Santa Monica Mirror 3.3.23

Developer to Build Apartments with Retail Near Santa Monica Library PAGE 4

Ceiling Repair at Will Rogers Learning Community May Result in Students Being Moved

Work would not begin until after 2025, according to SMMUSD officials

By Sam Catanzaro

The Santa Monica Malibu Unified School District says the ceiling at Will Rogers Learning Community is in need of repair, which could result in students being relocated while the work is being done.

According to SMMUSD Chief Operations Officer Carey Upton speaking at a February 16 board meeting, the glue used to secure ceiling tiles at the school has begun to fail over the years, resulting in the tiles falling. The tiles are difficult to reattach and added that the glue is from the 1950s and contains asbestos.

While Upton clarified that asbestos poses no immediate danger unless it becomes airborne, he emphasized that there is a real challenge

with it. At some point, SMMUSD will have to take everything off the ceilings, abate them and replace them.

“You cannot breathe it unless literally somebody took a hammer and smashed it and made it airborne, so it’s not dangerous or an exposure,” Upton said during the meeting.

However, this process will take longer than the 10 weeks of summer vacation offers. As a result, students will have to be relocated while work is being done. Work is not expected to begin until after 2025 when John Muir Elementary/Santa Monica Alternative School House (SMASH) campus is scheduled to reopen and a new building at Will Rogers will be completed that could temporarily offer space for displaced students.

According to SMMUSD, across the district, there is between $6-7 million dollars of critical roof reports needed but only $2 million is budgeted for that work. This would be the latest such instance of displacement for SMMUSD students.

Last year almost 150 John Muir Elementary/ SMASH students were transferred to Will Rogers after extensive water issues were uncovered on their campus. Repairs to their campus are expected to cost almost $20 million

and will keep students relocated until January 2025 at the earliest. In total, this school closure forced over 250 students to various schools within the SMMUSD school district.

Iconic Sea Dragon Ride on Santa Monica Pier Set to Retire After 12 Million Rides

Ride to close on March 9 after over two decades of thrills

By Sam Catanzaro

After more than two decades of high-flying thrills, the original Sea Dragon ride on the Santa Monica Pier is set to retire. Pacific Park, the amusement park where it has called home since its opening in 1996, is inviting guests to bid farewell to the iconic ride. Until March 9, the Sea Dragon will be located in the upper pier parking lot adjacent to the east entrance of Pacific Park, open daily from 11 a.m. to 9 p.m.

Guests are encouraged to share their favorite memories and experiences on the swing ride by submitting videos, photos or text at https:// pacpark.com/seadragonmemories. After more than 12 million rides, the attraction holds a special place in many hearts of people from

near and far.

“We look forward to sharing the public’s memories of the Sea Dragon with our guests and team members as we celebrate the retirement of the original Sea Dragon ride,” said Nathan Smithson, Director of Marketing and Business Development at Pacific Park on the Santa Monica Pier. “The Sea Dragon is an iconic piece of the amusement park ride experience for everyone including the film and music industries and numerous celebrities.”

The Sea Dragon has made several appearances in Hollywood films such as “Iron Man” and “Her,” as well as sharing the spotlight with regional Mexican music artists La Séptima Banda. The ride was even featured in a book launch for “Stella Rose and the Sea Dragon.”

On March 9 at 8:00 a.m., Pacific Park will host a special retirement send-off for the original Sea Dragon before it makes way for an all-new version of the ride. The swinging ship features two lifelike dragonheads that give

passengers a sense of being caught in turbulent waters. With its 180-degree arc motion and thrilling launches, riders are treated to a series of drops over its 40-foot journey. Weighing in

at 6,000 pounds and measuring over 26 feet long and three feet wide, it is accentuated with two twelve-foot-tall sea dragon heads on each end.

Samohi Theatre’s “The Drowsy Chaperone” Takes the Stage in Santa Monica

Shows will take place at Barnum Hall on March 3 and 4 at 7 p.m. and March 5 at 3 p.m., following three successful shows last week

By Sam Catanzaro

Tickets are now available for Samohi Theatre’s production of The Drowsy Chaperone, a romantic tale set in the roaring 20s with a cast of zany characters that includes dancing gangsters, huge musical numbers, mistaken identity and vaudeville-style gags. The show will take place at Barnum Hall on March 3 and 4 at 7 p.m. and March 5 at 3 p.m., following three successful shows last week. Tickets can be purchased at samohitheatre.org.

The Drowsy Chaperone has been hailed as “the Perfect Broadway Musical” by New York Magazine and won five Tony Awards and seven Drama Desk Awards when it first played on Broadway in 2006. In this witty “Musical within a Comedy,” the audience is transported to another world as a die-hard musical fan

Samohi Among Schools Represented by NCL Westside Chapter’s Class of 2023 Senior Recognition

Career Panel Event and Class of 2023 Senior Recognition dance set for March 5 and 11

bestselling author and Co-Founder/CEO of Order of Magnitude; Alec Spivack, Director of Partnership Strategy for the Los Angeles Rams and sports enthusiast with an obsession for innovative and strategic marketing campaigns.

plays his favorite cast album, a 1928 smash hit “The Drowsy Chaperone,” which magically comes to life.

“This show was a HUGE hit on Broadway, and our amazing production features a full pit orchestra, incredible costumes, show stopping dance numbers, tons of laughs and over 100 Samohi students! Suitable for all ages, you don’t want to miss this fun show!” said Theatre Director, Kate Barazza.

Theatre Director Kate Barazza says the production features over 100 Samohi students, a full pit orchestra, incredible costumes, showstopping dance numbers and tons of laughs suitable for all ages.

For more information about the show, contact samohi.theatre.info@gmail.com or visit their EPK available online.

National Charity League Westside Chapter is set to host two events in March, the Career Panel Event in Brentwood and the Class of 2023 Senior Recognition Dinner-Dance in Marina del Rey.

The Career Panel event, scheduled for Sunday, March 5th at Brentwood Country Club, will feature a panel discussion of dynamic women in various career fields such as education, medicine, entrepreneurship, marketing, and sports. The event will also feature a skills session on “how to network” for mothers and daughter members of the Westside Chapter.

The panelists at the Career Panel event include Dana Gonzalez, Director of Upper School and Gender Studies teacher at Brentwood School in LA; Cara Natterson, MD, pediatrician, consultant, New York Times

On Saturday, March 11th at The Ritz Carlton in Marina Del Rey, the Westside Chapter will be hosting the Class of 2023 Senior Recognition Dinner-Dance Graduating. The graduating class will be honored and recognized for their leadership development, cultural activities and philanthropy services they completed during their six-year mother-daughter program. The evening will commence with a Father/ Daughter Waltz to “Daughters” by John Mayer followed by dinner and awards.

The Ticktockers from the graduating class will be recognized for their over 1,000 philanthropy hours achieved during their time with The Westside Chapter of NCL. They worked closely with philanthropy partners such as Bread and Roses, Hollygrove and Ronald McDonald House. Heal the Bay was selected as their focus philanthropy this year where they spent summer/fall cleaning up nearby beaches.

Developer to Build Apartments with Retail Near

Santa Monica Library

Project would include 60 units at Santa Monica Boulevard and 7th Street

A developer is planning to build 60 apartments with ground-floor retail across the street from the Santa Monica Public Library’s main branch.

Developer Grubb has unveiled plans to build a mixed-use apartment building at the intersection of Santa Monica Boulevard and 7th Street. The project site would replace a small commercial building with a new fivestory edifice featuring 60 apartments and approximately 3,900 square feet of groundfloor retail space. The proposed plans include 15 affordable units for extremely low-, very low-, low-, and moderate-income residents.

Tighe Architecture is designing the building which will feature stucco, brick veneer, wood, and metal cladding. A central courtyard above the podium divides the building into two solid volumes fronting Santa Monica Boulevard.

Walgreens to Purchase

Pharmaca’s 22 Store Locations and Prescription Files as Parent Company Medly Files for Bankruptcy

The open corridor in the center provides a break in the elevations creating an appropriate massing response along this longer elevation. An additional amenity deck is proposed for the rooftop.

Due the project’s location in Downtown Santa Monica, no on-site parking is proposed for this development. However, it should be noted that this proposal is still in its preliminary view stage and has yet to face a vote by the Board.

Pharmacies close their doors February 25

By Dolores Quintana

Pharmaca Integrative Pharmacy, which has locations in Pacific Palisades, Brentwood, Beverly Hills and Santa Monica, closed its doors for good on February 25. Medley Health Inc. was Pharmaca’s parent company after Medly acquired Pharmaca in June 2021 but ran into financial difficulties and filed for bankruptcy in December 2022. Medley intended to sell Pharmaca’s 22 stores in the United States.

On Tuesday, February 9, Walgreens and Medly reached an agreement for Walgreens to purchase Pharmaca’s 22 store locations and Medly’s prescription files, pharmacy inventory, and intellectual property, including its trademarks and logos according to Yahoo

News. This is the reason why Pharmaca’s prescriptions are being transferred to Walgreens locations.

Senior director of external relations Fraser Engerman said, in a written statement as quoted by Yahoo News, “Specific store details are still being finalized given the timing of the bankruptcy court’s ruling Tuesday, however prescription files and inventory are expected to transfer to nearby Walgreens pharmacies by mid-February. Patients do not need to take any action. We will automatically transfer their pharmacy files to a designated Walgreens location. Patients will receive notice about any changes through the mail and other means with details about continued access to their prescriptions and other services”.

Multiple sources said that Pharmaca locations have priced their inventory at 50% starting on Friday, February 10.

In addition, Pharmaca’s online store will be closed as of March 31 according to Beauty Independent.

The Urgency to Retrofit EarthquakeDeficient

buildings were classified according to their structural type, and different categories were given separate deadlines to complete the work. Some categories were given up to 20 years for completion.

Recent early-morning tremors off the Malibu coast, and the huge and terrible earthquake in Turkey and Syria have made us take another look at Santa Monica’s earthquake-retrofit program for vulnerable buildings. This program, started in 2017, identified buildings at risk of collapse in an earthquake and required them to be reinforced. It now seems that staff shortages are making it difficult for the city to enforce those 2017 earthquake-retrofit ordinances.

After the Northridge quake, the City compiled a list of at-risk buildings, and started a campaign to get them reinforced – or demolished. That effort resulted in repairs to many buildings throughout the city, but many remained untouched. In 2013, an article in the Los Angeles Times revealed that over the years the City’s effort had faded and was forgotten. The list of vulnerable buildings that the City had painstakingly assembled in the 1990s was, in fact, lost in the files and the post-Northridge retrofit program had long been stalled. Many buildings that should have been repaired or reinforced after the quake were left exposed to the chance of catastrophic damage in a future tremor.

After the exposé was published, the City funded a new study and eventually assembled another list of vulnerable buildings. In 2017 the city started a renewed seismic retrofit program, identified about 2,400 buildings that were potentially vulnerable, and began notifying property owners of the need to comply with the new seismic retrofit laws. All

Since then a large number of buildings have been repaired or retrofitted. Others, with structural features that gave the owners longer time-frames for repair under the retrofit program, remain without structural upgrades.

Last year, an Information Item report by staff to City Council (https://tinyurl.com/ rynp4wws) suggested that the city may have trouble enforcing all of the requirements in the 2017 ordinances, and may need to hire more staff to ensure compliance by owners of vulnerable buildings. Many of these owners have missed preliminary deadlines for parts of the work, such as structural analyses, which are required under the law. These analyses and project plans, said the staff, are “critical... in ensuring timely completion of projects. However, enforcement has not been actively applied at these stages.” The report points to the Code Enforcement Division’s “current staffing limitations and varying priorities” in explaining the lack of enforcement of these preliminary obligations by building owners.

A large portion of the buildings identified as vulnerable–most of them two-story apartment buildings–must have their retrofits completed by 2025. The staff report suggests that the department will need to increase staffing to ensure that the city can enforce compliance with the law. Our own, informal, experience suggests that staffing is currently so short that new projects may be experiencing significant delays in obtaining permits. This is causing problems for applicants and staff members alike, and the ripple effects may be spreading into the earthquake-retrofit program. In a

SMa.r.t. article from January, 2017 (https:// tinyurl.com/3z8h7kxs) we discussed the enormous workload that would fall on city staff’s shoulders once the flood of seismic upgrade permits began. These predictions seem to be coming true.

We have all seen the catastrophic earthquake pictures two weeks ago streaming out of Turkey and Syria: the flattened buildings, the staggering traumatized freezing survivors, and the hopeless excavations. The pain is compounded by the daily horror we have already been seeing for a whole year in Ukraine: the same unsurvivable pancaked buildings, the same crying survivors, the same broken mashup of glass, concrete and furniture avalanching down the face of buildings hit by missiles. While these two tragedies seem far away, they are closer than we think. Many of our readers were living here in 1994 when we experienced the 6.7 Northridge earthquake that resulted in 57 deaths and severely damaged the Northwest quadrant of our City.

Fortunately, most Santa Monicans live in low-rise wood-framed buildings that are generally more survivable than older concrete or masonry buildings. Nonetheless, earthquakes are a real but random danger for our City. While we have not seen a big one in almost three decades, this means that statistically every year that goes by without one brings us closer to the certainty of being slammed by a big one. There is an urgency to use this “grace” period of unknown duration to actively prepare for the inevitable.

With final deadlines approaching, a large number of retrofit permit applications, including those which missed earlier deadlines, are likely to show up at the last minute just before their respective cutoff dates. This may coincide with the increased workload that will surely result from the State’s requirement that

the city approve about 9,000 new units in the next 8 years. The staff may find it impossible to adequately process and enforce all the earthquake retrofit applications, and the city will feel pressured to extend the time frames for the work, in a form of “amnesty” that would, in effect, allow deficient buildings to remain deficient longer. The fact that many of the deficient buildings that collapsed in Turkey had been given a similar “amnesty” should give us pause.

It is now six years since the earthquakeretrofit ordinance was passed, and it is incumbent on the city to see if the owners of these buildings have been following the plan. The city must resolve any staffing issues causing delays, and it must check whether the owners of vulnerable buildings on its list have been following the rules, including meeting vitally-important preliminary deadlines. This is a core obligation for the city.

The importance of ensuring that owners of vulnerable buildings are complying with the law, including preliminary time limits, can’t be overstated. The city, building owners, and managers must take this responsibility seriously to protect the public and ensure that our built environment remains safe and functional for generations to come.

Mario Fonda-Bonardi AIA & Planning Commissioner, and Daniel Jansenson, Architect, Building and Fire-Life Safety Commission.

Santa Monica Architects for a Responsible Tomorrow: Thane Roberts, Architect, Robert H. Taylor AIA, Ron Goldman FAIA, Architect, Dan Jansenson, Architect & Building and Fire-Life Safety Commission, Samuel Tolkin Architect & Planning Commissioner, Mario Fonda-Bonardi AIA & Planning Commissioner, Michael Jolly, AIR-CRE.

Obituary: Michael J. B. Allen: 1941-2023

Michael J. B. Allen, distinguished professor, engaging teacher, accomplished scholar, dynamic raconteur, avid hiker, and loving family man, passed away peacefully of natural causes on February 25, 2023 in his Santa Monica home. 81 years old at his death, he is survived by wife Elena, sons Ben and Will, sister Patricia, daughters-in-law Claudia and Melanie, grandchildren Paloma, Moses, and Ezra, and dog Wiglaf.

Michael was born on April 1, 1941, in Lewes, East Sussex, England to Frederick “Jack” and Ena Muriel (nee Bridgman) Allen, who imparted to him a love of learning, history, literature and the countryside. Michael contracted polio as a young boy, an ailment that impacted his arm strength for the rest of his life. Nursed back to health by his devoted mother, Michael excelled in school, was one of the top students at Lewes Grammar School and a Queen Scout, eventually enrolling at Wadham College, Oxford University, where he earned his Bachelors (1964) and Masters (1966) degrees in English. Many years later, in 1987, he was granted a distinguished D.Litt. in history from his alma mater in recognition of his exceptional academic and scholarly work.

Allen made his way to the United States, teaching at Ohio University before enrolling in the English Ph.D. program at the University of Michigan, earning his doctorate in 1970. It was in Ann Arbor where he met Elena, with whom he would share the rest of his life. Their first date? A movie theater visit to see “The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly.” When Michael received a job offer to serve on the faculty at UCLA starting in 1970, he and Elena made their way west together and settled in Santa Monica. They were married in Los Angeles in 1972. Allen distinguished himself as a teacher and scholar, making past worlds and perspectives come alive in lectures, courses, tours, and books. His teaching focused on the range of English literature from the AngloSaxons to Milton, and especially Chaucer, Donne, and Shakespeare. His research focus, however, turned toward the philosophical, theological, magical, and mythological

issues explored by the fifteenth-century Italian Platonists, Marsilio Ficino and Pico della Mirandola. Allen’s perhaps greatest contribution to scholarship was in opening up new access to and analysis of Ficino for the modern era.

Professor Allen’s many prestigious honors included a Guggenheim Fellowship; the Eby Award for Undergraduate Teaching (UCLA’s top teaching honor); UCLA’s Faculty Research Lectureship; numerous international guest lectureships; the Commendatore decoration from the Italian Republic (2007); the International Galileo Galilei Prize (2008— for his work on Florentine Platonism); election as Fellow of the British Academy in London (2012); Scholar in Residence, American Academy in Rome (Spring 2013); and the Renaissance Society of America’s Paul Oskar Kristeller Lifetime Achievement Award (2015).

In addition to inspiring generations of UCLA students through his legendary English 10A course, where he taught a cross-section of English literature from Beowulf through Milton, along with popular Shakespeare and Chaucer classes, Allen served as a faculty lecturer with UCLA Travel for many years, enthralling alumni travelers with funny, engrossing, and sophisticated but accessible lectures on historical, philosophical, and literary topics relevant to the places they were visiting. His love of travel, adventure, and interesting places, literature, and cultures was infectious. He was a sought-after lecturer, and his dramatic readings of Pepys’ journals of life in 17th-century London at CMRS dinners became the stuff of legend.

He wrote or edited some 21 books, some of his authoring highlights included: The Platonism of Marsilio Ficino, University of California Press (UCP-1984); Icastes: Marsilio Ficino’s Interpretation of Plato’s Sophist, (UCP-1989); Nuptial Arithmetic: Marsilio Ficino’s Commentary on the Fatal Number in Book VIII of Plato’s Republic (UCP-1994); Synoptic Art: Marsilio Ficino on the History of Platonic Interpretation. Olschki Press,

1998; Marsilio Ficino: Platonic Theology, 6 vols. with James Hankins, Harvard University Press (HUP-2001-2006); Marsilio Ficino: Commentaries on the Phaedrus and Ion (HUP, 2008); and Marsilio Ficino: Commentaries on the Mystical Theology and the Divine Names of Dionysius the Areopagite, 2 vols. (HUP, 2015).

Michael was a devoted family man and environmentalist who loved jogging along the beach and hiking with family and friends, both in his beloved South Downs of East Sussex and the Santa Monica Mountains of Southern California. He developed a keen eye for local flora and fauna and would read extensively about ecology, botany, and other scientific topics. While generally a talented cook, he was infamous for poorly-cut and exceedingly simple cheese sandwiches that he would serve to fellow hikers. He coached his sons in soccer, winning the Santa Monica City championship with a red-uniformed pre-teen team he had evocatively named “The Blood Demons” in 1990. He was a dear colleague and friend, serious weekly darts player with fellow professors Al Braunmuller, Reg Foakes, and Alan Roper, and academic collaborator with friends professors Fredi Chiappelli (who became godfather to his son Ben), Jim Hankins, Brian Copenhaver, Deb Schuger, John Monfasani, Kenneth Muir, Valery Rees, and others. He was a devoted son, bringing his family to spend summers in his beloved hometown Lewes with his mum and dad, with long walks on the Downs with father Jack and son Ben. Michael was proud of his sons’ academic and career achievements, seeing son Will go from earning his doctorate in public health policy to a Directorship of Research with Los Angeles County’s Department of Public Health. He played an important role in son Ben’s successful campaign for the California State Senate in 2014, charming friends old and new at events along the campaign trail, while giving advice and strategy. He was also a devoted grandfather, a true pater familias, a funny and deeply wise and comforting presence and father figure for the extended

family of Nicholas, Allen, and Bautista inlaws and others at family gatherings and celebrations. His lifelong loving marriage with wife Elena, a teacher and artist, leaves all who knew them with a shining example of love, affection, partnership, and commitment. He will be remembered for his wit, intelligence, dynamism, vivacity, love of storytelling, and perennially sunny disposition.

The family will hold a private funeral ceremony soon, followed by a memorial likely on Sunday, April 2—the day after what would have been Michael’s 82nd birthday—in beautiful Royce Hall (Room 314) in the hall where his 2012 retirement symposium was held on the UCLA campus he loved so much. For more information and opportunities to share your memories of Michael, please visit www.michaeljballen.com. Those interested in making a contribution in Michael’s honor are asked to donate to a fund in his name at UCLA’s Center for Medieval and Renaissance Studies, a fund to sponsor a bench for him in his beloved Santa Monica Mountains, or a donation in his name in Lewes through Sussex Past / The Sussex Archaeological Society. More information will be provided soon on the website.

SUPERIOR COURT OF CALIFORNIA COUNTY OF LOS ANGELES

ORDER TO SHOW CAUSE FOR CHANGE OF NAME

Case No. 23SMCP00093 Superior Court of California, County of Los Angeles 1725 Main St. | Santa Monica, CA 90401

Petition of: Carolina Bezerra Eisenman, by and through Carolina Bezerra Eisenman for change of name.

ORDER TO SHOW CAUSE FOR CHANGE OF NAME

To all interested persons Carolina Bezerra Eisenman

Petitioner: filed a petition with this court for a decree changing names as follows:

a Carolina Bezerra Eisenman to Carolina Eisenman

A FICTITIOUS NAME STATEMENT GENERALLY EXPIRES AT THE END OF FIVE YEARS FROM THE DATE ON WHICH IT WAS FILED IN THE OFFICE OF THE COUNTY CLERK, EXCEPT, AS PROVIDED IN SUBDIVISION (b) OF SECTION 17920, WHERE

IT EXPIRES 40 DAYS AFTER ANY CHANGE IN THE FACTS SET FORTH IN THE STATEMENT PURSUANT TO SECTION 17913 OTHER THAN A CHANGE IN THE RESIDENCE ADDRESS OF A REGISTERED OWNER. A NEW FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT MUST BE FILED BEFORE THE EXPIRATION. THE FILING OF THIS STATEMENT DOES NOT OF ITSELF AUTHORIZE THE USE IN THIS STATE OF A FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME IN VIOLATION OF THE RIGHTS OF ANOTHER UNDER FEDERAL, STATE, OR COMMON LAW (SEE SECTION 14411 ET SEQ., BUSINESS AND PROFESSIONS CODE). SANTA MONICA MIRROR to publish 02/23/2023, 03/03/2023, 03/10/2023, and 03/10/2023

The court orders that all persons interested in this matter appear before this court at the hearing indicated below to show cause, if any, why the petition for change of name should not be granted. Any person objecting to the name changes described above must file a written objection that includes the reasons for the objection at least two court days before the matter is scheduled to be heard and must appear at the hearing to show cause why the petition should not be granted. If no written objection is timely filed, the court may grant the petition without a hearing.

NOTICE OF HEARING:

Date: 07/02/21 | Time: 8:30AM | Dept: K A copy of this ORDER to SHOW CAUSE shall be published at least once a week for four successive weeks prior to the date set for hearing on the petition in the following newspaper of general circulation, printed in this county: SANTA MONICA MIRROR | Dated: March 2, 20223 Judge Lawrence Cho Published: 03/03/2023, 03/10/23, 03/17/2023, and 03/24/2023

YOU BELONG AT SMC

Classes start March 6 On-campus and online smc.edu/spring