MINUTES FROM APRIL 10th 2025
Voting Members in Attendance: Sue Kohl, Quentin Fleming, Jenny Li, Beth Holden-Garland, Maryam Zar, Chris Spitz, Cindi Young (arrived late)/Joanna Spak (until Cindi Young’s arrival), Carol White, Julia Nilsen, Kimberly Bloom, Karen Ridgley, Lorie Cudzil, Sharon Kilbride, Andrew Wolfberg, Rick McGeagh, John Padden, Courtney Macker, Eric Dugdale, David Card, Kaye Steinsapir, James Alexakis, Richard Blumenberg, Andy Frew, Hagop Tchakerian
Non-voting Members and Advisors: Joanna Spak (after Cindi Young’s arrival), Michael Edlen, Lee Anne Sanderson, Daphne Gronich, Cindy Simon, Jessica Rogers, Barbara Kohn, Kevin Niles, Bruce Schwartz, Rob Weber
1. Call to Order and Reading of Community Council’s Mission. The meeting was called to order at 6:02 p.m. Lorie Cudzil read the Mission Statement.
2. Introductions / Roll Call. The President introduced the members and called the roll.
3. Certification of Quorum. The President certified quorum.
4. Approval of Minutes. The minutes of March 27, 2025, were approved as distributed.
5. Consideration of Agenda & Upcoming Meetings. The agenda was as distributed. Upcoming meetings: April 24, 2025 (topics to be announced); May 8, 2025 (Nominating Committee to nominate candidates for officers positions, 2025-26 term; nominations from the Board accepted).
6. Treasurer’s Report. The Treasurer reported that the Council’s bank balance is $113,931.42, with recent regular donations and a donation of $2,000 from the Sonoma & Santa Rosa Fire District.
[Note: Councilwoman Traci Park gave remarks at the beginning of the meeting in connection with item 11.1, Rebuilding the Palisades, which was taken following the Treasurer’s Report; see item 11.1 below]
7. General Public Comment:
7.1. Irv Klein (DePauw resident) relayed his opinion that LAFD let us down during the fire and there is no faith that they will ever protect us; he believes we won’t be able to proceed with the rebuild unless this issue is addressed.
7.2. Diane Bleak (Highlands resident) spoke about CHP vehicles backing into driveways of schools from Las Lomas to Palisades Drive. She also mentioned that street lights are still out in the Highlands area, and asked for help in this part of the community.
7.3. Barbara Bruderlin (President, Malibu-Palisades Chamber of Commerce) announced that 15 businesses are now open in the Palisades Village area and 7 businesses are open in Santa Monica Canyon. Businesses are struggling in the Palisades and Malibu and she encouraged everyone to patronize the businesses that have opened, both brick-and-mortar and online.
8. Reports, Announcements and Concerns.
8.1. From the Chair/Presiding Officer.
8.1.1. The President announced the members of the Nominating Committee, to nominate candidates for PPCC officers for the 2025-26 term: Lorie Cudzil, Chair; Kimberly Bloom, Steve Cron, JoAnna Rodriguez and Chris Spitz. She described the process required under the Bylaws, including the fact that the Committee will announce its candidates on May 8 and the Board also will have an opportunity to nominate other candidates.
8.1.2. The President reported that she has appointed Jessica Rogers, PPRA Alternate, and Reza Akef, long-time past Area 8 Representative and a Palisades builder, to the PPCC Rebuild Committee.
8.1.3. The President announced again that we have received a donation of $2,000 from the Sonoma & Santa Rosa Fire District. A representative of that organization traveled to the Palisades in order to hand the donation personally to the President. She also related that she has been advised that the Riviera Country Club will donate to PPCC $634,846.50 for fire relief efforts. At future meetings the Board will discuss the best use of the donated funds.
8.2. From Officers/Chair Emeritus.
8.2.1. Maryam Zar (Chair Emeritus) – See item 11.1 below.
8.3. From At-Large and Area Representatives.
8.3.1. Kimberly Bloom (Area 5) spoke about an important bill introduced by Sen. Allen, AB 495 (the Eliminate the List bill), which would require insurers to cover the entire cost of replacing household goods lost in the fire without demanding a detailed inventory from the insured. Ms. Bloom remarked that the more the community can attend the Ad Hoc Committee for LA Recovery meetings, the better to comment and voice concerns. She said it is so important for us to show up and be heard. Arus Grigoryan (CD11 Deputy) commented that she believes the next meeting may be on April 21st at 10 am and they are awaiting confirmation
8.3.2. Chris Spitz (At-large) gave an update on a response to PPCC’s and WRAC’s letters requesting that government officials conduct an examination into the misuse of funds to address homelessness. The U.S. Attorney in Los Angeles has now organized a “Homelessness Fraud and Corruption Task Force.” She has written on behalf of the WRAC Homelessness Committee to thank the DOJ and to request a representative to explain the work of the Task Force an upcoming WRAC committee meeting.
8.4. From Organizational Representatives – None.
8.5. From Government Offices / Representatives (as available). Contact information for government representatives: https://pacpalicc.org/index.php/government-contacts/.
8.5.1. Brian Espin, LAPD Senior Lead Officer (SLO), Pacific Palisades. SLO Espin mentioned that traffic lights are blinking red to help slow traffic down. CHP is there with a presence trying to keep people moving more slowly in the area. SLO Espin will be out of town for our next meeting, but invited attendees to email him with any concerns.
8.5.2. Arus Grigoryan, Palisades Field Deputy, CD11 (Councilwoman Traci Park), updated us on several matters, including the Councilmember’s work with the County Assessor. Ian May, a representative of that office, was on the call and announced a town hall/Disaster Resource Fair to take place on Sunday, April 27th, regarding property tax relief for those impacted by the fires; this event will be in Westchester at the LAPD Police Training Facility. Ms. Grigoryan also spoke about the work of the Bureau of Street Lighting to repair street lights in the Palisades, as well as StreetsLA/Urban Forestry’s efforts to restore and maintain the thousands of trees located in our public right-of-way areas.
8.5.3. Marian Ensley, West Area Field Deputy, Mayor Karen Bass – not present.
8.5.4. Zac Gaidzik, West-Coastal Deputy, Sup. Lindsey Horvath reported on the work of the Supervisor and stressed the upcoming ROE deadline, April 15, 2025. He mentioned her motion (which has now passed in the BOS) to create one Homelessness Dept. in the County that will be overseen by the Supervisors. He also noted that fire debris on Will Rogers State Beach will soon be removed. The Supervisors are focusing on homes on PCH and getting the ROE forms completed quickly, so the government can go in and clean up, and they want to prevent further waste being dumped into the ocean. The Supervisors have been in contact with the Army Corps of Engineers and they are hoping to have this stretch of PCH cleaned up by June 1st. Their office is working to help clean piles of debris from public beaches, and there was a delay getting paperwork so they can take the waste quickly to landfills. They are co-hosting a beach cleanup with Heal the Bay on April 19, from 10 am to 12 pm at Santa Monica Pier.
8.5.5. Samantha Gallegos, Field Representative, SD 24 (Sen. Ben Allen) reported on several bills introduced in the legislature by Sen. Allen, including SB 495 (the “Eliminate the List” bill). She advised that the Senator will be speaking with the Recovery Coalition on April 15.
8.5.6. Anthony Avila, Field Representative, AD 42 (Asm. Jacqui Irwin) – Ryan Valencia, District Director, spoke in Anthony Avila’s absence. He reported on the Assemblymember’s work in the legislature, and expressed appreciation for PPCC’s vote to support AB 238, providing for mortgage payment forbearance to those suffering financial hardship due to the fire. He also noted that Asm. Irwin will hold a “Sidewalk Session” with constituents at the end of May in Malibu (date TBA).
8.6. From PPCC Advisors and Liaisons — None.
9. Reports from PPCC Committee.
9.1. PPCC Land Use Committee (LUC; Chris Spitz, Chair). Recommendation and introduction of two motions for action by the PPCC Board:
(A) Oppose SB 79 / Support CF 25-0002-19. See attachment for motion text & background.
The LUC Chair introduced and explained the motion on behalf of the LUC. No second was necessary because the motion was made by a committee of more than one voting member. She noted that this was another housing density/streamlining bill from Sen. Wiener that fails to contain an unconditional exemption for the Very High Fire Hazard Severity Zone (VHFHSZ), which PPCC has consistently opposed. Discussion was called but there was none. A vote was then called; result: unanimous in favor of the motion.
(B) Support AB 238 / Support CF 25-0002-26. See attachment for motion text & background.
The LUC Chair introduced and explained the motion on behalf of the LUC. No second was necessary because the motion was made by a committee of more than one voting member. The LUC Chair noted that this bill was non-controversial and had recently passed in the Assembly unanimously; it is now going to the Senate for a vote. Discussion was called but there was none. A vote was then called; result: unanimous in favor of the motion.
10. Old Business – None.
11. New Business.
11.1. Rebuilding the Palisades [Note: item taken earlier in the meeting, following the Treasurer’s report].
Councilwoman Traci Park attended briefly at the beginning of the meeting and described the work her office is doing to assist with the Palisades’ recovery. She was calling in from Hawaii, on the ground in Lahaina (Maui) with the Governor of Hawaii and with FEMA, to learn and observe how they have dealt with the environmental impact in the aftermath of the fire in Lahaina. The Councilwoman has visited Santa Rosa, Paradise and other communities that have gone through the same and learned best practices in going forward; she has introduced over two dozen motions based on what she has learned from other communities that have experienced the same issues in the aftermath of fires. CW Park remarked that it was great seeing so many familiar faces from the Palisades, and that Palisadians are bringing positive energy back to their circumstance after January 7th.
Maryam Zar then spoke on behalf of the Palisades Recovery Coalition, describing in detail how the Coalition was formed and the work it was doing, including developing an initial plan for recovery. She has been working on the project with a great deal of input and engagement from a brain trust of individuals to discuss Palisades recovery. She mentioned that they have had very little support other than their own ingenuity and resiliency, when discussing what the rebuild might look like. The Coalition has discussed how to safely allow emergency trucks the ability to come into the area, and how to make construction flow work together with materials and man-power accessible locally to get the much-needed builders on the ground. She is working with CD11 Traci Park’s office in sharing the logistics of their discussions. She emphasized that the plan is a beginning effort dealing with logistics, with more work to come. She noted that the Coalition will be meeting next on April 15 at Canyon Square in Santa Monica Canyon, joined by Senator Ben Allen. See the plan at:
https://pacpalicc.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/PRC-Plan-to-PPCC-FIN.pdf. The meeting was well-attended and numerous questions were asked and answered.
Next, a representative of Hagerty Consulting, Harrison Newton, attended and provided a slide show which gave general information about Hagerty’s work in the field of emergency management, although non-specific to the conditions in Pacific Palisades. Tracey Philips of Hagerty was expected, but did not attend. Several attendees expressed disappointment that he did not give specifics about Hagerty’s work as it relates to the Palisades. Several questions were asked but Mr. Newton indicated that he would not be able to answer questions at this time.
12. Adjournment. The meeting was adjourned at 8:26 pm.
___________________
ATTACHMENT — Item 9.1(A):
Motion text:
See Motions Recommended by the LUC to the PPCC Board – Oppose SB 79 / Support CF 25-0002-19:
https://pacpalicc.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/LUC-motions-for-4-10-25.pdf
Background information:
https://pacpalicc.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/Background-LUC-Motion-SB-79.pdf
ATTACHMENT – Item 9.1(B):
Motion text:
See Motions Recommended by the LUC to the PPCC Board – Support AB 238 / Support CF 25-0002-26:
https://pacpalicc.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/LUC-motions-for-4-10-25.pdf
Background information:
https://pacpalicc.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/Background-LUC-Motion-AB-238.pdf