{"id":12884,"date":"2024-11-15T17:47:44","date_gmt":"2024-11-15T17:47:44","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/pacpalicc.org\/?page_id=12884"},"modified":"2024-11-15T17:50:31","modified_gmt":"2024-11-15T17:50:31","slug":"ppcc-minutes-2024-10-24","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/pacpalicc.org\/index.php\/ppcc-minutes-2024-10-24\/","title":{"rendered":"PPCC Minutes — 2024 \/ 10 \/ 24"},"content":{"rendered":"

Return to 2024 Minutes<\/a><\/p>\n

MINUTES FROM OCTOBER 24th 2024<\/h5>\n

Voting Members in Attendance:<\/strong>\u00a0\u00a0 Sue Kohl, Quentin Fleming, Jenny Li, Beth Holden-Garland, Chris Spitz, JoAnna Rodriguez, Carole White, Robert Trinkkeller, Karen Ridgley, Kimberly Bloom, Lorie Cudzil, Sharon Kilbride, Andrew Wolfberg, Eric Dugdale, Courtney Macker, Haldis Toppel, Janet Anderson, John Evans, Richard Blumenberg, Hagop Tchakerian<\/p>\n

Non-voting Members and Advisors:\u00a0 <\/strong>Daphne Gronich, LeeAnne Sanderson, Michael Edlen, Cindi Young, Joanna Spak, Rick McGeagh, Cindy Simon, Sharon Garrett, Kevin Niles, Jessica Rogers, Ella Nozar<\/p>\n

1.\u00a0\u00a0 Call to Order and Reading of Community Council\u2019s Mission.\u00a0 <\/strong>The meeting was called to order at 6:01 p.m.\u00a0 Lorie Cudzil read the Mission Statement.<\/p>\n

2.\u00a0 \u00a0<\/em>Introductions \/ Roll Call.\u00a0 <\/strong>The President introduced the members and called the roll.<\/p>\n

3.\u00a0 \u00a0Certification of Quorum.\u00a0 <\/strong>The President certified quorum.<\/p>\n

4.\u00a0\u00a0 Approval of Minutes. \u00a0<\/strong>The minutes of October 10, 2024, were approved as distributed.<\/p>\n

5.\u00a0 \u00a0Consideration of Agenda & Upcoming Meetings.<\/strong>\u00a0 The agenda was as distributed. Upcoming meetings:\u00a0 November 14, 2024<\/u><\/em> (announcement of PPCC Awardees); December 12, 2024<\/u><\/em> (Awards Gala \/ dinner \u2013 presentation of Citizen of the Year, Golden Sparkplug\/s and optional Pride of the Palisades honors).\u00a0\u00a0 (Note: there is one meeting only in November and December; the Awards event in December replaces the regular business meeting.)<\/em><\/p>\n

6.\u00a0\u00a0 Treasurer\u2019s Report.\u00a0 <\/strong>The Treasurer reported that the Council\u2019s bank balance is $52,520.76.\u00a0 Donations since the last report:\u00a0 $48.06.\u00a0 Expenses paid since the last report: $54.<\/p>\n

7.\u00a0\u00a0 General Public Comment<\/strong> \u2013 None.<\/p>\n

8.\u00a0\u00a0 Reports, Announcements and Concerns. <\/strong><\/p>\n

8.1.\u00a0\u00a0 From the Chair\/Presiding Officer<\/u>.<\/p>\n

8.1.1.\u00a0\u00a0 Update \u2013 Orientation session for new representatives, held 10\/16\/24.\u00a0 The President reported that the orientation was a great success, with the new PPCC primary and alternate representatives in attendance.\u00a0 A great deal of information was imparted and questions were answered.<\/p>\n

8.1.2.\u00a0\u00a0 Bylaws Committee appointment.\u00a0 The President announced that she has appointed the following members of the Bylaws Committee:\u00a0 Maryam Zar, Chair; Quentin Fleming, David Schwarz, Chris Spitz and Andrew Wolfberg.\u00a0 The Committee may make recommendations for possible future Bylaws amendments.<\/p>\n

8.1.3.\u00a0\u00a0 PPCC position letters written since last meeting (homelessness funding investigations): https:\/\/pacpalicc.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/10\/PPCC-Letter-Homeless-Funding-InvestigationsR1a.pdf<\/a> https:\/\/pacpalicc.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/10\/PPCC-Letter-Little-Hoover-Commission.pdf<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The President asked Chris Spitz, At-large Representative, to provide an update.\u00a0 She explained that we have received a response from the Little Hoover Commission\u2019s Executive Director, who advised that our letter has been received and that the Commission may add our request for an investigation by the Commission to their November 7th meeting agenda.\u00a0 She will monitor.<\/p>\n

8.1.4.\u00a0\u00a0 PPCC position letter written since last meeting (unfinished construction): https:\/\/pacpalicc.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/10\/PPCC-Letter-Unfinished-Construction.pdf<\/a><\/p>\n

The At-large Representative noted that Area reps in areas of the Palisades with serious unfinished or abandoned construction projects have reached out to CD 11 for assistance.\u00a0 She deferred to the Area reps to explain the status.<\/p>\n

8.2.\u00a0\u00a0 From Officers\/Chair Emeritus<\/u> \u2013 None.<\/p>\n

8.3.\u00a0 \u00a0From At-Large and Area Representatives<\/u>.<\/p>\n

8.3.1.\u00a0\u00a0 JoAnna Rodriguez (Area One Representative) reported on the status of the large unfinished construction project in the Castellammare area. JoAnna is keeping in contact with City staff, who are looking into the matter of non-compliance with relevant regulations, which she was told has been referred to the City Attorney.\u00a0 She also advised that there is no news to report on the Tramonto project.<\/p>\n

8.3.2.\u00a0\u00a0 Sharon Kilbride (Area Seven Representative) reported on the recent successful hillside task force effort to find and remove homeless encampments in our hillside and canyon areas.\u00a0 The event took place on October 22 and was the third such successful hillside task force. Members of LAPD, LAFD, City park rangers (4), County park rangers, County lifeguards, outreach workers, Exodus (an unarmed crisis response team), PPTFH and other community volunteers (including Sue Kohl) came together and participated.\u00a0 They found and removed evidence of eight encampments, in the Corona del Mar bluffs (2 campsites), the Via de las Olas bluffs (3 campsites), along Temescal Canyon (2 campsites), in Los Leones (1 campsite), as well as RV dwelling in Los Leones (1 RV).\u00a0 A great deal of trash and debris was collected and hauled away by volunteers.\u00a0 No persons were found at the sites, but services would have been offered had they been at any of the campsites.\u00a0 Sharon also stated that she was pleased to report that we have three new officers assigned to the beach detail.<\/p>\n

8.3.3.\u00a0 Cindy Simon (Area Six First Alternate) announced that the YMCA is hosting a family friendly \u201cSmashing Pumpkins\u201d event on Saturday, October 26 from 4:30-7pm at Simon Meadow.\u00a0 All are welcome and there is no charge.<\/p>\n

8.4.\u00a0\u00a0 From Organizational Representatives<\/u>.<\/p>\n

8.4.1.\u00a0 Haldis Toppel (Theatre Palisades\/TP) announced that opening night of the next TP production, \u201cPrivate Eyes,\u201d will take place on November 8.\u00a0 The production will run through December 15.\u00a0 On November 20, TP will present a special tribute to the playwright Christopher Durang.<\/p>\n

8.5.\u00a0\u00a0 From Government Offices \/ Representatives<\/u> (as available). Contact information for government representatives: https:\/\/pacpalicc.org\/index.php\/government-contacts\/<\/a>.<\/p>\n

8.5.1.\u00a0\u00a0 Brian Espin, LAPD Senior Lead Officer (SLO), Pacific Palisades:\u00a0 SLO Espin reported on crime year to date in the Palisades.\u00a0 He displayed a graphic table on screen, which showed that some types of crimes were down YTD, but burglary is up 13.4% and theft is up 16.4% since last year. The LAPD is attempting to use technology to try and catch criminals when they can, including searching for photos via security cameras, putting trackers on cars and phone tags.\u00a0 However, LAPD\u2019s West LA Division covers 65 square miles which is a large geographic area considering their level of staffing, which is lower than other areas. As explained, the Westside has the least amount of crime in the City and is therefore allocated the least amount of resources.\u00a0 It is not possible for Officer Espin to be in the Palisades 24\/7.\u00a0 He is very supportive and encouraging of Neighborhood Watch programs, and he said he would help if anyone in the Palisades wanted to explore forming a Neighborhood Watch group.\u00a0\u00a0 He emphasized that it is important for neighbors to communicate, to keep an eye on each other, and report burglaries they are seeing to officials, as well as their own community.\u00a0 In response to a question from Kimberly Bloom (Area Five Representative), he stated that there is a national Neighborhood Watch program which distributes signage; visit www.NNWI.org<\/a> and apply for signs. SLO Espin also announced that a new City pilot program, the “Unarmed Model of Crisis Response \/ UMCR,” is being launched in West LA and will feature teams of unarmed medical practitioners to respond to 311 calls involving only nonviolent<\/em> situations.<\/p>\n

8.5.2.\u00a0\u00a0 Michael Amster, Palisades & Brentwood Field Deputy, CD11 (Councilwoman Traci Park):\u00a0 The recent Dog Park community meeting was well-attended and successful.\u00a0\u00a0There was a great of input from constituents who had perspectives on grass versus synthetic turf and issues with dangerous and illegal U-turns and parking challenges.\u00a0\u00a0CD11 will continue to take new input on the upcoming dog park, for which Michael emphasized they have now secured funding.\u00a0 CD 11 wants to make the park as good as possible with input from the community.\u00a0 He is trying to arrange for another community meeting in a few months.\u00a0 Michael also reported about several stabilization efforts, including on Paseo Miramar (per BOE, the developer will undertake a two-phased approach to stabilization); along Revello Drive in Castellammare (CD 11 staff brought many sand bags with sand from Venice Beach to stabilize the area before the rainy season); on the Asilomar bluffs (they are looking to clean up and also put down K-rails, as well as stabilize loose soil); and a hillside project below 821 Adelaide Drive (slope area along Entrada Drive and down from the 7th Street hill, with a tarp covering the slope area; CD 11 is working with BOE on stabilization of the slope before the rainy season).<\/p>\n

8.5.3.\u00a0\u00a0 Marian Ensley, West Area Field Deputy, Mayor Karen Bass \u2013 Not present.<\/p>\n

8.5.4.\u00a0\u00a0 Zac Gaidzik, Coastal & Westside Field Deputy, County Supervisor Lindsey Horvath:\u00a0 The Board of Supervisors has adopted their $49.2 billion dollar budget.\u00a0 They are working on homelessness issues and attempting to address the mental health crisis.\u00a0\u00a0The Supervisors have created a centralized command center for homelessness in Los Angeles \u2013 the Emergency Centralized Response Center for Homelessness, or \u201cECRC\u201d — in which all City and County agencies are in the same room and have access to all data bases.\u00a0 The Supervisor\u2019s office has also been working on the issue of RVs parked along PCH between Coastline Drive and Topanga, as they present a danger for fire and other hazards. Tow-away signage has now been posted and they are beginning enforcement.\u00a0 Finally, Zac reported that although he does not have an exact date, the much-needed repair of the beach bike path bridge will now take place by next summer.<\/p>\n

8.5.5.\u00a0\u00a0 Samantha Gallegos, Field Representative, SD 24 (Sen. Ben Allen) \u2013 Not present.<\/p>\n

8.5.6.\u00a0\u00a0 Anthony Avila, Field Representative, AD 42 (Asm. Jacqui Irwin) \u2013 Not present.<\/p>\n

8.6.\u00a0\u00a0 From PPCC Advisors<\/u> and Liaisons<\/u>.<\/p>\n

8.6.1.\u00a0 Chris Spitz (WRAC Vice-Chair and PPCC liaison) reported that the WRAC Homelessness Committee (HOC) is holding a special Roundtable event with key elected officials on October 28th in Westwood, to discuss state policies and measures to address the homelessness crisis.\u00a0 Our state Senator Ben Allen and Assemblymember Jacqui Irwin, together with Assemblymember Rick Zbur, will be guest speakers.\u00a0 The At-large Representative (HOC Vice-Chair), along with Cindi Young (primary PPCC rep to the HOC) and Maryam Zar (2nd Alternate PPCC rep to the HOC) will attend.\u00a0 They will ask the state representatives to request that the Little Hoover Commission study the mismanagement and misuse of funding to address the homelessness crisis.\u00a0 She will report on the Roundtable at the PPCC meeting in November.<\/p>\n

8.6.2.\u00a0 \u00a0Lou Kamer (Transportation Advisor).\u00a0 The President read a report provided by the Transportation Advisor, who could not attend: \u201cLADOT has been slowly repairing many of the 311 requests we have submitted.\u00a0 The big remaining spot is on Sunset between Chautauqua and Brooktree, where the lane markings need to be restriped to help people drive in their own lanes.\u201d<\/p>\n

9.\u00a0\u00a0 Reports from PPCC Committees.<\/strong><\/p>\n

9.1.\u00a0 \u00a0Awards Selection Committee<\/u> (Quentin Fleming, Chair). Awards Nominations process update.\u00a0 Committee Chair Fleming announced that the Committee is reviewing nominations for Citizen of the Year and Golden Sparkplug honors, which are coming in and will be accepted until 8pm on October 26, 2024. \u00a0The Committee has initially met to go over the criteria for each award and will meet again to decide on the awardees after all the nominations are in.<\/p>\n

9.2. \u00a0\u00a0Awards Event Committee<\/u> (Co-Chairs Kohl, Holden-Garland, Spitz). \u00a0Awards Gala event update. The President reported that after considering several potential event venues, the Committee has selected Casa Nostra in the Highlands as the location for the Gala dinner on December 12th.\u00a0 Stay tuned for more event details to be announced at our upcoming meetings.<\/p>\n

10.\u00a0 \u00a0Old Business<\/strong> \u2013 None.<\/p>\n

11.\u00a0\u00a0 New Business.<\/strong><\/p>\n

11.1.\u00a0\u00a0 Neighborhood Watch and Public Safety\/Crime Prevention<\/u>:\u00a0 Presentations by Neighborhood Watch coordinators \u2013 Cyndi Hench (Westchester) and Kathy Morgan (Brentwood), and LAPD SLO Brian Espin. (Discussion only). \u00a0<\/em>Guest speaker Cyndi Hench from Westchester explained that their Neighborhood Watch has been very effective for the Westchester Area; residents have caught burglars by spotting them and noting what they were wearing, and then being able to call police when the burglars were about to rob another home in the area.\u00a0\u00a0They created \u201cWhat\u2019s App\u201d groups that alarm each other to crime that is being committed in the area, so neighbors are aware in real time.\u00a0\u00a0 She offered her experience to the Palisades community in setting up our own Neighborhood Watch groups.\u00a0\u00a0 Guest speaker Kathy Morgan lives in Crestwood Hills in Brentwood, and has been involved in setting up a Neighborhood Watch for the Brentwood community as well.\u00a0\u00a0In her area, they were experiencing a high rate of burglaries, so they set up a Neighborhood Watch group, and used What\u2019s App to be able to communicate with a bigger group of people in real time.\u00a0\u00a0 She recommended that neighbors make note of suspicious people coming into the neighborhood and report them to each other.\u00a0\u00a0She said there is power in numbers, and they work with other associations in Brentwood as well, such as the BHOA and BCC.\u00a0 They recently requested a meeting with Karen Bass, the LAPD Chief of Police, CD11 Councilwoman Traci Park, and LAPD Patrols, and they were able to meet them and express their concerns.\u00a0 She was asked if they had NW signs provided in their area, and she said that signs can be purchased.\u00a0 She recommended that residents get active, knock on your neighbor\u2019s doors, and get organized so everyone can communicate with one another.\u00a0\u00a0NNWI.org was also mentioned as a resource for signs and merchandize, as well as RYLAN for additional tips and platforms.\u00a0 Cyndi Hench replied, in response to a question from Michael Edlen (At-large 1st Alternate), that there is a program called \u201cBusiness Watch\u201d for commercial constituents who are interested.\u00a0 Both speakers emphasized the importance of Neighborhood Watch, explaining that forming a NW group\u00a0fosters community connections\u00a0and is a\u00a0critical public safety tool both for crime prevention and disaster preparedness and response,\u00a0<\/em>especially given current conditions in which\u00a0police are understaffed and often unavailable for rapid response.\u00a0 The President thanked the speakers for attending and providing this valuable information.<\/p>\n

12.\u00a0\u00a0 Adjournment.\u00a0 <\/strong>The meeting was adjourned at 8:04 p.m.<\/p>\n

Return to 2024 Minutes<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Return to 2024 Minutes MINUTES FROM OCTOBER 24th 2024 Voting Members in Attendance:\u00a0\u00a0 Sue Kohl, Quentin Fleming, Jenny Li, Beth Holden-Garland, Chris Spitz, JoAnna Rodriguez, Carole White, Robert Trinkkeller, Karen Ridgley, Kimberly Bloom, Lorie Cudzil, Sharon Kilbride, Andrew Wolfberg, Eric Dugdale, Courtney Macker, Haldis Toppel, Janet Anderson, John Evans, Richard Blumenberg, Hagop Tchakerian Non-voting Members […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":16,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"full-width-page-template.php","meta":{"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-12884","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/pacpalicc.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/12884","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/pacpalicc.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/pacpalicc.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pacpalicc.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/16"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pacpalicc.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=12884"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/pacpalicc.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/12884\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/pacpalicc.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=12884"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}