Sophisticated pot-growing operation discovered

Domestic dispute in Hermosa Beach allows law enforcement officers to discover room filled with cultivated marijuana plants.

By Larry Altman
Daily Breeze

Police officers called to break up a domestic dispute in Hermosa Beach found a little more than they expected -- a sophisticated marijuana growing room with about 25 high-quality plants, officers said Wednesday.

When the officers arrived at the Fifth Street home, they spoke with Sara Joy Frank, 29, who was alone. The officers could see that the home appeared to be in disarray as a result of a struggle, Hermosa Beach police Sgt. Paul Wolcott said.

The officers entered the house to look for the male suspect, Justin Mark Albergate, 29. He wasn't there, but police found the growing room and marijuana plants in various stages of cultivation.

"The walls were lined with foil, grow lights had been installed, there was a sophisticated carbon filter ventilation system in place and books on how to grow marijuana," Wolcott said.

Frank was arrested immediately. Albergate was found in a search of the area and taken into custody. Each was held at the Hermosa jail on suspicion of cultivation of marijuana.

Suspected thief caught in stranger's car in HB

By Larry Altman
DAILY BREEZE

A resident's phone call to police about a strange man in a Hermosa Beach neighborhood helped officers Tuesday catch a suspected car burglar red-handed, police said.

A resident in the area of Manhattan Avenue and Fourth Street called police at 4:30 a.m. when she noticed a man enter a parked car through a rear door and use a flashlight inside, Hermosa Beach police Sgt. Paul Wolcott said.

A police officer who responded saw the car's right rear window was smashed and found the man lying on the front seat.

The man, identified as Akima Jamal Blake, 26, of Los Angeles, was ordered out of the car. He first claimed it belonged to a relative, but ran from the officer, Wolcott said.

About a block away at Fourth and Monterey Boulevard, Blake fell and was arrested.

Police found burglary tools in the parked car and suspect Blake was removing the stereo. In his nearby car, they found car stereo systems, CDs and a purse stolen from a Hermosa Beach resident. Detectives have identified at least two more apparent victims, Wolcott said.

Blake was arrested on suspicion of burglary and obstructing police and on a parole violation. He was held without bail.

"The person that called the police to report the suspicious circumstances did the right thing," Wolcott said. "She observed unusual activity in her neighborhood and reported it."

Anyone with additional information is asked to contact Hermosa Beach police Detective Wayne Lewis at 310-318-0330.

Hermosa woman found insane in bagel-shop killing

Marie-Elise West was convicted in 2004 of second-degree murder, but jurors deadlocked on sanity.

From staff and news services

A jury Tuesday found that a Hermosa Beach woman was insane when she ran over a 65-year-old man with her car outside a Van Nuys bagel store nearly six years ago.

The Los Angeles Superior Court panel deliberated less than a day before returning its verdict in the case of Marie-Elise West.

The 41-year-old former law school student was convicted in November 2004 of second-degree murder for the Sept. 1, 2000, killing of Jesus Plascencia, but that jury deadlocked 10-2 in favor of finding her sane at the time of the crime.

West's mother and father, who have been fixtures at court proceedings involving their daughter, were in court for Tuesday's verdict. Her father, Roger West, shook hands with and hugged jurors as they left the courtroom.

"I've been waiting a long time for this," said her mother, Geraldine West. "I hope that she'll be able to get the proper care. ... I hope that she'll be able to get well enough to get out and have a useful life."

West's father said the family has "been living with this for 16 years," and has set up a special needs trust for their daughter.

In her closing argument to the panel of seven women and five men, defense attorney Angelyn Gates said she believes everyone would agree that her client suffers from a mental illness -- bipolar disorder. West "runs over an innocent man for no apparent reason," and "every single thing she did after the fact was irrational," Gates told the downtown Los Angeles jury.

"There is no reasonable, rational explanation for this," Gates said. "The only explanation is insanity."

Deputy District Attorney John Allen Ramseyer countered that "mentally ill is not the same as legally insane."

He told the jury that the former law school student parked "strategically" to wait for the victim to come out of the bagel shop and then ran him over.

The prosecutor argued there was "no evidence at that moment that she murdered this individual, Mr. Plascencia, that she was insane."

He said the defense's experts -- who said they believed West was not capable of distinguishing what was legally or morally right from wrong -- relied on a statement West gave them 3½ years after the crime.

The case against West had been repeatedly delayed -- most recently last September when she was found incompetent to stand trial and sent to a state mental hospital.

She was subsequently deemed competent to return to court.

West is expected to be sent to a state mental hospital following a Sept. 7 hearing to determine where she will be placed. She could have faced up to 16 years to life in state prison if she had been found sane.

West cried as the verdict was read, her attorney said.

Gates said the jury this time was able to find West insane because the trial focused solely on the issue of sanity, while the jury in the first trial had to consider the criminal charges.

Gates said she thought the district attorney was intent on prosecuting her client to the fullest extent because of pressure from the Latino community to prosecute West after the case received media attention as a possible hate crime.

Al Bowman, West's husband, said the speedy verdict showed the jury clearly repudiated the prosecution's arguments.

"It was a very mixed jury, with Latinos, Asians -- people from all different cultures," said Bowman, who is half Latino.

"There are no winners in this situation. A man died tragically, and it is terrible. But the (district attorney) was terribly guilty of prosecutorial overreach and misconduct," he said.

Bowman said although the last six years have been trying, he has no plans to divorce his wife, whom he hopes can now receive proper medical treatment.

"She is the love of my life, and she doesn't deserve what has happened to her," he said.

Hermosa Beach – Police Log

Battery: 1:45 a.m.  July 21, 800 block of Bay View Drive.  The victim said he was walking and talking on his cell phone when he was attacked by two males, one of whom punched the victim and demanded his phone.  The victim was able to run away.

Battery: 1:52 a.m. July 22, 1600 block of Hermosa Avenue.  The victim was shot in the buttocks with a yellow paint ball, startling her and causing her to fall to the ground.  The victim and a witness both saw a dark colored four-door sedan leaving the area.

Battery / Public Intoxication: 1a.m. July 21, 00 block of Pier Plaza.  The victim was ignoring a man trying to talk to her when he struck her in the head.  A friend of the victim told her that the man had struck her, too.  The man was placed under private person’s arrest and taken into custody by police.

Battery: 8:30 a.m. July 19, 1000 block of the beach. The victim, a 16-year old girl, was walking along the water when a man, described as at least 19 years old, tried to strike up a conversation with her.  She turned back toward her summer camp group.  The man then attempted to give her his business card and said he wanted to see her feet.  The girl continued walking toward her summer camp group when the man grabbed her arm and pulled her toward him.  She pulled away and quickly walked away.  The man left.

Burglary: 1:30 p.m. July 20 to 8:15 a.m. July 21, 1000 block of Hermosa Avenue.  Someone broke a window in a garage door and took construction tools and equipment from the garage.  An interior door leading to the house had been kicked in.

Identity Theft: Feb. 3 to July 25, multiple locations.  On July 25, the victim discovered four unauthorized charges on his bank statement, ordered back copies of his statement and discovered approximately 70 unauthorized purchases ranging from $30 to $70 many at gas stations.

Hermosa Beach real estate mogul leaves legacy at pier

Author and investor David Schumacher, who died last week, loved his South Bay hometown and acted accordingly when need arose.

By Andrea Sudano
DAILY BREEZE

David Schumacher, a local real estate mogul whose generosity helped complete Hermosa Beach's lengthy pier overhaul about nine months ago, has died. He was 86.

The longtime Hermosa Beach resident died Wednesday of congestive heart failure at an Orange County hospital, said his wife, Margaret Schumacher.

Born Aug. 23, 1919, in Los Angeles, Schumacher traveled the world but planted roots in Hermosa Beach. He lived there from the 1960s until 2004, when he and his wife moved to an Orange County retirement home.

Hermosa Beach remained dear to Schumacher, who loved the ocean and considered the relaxed town to have one of the best beaches in the world, his wife said.

There, he and his twin brother, Paul, made their fortune in real estate appraisal. Together, they racked up a Monopoly board of properties throughout the South Bay and Orange County before Paul died in 1971.

As a tribute to his brother, Schumacher gave the city he loved $1 million in 1999 to reconstruct the pier's interface with The Strand. That portion of the pier was later named Schumacher Plaza, after Paul.

Schumacher proudly attended the pier's November inauguration ceremony, a highlight of the last years of his life, Mrs. Schumacher said.

"He was there for that and he was absolutely ecstatic," she said. "He thought the city was so great to him. It made him prosperous. He wanted to give something back to the city, to give it something people enjoyed."

The couple married in 1977, after meeting two years before on a cruise to the Caribbean. They had no children, instead focusing on real estate, writing and traveling, Mrs. Schumacher said.

A 1941 graduate of the University of California, Davis, he authored Buy and Hold: 7 Steps to a Real Estate Fortune, a book detailing his Horatio Alger-esque life story.

Schumacher loved chess, square dancing and a good practical joke, and was always willing to help others, said Terri Teague, a family friend and escrow officer who often worked with Schumacher.

"He was a nice man, super nice," she said. "He was always there for you."

Life slowed down in recent years, when Schumacher's health quickly began to fail. He suffered a stroke, and lost his vision completely to a visual disorder called progressive myopia about 10 years ago, Mrs. Schumacher said.

Before he died last week, Schumacher had been in and out of the hospital several times since July 4, his wife said.

A public viewing will be held from noon to 9 p.m. Wednesday at Forest Lawn, 1712 S. Glendale Ave., Glendale.

Funeral services are scheduled for 10 a.m. Saturday at All Saints Episcopal Church, 132 N. Euclid Ave., Pasadena.

The family asks for donations in Schumacher's name to be sent to the Jules Stein Eye Institute at UCLA. Send donations to 100 Stein Plaza, Development office 1-124, Los Angeles, CA 90095. Checks should be payable to UC Regents with a reference to Schumacher in the memo line.

Jury will consider Hermosa Beach woman's sanity claim

From news services

A Hermosa Beach woman convicted of second-degree murder for running over a man with her car outside a Van Nuys bagel store was insane at the time of the crime, her attorney told jurors Monday.

Defense attorney Angelyn Gates told the Los Angeles Superior Court panel that Marie Elise West had been diagnosed as "bipolar" and had been hospitalized about two dozen times before Jesus Plascencia was killed on Sept. 1, 2000.

West's lawyer told the jury that there was no basis for her client to have contact with the 65-year-old victim.

"He was just an innocent man minding his own business," Gates said. "The reason is she was hallucinating."

West's husband, Alfred Bowman, who was called as the defense's first witness, said his wife had been hospitalized numerous times before the two married in 1999 in Las Vegas.

Bowman told jurors that he tried to stop his spouse from leaving the house the night before Plascencia was killed and had seen changes in her behavior in the preceding days.

Deputy District Attorney John Allen Ramseyer said he would present his opening statement after the defense finishes presenting evidence in its portion of the case. In the sanity phase of a trial, the defense puts on its case first.

The jury is the third to be asked to consider whether West, now 41, was sane or insane at the time of the killing.

The first panel to hear the case against the former law school student convicted her of murder, but deadlocked 10-2 in favor of finding her sane at the time of the crime.

A second jury was empaneled last September to consider the sanity issue but was dismissed on the second day of testimony, when West was found incompetent to stand trial and sent to a state mental hospital.

She has since been deemed competent to return to court.

If West is determined to have been sane at the time of the crime, she could face a possible maximum sentence of 16 years to life in state prison. If found to have been insane, she would be sent to a state mental hospital.

 Friday Letters to the Editor

Recently, Hermosa Beach began hearing a request from the developer of the Hermosa Pavilion on Pacific Coast Highway. He desires to increase his restaurant there to 8,000 square feet, an area larger than three 25-foot-by-100-foot home sites, and to have on-sale liquor, too. Eighteen residents spoke against his plan.

Speaking in favor, though, was the salaried spokesperson of the Hermosa Chamber of Commerce business lobby, of which the developer is also a director.

The chamber's spokesperson ludicrously stated that sales and property tax from the Pavilion and similar restaurant/bar businesses is a major revenue contributor to Hermosa's general fund. In fact, the city is receiving little more than some under-priced annual business license fees, tax on utilities and no sales tax of consequence from the few businesses in the Pavilion.

Also, the assessor's Web site indicates that including all of the supplemental assessments for remodeling done to date, the city is now receiving a mere $39 per day from its 21 percent share of the Pavilion's annual property taxes.

Interesting to note is that 10 townhomes, assessed at $900,000 each, bring the city treasure more total annual revenue than can be expected from the entire Pavillion, even if the City Council forever gifts the developer full on-sale liquor and his proposed mammoth restaurant/bar. Additionally, the city's finance director confirmed that total sales tax revenue to the city from all the restaurant/bars citywide which have on-sale liquor is just $780 per day. That's less than 2 percent of the $43,000 per day Hermosa Beach spends on police and public safety. And all know where much of that expensive necessity has to be focused.

-- HOWARD LONGACRE

Hermosa Beach

Information may tie killer to 2 more victims

Family members recognized women in photos taken by William Richard Bradford. One was strangled; one was a missing runaway.

By Larry Altman
Daily Breeze

Investigators on Thursday said they have received information suggesting that two more women might have fallen victim to an amateur photographer already convicted in two Southern California killings.

Family members told deputies they recognized two faces among some 50 photographs released to the public this week. One woman was found strangled and dumped in a desolate area in Los Angeles County in 1980, and the other -- a 14-year-old girl -- ran away from her family in 1975 and was never heard from again, sheriff's Capt. Ray Peavy said.

"We may have stumbled onto two more of his victims," Peavy said.

Detectives continued to receive a flurry of calls Thursday after asking the public to help them identify the faces of more than 50 women photographed by William Richard Bradford from 1975 to 1984.

Their photos were found in his Westside apartment in 1984, when he was arrested in the killings of Shari Miller, 21, and Tracey Campbell, 15, who were found raped, strangled and mutilated.

Bradford, convicted and sent to death row in 1987, told jurors at his trial, "Think about how many you don't even know about."

Until recently, investigators had not checked on the whereabouts of the photographed women. They released the photographs Tuesday, publishing them on www.lacountymurders.com.

One photograph depicted Donnalee Duhamel, a 31-year-old El Segundo woman found sexually assaulted and decapitated in Malibu in 1978. She was last seen leaving a Culver City bar with a man suspected to be Bradford, police said.

So far, detectives have received calls and e-mails that tentatively identify 30 more women.

"Twenty-eight of the women appear to be alive," Peavy said. "We will be following up on that. Our work's just begun. I'm going to send people out to contact these people. Nothing is going to fall through the cracks."

Two calls sent shudders through the homicide bureau.

Children of a woman found killed in 1980 said one of the women looked like their mother, Peavy said.

The family sent a photograph to detectives and it appears to match a face among the 50, Peavy said.

Another family in the Midwest called detectives and said one face looks like their 14-year-old daughter, who vanished after she ran away from home in 1975.

They also sent a photograph to detectives, who compared it with Bradford's pictures and agreed it "looks pretty close," Peavy said.

"It shows we've uncovered information that needed to be uncovered," Peavy said.

Bradford, now 60, roamed the Westside and South Bay in the 1970s and 1980s, picking up women at bars and car racing events by telling them he could take their photos and put them in the movies.

Many of the photographs found in his home showed women in sexually explicit poses. Peavy said investigators have more photos than those they have released publicly.

Besides Duhamel, detectives also suspect Bradford in the slaying of 34-year-old Patricia Dulong in Santa Monica in 1975, and the killing of Mischa Stewart, a 23-year-old gay man found strangled with a bra in 1982.

Bradford's attorney, Darlene Ricker, told The Associated Press on Thursday that Bradford said he had nothing to do with the possible death or disappearance of any of the photographed women.

He said efforts to implicate him were a "waste of taxpayer money," Ricker said.

"Of course he's concerned. If he could help them find these women, he would. But he doesn't know anything about these women," Ricker said.

Asked to describe his demeanor, Ricker said: "He's very calm, very serious and very matter-of-fact."

Tina Teets, a Riverside pet-grooming shop owner, told The Associated Press that she was photo No. 8. She said she was 17 when Bradford photographed her.

Teets, 39, said Bradford tried to pull her aside during car shows and other events, but her mother did not allow it. She was photographed in 1984.

"He kind of stuck to me like glue. He just wouldn't leave me alone," she said. "He stood out as dark and being kind of creepy."

Killer's photo gallery brings in calls

The Sheriff's Department has probable identities on 24 of the women shown in old pictures. None was a victim.

By Larry Altman
Daily Breeze

The calls started immediately Tuesday and didn't stop on Wednesday.

And before long, detectives said, they had good leads to identify 24 women among some 50 pictured in photographs found at a serial killer's apartment.

Many of the women called the Sheriff's Department themselves after spotting their decades-old faces in newspapers and on television, sheriff's Capt. Ray Peavy said.

"We haven't been able to verify any of those people," Peavy said. "Chances are they are accurate, but we don't want to be too enthusiastic until we know for sure."

So far, investigators have no indication that any of the unidentified photographs is another victim of William Richard Bradford, a death row inmate convicted in 1987 of killing two young women three years earlier.

Now 60, he is suspected in at least three other killings in the 1970s and 1980s.

During his trial, he told jurors, "Think about how many you don't even know about," a statement that concerns detectives looking at the photographs today.

The amateur photographer, investigators said, met his victims in bars and car racing events, luring them with offers of taking pictures to help them get into the movies. His victims were raped, strangled and dumped, their bodies mutilated.

The rolls of film and photographs found in Bradford's Palms apartment in 1984 sat in a box until cold-case detectives recently pulled them out and decided they ought to check if anyone else met with foul play. For some reason, investigators in 1984 chose not to.

Deputies soon determined that one of the women in the photographs was El Segundo resident Donnalee Duhamel, whose decapitated body was found in Malibu in 1978.

She was last seen leaving a Culver City bar with Bradford, police said.

Concerned about the other photographed women, deputies posted the pictures on a Web site, www.lacountymurders.com.

Calls poured in from women, including one from as far away as Germany, Peavy said.

That woman, who was 15 at the time, said Bradford was upset when she arrived for the photo shoot with her mother.

Bradford told her, "Why don't you get rid of your mother and we can get down to business and have some fun," Peavy said. The mother would not leave.

Peavy said detectives anticipated they would be able to identify many of the women and learn they are alive. The ones who remain unidentified might be another story.

"I hope they either see themselves on TV and say, 'I'm well, alive,' " said Sheriff's Department spokeswoman Kerri Webb. "Or somebody's cousin or somebody's husband calls and says, 'No. 29 I know.' We just need some identification to these women and make sure they're OK."

On Wednesday, Duhamel's daughter questioned why it took so long for detectives to investigate her mother's death.

"My mom just disappeared, and now she's getting the attention I feel she deserves," Lisa Mora told The Associated Press.

Mora, who lives in the Los Angeles area, said she believed her mother had a boyfriend at the time and had never met Bradford before she went missing.

"I'm really surprised and pretty shocked," said Mora, 36. "I still my miss my mom."

Police said Duhamel went to the Frigate bar in Culver City with her boyfriend, but left with Bradford.

One house -- many lives

Residents across 100 years at this Hermosa Beach home share a special bond, having lived in its antique charm.

By Andrea Sudano
Daily Breeze

Growing up in the 1950s, Susan Collins and her four sisters spent hours hidden away from the world in a tiny passageway inside her Hermosa Beach bedroom.  In that same room in the early 1970s, Robin Balchen tap danced to her heart's content on the hardwood floors, much to her mother's irritation downstairs.

These days, 19-year-old Aimee Cook finds a haven from the pressures of college life in her childhood bedroom at 1040 Manhattan Ave.  And so it has been for 100 years now: child after child, family after family -- about a dozen so far -- making the same home their own with new carpet, paint and memories.

The property's value meanwhile has skyrocketed. The house was built on land worth $200 in 1906. Now valued at nearly $2 million, a snug beach house has become a retirement fund.  But owners through the years say what built them the most equity were the tragedies and comedies, first and last steps, and intangible details of everyday life in those 1,500 square feet -- meaningless to the world outside, but monumental to the families inside the house.

Through property and tax records, and interviews with previous owners, the Daily Breeze helps these walls talk, giving a voice to the ghosts and memories of this old house.

Collins recently set foot in her childhood home for the first time in more than 30 years.  "You just stand there," said Collins, whose parents rented the home from 1957 to 1967. "Everything seemed smaller. Going upstairs was eerie because that hasn't changed as much as the downstairs. ... Gosh, it was exactly the same."

One of the first homes in the area, the house with wood siding was built on sand when nothing stood between it and the ocean.  Today, towering monoliths surround the home, leaving the pier timidly peeking out from behind their roofs.

But while the world swirled around Manhattan Avenue, the house has remained a constant. Little has changed about it, save for some aesthetic modifications and a modernized kitchen and bathroom.

A Dutch Colonial with a gambrel roof, the house was one of just 20 scattered along the shore when it was built.  Builder Ralph Matteson and wife Charlotte had their choice of three bedrooms -- two upstairs, one down. A good-size living room, dining room, kitchen and sun room rounded out the rest of the home.

Eventually, the Mattesons wanted a bigger and fancier house, so the couple commissioned plans for a new abode a half-mile north at Manhattan Avenue and 19th Street, said Matteson's grand-nephew Rick Koenig, a lifelong Hermosa Beach resident.  They moved in 1921, starting the chain of owners and tenants who would make the two-story house on Manhattan Avenue a home.

In the early 1970s, Robin Balchen awoke one morning to blaring Mariachi music. From the base of the steep, dark staircase, she peered into the living room to find her father, Art, dancing passionately.  He had just installed new carpet atop the old hardwood floors and was celebrating.

The avocado-green covering was a steal -- leftover scraps of shag from a nearby apartment complex cobbled together with masking tape, Art Balchen said.  "I turned it upside down and masked it all together and it looked great," he said.

Twenty years later, a pregnant Michelle McBride and her surgeon husband moved in to the rickety beach house -- the couple's first home.

They loved the seaside locale and large back yard. But they hated Art Balchen's beloved carpet.  "When we got it, there was a crunchy, crusty shag carpet," said McBride, who now lives on the Palos Verdes Peninsula. "We pulled it back and found wood floors. So, we refinished all the wood floors in the house."

The large living room was often a neighborhood gathering spot, said Art Balchen, now a retired engineer living in Ojai. Neighbors buzzing with excitement filled the room during major news events, like man landing on the moon.  "It was a very close-knit community," he said. "Gee whiz, everyone was there. When something big like that happened, everyone would run into our house. There was a lot of room to be mesmerized."

Under an ornate gas light fixture, the Mattesons likely ate nightly in the dining room at the center of the house.  Today, beneath the original light fixture now converted to electric, a wooden cabinet holds pictures of Cook and her parents, Tom and Gina Nyman, and an old scrapbook filled with the Mattesons' pictures.

Long associated with family gatherings throughout the years, the dining room is a fitting place to store memories.

McBride remembered a special introduction made after her newborn daughter Elizabeth came home from the hospital in 1991.  "My grandfather met my daughter there -- the first great-grandchild in my family," she said. "He died very shortly after. We loved the house. We had big family gatherings. There are great memories there."

A cycle of holidays has turned through the home like clockwork every year.  The Nymans routinely host Easter and Christmas gatherings in the home. One Thanksgiving, previous owner Duncan McBride stopped by for an impromptu visit, Gina Nyman recalled.

Christmas trees have sat in the front window, or decorated the sun room, or nestled neatly on the side of the living room. The delicate shingles lining the house's facade make hanging holiday lights difficult.  For years, festive feasts have been prepared in the spacious kitchen, overhauled in the late 1970s to include more floor space and a Wolf range, said previous owner Donald MacPherson.

Today, the Nymans play chef in a bright and airy kitchen with plenty of cabinet space, new tile and a large bay window looking out into the back yard.

But there's no more Wolf range.  Michelle McBride coveted it so much that she took it with her when the family moved to Rolling Hills in 1995.  "I feel guilty," she said. "It's a neat old (stove). I loved that stove so much. ... Oh, I'm such a bad girl."

Surrounded by lots filled with multiple condominiums and apartments, the century-old house has a large back yard that is an anomaly in the neighborhood. The yard is remembered fondly by all former owners.

Longtime Hermosa Beach resident MacPherson, who owned the house in the 1980s, believes the large, green back yard is one of the few of its size in town.  With brickwork carved through the tall trees and bushes, the yard makes a perfect spot for parties and get-togethers, Nyman said.

The Balchens pinned tails on donkeys there, and McBride's friends and family hosted her baby shower in the yard.  "That's why it was so special," she said. "You could have a little oasis in the back there. It was so unusual in those areas. You could have a little gardening, too."

To a young Robin Balchen, her back yard was like a jungle, massive and thick with greenery. But after sneaking a peek through the fence several years ago, she was amazed by how much smaller the yard really was.  "I used to go in the back yard and make mud pies for my cat," said Robin, now a social worker in San Jose. "I'd chase her around the palm tree with palm fronds. ... I thought she liked it."

A wooden deck wraps around the side of the house, giving lawn chairs a spot to rust in the sea air and an old Jacuzzi a place to bubble.  The hot tub was a more recent addition, Art Balchen said. After he sold the house in 1976, he left the new owners some money to repair the original foundation -- instead they installed the whirlpool.

Living in a 100-year-old house built in one of California's priciest real estate markets can be difficult, the current owners said.

The money is tempting, but the Nymans know any buyer would raze their dream house and put up two in its place.  "The house itself, any developer would blow it up," Tom Nyman said. "I'm not sure anyone would pay that kind of money to live here. There aren't that many people who would appreciate a 100-year-old house."

So, the couple, who bought the house in foreclosure for $375,000 about 10 years ago, painstakingly protect the structure. Every August, they tackle a new improvement project, hoping to keep the house fresh but true to its period.  "We have a huge responsibility to save it," Gina Nyman said.

If they ever sell, the couple will likely take the house with them. There's too much to lose otherwise, said Koenig, the original owner's grand-nephew.  "It speaks volumes of a time past," he said. "Hermosa Beach has always been a special place. (The house) brings back memories. It's like watching an old movie. It helps us remember a kinder time."

The house has bonded a dozen families through the years -- a banker, an engineer, oil company executive, radio advertisement salesman, a neurosurgeon, a television producer.

What unites these caretakers are the same four walls and the same small, parallel memories that keep the old house's foundation strong.  "This is not just any old house," Robin Balchen said. "1040 Manhattan Avenue was not forgettable. ... I think it had so much charm. In older houses, you can feel the history."

142 votes win Bobko a spot on HB City Council

"I thought it was gonna be close," said the victor, who will take over the vacant seat in July.

By Gene Maddaus
Daily Breeze

Patrick "Kit" Bobko emerged with a narrow victory to capture the vacant seat on the Hermosa Beach City Council, beating his closest competitor by 142 votes.

Bobko, who finished behind Jeff Duclos in November, won 40.7 percent of the vote Tuesday to runner-up Duclos' 36.2 percent. He is expected to take office in mid-July.

"I thought it was gonna be close," Bobko said. "I can't say I was expecting to win."

For Duclos, it was "always the bridesmaid, never the bride." Duclos finished fourth in the race for three council seats in November. When the second-place finisher, Howard Fishman, stepped aside to care for his ailing wife, two council members wanted to appoint Duclos to fill the vacant seat.

The other two objected, prompting Tuesday's special election.

"When we were forced into this special election, I had $187 left in my campaign funds," Duclos said. "I knew I was never going to be able to spend what my fellow candidates did. I'm really proud of the campaign we ran. It was an old-fashioned grass-roots effort."

Bobko, 36, is a municipal attorney and former Air Force captain. Duclos, 61, is a home-based communications consultant. Bobko said he hopes to work on improving infrastructure, disaster preparedness, and public safety during his term on the council.

"The council makes decisions too much based on personality," he said. "The first thing I want to do is bring a sense of optimism and enthusiasm back to the council."

Duclos, a longtime Hermosa Beach resident, said he was disappointed by Bobko's campaign.

"I'd be less than truthful if I didn't express my disappointment in him for his deceptions at the end of the campaign," he said. "It was a little too much old-school Hermosa Beach politics."

Contract lawsuit at center of council candidates' concerns

All four Hermosa Beach candidates say the action brought by Macpherson Oil Co. must be resolved. They differ on the most effective way to do that.

By Deepa Bharath
DAILY BREEZE

Just how to handle an oil company's $500 million breach of contract lawsuit against the city of Hermosa Beach has emerged as a central issue in the race for a City Council seat.

All four candidates in the June 6 special election said the suit by Macpherson Oil Co., which could potentially bankrupt the city, is one of their main concerns, and they don't agree on how to best resolve it.

Jeff Maxwell said he would settle, while Janice Brittain would not. Patrick "Kit" Bobko said he wouldn't rush into a settlement; he would wait for now. Jeff Duclos said he would like to see a resolution to the suit, but couldn't say if he would settle now, not without knowing the terms.

Macpherson acquired oil drilling rights in 1992 through lease arrangements with the city. Before any drilling started, voters in 1995 passed Measure E to ban oil drilling in town. The Hermosa Beach City Council voted in 1998 to deny Macpherson drilling permits based on a consultant's opinion that it would be unsafe.

Later that year, Macpherson filed a lawsuit alleging breach of contract. In 2002, a Los Angeles Superior Court judge upheld Measure E as an effective and legal end to a slant-drilling lease held by the Santa Monica-based petroleum company. But an appellate court overturned that decision last summer. The city appealed to the state Supreme Court, which denied the appeal in November.

Bobko, a municipal attorney who prosecuted cases for Hermosa Beach from 2000 to 2004, said the city should "watch and wait" on the Macpherson case.  "This is like buying a used car," he said. "You can't go in and tell the salesman you're going to buy, no matter what. Settlement is always an option, but it's important to be patient."

Maxwell said he sees the Macpherson issue "as a time bomb waiting to explode."  "There's a 50 percent chance here that we'll go bankrupt," he said. "If I were on the City Council, I'd look to settle."

Brittain said she would be reluctant to settle.  "I think the city should stick with the process," she said. "I don't think that we should give up and settle for the big amount (Macpherson Oil) seems to be asking for."

Duclos said he, like most others, is looking for a resolution to the conflict that has been raging for the past 15 years or so.  "The numbers that have been thrown out make it a significant issue for the city," he said. "But that said, I don't think the numbers are anywhere near realistic."

Duclos said apart from the Macpherson lawsuit, he only sees two major issues in Hermosa Beach.  "Public safety and infrastructure," he summarized. "Our quality of life in this town largely depends on those two factors."

The city must find a way to allocate money to keep its streets and key facilities in good shape, Duclos said.  "Our fire facility is in a state of disrepair," he said. "Our City Hall seems worse than a World War II bunker. We keep doing patchwork here and there. We fix stuff, but we're not enhancing or building our community in any way."

Maxwell said his primary goal as a councilman is to remain accountable to his constituents.  "I don't think there's much accountability right now," he said. "People are not getting answers to their questions. I'd like to change that."

Keeping the beach clean is also high on his priority list, Maxwell said.  He said neighboring Manhattan Beach got its wake-up call in January with a massive sewage spill that flooded homes and discharged 2 million gallons of raw sewage onto the sand.  "I think we need to be alert and work toward avoiding situations like that," Maxwell said.

Brittain said her main concern is communication.  "I don't think city officials are communicating very well with the public," she said. "The city needs to clarify their policies to people."

Brittain gave the example of the issue of lot mergers that came up recently with a property owner on Prospect Avenue.   The owner had gone through the planning process with the understanding that he could build two homes on his lots, but was told later that the lots must be merged.  "That should've never happened," Brittain said. "City policies and regulations must always be clear and well communicated."

Bobko said his big issues apart from the Macpherson case are public safety, parking, density and "infusing optimistic leadership" into the council.  "Our Police Department is going through a crisis," he said. "We need to go through the process of strengthening not only our Police Department, but also our Fire Department and improve our level of disaster-preparedness."

Bobko said he would also be eager to create a "fertile business environment" in the city, which he said is one of the best ways to increase city revenue.  "By creating a business corridor in Hermosa Beach, we'll increase our sales tax base," he said.

Three out of the four candidates -- Bobko, Duclos and Maxwell -- ran, and lost, in the November council election. Howard Fishman, who was elected to the council in November, declined to take his seat after his wife was diagnosed with a serious illness. It is this seat that the candidates are vying for in the June election.

3 Hermosa Beach city council candidates boycott a forum

One says the Q & A format "didn't feel right." Janice Brittain was the sole contender to attend the session.

By Deepa Bharath
DAILY BREEZE

Three of the four Hermosa Beach City Council candidates vying for the vacant seat in the June 6 election said they would not attend a candidates forum held by a community group Thursday night because they were not comfortable with the format.

The Hermosa Beach Neighborhood Association, a community watchdog group founded by resident Al Benson, announced its first candidates forum this year.

But as it turned out, it ended up as a question-and-answer session between one candidate, Janice Brittain, and the audience.

Candidates Jeff Duclos, Patrick "Kit" Bobko and Jeff Maxwell took a pass on the event.

Brittain is the only candidate in this election who did not run in November. In the fall contest, Duclos finished fourth behind incumbent J.R. Reviczky, Bobko finished fifth and Maxwell was seventh among 10 candidates vying for three seats.

Howard Fishman, who collected the most votes in November, declined to take office after his wife was diagnosed with a serious illness. It is this seat that will be filled in the June 6 election.

Maxwell said he was overwhelmed with the amount of information Benson sent him to prepare for Thursday's debate.

"The questions were leading," he said.

It was after another local debate held by the League of Women Voters that the candidates met briefly and discussed Thursday night's forum, Maxwell said.

"I think we felt that it wasn't a debate forum, but a personal forum for Mr. Benson," he said. "It just didn't feel right."

Brittain said she had made a commitment to Benson that she would attend.

But Brittain said she shares the other candidates' feelings.

"In most debates, questions are open-ended," she said. "Here, it feels like we're writing a research paper."

Benson, himself a City Council candidate in November, said his intention was not to overwhelm candidates.

"The council packets are usually the size of two phone books," he said. "So you'd think they'd get used to seeing a lot of information."

The questions were meant to be "direct and pointed," Benson said.

"I'm worried about public safety issues," he said. "I'm worried about our Police Department, the bars, the alcohol and our quality of life."

Duclos said the candidates' decision not to attend was nothing personal against Benson.

"There were some issues in relation to the tone and direction of this debate, which was enough to influence our decision on whether to participate," he said.

Benson said all he wanted was to give candidates time to prepare their answers and asked for their responses so he could ask follow-up questions.

"I'm not disappointed they're not coming," he said. "I'm disappointed that they had this little powwow on this issue and made a collective decision behind my back."

3 file suit against HB police over 2004 incident

Complaint alleges that two officers attacked at Pier Plaza, filed false statements and lied under oath.

By Matt Krasnowski
Copley News Service

Three people who were acquitted last year on public intoxication and resisting arrest charges have filed a lawsuit against the Hermosa Beach Police Department, claiming officers roughed up two of them, filed false reports and lied in court about the arrests.

Michelle Myers, Robert Nolan and Joel Silva filed the lawsuit in U.S. District Court in Los Angeles on Tuesday, claiming Hermosa Beach police Sgt. Raul Saldana and officers Michael Frilot and Todd Lewitt violated their civil rights.

The allegations stem from a May 23, 2004, incident at Pier Plaza. The lawsuit contends that Saldana approached Myers, Nolan and Silva from behind in a patrol car "maliciously blasting his air horn to frighten plaintiffs."

The suit said the three jumped away, "condemning Saldana for his juvenile behavior." Saldana then drove past them and directed the other officers to go after Nolan.

The lawsuit contends Nolan was "attacked, choked, knocked down and maliciously struck and injured by Lewitt."

Lewitt later kicked Silva and struck him in the head, according to the complaint by lawyer Thomas Beck, who has filed several lawsuits against the department stemming from incidents at Pier Plaza.

Myers, Nolan and Silva were arrested and charged. They complained about the officers' conduct to department officials, but a sergeant investigating their allegations called them "whiners," the lawsuit states.

Last year, the three were acquitted on the misdemeanor charges after a jury trial. The lawsuit contends Saldana, Frilot, Lewitt and other officers "gave knowingly perjured testimony" during the trial.

The lawsuit does not seek specific monetary damages from the city.

Hermosa Beach City Attorney Michael Jenkins said he has not seen the complaint but was familiar with the case.

"The city is very familiar with the facts and is very familiar with the circumstances," Jenkins said. "The city intends to defend the case vigorously."