A Window into the Nightmare of Living Next to the 405 Underpass

Posted on July 5, 2021 by Sue

(Editor’s note: This story is printed by permission with the Venice Current. CTN knows this area of town (under the 405 freeway at Venice). My daughter lives in an apartment, about six blocks, from this homeless encampment. Since she moved there in 2019, CTN has watched the encampment grow, and concerns about the safety of my daughter have increased. I no longer will have to worry about her, and the violence of that encampment, because she’s moving out of California this month.)

This is the encampment on the Culver side of Venice Avenue under the 405 Freeway. A fire damaged a section of the area (the charring is apparent), but people are coming back.

 

By ANGELA  MCGREGOR -Jan 26, 2021 Updated Jun 30, 2021

On December 2nd, after hearing that a transient who lived in an encampment near her home had been charged with the murder of her Mar Vista neighbor, Liz Bennett** cried for most of a day.  Then she emailed her City Councilman Mike Bonin’s office for perhaps the 25th time in the past year:

Dear Councilman Bonin,

I am heartbroken, horrified, and incensed over the murder of Mar Vista resident Jesus Valdivia Jimenez at the hands of Dylan Brumley, a well-known regular of the Venice/Globe encampment. 

I have been warning you for years that this particular encampment is the most unsafe and toxic situation I have ever witnessed in my entire life and that it was my greatest fear that either an unhoused neighbor living within the encampment or a housed neighbor living nearby was going to die, and my worst fears have come true on both fronts…My heart breaks to pieces for Jesus Valdivia Jimenez’s family and the fact he died for a mere bicycle…

Bennett has lived with her family near the 405 overpass at Sawtelle and Venice for a decade.  When she first arrived there, there were a few homeless who would congregate routinely near the corner, for the most part peacefully panhandling on the median at the busy intersection.  Roughly two years ago it became what she termed “hell on earth,” with an explosion of tents.

At first, the tents were only on one side of the overpass — the northern side, which is in the city of Los Angeles.  On the south side, in Culver City, the sidewalks were clean and vacant due to constant enforcement of their anti-camping laws.

Then, in June of 2019, Councilman Bonin and Councilman Buscaino called on the City Attorney to explore “legal steps” that L.A. could use to compel Culver City to comply with a federal court decision to allow sidewalk camping.

Within weeks, both sides of Venice Blvd. under the 405 were packed with tents. Bennett began barraging Bonin’s office with emails describing what she called “the declension of our neighborhood” in 2019.  In a letter dated February 23, 2019, she wrote to him describing waking up “to a homeless person lying in the most unnatural position [near her home]… with various drug paraphernalia sprinkled around him. He did not move; he seemingly did not even breathe.”

Bennett called 911, likely saving the man’s life.

“To blatantly enable mentally disabled and drug-addicted unhoused citizens to wallow in their own filth and illnesses and to put the whole entire community in danger is beyond reproach. I am so ashamed of what Los Angeles has become and how its leaders have let its people down. Please remember that this is happening on your watch; this is your legacy. Please help us.”

On August 5, 2019, she wrote to Nick Sundback, then Bonin’s field deputy for Mar Vista, that “… there was an encampment man setting his coat on fire in the alley…” and attached photos of the incident, along with some of another man “with no shoes on, drugs in his lap, and a pile of money to his right”.

The man setting his jacket alight in Bennett’s photo was Dylan Brumley.  Bennett had seen him in her alley numerous times.

Brumley appeared twice on NBC’s “Streets of Shame.” In a May 2019 appearance, Brumley stated that, rather than spend money on encampment porta-potties and extra trash cans (as Venice Community Housing Executive Director Becky Dennison recommended during the same program), he wished the city would fund much needed drug rehab and mental health services. During his appearance he was filmed picking up a dirty needle in the encampment, which he told the reporter he intended to use.

On March 16, 2020, the city installed porta-potties under the overpass.  They remain there to this day, from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m., with an attendant guarding them, at a cost to the city the L.A. Times reported is upwards of $300,000 per year.

In August, the city altered the water lines at the corner, in order to accommodate twice-weekly mobile showers, at a reported cost of $150,000.

In a second appearance in December of 2019, Brumley told the reporter, “I have violent anger tendencies and so I don’t hurt other people, I hurt myself.”

He displayed the scars on his arms from where he’d burned himself with cigarettes.  He acknowledged that Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority (LAHSA) was out to the overpass on a regular basis but said that mainly they just “handed out snacks” and that they had still not offered him either drug or mental health treatment options.

After his television appearances, Bennett observed Brumley becoming increasingly emaciated and frail, much like other campers Bennett had watched decay from drug addiction and mental illness from her “front row seat” near the overpass.  It was heartbreaking.

Bennett was familiar with the LAHSA drop-offs Brumley was describing.  LAHSA workers — identifiable by their black, logo-ed t-shirts — would pull up to the sidewalk under the overpass in their cars, quickly drop off a plate of sandwiches or donuts, and then pull away.  Over time, she noticed what appeared to be a high rate of turnover among the mostly college-aged volunteers, and assumed they were quickly becoming overwhelmed.

Her assumption was confirmed in June of 2020, when she was invited by Sundback to speak at a “Biweekly Mar Vista Coordination Call” with a variety of local service organizations.

Over Zoom, she described her experiences and told the participants that “the placement of my house makes me the ears and eyes of the Venice/Globe encampment.”

By that time, she and her husband had been first responders to three overdosed encampment dwellers and had witnessed four shootings.  In April of 2019, a car drove by the overpass and opened fire on an encampment, an incident caught on camera and broadcast on every news station in town.

The police told her it was drug and gang related, which came as no surprise.  Bennett’s home had been tagged with gang symbols repeatedly, and she’d seen gang members in bandanas taking pictures with guns outside of her window.

In January of 2020, police shot to death a mentally ill camper waving what turned out to be a gun-shaped bicycle part at them at the nearby corner of Venice and Sepulveda (the encampment is filled with stolen bicycles and parts).

Bennett told the service providers that she would “love to work closely with [them] to help them target the unhoused people who are in desperate need of services.”

Her speech was met with silence, until a discussion began about how unsafe it was to provide assistance to the 405 encampment dwellers.  Stunned, Bennett pointed out that her neighborhood would then bear the brunt of the danger.  These were sick people, mostly mentally ill and/or addicted, who needed services immediately.

LAHSA referred her to the LA Homeless Outreach Portal (LAHOP) in order to fill out a request online.  After using it twice and in both cases getting the response “We are aware that there is a situation in that area” and seeing no change in LAHSA’s snack-intensive, hands-off approach to the problem, she gave up on LAHOP.

The following August, George Frem — the owner of an automotive service shop adjacent to the encampment — told Bennett that, during testimony in L.A. Alliance’s lawsuit against the city  (in which Frem was a plaintiff), Mike Bonin had stated that the 405 encampment would be dismantled by the end of September, 2020.   Thrilled with the news, Bennett wrote to Nick Sundback asking for verification.  He wrote back:

Here’s my understanding of the current mobilization:

Step 1: Started a week ago. LAHSA outreach teams are screening and assessing everyone at the encampment.

Step 2: Starting next week, for the next three weeks LAHSA outreach teams will make housing plans specific to the circumstances of each resident.

Step 3: Starting in four weeks, LAHSA outreach teams will move encampment residents into housing as outlined in their plans (shelter, motels, family reunification). This will take 6 weeks.

I would expect the number of people under the freeway to decrease in the short term. However, the court order does NOT prevent other homeless people from setting up camp under the freeway afterwards, say, in October or November.

Sundback did not mention that keeping the encampments from returning to the underpass after they’d been cleared would require a local law to permanently prevent encampments in specific locations.

In late October, 2020, such a motion was put before the City Council, and Councilman Bonin vehemently opposed it, suggesting that it “criminalized” homelessness.  The motion was ultimately tabled.

On August 31, Bennett received an auto-generated email letting her know that Sundback was no longer on the Councilman’s staff.

On October 23, after the original September deadline had been extended to October 31, Bennett met with Vishesh Anand, Sundback’s replacement, at her home.

Bennett asked him why the city had given priority to quickly clearing an encampment near Rose and Penmar using Project Homekey funds, rather than clearing the tents under the 10 freeway, especially given Judge Carter’s mandate in the L.A. Alliance lawsuit.

Anand told her that the Department of Parks and Recreation getting involved at Penmar (encampments were on their property) made a big difference. He reassured her the 405 encampment was “on deck” to be dismantled next.  When a massive fire broke out in the encampment on October 28 — the day of Jimenez’s killing — Bennett asked first responders what kind of progress had been made the dismantling effort and was told that absolutely nothing had been done to clear the encampments at that point.

On November 12, Anand wrote her, “Right now, the biggest hurdle for us to house more folks is funding. We are working with the Council president to release more County funding for housing resources.”

Three weeks later, Dylan Brumley was charged with Jimenez’s murder.  He is currently in custody, awaiting trial.

After waiting two weeks for Councilman Bonin to respond to her December 2 missive, Bennett wrote to Anand.

“I am still in shock at Councilman Bonin’s silence over the death of Jesus Valdivia Jimenez,” she wrote. “The silence is deafening. To me, it is sociopathic to look the other way and to act like this unspeakable and preventable tragedy didn’t occur within our district. There is no doubt in mind that if I, my husband, or my neighbor (either housed or unhoused) were killed in the alley today, Bonin would respond in the exact same manner, and that level of inhumanity truly shakes me to my core.”

This is the fire started by the homeless on Venice under the 405 Freeway.

On Christmas Day, Bennett woke to another massive fire in the encampments near her house, and once again wrote to her Councilman’s office.

“The addicts who live under the 405 are destroying themselves at a rapid rate. I’ve never seen any addict get better by living under the 405. All I see occurring here is utter decay and self-destruction. Lives are at risk. I hope that means something.”

She went on to say, “I am also in shock over a stunning revelation from the L.A. Human Rights Alliance virtual town hall last Wednesday. One of the lawyers, Elizabeth Mitchell, announced that funding was not an issue, and that Councilman Bonin could house everyone under the 405 today if he truly wanted to…here is her claim in writing: “I reiterate: funding is not an excuse.  There are very low cost alternatives that Mike Bonin could utilize to open NEW beds (which was the point of the 6700-bed agreement) to immediately ameliorate the situation.”

Anand responded, “Of course LA Alliance would say that to the public. If they didn’t believe that to be true, they wouldn’t have taken the County and the City to court. A party suing us isn’t a neutral source of information about the current reality. The only neutral party, the Judge overseeing the case, has constantly told Councilmembers that he knows that the City has to increase shelter beds. He has also mentioned that he will not give the City any enforcement tools to move encampments until enough capacity is present. He also constantly monitors each Councilmember’s progress.”

He continued, “The drug use at this encampment has been flagged for LAPD, and in a call with me a couple of weeks ago they assured me they are investigating this.”

That day, another one of Bennett’s elderly neighbors was attacked and killed by a mentally ill transient. That case is still under investigation.

Mitchell has told Bennett that the latest deadline for the city to clear freeway encampments, April of 2021, is absolute.  According to the L.A. Alliance’s website,  the City must acquire 6,000 beds by that time, in order to be able to offer them to freeway encampment residents.  Bennett says she’s “cautiously optimistic.”

Meanwhile, the encampment continues to grow, and Mr. Bonin has yet to personally respond to any of Bennett’s emails.

**”Liz Bennett” is an alias.  She requested anonymity in order to ensure her safety.

Posted in Homelessness | 3 Comments

City Council Tables Homeless Anti-Camping Ordinance Until July 28

Posted on July 1, 2021 by Sue

This transient was sleeping in Almar park–a small public park where toddlers play in Pacific Palisades. An anticamping ordinance if passed by the city would not allow camping in certain areas.

At a special L.A. City Council meeting today (July 1) at City Hall, council members renewed the debate that had started on Tuesday that would allow residents and the handicapped equal access, with the homeless, to public space.

A draft ordinance requires a unanimous vote to be adopted on its first consideration. Mike Bonin and Nithya Raman voted no, which meant the motion was tabled until July 28, when the City Council returns from vacation.

The anti-camping motion had languished in the Homelessness and Poverty committee since November, but Councilmembers Joe Buscaino and John Lee used a procedural law, Rule #54, to bring the motion directly to the 15-member council on Tuesday. The council voted 13-2 to bring the motion out of the committee, but instead of voting on the motion, they directed City Attorney Mike Feuer’s office to draft a new motion.

At the time, Buscaino, who voted against the motion to draft a motion, said he doubted the city attorney would have the ordinance by Thursday and wanted to vote on the one that was available, now. Bonin and Raman also voted no.

If the motion, drafted by the city attorney, had passed today, homeless encampments would be banned from blocking the public right of way on sidewalks and doorways, and within 500 feet of sensitive locations like schools, parks, shelters and libraries.

The previous anti-camping laws that prohibited tents during daytime hours, from 6 a.m. to 9 a.m., would be enforced. Buffer zones around communities, such as bridge housing, would be enforced.

The ordinance would also allow the city to prevent encampments for a period of no longer than one year in areas that are deemed an ongoing threat to public health or safety, including due to: 1) death or serious bodily injury of any person at the location due to a hazardous condition; 2) repeated serious or violent crimes or threats of serious or violent crimes, including human trafficking; and 3) fires at the location.

Council President Nury Martinez gave an impassioned plea for members to vote in favor of the motion.

“I have been on this council for eight years and we continue to have the same conversation,” she said. “It’s time to take ownership of what’s on the streets. Let’s talk about when we’re going to get the mental health dollars, the detox dollars.”

She wondered why there was no outrage about that, and then continued, “What about the immigrants who come to this country with absolutely nothing, and bust their asses working to lift their families?” she asked. “Why don’t they have a right to a safe park? Why don’t they have a right to a safe library? Why can’t they enjoy a day in their neighborhoods if they don’t have the money to go to Disneyland?”

Councilman Bonin explained his objection to requiring homeless to share public space. “I know that my ‘no’ vote is unpopular but when I go home, I know where I can sleep. Everyone in Los Angeles deserves to know that—I’m a no vote.” (City Council hearings are televised and Bonin’s 10-minute speech on the subject is about at 2 hours, six minutes. One can listen to each Councilmember voice his/her thoughts on the subject during the nearly three-hour session.)

The other no vote, Nithya Raman, objected because she said, “We have to go through a deliberate process, but this was not it.”

Perhaps equally as interesting during the hearing were the public comments. Although some people are vulgar, and others appear to be “constant” callers to the City, others are thoughtful and present situations that the council might find illuminating.

But, during public comment, many councilmembers are not in chamber or appear to be chatting with aides or other city workers and not listening to the public. Most likely they may have missed some of these comments today.

“You keep talking about keeping the homeless safe. How about keeping the residents safe?” a woman said, noting that she had been assaulted by a homeless person.

“We have tried to get people off the streets. They don’t want to help. I’m a businessman and a RiteAid–on Sunset–they’re going to close because of the theft. Here’s a business that wants to be in Hollywood but can’t because of the thefts from the homeless.”

“I’ve walked into a McDonalds bathroom and seen a woman naked from the waist down cleaning herself in the sink. It’s not fair to frontline minimum wage workers to have to clean up after the homeless.”

“We must regulate public space. . . .You need to be sensible. Nonprofits have received billions with no metrics for success for helping the homeless.”

“This motion is pure criminalization. Meager housing offered is like prison conditions. What choice is it between jail and jail-like housing? To the anti-poor bigots on the line– children should understand poverty—sweeping poverty out of site only punishes brown, black and queer people and denies children the chance of learning empathy.”

 

Posted in General | 1 Comment

Look for World War II Planes on July 4th

Posted on July 1, 2021 by Sue

(Editor’s note: This article is reprinted with permission from the Palisades Americanism Parade Association.)

World War II planes will fly over Pacific Palisades around 3 p.m. on July 4.
Photo: Courtesy Chris Rushing

By LAUREL BUSBY

Contributing Writer

For a second year, Palisadians can enjoy a Fourth of July flyover of WWII-era planes.

When the pandemic shutdowns hit last year, the Condor Squadron came to the rescue, conducting formation flights of the unique AT-6 airplanes back and forth over the town. Every family could stay home and still enjoy a Fourth of July treat with their fellow residents. This year, the popular flight is back.

The five pilots, led by the group’s president, Chris Rushing, will zigzag over Pacific Palisades with Sunset Boulevard as their guideline.

“Last year, it was really special that we got to do it,” Rushing said. “It worked out good for the pandemic. Again, this year, we want to give everybody the chance to see us.”

Sponsored by the Palisades Americanism Parade Association, the flight will occur at about 3 p.m. on July 4 and will go all the way to the ocean and over the Highlands. Rushing will be in the lead, and he will communicate to his squadron with numbered hand signals for line, diamond and fingertip formations. The name of the latter is inspired by the spread of one’s fingertips.

In normal times, the squadron conducts flyovers at a wide variety of events, ranging from funerals to parades, but the pandemic sidelined most events for the volunteer organization last year.

“There were no funerals,” Rushing said. “No parades. We were shut down for a year. We’re a nonprofit. We work for holidays and parades and stuff like this. We’re looking forward to getting going again.”

Already, this year the group has taken to the sky for Memorial Day events, and they have an array of plans for the Fourth of July, including beach city flyovers ending in San Clemente.

The pilots will include Eric Zine and Rob Sandberg, both Alaska Airlines pilots, and Will Tinsley and Dustin Gelbard, who work as corporate pilots. Rushing, a former Air Force mechanic who spent three decades in the California Air National Guard, owns his own plane, which he has twice piloted to wins at the annual National Air Races in Reno.

The Condor Squadron allocates about $700 per hour in operating expenses (gas, insurance, and maintenance) per plane to fly at events, Rushing said. Part of the club’s appeal is that its approximately 50 members get the chance to fly these historical planes.

“This airplane—it’s built somewhat peculiar,” Rushing said. “It’s real hard to land. You have to have real good pilot skills.” During WWII, the plane was used for formation pilot training, “and it made real good pilots. It was called the pilot maker.”

Some of the plane’s challenges, Rushing said, include narrow landing gear, a center of gravity that “kind of moves around,” and a single wheel under the tail, which requires special care on landing. For pilots with “tail wheel experience,” flying the plane comes fairly easily, but typically planes today have a single wheel under the nose, which requires a different landing strategy.

Rushing moved to California from Tennessee in 1987, and soon after he joined the Condor Squadron to connect with other pilots. The squadron was formed in 1962 by former World War II fighter pilot Richard Sykes and fellow veterans. Sykes, who was shot down over Hungary during the war but nevertheless returned safely home, has since died, but a new cadre of pilots has taken up the honor of sharing this plane and its history with the community.

Like Rushing, Sykes competed and triumphed in the T-6 category at Reno’s National Air Races. Success at the races requires making substantial changes to old planes. For example, Rushing, who started racing in 2005, had to install both a lighter frame and a faster engine. The changes meant that instead of traveling at a typical cruising speed of about 138 mph, he could reach highs of more than 240 mph.

“You can make modifications that make it more aerodynamic,” Rushing said, noting that the race features 15 airplanes flying five laps on a five-mile track over repeated heats. “The lighter the frame is, the faster it’s going to go.”

 

Posted in General | Leave a comment

World-Renowned BASE Jumper on Skydiving Team

Posted on July 1, 2021 by Sue

Annie Helliwell, one of the skydivers for the Palisades 4th of July parade, is shown as she floats to the ground after jumping from the Petronus Towers in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.

(Editor’s note: The following article has been reprinted with permission from the Palisades Americanism Parade Association. The skydivers will jump at 2 p.m. to start the parade.)

 

By LAUREL BUSBY

Contributing Writer

Skydiving caught Anne Helliwell’s imagination when she was 10 years old.

At an air show, “I saw big green parachutes exit a plane,” the New Zealand native said. “For some reason, that snapshot stuck with me, and I wanted to do that when I grew up.”

At 20 years old, the legal skydiving age in New Zealand at the time, she leapt out of her first airplane.

“It was scary,” Helliwell, 61, said. “I remember sitting in the airplane being anxious, but as soon as I was out the door, it was exhilarating. I got down with a real happy buzz. Not adrenaline. I’m not an adrenaline junkie. It just felt right. It was a magnetic pull.”

From then on, zipping through the air became a central part of her life. At 22, she moved to Southern California, because of the increased opportunities for skydiving here.

With Carey Peck in 1991, Helliwell became part of the first skydiving team to lead off a Pacific Palisades Fourth of July parade, and she remained a consistent part of the team for about 20 years, she estimated. After a few years away from the parade in recent years, she’s back again along with new group leader Tom Falzone, who coaches the West Point parachute team, and Mary Tortomasi.

All three have been part of world-record large-formation skydives in which hundreds of skydivers link together and fall as one. Rich Piccirilli, who has also been a frequent parade skydiver, will be flying the plane this year.

The Fourth of July jump, which aims to land at 2 p.m. on Sunset near Swarthmore, is a fun, but challenging leap, for the team.

“The winds coming off the buildings are squirrely,” Helliwell said. “Your avenue of landing has trees as well as power lines and buildings and traffic lights. Every year, the trees grow and make your avenue a little smaller.”

But as an expert BASE jumper, Helliwell delights in tricky jumps. BASE jumping, which means leaping, not from an airplane, but from fixed objects, such as buildings, antennas, spans (bridges) or the earth, is even more difficult than skydiving. As they fall, participants have the extra challenge of avoiding the object that served as their jump-off point, such as a cliffside. In addition, their landing spot may be uneven or otherwise problematic.

“An airplane is basically a door to the sky, and then the sky is wide open,” she said. “You usually have a groomed landing area…. BASE jumping is a high-risk sport on top of a high-risk sport. I’ve hurt myself BASE jumping. I’ve never hurt myself skydiving.”

Helliwell, who is also an emergency room nurse at Loma Linda University Medical Center, has on occasion had to use her medical expertise to treat fellow BASE jumpers.

And a couple of times, she’s needed medical attention for her own injuries. She broke her foot twice when landing BASE jumps in the ‘90s. The first time was at an event called Bridge Day, during which people leap from a West Virginia bridge traversing a river.

“I was going for accuracy,” she said. “I stomped the shoreline too hard and broke my foot.”

The injury didn’t deter Helliwell. She has now made more than 11,000 skydives and 1,700 BASE jumps. She may be the first woman to have passed 1,000 BASE jumps, although she said it’s difficult to verify because BASE jumps aren’t always documented like traditional skydives.

Some of the most inviting places to BASE jump are in Europe, she said. Residents are more welcoming of the sport and the scenery can be stunning.

“America has too many attorneys,” she said. “Europe is more land of the people, so you can do whatever sport you enjoy.”

Helliwell designed and built her own parachute to cater to the special needs of BASE jumpers, and with a friend, she founded a successful company, Basic Research (now Apex BASE), to market the chute. In addition, she is a pilot trained to combat forest fires, and she does acrobatics in her small plane, an endeavor that is taking up an increasing amount of her time.

Over the years, she has won various honors at BASE jumping competitions and has been part of two world-record group skydives. Her proud parents supported her efforts, posting medals and photos from her exploits on a wall in their home.

Fellow parachutist Falzone, who has known Helliwell for more than 35 years, said he was awed by her skills. “She is one of the most renowned BASE jumpers, not just female, one of the most renowned BASE jumpers in the world.”

But plaudits are not the point for Helliwell. The real joy for her in both skydiving and BASE jumping comes from a combination of the exhilaration experienced during the activity and the connections she has forged with fellow jumpers.

“It ends up being a lifestyle,” she said. “The other skydivers are your favorite friends. You have that camaraderie. It’s a really close-knit family, and everybody cares for each other.” And of course, it’s a blast. “After my first BASE jump [at Auburn Bridge northwest of Sacramento], I was buzzing for months.”

 

Posted in Fourth of July | Leave a comment

Fireworks Light up the 4th of July Sky

Posted on June 30, 2021 by Sue

(Editor’s note: The following article is reprinted with permission for the Palisades Americanism Parade Association. Tickets must be purchased online at Palisades4th.com. NO tickets will be sold at the gate.)

By LAUREL BUSBY

Contributing Writer

Fireworks will be shot off on July 4 at the Palisades High School stadium.
Photo: Morgan Genser

After a year without fireworks, Pyro Spectaculars by Souza will be back this summer to provide a patriotic explosion of color across the night sky.

At approximately 9 p.m. on July 4, the 20-minute show will feature an array of patriotic songs plus a wide selection of fireworks to wow viewers.

“Pacific Palisades is going to be happy,” said customer service manager Marco Montenegro. “Residents can expect an extremely fun and colorful show with all the oohs and aahs of previous years.”

Pyro Spectaculars’ employees are thrilled to be back to conducting not only the Palisades show, but more than 250 pyrotechnic extravaganzas around the country, including the nation’s largest, the Macy’s show in New York City.

Last year, their income dropped precipitously due to the pandemic, Montenegro said. More than 70 percent of their Fourth of July shows were canceled. In addition, fireworks displays for baseball teams and football teams were terminated.

“It was absolutely devastating,” Montenegro said. “It was a miracle that we could keep our doors open.”

The downturn meant that most of the company’s office staff and warehouse workers in Rialto had to be let go in March of last year, Montenegro said. There was a brief hope later in the spring that some shows might go forward, and they hired some people back, only to have to release them again in late June.

As the economy reopened this spring, Pyro Spectaculars scrambled to both hire back former employees and find new ones, since many people had already taken other jobs. Although business has blossomed again, it has yet to return to pre-pandemic levels.

“We aren’t at full capacity like 2019,” he said. “But it’s night and day from 2020.”

In 2019, the company, which was founded in the early 1900s by Manuel de Sousa, coordinated more than 400 fireworks shows on the Fourth of July and another 1,500 throughout the year, setting off more than 100,000 pounds of explosives, according to Chris Souza, the great-great-grandchild of the founder.

The business started in the Bay Area in de Sousa’s kitchen, where he mixed fireworks “recipes” to bring pizzazz to local Portuguese celebrations. He earned the name Papagaio, which means parrot in Portuguese, in honor of his colorful shows.

The family’s name was eventually anglicized to Souza, but the dedication to fireworks has remained the same, passed down from father to son over five generations.

They now set off vibrant displays for everything from high school graduations to sporting events, Souza said. Over the years, the company has orchestrated fireworks at not only several Super Bowls, but the Olympic games in Athens, Salt Lake City and Atlanta. They even lit up the night sky for the 100th and 125th anniversaries of the Statue of Liberty.

But the Fourth of July is by far their biggest day of the year. Across the country in a normal year more than 3,500 technicians will be working on shows, Souza said. “We have shows from sea to shining sea—from Atlantic City to the Hawaiian Islands.”

 

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Joe Halper, Understated Activist, Aids Residents

Posted on June 30, 2021 by Sue

(Editor’s note: This article is reprinted with permission by the Palisades Americanism Parade Association.)

Joe Halper (above) was chosen as co-parade marshal with Dr. Mike Martini.

By LAURA ABRUSCATO

Contributing Writer

Palisadian Joe Halper was surprised and delighted to learn he was named co-parade marshal for this year’s Fourth of July Parade. “I thought that was for movie stars,” he joked.

Although the grand marshal is traditionally a celebrity, the parade marshal is a separate honor awarded to someone who has been active in the community. And Halper, who will be riding with co-parade marshal Dr. Mike Martini, certainly qualifies.

Halper, 91, was chosen for his continuing community and public service. He is currently one of five commissioners on the L.A. Recreation and Parks Board, overseeing the city’s 480 parks. Prior to that he served on the West L.A. Planning Commission. He is past president of the Palisades Democratic Club. And as a Korean War veteran, he’s a member of both American Legion Post 283 and Post 118 of the Jewish War Veterans.

Highlands resident Steve Cron, the current Democratic Club president, has high praise for Halper.

“Joe has been a fixture in the community for several decades,” Cron said. “He is a warm, caring individual with an astute understanding of election procedures and strategies and has served as a mentor and confidante for every Democratic elected official on the Westside. Some of his proteges currently serve as members of the Los Angeles City Council, the State Assembly, the State Senate, and the United States Congress.”

Halper and his wife Arline, who worked in special education, moved to the Highlands in 1972 from New York, for his job as director of the L.A. County Department of Parks and Recreation. With three sons, Arline chose Pacific Palisades for its high-quality schools.

The couple’s oldest son, Jamie, began college at Stanford when the family moved west. Their younger two sons, Michael and Keith, attended Paul Revere and Palisades High, and Keith was also an Eagle Scout in Troop 223. Michael is now a real estate developer in San Francisco, and Keith is a business owner in New Jersey. Jamie is the chair of stepuptutoring.org, which offers free online tutoring to LAUSD students in need.

Arline is also a volunteer tutor and is currently interviewing new tutors, as the organization has a need for more volunteers. In addition, she serves on the board of the Friends of the Palisades Library.

The couple, married 62 years, have 12 grandchildren, four of whom live in the Palisades. Their grandchildren range from the youngest, a rising college sophomore, to Matthew, 27, who is one half of the music duo Two Friends. The Halpers joke that they stand out from the rest of the crowd when attending his concerts.

Joe has received many honors such as being a member of the President’s Council on Physical Fitness and Sports, the L.A. County representative to the USOC for the Olympics in 1984 and even a Swedish knighthood. He also received a proclamation from the LA County Board of Supervisors for his saving of millions of dollars after the budget cuts resulting from Proposition 13.

Halper not only works in recreation, he also practices it as a life endeavor. An avid skier (“until my wife took my poles away”), he continues to play tennis with a group of friends, and twice completed the Alcatraz Swim with his sons, swimming 1.2 miles from Alcatraz to shore at ages 80 and 85, when he was the oldest person on record to do so. While vacationing in Fiji a few years ago, he was told he was the oldest person to be certified as a diver.

Halper was born and raised in the South Bronx, and one of his first jobs was as a lifeguard at Coney Island. He later served as Commissioner of the New York City Department of Parks and Recreation. He co-wrote the textbooks “The Crisis in Urban Recreational Services” and “Strategic Recreation Management.“

Having grown up in a poor neighborhood, Halper is sensitive to the situation of youth in lower-income areas of Los Angeles. “Forty percent of the city don’t have any local walking-distance parks,” he says. “It’s an equity issue.” Halper had been working with LAUSD Superintendent Austin Beutner to open up school grounds as parks, maintaining that the field of recreation and parks is a “community health system.”

For their 50th anniversary, the Halpers organized a multi-sport trip to Yellowstone and the Grand Tetons with their sons and their wives and 12 grandchildren. This trip involved biking (20 bikes all together, riding single file), hiking, swimming, kayaking, horseback riding, camping and campfires.

Halper enjoys being a part of the Palisades community, recalling that during the shelter-at-home orders due to Covid-19, the neighbors on his cul-de-sac, who have a variety of political views, enjoyed sitting outside and having a drink together each evening. “That’s a community,” he says.

At the parade on July 4, look for Joe riding alongside Dr. Martini, the retired pediatrician, whose former patients include Halper’s children.

Joe Halper (middle) after completing the Alcatraz swim when he was 85.

Posted in City/Councilman Mike Bonin, Community, Fourth of July | 1 Comment

Crime Uptick from June 20 to 26

Posted on June 30, 2021 by Sue

Rusty Redican discovered this abandoned camp behind the Cal Trans wall on June 29.

Pacific Palisades temporary Senior Lead Officer Brian Espin released the Part 1 Crime report for June 20-26 that included 10 incidents.

BURGLARY:

June 20, in the 14700 block of McKendree Avenue. The suspect removed a garage opener from a vehicle that was not locked and then removed a bike from the garage.

June 23, in the 14200 block of Evans Road. Reported as a hot prowl, the suspect entered the garage and removed collectibles.

June 23, in the 600 block of Swarthmore Avenue. Reported as a hot prowl. The suspect (a transient) entered the residences through unknown means and fled when confronted by the victim. He was placed under arrest.

June 24, in the 1400 block of Allenford Avenue at Paul Revere Middle School. The suspect used a lock-picking tool and removed bottled water.

June 25, in the 17100 block of Avenida de Santa Ynez. The suspect smashed the victim’s second-story bedroom glass door and ransacked the interior. Unknown if property was taken.

BURGLARY THEFT FROM VEHICLE:

There were four reports filed involving Burglary Theft from Vehicle. On one, a window was smashed; on a second, the suspect obtained entrance to a door punch and the other two were reported as an unknown method. The report shows that all of the reported BTFV were in the Castellammare section of Pacific Palisades but does not state the street.

THEFT:

One theft was reported, near the Castellammare area, but the report does not show the location or what was taken.

On June 24, Espin sent an update:

*  Yesterday (not on the map) off Mandeville Canyon, a couple vehicles were taken during the evening hours. The vehicle key fobs were left inside, which makes it easy for criminals to jump in and take off.

*  We had a shooting along PCH, south of Sunset. Victims and suspects fled the scene prior to officer arrival. A witness reported the shooting. We believe the shooting could be gang-related based on the witness statement.

*  Be aware of your neighborhood. In one burglary, the suspect was posing as a food delivery person. With all the different ride sharing and food delivery companies, there are always going to be people driving through the neighborhood. Not everyone is a suspect (criminal), but we as a community just need to be aware.

*  If you are visiting the beach or trailheads, please do not leave your vehicle keys in the car or hidden on the outside of your car. Prior auto crimes involved surfers hiding the vehicle keys in the tire wheel well of the vehicle.  Someone was either watching or just happened to know the areas to check for hidden keys.

*  Do not leave any valuable items in your vehicle. Most criminals are opportunists. Do not leave anything in plain sight inside your vehicle. Let’s “Lock it, Hide it, Keep it.”

 

Circling the News was told that officers are now being interviewed for the permanent Pacific Palisades Senior Lead Officer position. Officer John “Rusty” Redican is one of those being considered.  He recently returned to the Palisades after medical leave, and went right to work, discovering an abandoned camp behind the Caltrans wall on Pacific Coast Highway. Further south, he discovered an individual camping. The man was warned that this was a very high fire severity zone, and no camping is allowed. The transient was offered services, but instead left with his belongings.

 

Posted in Crime/Police | Leave a comment

City Council Addresses Anti-Camping Ordinance

Posted on June 29, 2021 by Sue

This encampment is a block from bridge housing in Venice (white building in the background). If the motion passes on Thursday, encampments would not be allowed near bridge housing

The City Council approved 12-3 to have the City Attorney pen a new anti-camping ordinance, that will be voted on Thursday.

Today’s meeting started with virtual public comment. During the half-hour allotted for comment, the majority of calls focused on the anti-camping ordinance.

During the pandemic, the City of Los Angeles suspended its camping ordinance, which prohibited tents on streets and sidewalks during daytime hours, from 6 a.m. to 9 p.m.

A stricter draft anti-camping ordinance went before the Homelessness and Poverty Committee last November 30, where it languished.

In response, on June 23, Councilmen Joe Buscaino and John Lee invoked Rule #54, which took the proposed ordinance from the Committee and moved it to the Council agenda.

The first two callers noted that some sort of law needs to be on the books, and then a few people called in against any ordinances that regulated camping or banning locations where the homeless could camp.

One caller claimed that this motion was supported by those who don’t want to see homelessness in their neighborhood.

Another woman yielded her time to a homeless man, who said this motion brought him back to his youth, when he was also homeless and police were always telling him to move on. He said that now, “It’s either jails or shelters, which is not much of an option.”

A couple of men vented on individual councilmembers, before another public speaker pointed out this motion is needed because it will “Help get the resistant into housing.”

Another public comment, ended with the person calling the City Council “This is the L.A. sleazy council of corruption.”

A person who said their name was Maybe A Girl and who identified as she/her, they/them and said she was a member of the Silverlake Neighborhood Council, said this motion was “Illegal for the cruel and unusual punishment.”

After public comment ceased, the council took up the motion invoking Rule #54, that would take it out of committee and bring it before the full council.

Councilman Joe Busciano explained that there is an urgent need for Los Angeles to adopt new laws regulating the use of shared public spaces. “We are failing everyone, housed and unhoused,” he said. “We are failing in public safety. This is not compassionate, this is reckless.”

He said that cities such as San Francisco, Oakland, Santa Monica, Inglewood and Compton all have anti-camping ordinances.

Mark Ridley-Thomas, who is chair of the homeless committee, objected to this motion being pulled out of committee. Councilmember Kevin De Leon also said it should have stayed in committee because “process-wise this is poor form.”

The first vote was whether this should be before the Council and the vote was 13 aye and 2 no.  (Eight votes were required to pull it out of the committee.)

Then, councilmembers were told that this amendment to the previous ordinance addressed the issues that would keep a buffer zone around schools and libraries, that homeless individuals would not be allowed to block sidewalks, loading docks, streets or businesses.

No encampments would be allowed outside of bridge housing. “A buffer zone around shelters is essential,” Councilman Paul Krekorian said, and then told his fellow councilmembers, “There are dangerous encampments in your districts, and they present a grave danger to those living there.”

Ridley-Thomas disagreed with enforcement. “Before the unhoused are removed, they should be thoughtfully engaged,” he said. “This is a vehicle to further marginalize those that are houseless. I believe the unhoused should have a right to housing.” He wanted the council to look at a substitute motion.

Councilman Mike Bonin agreed with Ridley-Thomas, saying that there were some elements he supported, such as no encampments by schools, but “I don’t understand the eagerness to jump into this. . . for me to consider it, I need to see a map of what is prohibited. I don’t want people living in parks, in bike lanes, but we need to know where they can go.” He also pointed out that “We are not enforcing ADA now.”

Councilmembers then passed a substitute motion (12-3) that instructed the city attorney to write an ordinance that would allow the City to “maintain passable sidewalks and access points by preventing sitting, sleeping, lying, storing personal property or otherwise obstructing the public right-of-way within two feet of any fire hydrant or fire plug, or within five feet of any operational or utilizable entrance or exit, or within 10 feet of a loading dock or driveway, or in a manner that interferes with any activity for which the city has issued a permit, or in a manner that restricts accessible passage as required by the Americans with Disabilities Act, or anywhere within a street, including bike paths.”

Councilman Bonin and Councilwoman Nithya Raman voted no.

Buscaino also voted against it, because he doubted the city attorney would have the ordinance by Thursday and wanted to vote on the one that was available, now. “If the thing comes before us on Thursday, I’ll be the first to vote yes, but I’m skeptical,” Buscaino said.

Bonin’s staff may be happy if there is a quick result. Today someone sent Circling the News an email from his Westchester office:

Posted in City/Councilman Mike Bonin, Homelessness | 1 Comment

4th of July Parade Co-Marshal: Dr. Mike Martini Serves the Town

Posted on June 29, 2021 by Sue

(Editor’s note: This year co-parade marshals were chosen by the Palisades Americanism Parade Association. Circling the New received permission from PAPA to run this story. Tomorrow CTN will run the story of the other co-marshal.)

By LAUREL BUSBY

Contributing Writer

Dr. Mike Martini at an Optimist Club meeting asking people to sign up for the blood drive.

Dr. Mike Martini, 96, is woven into the fabric of Pacific Palisades.

He moved to town in 1954 to join Dr. Edwin Russell’s pediatric practice on Via de la Paz. Martini treated children throughout the community for more than 40 years. A few even grew up to become doctors, and in recent years, he became their patient.

He has been a member of the Palisades-Malibu YMCA board since its inception. He’s a past commander of American Legion Post 283, a former honorary fire chief, and a 1967 Citizen of the Year.

In addition, Martini has been active at Corpus Christi Church, and his long volunteerism inspired Monsignor Liam Kidney to recommend him for a papal blessing (Benemerenti Award), which he received in 2010. He is also the last surviving charter member of the Palisades Optimist Club, which was formed in 1956.

“I’ve been a happy, lucky guy here in town,” he said. “I was very fortunate to move here.”

And as such an active member of the community, he is of course a regular part of the Fourth of July Parade. He has ridden in the Station 69 fire truck, and for many years he marched with the Optimist Club troupe. In addition, he was parade marshal in 1990, an honor he’ll be repeating this year when both he and Joe Halper will be sharing the duty.

Each annual parade has provided Martini with a special memory, but he recalls his antics with the Optimists with particular delight.

“We always tried to do something funny or different,” he said. “Some years we had briefcases and we would throw them up and catch them. Other years we wore shorts and a top hat. Other times we performed with canes. We had a lot of fun. We called ourselves the imprecise drill team.”

He and his late wife of 67 years, Elaine, whom he met during medical school in St. Louis, also raised a large and devoted family. They first had three daughters, Kathleen, Barbara and Eileen, followed by three sons, Richard, Jim and Joseph.

Today, Martini has 15 grandchildren and 32 great-grandchildren. Another great-grandchild is expected to join the clan in July. The younger generation lives in various states, including Texas and North Carolina, and one granddaughter even lives in London.

“We’re one big happy family spread all over the world,” he said. “We all love one another. I’m so grateful for all the love that’s in this family.”

Over the years, Martini traveled the globe, sometimes for pediatric conventions, and other times on family vacations with his adult children. He’s visited numerous places, including Japan, Egypt, Israel and Rome.

On one special trip to Italy, he got the chance to visit his mother’s hometown in Sicily. A number of his relatives there belonged to the Greek Uniate church. He said they came from Albania in the 1400s-1500s, and their priests retained the right to marry, even after they became affiliated with the Roman Catholic Church.

“So, I have great grandparents who were priests,” he noted. His eldest son, Richard, is now a monsignor with the LA Archdiocese. Every Wednesday, he visits Martini to cook a big meal, while daughter Eileen lives with him full time to help him on a daily basis.

Over the years, Martini has had the occasional adventure. For example, after graduating from Loyola High in 1942 and earning a pre-med degree from UCLA, he joined the Navy Reserve and worked in the Long Beach Hospital until the war’s end. During the Korean War, he was called back into duty, and he became the doctor for a mine-sweeping squadron in North Korean waters.

One day, shells landed in front and behind the ship.

“The captain yelled, ‘Go for cover. They’ve got us bracketed!’” Martini recalled. “The next shell hit us right in the middle of the ship.”

For the ship’s crew, the location of the blast was fortuitous. The gangway was damaged, shrapnel hit the smokestacks, and a shell whizzed past someone’s head as he worked in his office, but only one crewman was injured.

Upon returning home and finishing his residency, Martini learned about the opening at Dr. Russell’s practice and his life journey in the Palisades was born.

“It’s a great town to live in,” he said. “The people are just a friendly group of people.”

Through the years, Martini has dealt with some challenges, such as cancer; he recently had cancerous cells removed from his scalp. He also lost his oldest daughter, Kathleen, to the disease in 2008.

During his retirement, he has tried to help others with some of their challenges. He attended to seniors by delivering food for Meals on Wheels and also worked as a Eucharistic minister for Catholic patients at UCLA hospital for many years.

After almost a century of life, he looks back on many joyful experiences raising his children and watching his patients, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren grow. The boys were active Little League baseball players, and his wife once calculated that she spent 23 years enjoying their games, while the girls preferred dance lessons and performances, which were also a pleasure to watch.

“I look back on a wonderful life,” Martini said.

 

At the 90th Woman’s Club birthday party in 2019, Lee Calvert, 94, dances next to Dr. Mike Martini.

 

 

 

Posted in Fourth of July | 2 Comments

Polo Matches (and Movies) Return to Will Rogers

Posted on June 29, 2021 by Sue

A resident told CTN last week, “I just got back from my evening visit to Will Rogers State Park,” where she noticed horses, trailers and staff in the lower parking lot. She learned that weekend polo has resumed on the only polo field in Los Angeles.

 

“I am so excited,” she said. “It’s been a long time since there was a polo match at the Park.”

The Will Rogers Polo Club schedule is online (http://www.willrogerspolo.org/schedule.html.) Generally, games are Saturdays from 2 to 5 p.m. and on Sundays from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. There will be no matches over the July 4th weekend, but they will resume on July 10-11 and 17-18, with a Women’s Tournament and Club Chukkers on July 24-25.

Matches are scheduled every weekend in August, including the   10th Anniversary Dog Iron Polo Cup on August 14 and 15. The last scheduled match is the 53rd Annual Will Rogers Memorial Tournament September 25-26.

According to historians, Will Rogers was extraordinarily skilled in the saddle and had a natural talent for polo. Rated as a three-goal player at his death, Rogers had played as high as five goals.

In a 1929 match at the Uplifters Club in Rustic Canyon, while playing with his longtime friend, movie producer Hal Roach (a three-goal player), Rogers scored eight of his team’s 14 goals, including four goals in a single chukker.

Rogers’s legacy–both philanthropic and paternal–continues to advance the sport of polo. The field and stables he built at his ranch a few blocks off Sunset Boulevard are now the Will Rogers Polo Club. It is the only grass polo field in Los Angeles County.

The polo fields at the Uplifters and Riviera clubs, where Rogers often played, have long since been razed. The field Rogers built, located inside today’s Will Rogers State Historic Park, currently hosts regular tournaments and has become a regional center for polo.

If a resident has never seen a polo match, this makes a nice outing. Pack refreshments but don’t sit too close, because the horses go full speed. Spectators during the intermission (halftime) that comes between the second and third chukkers go onto the field, search out clumps of grass and divots that have been unearthed by the hooves, and toe them back into the ground. The polo website has a nice tutorial about understanding the “game of kings.”

MOVIES AT WILL ROGERS PARK:

Tom Hanks in a scene from the movie “Big.”

Street Food Cinema will return with movies at Will Rogers State Historic Park, in front of the Will Rogers House.

On July 10, “Mean Girls” is playing, with music by B.Bravo, and food trucks that include Stout Burger, Dina’s Dumplings (Asian), Poutine Brothers (American) and Cinnabon for dessert.

July 14 will be “Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid” with music provided by Patrolled by Radar. Food trucks available will be Thai Mex Cocina (Asian fusion), Tokyo Style Food Truck (Asian) and Cinnabon for dessert.

August 21 is “Big,” starring Palisades resident Tom Hanks. Food and music to be announced.

All tickets must be purchased online. There will be no tickets sold at the gate, which opens at 5:30 p.m., with the movie starting at 8:30. Additionally, those guests with fully-vaccinated GA Admission will be required to present both a valid ID and a Covid-19 vaccine card at check in. There will be pod seating onsite and small children are included in pod allotment. (Visit: streetfoodcinema.com)

Posted in Arts, Parks, Sports | Leave a comment