis Redding, The Beatles, the Rolling

Stones, Ray Charles and Joe Cocker.

“They are all artists I have admired since a young age,” he said.

One of the first songs Zucchero learned to play on his guitar were the chords to “(Sitting on) The Dock of the Bay” by Otis Redding and “California Dreaming” by The Mamas & the Papas.

“Discover”, Zucchero’s most recent album released in 2021, is a compilation of songs he did not write, but wished he had written.

“I spent months listening to songs I loved before choosing the songs to record,” he said. “I then arranged them in my style.”

“Canta la Vita” on the album is a song with Italian lyrics previously written in English and called “Let your love be known” by Zucchero’s friend Bono. During the pandemic lockdown, Zucchero made a video of the song in Rome.

Another song on the album, “Amore Addeso” is the Italian version of a song by Michael Stipe.

Zucchero also sings a version of “Follow You Follow Me” by Genesis, “Wicked Game” by Chris Isaac and a reworking of “Trouble So Hard” by Moby.

“Discover is an album I enjoyed making,” Zucchero said.

With a career that spans three decades, Zucchero has sold more than 60 million records around the world and has won over 20 music awards, including a Grammy Award nomination.

Tickets for Zucchero’s Beverly Hills stop at the Saban Theatre on Sept. 30 can be found here. The show starts at 8 p.m. The box office can be reached at 888-645-5006.

Zucchero will play at Beverly Hills’ Saban Theatre, one of several American stops on his World Wide Tour

Photo: Daryl Brughman. The Zucchero show in Washington DC on September 13.

Russell Westbrook Seeks $30 Million for Brentwood Mansion 13,000-square-foot mansion hits market

By Dolores Quintana

Russell Westbrook, the point guard for the Los Angeles Lakers, has put his home in Los Angeles on the market amid what is termed as “perpetual trade rumors” as reported by The Dirt.com. Westbrook has only been with the Lakers for less than a year.

The home has been listed for slightly less than $30 million and is located in the Brentwood Park area. The estate is 13,000 square feet and was listed on September 15. Originally, Westbrook bought the manor for $19.8 million in May of 2018 so the price represents a large increase on what Westbrooke considers the property’s value to be. The home was brand new when Westbrooke bought it prior to leaving Oklahoma where he was playing for their City Thunder team. The price increase might be due to the fact that Westbrooke has upgraded the still new property with custom and “ultra-bespoke” additions to the home.

There are not many photos of the property, but the listing calls it “modern traditional”. The home was designed by Ken Ungar Architect who designs custom luxury homes. This structure has an open floor plan, high ceilings, hardwood floors, and many French doors, with custom moldings and finishes with

big lawns in the outside areas.

The listing describes the home’s amenities and says,” The large kitchen enjoys imported marble slabs and a center island while overlooking the rear grounds, the breakfast room, and the huge family room which has warm wood flooring, a wet bar, and a fireplace. The lower level encompasses a second family room, a large formal bar, a walk-in chilled wine room, a gym, a guest bedroom and an ultimate movie theater. On the top floor, the Five Star primary suite features a vaulted wood paneled ceiling, a spa-like bathroom lined with imported marble slabs with two separate bathrooms joined by an oversized glass shower, a private patio and two separate walkin clothes that rival any luxury department store. “

According to The Dirt.com, the estate is on a corner lot with a half acre of space and Bjorn Farrugia at Hilton & Hyland and Donnell Beverly Jr. at Berkshire Hathaway HSCP are the realtors in charge of the listing.

Sale of the Familian Campus of American Jewish University Finalized

AJU Board votes September 13 to approve sale to EF Education First

Last week the American Jewish University Board of Directors approved the sale of their Bel Air Campus, calling the move “an important decision that will be a strategic investment in our institution’s long-term future.”

On September 13, the Board voted to accept an offer for the sale of the Familian Campus in Bel Air to EF Education First, a family-owned international educational organization that helps people become global citizens through language learning and international academic degree programs.

“Across California and around the world, EF has developed world-class academic campuses and maintains a positive reputation as a good neighbor, community leader and trustworthy local partner,” AJU said in a press release.

Under the terms of the agreement, AJU administrative offices will continue to reside on the campus until approximately September 2028. AJU’s 2700-acre Brandeis Bardin Campus in Simi Valley will not be affected by this sale and will remain under AJU’s stewardship.

“AJU’s mission is to advance and elevate the Jewish journey of individuals, organizations, and our community through excellence in scholarship, teaching, engaged conversation, and outreach. In recent years, it has become clear that the cost of maintaining our Bel Air campus increasingly ran counter to our pursuit of this mission –– a hard reality brought into

greater focus by the COVID-19 pandemic,” AJU said. “American Jewish families and communities have changed dramatically in the past two decades. Our institutions have a responsibility to be nimble in meeting this moment. AJU is determined to serve our community where it is – and where it is going in the coming decades – through our range of schools and academic centers, community programs, camps, and other offerings.”

This sale will enable AJU to devote significantly greater resources and focus to its core mission – and to meet the evolving needs of the Jewish community in Los Angeles and beyond, now and in future generations.

In the wake of the move, AJU has established a working committee to oversee the process of transitioning out of our Bel Air campus and planning for the future.

“It will operate as transparently as possible, sharing information with our community as it becomes available. Separately, EF looks forward to introducing itself to the local community and they will be hosting a community open house and information session in the weeks ahead,”

AJU said.

Fax: 310-394-1800

15th Street)

Monica,

90404

Photo: Hilton & Hyland

Photo: Official American Jewish Univeristy’s Familian Campus.

Brentwood-Adjacent Upper Crust Pizza Up and Running

Farmshop Releases Dinner Menu

Dinner hours take place between 5:00 p.m. and 9:30 p.m., Wednesday through Sunday

By Dolores Quintana

Pizzeria now open at 11916 Wilshire Boulevard

By Dolores Quintana

We reported back in June that Brentwood would be getting a new location of Upper Crust Pizzeria. That location is now officially open in Sawtelle at 11916 Wilshire Boulevard (just across the border for Brentwood) and is doing well.

Owner Paolo Lopes said, via phone interview, that after the opening of the restaurant, which is in the former space of a well-liked French restaurant in the neighborhood, their business has increased each week.

He said that people in the neighborhood came by to check out the new business and after the first week, their business doubled and after the second week, their business tripled. If you’d like to order from Upper Crust Pizzeria here.

Farmshop in the Brentwood Country Mart has revealed its fabulous new dinner menu. Located at 225 26th Street in Santa Monica, the restaurant is only taking reservations for their dinner hours at this time. Dinner hours take place between 5:00 p.m. and 9:30 p.m., Wednesday through Sunday.

Established in 2010, it has been a long time since the last dinner service at the restaurant. The menu comes with the admonition that “cell phones, tweeting and e-mailing have been proved harmful to other diners’ appetites, please refrain.”

The dinner menu is comprised of three courses and sides, the first course is the starters, or appetizers, which are Calvisius Caviar with our seeded pumpernickel and achadinha cultured butter which is $98, Mike & Sons Deviled Eggs with blue hill smoked trout and soft herbs for $16, organic chicken liver mousse with housemade lemon cucumber pickles, sangria gelee and our sourdough for $21 and Chips & Dip with herbed farmer’s cheese and Grey Whale Gin cured salmon roe for $19.

The second course, entitled Next has avocado hummus with Santa Barbara pistachio salsa verde, Nigella seeds and lavash for $17, a salad of Salanova lettuces from Coleman Family Farms with shaved crudités, Coastal Creamery goat gouda, Freddy Guy’s hazelnuts, fines herbs and citrus dressing for $17, a Crudo of Royal Hamachi with Weiser Farms melons, anise hyssop, finger limes and fresh wasabi for $23, citrus marinated olives with goats milk feta and Marcona almonds for $11, crispy artichokes with di Stefano burrata,

Regier Farms stone fruit, nasturtium pesto and activated macadamia for $23, Thorne Family Farms Yellow Tomato Gazpacho with avocado chutney, saffron & California olive oil for $16 and Acquerello risotto fritters with our zesty tomato sauce with Cravero Cellars parmesan for $16.

The third course is dubbed Followed By, which is the entree menu and comes with choices like line-caught halibut with heirloom tomatoes, artichokes barigoule, Bloomsdale spinach, Taggiasca olives and Ras El Hanout for $46, Snake River Farms eye of ribeye with herbed smashed potatoes and charred broccoli di Ciccio, Fromage blanc béarnaise and black garlic for $69, Liberty Farms Duck Breast with sweet corn pudding, charred Jimmy Nardello peppers and plum glaze for $38, Angry Crab Spaghetti Nero Pasta with AllePia ‘Nduja sausage, Pacific Dungeness crab, herbed walnuts and calabrian chili pesto for

$36, Pitman’s Heritage Chicken a la plancha that is shawarma spiced with preserved lemon labneh, house made pita and pickled shallots for $35 and slow baked salmon with caramelized fennel, terry ranch figs, chickpea Panisse & caper berry condiment for $38.

The last section of the menu is a menu of sides available to order as additions to the other dishes. This section comes with smashed Yukon Gold Potatoes with creamy avocado pistou and watercress for $12, heirloom Quinoa Tabbouleh with cherry tomatoes, summer herbs and eureka lemon for $12, charred Broccoli di Ciccio with fat uncle farms lemon pepper almonds and corno pepper conserva for $12 and finally our sourdough bread with Central Coast Family Farm extra virgin olive oil for $9.

National Park Service Acquires 45 Acres of Land

Adjacent to the Backbone Trail

The land includes a cluster of four former privatelyowned parcels

The National Park Service (NPS) has acquired 45 acres of land that abuts the Backbone Trail and is a critical portion of its viewshed in the Circle X Ranch area of the Santa Monica Mountains.

The land includes a cluster of four former privately-owned parcels and was

purchased using funds from the Land and Water Conservation Fund (LWCF).

“Many may not be aware that the National Park Service still acquires new parkland for conservation and recreation,” said Justin Yee, an outdoor recreation planner for Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area. “We like to believe that visitors hiking in the Western Santa Monica Mountains would appreciate knowing that a particular section of land was preserved in a pristine and undisturbed state unspoiled by development for their enjoyment.”

The land contains the confluence of three drainages and their steep, upland slopes including chaparral and rocky outcrop

habitat. It is part of the viewshed from the Triunfo Pass section of the Backbone Trail and from the Sandstone Peak Trail.

The Land and Water Conservation Fund was permanently authorized in August 2020 by the Great American Outdoors Act. Funds are used to acquire lands, waters, and interests therein necessary to achieve the natural, cultural, wildlife, and recreation management objectives of the NPS.

Although the LWCF is relied upon for many federal land acquisitions, philanthropic and non-profit organizations are important partners in ongoing efforts to protect land for future generations.

Photo: Facebook (@UpperCrustPizza)

Photo: National Park Service

A 45-acre cluster of land was recently acquired by the National Park Service in the Circle X Ranch area of Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area.

online on-campus&

SANTA

Louise Jaffe,

Barry Snell,

Susan Aminoff;

Nancy Greenstein; Dr. Margaret Quiñones-Perez; Rob Rader;

Sion Roy; Catalina Fuentes Aguirre, Student Trustee

Kathryn E. Jeffery, Ph.D., Superintendent/President

SANTA