Fire crews continued to work along Palisades Drive on October 22.
PALISADES FIRE CAUSE:
“I have never seen the cause of the Palisades Fire last October (21). Do you have any information as to how it was started?” CTN called LAFD Media Relations (213-978-3820) and never received an answer.
Pacific Palisades Community Chair David Card asked LAFD Deputy Chief Armando Hogan, who responded on July 10 and pointed to a November posting. “CAUSE: LAFD Investigators have determined this fire to have been incendiary (arson), and continue to work what remains an open investigation.”
SEASON RAINFALL TOTALS:
There was a gentle rain on April 9.
“We’re at the end of the rainfall season in Los Angeles (July 1 through June 30). What was the final total in Pacific Palisades?”
CTN contacted Carol Leacock, the town’s County-certified rainmeister, who replied on June 20, “I’ll take a look and let you know.”
Santa Monica’s rainfall last year was 13.82 inches, which is slightly above normal for the year, which is 11.75 inches of rain.
The average rainfall for July is .12 inches of rain, but in 2016 and 2017, there was no rainfall. In the following two years there was only a trace.
MATTHAU’S ‘PRETTY YARD:’
“Regarding that ‘pretty yard’ on Toyopa in the Huntington Palisades (Musings, June 18) that you admire for its ecologically and environmentally respectful landscaping, I could not agree with you more. Do you remember when this house, prior to renovation, was painted a lovely goldenrod color?
“Perhaps you were already aware but did not want to do a ‘name drop” in Circling the News, that this was the Walter and Carol Matthau house. I love being able to summon Walter’s and Carol’s memory every time I walk by that splendid residence.”
PARKING METER MONEY:
A reader asked, “Whatever happened to the parking meter money Pacific Palisades was supposed to receive?”
CTN has also wondered, on numerous occasions, whatever happened to the parking meter money that Councilman Mike Bonin promised in December 2018.
In a February 21, 2020 update, CTN reported the councilman’s office had responded: “Unfortunately, however, the pilot program was impacted by a critical staffing shortage at LADOT in the parking division. Our Transportation Deputy has been checking in with LADOT regularly to get updates and I share those as part of my regular reports at the PPCC [Community Council] meeting.
“We have been pushing very hard to get the program manager position filled at LADOT. (To be 100% clear: this is a civil service position within LADOT’s parking division, not our office, and as such, must go through normal civil service hiring procedures.) Our expectation is that this program will be staffed and begin this spring.
“It is also important to note that [City] Council appropriated the funding for this program, and that revenues have been accumulating. So, when we do start, the BID [Business Improvement District] will have access to the accumulated balance since program authorization, not just the annual estimated annual revenue moving forward. Most importantly, this delay in program start will not result in fewer dollars flowing to projects in the Palisades.”
To summarize, the city has not been able to fill a civil service position since September 2018.
But let’s be optimistic, at least when it comes to receiving the promised parking meter revenue. The initial figure was $50,000. I wonder what the total is by now–and who’s keeping track?