Can we fire someone?

Maybe I'm being picky here, but this happens too much. I was reading a news story about a man who was shot in Sherman Oaks last week and then CBS2 grabbed a quote from a detective from the West Valley Station.

Wait a second, West Valley doesn't cover Sherman Oaks, Van Nuys does. So I look at the address of the block of the incident and lo and behold, it's Encino.

For heaven's sakes, the article is titled "Sherman Oaks Man Shot After Opening Door."

Van Nuys/Sherman Oaks Park Update

Straight from Wendy Greuel's office:

The repair and repaving of the parking lots on the South side of the park is beginning. The first lot to be done is Tyrone at Huston, followed by the Huston Lot by the play area and finally, the Hazeltine lot. The Senior Center lot is still under review for short term treatments since it will need to be replaced (and reconfigured) after the new Senior Center is Constructed.

No more bottoming out will be a fashionable thing in Sherman Oaks.

Finally. Ads.

Finally, it looks like the Sherman Oaks Neighborhood Council will be stepping it up with marketing to the community, at least to homeowners as the Sherman Oaks Sun only gets delivered to homes and not apartments.

Good steps. Good steps.

I Drove Grid

I was speaking to a field deputy the other week about improving things in a neighborhood and driving grid was a topic that came up. Basically, you get in your car and drive through the area you are representing finding problems and asking questions to yourself to later ask city employees. This sounded way exciting so I drove the majority of my elected area for the Neighborhood Council (normally I would bike, but I've been sick).

Here's some of what I found (besides the normal graffiti and illegal dumping of couches):

1. Question: Why do some fire hydrants have curbs painted red and some don't?
2. A property on a corner lot had its sprinklers running, yet spraying the sidewalk making anyone who would bike or walk through soaked.
3. Murietta & Valleyheart: 6 or 7 Christmas trees dumped on side of the road on the LA River side.
   
4. Moorpark/Ventura Cyn SE corner: It is always flooded here and has a pothole developing
5. Alley behind Max/Maria's Italian Kitchen: Valet illegally parking vehicles
6. Milibank/Matilija NE Corner: Abandoned Home with fence knocked over, boarded up windows unboarded and furniture dumped on the parkway.
7. Question: Do we have an RV law?
8. Dixie Cyn./Moorpark: When on Dixie, taking a left on to Moorpark, the red light is extremely long for 3 am. I've seen people get impatient and run the red because it felt like it was never going to change.
   
9. Kling b/w Greenbush & Allott: This is against the 101 Freeway and people like to do drug deals here or once I saw some afternoon fellatio taking place. Well, I didn't see it literally, but from a distance, you knew what was going on.
   

So after reading that list, you can see that there's nothing shocking or pressing here -- it is Sherman Oaks after all. I can foresee a lot of my future grid drives are going to be about identifying future opportunities for improvements like bad traffic spots, controlled pedestrian cross walks, tree plantings, public art opportunities, etc.

What's needs to be solved in your part of Sherman Oaks?

Sherman Oaks in the CityNerd Awards

Elected Official
Jack Weiss was not nominated, but Wendy was. Vote here.

Elected Official Staff Member
In the North corner we have Pat Davenport fighting for Councilwoman Wendy Greuel and her 2nd District. In the South corner is rookie Joan Pelico fighting in honor of District 5's Jack Weiss. Both women are field deputies for their portions of Sherman Oaks. Vote here.

Neighborhood Council
Silver Lake is kicking butt, someone needs to vote to keep Sherman Oaks in the game! Vote here.

City Nerd Blogger
Whoa! You can vote for yours truly! Vote NOW.

For Your Consideration
Most of my writing is on LAist and you can vote for us too. Vote here.

Sexual Assault Suspect Sought

Los Angeles police are asking for the public’s help in locating a man suspected of sexually assaulting an 85 year-old woman.

On December 31, 2006, at about 11:30 PM, the suspect broke in through the rear window of woman’s home in Van Nuys. The suspect went directly to the bedroom and sexually assaulted the woman.

The suspect was described as a Black man in his 20s, about 5’ 7” to 5’ 10” tall and weighing 175 pounds. He was wearing a black hooded sweatshirt with “USA” written across the front.

The woman was taken to a local hospital where she was treated for a minor laceration and bruises.

Van Nuys Sexual Assault Detectives are handling the investigation and anyone who has any information is asked to call them at (818) 374-0040. On weekends and during off-hours, call the 24-hour toll free number at 1-877-LAWFULL (529-3855).

Ventura Blvd. Weekend Closures

In the long long long long long list of projects to help fix the 405/101 interchange, here are the latest CalTrans closures:

Ventura Blvd.
From 11:59 p.m. Saturday, January 6 to 8 a.m. Sunday, January 7, Ventura Blvd. will be close from Sepulveda to Sherman Oaks Ave.

Northbound 405

• Ventura Off-Ramp closed from 11 p.m. Saturday, January 6 to 10 a.m. Sunday, January 7
• Connector to the eastbound and westbound Ventura Freeway (U.S. 101) will be closed from 11 p.m. Saturday, January 6 to 8 a.m. Sunday, January 7

Access to the Sherman Oaks Galleria from Ventura Boulevard will not be available for the duration of the closure. The closures are for a bridge girder erection on the Ventura Boulevard Bridge as part of a $46 million improvement project at the 101/405 Interchange.

The project involves extending the current auxiliary lane on northbound I-405 past the Greenleaf off-ramp to the U.S. 101 connector, permanently closing the loop on-ramp from eastbound Ventura Boulevard and constructing the Dickens Street bypass. The project is estimated to complete in summer 2007.

1998 Galleria Suicide

I didn't live here then...

LOS ANGELES–It must have looked like a scene from a movie: On top of a parking garage at the Sherman Oaks Galleria stood an aging former actress, preparing to jump.

Pedestrians below obeyed when the grief-stricken woman ordered them to move off the sidewalk. Conrad Buchanan, a mall security guard at the end of his shift, did not.

In a moment that changed his life forever, he stayed put, looking up, trying to convince the woman not to kill herself, trying to get her to come down peacefully.

Instead, she jumped.

The woman plunged six storeys and fell on top of Buchanan, breaking his neck. She later died. The incident left Buchanan a quadriplegic and, in the minds of those who heard his story, a hero. The former security guard never saw it that way.

Finish the story over at the Toronto Star.

Maria's Italian Kitchen Robbed

MySpace blogs are always a good source of information. More than how some teenage girl is depressed over some teenage boy. Sometimes it turns out to be on-the-scene crime reporting:

So basically, last night I'm standing outside after work [MAX Restaurant] with Laura hanging out... smoking a cig, enjoying my mini wine buzz, when out of frickin NO WHERE this kid comes running out of the restaurant right next door, Maria's Italian Kitchen, with his wrists and ankles and HEAD ducktaped!!!!! We're obviously staring wondering whether this is some kind of weird Mexican joke or ritual that we just don't understand when he sees us and starts pointing frantically towards the kitchen door of Maria's while still running backwards. We stand there, I think a bit shocked, and watch him run down to the end of the alleyway and stand there for a few seconds looking down at us before he runs off down the street.

A few minutes later another young guy comes just strolling out of the same door like it's nobodies business... So I ask him "Hey... is everything alright? We just saw a guy coming running out all ducktaped. It was kinda weird." He says, "Yeah. Don't know nothing." walks a little ways and then bolts down the street.

Meanwhile, Laura's boyfriend Rich comes out of the restaurant, we tell him what happens, and he basically says, "Bollox." (He's welsh.)

Two minutes after that, the manager of Maria's busts out the backdoor breathless and shaking. "Did you see two guys come running out of here? They tried to break into the safe! They had guns!"

So we're like... what the fuck. We run inside OUR restaurant, get Jan the owner, and we're like,

"oh my god! what do we do?!!?"

"Obviously. Call the cops."

Obviously.

So I do, and all of a sudden I'm in 911 emergency mode.

"Yes. Ma'am? There been an attempted robbery. I'm at Maria's Italian Kitchen. Suspects are one hispanic male ducktaped by the hands, feet and mouth, headingnorth up the alley on foot. Suspect two is wearing a grey hoodie sweatshirt..."

At this point two cops are already walking up and I'm waving them over while still on the phone with the 911 dispatcher.

Me: "There's been a break in!"

Cops: "Hang up the phone."

Me: (into the phone) "Oh my god, two male police officers are walking towards me and told me to hang up the phone. DO I HANG UP THE PHONE?!"

911 dispatcher: "Yes. Hang up the phone."

In a matter of minutes there were about fifteen cops swarming the place, through the restaurant with the heavy aritillery (seriously... one had like a frickin rocket launcher) and finally all out back listening to all our statements for the next half hour.

The funny thing was... major holes in the manager's story. First one gun, then a shotgun, then a pistol. Didn't want to call the police right off the bat. Wasn't shaky until the cops showed up... I personally think it was an inside job and I tell my new friend Ray Guitierrez, the cop, this. He nods and says, "something's fishy."

The LAPD tells me that this is not connected to the Ski-Mask bandits and it was a dishwasher and a few friends who tied up the manager and the other dishwasher to rob them. They didn't get away with much and will not be reporting back to work ever again.

By the way, this happened on December 15th or so.

California Pizza Kitchen arrives at Fashion Square

I never thought this was a big deal. So it was a surprise to me when a room full of residents got excited as it was announced last Spring. Interestingly enough, the General Manager of the mall was recently appointed to the Sherman Oaks Neighborhood Council.

By the way, this is a CPK ASAP:

The new CPK ASAP is designed for customers "on-the-go." The menu features a specialized selection of CPK's most popular menu items along with a "grab-n-go" case stocked with fresh salads, sandwiches and beverages.

While the CPK ASAP has ample seating inside for those looking to dine-in, the new restaurant also has a specific Take-Out counter intended to facilitate the process for guests wanting to take their food to go. A newly designed interior features soft tones
and warm yellows, with large flat screen televisions for those looking to grab a seat at the counter.

Its menu will not only include a variety of CPK's most popular hearth-baked pizzas, salads and appetizers, it will also feature nine sandwiches and two soups that are unique to CPK ASAP. The new French Dip Panini along with the Grilled Vegetable Panini, Turkey Club Panini and a variety of sandwiches including Roast Beef, Chicken Salad and Herb Chicken Focaccia are just a few of the innovative items that will be available. Also available at CPK ASAP are CPK's signature hearth-baked pizzas in a larger, 14-inch size, perfect for sharing with friends or family.

The 3,000 square foot CPK ASAP seats 95 people and is located at 14006 Riverside Drive on Level One near the Main Entrance of Fashion Square Mall. Hours of operation are Sunday: 11:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m. and Monday through Saturday: 11:00 a.m. to 9:00 p.m. Guests can dine-in or place a take-out order by calling (818) 783-5001. [Business Wire]

Represent East Valley!

LA Times dug deeper into last week's story of the Valley's new census report and came out with a nice article focusing on the differences between the East and West Valley, respectively divided by the 405 Freeway. But I don't like how they painted this picture:

On one end of the Valley [west], gated mansions and old ranch houses still preside over well-groomed neighborhoods; on the other [east], some residents still don't have sewer hookups or street lights.

Not too long ago (but like before I was born), the Valley was the "country." No sewer hookups and streets lights was life. It seems LA Times is trying to paint an overly dramatic picture here as I continue to walk and bike extremely dark and wealthy streets here in Sherman Oaks. A lot of this is choice and not poor people or city services.

DONE's PR Problem

Lisa Sarno is the interim General Manager of the Department of Neighborhood Empowerment (DONE) who oversees the Sherman Oaks Neighborhood Council (SONC) and all the other neighborhood councils.

Being involved with neighborhood councils (NCs) since the first week I moved into city limits of Los Angeles, I had never heard of her until an e-mail came asking my public opposition of an extension of her interim appointment at an Oct. 9th Education and Neighborhoods Committee from Doug Epperhart of the Coastal San Pedro Neighborhood Council:

Many of us have seen Ms. Sarno in action. We've observed her attitude toward neighborhood councils and the way she runs the department. I believe she is neither a good manager of people nor effective communicator and advocate for the NC system. On balance, her continued presence does more harm than good.

As president of the Coastal San Pedro Neighborhood Council -- which has voted to seek Ms. Sarno's removal from her present position -- I'm asking that you attend the meeting if you can and join me in opposing any extension of her tenure.

To be fair, in my passive understanding of the upper levels of DONE, I had never heard the name of the former DONE GM, Greg Nelson, until I received an e-mail from him saying that Prop R has "something it it tha can repulse everyone." He wrote the e-mail after his tenure.

The second time I heard Ms. Sarno's name was when I met her at a Neighborhood Council Member training session at City Hall. She seemed pleasent and nice, but I definately had no chance to speak to her other than say hi and shake hands.

This week, she is under attack for a report she delivered "about violence at neighborhood councils [that have] sparked an outcry among some community activists, who say it smears the local boards and inflates claims of bad behavior."

SONC President, Jill Banks Barad told Daily News "we've talked about some actions that we felt were unethical, but I have not heard of physical incidents. If this is supposed to be a big problem, I think DONE should come to us and tell us that."

Steve's Question That I Missed

My first question for Zach: What are y'all doing with your $50,000 in city-issued mad money? And don't let any of those 200+ vote people push you around, know what I mean? Call on your inner Maxine Waters if needed. ~ Steven Rosenberg

With the new board slate, we haven't spent any money yet. Next week, I may bring a motion to the board to spend $20,000 on LAPD surveillance cameras for Ventura Blvd. and the Cedros Parking Lot (we would be purchasing 1 of 5 cameras in collaboration with a few other organizations). $20,000 is 40% of the annual budget, but SONC has a surplus of money, which I believe is over $100,000.

Some may say that there isn't much crime on Ventura Blvd. They are correct when you compare it to the reasoning to have cameras on Hollywood Blvd. and MacArthur Park. But what brought the whole camera issue to Sherman Oaks were the businesses and Council District 5 tired of spending money, daily, on removing graffiti.

Once again, one may say they don't see that much graffiti. That's because SOHA, the Bid, the Chamber and the residents have been extremely proactive by calling 311 to report graffiti and hiring their own graffiti team.

I took a trip down to the Hollywood PD on Wilcox to get a tour of the Hollywood Blvd. cameras on the street and from the video booth. A very powerful system it is. I took a video, but need to get it cleared by the LAPD before I post it on YouTube.

More to come on this later...

More on that Political Mailer*

Feinstein is pissed and ABC7 in San Francisco shows you how to find out who's behind these mailers (scroll to bottom of the page).

I find it interesting that the local papers really haven't spoken much about this except for LA Times Blog, Political Muscle. Funny thing is that they don't even mention that this is from a Los Angeles (Sherman Oaks more specifically) based company or that the man who put this out is Lloyd Levine's father. Levine is the Assemblyman for the 40th District which covers Van Nuys to West Hills and up to Northridge.

Here is the address of Levine & Associates are some related links:

Background info on the Mailer: http://www.voterinformationguide.org/

Levine & Associates
13701 Riverside Dr # 604
Sherman Oaks, CA 91423
(818) 906-8747

Previously: The Sketchy Political Mailer

SOHA's Close: No on Prop H

"The organized opposition [to Prop H] is a smaller group that includes Jon Coupal, president of Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Association, and Richard Close, president of the Sherman Oaks Homeowners Association. They've raised concerns that another bureaucracy may not act efficiently to get the monies where they're needed. Opponents also claim that there are existing programs to help homebuyers and that Measure H is a payday for developers and builders."

- Yes on Measure H: a measure of humanity [The Jewish Journal of greater L.A]

The Sketchy Political Mailer

Father of Democratic state Assemblyman Lloyd Levine, Larry Levine of Sherman Oaks, a Democratic political consultant, published the Voter Information Guide for Democrats that supports a democratic slate, but says No on 87, the alternative energy bill, and no on 86.

$375,000 from oil and tobacco companies were given to Levine for inclusion in the mailer.


Is Political Campaign Flyer Misleading? [ABC7 - San Francisco]

Riverside + Woodman = Mess

A water main broke. I would suggest avoiding it today.

Transients Along the Freeway

As Co-Chair of SONC Public Safety, I've been challenged with solving a tricky problem: government inter-agency duties and boundaries. There is an elderly woman who lives next to the 101 freeway. A CalTrans landscaping crew came to her cul-de-sac and opened up the gate to do some work. Mistakenly, they left it open. The elderly woman lived with her living room window facing the encampment 15 feet away. Not exactly a fun situation, especially when they entered her garage one night.

Within no time, transients moved in. Soon after, a policing (I still don't know who) agency came in and arrested them. Within 24 hours, they were back. That's where I stepped in.

You see, since the 101 is property of the state, that means the California Highway Patrol is in charge here, not the LAPD like everyone thinks (in relation to this, the LA River is policed by the LA Sheriff's Department, not the LAPD). And unlike the LAPD, the CHP doesn't have a working relationship with the Sherman Oaks Neighborhood Council.

That's going to change. I'm bringing out the CHP to the next Public Safety Committee Meeting to discuss the issue of transients and homeless along the freeways in Sherman Oaks. While the specific aforementioned situation has been taken care of (as of last Tuesday), the response time was just less than 2 months. This can be shortened and our relationship with the state can be strengthened.

Other reps from groups who I know are attending: Council District 5 and the San Fernando Valley Community Mental Health Center

Wednesday, November 1st at 6:30 PM

VIVA Gallery
3261 Moorpark St
Sherman Oaks, CA 91423

Parking: There is free parking in front on Moorpark, a small parking lot behind the building (access from alley), and street parking on Longridge (to the east of Fulton).

Photo: ghb624

Go to VIVA Gallery

I went to a Valley Institute of Visual Art (VIVA) gallery opening for the first time today. VIVA is not an art gallery where you just go and look around and maybe buy, maybe not. It is a community, it's more of a co-op.

It's a place for artists in The Valley and surrounding areas to "exhibit their work, enjoy the fellowship and support of other artists, augment their level of educational experience, and to promote interaction and outreach within the community through exhibitions, lectures, competitions and workshops."

Much of the art displayed in today's juried show was art I would like to buy. Freelancing is great, but it still doesn't afford me that much original art.

Painting in Picture: Tokyo in the Rain by John Paul Thornton

A Band-Aid to the Blight of Strip Malls

Driving down Fairfax the other day, I was stopped at the light outside Whole Foods at Santa Monica in West Hollywood. I noticed something exciting, in that nerdy city planning way I can only do: the landscaped wall surrounding the parking lot improved the urbanity of the street rather than the drab longed view of a parking lot leading up to a building.

It's all about the feel and this made the grade. Is this a good project for the Sherman Oaks Beautification Committee?