Sunday morning brick breaks church’s stained glass window - Police were investigating after someone threw a brick through a stained glass window on the front of the 80-year old Church of Christ Scientist building on the corner of Manhattan Avenue and 16^th Street early Sunday mourning.  Police said bricks were used to break the stained glass window high on the front wall on the tall, column-fronted building and another window low to the ground on the 16^th Street side.  Nobody entered the church, police said.  Police urged anyone with information about the motive or identity of the vandal or vandals to call Detective Wayne Lewis at 318-0330.  Complete story with picture, just below.

Hermosa Beach Arrests hit an all-time high - The year 2004 saw a record number of arrests in Hermosa -- 1,388 -- topping the old record of 1,315 set the year before. Those high-water marks go back at least to 1991.

HBPD 2004 Crime Statistics - Show what crime categories have increased from 1998 thru 2004.

The Easy Reader – February 9, 2006

Robberies, assaults dropped last year in Hermosa Beach

by Robb Fulcher

Robberies declined by almost 50 percent last year and assaults dipped as well, according to statistics compiled by city police.  The rate of burglary -- the crime of entering a building or car to commit theft or any other felony, also rose somewhat, while total thefts of all kinds fell somewhat.  Robbery, which is theft by force or fear, fell from 19 incidents in 2004 to 10 last year.  The number of reported sex crimes remained even at six.

Sgt. Paul Wolcott, HBPD spokesman, said people are often reluctant to report sex crimes. He pointed to the case of Charles Weinberg, who was sentenced last month to eight years in prison for molesting boys in 1988, 1999, 2004 and 2005. Weinberg’s crimes occurred in previous years and went initially unreported, Wolcott said.

Hermosa’s murder rate rose from zero in 2004 to one in 2005, when a 26-year-old Lomita man was shot dead and his 21-year-old brother was wounded at a residential construction site on 10th Street just west of Pacific Coast Highway. An arrest warrant was issued charging Severiano Rios Castro with one count of murder and one of attempted murder on March 5 of last year. Investigators believe that Castro had been living in Harbor City and fled to Guadalajara, Mexico after the shooting.

Most years pass with no murders occurring in Hermosa. The next-to-last one took place in March 2003 when a 25-year-old man was shot late at night as he sat behind the wheel of a car at the intersection of Pacific Coast Highway and Pier Avenue. That crime remains unsolved.

Auto theft remained even in Hermosa with 42 incidents in 2004 and in 2005, and DUI incidents went up slightly.  Police made more total arrests in 2005, issued about one-third fewer traffic citations and impounded fewer autos.  The traffic tickets were down in 2005 because a number of officers went off duty with injuries, prompting motorcycle officers to be diverted to regular patrol duty, Wolcott said.  Calls for police service also declined somewhat last year. ER

The Easy Reader – February 9, 2006

Candidate shatters fund-raising record

Maxwell spent $40.93 per vote

by Robb Fulcher

Political newcomer Jeff Maxwell set a campaign fund-raising record when he amassed $41,925 for his failed City Council candidacy last November, almost all of it in loans from himself.  Maxwell spent $40.93 for each of the 1,009 votes he received in last November’s election, ending up with a seventh-place finish in a 10-candidate field, and a $617 balance in his campaign coffers.  Maxwell, owner of Palos Verdes Limousine, easily broke the old fund-raising record for a Hermosa Beach City Council race set by political consultant Fred Huebscher, who amassed $30,300 in his unsuccessful bid for a council seat in 1999. Huebscher had put up all of that money in loans from himself to his campaign.

Final disclosure - Maxwell’s record breaking figures were revealed in campaign-finance disclosure statements on file at City Hall. Under state law candidates were required to file their final campaign disclosure statements at the end of January, about two months after the election.  In November voters reelected incumbents Michael Keegan and JR Reviczky and gave a third council seat to Howard Fishman. The next day Fishman learned that his wife had been diagnosed with a serious medical condition, and he bowed out of serving on the council.  Fishman’s replacement will be chosen by voters in a special election in June, and candidates can file papers to appear on the ballot beginning Monday.

Rest of the field - Following Maxwell in fund-raising for the November election, Patrick “Kit” Bobko raised $15,945 and finished fifth in the council race, fourth-place finisher Jeff Duclos raised $14,966, Keegan raised $14,194, Fishman raised $11,990, and Reviczky raised $10,973.  Sixth-place finisher Don Ponder raised $13,083, eighth-place finisher Jack Janken raised $6,150, ninth-place finisher Sean Krajewski raised $4,345 and last-place finisher Al Benson raised $1,180.

Maxwell loaned his own campaign $37,500. He received contributions of $250 – the maximum allowed by city ordinance – from Jack, June and Karen Maxwell, Hermosan Barbara Robinson, owner of the Pink store, Redondo sales representative Robert Reid, Redondo homemaker Valerie Reid, Redondo personal trainer Daniella Vindez, Palos Verdes Estates homemaker Wendy Moscowitz, Torrance mortgage broker Steven Hershman, Compton businessman Chester Pipkin.

Bobko loaned his campaign $352 and received contributions of $250 from USAF Major Daniel Gammell of Hermosa, Boingo Wireless director Luis Serrano of Hermosa, Monica’s on Broxton president May Serrano of Hermosa, attorney Ira Fierberg of Hermosa, pharmaceutical sales manager Charles Southey of Manhattan Beach, Toyota Motor Sales group vice president Barbara Cooper of Manhattan Beach, Toyota Motor Sales manager Connie Hahn of Torrance, Matt Henry Group president Matt Lengkeek of Torrance, LA attorneys Michael Abbot and Peter Pierce, attorneys John Harris and Susan C. Wright of La Canada, Discovery Economics of Los Angeles, Mike Escanian of Irvine, Georgia Realtor James Cuddihy, businessman Kip Jones of LA, Washington DC attorney Charles Daum, self-employed Di Ki Kahn of Huntington Beach, Huntington homemaker Shanen Hahn, LA attorney Mary Abbott, Intercontinental Exchange manager Alan Wansky of Georgia, LA County Hospital physician Renee Sabhin of Beverly Hills, Teradyne manager Mark Cherry of Massachusetts, Glenda and Josh Bobko of Florida, Alhambra attorney Peter Thorson, La Canada attorney Glenn Watson, Lockheed legislative affairs director Scott McClean of Virginia, Sandra Bobko of North Carolina and Peter Bobko of Florida, attorney Chad Boonswang of Pennsylvania, Heathrow Land Co. director David Damrath of Florida and Boston surgeon Brian Williams.

Duclos loaned his own campaign $10,000. He received contributions of $250 from Hermosa Councilman Sam Edgerton, the Beach Cities Democratic Club, Hermosa Public Works Commissioner Jean Lombardo and Hermosa businessman Tony Lombardo, Hermosa attorney Robert Aranoff, Hawaii’s Anthony Schong who is retired from the US Navy, Hawaii housewife Lora Schena, Palos Verdes Peninsula homemaker Linda German, San Juan Capistrano writer Andrew Porterfield and San Diego realtor Kenneth Lane.

Keegan loaned his own campaign $1,000 and received contributions of $250 from Hermosa investor Steve Hunt, Hermosans Miyo and Jim Prassas of Prassas Metal Products, Hermosa businessman William Robb, the Beach Cities Democratic Club, Ralph’s Shopping Center, Hermosa Pavilion vice President Ryan Shook of Long Beach, Pavilion developer Gene Shook of San Juan Capistrano, engineer Desi Alvarez of Manhattan Beach, attorney Raymond Johnson of Manhattan Beach, Redondo attorney Lee Fink, Westlake Village businessman Jim Moreland, Bell Cab Co. of Hawthorne, National Business Bank, John Stortz of Tiger Foods, Compton businessman Chester Pippin, Leahy Associates of Beverly Hills, Nationwide Business Finance, Myer Feldman of Maryland, James Feldman of Washington DC and Keegan’s own Manhattan Bread business. He received a $249 contribution from former Hermosa commissioner and council candidate Charlie Cheatham.

Fishman loaned his own campaign $4,000 and received contributions of $250 from Hermosa Councilman Sam Edgerton, former Hermosa Councilwoman Kathy Dunbabin and her husband John Dunbabin, the Beach Cities Democratic Club, Hermosa Public Works Commissioner Jean Lombardo and Hermosa businessman Tony Lombardo, Roger Bacon of Redondo who owns Ralph’s Shopping Center in Hermosa, Hermosa attorney Lourdes Garcia, Hermosan Bernadette Patterson who works in Lexus sales, Redondo attorney Lee Fink, the Yellow Cab of South Bay cooperative, Torrance Public Administrator Kathy Keane of Hermosa, municipal consultant Philip Carter of Roseville and First Coastal Bank’s Laurie Duncan of Manhattan Beach.

Reviczky loaned his own campaign $3,039 and received contributions of $250 from former Hermosa Councilwoman Kathy Dunbabin and her husband John Dunbabin, Hermosans Chuck and Missy Sheldon, Hermosa retirees Theresa and Lawrence Thompson, Theresa Hafner and Jan Hamilton, Hermosa attorney James Hamilton and Hermosa realtor Jacqueline Flaherty

Ponder contributed $9,848 to his own campaign and listed contributions of $250 from business owner Michael Collins of Hermosa, business owner Bil Shamma, Ralph Rawilli, and Stark and Clarke attorneys of Torrance.  Janken loaned his own campaign $5,000 and received contributions of $250 from Gary Doane of Hermosa, Cindy Wells of Hermosa and Hermosa building contractor Gary Wells.

Krajewski loaned his own campaign at least $1,745 and listed contributions of $100 from Hermosa Cyclery owner Steve Collins and Kathy Downey of Santa Barbara, a Sharkeez bartender.  Benson listed contributions of $250 from Hermosa retiree Carol Prenter, Hermosa waitress Wendy K. Davis and Redondo nurse Louise Pilati. ER

The Easy Reader – February 9, 2006

Two million-plus flock to Hermosa beaches in 2005

by Robb Fulcher

Pleasant weather and the promise of more parking helped bring 2.14 million people to the Hermosa Beach sands last year while lifeguards made 243 rescues.  No drowning were recorded on the city’s beaches, according to statistics compiled by Los Angeles County lifeguards.

Lifeguards estimate beach attendance by looking over the sands and meshing what they see with guidelines established by statisticians who studied beach crowds, said Operations Capt. Fernando Boiteux, stationed in Hermosa.

Hermosa lifeguard Dave Nilson said sunny skies and widespread word of mouth about Hermosa’s downtown parking structure brought lots of people to the beach last year, after “pretty bleak” weather caused attendance to dip in the spring and summer of 2004.  “It’s amazing how many people flock to the beach on a sunny day,” he said.

Nilson said lifeguards might experience a busy spring this year as well, if winter-season storms continue to tear up the ocean bottom, leading to riptides.  Lifeguards in Hermosa provided medical assistance to beachgoers 1,968 times last year, recorded three incidents of boats in distress and resuscitated three people. ER

The Easy Reader – February 2, 2006

Hotel planned for BMW site

by Robb Fulcher

Mar Ventures Inc. of Torrance is expected to file permit applications this week for plans to build an upscale hotel on property vacated by a BMW dealership on Pacific Coast Highway in north Hermosa, City Manager Steve Burrell said.  Plans call for a 72-unit project on the BMW site on PCH at 30th Street, according to a resident who was briefed along with other neighbors by the Mar Ventures president at a Saturday meeting inside the BMW showroom.  Burrell said Mar Ventures owns the property, adding that he did not yet know details of the proposed project. Mar Ventures president Allan McKenzi was not immediately available for comment.

McKenzi told neighbors that the hotel would feature a restaurant and pool, and a pedestrian bridge across 30th Street where the hotel lobby would be located, on property where a parking lot now sits, the neighbor said.  Some of the hotel units would be condominiums selling for about $1.3 million and the rest would be hotel rooms with rates comparable to the Beach House Inn on The Strand in Hermosa, the neighbor said.

About 12 neighbors attended the meeting and seemed mostly agreeable to the project. Fielding a question about privacy, McKenzi said foliage could be planted or a wall built to prevent the hotel from looking down into residents’ back yards, the neighbor said.  McKenzi said a city variance would be sought to build the hotel 35 feet tall instead of 30 feet tall, the neighbor said.

The hotel property would stretch from 30th Street along the west side of PCH to a small Lotus sports car dealership which occupies a small portion of the land that belonged to the BMW the dealership.  BMW announced it would move to a larger property in Torrance after efforts to keep the dealership from leaving Hermosa collapsed.

BMW had proposed a 10-year deal to split their sales tax and property tax revenues with the city of Hermosa, as an incentive to stay in town with a scaled-down dealership. In addition, the dealership wanted city officials to cut off nearby 30th Street to through traffic. The City Council agreed to the tax split but declined to close off 30th Street. ER

The Easy Reader – February 2, 2006

BCHD applicants sought

The Beach Cities Health District board is seeking candidates to fill the vacancy left by Jonathan Wolin, who resigned from the board to pursue a career opportunity in Northern California.  Rather than call a special election, the board decided last week to appoint an interim board member who will serve until Jan. 5, 2007.  Those interested in the interim board position must apply by Feb. 9 and be available to make a three-minute presentation to the board Feb. 22. Candidates must be registered voters of the District which is comprised of the cities of Hermosa Beach, Redondo Beach and Manhattan Beach.

According to policy, the existing board has 60 days to fill the board vacancy. Applications will be reviewed at the Feb. 22 board meeting, when an appointment could be made that evening. If a number of applicants present themselves at the Feb. 22 the board is expected to call a special meeting to finish the candidate presentations.

Applications can be downloaded from the Health District’s website, bchd.org, or be picked up at 514 N. Prospect Ave., third floor, in Redondo Beach.  The Beach Cities Health District is a public agency dedicated to enhancing individual and community health in the South Bay through preventive health services.

Programs include the Center for Health and Fitness, the South Bay’s only medically-based fitness center; AdventurePlex, a health and fitness center created for youth; services providing emotional and logistical support to the elderly; mental and emotional health classes and seminars for the general public; funding for various health and human service organizations; health education outreach for local schools; classes, programs and products for breastfeeding women.

Wolin’s wife, Linda Wolin, also announced she will leave her post on the Hermosa Beach City School Board.  Wolin said her resignation would probably become effective in March, leaving less than two years of her term for the remaining board members to fill. School District Superintendent Sharon McClain said the board can appoint a replacement or call for an election for the vacant post.  “I’m leaving with very, very mixed feelings,” Wolin said last week. “I am sad to be leaving this wonderful community and especially sad that I will not be able to remain on the board, which I have loved very much.”  The Wolins have two sons, Jacob, 3 and Adam, 1. ER

The Easy Reader – February 2, 2006

About town

Contaminated sand - On Tuesday the Sanitation District received results of tests, which indicated elevated levels of bacteria below the surface of the sand in Manhattan and Hermosa Beach. The sand was originally contaminated on Jan. 15 when the South Bay Cities Main Pumping Plant in Manhattan Beach malfunctioned and spilled sewage onto local beaches. The contaminated sand was cleaned, disinfected with chlorine, dried for two days, and covered with 2.5 feet of sand. As a precaution the Sanitation Districts tested the sand below the affected areas. Although beachgoers have been allowed on the beach for the past week and a half, the Sanitation Districts found that the areas where the sewage had contacted the sand still had elevated levels of bacteria.

“We are not talking about the surface, we are talking about below the surface,” said Don Avila, Assistant Information Officer for the Sanitation Districts.  Avila stressed that no one should have come in contact with the affected sand since it was below the surface but that as a responsible agency it was the Sanitation Districts’ job to get rid of it.   County Beaches and Harbors have now cordoned off the contaminated areas and the Sanitation Districts are investigating methods to fix the problem and restore the beach to it original pre-spill condition, according to Sanitation Districts.

Cheer clinic - The 2nd Annual Mira Costa High School Pep Squad Cheer Clinic Fundraiser will begin Tuesday, Feb. 7 from 3:30 p.m. to 5:30 p.m. Girls from grades 3 to 8, of all ability levels, are welcome. The cost of the clinic is $40 and includes 2-day cheer/dance instruction, a clinic t-shirt, a Mustang spirit bag, an autographed MCHS cheer photo, a CD, a pizza dinner, and a performance at the MCHS vs. Redondo Basketball half-time show on Feb. 9.  Checks should be payable to the Mira Costa Pep Squad. All proceeds go to help support MCHS Cheer Booster Club. Pre-registration is available via the cheer hotline, (310) 791-5435.Call to reserve a spot. ER

The Easy Reader – December 15, 2005

City of HB settles for $1.1 million

by Robb Fulcher

The city of Hermosa Beach has agreed to pay $1.1 million to settle a federal civil rights lawsuit by a former owner of the 705 Nite Club on Pier Avenue who had accused police of assault, false arrest and malicious prosecution.  Attorney Reginald Roberts on Wednesday morning confirmed that the settlement was brought about with the help of a federal magistrate. He declined to elaborate, stating a “non-disparagement” agreement in the settlement. Roberts said the settlement occurred on Monday.

Hermosa Beach Police Chief Mike Lavin said the case had been settled but he did not yet know the terms of the settlement or what details could be disclosed about it.  City Manager Steve Burrell and private attorneys who represented the city were not immediately available.

Last year 705 owner Grace Roberts and her family filed an administrative claim stemming from three incidents in which officers were accused of beating up a club patron and harassing, shoving and falsely arresting the club’s part owner. (Grace Roberts is not related to her attorney.)  The claim sought $7.6 million in damages.  The allegations focused on three incidents beginning in September 2003, shortly after taking ownership of the club on upper Pier Avenue.

On Sept. 20 the club held a “foam party” and soapy water spilled into the street. According to the claim, Sgt. Kevin Averill told part owner Cecil Roberts Jr., “we don’t like people like you in my town,” “we are going to close you down,” and “I am going to do everything to shut you down.”

The club owners claimed that Averill was referring to African-Americans who frequent 705.  After nearly three hours on the scene, police arrested Cecil Roberts Jr. for allegedly offering false identification to an officer.  The claim alleges that officers did not read the part owner his Miranda rights, denied his request to speak with an attorney, and never informed him for the reason of his arrest. The District Attorney later did not file charges against the part owner.

The next incident occurred on Oct. 26 during a Hip Hop party. Sgt. Averill spotted a drunken patron on the sidewalk and stopped in front of the club. According to the claim, he informed another part owner, Grace Roberts, that he was going to “shut this place down.” He told her that ever since she took over, the place was “shit,” and advised her to get rid of her patrons saying, “I don’t like these people,” “get rid of them,” and “get rid of these troubles,” the claim stated.

Averill then told Grace Roberts, “I don’t like you,” the report stated. She told him he was being prejudiced and Averill allegedly responded by saying that he hears that “shit” all of the time and it was not going to fly, according to the claim. He then told her he was going to “watch every move she made and the next time, he would shut the club down for good,” the claim stated.

On Oct. 30, 2004 club owners met with Police Chief Mike Lavin, Lt. Lance Jaakola and Capt. Thomas Eckert, who asserted there was “no conspiracy” against 705, the claim stated.  Less than two months later, on Dec. 21, six officers threw a young black woman to the ground and hit her with batons and kicked her with their feet, the claim contended. ER

The Easy Reader – December 15, 2005

Official: delays might doom school gym

by Robb Fulcher

As educators resume their struggle to erect a gymnasium building at Hermosa Valley School, a financial overseer said the project’s opponents might have killed it by stalling it in the courts.

Although opponents of the gym building -- with classrooms and a library -- have not won a round in court, they have caused the project’s price tag to rise more than $1 million over the past six months, said Sam Abrams, chairman of a citizens’ committee that helps oversee construction bonds.  “They may have won the lawsuit by delaying [the gym project],” Abrams said on Friday.

School district and school board officials also have complained of the delays, while gym opponents have said the delays were caused by the school board’s failure to mitigate neighborhood concerns, such as crowded parking and noise from the gym.

In June, with construction projects continuing to rise across the state, the Hermosa city school board decided to put off hiring contractors while the lawsuit was before a Superior Court judge. Abrams says that delay has been costly.  The school board was to consider hiring contractors once again this week, but the contractors’ prices have risen since the June delay, Abrams said. The gym project faced a $2.6 million shortfall in June and now faces a $4.4 million shortfall, Abrams said.

Some cost fluctuations probably are unrelated to the delay, but the delay created the bulk of the $1.8 million increase in the shortfall, Abrams said, placing the figure easily over $1 million.  “Most of the $1.8 million [shortfall increase] is because they declined to accept any bids in June,” Abrams said. “It’s certainly over the million mark.”

Abrams said school district officials have figured ways to cover all but about $700,000 of the shortfall.  “It’s a terrible place they’re in,” Abrams said.

Officials have said they might axe two of the four classrooms from the project, leaving in place the gym, library and two science classrooms. They also hope to use $1.5 million from a special state fund they secured earlier this year, a like amount in school district reserves and fees charged to developers, and $200,000 in premiums from the sale of school bonds that the district refinanced at a more favorable rate.

Gym opponents, including some neighbors of Valley School, said they would continue to challenge the use of the $1.5 million in special state money, after a Superior Court judge last month ruled they did not file that portion of their lawsuit in a timely manner.

The judge had already dismissed the opponents’ contentions that the gym planners failed to mitigate parking, traffic and noise impacts on the school neighborhood, and that a 2002 ballot measure for the construction bonds was presented to Hermosa voters improperly. Gym opponents said they would seek to appeal the dismissal.

In 2002 Hermosa voters approved $13.6 million in school bonds and educators secured $2 million more in state bonds for construction and renovation projects at the city’s two public schools.

In what school board members call an oversight, the gym was not included on a list of projects in the ballot measure. The gym was listed in ballot arguments for and against the bond measure, and the gym project was widely argued throughout the election campaign for the bonds.  The School Board’s plans call for a 26,000 square-foot gymnasium-classroom building standing 34 feet tall near the southwest corner of the Valley School campus on Valley Drive north of Pier Avenue. ER

The Easy Reader – December 8, 2005

Sunday morning brick breaks church’s stained glass window

By Robb Fulcher

Police were investigating after someone threw a brick through a stained glass window on the front of the 80-year old Church of Christ Scientist building on the corner of Manhattan Avenue and 16^th Street early Sunday mourning.  “We don’t consider it anything of any gravity, other than its just vandalism, unfortunately,” said a church member.

Police said bricks were used to break the stained glass window high on the front wall on the tall, column-fronted building and another window low to the ground on the 16^th Street side.  Nobody entered the church, police said.

Police urged anyone with information about the motive or identity of the vandal or vandals to call Detective Wayne Lewis at 318-0330.

Late night doings – Neighbor Keala Smith said she heard the sound of breaking glass between 2:30 and 3:30 a.m.  She looked out to see one of the broken windows at the church be did not see any people around, she said.

Smith complained that weekend revelers break bottles and steal objects such as her potted plants in the neighborhood north of the popular Pier Plaza promenade.  “Stealing our stuff is one thing by you can’t attack a church…It’s somebody’s house of worship,” she said.

Some Hermosans living blocks away from the Pier Plaza have complained to police and the City Council about loud revelers sometimes breaking bottles or publicly urinating as they make their ways from the Plaza, which commands a lion’s share of the on-duty officers weekend nights.

Police Chief Michael Lavin said officers are forced to concentrate on Plaza rowdiness by have spent some time patrolling nearby residential streets as well on weekend nights.  He encouraged residents to call police so officers can be dispatched if trouble occurs in the neighborhoods. ER

The Easy Reader – November 17, 2005

$500 million oil suit can go to trial, rules State Supreme Court

Macpherson Oil may proceed to trial in its $500 million breach of contract lawsuit against the City of Hermosa Beach, the California Supreme Court has determined. The city had asked the Supreme Court to review an August Appellate Court ruling that Macpherson “raised a triable issue” over whether the city must pay him and co-plaintiff Windward Associates the money they might have made if they had been allowed to drill for oil. The request for a review of that ruling was denied by the State’s highest court Wednesday afternoon.

Following voter approval of Measure E in 1995, which banned oil drilling in the city, the city cancelled a 1992 agreement with Macpherson to slant drill from the city maintenance yard to under the ocean.

“This means that the decision by the Court of Appeal is final and that Macpherson Oil Company will now proceed to trial on its $500 million beach of contract lawsuit against the City,” Maureen Bright of Bright and Brown, the firm representing Macpherson Oil, said following the Supreme Court’s action.

James Bright, of Bright and Brown, said in August, following the Appellate Court ruling, that a trial ruling in his client’s favor could bankrupt the city.

City spokespersons were not available prior to press time. ER

The Easy Reader – November 10, 2005

Valley School gym is now $3.9 million short

by Robb Fulcher

Educators now stand $3.9 million short of realizing their plans for a gymnasium building with classrooms and a library for Hermosa Valley School, said the chairman of a committee charged with overseeing aspects of the construction budget.  School district officials seem set on axing two of the four classrooms from the project, leaving in place the gym, library and two science classrooms, said oversight chairman Sam Abrams following a meeting with the district’s private construction consultant.  Lopping off the two classrooms would save about $700,000, he said.

The remaining $3.2 million shortfall might be covered with $1.5 million in additional state money secured earlier this year, a like amount in school district reserves and fees charged to developers, and $200,000 in premiums from the sale of school bonds that the district refinanced this year to gain a more favorable rate, Abrams said.

As construction costs continue to rise, the price tag for the gym project – without axing any classrooms – would be about $10.2 million, according to a school district report.  Sharon McClain, superintendent of the city’s public schools, has said the two classrooms might be lost but also pointed out the $3.9 million shortfall is only an estimate. She said the true cost of the gym project would make itself known when the School Board considers a fresh round of price bids from contractors in December.

Still, McClain noted the rapidly rising costs.  “It’s gone up almost $4 million since Feb. 2003,” shortly after voters approved school bonds for the project, she said.

Educators have said the costs were driven up even further by delays that occurred after school neighbors and others sued to block the gym.  The School Board in April put off a decision to hire a contractor in part because the lawsuit – then pending before a Superior Court judge – would have reduced the yield from school bonds sold for the construction. Also, McClain said, board members were reluctant to approve work by contractors that might have been halted later on.

Last week the judge struck down the lawsuit by the gym’s opponents, and McClain said that cleared the way for district officials to solicit the fresh price bids and present them to the School Board.  Opponents of the gym have said they would seek to appeal the judge’s decision. In addition the judge will return to court Nov. 17 to take up an issue remaining from the lawsuit over $1.5 million the school district secured from the state earlier this year to help build the gym.

The lawsuit was brought by Citizens for Responsible School Expansion, made up of Valley School neighbors and others who contended that the Hermosa Beach City School District failed to mitigate parking, traffic and noise impacts on the neighborhood. The lawsuit also contended that school bonds approved by voters could not legally be spent to build the gym because of the way the school-bond ballot measure was prepared. 

The School Board’s plans call for a building 34 feet tall covering about 26,000 square feet near the southwest corner of the Valley School campus on Valley Drive north of Pier Avenue. ER

The Easy Reader – November 3, 2005

Measure E: gift to residents or Trojan horse

by Robb Fulcher

People on both sides of the city’s lone ballot measure say they’re after the same thing: preserving the status quo on the beloved beach and the greenbelt. And both sides say if you don’t vote their way Nov. 8 you might wind up looking out the beach one day and hating what you see.

According to supporters – including former City Councilmen Gary Brutsch and Roger Creighton and anti-oil drilling activist Rosamond Fogg – Measure E is needed to protect the beach from the possible future construction of a separate bicycle path next to The Strand and to protect the greenbelt from possible future paving for more car-parking spaces.

According to Measure E opponents – including the current city council and beach volleyball Olympic gold medallist Eric Fonoimoana – Measure E could inadvertently ban temporary bleachers for the popular Hermosa Open volleyball tournament as well as stages for the city’s summer beach concerts, and some future improvements to beach bathrooms and storm drains.

The measure, placed on the ballot by the petition signatures of Hermosa voters, would ban any paving of the beach or greenbelt without a vote of the people. The measure would continue to allow “replacement or repairs of existing improvements” on the beach and greenbelt “within their footprint existing on the date of adoption” of the measure.

Lies the rub - The chief argument centers on the beach, where opponents contend that Measure E would ban more than intended, leaving the city open to a lawsuit by any resident who wants to hamper the Hermosa Open, the beach concerts or block newer, larger storm drains or bathroom buildings.  Opponents contend that the measure makes no distinction between permanent construction such as a bike path, and temporary construction such as bleachers or concert stages, therefore the temporary structures such as bleachers and stages might be unintentionally banned.

There is “really no question” that the measure would “have the Draconian effect of prohibiting the creating of any structure, temporary or other, on the beach or other designated areas, no matter how temporary or no matter how desired by the residents of Hermosa Beach,” wrote retired Superior Court judge Edward W. Ross of Manhattan Beach in an informal, one-page opinion after looking over the measure as a favor to Councilman Sam Edgerton, one of the measure’s opponents.

Temporary structures such as bleachers and stages would not have a “footprint existing on the date of adoption” of Measure E and so could be banned, the measure’s opponents say.

On the other hand Measure E supporters contend that because the word “temporary” does not appear in the measure, temporary structures such as bleachers and stages would not be banned.  Hermosa attorney Jim Hamilton countered the judge with his own informal opinion stating that Measure E would not ban temporary structures on the beach sand such as bleachers and stages.  Those temporary structures do not leave a “footprint” on the beach and do not qualify as “improvements” as permanent construction would, Hamilton wrote.

Opponents contend that refurbished storm drains or bathroom buildings would not be allowed to extend past their current “footprints” while Brutsch contends that state law would override Measure E and protect any improvements to such “health and safety”-related structures.  “This initiative is a gift to the residents of Hermosa Beach,” said Brutsch, a coauthor of Measure E and the supporter’s designated spokesman.  “I don’t want to wake up some morning and see a parking lot on the beach,” Brutsch said at a pre-election forum last month.

Edgerton described it another way.  “This measure is a feel-good measure that is a Trojan horse,” he said at the same forum.

Bike path? - There is no current push for a separate beach bike path alongside The Strand. But Brutsch pointed out that a push for a bike path was beaten back in the 1970s and again in 2003 when Hermosa voters turned thumbs down to an advisory measure asking if the city council should study the possibility.

Brutsch said the bike path idea will keep rearing its head unless the will of the voters in 2003 is cast in semi-stone; if Measure E passes no City Council would be able to build a bike path unless the public votes to build it as well.

Opponents said the bike path question was put to rest with the 2003 advisory vote, and Measure E is, in the words of Councilman JR Reviczky, “a solution in search of a problem.”

Greenbelt parking? - The measure would forbid any expansion of parking spaces on the greenbelt but would not touch the paved parking spaces that currently exist there along Valley Drive across from Clark Stadium.

Brutsch pointed out that a future City Council could create more parking spaces on the greenbelt with a three-vote majority unless residents approve Measure E, placing which would subject any additional greenbelt parking to a vote of the public.

Edgerton said nobody is pushing for greenbelt parking. He sat on the council that did away with parking on a stretch of the greenbelt across from City Hall in 1992, and said Brutsch and Creighton sat on previous councils that did nothing to block greenbelt parking.

Creighton, on the other hand, complained that an Edgerton-signed ballot argument states that additional greenbelt parking as been “outlawed” since 1992. Although the old parking section on the greenbelt is closed off and parking is not permitted, Creighton said greenbelt parking is not “outlawed” because it is not prohibited by the city’s zoning code. It would be if voters approve Measure E. ER

The Easy Reader – October 20, 2005

Attorney takes on the judge in defense of open space measure

by Robb Fulcher

A Hermosa attorney has written that Measure E on the upcoming city ballot would not ban temporary structures on the beach sand such as bleachers for the popular Hermosa Open volleyball tournament or stages used for the popular summer sunset concerts.

Backers of the measure circulated the informal opinion by attorney Jim Hamilton to counter a conflicting informal opinion contained in a letter by a retired Superior Court judge that was touted by the measure’s opponents last week. Measure E on the Nov. 8 ballot is designed to give Hermosa voters a veto over any development on the beach and greenbelt.

Hamilton is recently retired as chairman of the litigation department of the firm Riordan & McKinzie, founded by former LA Mayor Richard Riordan. He said he specialized in business and commercial litigation and handled cases involving the interpretation of statutes and ordinances.

Hamilton, in an email to Measure E backer and former Councilman Gary Brutsch, stated that construction banned by Measure E – such as new parking spaces on the greenbelt or a separate bike path on the beach next to The Strand – would not include items such as temporary bleachers and stages.

Those temporary structures do not leave a “footprint” on the beach and do not qualify as “improvements” as permanent construction would, Hamilton wrote.  “Grandstands and stages do not meet either requirement. They do not leave a footprint on the beach, except temporarily, and they are not improvements within the ordinary meaning of that word,” Hamilton wrote.  “They don’t enhance the value of the beach because they are only there temporarily and then the beach is returned to its former condition,” he wrote.

Last week current Councilman and Measure E opponent Sam Edgerton circulated a letter written to him by retired Superior Court Judge Edward M. Ross of Manhattan Beach, who sat on the bench for 21 years and passed judgment on similar disputes. Ross wrote that the measure was too broad and would ban temporary structures such as grandstands.

The judge wrote that structures such as Hermosa Open bleachers could not be erected, even temporarily, “unless those grandstands happen to be up on the date of [the measure’s] adoption.”

The measure, spearheaded by Brutsch and fellow ex-Councilman Roger Creighton, qualified for the ballot with more than 2,000 signatures of Hermosa voters.  No plans are under way for parking on the greenbelt or a bike path on the beach, but Brutsch said Measure E will assure that any such plans launched by a future City Council should face a public vote.

The notion of building a separate beach bike path cropped up in the 1970s and again early in this decade. In November 2003 Hermosa voters rejected the bike path idea in an advisory ballot, but Brutsch said that is no assurance that a bike path won’t be built at some time. ER

The Easy Reader – October 20, 2005

Hermosa okay in 911 failure

by Robb Fulcher

Hermosa police and firefighters said they knew of no emergencies that went unheeded when the 911 phone system failed across a multi-city area for nearly 10 hours beginning early Tuesday morning. City Manager Steve Burrell cautioned, however, that it was not possible to be certain that a significant incident occurred, and had not yet come to light.

Callers using landlines got busy signals when they dialed 911 after Verizon switching equipment failed in Long Beach, regional dispatch officials said. Cell phones reached a CHP dispatch center for rerouting as usual.  Police spokesman Paul Wolcott reiterated that Hermosans should call 524-2750 during any 911 failure. The seven-digit number reaches Hermosa police and fire dispatchers.

Wolcott said cell phone users should program the seven-digit number into their phones and use it to report emergencies in Hermosa instead of 911, to save the time it takes the CHP to reroute 911 calls to other dispatchers.  The 911 failure affected the beach cities, Lawndale, parts of the Palos Verdes Peninsula and Torrance, Long Beach and Huntington Beach.

During the down period Hermosans on landlines were able to reach the Police Department’s non-emergency phone lines. As a precaution Hermosa police deployed extra patrol officers to Pacific Coast Highway, where the bulk of the town’s more serious auto wrecks occur. 

In Manhattan a computerized “reverse 911” system called all telephones in that city and left messages with a land line number to use in place of 911. Burrell said Hermosa officials have considered using such a system as well.  Burrell said he met with dispatch officials who said the 911 failure was the most widespread they recalled in three decades on the job.

The failure began about 2:45 a.m. By 12:15 p.m. 911 calls from Hermosa were being routed to Redondo and then to regional dispatchers who normally handle Hermosa calls, said Ralph Mailloux, director of the regional center.  By 1:25 p.m. the 911 systems were restored to their normal operations.

The Easy Reader – September 15, 2005

Hermosans may get two cable companies

by Robb Fulcher

The Verizon telephone giant plans to offer cable TV service to Hermosans, competing with Adelphia Communications, currently the city’s sole cable provider.  “We’ve been negotiating with [Verizon] for months and we’ll bring a proposal to the City Council soon,” City Manager Steve Burrell said.

Verizon officials familiar with the franchise plan were not immediately available for comment. The negotiations have focused on telecommunication and contract matters, and Verizon officials have not detailed the programming they plan to offer, city officials said.  “They seldom if ever discussed channel lineups,” City Manager Steve Burrell said.

Verizon has been planning to break into the cable broadcast businesses and compete with existing providers in areas around the nation. New York’s Newsday reported in Tuesday’s editions that the telephone company would soon offer consumers a standard package of 180 digital channels for $43 a month including the cable box in the test area of Keller, Texas.

The franchise Adelphia holds in Hermosa is nonexclusive and as Verizon installs its own fiber optic cable equipment it is free to seek its own nonexclusive city franchise, Burrell said.  Verizon is more than halfway finished installing 34 squat cabinets mostly on Hermosa sidewalks to house equipment to carry fiber optic telephone, Internet and broadcast services to customers.

What’s that box? - One resident staged a one-person sit-in when workers came to install a four-foot-tall Verizon cabinet on the sidewalk outside his north Hermosa home and persuaded city and utility officials to relocate the thing.  The resident, Allan M. Jalon, said he saw workers digging up the sidewalk to install the box right outside the window of his home near 30th Street and Morningside Avenue. He said he placed a chair over the hole and plunked down 1960s protest-style to say nix to the box.

The views from his home already suffer from a certain barrenness in the neighborhood, he said, and the addition of a utilitarian-looking utility box would add insult to injury.  “It would really tip it from austere to ugly,” Jalon said.  Hermosa Beach Public Works Director Rick Morgan agreed.  “It was a bad location, right in front of his window with no setback,” Morgan said on Thursday.

Not notified - Besides, he said, Verizon officials did not give Jalon the expected notification that the box was to be installed, Morgan said. Verizon had agreed to mail letters and leave notes on front doors notifying residents of the installations, Morgan said.  “Allan was not given proper notification,” Morgan said. “…In that case it turned out there was a better location so that was doable.”  Verizon’s construction manager on the project was unavailable for comment.  Workers have installed 19 of the cabinets and City Hall has received two complaints, Morgan said.

Joining Jalon in registering a complaint was a resident in the area of 16th Street and Manhattan Avenue. In that case officials were unable to find a suitable alternate location, he said.  “Verizon met with that individual and I think they have ways they can soften the look” of the cabinet, Morgan said, adding that he believes Verizon has been sensitive to Hermosans’ concerns.  “They don’t mean to upset the residents,” he said.  But he added that improper notification, at least in the case of Jalon, is something he would wish to avoid.  “I’d rather get my complaints before they’re built,” Morgan said.

City approval - City Council members expressed some concerns about the size of the cabinets – which stand about four feet tall, four feet wide and two feet thick – when they approved their installation in May.  During an April 26 discussion of the “Fiber to the Premises” plan Verizon officials told the council that it was not feasible to bury the cabinets underground, although the city vigorously promotes the “undergrounding” of utility lines.

Randy Gromlich, Verizon’s manager of marketing for the project, promoted his company’s planned internet service, telling the council that fiber optic internet would be much faster than other high speed service.  In brief public comments two Hermosans told council members that they supported the installation although one added that the boxes seemed a bit large.  On May 10 the council approved the cabinet installations with one member, Art Yoon, excusing himself from the discussion and the vote citing a conflict of interest because he works as a telecommunications executive.  Mayor JR Reviczky cruised the town and helped Verizon officials pick out the locations for the cabinets.

The Easy Reader – September 8, 2005

City wants court to reconsider its ruling on oil drilling                           

by Robb Fulcher

Facing the possibility of a bankrupting judgment, city officials have decided to ask a state appeals court to reconsider its decision to allow a spurned oilman to drill in court for hundreds of millions of dollars from Hermosa Beach.

In a special closed-door meeting last week the City Council decided to seek a rehearing before the state’s Second Appellate District court in a breach-of-contract lawsuit by Santa Monica oilman Don Macpherson, said Mayor J.R. Reviczky.

Reviczky said the appeals court’s initial ruling “left lots of questions unanswered.” He declined to elaborate, saying he did not want to reveal the city’s strategy to Macpherson.

If the appeals court refuses to rehear the matter the City Council has determined to appeal the case to the California Supreme Court. If the appeals court ruling is not reversed, Macpherson’s lawsuit will return to Superior Court for trial.

The lawsuit was launched after the City Council in 1998 canceled Macpherson’s lease to drill for oil from a municipal maintenance yard on Valley Drive at Sixth Street.

The Easy Reader – September 8, 2005

Educators move to build a gym after court rules in their favor

by Robb Fulcher

Fresh from a courtroom victory, educators were moving quickly to construct a gymnasium building with four classrooms and a library at Hermosa Valley School.  The city School Board has solicited fresh bids from prospective contractors for the work, and President Lance Widman said he hopes the board can receive bids and begin selecting from among them before Thanksgiving.

As construction costs continued to rise, school district consultants estimate the project would now cost about $8 million, up about a half-million from estimates two months ago, Widman said. School Board members are eager to stop the dizzying escalation by securing and accepting bids for the project, establishing a set price.

Speaking on Adelphia Communications’ Inside the BC the chairman of a financial oversight committee reiterated that the School Board’s construction budget stands some $2.6 million short of what it should cost to erect the gym building.

However the School Board has secured a $1.5 million grant from the state and Board members have pointed to possible funding sources such as a $1.3 million reserve fund, $200,000 in fees charged to commercial developers in Hermosa, and a like amount that educators hope to make from refinancing school bonds.

Closing time?

At the School Board’s regular meeting last week, Board members also tentatively moved to set closing hours for the gym when it would be used by community members during non-school hours, a sensitive matter among some neighbors of the third-through-eighth grade school on Valley Drive north of Pier Avenue.

The School Board tentatively set closing times of 8 p.m. Monday through Friday, 5 p.m. Saturday and 4 p.m. Sunday, Widman said. The board was scheduled to discuss the matter further and perhaps confirm the closing times at its next regular meeting on Wednesday, Sept. 14.

The courtroom victory came late last month when a Superior Court judge refused to grant a temporary injunction to block the project. Shortly afterward educators met via teleconference with their construction consultants and school bond attorneys, then last week pushed for fresh construction bids.

The injunction against the gym project was sought by Citizens for Responsible School Expansion, made up of Valley School neighbors and others who contend that the Hermosa Beach City School District failed to mitigate parking, traffic and noise impacts on the neighborhood. The lawsuit also contends that school bonds approved by voters cannot legally be spent to build the gym because of the way the school-bond ballot measure was prepared.

The lawsuit was scheduled for trial in November.  The School Board’s plans call for a building with a gym, four classrooms and a library standing 34 feet tall and covering about 26,000 square feet near the southwest corner of the Valley School campus on Valley Drive.

The Easy Reader – September 1, 2005

Changing face of Hermosa

Condo-style offices set for Pier Avenue

by Robb Fulcher

The California Coastal Commission has approved a “campus-style” 53-unit office complex on the southeast corner of Pier and Manhattan avenues, two blocks uphill from the Pier Plaza promenade.  The regulatory approval clears the way for a Hermosa-based partnership to tear down the monolithic three-story “200 Building,” nicknamed after its address on Pier Avenue, and erect the new 18,000 square-foot project.

Nearly all the cozy owner-occupied offices are “pre-sold” to people who have plunked down 10 percent deposits on purchase prices ranging between $400,000 and $700,000, said Bryn Stroyke, one of the partners, a Hermosa native who lives in Manhattan Beach.

All the owner-occupants signed up so far live in the beach cities, he said, and a couple are occupants of the 200 Building.  “The demand has been extraordinary,” Stroyke said. “We did no advertising.”

City Council members lauded the project when they unanimously approved it in October 2004, saying they had long sought more office development to balance the restaurant-heavy downtown area with “day-intensive” uses.  Stroyke said his project would fill up during the day with people who will patronize the nearby restaurants and other businesses, and would empty out at night when the downtown area becomes crowded.

The condominium-style office units will be arranged for the most part in three two-story buildings terraced up the Pier Avenue hillside, with about 80 percent of the offices featuring ocean views. Six units will stand atop a parking garage under a central courtyard, and those central offices will be topped by a “rooftop plaza” with an ocean view for lunch breaks and gatherings.  The complex will be equipped with self-locking bicycle racks and a locker room to make it easy for people to bike to work.

The project was co-designed by Jon Starr of Starr Design Group in Hermosa and Dig Architecture Studio in Ventura. It will total 11 more units than the 200 Building and provide 17 more parking spaces, counting five that will be added to the Pier Avenue curbside.  The 200 Building was owned by ski movie mogul Warren Miller for 42 years before its sale to the current owners. It has housed the insurance office of former city school board member Cary Bichlmeier, the civil engineering office of the late, former Councilman Jack Wood, and the erstwhile punk rock- and reggae-oriented Scooter’s Records store. ER

The Easy Reader – August 25, 2005

Oilman can sue city for hundreds of millions

by Robb Fulcher

A state appeals court has cleared the way for a Santa Monica oilman to seek hundreds of millions of dollars from Hermosa Beach for backing out of a deal for a 30-year oil drilling project.  The Tuesday ruling by the state’s Second District Court of Appeal overturns a lower court decision from 2003 and reinstates a breach-of-contract lawsuit by Don Macpherson Jr. of Macpherson Oil. 

“It means that Macpherson wins and the city loses,” Macpherson attorney James Bright said late Tuesday.

Attorneys for the city were digesting the ruling and had no immediate comment. City Manager Steve Burrell on Wednesday agreed that the ruling allows Macpherson to press his lawsuit but said it also allows the city to argue in court that a voter-approved oil-drilling ban protects the city from having to pay damages.  “The City Council will receive a briefing in closed session Sept. 13, which is its next meeting,” he said.

In a written ruling the appellate court determined that Macpherson “raised a triable issue” of whether the city must pay him and co-plaintiff Windward Associates the money they might have made if he had been allowed to drill for oil, clearing the way for his breach-of-contract action in Superior Court.

The appeals court ruled that the city acted legally when it barred Macpherson’s drilling project in 2001 after Hermosa voters in 1995 approved Proposition E, which banned oil drilling. That part of the ruling supports lower court decisions.

But the appeals court also ruled that Proposition E does not necessarily protect the city from paying damages suffered by Macpherson in the form of money he might have made. The appeals court stated that the question in front of the lower court would be whether the city or Macpherson would “bear the risk” of Proposition E’s effect on his lease contract.

Bright said he hopes a new trial can begin within a year.  “We’re going to aggressively push this to trial,” he said.

Specter of bankruptcy - Macpherson will look to recoup as much as $500 million, Bright said.  “Oil prices have climbed a lot since 1998,” he said.  Bright said he expects the city to bring experts to testify that Macpherson would have realized much smaller revenues from a Hermosa drilling project. But the city previously told the California Lands Commission that large amounts of oil could be drilled from Hermosa, Bright said.

Bright noted that a major judgment in his client’s favor almost certainly would bankrupt Hermosa Beach even if city officials turned to tax hikes and bond issues. But he said that would be a consequence of city officials illegally breaking the lease with Macpherson.  “There’s no reason a city shouldn’t have to keep its word,” Bright said.

Bright said the courtroom victory comes after seven “torturous” years of legal wrangling over whether the city illegally breached Macpherson’s 1992 lease agreement to slant-drill under the Pacific Ocean from property where a city maintenance yard now stands at Valley Drive and Sixth Street.  “I’m gratified for Macpherson and the Macpherson family,” he said.

Macpherson’s original breach-of-contract lawsuit was thrown out two years ago by Superior Court Judge Soussan Bruguera, who ruled that Proposition E created a “change in the law” that nullified Macpherson’s lease contract.  “The power of the voters in the initiative process is greater than that of a city’s legislative body, and a valid initiative cannot give rise to damages,” the lower court judge wrote.

“The judge ruled that a private party can enter into a contract with a city or county, and if the voters don’t like it they can abrogate it,” Bright complained at the time. “…We don’t think that’s the law.”  Macpherson’s lawsuit at the time sought a maximum of $100 million in damages.

In a separate lawsuit Macpherson tried to force the city to allow the drilling project despite Proposition E, claiming the voters’ ban did not put an end to his lease contract.  A superior court judge ruled that the contract was valid despite the proposition. The citizens group Stop Oil Hermosa Beach appealed that decision and won two years ago.

Macpherson considered taking his case to the U.S. Supreme Court, but decided to let it drop. Only the money question remained.  The full saga of Hermosa crude spans more than seven decades. Long before Proposition E came to pass, Hermosa voters in 1932 approved a ban on all oil and gas operations within the city.

Then in 1984, to generate funds to help buy the greenbelt parkway that runs the length of the city, voters approved Propositions P and Q, two city council-sponsored ballot measures that allowed oil drilling only at the maintenance yard and a at site owned by the Hermosa Beach City School District.  In 1995 the voters changed their minds, approving Measure E.

The Easy Reader – August 25, 2005

Enforcement officer says he was

by Robb Fulcher

A city community services officer said he was “intimidated” by Councilman Michael Keegan as he tried to give a written warning for excessive noise to the manager of Sangria restaurant on the Pier Plaza, according to a police report. The officer called a police sergeant for advice and then gave the warning to the manager as he had intended, the report stated.  Keegan called the report “ridiculous.” He and Sangria manager Michael Santomieri denied that Keegan intimidated the enforcement officer.

Keegan accused police Sgt. Raul Saldana of writing the report to get back at the councilman for opposing a recent police pay raise, pushing to expand drug testing of officers and supporting three people arrested on the Pier Plaza last year. The three were publicly critical of police and later were exonerated of misdemeanor charges.

Second allegation - The Thursday incident marks the second time in nine months that Keegan has been accused of using his position as a city Council member in matters involving Pier Plaza nightspots. In January Keegan and then-Planning Commissioner Rick Koenig denied allegations that they yelled and cursed at employees of the Dragon Bar in an incident the month before and threatened to close the place down.

In both incidents Keegan’s accusers described him as intoxicated, and in both cases Keegan denied that. Regarding Thursday’s incident Keegan was bolstered by Santomieri, Chamber of Commerce Executive Director Carla Merriman who spoke to Keegan about 55 minutes before the enforcement officer appeared and Hermosa gallery owner Ken Klade who spoke to Keegan about 10 minutes before the officer showed up. All three said Keegan was not intoxicated.

Noise flap - Officer Ron Gleistein of the Hermosa Beach Community Services Department, approached a Sangria doorman about 10:40 p.m. Thursday and said he wanted to give the manager a written warning about noise from the establishment, according to an incident report by Saldana.  Community services officers typically provide parking enforcement and animal control services. Recently they have been assigned to notify nightspots when they appear to violate the city’s noise restrictions.

Gleistein told Saldana that Santomieri, accompanied by Keegan, met with him in front of the bar, Saldana’s report stated.  “Santomieri mentioned to Gleistein that the male subject standing next to him was Hermosa Beach City Councilman Michael Keegan and that Keegan was a friend of his. Gleistein said that he hesitated in giving Santomieri the notice and that Keegan told Gleistein ‘I think you should let him off with a warning,’” Saldana wrote.

“Gleistein said that he felt intimidated by Keegan’s presence and comments. Gleistein said that due to comments made by Keegan he did not issue the warning to the bar. Gleistein also said that Keegan was intoxicated. Gleistein also said that he was confused about what course of action to take and called for my assistance,” Saldana wrote.  Gleistein was unavailable for comment before press time.

Keegan denied intimidating the officer. He said he was talking to Santomieri when the manager was told of the noise warning and tagged along to see how the current method of enforcement – a new wrinkle for the city – was performed.  In an “informal” conversation Keegan said he identified himself, told the enforcement officer that he was curious to watch the enforcement process, and agreed with the officer that Sangria’s music was “a little noisy.”  “I told him keep up the good work,” Keegan said.

Santomieri also denied that Keegan intimidated the officer and also described the conversation as informal. Santomieri said Keegan identified himself as a councilman and asked the officer, ‘Aw come on, can we take a second look at this?’”  Santomieri said he walked across the Plaza, beyond the 80-foot noise limit recently set by the City Council, and heard only the light “wafting” of music from Sangria. He said Keegan and the officer continued to speak for 30 to 60 seconds out of his earshot.

Santomieri added that the written notice seemed excessive to him and to volunteers for the recent “Hermosa Art Walk” event, including Keegan, who were holding a wrap party at Sangria.  “Quite frankly we had about 10 people who said ‘I can’t believe he’s going to write you a ticket,’” Santomieri said. “I cooperated, I signed the ticket and turned the music down.”

Keegan wondered aloud why Gleistein did not contact Saldana right away if he believed he was being intimidated, and why police did not speak to Keegan if he was interfering with city enforcement efforts. He complained that Saldana’s incident report does not accuse him of a crime but describes him as intoxicated.  “There’s no chance of exoneration for me,” Keegan said.

He said Saldana was the ranking officer in the arrest last year of one of Keegan’s neighbors, Robert Nolan, and companions Michelle Myers and Joel Silva for allegedly blocking a police cruiser on the Pier Plaza.

During part of the trial that exonerated the trio Keegan sat in the spectator section, which angered Hermosa police, he said. Keegan said the trial revealed that officers gave Nolan an alcohol breath test and did not keep a record of the results, and said he doubts officers’ credibility to make accusations of intoxication.  “I’ll have to carry my own Breathalyzer and give myself a test next time,” Keegan said.

The earlier allegations against Keegan and Koenig concerning the Dragon Bar were detailed in a January memo from Hermosa Beach Police Officer Donavan Sellan to one of his superiors.  “It didn’t go down like they said it did,” Keegan said at the time.

Keegan said there was no drunkenness or profanity. He said he and Koenig “went there and asked them to turn the music down and shut the door. And that’s it. And they said no.” Koenig also denied the allegations.

The Easy Reader – August 18, 2005

HBPD Officers’ lawsuit heads to court

by Robb Fulcher

A lawsuit by three city police officers claiming that the Hermosa Beach Police Department is illegally revisiting an investigation that previously cleared officers of wrongdoing has been scheduled for court next month.

The lawsuit by officers Michael Frilot, Todd Lewitt and David Kansaku claims that the statute of limitations has run out for further Police Department investigation into a May 2004 misdemeanor arrest of three people on the Pier Plaza. The three -- Michelle Myers and Robert Nolan of Hermosa and Joel Silva of Lawndale – were later exonerated at trial.

The three complained to the Police Department that Frilot and Lewitt roughed them up. A resulting internal affairs investigation cleared the officers of wrongdoing.  Then, the lawsuit claims, the investigation was reopened after attorney Thomas Beck continued to pursue the matter.

Sgt. Paul Wolcott said the Police Department properly launched a fresh probe by a third-party investigator after Beck in February brought fresh allegations to the department’s attention, including an accusation that officers made false statements during the criminal trial.

Not so, said Corey Glave, attorney for the three officers. Beck’s February letter simply asked the Police Department to reopen the initial investigation, Glave said.

Meanwhile, the FBI has launched an investigation into the allegations by Myers, Nolan and Joel Silva.  The FBI also has launched a preliminary inquiry – which can lead to a full investigation -- into allegations that Hermosa police battered and falsely arrested an off-duty Los Angeles Police Department sergeant after he called them “the Gestapo” outside a private party in 2003.

(A story in the Aug. 11 Easy Reader erroneously stated the FBI had launched a full investigation into the 2003 incident.)

Wolcott has said his fellow officers acted properly in both cases the FBI is looking at.

In another civil court matter involving the Police Department, Officer David Bohacik won a preliminary injunction in his lawsuit claiming that superiors illegally kept him in the dark about details of an internal affairs investigation targeting him.

Police Chief Mike Lavin has said the investigation, which focused on Bohacik’s actions in a January arrest, was handled properly. An attorney for the city is seeking an appeal of the judge’s decision.

The Easy Reader - February 3, 2005

HB Arrests hit an all-time high

by Robb Fulcher

The year 2004 saw a record number of arrests in Hermosa -- 1,388 -- topping the old record of 1,315 set the year before. Those high-water marks go back at least to 1991, when the Hermosa Beach Police Department began keeping detailed arrest records, Chief Mike Lavin said.

The downtown area with its active and sometimes rowdy nightlife has contributed to the increased arrests, Lavin said.  “That is a reflection, I would have to say, of the downtown. We have so much activity there,” he said.

In addition to those figures, which cover the arrests of adults, police also made 20 arrests of juveniles last year, down from 28 the year before.  Parking citations soared from 46,800 in 2003 to 51,137 last year.

As usual, the most serious types of crime occurred seldomly. Reported sex crimes dropped from 11 in 2003 to seven in 2004. Incidents of robbery by force or fear rose from 13 to 20.

As in most years, no murders occurred in Hermosa in 2004. One murder occurred the year before when a 25-year-old Hermosan was shot as he sat behind the wheel of a car at Pacific Coast Highway and Pier Avenue. That crime, which occurred in March 2003, remains unsolved.

The number of assaults rose barely in 2004, from 140 the previous year to 143. Burglaries of buildings and cars dropped from 143 to 140. Theft, which covers the grabbing of stray bicycles and the like, dropped from 388 to 359. Auto theft decreased from 56 to 45.

DUI arrests dropped from 285 to 164, a decline for which officials could offer no immediate explanation. In another possibly downtown-related development, misdemeanor citations ballooned from 989 to 1,419. Disturbance calls to police rose from 3,025 to 4,201.

Once again there were no fatal traffic accidents in Hermosa. ER

Hermosa Beach Crime Statistics - 1998 to 2004

                                                                                                                Criminal        Adult        Total Calls       Disturbance

                  Burglary    Robbery       Assaults      DUI        Citations      Arrests     For Service     Calls            

1998 --     113           17             77          150         562            608        19,951       3,199

2004 --     140           20           143          164       1,419         1,388        30,215       4,201

Crime Categories That Have Shown an Increase from 1998 thru 2004

                                                                                                Criminal         Adult        Total Calls       Disturbance

                  Burglary    Robbery       Assaults       DUI       Citations       Arrests     For Service     Calls               

                    Up           Up           Up          Up        Up           Up          Up             Up

               23.9 %    17.6 %     85.7 %    9.3 %   152 %      128 %     51.4 %       31.3 %

Source: The Hermosa Beach Police Department Activity Reports

The Hermosa Beach Neighborhood Association

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