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“It’s a total success,” School Board President Mary Wells told the Courier about the transition.

Voters in Beverly Hills have approved two bond measures to fund large-scale improvements to facilities in the district’s schools, Measure E in 2008 and Measure BH in 2018. Together, the measures add up to over half a billion dollars for modernization, seismic retrofits, new buildings, and improved security.

But nearly from the outset, the bond programs have struggled to deliver on promises on time or on budget, resulting in multiple changes in management. In 2017, the district brought on Team Concept Development Services (TCDS) to take over for the previous bond manager. But within a few years, the board lost confidence in TCDS and its owner, Don Blake, especially after TCDS reported a budgetary shortfall of nearly $90 million.

Additionally, members of the board raised concerns over the transparency of Blake’s practices and his billing rates.

The board solicited a new round of proposals to take over the bond program in February and selected Fondar-Salari, Inc.

The contract with TCDS officially ended July 17, passing the reigns to Fondar-Salari. However, because the inspector of record for the construction projects was hired directly by TCDS–an atypical arrangement, Wells says – the district “voluntarily stopped work” on construction while the California Division of the State Architect (DSA) approved the new inspector.

DSA is the state body that oversees construction for K-12 schools and requires a licensed inspector to ensure compliance with state regulations and standards throughout the various stages of construction.

In most cases, Wells said, DSA inspectors are hired independently of the company managing the bond program. Because the inspector was hired directly through TCDS, when the district went out for a new bond manager, it also needed to find a new inspector. The board put out a request and received 13 “very qualified responses” from firms that provide inspection services.

Owing to a “transition issue between the architects and the inspectors of record,” DSA requested that the district cease construction while it approved the new inspector. Wells clarified that this request did not constitute a Stop Work Order, “which is a very specific order,” and the district complied.

The process of approving the new inspector took less than 72 hours, according to a statement released by School Superintendent Dr. Michael Bregy.

“It is a true achievement that this transition took less than 72 hours, and we thank DSA for their partnership in expediting this matter,” Bregy said. “Fonder-Salari, Inc. has been on-site daily, and we look forward to continued updates from them to our community.”

Wells raised concerns with the Courier over the rates charged by TCDS for inspection services. Under Blake, the district paid $185 an hour for a single inspector, Michael Barbera. In the last fiscal year, that amounted to a bill of nearly half a million dollars.

Not only did this rate exceed standard market prices for similar services, according to Wells, but it also greatly exceeded the rate the district paid Barbera for similar work years prior. The difference, in that case, was company contracting Barbera. In 2016, Knowland Construction charged the district $82 an hour for inspection services by Barbera for an estimated total of $14,500, according to documents reviewed by the Courier.

Even as recently as 2019, the district paid just $94 an hour for inspection services in an agreement with Knowland, documents show.

The new inspector brought on this week will cost the district $98 an hour, roughly half what the district paid under the former construction manager.

But Wells says that her objective is not to get bogged down in history.

“My goal is not to focus on the past,” she said. “My goal is to finish.” 

The post BHUSD Transitions to New Bond Manager and Inspector appeared first on Beverly Hills Courier.

Spring Place has repeatedly found itself at odds with the city since its opening in 2018. Located at the vertex of Wilshire and Santa Monica Boulevards in the Gores Group building, Spring Place offers members access to shared workspaces and amenities such as a bar, lounges, a restaurant, and programming and events. The exclusive club has one other location in New York’s Tribeca neighborhood.

The Planning Commission previously granted Spring Place the right to hold “occasional” rooftop events that go no later than 10 p.m. and with 72-hour notice to the city. Furthermore, events could not have live or amplified music and could not be open to members of the public.

But in a contentious hearing in May, the Planning Commission accused the club of flouting those restrictions, holding multiple events that violated its agreement with the city. The club’s management acknowledged making mistakes in the past but attributed them to the financial pressures related to COVID-19 and said that changes in management were made to right the ship.

The Planning Commission pointed out that earlier changes in management failed to lead to compliance. The commission placed stringent limits on its 6,000-square-foot rooftop space, which Spring Place appealed to the City Council.

Also on the planning and development front, the Council voted to extend the hearing date on an appeal of the Cheval Blanc Beverly Hills project filed by a law firm on behalf of Unite Here Local 11, the union representing hospitality employees in Southern California.

The appeal challenges the Planning Commission’s approval of the project’s subdivision map. Unite Here has consistently opposed the ultra-luxury hotel development proposed for Rodeo Drive. The extension will allow the Council to consider the appeal in conjunction with other elements of the project.

The Council voted to approve the receipt of hundreds of thousands of dollars in funding to the city’s police and fire departments under the State Homeland Security Program and Urban Area Security Initiative, both of which pay for planning and training for high-threat, high-density urban situations such as terrorist attacks. The funds will allow the Beverly Hills Police Department (BHPD) to purchase equipment including “tactical robotic systems, unmanned aircraft systems, and vision optics,” according to a report compiled by staff.

The city’s police will soon carry new weapons for the first time since 2009 after the City Council approved the purchase of 130 standard issue handguns from Caps Armory, LLC, for $111,000. While a BHPD committee recommended the purchase back in 2019, the pandemic resulted in a hold on the 9mm semi-automatic handguns.

With work continuing on the Metro D Line, the Council authorized City Manager George Chavez to submit a proposal for BHPD to police the forthcoming Metro subway stations at Wilshire/La Cienega and Wilshire/Rodeo. Residents and city officials have previously raised safety concerns around the new subway, which will connect Beverly Hills to downtown Los Angeles by 2025.

Then, the Council voted on whether to oppose, support, or remain neutral on state legislation that would potentially impact the city. Each year, the city sets out a legislative platform, establishing the city’s position on relevant legislation making its way through Sacramento and Washington, D.C. and giving direction to the city’s lobbyists.

The Council backed a host of bills designed to expand and improve the state’s mental healthcare infrastructure, while opposing two bills that would restrict the ability of law enforcement to conduct coercive or manipulative interrogations of suspects 25 or younger and increase transparency of police radio communication.

Finally, the Council recognized outgoing Beverly Hills Rotary Club President Charles Black III for his “accomplishments during his term.” Black succeeded former Rotary President, Councilmember Sharona Nazarian. Then, the Council recognized July as Recreation and Parks month, presenting a proclamation to Director of Community Services Jenny Rogers and Assistant Director of Community Services Patty Acuna that recognized “the importance of [the city’s] parks, recreation trail, open space, and facilities as a respite for all.” 

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“We’re ready for another BOLD summer in beautiful and walkable Beverly Hills,” Mayor Lili Bosse said in a statement. “I love, love, love to see the energy and excitement that can only happen here. Our outdoor dining terraces are buzzing and there’s a sense of vibrancy and connection as we enjoy the sunshine and beautiful summer nights together.” 

BOLD brings events, pop-up destinations, and “social media activations” to the city’s commercial centers to promote shopping and dining. The initiative is a collaboration between the city and the Beverly Hills Conference & Visitors Bureau, Rodeo Drive Committee, and Beverly Hills Chamber of Commerce.

The city kicked off BOLD on July 14 with an electric musical performance in Beverly Canon Gardens by Beverly Hills own Rod Lightning & the Thunderbolts of Love. Concerts on Canon will continue in Beverly Canon Gardens each Thursday at 6 p.m.

BOLD’s Summer Red Carpet Experience starts on July 25, a social media installation located within the 200, 300 and 400 blocks of Rodeo Drive and at Two Rodeo Drive. The installations will be available seven days a week from noon to 7 p.m.

“Rodeo Drive is where luxury, fashion and entertainment intersect. This year our BOLD Summer Red Carpet Experience invites everyone – and even their four-legged best friends – to step onto the red carpet, win the award, grace the magazine cover and be the star on Rodeo Drive,” said Rodeo Drive Committee President Kathy Gohari. “It’s all lights, action and palm trees – and who doesn’t want to share that moment, all while exploring the newest pop-ups, the leading boutiques in the world, and some exceptional dining experiences throughout our City.”

From July 29 to Sept. 6, Louis Vuitton will host “200 trunks, 200 Visionaries: The Exhibition,” a celebration of Louis Vuitton’s bicentennial birthday. The exhibition, which consists of 200 trunks individually decorated by a panoply of “talents and friends spanning arts and culture, the sciences, sports, global causes and more,” has made its way across the world from its starting point in Asnières, France, the brand’s home.

Then, starting July 30, fans of the show “The Golden Girls” can experience the show’s food with The Golden Girls Kitchen pop-up restaurant at 369 N. Bedford Drive. The restaurant will offer fast casual fare with an emphasis on desserts.

This year’s BOLD comes as the city and the rest of the world continue–haltingly–to emerge from the restrictions of lockdown. At the same time, though, Los Angeles is in the grips of yet another COVID-19 surge driven by the highly infectious omicron BA5 subvarient.

“Each summer, visitors from all over the world come to Beverly Hills to enjoy the incredible weather and outdoor ambiance that our wonderful City has to offer,” said Julie Wagner, Chief Executive Officer of the Beverly Hills Conference & Visitors Bureau. “After two years of having to limit activities, we are delighted to see that there is so much for travelers to experience during their stay at our incredible hotels.”

Visitors can find a full list of activities and make reservations at beverlyhills.org/boldsummerbh. 

The post City Kicks Off BOLD Summer appeared first on Beverly Hills Courier.

“I can confirm at least one of the three suspects was armed with a firearm,” BHPD Lt. Giovani Trejo told the Courier. “Detectives are working the case now and they have not established a connection to other thefts.”

Beverly Hills and the surrounding areas have seen a spate of high-end watch robberies over the last year. In March 2021, multiple suspects targeted a diner at Il Pastaio and took a watch valued at half a million dollars. 

The suspects were later arrested and pleaded guilty to charges stemming from the incident, resulting in sentences from five to 12 years in prison.

Somewhat uniquely, in this case, the watch “was not what would be considered a ‘high-end’ watch,” Trejo said.

More recently, two suspects held a man at gunpoint near Roxbury Park in January and made off with a Rolex watch and a cell phone.

According to the most recent crime data available, Beverly Hills saw 24 robberies from January to May, three more than the same time period the year before. 

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The district has received a total of 116 applications for elementary, middle and high school, the majority of which were for elementary school enrollment.

In the first round of approvals on July 8, only 52 permits were granted. The district is reviewing permits for a second round of approvals to be issued on July 18.

Superintendent Dr. Michael Bregy presented the numbers to the Board, stressing that the district wanted to avoid incurring any potential costs for the district.

“We’re being very, very conservative,” he said. “But we know that this will be a nice addition to our student body to have our new students with us.”

The district has allowed interdistrict attendance permits in the past, but typically for district and city employees, as well as parents on active military duty. The new permits, first approved at the Board’s June 14 meeting, allows the grandchildren of residents to attend schools in the district even when they live outside of Beverly Hills.

To qualify for the permit, the grandparent must have resided within the district for at least 10 years. Permitted students must supply the district with proof of grandparent residency each year prior to enrollment.

The application calls for robust documentation to prove a student’s connection with an eligible grandparent. The district requires a birth certificate for the student and their parent, three original utility bills, property taxes under the grandparent’s name or lease, and if the lease is expired, a recent canceled check and a renewed lease. Applicants must also sign an affidavit attesting to these details.

The board set aside 25% of available spaces in each grade for grandparent permits, although if a grade has less than 10 available spots, none will be for grandparent permits. The board set the maximum number of permits for next year at 100 and will review the program next year to determine whether to continue it. The initiative comes at a time of flagging enrollment in the district.

Board member Gabriel Halimi expected the permitted students to provide an “energy boost going into the next year.”

“From what I’ve heard from the community, anecdotally, it’s gone really smoothly,” he said.

But Board member Rachelle Marcus expressed disappointment at the numbers, saying, “I was hoping that there would be a much greater number in the middle school and the high school.”

Bregy pointed out that students did not have much time between the creation of the grandparent permits and the window to apply, which ran from June 17 through July 15.

“Next year, when people have more time and this works its way into our culture, it’ll be interesting to see if that data changes, because it really didn’t give a lot of people a lot of time,” he said.

On the other side, Board member Noah Margo said he felt “the reverse” of Marcus, explaining that many families are already “on the private school track” and have paid their deposit for the upcoming term or are uncertain about how the district’s program will “play out.”

“I didn’t think we were going to get that many applications,” he said. “There’s still a lot of questions.”

The Board also approved a contract with a new construction manager for its bond program, awarding a five-year contract to Fonder-Salari, Inc. Fonder-Salari will take over for the controversial current manager, Team Concept Development Services (TCDS), starting on July 17.

The contract will cost the district nearly half as much as the contract with TCDS for the same amount of work. The Courier previously reported that the district selected Fonder-Salari after soliciting proposals from other construction management companies. 

The post BHUSD Board Gets First Update on Grandparent Permits appeared first on Beverly Hills Courier.

“I feel my whole career has prepared me for a position on a Planning Commission,” Kaplan told the Courier in an interview. “It’s a way to give back in a meaningful way and to use everything I learned over 40 years of a career to contribute to my community.”

Over the course of that career, Kaplan first worked for the U.S. General Services Administration (GSA), the governmental agency tasked with managing and supporting the basic functioning of other federal agencies, which includes managing nearly a quarter of a trillion dollars in real estate. There, she was in charge of leasing properties in Southern California on behalf of the federal government.

“When Ronald Reagan was elected president, I had to go lease his neighbor’s home for the Secret Service to use as a command post,” she recalled.

Kismet brought her to Beverly Hills when she leased a new Hollywood space for the Social Security Administration in 1983. The landlord for the space was 30 days late in letting the new tenants move in, so Kaplan withheld money from the rent.

“I ended up negotiating with this guy, Michael Kaplan, and we split the difference 50-50,” she said. “And then he asked me out. We will be married in October, 39 years.”

“That might be the high point of my career,” she laughed.

Kaplan found her way into the Army Corps of Engineers in 2000, where she worked as the real estate chief. In Los Angeles, the Corps concerns itself with flood management, preservation and maintenance of rivers and harbors, and support to the region’s military. She described the organization as “troubled” at the time of her hiring, characterized by “low productivity” and “poor morale.”

In her position, she oversaw the acquisition of thousands of acres of land in the Mojave Desert around Fort Irwin National Training Center, much of which is now preserved critical habitat for the desert tortoise and other native species.

This background, Kaplan says, gives her a wealth of experience to draw upon as a Planning Commissioner.

“Especially with the Corps of Engineers and a little bit with GSA, I had experienced doing master planning for military installations and housing plans for federal buildings and courthouses,” she said. “I know what it is to engage in a planning process and all the moving parts that it entails.”

While Kaplan has not sat on any city commissions before, she has graduated from the city’s Team Beverly Hills program and served on the school district’s Facilities and Construction Committee.

As she takes her first steps on the Commission, she said she hopes to “listen more than I speak and to work with people to try” and find compromise.

She sees the cost and supply of housing as the largest challenge facing the city, joking that “affordable and Beverly Hills are a little bit of an oxymoron.” She points to the statewide shortage of affordable housing and the dramatic rise in the cost of living.

“That’s the biggest challenge we have,” she said, “to find ways where we can be part of the solution.”

Kaplan has lived in the city for over two decades now in the same location where her husband grew up.

“I love it because it’s walkable, it’s beautiful, I have felt embraced here for as long as I’ve lived here,” she said. “I want to preserve what makes Beverly Hills the special community that it is and at the same time help us move with the times.” 

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An excited audience of a few hundred gathered on the steps of City Hall for an outdoor ceremony bedecked with flowers. The event began with a color guard salute followed by the Pledge of Allegiance, led by Beverly Hills Police Department Chief Mark Stainbrook and Beverly Hills Fire Department Chief Greg Barton. Former City Clerk Byron Pope returned to the city to perform a stirring rendition of “God Bless America,” as requested by Mirisch.

Los Angeles City Attorney Mike Feuer offered his congratulations and well wishes for the new City Council. Mayor Lili Bosse presented Wunderlich with a key to the city in honor of his service on the City Council. The ceremony concluded with public comments and a reception.

This election saw the highest voter turnout for an election with three open City Council seats since 1972 with over 40% of the city’s 22,439 registered voters casting a ballot. Remarkably, turnout nearly matched participation rates for 2020 when the Beverly Hills General Municipal Election overlapped with the Presidential Primary.

A higher share of voters took advantage of universal vote by mail. About 60% of Beverly Hills voters submitted their ballots by mail in the March 2020 General Municipal Election. That share rose to over 80% this year.

Friedman, who was first elected to the City Council in 2017, was reelected with the highest share of the vote in this latest election.

“I believe that public service is the act of achieving goals that are best for the entire community,” he said. “The city of Beverly Hills is well positioned for the future, and I am pleased that I will be a part of moving our city forward in the next four years.”

Nazarian, who joins the Council having served on the Public Works and Human Relations Commissions, finished just six votes behind Friedman. She reiterated that “public safety will continue to be my number one priority.”

Nazarian, who was born in Iran before immigrating to the United States, will be the second Iranian American elected to office in Beverly Hills and the first female Iranian American.

“I am an Iranian-American, Jewish immigrant,” she said. “And while all those traits and experiences have molded me into who I am, one thing is clear: I am proud to be a resident of Beverly Hills.”

“In this divided world, I choose to bring unity and I look forward to working with Mayor Bosse and my fellow councilmembers as we serve this community together,” she said.

Former Councilmember Jimmy Delshad, who became the first Iranian American on the City Council in 2003, congratulated Nazarian and the rest of the Council in a public comment. Nooshin Meshkaty, speaking as a fellow Iranian American, told Nazarian in a public comment that she “makes us all proud.”

Mirisch, who was reelected to an unprecedented fourth term on the Council, highlighted the traits that set him apart from his colleagues.

“I’m the only councilmember who lives south of Santa Monica,” he said. “And I’m still the only registered Republican council member.”

He added: “Most of all, though, I consider myself to be a Communitarian, and I remain committed to trying to think for myself, as I was admonished by my 4th grade shop teacher, Mr. Wekerle, at Hawthorne.”

Wunderlich, who came within less than one percent of Mirisch in the final vote count, used his closing remarks to highlight issues he felt would get less attention without him on the Council.

On issues including climate change, mobility, generational diversity, and development, “the city is losing a champion,” he said. He urged the city to “be a leader” on combating climate change, in part by “making it possible and safe for people who choose not to use cars” to commute in the city. He also noted that his departure brings the number of councilmembers who live in the south of the city from two to one.

Wunderlich’s former colleagues each took turns honoring the outgoing councilmember, praising his humility, kindness, and intellectual rigor.

“In my mind, you are a model for what a councilmember ought to be,” Councilmember Dr. Julian Gold said.

Mirisch acknowledged Wunderlich’s 10-year stint as the city’s representative as its Director on the Board of The Metropolitan Water District of Southern California.

“I’ve valued and admired your knowledge – you do your homework – your analytic skills, and also your recognition that we’re a community,” he said.

When Wunderlich took over for Friedman as mayor, the Council had its first in-person hearing since the start of the pandemic. Knowing that Friedman had never had the opportunity to lead a non-virtual meeting, Wunderlich abdicated the mayor’s seat for the day to give Friedman the chance to preside.

“That really is a measure of who you are, a very giving person,” Friedman said. “It has been an absolute honor to serve with you.”

“You are humble, you stand for what you believe in, you have a tremendous amount of integrity,” Bosse said to Wunderlich as she awarded him the key to the city. “You have made our city a better place [and] continue to do so.”

The post New Beverly Hills City Council Installed appeared first on Beverly Hills Courier.

“We are in different times in 2022,” said Commissioner Lou Milkowski. “The CPI, the inflation is not where they’ve been two, three, four, five, six years ago. As a result, the economics of living have changed. And my concern is these economics may be at this inflated rate for two, three or four years.”

Beverly Hills, like many other cities with similar protections, uses the Consumer Price Index (CPI) to determine the allowable rent increase for rent stabilized units. The CPI is a measure of costs for standard goods and services calculated by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. It has seen a sharp increase over the last year, in part owing to dramatic inflation.

The trend has also raised the stakes for the city as it reexamines the Rent Stabilization Ordinance. A rising cost of living with high inflation places greater economic strain on tenants while also allowing landlords to raise rents by larger amounts. Property owners, meanwhile, also experience greater economic burdens from inflation on the heels of a nearly two-year hiatus on rent increases.

The Rent Stabilization Ordinance categorizes renters as either Chapter 5 or Chapter 6. The latter includes tenants whose original rent was $600 or less per month and live in a unit completed before September 20, 1978; the former includes tenants whose original rent exceeds $600 per month and live in a structure with a certificate of occupancy issued on or before February 1, 1995.

Property owners of Chapter 5 tenants can raise rents once a year based on the CPI, with a cap of 8%. Landlords for Chapter 6 tenants can also only raise rents once annually by either 3% or the percent increase in the CPI, depending on which is higher. While the city does not cap the possible rent increase for Chapter 6 tenants, 2020 state law limits landlords to 10%.

When applying the annual rent increase, landlords can petition the city to raise beyond the allowable increase for that year “to ensure that housing providers are receiving a fair, just and reasonable rate of return…and are not subject of an undue hardship,” according to a report compiled by city staff.

As it is, though, Chapter 6 tenants are looking at rent increases as high as 8% for the year from May 2021 to May 2022, a figure that Director of Community Development Ryan Gohlich described as “a shock to a lot of people.”

Gohlich pointed out that in years where CPI is lower than 3%, tenants nonetheless pay more than the CPI. “The flip side of that is, when CPI is really high, should the increase be a little bit less than that?” he posed rhetorically.

Much like Beverly Hills, cities like Los Angeles, West Hollywood, and Culver City have similar ordinances that tie rent increases to the CPI. Los Angeles imposes a floor of 3% and a ceiling of 8%. Culver City goes further, with a cap of 5% and a minimum of 2%.

The Planning Commission cannot take action itself in making changes to the Rent Stabilization Ordinance. Rather, it serves in an advisory capacity to the City Council, deliberating and making recommendations that the Council can use in their own decision.

Staff charted out a number of possible paths the commission could recommend to the City Council.

The commission could recommend no change to the ordinance. In this scenario, Chapter 5 tenants would be subject to increases of either the change in CPI or 8%, depending on which is lower. Chapter 6 tenants would face increases of either the CPI or 3%, depending on which is higher.

The commission could also recommend a maximum dollar amount for annual rent increases, could set a ceiling and eliminate the floor for Chapter 6 tenants, or eliminate floors and ceilings altogether.

In 2018, the city held facilitated sessions with landlords and tenants on possible amendments to the ordinance. The majority property owners supported either no change to the current policy or imposing a cap on rent hikes for Chapter 6 tenants. Most property owners suggested a maximum increase of 6% to 7% for Chapter 6 tenants, according to a staff report.

Tenants who provided comments supported an end to minimum and maximum rent increases in favor of tying raises entirely to some percentage of the CPI. An analysis conducted on behalf of the city found that 7 out of 12 peer cities surveyed allowed rent increases as a percent of the CPI, including West Hollywood, Santa Monica, and San Francisco.

“It’s just been what they’ve determined is appropriate,” said Deputy Director Rent Stabilization Helen Morales.

Commissioners weighed whether to set a cap of 8% for Chapter 6 tenants or do nothing and keep increases limited to 10% under state law.

“Do I feel a need to compromise to the 8%? I don’t, I really don’t,” said Commissioner Neal Baseman, who said he felt a cap would be unfair to property owners.

Ultimately, a majority of commissioners disagreed and felt it appropriate to recommend the more robust protections. The commission will memorialize the recommendation at its next meeting on Aug. 3 before the recommendations go before the City Council at an undetermined date. 

The post Rent Stabilization Commission Recommends 8% Rent Increase Cap  appeared first on Beverly Hills Courier.

“As we face a fresh wave of new rising subvariants, we do remain focused on preparedness for what may come next,” Public Health Director Dr. Barbara Ferrer said at a press conference on July 7. “LA County, as you all know, is always working on building and maintaining preparedness in the five key areas: surveillance, access to vaccines, access to testing, access to therapeutics, and outbreak management.”

Public Health has reported a total of 3,143,536 positive cases of COVID as of July 5. A total of 9,737 Beverly Hills residents have contracted the disease, 45 of whom have died.

Hospitalization rates reached a nadir of 209 in April but have been ticking up in the subsequent months to the current number of 989.

Ferrer said Public Health expects hospitalization rates to exceed 10 admissions per 100,000 people by the middle of the month, which would push the county into the CDC’s high community level designation.

“Should we remain in the high community level designation for two consecutive weeks, universal indoor masking and alignment with CDC would be implemented across LA County,” Ferrer said.

The soonest the county could reimpose indoor mask requirements would be July 28, assuming the trends continue. Ferrer stressed, though, that she could not predict when or if the county would move to the high level of transmission but could only project “based on the rate of increase in admissions over the last two weeks.”

Other counties, including Ventura, have declined to reinstate mask requirements. Ferrer stood by masks as a “simple and effective tool” that, while “not perfect,” will “help slow transmission.”

She added that plenty of places still require indoor masking, including public transit, congregate care facilities, prisons and jails, and even Public Health.

Ferrer also noted that the county is seeing a slight uptick in COVID-positive deaths for the first time “since the winter surge.”

“Five out of the past seven days we have reports of 10 or more deaths,” she said.

The Los Angeles County of Public Health began warning of the growing spread of two subvariants of the Omicron strain of the virus before the July 4 holiday.

“Given the rising number of COVID cases and hospitalizations, and the increased circulation of the more infectious BA.4 and BA.5 subvariants, it is extra important to take steps that reduce the risk of transmission especially over the long holiday weekend; this helps us protect ourselves, our families, and our community,” Public Health Director Dr. Barbara Ferrer said at the time.

At the press conference, Ferrer said that Omicron accounted for 100% of sequenced cases, with BA.4 and BA.5 growing in prevalence.

With the holiday weekend in the rearview mirror, officials anticipate more cases in the coming days. Ferrer stressed the steps that people can take to reduce risk, which she described as a “collective responsibility.”

“To slow down spread, we can wear masks when indoors, test when gathering and stay home and away from others if we’re sick or we’ve tested positive, to reduce stress on the health care system and the worst outcomes associated with COVID. We can get vaccinated and boosted and help those around us get their vaccinations and boosters.”

As the pandemic drags on into its third year, researchers are starting to uncover the profound impact the virus has had on general health and welfare. According to a National Cancer Institute study published Tuesday, COVID has become the leading cause of death among Americans between the ages of 45 to 54. The study found that COVID was the third leading cause of death in the United States between March 2020 and October 2021.

Another study in the Journal of the American Medical Association calculated that overall life expectancy for Californians fell about three years as a result of the pandemic. The study added to a growing body of research finding that the virus impacted marginalized communities harder than socioeconomically well-off communities.

“Our findings are another troubling sign of how the pandemic’s impact was not felt evenly across all communities,” Till von Wachter, a UCLA professor of economics and study co-author, said in a statement.

The post County on Track to Reimpose Indoor Masking appeared first on Beverly Hills Courier.

The city will hold a public installation ceremony for the new council members and reelected City Treasurer Howard Fischer on Tuesday, July 12 at 7 p.m. at Beverly Hills City Hall.

Out of a field of 11 candidates, Friedman received a total of 3,571 votes, or 18.62%, with Nazarian receiving just six votes fewer than him. Mirisch finished with 2,634 votes, or 13.73%, less than 1% more than Wunderlich. The final tally mostly affirms the early returns from June 7.

“I am grateful to the residents of Beverly Hills for having confidence in my ability to help guide our city for the next four years,” Friedman told the Courier. “These past years have been extremely challenging, and I look forward to utilizing the knowledge acquired to make our city healthier, safer and continue to be financially strong.”

Wunderlich told the Courier, “It has been an honor and a life event to have served Beverly Hills as a City Councilmember and its Mayor. I thank my fellow City Councilmembers, our dedicated city management and staff, family, friends, and residents for their extraordinary efforts and gracious support. I believe the city accomplished much during my time on City Council and extend my hopes and best wishes for its continued success.”

The third-place finish comes as a slight surprise for Mirisch, who has run for City Council three times before and finished first in his last two races in 2017 and 2013. Still, “A win is a win,” he told the Courier.

Mirisch says that his fourth term will allow him to continue “to put our residents first” and “to make our local government more transparent, while exposing and reducing the influences of special interests.”

He plans on “making sure our community is safe from both criminality and attacks from Sacramento politicians.” He said he will continue pushing for an initiative with the local school district to “provide high-quality and free preschool for our residents.”

“You know more of the same – and now more than ever,” he said.

Nazarian is the second Iranian American to serve on the City Council. Jimmy Delshad, who was elected in 2003, was the first.

“As I begin this journey, I will be listening and learning and ready to work together with my fellow Councilmembers to find solutions to challenges that come our way,” Nazarian told the Courier. “I am thankful, humbled and ready for the work ahead and to serve our community.”

Although voting took place in the weeks leading up to June 7, the Los Angeles County Registrar-Recorder/County Clerk only certifies the results after a 30-day Official Election Canvass. During that time, the county counts remaining Vote by Mail ballots received on Election Day, provisional ballots, write-in ballots and damaged ballots. The Clerk also audits a small sample of ballots from each election, manually tallying ballots to verify machine counts.

Countywide, over 1,620,000 Los Angeles residents cast votes in the June Primary Election, representing over 28% of eligible voters. Numbers for Beverly Hills voter turnout were not immediately available.

Beverly Hills also overwhelmingly voted to establish term limits for elected officials, which includes city treasurers and Councilmembers. The ballot item, Measure TL, drew criticism for applying the limits retroactively to terms served prior to its passage. Over 80% of voters approved of the measure. 

The post City Council Wins for Friedman, Nazarian, Mirisch Certified appeared first on Beverly Hills Courier.

“The people of Los Angeles have spoken in a resounding way, with hundreds of thousands of residents adding their names to the recall petition and 37 cities voting no confidence in their District Attorney,” the Recall DA George Gascón campaign said in a statement. “The sheer magnitude of this effort, and time and investment required to get to this point, show how strong the public desire is to remove George Gascón from office.”

To initiate a recall in Los Angeles, proponents must submit valid signatures equal to 10% of registered voters at the time of Gascón’s election, which comes out to 566,857 signatures.

The county has 30 working days to examine and verify signatures, during which time the Los Angeles County Registrar-Recorder/County Clerk will either verify all the submitted signatures or verify a sample of 5% of the signatures. The recall campaign will need a verification rate of about 79% in order to send Gascón to the ballot. In order to be valid, the signature must be from a voter registered in LA County, the address on the petition must match the address where they are registered to vote, and the signature must match the signature on file with the county. Failure to meet these requirements can result in the signature getting thrown out.

“The registrar will determine the verification methodology and establish its timeline in the upcoming days as we review the petitions submitted,” registrar spokesperson Mike Sanchez told the Courier in a statement. 

“Verification is a multi-phased process that includes conducting a raw count of the signatures submitted, labeling the petition pages, verification of signatures, followed by a re-check/quality assurance process,” said Sanchez. “Once the verification is completed, if the petition meets the sufficiency requirement, the registrar must certify sufficiency to the Board of Supervisors at its next Regular Meeting. The Board of Supervisors then has 14-days to call for an election within a period of 88-125 days.”

Depending on the timing of this process, “the earliest the election could be held would be in combination with the November 8, 2022 Gubernatorial General Election,” Sanchez said. Otherwise, “a Special Recall Election would likely be scheduled between late December 2022 and mid-January 2023.”

Either way, a Recall DA George Gascón spokesperson told the Courier, “we’re confident we will qualify regardless of when an election is held and whether it’s a special or general.”

Voters would encounter a similar question as the one they faced in the 2021 gubernatorial recall. Voters would first be asked whether they want to recall Gascón. Those who answer yes would then select the candidate they want to replace him with. If 50% or more of voters say yes on the first question, then the candidate with the most votes wins.

If the effort fails, opponents of Gascón can still technically attempt to recall him for a third time. The first recall attempt only managed to gather around 200,000 signatures and failed to attract significant funding.

“We are waiting to hear the official count of validated signatures,” Elise Moore, a spokesperson for Stand With Gascón, told the Courier. “This will likely take several weeks. In the meantime, we remain focused on the work of keeping communities safe and creating a more equitable justice system, as we have been since day one.”

California and Los Angeles have seen a spate of recall attempts over the last year, with Newsom’s recall as the most notable and costly among them. Bids to oust Los Angeles City Councilmembers Mike Bonin, Nithya Rama and Kevin de León all failed to realize their goals.

The recall campaign received a morale boost following the successful recall of San Francisco District Attorney Chesa Boudin in June. Like Gascón, Boudin has pursued a series of progressive reforms to the office, promising to fight racial disparities and prosecute police misconduct.

While Boudin’s recall unleashed a spate of think pieces opining on the end of the progressive prosecutor movement, nearby in neighboring Contra Costa and Alameda Counties, reform-minded candidates for district attorney prevailed over their more traditional opponents.

The recall campaign received a flood of signatures at the eleventh hour. The campaign announced that it reached 566,857 raw signatures only three weeks before the deadline. In time since then, nearly 150,000 signatures rolled into the campaign’s office–in part owing to millions of petitions the campaign mailed to registered voters, but also owing to galvanization from the recent killing of two El Monte police officers. Critics of Gascón have argued that his policies contributed to the release of the man accused of killing the officers. 

“Certainly, the added attention at the end, although it’s unfortunate that that’s what it takes, it definitely brought more momentum to the effort,” the recall spokesperson said. 

Beverly Hills has become a prominent voice against Gascón during both the current and former recall campaigns. The City Council made the unprecedented move in March 2021 to issue a vote of no confidence against the new DA. The Council voted 3-2, with Mayor Robert Wunderlich and Councilmember John Mirisch casting dissenting votes, citing reservations with the process rather than support for Gascón.

In January, a unanimous Council voted in favor of supporting the second recall attempt, claiming that Gascón’s policies contributed to recent crime trends. Beverly Hills Police Department Chief Mark Stainbrook said in the same meeting that the elimination of cash bail had allowed suspects to return to the streets to commit more crimes.

Max Szabo, a former spokesperson for Gascón, pushed back against these claims, pointing to an analysis by the Los Angeles Times that he said “discredits the central notion that his policies have had an impact on crime in the very short amount of time he’s been in office.”

The analysis pointed to a similar rise in crime in jurisdictions with more traditional “tough on crime” prosecutors. The analysis also found that Gascón filed felonies in his first year at roughly the same rate as in the two terms of his predecessor, Jackie Lacey,  though filings for less serious misdemeanors did fall significantly.” In spite of the numbers, critics have repeatedly stressed that they feel less safe under Gascón.

“We should be a city where people could feel safe. And I don’t mean just Beverly Hills, I mean everywhere in Los Angeles,” said then Vice Mayor Lili Bosse, an outspoken critic of Gascón, in voting to support the recall. “People should be able to feel safe to walk the streets of their city. People should feel safe to sleep at night in their homes, in their beds, anywhere.” 

The post Over 700,000 Signatures Turned In For Gascón Recall appeared first on Beverly Hills Courier.

The 76 Gas Station near the intersection of Beverly Drive and Olympic Boulevard has likely received more attention from the city than the other two gas stations located within Beverly Hills. The station, owned by Morris Pouldar, is the only business in Beverly Hills exempt from the city’s prohibition on selling tobacco products (though that exemption ends in five months).

It is also open 24 hours a day and has been for the last 65 years, Pouldar said.

In 2015, the business sought and received permits for a remodel, including an extended hours permit. The permit was conditioned on a review of operations by the Planning Commission two years after the completion of the remodel to determine whether the gas station was complying with the terms of the permit and whether new conditions needed to be put in place.

The commission heard from irate neighbors who claim that the 24-hour operations of the 76 Gas Station has contributed to trash and loitering near their homes. One commenter complained of strangers congregating in the nearby ally, trash on her yard, “loud conversations” and other noises audible from her bedroom.

Pouldar pushed back against the claims that his gas station contributed to any of these nuisances, telling the commission that he instructs staff to clean the area and shoo away loiterers. Additionally, his store has 33 security cameras on the property and is well-lit, making it the “eyes and ears for the neighborhood,” Pouldar said.

Commissioner Myra Demeter, who lives less than 1,000 feet from the gas station, felt that the business has had a “significant adverse effect on residents” and voted to place additional conditions on the permit.

The four other commissioners disagreed. “It would be unimaginably unfair to alter the rules by which Mr. Pouldar has been playing for a long time,” said Commissioner Peter Ostroff.

The Vice Chair sought to clear up “the rampant misinformation under which numbers of the complainants labored.” Hudnut said that issues regarding “vagrants and homeless people” could not be attributed to the gas station.

“These are things that are beyond a reasonable gas station provider’s ability to control,” he said.

Licht said that the 24-hour convenience store might not seem necessary to most residents who live on a typical diurnal schedule, “but maybe the baker who goes to Urth Caffe at 4 a.m. to bake croissants for us, they may need something at 4 in the morning,” he said. “Or the bartender who leaves South Beverly Grill at 2 in the morning, they need something on their way home.”

The commission also granted a request by the Harkham Hillel Hebrew Academy to table consideration of its controversial expansion project.

“The school is in the process of a leadership change at the administration and board levels,” said Shane Swerdlow, a representative for the project. “As Hillel balances a mix of current priorities, including keeping students safe and providing a top-quality education during the current pandemic, it’s important that the school’s new leadership has an opportunity to review and consider any resolution before it is adopted.”

There is not a strict timeline for when the project returns before the commission.

Finally, the commission bid farewell to both its Chair and Vice Chair. Licht, who has served on the commission for six years and unsuccessfully ran for City Council this year, previously announced that he would step down regardless of the outcome of the race. He will be replaced by Theresa Kaplan.

Hudnut is turning himself out to pasture, in a sense. After only two years on the commission, he steps down to serve on the California Horse Racing Board per an appointment by Gov. Gavin Newsom. He will be replaced by former Public Works Commissioner Jeff Wolfe.

“I don’t understand why he would prefer the company of California thoroughbreds over Commissioner Ross, Commissioner Demeter and myself, but there’s no accounting for taste,” Ostroff said.

Hudnut left with some parting wisdom for his remaining colleagues and his successor, stressing that “it’s incumbent upon future commissioners to maintain a balance between the proper needs of the residents and the proper desires of commerce. That will always be a delicate balance, but it’s one that commissioners must strive to maintain.”

Licht recounted when he was invited to serve on the Planning Commission, replying that “I’d love to, but I know nothing about land use.”

“This person laughed and said, yeah, but you’re reasonable. Maybe I’m reasonable, but I clearly knew nothing about land use and some of you here may still think that’s the case.”

Licht shared similar wisdom in his closing remarks.

“We generally hear much more from residents than we do from businesses. Keep in mind that 70% of the revenue in the city comes from businesses and if we do things to discourage businesses from coming here, where are we going to get that 70% of the revenue?” he said. 

The post Planning Commission Tables Hillel and Reviews 24-Hour Gas Station appeared first on Beverly Hills Courier.

Barbara Ferrer, Director of Los Angeles County Department of Public Health (Public Health), advised residents to take “several sensible safety measures” over the holiday weekend.

“One of the most important steps we can take to slow the spread of the disease is to make sure the entire household is vaccinated or boosted, if eligible, including the youngest children who can now get the Pfizer-BioNTech or Moderna vaccine if they are at least 6 months old,” she said in a statement. “Residents can also reduce the chance of getting or spreading COVID-19 by wearing a mask and doing an at-home test before indoor gatherings and events. If someone does test positive or feel sick, they should stay away from others to prevent infecting others. As we celebrate this weekend, let’s make an effort to take actions that protect our friends, family members, and co-workers who may be at elevated risk.”

The County is in the midst of a surge of cases, says Dr. Soniya Gandhi, Associate Chief Medical Officer and Vice President of Medical Affairs at Cedars-Sinai. However, the numbers released by the county likely underestimate the real situation on the ground.

“We’re currently dealing with a surge of COVID in Los Angeles County, the scope of which has been underestimated given the increased use of home tests,” Gandhi said in a statement. “It’s likely a large number of positive results are going unreported.”

Even then, data released by Public Health on June 28 revealed a test positivity rate of 12.2%, which has nearly doubled over the last two weeks. The Omicron variant accounts for all of the cases that were genetically sequenced. The World Health Organization advises that 5% test positivity is a sign of high spread in the community.

Part of this alarming spike owes to the end of school, where thousands of kids were routinely screened. Without that feed of routine screening, a greater percentage of tests are for individuals experiencing symptoms or facing exposure.

Nonetheless, other metrics have also been on the rise. County hospitals saw an average of 741 COVID-positive patients per day over the last week, a 27% increase over the last two weeks.

Gandhi acknowledges the reality of pandemic fatigue after more than two years of living with the uninvited, deadly guest.

“Everyone is tired of the pandemic at this point, but if we want to avoid a nasty illness and the potentially devastating effects of long COVID, we can follow a few simple precautions that limit your risk of getting sick,” Gandhi said. “You don’t have to stay home; you just have to be smart.”

Public health officials recommend taking a “Swiss cheese” approach to protecting against the virus, layering multiple slices of protection to cover every hole. Vaccines, although not a silver bullet (especially against newer variants), are one crucial slice of protection, but work best when paired with masking and social distancing.

For those willing to accept the risk of socializing in close proximity, Cedars-Sinai recommends doing so outside or in well-ventilated spaces.

Even “natural immunity” from previous infections is proving less effective against newer variants.

“We have good data showing that people who had the Omicron variant in the winter can be reinfected with the subsequent strains or cousins of the original Omicron,” Gandhi said. “This should give people pause. Just because you’ve had COVID in the past doesn’t mean you have a ‘get out of jail free card’ going forward.”

To this point, at the June 27 Beverly Hills Health and Safety Commission hearing, Vice Chair Dr. Lee Hilborne shared that he had just gotten over a COVID reinfection.

“It was quick and easy this time compared to the pre-vaccine,” he said.

For those traveling in the skies for the holiday, even while masks may not be mandatory on airplanes, they are highly recommended, Gandhi said.

“There are mechanisms on planes to help reduce the risk of spreading COVID-19, including HEPA filtration systems, but if you’re sitting in close proximity to someone who isn’t masked and showing symptoms, you’re more likely to become ill if you’re unmasked as well,” she said.

While not required on planes, masks are mandatory inside Los Angeles airports, per a Public Health order.

“No one is wearing masks at the airport,” reported Commissioner Dr. Erica Felsenthal, who just returned from a trip. 

The post Health Officials Urge Caution Before Holiday Weekend appeared first on Beverly Hills Courier.

The district put out a request on Feb. 1 for qualified companies to submit proposals to take over the program. The district did not go through a similar process before awarding the contract to TCDS in 2017, a move that has attracted criticism.

School Board President Mary Wells said that going through the process will save the district millions.

“It is fair to say that as a result of going through the public bidding process, the district will be paying nearly half of the fees that we paid to TCDS for the same services and will save millions of dollars,” she said.

Beverly Hills voters passed Measure E in 2008, issuing $334 million in bonds for school improvements. 

in 2018, authorizing the district to issue another $385 million in bonds. Together, the bonds provide funding for modernization, seismic retrofits, new buildings, and improved security.

But since 2008 and 2018, many of the improvements promised by Measures E and BH have failed to materialize on time or on budget, with certain projects scrapped from the plans altogether. In an October study session, TCDS owner Don Blake reported to the board that the program was short by $129 million, though TCDS later put out a revised figure of $89 million.

The district brought on TCDS in 2017 to course correct for the prior bond manager, but confidence in TCDS has waned over the years, leading to a breakdown in trust between the board and the manager. While TCDS enjoyed hearty support from the board earlier in its tenure, the majority of the board has raised concerns with the transparency of operations under TCDS.

“At best, I have found our current process, systems and information we are receiving regarding the state of our construction program to be opaque,” Board member Gabriel Halimi wrote in a letter on March 22. “Just over the last few months, we’ve found ourselves surprised, confused and frustrated. And given the fact that we’re over budget and delayed in delivery, there are questions that need clear answers.”

The vote to approve Fonder-Salari as bond manager came directly on the heels of a report that was critical of TCDS. The report, delivered by the Citizens Bond Oversight Committee (CBOC), included insights from an audit of the bond program and observations by the CBOC.

The audit covered the fiscal year ending in June 2021 and faulted the district’s contractor, ProWest, for failing to document the billing from subcontractors. Say, for instance, that ProWest hired a carpenter; ProWest failed to provide documentation of the cost for the carpenter.

“So, we’re just taking ProWest at their word that every bill we pay is within contract,” said Nathan Kruger, Vice Chair of the CBOC. “As we move into a new bond manager, we just have to make sure these protocols are being followed.”

The audit also faulted the bond management program for failing to implement “a robust system of fraud prevention,” according to Kruger.

Complementing the observations of the audit, the CBOC also criticized TCDS for not developing a staffing plan – something previous audits have pointed out for over four years.

“They were able to just freely give raises to staff,” Krueger said of TCDS. “But there was no oversight [by] the board, no approval by the board to allow the growth of staff of costs by TCDS.”

The blame for the shortcomings of the bond program did not fall exclusively on the manager. The district itself had “insufficient senior staff in place to oversee the bond program,” CBOC member Marc Carrel shared with the board,

“No offense to the Board of Education, but you’re not experts in construction oversight,” Carrel said.

The board has previously acknowledged problems with having the bond manager report directly to them and is already taking steps to add a new senior staff position to review and make recommendations on the program, said Wells. The district will begin interviewing for the spot “within days.”

Carrel acknowledged that, in spite of the “holes” and “errors” highlighted by the CBOC, “the reality is there’s been a lot of success.”

“We should feel good that this ship is getting righted,” said Halimi. 

The post School Board Approves New Bond Manager appeared first on Beverly Hills Courier.

The movie, produced by Beverly Hills resident Jerry Bruckheimer, will follow the antics of fish-out-of-water Detroit cop Axel Foley, who first came to Beverly Hills in 1984 to solve the murder of a friend. The plot has not yet been announced, but certain details of the film came out during the June 21 meeting.

The movie comes at a sensitive time for the city and its police department, following a spate of high-profile crimes and allegations of racially prejudiced policing.

At the meeting, Councilmember Julian Gold explained to a representative from the film that his hope with the movie was to “raise awareness that we’re not the same city we were 40 years ago.”

“We’ve been through a pretty difficult couple of years. Everybody’s very sensitive to it, not just the police, but our businesses and our residents,” Gold said. “It just won’t feel good if this becomes something that brings up all that stuff, and so I think we just really want to protect against that.”

Dan Cooley, Location Manager for Netflix Productions for “Beverly Hills Cop 4,” estimated that the production is four weeks away from having a “production draft” of the script. Still, his purpose at the meeting was to establish a “unique private-public partnership” in advance of completion to allow time “to not only address your concerns, but then try to mitigate what those concerns are in the creative process itself.”

Netflix has agreed to allow two representatives with the city and the BHPD to read and approve sections of the script relating to Beverly Hills and the fictional BHPD depicted in the film–provided that both representatives sign non-disclosure agreements first. Based on the recommendations from the representatives, the Council could approve or reject the movie’s permit applications.

Film permits are normally reviewed and issued by the city’s Special Events and Filming Division in consultation with BHPD, the Beverly Hills Fire Department (BHFD), and other relevant departments. At least two permits for “Beverly Hills Cop 4” require Council approval due to requested street closures and sequences of simulated gunfire and staged car crashes.

The film’s production team has requested permission for a temporary street closure at one of three possible Wilshire intersections (McCarty, Crescent or Doheny Drive). The production has also requested temporary intermittent street closure and traffic control for “wrong-away traffic filming” on Rodeo Drive between Wilshire and north of Dayton in order to film a comedic chase scene stretching from Two Rodeo to the Gucci storefront.

Both shoots would last around 12 hours and take place on an undecided date in September or October.

But the Council’s concerns extended beyond the logistical hurdles of filming a major motion picture in the heart of the city.

Bosse, who watched all three prior movies in anticipation of the hearing, expressed misgivings about Foley’s first scenes in Beverly Hills and how they reflected on the city. In his first encounter with BHPD, Foley gets thrown through a window by the villain’s thugs. Beverly Hills’ police roll up and arrest Foley instead of the thugs.

“Beverly Hills is a very different city now,” Bosse said. “We are very, very, very welcoming and it does matter how Beverly Hills is portrayed, as well as crime, as well as our [police department].”

The department is redeemed by the end of the movie, but such moments would likely play differently today after a series of headlines for BHPD over the last few years.

In 2020, former Police Chief Sandra Spagnoli resigned amid accusations of making racist remarks. The department also faces a proposed class action lawsuit brought by civil rights attorney Ben Crump for allegations of racially biased policing by a task force convened during the summer of 2020.

Brands have suffered in the past due to insufficient oversight of media partnerships. Bosse gave the example the “Sex and the City” reboot and the high-end fitness equipment company Peloton. (A spoiler alert for those who have not yet watched “And Just Like That” and intend to.)

In the first episode of the limited HBO series, the longtime love interest of Sarah Jessica Parker’s Carrie Bradshaw, Mr. Big, dies of a heart attack after a vigorous workout on a Peloton bike. The death sent both fans and Peloton stock prices reeling. A representative from Peloton said that the company was in the dark on how exactly the bike would appear in the pilot episode “due to confidentiality reasons.”

The city will be taking no such chances.

Potentially complicating matters, though, Murphy famously improvised many of his lines in the other “Beverly Hills Cop” movies. This raised additional concerns for Gold.

“I think the same sensitivity needs to be had with that,” he said. “Doesn’t do us any good if the script is planned and then he does something that isn’t.”

The script has already undergone changes to reflect the priorities of the city, Cooley said. A scene from a prior version of the script “involved some breaking glass as a way to pay homage to what happened in the first film”– presumably a reference to Foley getting thrown through the window of a Beverly Hills business.

But at least one city official expressed discomfort with the scene, citing “smash and grab” robberies in the city. In response, “we got creative to say, okay, no broken glass,” Cooley said.

“We want to protect you and we want your support,” Cooley told the Council.

The Council acknowledged that this cooperation had its limits.

“We’re not trying to write the script in any way whatsoever and we recognize you could go ahead and film this movie outside and do it in a film stage and film it elsewhere,” Bosse said.

The movie will be released in a significantly different cultural environment than 1994, when the most recent “Beverly Hills Cop” movie came out. In the aftermath of the murder of George Floyd by a Minneapolis police officer, certain portions of Hollywood have reflected on the role of the entertainment industry in portraying law enforcement, race, and the criminal justice system.

It has yet to be seen how “Beverly Hills Cop 4” handles the moment. In front of the Council, Cooley emphasized that the “Beverly Hills Police Department are the heroes at the end of this film,” but also referenced the broader political context.

“From a large studio film’s perspective, we’re very much conscious of what the climate looks like today,” Cooley said. 

The post How the City Council Will Shape ‘Beverly Hills Cop 4’ appeared first on Beverly Hills Courier.

The project seeks to revitalize the drowsier Wilshire leg of the Golden Triangle, says Carolina Simon, a Vice President with the developer.

“This project unifies the underused properties around the Saks Beverly Hills building with a complete vision for the future of commercial and residential life in Beverly Hills. It also represents the most significant investment in the commercial and residential future of Beverly Hills in decades,” she told the Courier.

Founded in 1670 as a fur-trading business, HBC is one of the oldest companies operating in North America. It purchased Saks in 2013 for $2.9 billion.

The historic Saks Fifth Avenue Building was built in 1938 and designed by father and son duo John and Donald Parkinson (Parkinson & Parkinson), the architects behind Los Angeles’s Grand Central Market and City Hall, and Paul Revere Williams, the first Black architect certified west of the Mississippi and the designer of parts of the Beverly Hills Hotel. The city lists all three as Master Architects.

While Saks Beverly Hills is not a designated landmark, a survey conducted for the city in 2004 determined that the building appeared eligible for registration with the National Register of Historic Places. A report on the survey pointed to Saks Beverly Hills as an example of the “Moderne sleekness with the elegance of early nineteenth century architectural forms” characteristic of Hollywood Regency buildings.

A single-story addition was added to Saks Beverly Hills in 1995 to house the store’s shoe department and is not considered historic.

Citing this history, Simon said that the plans place “restoration of the historic facade of Saks Beverly Hills” at “the heart of the project.”

“The Saks facade will be restored, the limestone cleaned and polished and the large field of windows facing Wilshire returned to their original state to allow sunlight to fill the interiors,” she said. “The act of preservation itself is also one of the most significant environmental steps you can take.”

Similar in style to Saks, the Barneys building on the southwestern corner of Wilshire and South Camden Drive was completed in 1993. Although HBC purchased Barneys in 2020 after the fashion retailer declared bankruptcy, it does not own the Barneys building itself. Separately, HBC embarked on renovations to the Barneys building in 2020 and previously announced intentions to move the Saks Fifth Avenue women’s store into the building. It is currently slated for opening next year.

The plans can be split into commercial and residential components, with all commercial developments facing Wilshire and the residential parts fitting behind them.

The one-story Saks shoe store would be demolished for a new commercial office building. The Wilshire-facing parking lot next to the Barneys building would become a commercial office space with ground floor dining. Current renderings show the projects along Wilshire standing roughly equal to Saks Beverly Hills.

HBC places the residential portion of the plans to the south of Wilshire, on the current site of surface-level parking lots behind Barneys and Saks Beverly Hills. The project currently proposes a total of 68 units between the two parking lot sites, according to a spokesperson. The structures would be a “transitional” height, stepping down from the commercial buildings to the apartments abutting the project.

The Saks Men’s Store at the corner of Wilshire and Bedford Drive is not part of HBC’s proposal and would remain unchanged under the current plans.

“With new, publicly accessible outdoor spaces, new dining opportunities, both white tablecloth and more casual café in nature, as well as other light fare available, the entire project welcomes the public,” said Simon.

With increased commercial and residential capacity, the plans call for sufficient underground parking for retail uses and commercial and residential tenants, along with other traffic mitigation measures. The project is designed to “protect the neighborhood to the south from commercial and local traffic entering and exiting the properties,” according to Simon.

“All exits will direct cars and trucks back to Wilshire Boulevard,” she said. “There will be a dedicated drive, or what we are calling the Via, behind the buildings for deliveries and drop-offs. There will be no commercial loading on any of the streets.”

The project is helmed by Los Angeles architecture firm Marmol Radziner, which has restored structures by architects including Roland Coate, A. Quincy Jones, and John Lautner. They also restored the Minoru Yamasaki-designed Hyatt Regency Century Plaza Hotel.

“The design for the new and the historic buildings celebrates the legacy and glamor of Wilshire Boulevard in Beverly Hills,” Marmol Radziner co-founder and Managing Partner Leo Marmol said in a statement. “The project will create spaces that are luxurious and embrace nature, becoming a vibrant part of the existing neighborhood.”

The plans are not set in stone and still must pass through the gauntlet of the environmental review process, the Planning Commission, and the City Council. 

The post Saks Expansion Project for Beverly Hills Unveiled appeared first on Beverly Hills Courier.

The 10,000-square-foot property was built in 1942 for Mildred Naylor by Beverly Hills master architect Carleton Burgess in the Regency Revival style. Many celebrities and luminaries have been neighbors to the house, including George and Ira Gershwin, Lucille Ball, Diane Keaton, and Madonna, but itself has never been owned by a “person of great importance,” according to a staff report.

In 2021, the new owner of the property, StubHub co-founder Eric Baker, who purchased the house for over $39 million in 2020, requested that the city issue a certificate of ineligibility, certifying that the home does not have historic value.

Both Baker and his wife, Nicole, spoke before the Council at the June 21 meeting, emphasizing their connections to the city as natives.

“I love Beverly Hills,” said Baker. “It’s my hometown. I can’t imagine a better community to raise a family.”

“Eric and I have followed the process and all of the city’s rules to the letter,” Nicole said. “As we have clearly laid out, the facts confirm that the house we own is not historic.” The certificate prevents the Cultural Heritage Commission or the City Council from designating a property as a landmark for seven years, giving homeowners a level of reassurance to move ahead with changes to the property that would otherwise be barred were it deemed historic. The process for receiving a certificate is part of the city’s Historic Preservation Ordinance first passed in 2012.

Director of Community Development Ryan Gohlich granted Baker’s request in March 2022. Before that, Baker had to submit a report by a historic consultant showing that the property fails to satisfy the criteria for landmark status set out in the Historic Preservation Ordinance. That report then went through a peer review process by the city’s own historic consultant.

Based on the report and the city’s own review, Gohlich found that the home satisfied the requirements for a certificate of ineligibility. Part of this decision rested on the fact that the house “was not the subject of any publications or architectural awards discussing or honoring the property for its design and merit.”

The decision caught the attention of many in the city, including Cultural Heritage Commissioner Jill Collins, who flagged multiple articles about the house in publications like Luxe Interiors and Design and a Russian edition of Architectural Digest and argued that the existence of the articles contradicted Gohlich’s findings. Collins later surfaced more publications that discussed the property, an online article, a book, and a coffee table book.

The hearing attracted considerable attention from celebrities including Candy Spelling, Ted Danson, Mary Steenburgen, and Diane Keaton.

Columnist and historian Alison Martino, who runs the Instagram account Vintage Los Angeles and has previously spoken out in support of the home, took to Twitter to mourn the outcome of the hearing.

“Last night we lost the fight to save 1001 Roxbury Drive,” she wrote. “Each day our city seems to be losing the magic that made it what it once was.

Even while some Council members expressed misgivings about their votes, a majority felt that the existing rules prevented them from overruling staff on the certificate. All but Councilmember John Mirisch voted to affirm staff’s original decision.

Councilmember Robert Wunderlich reluctantly voted to affirm the certificate of ineligibility, declaring the moment “a sad day for Beverly Hills” and “a day that we will regret.” But, he said, that his role on the Council is to “enforce the rules we have in place.”

“I hope that the future City Council will very quickly move to change the statute so that this doesn’t happen again,” he said.

Councilmember Lester Friedman felt that there was not “any evidence of it being of exceptional quality.” Although the house had been published in the magazines and books brought before the Council, the articles focused on the interior design, not the architecture, Friedman said.

Councilmember John Mirisch argued that the house was iconic enough to preserve and read a letter by film and television producer Jerry Bruckheimer and his wife, author Linda Bruckheimer, who own the historic home of Columbia Pictures co-founder Harry Cohn.

“If we are intent on preserving our historical treasures, we cannot have policies that make it harder to restore homes than to knock them down.”

Councilmember Julian Gold agreed with Wunderlich and Mirisch that “we have to do some work on this ordinance,” but like Wunderlich, could not square the existing rules with a rejection of the certificate.

“I think the language is clear. I think our decision may be painful, but it, too, is clear,” Gold said. “I think we have no option based on our own language, our own law, but to uphold the decision of the director.”

Mayor Lili Bosse, too, acknowledged that the Historic Preservation Ordinance “wasn’t perfect,” but said that “we don’t believe in bait and switch, and we don’t believe in rewriting the rules.” While the articles brought forward by Collins may have initiated the broader discussion by the Council, after consideration, Bosse did not feel they satisfied the requirements under the city’s ordinance.

“I do agree that we should look at this ordinance again,” Bosse added. “We can fine tune some of it.”

The Council will vote on a resolution documenting the finding on July 19. Even with the certificate upheld, the property owners must submit any new home on the property to design review, according to Gohlich. 

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Festivities began at 9:30 a.m. with a 50-car rally that made its way through the city before settling along Rodeo Drive with dozens of other rare automobiles. Many makes and models were on view, but the official featured class of car this year was Rolls-Royce. The Concours lasted until 4 p.m.

The “Best in Show” award went to the 1955 Ferrari 250 Europa GT owned by Ken and Dale Roth. The Mayor’s Award for “Most Elegant” went to the 1956 Alfa Romeo 1900 Zagato owned by David Sydorick. A full list of winners is available at
www.beverlyhillscourier.com.

Prior to the rally, Mayor Lili Bosse presented an official proclamation on behalf of the City Council honoring Concours d’Elegance co-founder Bruce Meyer, “a renowned collector of vintage automobiles, motorcycles and historic winning race cars from the 24 Hours of Le Mans to Indy to the Bonneville Salt Flats,” Bosse said.

The proclamation cited Meyer’s past role as the Founding Chairman of the Petersen Automotive Museum and the contributions made by his family to the community.

“Now, therefore, we, the City Council of the City of Beverly Hills, do hereby thank Bruce Meyer for his incredible contributions to the City of Beverly Hills,” Bosse read from the proclamation.

Many of the vehicles came courtesy of the event’s sponsors, such as Rolls-Royce and the Peterson Automotive Museum. Other cars belonged to collectors with a passion for restoring and maintaining vintage autos.

Matt Winter, a Beverly Hills resident and designer, is only the third owner of the resplendent red 1957 Porsche Speedster he showed at the Concours. When he bought the car in 2020 after 20 years of pining for one, he made “some minor tweaks” to restore the car to its period-correct state.

“I’ve been enjoying it ever since,” Winter told the Courier, himself wearing period-appropriate attire for a 1950s motorist.

Winter estimates that he has built and repaired 35 cars since he was 15, but says the Speedster is the “top of the collection.”

“The car is 100% original, it’s all numbers matching, it’s been a California car since the day it was shipped from New York,” he said. “I have all the paperwork from the day that it was purchased.”

While Winter would not disclose the amount he paid for the road machine, he estimates its current worth at $800,000.

Earl Rubenstein readily shared that he paid $1,200 for his custom 1935 Packard Super 8 Dual-Cowl Phaeton Dietrich, which was virtually every cent in his and his wife’s bank account in 1963 (save for $50). The original owners, Dorothy Boss and her late husband John, drove the car on their wedding day in 1935. While other prospective buyers had offered more than double what Rubenstein paid, Dorothy told the architect that she could “tell you’re going to do the right thing by this car.”

Six months later, Rubenstein returned to Dorothy’s house in the Palisades with the newly-restored Packard and offered her the keys.

“She says, ‘No, it’s your car, you drive me,'” he recounted to the Courier. “She got in the car, and she was so emotional, tears were coming down to see this engine like it was when she and her husband bought the car.”

But at its core, in addition to celebrating cars and luxury, the event celebrated fathers – and family, more broadly.

“It was great,” said Wes Thomas, who marked his seventh-or-so time going to the Concours with his teenage son, Cole. “It’s a nice way to spend a little bit of time.”

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The luxury hotel from the French conglomerate LVMH Moët Hennessy Louis Vuitton (LVMH) is proposed for the corner of Rodeo Drive and South Santa Monica Boulevard. The spot stretches across four parcels of land: the former Brooks Brothers building, Celine Rodeo Drive, the former Paley Center for Media and the property at 449 N. Beverly Drive. In addition to a 115-room boutique hotel, Cheval Blanc will include LVMH retail establishments, a private club, a spa, and high-end dining venues.

The project was designed by award winning architect Peter Marino, a Rodeo Drive mainstay who designed stores for Louis Vuitton, Dior and Fendi.

LVMH is no stranger to the Golden Triangle or Rodeo Drive. The luxury products group owns or leases 19 properties in the city, including Louis Vuitton, Christian Dior, Fendi, Marc Jacobs, Rimowa, Bulgari, Loro Piana, Hublot, Berluti and Sephora. Most recently, in 2021, the group acquired Tiffany & Co.

A spokesperson for LVMH indicated satisfaction at the Planning Commission’s conclusions.

“We are very pleased by the Planning Commission’s unanimous approval of Cheval Blanc Beverly Hills following careful consideration and valuable feedback,” the representative previously said in a statement to the Courier. “We now look forward to the next step in the City’s transparent and inclusive public review process, and to working closely with all stakeholders to deliver an exceptional new landmark and economic driver in the heart of the Golden Triangle.”

The project has not come without a few bumps in the road.

Cheval Blanc Beverly Hills would stand at nine stories on the Beverly Drive side, stepping down to four stories on the Rodeo Drive side. The city code limits buildings in the Triangle to three stories, meaning the City Council would have to grant an exemption to Cheval Blanc. Some in the city have expressed concerns that the nine-story edifice on the Beverly side – the same height as the adjacent Bank of America Building – would compromise the village-like atmosphere of the Triangle.

The project also hit a roadblock over traffic concerns, resulting in a pause in the review process from March to June. The Planning Commission voiced worries that the hotel and its amenities would bring heavy traffic to the area without the capacity to deal with it. Specifically, the project’s proposed motor court on South Santa Monica Boulevard would add 235 cars an hour to the existing 1,400, potentially ensnaring traffic on the busy road.

The project returned to the Planning Commission on May 26 having studied the issue and made corrections. In the plans approved by the Planning Commission, retail shoppers and club members would no longer use the motor court. Additionally, one of the hotel’s restaurants will no longer be open to the public, which would further lower the number of patrons using the motor court. The revised plans also call for halving the amount of space for the spa.

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“Feeling optimistic, but it ain’t over,” Mirisch told the Courier about the continued lead.

Wunderlich did not respond to a request for comment.

Los Angeles County does not officially certify vote totals until after an election canvass that includes a count of Vote by Mail ballots received on Election Day, provisional ballots, write-in ballots, damaged ballots and an audit of a random selection of ballots. According to Beverly Hills City Clerk Huma Ahmed, the county expects this process to conclude in the first week of July, though that deadline could shift in the event of “extenuating circumstances.”

The city currently plans to install the new Council on July 12 and hold the first meeting of the new Council on July 19. In the event of the extenuating circumstances or a recount, this timeline could change.

Ahmed does not expect a recount given the lead of the top three candidates (though she’s quick to mention that there are still outstanding votes). In the event of a recount, the newly elected individuals “are not seated until the recount concludes.”

Technically, any voter can initiate a recount, according to the Los Angeles County Registrar-Recorder/County Clerk. Recount requests must be made within five days after the certification of the vote. The person who requests the recount must bear its cost. If, however, the recount reverses the results of the election, then the county returns the money.

There is no strict deadline for when a recount must be completed, only that election workers must work six hours a day (minus weekends and holidays) until the recount is done.

While Beverly Hills will not know the exact voter turnout for the June 7 Primary until the vote is certified, preliminary results show “pretty decent” participation, Ahmed told the Courier. The city has 22,624 registered voters as of April 2022. So far, around 7,000 votes have been counted, meaning that preliminary voter turnout is sitting around 30%. Countywide participation is currently hovering just over 22%.

Nearly 22,000 residents were registered to vote in Beverly Hills in 2020, a year in which over 42% of registered voters cast a ballot, or about 9,160 voters–the highest turnout since 1982. That year saw record turnout across the country, driven by the presidential race between Joe Biden and Donald Trump.

Although this year’s primary contest did not draw as many voters, it still saw larger turnout than the previous three-candidate cycle in 2017, in which about 25% of registered voters cast a ballot.

Ahmed explained that this City Council race was just the second since the city adjusted its election schedule to take place on even numbered years. This year, that coincided with the Statewide Direct Primary Election, which may have boosted interest and turnout.

Additionally, unlike 2017 but like 2020, the county sent out Vote by Mail ballots to all registered voters, enabling voters to return their ballots weeks before June 7. Voters also had the option of voting at polling stations 11 days before June 7 and could register in person on the same day as they cast their vote.

“Vote by Mail is obviously more accessible,” Ahmed said.

In Los Angeles County, Vote by Mail was far and away the preferred method of voting. Out of the 1,258,000 ballots counted so far, over 1 million were submitted via mail.

“We’re just letting the process move forward and we’re just going to wait for the results,” Ahmed said. “We have not had any major concern and the county has been very proactive in addressing any potential issues.” 

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“As others have pointed out, we’re in the midst of a historic drought. Some would say it’s the most severe drought that the Southwest U.S. has had for 1,000 years,” said Councilmember Robert Wunderlich. “It really is a crisis.”

The city has divided the watering schedules between residences north and south of Santa Monica Boulevard. Homes to the north can water on Mondays and Fridays; residences to the south can water Tuesdays and Saturdays.

In addition to the restrictions, the city recommends running sprinkler systems for only 8 minutes and drip irrigation systems for 15 to 20 minutes. Residents should check sprinklers weekly, avoid water runoff, and check toilets for plumbing issues.

Beverly Hills has so far avoided the most severe water restrictions seen by other cities and counties. Beverly Hills receives its water from two major sources, the State Water Project from Northern California and the Colorado River. Thanks in part to this, in addition to other conservation investments the city has made over the years, residents do not yet need to cut watering down to one day a week.

The city will begin with outreach measures to inform the public about the new restrictions, including postcards to each single-family dwelling, emails, telephone calls, newspaper advertisements, and signage around the city.

Wunderlich did not express optimism about the ability to reduce water use through messaging alone, noting that water use in other parts of the state went up even after calls for water reduction.

“I could hope to be pleasantly surprised that we’ll achieve a target of 30% reduction, but I wouldn’t bet on it,” he said. “My guess would be that we’re likely going to see mandatory cutbacks being imposed by us in the future, because there simply isn’t enough water to go around.”

For residents who do not adhere to the restrictions, first time offenders get a warning. Subsequent violations incur fines up to $500.

Residents may be experiencing a sense of déjà vu with these latest restrictions. Back in 2014, then-Governor Jerry Brown declared a state of emergency over the water crisis at the time. In 2017, the city implemented a Stage C water conservation plan that saw water use decline by 20% compared to 2013 levels. By January 2020, after California enjoyed two wetter than average years, the state appeared to be out of the woods.

But just one year later, Governor Gavin Newsom signed an Executive Order that designated all of California under drought conditions, explaining in a press release that California faced “some of the driest conditions we’ve ever seen” and needed a “statewide response.” The situation has only degraded since then, with water sources reaching some of the lowest levels on record.

Highlighting the “new normal” of the global climate crisis, the response to one environmental emergency inflamed fears of another, namely fire.

“Other than the conservation element, which is key and why we’re having this conversation, the elephant in the room, aside from the water conservation, is the fire safety,” said Mayor Lili Bosse.

Residents from the fire-prone areas north of Sunset Boulevard expressed concern that cutting back on watering would create drier conditions ideal for wildfires. Director of Public Works Shana Epstein reassured residents that “trees and perennial non-turf plantings are not part of the two day a week watering” limits.

“They can be watered any day, just not between 9 a.m. and 6 p.m.,” she said.

Epstein encouraged residents to take advantage of the services the city offers to help reduce water usage, including the city’s free Water Tracker, which offers water use statistics by year, month, week, or day. Residents can sign up at https://water.beverlyhills.org. The city also offers free water audits. For that and other tips, residents can visit http://www.bhsaves.org.

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“I was informed by the District Attorney’s office that an investigation of an Instagram account entitled ‘Sharona4Gascon’ is ongoing,” Friedman said. “As part of the investigation, my residence was listed as one of eight locations that search warrants were issued [for].”

Friedman added that the search warrant “was not directed nor did it name me” and that he and his campaign were “fully cooperating with the investigation.”

The DA’s office declined to comment.

Friedman, an attorney who has served on the City Council since 2017, is poised to retain his seat on the Council after the June 7 election. He practices as a workers compensation lawyer.

Nazarian, who previously served on the Public Works and Human Relations commissions, stands to win a City Council seat, with current vote totals placing her in second place.

In April, a fake Instagram account using Nazarian’s name and photo surfaced online. The account, Sharona4Gascon, included photos of embattled District Attorney George Gascón with supportive captions like, “This man is a hero and doing wonderful things for the City of Beverly Hills and humanity!”

Though initially vague on her stance regarding Gascón, Nazarian has since called for his recall.

When asked if he had any connection to the account, Friedman answered, “Absolutely not.”

Friedman declined to say what investigators seized as a result of the warrant, only saying that they “did not take anything of mine.” He said that the warrant was very general, listing “everything under the sun.”

The Beverly Hills Police Department (BHPD) did not participate in the search warrant, but “we were aware of the the police activity at the council member’s location,” according to Public Information Officer Lt. Giovani Trejo.

Trejo declined to provide more information, but said that “the investigation is being handled by the DA’s office.”

City Spokesperson Keith Sterling said he had no knowledge of the details of the warrant.

This is a developing story and will be updated as more information comes out.

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Also by Bianca Heyward

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Friedman currently claims first place with 1,914 votes, or about 19% of the vote. Nazarian appears likely to become the first Persian woman and second ever Iranian-American elected to the City Council, with 1,824 votes, or about 18% of the total.

“The campaign is finally over and the early returns have me in an a position to be elected for a second term. I am grateful to have the opportunity to serve our residents,” Friedman told the Courier.

Friedman reiterated his focus on “safety in our community,” highlighting the current Council’s launch of the Real Time Watch Center, the Beverly Hills Police Department’s drone program, and the expansion of the city’s CCTV network.

“I am proud of what our City Council has done and look forward to working for the betterment of our community in the future,” he said.

Despite her strong lead, Nazarian stopped short of declaring an outright victory.

“I want to thank my family, friends, volunteers and supporters for their trust in me. I ran a grassroots campaign with integrity and honesty on the issues important to the residents,” she told the Courier.

Nazarian attributed the results to a “clear message and vision for Beverly Hills, to bring stronger leadership towards safety and security.”

“I am proud that I ran an honest and positive campaign that focused on my platform to build a stronger, safer, and more unified Beverly Hills,” she said. “There are still votes to be counted and I will respect the process.”

Mirisch, Licht, and Wunderlich all fall within roughly one percent of each other as of press time. Mirisch, who is running for his fourth term, expressed some surprise about the results, given that he took the most votes in his last two election cycles.

Licht described himself as “humbled” by the support from friends, family, and the community, as evidenced by the sizable gathering at his home for an election celebration party on June 7.

“We ran a great campaign, it was a lot of fun, I met many great people and win or lose this was an amazing journey for me,” he told the Courier.

Wunderlich did not immediately respond to a request for comment, though he expressed disappointment to the Courier at his election night party.

The county will not certify the results of the election until after the 30-day Official Election Canvass. The Los Angeles County Registrar-Recorder/County Clerk still must count remaining Vote by Mail ballots received on Election Day, provisional ballots, write-in ballots and damaged ballots.

Nearly 22,000 residents were registered to vote in Beverly Hills in 2020, a year in which over 42% of registered voters cast a ballot, or about 9,160 voters–the highest turnout since 1982. Turnout seems unlikely to reach similar levels this year, despite the option of universal mail-in voting.

In order from highest to lowest number of votes, the candidates trailing the top five vote-getters include Vera Markowitz (1,009), Darian Bojeaux (445), Shiva Bagheri (292), Kevin Kugley (231), Akshat “AB” Bhatia (193), and Robin Rowe (180).

Markowitz did not respond to a request for comment.

Bojeaux said she would not concede “only because I wish to see the total vote counts,” but said that the results showed that candidates benefited from incumbency and “greater donations.”

“Brushing elbows with incumbents makes residents feel connected, and they seem to vote for those they like even when unaware of their positions and voting records,” she told the Courier.

Bagheri conceded her campaign saying that she felt “good about my first run for Beverly Hills City Council.”

“Unfortunately, I wasn’t able to canvas all of Beverly Hills and didn’t raise as much money as many of the other candidates, but feel good about the impact I made with the little I had to work with,” she told the Courier.

Kugley expressed hope that the winners, whoever they may be, “will fight for the wonderful people of Beverly Hills.”

He added: “They should work relentlessly on public safety, ease regulation on us, and continually listen to the residents.”

Beverly Hills voters appeared to deliver a clear victory to incumbent City Treasurer Howard Fisher, who is on track to serve another term with more than 63% of the vote as of press time. Challengers Jake Manaster and Gabrielle Pantera-Rowe trail behind with 27% and 9% of the vote, respectively.

Manaster conceded the race in a post on social media, acknowledging that the results “did not turn out as we had hoped despite doing everything a good solid campaign should do.”

“Incumbencies are unquestionably always a very difficult barrier to overcome,” he added. “No regrets and I remain committed to the volunteerism that has got me this far in life. Onward!”

Addressing the city, Fisher said, “Thank you for entrusting me with another term as the shepherd of the City’s finances as your Treasurer. And I thank everyone who supported me, and all who voted in this election.”

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“I think the purpose of any public commission is to do what it can to advance the public good,” said out-going Vice Chair Thomas Hudnut. “I believe that in moving this project forward we are advancing the greater good of Beverly Hills. We will be bringing to the city a beautiful artifact, really.”

The luxury hotel from the French conglomerate LVMH Moët Hennessy Louis Vuitton (LVMH) is proposed for the corner of Rodeo Drive and South Santa Monica Boulevard. The spot stretches across four parcels of land: the former Brooks Brothers building, Celine Rodeo Drive, the former Paley Center for Media and the property at 449 N. Beverly Drive. In addition to a 115-room boutique hotel, Cheval Blanc will include LVMH retail establishments, a private club, and high-end dining venues.

The project was designed by award winning architect Peter Marino, a Rodeo Drive mainstay who designed stores for Louis Vuitton, Dior and Fendi.

LVMH already has a considerable presence in the city. The luxury products group owns or leases 19 properties in the city, including Louis Vuitton, Christian Dior, Fendi, Marc Jacobs, Rimowa, Bulgari, Loro Piana, Hublot, Berluti and Sephora. Most recently, in 2021, the group acquired Tiffany & Co.

“We are very pleased by the Planning Commission’s unanimous approval of Cheval Blanc Beverly Hills following careful consideration and valuable feedback,” a LVMH representative told the Courier in a statement. “We now look forward to the next step in the City’s transparent and inclusive public review process, and to working closely with all stakeholders to deliver an exceptional new landmark and economic driver in the heart of the Golden Triangle.”

The project would stand at nine stories on the Beverly Drive side, stepping down to four stories on the Rodeo Drive side. As such, the city would have to grant an exception to existing height limits – a prospect that has rankled some residents, who worry that the height would compromise the “village” character of Beverly Hills.

Acknowledging the uniqueness of the project, Commissioner Peter Ostroff said, “It’s not every day that we’re going to approve a nine-story building, but it’s not every day that we have a proposal like this that offers so many benefits – at least, what I perceive to be benefits – to the community.”

Ostroff addressed the question of the proposal’s height, saying that the commission did not overlook “the fact that it’s a tall building.” But, he said, “the benefits, in my view, outweigh whatever perceived detriments there may be from that.”

The Planning Commission previously expressed concerns about the traffic impacts of the hotel and its amenities, including how the proposed motor court off of South Santa Monica Boulevard could lead to backups and ensnare traffic. In response to the concerns, retail shoppers and club members can no longer use the motor court.

Additionally, one of the hotel’s restaurants will no longer be open to the public, which would further lower the number of patrons using the motor court. The revised plans also call for halving the amount of space for the spa.

That, along with other modifications, earned the support of the commissioners.

Prominent Rodeo Drive real estate developer and business owner Dar Mahboubi spoke approvingly of the proposed luxury development.

“After 47 years of hard work, we can finally claim that Rodeo Drive is the number one most desired location by all international luxury brands,” he said. “This is a gift that we, the people of Beverly Hills, should accept with a grateful heart. LVMH Cheval Blanc as owners of title are merely acting as trustees for the residents of our beautiful city. In the big picture, the true beneficiaries of these investments are the residents of Beverly Hills for generations to come.”

A representative of Unite Here Local 11 Workers Union, which represents thousands of hotels and service workers across Los Angeles and Orange County, including hundreds in Beverly Hills, criticized the proposal. Speaking on behalf of the union, Danielle Wilson said the project was “over twice the height” allowed by current zoning laws. She condemned the project for not addressing a lack of affordable housing while increasing the number of service workers who will commute into the city.

Planning Commission Chair Andy Licht said the city would be “very lucky” to host the first Cheval Blanc hotel in the United States. Currently, Cheval Blanc hotels are located in the French Alps, the Maldives, the French West Indies, the French Riviera and Paris.

At its regular meeting earlier in the day, the Planning Commission reversed itself on previous support for an expansion to Harkham Hillel Hebrew Academy, an orthodox Jewish school located on Olympic Boulevard between Oakhurst Drive and South Doheny Drive.

The school is seeking to renovate and expand existing structures and add a new building with a gymnasium, classrooms, and a rooftop game court. Hillel wants to expand the number of students allowed at the school. Commissioners have repeatedly raised concerns over traffic issues related to pick up and drop off at the school, which neighbors say causes heavy congestion in the area.

The Planning Commission issued preliminary approval for the project on April 28, but on May 26, instead of voting to approve the project, commissioners expressed new reservations about the expansion and requested number of students. The school will return to the Planning Commission on June 23 with revised enrollment numbers and a traffic and parking plan.

Lastly, the commission voted on a resolution placing stringent limits on the private club and co-working space Spring Place after allegations of repeated violations. Representatives for Spring Place will return to the Planning Commission in a year for a review of their compliance with the new provisions, which limit the capacity of the club’s rooftop to 30 people. 

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The city negotiated the raise as a part of a new memorandum of understanding with the two unions that represent rank and file officers and the top brass in the Beverly Hills Police Department (BHPD). The existing contracts were set to expire on April 7, 2023. Most recently, officers saw a salary increase of 2% in October 2021.  

While City Manager George Chavez received acknowledgement for his role in negotiating the new contracts, Chavez indicated that Mayor Lili Bosse had first raised the issue of the police salaries in December amid renewed concerns of rising crime. Bosse explained that she pushed the matter after discovering that the city’s police force ranked third in the region for base salary.

“I thank our police men and women who have worked so incredibly hard for our community these last few years, especially when there were so many obstacles placed in their way,” Bosse said. “I hope that they have felt appreciated and embraced by this community and appreciated and embraced by this Council.”

Sgt. David Leber, Vice President of the Police Officers Association, said it was “frankly unheard of for a City Council to open up contract negotiations with a year remaining on a contract.”

“It is truly a testament to City Manager Chavez, the Mayor, the Council and Chief Stainbrook’s commitment to the public safety of Beverly Hills. This contract will enable us to compete for the best people to fill officer positions and meet the expectations of this community for policing,” Leber said. “We will not let you down. We will hold the line.”

Captain Max Subin spoke on behalf of the Police Management Association, which represents police captains and lieutenants.

“Our association fully supports the proposed MOU and would like to publicly thank the City Council for your continued support of the police department and police employees,” Subin said. “The partnership we hold with council and the Beverly Hills community is unprecedented.”

The pay bump would translate to an additional cost of $4.5 million to the city, according to a fiscal analysis conducted by an outside firm. The total cost for both contracts over the next three years comes out to $11.2 million.

Under the previous contract, salaries currently ranged between $94,000 to $150,000 for police officers and sergeants in the Beverly Hills Police Department, placing Beverly Hills third out of 14 in Southern California for police base salaries. Orange County and Santa Monica claimed first and second, respectively.

In terms of overall compensation, which includes benefits and overtime, the city ranked the highest in the area even before the raise. “But with this move,” Councilmember Robert Wunderlich said, “we unambiguously will be the best paid police force in Southern California.”

Chief Mark Stainbrook also noted that the raise would rectify a pay disparity between police and firefighters, who made about 10% more than police officers–an uncommon arrangement, according to Stainbrook.

“Typically, they’re either close to the same or the police make more in most cities,” Stainbrook said.

The new contract also offers new flexibility to staffing certain positions with civilians that were previously filled by sworn officers.

The Council pointed to the difficulty in recruiting new officers to justify the raise.  

“Recruitment is going to be very competitive in LA County, clearly, and we have to provide every incentive possible to have the best of the best,” Bosse said.

“It should send a message to our community that we are doing more than talk about public safety. This Council has done everything humanly possible to support this community and to create and improve public safety,” said Vice Mayor Julian Gold. “As far as I’m concerned, this is like the icing on the cake. I don’t know that there’s anything else that we can do.”

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California election law requires the candidates to disclose contributions and expenditures exceeding the sum of $100. The Courier has reviewed the most recent campaign financial disclosures for each candidate as of press time. 

Candidates will file their final pre-election disclosures on May 26. Because voting has already begun, the Courier has opted to report the most current information for those casting early ballots.

Each of the candidates is also subject to specific rules about contributions and spending passed by The City of Beverly Hills in 2014. Candidates may only accept donations up to $125 from individuals or organizations. This limit increases to $450 if the candidate agrees to spend $80,000 or less. Additionally, for candidates who agree to the spending limit, the city will bear the costs of including their statement of support for their candidacy in the sample ballots mailed out to voters.

All candidates who are fundraising this year have agreed to the $80,000 spending limit. Candidate Robin Rowe, a technologist and financial planner making his second bid for City Council, has declined to accept donations.

Councilmember Lester Friedman leads the pack in fundraising, taking in a total of $57,600 in contributions, with an additional $10,000 loaned to his own campaign.

As of his most recent disclosure forms, Friedman has spent approximately $34,000 total, with his largest expenditure including $12,000 to Bullseye Marketing for “city wide mailing.” His filings also reveal that his campaign spent $4,160 on his campaign kickoff, which included $1,629 for “swag bags and food.”

Councilmember Dr. Julian Gold and his wife Michele each donated $450 to Friedman’s campaign.

Planning Commission Chair Andy Licht has raised a total of $52,000 and spent $35,000.

Licht also enjoys support from a Political Action Committee (PAC), also known as an independent expenditure committee. Friends of Andy Licht for Beverly Hills City Council 2022 has raised a total of $14,500 and spent more than $9,000, according to the latest available data.

Stephen Messman, a commercial property investor and owner of Century Development Co., contributed $5,000 to Licht’s PAC – the largest single contribution.

The PAC has spent thousands of dollars on slate mailers, which are pieces of mail that express support or opposition for multiple candidates or ballot measures. Unlike voter guides put out by official political parties, candidates – or, as in this case, their supporters – must pay for a spot on a slate.

For example, Friends of Andy Licht paid $2,378 to Landslide Communications, a slate mail publishing business that targets “middle-of-the-road and conservative voters,” according to its website.

Public Works Commissioner Sharona Nazarian has raised a total of around $44,000, which includes a $5,000 loan she made to herself. Of that, her campaign has spent $25,000, with big ticket items including $5,250 for “information technology costs,” $4,200 for consulting, and $2,600 for “voter files” from Political Data, Inc.

Nazarian is also receiving support from a PAC, Beverly Hills Neighbors Supporting Nazarian For City Council 2022. The PAC has spent nearly $3,500 in the race, all of which went to Sacramento-based political reporting and treasury services firm Deane and Company.

The PAC lists only two donors, Susan Wiesner, a West Hollywood attorney also listed as the PAC’s treasurer who gave $500, and Bashar Sawaf, who is listed as fashion designer and gave the PAC $1,000.

Councilmember Robert Wunderlich, who has not held fundraising events, nonetheless raised $12,000 according to current campaign filings. Wunderlich has instead relied predominantly on a $40,000 loan from himself to his campaign. The filings also list $5,200 in non-monetary contributions from himself for “Website/Email, Newspaper Ads, Campaign [Meeting].”

Notable expenditures include $9,550 for campaign consultants and $21,206 for campaign literature and mailings.

The Beverly Hills Chamber of Commerce Leadership PAC, which endorsed Friedman and Wunderlich, has spent nearly $2,300 each for mailers in support of both candidates.

Councilmember John Mirisch, who is running for his fourth term, has raised over $9,300 but started the race with roughly $16,000 left over from his 2017 campaign. He took out no loans.

Like Licht, Vera Markowitz has spent thousands to appear on slate mailers. Markowitz has taken in a total of $8,700 in contributions and loaned herself $46,000 for a combined total of $54,000. She has spent a total of $23,300.

Darian Bojeaux has bankrolled most of her own campaign, loaning herself $20,000 in addition to accepting nearly $6,000 in contributions.

Businessman Kevin Kugley raised slightly over $1,000 and loaned himself $5,600. He has spent $6,200.

Kugley participated in the first forum of the election hosted by the Beverly Hills Chamber of Commerce but has not appeared in any of the subsequent gatherings.  Even if he is no longer actively campaigning, his name will still appear on the ballot. He did not respond to requests for comment.

Kugley’s preelection statement lists some expenditures not found on his opponent’s forms, including $639 to Southwest Airlines and $120 to a Hampton Inn in Franklin, Tennessee.

Shiva Bagheri has raised nearly $2,800 and spent over $1,000. Her largest expenditures include $460 for signs, $300 for website development, and $300 for bookkeeping.

The city did not have campaign filings from Akshat “AB” Bhatia as of press time. 

Editor’s note: A previous version of this story incorrectly stated that Councilmember Robert Wunderlich had not actively solicited donations. Wunderlich has requested donations in campaign emails; he has not held fundraising events.

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“From my perspective, Beverly Hills should be number one. And I think, as we’ve seen, we need to do everything we can to recruit the best of the best and recruit quickly,” said Mayor Lili Bosse, who added the matter to the May 10 City Council agenda.

The pay bump would translate to a cost of $4.5 million to the city, according to a fiscal analysis conducted by the city.

Salary currently ranges between $94,000 to $150,000 for police officers and sergeants in the Beverly Hills Police Department, placing Beverly Hills third out of 14 in Southern California for police base salaries. Orange County and Santa Monica claim first and second, respectively. In terms of overall compensation, which includes benefits and overtime, the city ranks the highest in the area.

Beverly Hills firefighters earn about 10% more than police officers in the city, which Chief Mark Stainbrook said is uncommon. Generally, according to Stainbrook, police officers earn the same or more than their peers in the fire department.

Stainbrook said that raising the base salary by 14% over three years would achieve parity with the fire department and “make the city and the department more competitive in the recruitment marketplace.”

The city has struggled to reach its goal of 150 officers, with the department at a deficit of 14 officers. In past comments, Stainbrook has explained that policing goes through employment cycles and that agencies across the region are facing a wave of retirements. This puts Beverly Hills in competition with the 66 other law enforcement agencies in Los Angeles County.

Additionally, Stainbrook has acknowledged that the uprising of anti-racist protests following the murder of George Floyd by Minneapolis police officers has damaged the appeal of police work and further complicated recruitment efforts.  

Recovering Finances

Beverly Hills continues to see signs of growth and recovery since the pandemic-induced downturn, according to Director of Finance Jeff Muir, who reported that revenues exceeded expenditures for the latest fiscal year. This comes with significant improvements in the city’s “big four” tax revenues, which includes property tax, hotel tax, sales tax, and business license tax.

Building on trends observed in the last quarter, “we continue to see revenues significantly better than compared to the same time period last fiscal year by nearly $47 million, or almost 28%,” Muir said.

While all four major tax revenue sources have seen rebounds, the largest jump has  been in the city’s hotel tax, or transient occupancy tax, which the city deferred during the peak of the pandemic while hotels saw plummeting occupancy rates. Overall, big four revenues are up 34%, Muir told the Council.

In fact, Muir noted, big four revenues have surpassed pre-pandemic levels, driven by surging property values and sales tax. Revenues from the transient occupancy tax and business license tax have nearly recovered to pre-COVID levels.

As with revenues, expenditures have also risen about $22 million, or about 12.5% compared to the same time last year. This owes mainly to rising salaries and benefits, which are tied to the cost of living. Still, Muir forecasted that the city is on pace to spend just slightly less than the planned budget by about 1%.

“Obviously we have done extremely well recovering from the effects of the pandemic,” said Councilmember Lester Friedman.

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Before the war, Deyna Pomazanova had exams.

Sitting in a home in Beverly Hills more than 6,000 miles away from Irpin, Ukraine, the 16-year-old recounted the excitement she felt on Feb. 23 as she left school, confident she had aced her tests. Her mother, Elina Kovalenko, 52, who is sitting beside her, was also in school at the time, earning a second degree to become a therapist.

Distant were thoughts of the imminent Russian invasion, only a day away, that would shatter the peace of their suburb northwest of Kiev. But within weeks, the two would join millions of others in an exodus unseen in Europe since World War II.

While governments like the United States and Germany have poured billions of dollars’ worth of weapons into the conflict, an ad hoc network of individual households outside the fold of state departments and NGOs have opened their doors to those in need. One of them belongs to Beverly Hills residents Nancy and Derek Kramer, on whose couch Kovalenko and Pomazanova sat as they shared their story with the Courier.

“I’m so grateful to them,” Kovalenko said, speaking through an interpreter. “I feel like they’ve given us safety.”

Even after Russian forces penetrated Irpin on March 1 and 2, Kovalenko held to the hope that the fighting would not escalate to the point where she and her daughter would have to flee. But soon, three Russian tanks took up positions in front of their home and the unremitting and indiscriminate shelling made clear to them that civilians were either acceptable collateral damage in Putin’s incursion or, worse yet, targets in their own right.

“My mom came to my room and said we’re going to go; we need to pack, and we have to leave because it’s not safe. I understood that I had to put myself together and move on,” Pomazanova said.

They waited until they felt confident the soldiers inside the tanks were asleep and crept past, encumbered only by two suitcases containing their documents and clothes, the entirety of their material possessions.

“We understood that there were going to be tons of refugees,” said Kovalenko. “We took only the most important things.”

Pomazanova was also leaving behind her father, Kovalenko’s ex-husband Vladimir Pomazanova, who “chose the path to war,” Kovalenko said. Pomazanova last saw her father on Feb. 24. He told her that he would likely be gone for several months but said nothing else. She has not heard from him since.

Kovalenko marvels at the serendipity of their survival. On the train platform, they heard the thud of shelling in the direction of their home merely hours after leaving. Later, they would learn that their home had been leveled by the blasts. One day after boarding the train to Kiev, it, too, would succumb to bombing, she said.

The next few legs of their journey exposed them to the horrors of mass displacement, bringing them first to Kiev, then Lviv, and then to Poland.

There, they were briefly held against their will with other women and children by a group claiming to be humanitarian volunteers, but who took their documents and phones and refused to return them. Another woman, who had surreptitiously kept her phone, contacted a German friend who came to her aid. Kovalenko begged the friend to take her and Pomazanova as well.

With both Kovalenko and Pomazanova growing increasingly ill, they found a group in Denmark providing assistance to Ukrainians. But the weather proved further deleterious to Pomazanova’s health. After selling some of Kovalenko’s artwork and with the help of the Danish family that had taken them in, the mother and daughter secured tickets to Mexico with the ultimate goal of reaching Los Angeles.

It wasn’t how they had imagined visiting the City of Angels, but for years before the war, Pomazanova had dreamed of pursuing acting in Tinseltown itself. (She blushes sharing that she wants to meet one actor above all others: Jared Leto.)

“We had a plan,” Kovalenko said. “We didn’t expect it to happen like this.”

After crossing the border at Tijuana and making it to San Diego, a volunteer phoned Nancy Kramer.

Kramer had been inspired to help after seeing an ABC News segment on a group of volunteers in Newport Beach who collected supplies for refugees. Kramer and her husband had taken in one other couple before they picked up Kovalenko and Pomazanova from Union Station. That couple now lives in a guesthouse of another Beverly Hills resident.

In the three weeks since Kovalenko and Pomazanova moved into the bedroom vacated by Kramer’s college-age son, Kramer has seen the two of them thaw from the trauma of the war–a trauma made bearable through their bond with each other.

“If my mom and I had to be together for 24-hours-a-day, every day, we would’ve killed each other. Those two, they laugh together, they get along so amazingly well,” she said.

Kovalenko has said that she keeps laughing for her daughter’s sake. The two look forward to celebrating Mother’s Day for the first time ever. They plan to take photos and videos to share with their friends and family in Ukraine “to show us taking part in a modern day United States celebration.”

With the help of an immigration attorney, the cousin of Kramer’s Russian-speaking neighbor, the two are currently applying for a green card and temporary protected status. The paperwork alone has cost Kramer more than $1,300 and the process will still take months.

Kramer launched a GoFundMe page for her guests (https://www.gofundme.com/f/ help-with-legal-fees-and-living-expenses), which has raised more than $10,000 for necessities. Neighbors have pitched in as well, bringing over dinner, donating supplies, even providing translation services. But they’re starting over from scratch, Kramer says. And soon, her son will return home from college – not to mention Pomazanova still has one more year left of school. She says that they are looking for a more permanent situation for the family.

But until then, after bearing witness to the capacity of one’s neighbor to commit violence, Kovalenko and Pomazanova remark on the kindness of strangers.

“I feel so grateful for this union with the whole world,” Kovalenko said. “The whole world is taking care of Ukraine.”

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Like the first night, the candidates appeared in pairs: Councilmember John Mirisch and Robin Rowe, Shiva Bagheri and Akshat “AB” Bhatia, and City Treasurer candidates Howard Fisher and Jake Manaster. 

Former Mayor Bob Tanenbaum, President of the Beverly Hills North Homeowners Association at the forum, defended his prosecutorial approach to his questioning of incumbent Councilmember Lester Friedman the night before, saying, “I wanted the public to view him and make their own decision whether or not he was being truthful.”

He acknowledged that his combative approach may have surprised observers. 

“It was a passionate exchange and most people are not used to that. So people may very well believe that I’m too passionately involved in the issues that I really care about and I’d probably plead guilty to that,” he said. 

City Council candidates met for the first of two nights for a forum hosted by the Beverly Hills North Homeowners Association and the Municipal League of Beverly Hills on April 27. Held in the City Council chambers, the forum was structured with two candidates taking the floor at a time. Councilmember Lester Friedman and Public Works Commissioner Sharona Nazarian appeared together first, followed by Vera Markowitz and Planning Commission Chair Andy Licht, and ending with Councilmember Robert Wunderlich and Darian Bojeaux.

The remaining City Council candidates and the candidates for City Treasurer answered questions on April 28, after press time. The Courier will update this story online following the forum.

Despite the two-person format, only Wunderlich and Bojeaux responded at length to one another, largely on the subject of mixed-use housing, while the other candidates effectively went one at a time.

The forum took on a combative tone early on, however, in the questions posed to Friedman by former Mayor Bob Tanenbaum, the head of the Beverly Hills North Homeowners Association and a former prosecutor. At one point Tanenbaum’s questions prompted the council member to compare them to a cross-examination. Some of the questions drew boos from the audience.

Tanenbaum grilled Friedman on flyers sent out by his campaign showing the council member in photos with the fire chief and police chief, which Tanenbaum said violated a state prohibition on officials in uniform from participating in political activity while in uniform. Friedman argued that the photos had been taken prior to his campaign and did not violate the Government Code as they were not originally intended for political use.

Friedman was also asked why he sought the endorsement of the Los Angeles County Democrats given the nonpartisan nature of Beverly Hills elections. Neither Friedman nor Licht, who also sought the endorsement, received the endorsement, which went instead to Nazarian and Wunderlich. However, Tanenbaum did not ask those candidates why they had sought the party’s seal of approval. 

Tanenbaum also followed up with Friedman on a question asked by the Courier that touched on the conduct of former Police Chief Sandra Spagnoli. During her four-year tenure, the city paid more than $7 million in judgments and settlements due to allegations of racial bias, antisemitism, and homophobia.

“The management of that process was based on legal and insurance decisions and carried out as expeditiously as possible,” Friedman previously said in response to the Courier.

Tanenbaum accused Friedman of defending Spagnoli and refusing to let the cases play out in court in front of a jury. Friedman explained that going to trial would risk putting the city on the line for large sums of money “way in excess of what the insurance coverage is.”  

The tone of the questioning drew criticism from city officials, including Councilmember John Mirisch and Vice Mayor Julian Gold.

“I would characterize last night as disgraceful and something which brings shame on our entire city,” Gold told the Courier. “We pride ourselves on our civility. To see one of our residents and a former mayor behave in such a despicable manner reflects very badly on this community.”

In contrast to the questions asked of Friedman, Nazarian was asked about her background and credentials, her charitable work as President of the Rotary Club, her general thoughts on the biggest issues facing the city, and her experience as an immigrant from Iran.

Councilmember John Mirisch said he felt uncomfortable watching the proceedings of the first night.

“It was meant to be a town hall where candidates were able to express their views and it turned into an inquisition,” he told the Courier.

Mirisch said that it is expected that all candidates must answer challenging questions.

“It was unnecessarily adversarial. It’s one thing to ask tough questions and to ask people to justify their records and to give their perspectives. But this felt like it went beyond that,” he said. 

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“For me, this actually exceeded my wildest dreams,” Bosse told the Courier. “It’s the first time after two very challenging years, that we as a community can finally come together again. We can smile together again, touch one another together and just celebrate each other and celebrate what we love the most about our community, which is that it feels like an extended family. Tonight felt that way. Tonight felt like coming home again.”

The relatively new eatery opened on Feb. 15 at 235 N. Canon Drive, occupying the two-story old Bouchon space at Beverly Canon Gardens, which closed in 2017. The restaurant comes from Tommy Salvatore, formerly the manager at Craig’s in West Hollywood, and the kitchen is helmed by Executive Chef Vartan Abgaryan. According to Salvatore, Tommy’s was “thrilled” to be the first participating business. 

“This is another outstanding event that Mayor Bosse is doing to bring the community together,” Beverly Hills Fire Department Chief Greg Barton told the Courier. “It really shows off what the city has, what the restaurants are, and what’s available.” 

“It was a wonderful community event,” Arts and Culture Commissioner Karla Gordy Bristol told the Courier.

“Just being able to look around and see faces that I used to see and meet new residents that have moved here over the last two years, and this is their first face-to-face experience with Beverly Hills,” Bosse told the Courier. “It’s a way to really showcase our incredible businesses and for the businesses to really experience what the Beverly Hills way is, which is an extended family. It’s welcoming, it’s loving, and you just felt this vibrancy and electricity tonight. So, the best is yet to come because this is the first, and it just feels magnetic.”

The next Business with Bossee events will be held on May 19 from 9 to 10:30 a.m. at Chaumont Bakery and on May 23 from noon to 1:30 p.m. at Alfred Coffee Beverly Hills. Special offering details are expected to be announced soon.

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The four victims were visiting Los Angeles for a birthday celebration and staying at an Airbnb rental property. They left a restaurant around 1:30 a.m. in the Beverly Grove area and told police they felt they were being followed.

They say they spotted a luxury SUV following them and didn’t go directly to their rental property. Instead, they drove until they said they lost the SUV following them, then returned to the Airbnb.

However, when the victims parked their car in the driveway and got out, they say they were robbed by three suspects armed with guns. The suspects stole the property they had on them in the driveway and proceeded to take the four men into the home at gunpoint.

The incident represents yet another data point in the trend of so-called follow-home or follow-off robberies targeting wealthy Angelenos. The Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD) reported a total of 221 follow-home robberies up to April 11. 

Law enforcement took notice of the trend in early 2021, noting that victims were regularly followed from locations frequented by high net worth-individuals, such as Melrose Avenue, the Jewelry District, and high-end restaurants and nightclubs. LAPD claimed that suspects targeted victims based on their jewelry or cars.

LAPD Captain John Tippet, the commanding officer of the Robbery-Homicide Division and head of the Follow Home Task Force, told the LAPD Board of Police Commissioners on April 12 that “this is a phenomenon that, prior to last year, was almost unheard of.”

“In the month[s] of September and October, we monitored a pattern of increased robberies that included multiple vehicles and multiple armed suspects working in a coordinated effort to rob victims of their high-end cars and or jewelry,” Tippet said. “In my 34 years in the LAPD, I had never seen this type of criminal behavior in such large groups coordinating to conduct attacks on unsuspecting citizens to take their property and/or vehicles.”

Following the formation of the task force in November, LAPD began making arrests. As of April 12, the task force had made four murder arrests, six attempted murder arrests, and 24 robbery arrests involving 47 robberies.

Tippet said the task force has identified 17 gangs involved in the surge of robberies, though he could not say how many incidents had connections to specific gangs.

Data presented by the task force showed a steep decline in follow-home robberies since its formation. During a four-week period from October to November, LAPD reported 45 incidents. That, compared to just 10 incidents during a four-week period in March, is a decline of 78%. 

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“Today marks the end of a tragic case that rocked our community. Because of a completely senseless act, Los Angeles lost Jacqueline Avant, a community leader and philanthropist. Her murder sent shockwaves through our community, prompting fear, concern and a tremendous sense of loss,” District Attorney George Gascón said in a statement. “Given the sentence today, Mr. Maynor will be ineligible for early parole, and will spend the rest of his life in prison.”

Gascón, whose office secured the guilty plea from Maynor, said the “conclusion of this case also prevents a painful and lengthy process of trial for the Avant family, a process that can be traumatizing.”

Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Kathryn Solorzano handed down a sentence on April 19 for three life terms in prison, saying Maynor will have to serve a minimum of 150 years. She added an additional 40 years for weapons violations. 

In issuing the punishment at the sentencing hearing, Solorzano described Maynor as a “serious danger to society” who had targeted a “completely vulnerable victim.”

Sitting in a wheelchair in court, Maynor appeared stoic as Solorazao passed judgment. 

Deputy District Attorney Victor Avila presented the court with audio recordings of two phone calls Maynor made from jail in which he laughed about the murder and bragged that he would not receive the death penalty or life without parole because of changes implemented by Gascón. 

“I’m gonna get out of jail,” Maynor said on the call, according to a prosecution sentencing memorandum. “I’ll probably do like 20…25, get out, you feel me?”

Avila detailed how Avant was shot in the back around 2 a.m. after confronting Maynor, who then fired “multiple shots” at a security guard as he escaped to a vehicle. Later that same morning, Maynor broke into a Hollywood Hills home. In the process of burglarizing the residence, he shot himself in the foot with the same AR-15 style rifle used to kill Avant. 

According to the memo, phone records indicated that Maynor had researched the Avants and their home address prior to the murder. Avant’s husband, Clarence, is a titanic figure in the music industry referred to as the “Godfather of Black Music.”

Avila read a statement in court on behalf of Avant’s daughter, former Ambassador and film producer Nicole Avant. “There are no words to describe the cruel and vicious acts of the defendant. We are shattered,” the statement read. “My mother devoted every cell of her body to help others. To have her life taken so brutally, is devastating.”

“The grief is immeasurable,” Nicole’s statement said. Marcus Huntley, an attorney representing Maynor, said at the hearing that Maynor had a turbulent childhood characterized by mistreatment in the foster care system.

“His upbringing is how we got to this situation,” Huntley said.

Gascón referred to the phone calls in a briefing following the hearing, saying that Maynor showed “little or no remorse” for the crime.

“In this case, Mr. Maynor made a series of jail calls that speak to no remorse and that are very disturbing in nature and also speaks in part to why the sentence today is appropriate given the circumstances,” he said.  

Maynor represented an indictment of the carceral system and how it “fails our communities,” Gascón said at a briefing following the sentencing.

“Right now, people go to prison and, in essence, they get a degree in crime. It’s no surprise that the outcomes make us less safe,” he said.

Maynor had been in and out of prison since the age of 12, Gascón said. As previously reported by the Courier, by the time he shot Avant on Dec. 1, Maynor had spent nearly 10 years in prison for two separate charges of second-degree robbery, with additional charges of domestic violence, grand theft, and inflicting great bodily injury.

Just months prior to December, Maynor was released on parole from his latest stint in prison for second degree robbery with enhancements for a prior felony.

“He was released with no reentry program and no path for success,” Gascón said. “This case highlights the futility of our system. We can punish Mr. Maynor, but never do other things that would perhaps have led to a different outcome.”

Chief Mark Stainbrook, who had previously expressed concern over the prosecution of Maynor under Gascón, said that he was satisfied with the resolution.

“We are content with the outcome of the criminal case against Aariel Maynor for the killing of Jacqueline Avant,” he said in a statement to the Courier. “Our hearts are with the Avant family as they continue to process this horrific tragedy.”

Avant’s murder and Mayor’s subsequent arrest came only days after Stainbrook’s appointment to the role of police chief. Stainbrook has received praise from city officials for his handling of the case.

The family of Avant made a recent and rare public appearance at the installation ceremony of Mayor Lili Bosse, including Nicole, Clarence Avant, and Nicole’s husband, Netflix co-CEO Ted Sarandos. Nicole joined Bosse on stage to swear in the mayor, a personal friend.  

The Avant-Serandos families issued a joint statement following the sentencing, which read:  

“The Avant-Sarandos Families are grateful to Beverly Hills Police Chief Mark Stainbrook and the Beverly Hills Police Department, Beverly Hills Fire Department and Paramedics, Los Angeles Police Department – Hollywood Division, Attorney Shawn Holley, Beverly Hills Mayor Lili Bosse, and Los Angeles Deputy District Attorney Victor Avila for their unwavering dedication to public service and for the swift justice of our beloved Jacqueline Avant.”

In a statement to the Courier following the sentencing, Bosse reiterated her sympathies for the family. She also  praised the Beverly Hills Police Department. 

“The Beverly Hills Police Department worked tirelessly to gather evidence, conduct a thorough investigation and bring this suspect to justice,” she said.

An outspoken proponent of the effort to recall Gascón, Bosse thanked the BHPD for its role in securing a guilty plea, avoiding “a trial in the troubling era of George Gascón.”

With City News Service 

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“I am very pleased to have received the endorsement of the Los Angeles County Democratic Party for my reelection to City Council, following an interview process in which we discussed my record of public votes on City Council, including my vote in favor of the recall of George Gascón, my priorities for Beverly Hills, and my upbringing which has shaped my perspectives,” Wunderlich said in a statement to the Courier.

While the City Council race is nonpartisan, the LACDP grants endorsements exclusively to party members following an interview with an eight-member panel. That panel then votes on recommendations that get sent to the entire party. In this case, Nazarian received the unanimous recommendation of all eight members and Wunderlich received recommendations from five.

But news of the enviable endorsement came as questions swirled around Nazarian’s stance on embattled Los Angeles District Attorney George Gascón.

As a part of their interview for the endorsement, each candidate answered the same series of questions, including a question on their position on the campaign to recall Gascón.

“What I said was, we need to work harder in our own community before we blame other elected officials, because we need action now,” Nazarian told the Courier – an account backed up by two of the LACDP members who took part in the interviews.

LACDP member and former Malibu mayor Lou LaMonte, who asked the question to each candidate, said he did not ask any follow-up questions.

“I asked the same question of everybody and whatever answer they gave was the answer they gave and then we went on to the next question,” LaMonte told the Courier.

While Nazarian says that she “took no position [on the recall] at the meeting,” at least one member of the panel took away something different.

In an email exchange between Licht Campaign Manager Crystal Litz and LACDP member Dorothy Reik, who participated in the interviews, Reik replied “yes” to whether Nazarian opposed the proposed recall. Screenshots of the emails subsequently made their way to members of the community.  

Nazarian described Reik’s statement as “inaccurate.”

Reik acknowledged to the Courier that Nazarian had not explicitly voiced opposition to the effort, but that she had interpreted her response as such. 

I didn’t vote for anybody who supported the recall,” she said.

LaMonte, who has served with Nazarian on the Los Angeles County Commission on Alcohol and Other Drugs for the last six years, said his vote in her favor was not contingent on her position on Gascón.

“She is one of the brightest people,” LaMonte said. “The one quality she had [on the Commission], and I know this and saw this 50 times, [is] how she was able to take competing points of view and put them together to try to find a way for consensus for everyone.”

When asked for her stance on the recall, Nazarian said that she has been “very clear from day one.”

“I want to hire more qualified police officers. I want to specialize in undercover units to address crime. We want to proactively deter criminal activity by using technology and we will put dedicated police substations at the new Metro stops.

“I’m just saying we need to be proactive instead of sitting around and waiting for something that may or may not happen,” she said.

Following her interview, confusion around Nazarian’s stance on the matter seemed to leave room for speculation and bad-faith actors.

Days before the party voted to endorse her, a fake Instagram account using Nazarian’s name and photo surfaced online. The account, Sharona4Gascon, included photos of Gascón with supportive captions like, “This man is a hero and doing wonderful things for the City of Beverly Hills and humanity!”

Nazarian strongly disavowed the account. After discovering it, she filed a police report with the Beverly Hills Police Department. Public Information Officer Sgt. Giovanni Trejo told the Courier that the department is “investigating the incident.”

The account has since disappeared from the site. Instagram did not respond to a request for comment.

In a blow to the civility of the race, political intrigue and speculation gave way to harassment and hate. Since the creation of the Instagram account, Nazarian says she has received online messages calling her “disgusting” and “a dirty Jew”–slurs reminiscent of the discrimination her family faced in Iran, she says.

“I want to unite all of our community, not just Persians, non-Persians, Jews, Gentiles. Everyone,” she said. “That’s why I’m running.” 

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The initiative has been months in the making, said Beverly Hills Police Department (BHPD) Chief Mark Stainbrook, who described the center as “the way of the future for policing.”

“Although we have a lot of good technology, and we’ve started introducing new technology, like drones and more automated license plate readers, the real question is how do we use this technology together in the most effective and integrated manner,” Stainbrook told the Council on April 13.

The city hopes the center will reduce the amount of time it takes officers to respond to calls, facilitate early intervention in criminal activity, and improve evidence and information gathering. Stainbrook said the department’s goal was to “reduce crime itself and the fear of crime.”

The city currently employs “three big technologies,” Stainbrook said, including Closed Circuit Television (CCTV) cameras, automated license plate readers (ALPRs), and drones. The Watch Center will centralize these technologies along with new initiatives like BHPD Alert, Live911, and a new intelligence unit.

The city launched its CCTV camera program more than 15 years ago with the aim of achieving “ubiquitous coverage” throughout the city. The city currently has more than 2,000 cameras, prompting Chief Information Officer David Schirmer to say in 2020 that the city was “leading the pack” in cameras per capita globally.

“Currently, the way we operate is when a crime happens, we go back and we review the video footage from where the crime happened, try to identify vehicles and suspects and put our case together and make arrests,” Stainbrook said. “But what we want to get to in the future is live monitoring of the cameras.”

According to the plan laid out by Stainbrook, the watch center will tap the city’s existing private security contractors, Covered 6 and Nastec International, to monitor the cameras. The $500,000 allotment budgets for two pairs of operators working two eight-hour shifts each day. Stainbrook said he expects to “go live” with the camera monitoring by the first full week of June.   

The second technological pillar, ALPRs, will help the city intercept people driving stolen cars or suspects with active warrants and prevent them from committing possible future crimes, according to Stainbrook.

“To get ahead of that, the more license plate readers we have that can tell us that a stolen car is entering the city or a car that’s already on a wanted list, the quicker we can respond and react to that vehicle in the city,” he said.

The department plans on adding the new ALPRs by the end of May, according to Stainbrook.

Lastly, the watch center would coordinate the city’s new drone program.

Currently, the department flies its drones four days a week for up to 10 hours a day. Stainbrook said that BHPD is training a dozen officers in the drones with the goal of moving up to 10 hours a day, seven days a week – a goal he hopes to reach by July.

The department hopes to use “drones as a first responder,” he said.

“When the drone as a first responder is not flying, our goal is to have officers that are trained to fly drones have them in their vehicles and be able to launch them at scenes when they need them,” said Stainbrook.

In response to privacy concerns raised by the Council over the drone program, Stainbrook said that the drones’ field of view could include backyards, for instance, but that drone operators “don’t focus in on backyards or anything unless there’s a call for service or there’s a reason to.”

The Real Time Watch Center would work in conjunction with the department’s other new initiative, BHPD Alert.

“When the Real Time Watch Center has information, we can push it back out to the community,” Stainbrook said.

Stainbrook elaborated on another new law enforcement initiative announced earlier by Mayor Lili Bosse, Live911, which would send emergency calls directly to nearby officers in the field. This would decrease response times by 30 seconds to two minutes, Stainbook estimated–a sizable chunk considering the department’s already fast response rate, Councilmember Dr. Julian Gold pointed out.

The program will not replace the current dispatch system. Stainbrook explained that officers would have the option whether or not to use it depending on their status.

“It’s a tool that that they can use when they need it and how they need it to be used,” Stainbrook said.

While Stainbrook did not provide a concrete timeline for launching Live911, he said that AT&T must first “provide connectivity and modem support.” After that, he said it would take four weeks to integrate the software.

The Watch Center will make use of a new intelligence unit, which will utilize a new crime analyst the department intends on hiring. The unit will use a “predictive, intelligence-driven model” for more proactive police work, according to the report.

“How we’re using our technology is really going to revolutionize the way we secure the city.

As Councilmember Robert Wunderlich pointed out, “two people couldn’t possibly monitor our 2000 cameras.” To that end, he suggested the city look into using artificial intelligence, which “would have the ability to monitor all of our cameras.”

The city currently uses an artificial intelligence program called BriefCam, which enables faster video review, facial recognition, multi-camera search, among other features. But the staff report acknowledges that BriefCam “may not be the best system for real time management, communication, and coordination for our combined technological resources.”

Councilmember John Mirisch touched on concerns about bias in artificial intelligence and facial recognition. Multiple studies over the last few years have made claims of racial and gender bias in facial recognition technology.

Nonetheless, Mirisch voiced support for the tools.  

“Obviously, I’m in favor of using AI. I’m also in favor of using facial recognition, as long as it is unbiased,” he said.

Mirisch said he didn’t understand why the technology could be construed as a violation of somebody’s rights, describing it as a modern version of the most wanted lists found in post offices.

The American Civil Liberties Union has stood up as an opponent to facial recognition, saying the technology “presents an unprecedented threat to our privacy and civil liberties.”

“It gives governments, companies, and individuals the power to spy on us wherever we go – tracking our faces at protests, political rallies, places of worship, and more,” the organization has said.

Mirisch added that, in addition to catching criminals, the city should look at programs aimed at preventing recidivism and addressing the root causes of criminality.

Stainbrook anticipated that artificial intelligence companies will “want to test their technology” at the Watch Center because of the unique level of surveillance technology.

“My guess is we’ll have plenty of opportunity to try different AI systems and see how they improve our technology,” he said.

Drones cannot use facial recognition in California, per a state law that prohibits its use in cameras held by officers until 2023.

The department will locate the Watch Center in the Emergency Operations Center (EOC), the current base of operations for coordinating responses to large-scale events.

While the initial price tag comes out to nearly $500,000, the department estimates additional costs of roughly $2.5 million the following fiscal year, with annual recurring costs of about $1.9 million.

“It’s a lot of money,” said Gold. “I do think that for the community, we just need to basically say, we’re putting our money where our mouths are in terms of the security of the city.”

Bosse, who said she has been meeting with Stainbrook for the last few months to discuss the initiatives, praised the department for its speed in implementing the changes.

“This is April, and that within two months, everything that we’re talking about will be up and running,” she said. “That’s really extraordinary.” 

The post Beverly Hills City Council Approves Real Time Watch Center appeared first on Beverly Hills Courier.

The festive atmosphere of the evening was juxtaposed by tacit and explicit acknowledgements of the trauma and trials of the last two years. 

“We’ve experienced the suffering and loss from a global pandemic,” said Bosse. “COVID has taken the lives of over 42 members of our own Beverly Hills community. We have witnessed theft and violence in our street, hate filled antisemitic flyers dropped on our doorsteps, and we have dealt with the trauma and loss of not being able to just be together when we needed each other.

“But tonight starts a new chapter in the story of Beverly Hills and we’re going to write it together.”

Bosse laid out a laundry list of new initiatives meant to kick off that new chapter. Please see companion piece for coverage.

Gold, the only medical doctor on the Council, also noted the hardship of the pandemic in his speech.

“We are the lucky ones,” Gold said. “There are many, far too many, who have not been so lucky. Let’s never forget them and keep those lost to COVID, and recently the despicable evil that’s happening in Ukraine, in our thoughts and in our prayers.”

The fact that the Council could share these words with a packed house at The Wallis represented a potential return to normal –”or, at least, the new normal,” Gold said with crossed fingers, “much of which we probably still have to define, but which will hopefully see COVID under control, law and order reestablished and peace restored here and everywhere.”

Customarily, incoming mayors select a member of the clergy to offer an invocation. In a move that highlighted the theme of unity, Bosse invited nine faith leaders from across the city to each give their own innovation. 

Highlights of the evening included musical performances by Beverly Hills resident and vocalist Kandace Lindsey, who sang the national anthem, and recording artist Ty Taylor, who performed two original numbers. Dancers with the Debbie Allen Dance Academy also took the stage during the night. And poet and author Cleo Wade read an original poem written for the occasion.

In a nod to one of the most tragic events in the city’s recent memory, Bosse’s oath of office was administered by Ambassador Nicole Avant, daughter of murdered philanthropist Jacqueline Avant and a personal friend of Bosse.

Clarence Avant, husband to Jaqueline and a titanic figure in the music industry, also attended the ceremony, along with Nicole’s husband, Netflix co-CEO Ted Sarandos.

Speaking about Nicole, Councilmember John Mirisch said, “The nightmare that she and her family had to endure was also a community tragedy and represents one of the worst moments in the history of Beverly Hills.”

Nicole shared with the audience that Bosse had repeated four words to her since the day of her mother’s death.

“Her four words that she has said to me every day since Dec. 1 are, ‘You have my word.’ And it was in emails, texts, phone calls – voicemails, when you couldn’t get through – and I just want to say thank you in front of everybody, because those four words carried me through to this moment, and I couldn’t be more proud to be your friend,” Nicole said.

Crime and security featured prominently in speeches throughout the night, with multiple council members blaming Los Angeles District Attorney George Gascón for the rise in certain types of crime.

“Despite the extraordinary efforts of our police, we have policies that were put in place by the District Attorney in Los Angeles County that place our safety at risk,” said now Councilmember Robert Wunderlich. “There must be consequences when people commit crimes. If people are arrested for crimes but are quickly released without regard to the threat posed to the public, only to be arrested again, the job of our officers becomes never ending.”

Bosse, who described herself as “one of the leaders in the effort to recall” Gascón, called for others to join her in ousting the prosecutor.

“Dangerous policies are resulting in more criminals on the streets, and if there are no consequences to crime, we live in chaos. We live in Gotham City. And I ask that you sign a petition and help get signatures,” she said.

Two canvassers with the Recall District Attorney George Gascón campaign stood outside The Wallis gathering signatures for the recall. One of them, Rachel Minkoff, the field manager for the westside, told the Courier that she and her partner had gathered dozens of signatures throughout the night.

In his outgoing address, Wunderlich ticked through a list of accomplishments from his year as mayor, declaring that the city was “emerging strong from the pandemic.”

“Our property values remain high and even increased. Retail sales are back to pre-pandemic levels. Our hotel occupancy is returning. Our streets are more vibrant than they were pre-pandemic,” Wunderlich said. “For our residents, we provided protection from the financial impacts of the pandemic and from challenges that exist unrelated to the pandemic.”

Wunderlich concluded, “We’ve done a lot and there’s more to do. I’m proud of what we’ve accomplished during my year as mayor and I’m confident of our path forward.”

West Hollywood City Councilmember Lindsey Horvath showed her support for the outgoing and incoming mayors, making the only public comment of the night. 

“To our outgoing Mayor, thank you very much for your leadership, for your dedication to the City of Beverly Hills and for being a great partner and an ally in serving our communities. You have served well and with respect and dignity and we thank you,” she said. “To our incoming mayor, Lili Bosse, your joy, your radiance, your grace, your light are exactly what we need in this moment, but especially your soul filled leadership. I know your community will celebrate your leadership this year, and in the years to come.”

Wunderlich’s colleagues on the Council also offered praise for his stewardship over the last year, with Bosse drawing appreciative laughter for her description of his humility. 

“I think you’re probably maybe the only person I know who went to Harvard and never tells anybody,” she said. “I can assure you, had I got into Harvard, you would know about it.”

Councilmember Lester Friedman, whose entire term as mayor took place remotely, shared how Wunderlich gave him the opportunity to preside over his only in-person City Council meeting–only to have the meetings return to a remote format for another year. 

“I was so touched by your willingness to share but then again, that is what you are: a compassionate individual that considers everyone,” Friedman said. “You were the right person to bring us through the initial stages of our recovery from the pandemic. Your analytic skills and positive approach have provided all of us on Council with a roadmap for recovery.”

The program, which lasted some
2.5 hours, was followed by an outdoor reception.  

The post Lili Bosse Installed as Beverly Hills Mayor appeared first on Beverly Hills Courier.

The case fractured a business relationship between Black and Barth that stretched back into the 1980s, when the two began investing in real estate together. They practiced an informal kind of commerce built on “handshake deals,” Judge Monica Bachner described in her tentative ruling. In one of their business ventures, “other than the initial formation documents, there were no written agreements, there was never a board of directors meeting, there were no corporate resolutions or minutes.”

The two would speak face-to-face multiple times a day, Bachner wrote.

“Until the fall of 2019, Barth and Black had offices in the same suite, separated by about 20 feet with a shared wall.”

Then, in 2017, Barth arranged the purchase of a handsome 11,000-square-foot Cape Cod home at 840 Greenway Drive through LLCs that he managed and in which Black was a minority stakeholder. The companies paid $17.1 million for the mansion.

The Greenway home soon attracted a tenant, Eric Baker, who leased the property until 2018, when he made an offer to purchase it for $21 million. Barth, acting as the agent for the LLCs, countered with $25 million, which Baker accepted. This would have generated millions in profit for Barth and his business partners, including Black.

But according to court documents, before the sale to Baker, Barth surreptitiously sold the house to himself from the LLCs for $16.9 million, a loss of $100,000. The proceeds of the $25 million transaction, then, went to himself.

“Barth violated his fiduciary duty of loyalty by engaging in self-dealing transactions, misappropriating the LLCs’ Greenway property at far less than its actual value, and then seizing for his own personal gain over $6 million in profits that the LLCs would have obtained from their pending sale agreement with Baker,” Bachner wrote.

The ruling, if made final, would award Black and the other investors $6,692,740 in compensatory damages for the lost profits on the sale of the house and $6,692,740 in punitive damages.

Howard King, an attorney for Black, praised the tentative ruling.  

“Following nine trial days of Barth’s attempts to obscure the truth, we are gratified the Judge saw this for what is was, a theft by a fiduciary of his investors’ funds,” he told the Courier. “The unusual award of more than $6 million in punitive damages is confirmation of the outrageousness of Barth’s behavior.”

Robert Klieger, an attorney for Barth, described his client as “disappointed” by the tentative ruling and reiterated his defense that “Mr. Barth intended to purchase the Greenway house as his personal residence from the start.”

Barth only sold the house “[b]ecause the renter’s offer to purchase far exceeded the price Mr. Barth had agreed to pay for Greenway,” Klieger said.

This argument relies on a timeline of events that the court ultimately rejected, finding that Barth had purchased the property only after Baker had agreed to the $25 million price tag, suggesting he had planned to sell the property all along.

Klieger further claimed that Black’s daughter and grandson were the driving force behind the lawsuit, not Black himself.   

“Medical records that plaintiffs withheld until just before trial revealed that Mr. Black was already suffering from pronounced dementia at the time of the filing and was almost certainly incapable of directing this lawsuit,” he said. “The Greenway transaction was consistent with numerous transactions that Mr. Barth and Mr. Black have undertaken for the benefit of their investors, and, had Mr. Black been competent to testify, we are confident that he would have been the first to speak out in Mr. Barth’s defense.”

As the case draws closer to a final judgement, Barth and Black will return to court on April 17 in a case involving allegations that Barth stole nearly $2 million from accounts held jointly by himself and Black. The judge in that case is expected to schedule a trial date to take place within the next couple of months.

Before then, Klieger says that he plans to file objections to the tentative ruling on April 5, a step necessary for appealing the filing decision.

“Assuming the tentative order is adopted as is, Mr. Barth does intend to appeal the ruling and is confident that the ruling will be reversed and that his position will be vindicated on appeal,” he said. 

The post Judge Issues Tentative Ruling in Beverly Hills Business Partner Feud appeared first on Beverly Hills Courier.

The Warner Estate, named for its first and principal occupant, Warner Bros. co-founder and film impresario Jack L. Warner, currently consists of a two-story residence, a two-story guest house, a two story gym and staff house, a pool house, a swimming pool and a tennis court. The recently approved permits allow for construction of a new pool house, a retaining wall, and the conversion of a crawl space to a powder room.

“I was absolutely astonished by the beauty of this project and the property, and I know it will be maintained in a fashion that it deserves to be maintained,” said Commissioner Peter Ostroff .

Warner first developed the property at 1801 Angelo Drive in 1927. Nearly 10 years later, his second wife Ann Page tore down the original Spanish Colonial Revival manse Warner had built and commissioned a twostory Neoclassical structure with elements of Regency Revival Style from Beverly Hills Master Architect Roland E. Coate, Sr., who also designed All Saints Episcopal Church on Camden Drive.

The massive 9.7-acre property sits along the western border of the city on the north side of Angelo Drive, west of Benedict Canyon Drive. Warner started with just 3 acres in 1927, piecing together surrounding land over the years–a trend seemingly continued by Bezos, who purchased an adjacent property in July 2021 for $10 million.

Warner died in 1978 and Ann continued to live there until her own death in 1990. That same year, music mogul David Geffen purchased the home for $47.5 million, a record at the time, and then embarked on an extensive series of renovations and major alterations to the estate. Bezos, the latest power player to call 1801 Angelo home, shelled over a whopping $165 million to Geffen in 2020, setting a watermark for highest real estate transaction in California at the time.

The property has come before the Planning Commission for permits twice before in 1995 and 2014 seeking to go beyond the 15,000 square feet allowed by-right in the city. It currently has a floor area of nearly 29,000 square feet. A 1985 survey identified the Warner Estate as a potential historic resource, subjecting it to protections by the state for the purpose of preserving historic buildings.

The permits mark the first proposed changes to the property since Bezos moved in.  

Despite the large-scale changes made by Geffin, a report on the property determined that it “retains sufficient integrity to convey its historic association with Jack L. Warner, and the main residence retains sufficient integrity to convey its historic Neoclassical style architecture deigned by master architect Roland E. Coate.”

In his book “The Legendary Estates of Beverly Hills,” real estate agent Jeff Hyland opined about the residence, “No studio czar’s residence, before or since, has ever surpassed in size, grandeur, or sheer glamour the Jack Warner Estate on Angelo Drive in Benedict Canyon.”

The commission declined to allow construction parking along Angelo Drive, citing the ample space for parking on the property itself.

The commission next voted to recommend the City Council adopt the Safety Element, a state-mandated document that lays out plans and goals to keep the city and its residents safe in case of disaster. The Safety Element is a chapter of the city’s General Plan and is updated following updates to the city’s Housing Element. The city’s current Safety Element was adopted in 2010.

“As required by state law, this document has been updated to include information on topics such as climate change and hazards such as urban fires, floods and landslides,” said Associate City Planner Chloe Chen.

The Safety Element will next appear before the City Council for adoption at a later date. 

The post Warner Estate Gets First Touch-Ups by Bezos appeared first on Beverly Hills Courier.

Around 2 p.m. on March 31, BHPD responded to calls of a grand theft at Louis Vuitton. Vice Mayor Lili Bosse posted on the social media site Twitter 20 minutes later that two suspects had been arrested.

“Two suspects are arrested for grand theft at Louis Vuitton on N Rodeo. Thank you [Beverly Hills Police Department],” she wrote.

Representatives for the department did not immediately respond to multiple requests for comment.

Just a few days earlier, Louis Vuitton’s neighbor, Fendi, experienced a robbery.

On March 28, five men made away with merchandise from the luxury fashion store, according to  Public Information Officer Lt. Giovanni Trejo. They fled the store on foot, assaulting a security guard who made an effort to stop the suspects, and then escaped in a getaway car.

The guard sustained minor injuries and is doing well, another security guard at Fendi told the Courier.

Detectives and officers with the BHPD identified the license plate of the vehicle. The next day, BHPD officers assisted by the California Highway Patrol (CHP) located and attempted to pull the car over, leading to a short vehicle pursuit.

Once the car chase ended in the Windsor Hills area, the five suspects in the car fled on foot. BHPD detectives immediately caught four of them, with the fifth suspect climbing onto the roof of a nearby home. In a joint effort with CHP and the Los Angeles Sheriffs Department, BHPD personnel convinced the suspect to surrender.

Police recovered all of the stolen Fendi merchandise, along with a loaded handgun.

Police identified all five suspects as residents of San Francisco. BHPD arrested and charged the following individuals for the robbery: Kelvin Burton, 27, Rodney Dewayne Moultrie Jr., 21, Dewan Lewis, 20, Juandell Carnelius Joseph, 33, and Antonio Lewis, 33. Moultrie Jr. faces an additional charge of possession of a loaded firearm.

“At this time, we do not believe these suspects are responsible for any other similar incidents in Beverly Hills,” Trejo said.

Then, the department announced an arrest for the Feb. 25 attempted robbery of a Ferrari driver. Video of the incident that circulated online showed two men punch and then strike another man with a handgun in an effort to steal his watch. One suspect fled on foot while the other left in a white SUV.

Detectives with the BHPD identified one of the suspects as Kavian Sims-Petty of Victorville. On March 9, in conjunction with the Los Angeles Police Department, BHPD conducted a search that resulted in Sims-Petty’s arrest for an unrelated homicide in Los Angeles.

The Los Angeles District Attorney’s office charged Sims-Petty with attempted robbery and assault with a firearm on March 10. He also faces charges for the Los Angeles homicide.    

“The BHPD is continuing the investigation for other individuals, including the second suspect seen on multiple videos, attacking the victim,” Trejo said in a press release.

Police urged anyone with information about any of these crimes to call BHPD at 310-285-2125. Anonymous reports can be made by text to TIP BEVHILLSPD followed by the tip information to 888777. The public can also call Crime Stoppers at 800-222-8477. To access Crime Stoppers, download the “P3 Tips” mobile app or use the website http://www.lacrimestoppers.org. 

Police Make Major Arrests appeared first on Beverly Hills Courier.

The June 7 election will see 11 candidates compete for three open City Council seats. Given that large number, the BHCC hosted two panels for the City Council forum, with six candidates participating in the first and three following them. Two City Council candidates, Darian Bojeaux and Akshat “AB” Bhatia did not participate.

Public safety took precedence in the City Council portion of the forum, with the three incumbents defending the Council’s record of responding to the increase in crime and the challengers attempting to lay out an alternative to that record.  

Candidates all agreed on the need to attract new officers to address staffing shortages in the Beverly Hills Police Department (BHPD). The candidates also found common ground in their support of the effort to recall District Attorney George Gascón, whose policies they blame for exacerbating crime in the city. 

While challengers spoke about the need to improve public safety, incumbents tried to contextualize crime trends and offer strident defenses of the city’s response.

“The increase in crime in Beverly Hills is not solely a Beverly Hills problem,” Mayor Robert Wunderlich said. “It’s a national problem. It’s a regional problem. Beverly Hills actually is vastly safer than our surrounding neighborhoods, both in terms of crime and in terms of homelessness. But I understand that safer is not enough.”

“As I hear some suggestions that are being put forward, I’m not hearing anything that we’re not already doing,” Wunderlich said. “Over the course of my five years on City Council, we increased the police budget by 40%.”

Wunderlich highlighted other safety measures the Council has supported or implemented, including adding more CCTV cameras and automatic license plate readers, hiring private armed security firms, rolling out a police drone program, and passing ordinances aimed at curtailing harassment related to public demonstrations.  

Councilmember Lester Friedman added that the Council had also supported the city’s Fire Department, increasing and upgrading equipment and launching the nurse practitioner program. 

To address recruitment issues, Planning Commission Chair Andy Licht suggested making working conditions more appealing to prospective candidates by reducing working hours. 

Councilmember John Mirisch suggested that BHPD could use technology as a force multiplier, using artificial intelligence to monitor the city’s many CCTV camera feeds. He reiterated a recent suggestion of his to purchase more mobile command centers. 

“If there are issues, whether it be protests or a rash of crimes, we can deploy mobile command systems wherever we need to strategically and that can be a base for more foot patrols,” he said.

The forum discussion also repeatedly touched on the southeast of the city, which sitting Councilmember John Mirisch described as the “the ugly stepchild” of Beverly Hills in comparison to the ritzy Business Triangle. All candidates agreed on the importance of attracting and retaining businesses in the area.

Public Works Commissioner Sharona Nazarian accused the Council of neglecting the southeast. 

“There are certain areas in our business district that are kind of falling apart. You walk on South Beverly, and you look at the sidewalks and they’re really decrepit,” she said. “It’s not becoming of our city.”

Planning Commission Chair Andy Licht emphasized that the city itself can only encourage certain forms of development.

“We aren’t developers as a city, we’re only here to provide [the] opportunity to make it easier for developers to do and encourage them [to do] what we want them to do,” he said. 

Mirisch, who is running for his fourth term, said that the city had failed to revitalize the southeast despite years of lip service. He suggested forming a Business Improvement District, an area in which businesses pay an additional tax to fund projects that serve local businesses and encourage commercial activity. 

Councilmember Lester Friedman defended the Council’s efforts in the southeast, saying he had recently moved his business to Southeast Beverly Hills. “Could it be improved? Yes, it could be improved,” he said. “I just don’t see it as a decrepit area. I see it as an opportunity.”

Forum moderator David Mirharooni asked the candidates about the minimal impact of the 2020 Mixed-Use Ordinance, which allowed residential development in large commercial swaths of the city. Since its passage, the city has seen no mixed-use projects, with just two developers expressing an intention to file projects with the city. 

All candidates other than Mirisch expressed some form of support for the concept of mixed-use in the city, with Friedman, Licht, and Wunderlich saying that the ordinance needed to be reviewed and possibly revamped. 

While Vera Markowitz said she was “very much a proponent” of mixed use, she felt that the Council had passed the ordinance without sufficient transparency.

“If you go down any street here, no one knows what’s going on. We need to have better communication with our residents and our residents need to know what’s going on and mixed use is one of the big things,” she said.

Mirisch, the lone dissenting vote against the Mixed-Use Ordinance, reiterated his opposition to “upzoning.”

“We’re not Manhattan, we’re not Paris, we’re Beverly Hills, and we need to be the best version of Beverly Hills that we can be,” he said.

The second panel saw a smaller crowd than the first. Sitting beside right wing-activist and dance instructor Shiva Bagheri and businessman Kevin Kugly, technologist and financial planner Robin Rowe acknowledged the elephant in the room.

“I’m sitting at the table of the people who are not supposed to win,” he said. But much like his prior run for City Council in 2020, he said his goal was to give residents an option outside of the mainstream. 

“I gave people a chance to vote for a candidate who was different,” he said. 

The post Chamber of Commerce Hosts First Candidate Forum appeared first on Beverly Hills Courier.

Trejo thanked the City Council for its support, but cautioned that candidates have a “long, hard road ahead of them.”

“These are folks who started the process many many months ago. It takes a lot of time. And it really depends on each individual, their background, on the information that needs to be vetted,” he said. “We’re also very very picky as to who we hire for the City of Beverly Hills.”

“Statistically, only a small percentage of those numbers will make it through the entire selection process, which includes the academy and the field training,” Trejo told the commission.

Processing each application takes a significant amount of time and energy, Trejo explained, especially for 16 candidates, which he described as a “very large number.”

“We have two in-house background investigators and they have to process every one of those candidates,” he said. “The challenge is, depending on each applicant’s background, it may be a very busy and exhaustive background investigation. I’ve seen some of these investigators travel across the nation just to do a background on one person.”

He added that the department hopes to streamline the process. In response to questions from the Courier, Trejo said that the department “is outsourcing background investigations to assist with the workload created by screening new candidates.”

The department is also looking at creative ways of attracting potential candidates. Traditionally, BHPD has taken out ads in magazines and promoted itself at job fairs. But Trejo described BHPD’s new hiring strategy as “non-traditional,” going to fitness fairs and NFL games. The department has even contacted the NBA to place a booth outside of basketball games, he said.

“I have a feeling that these efforts are going to quadruple pretty soon, the numbers will be coming in soon,” said Trejo.

Mayor Robert Wunderlich also provided an update on the hiring spree at the Next Beverly Hills Committee City Council Liaison meeting.

“We have intensified our efforts at police recruiting and that is paying off,” he told the committee. “An additional six officers are going to be joining our force in the next week or so, three coming out of the academy and three laterals and we will be continuing to intensify our efforts at recruitments so we can increase our force.”

The hiring push comes on the heels of a spike of violent crime over the last two years. While the city has supplemented its police force with millions of dollars in private armed security, it has struggled to attract new talent.

Beverly Hills is not alone in facing recruitment troubles. The Los Angeles Police Department strives to train 60 cadets per class at the Police Academy. The last four classes have had 40 or fewer recruits, with only around 30 recruits in the most recent class, department officials recently informed the Los Angeles Police Commission.

BHPD Chief Mark Stainbrook publicly addressed the officer shortage shortly after coming to Beverly Hills. When he first joined the department in December, BHPD was down by 20 officers–a number that rose to 15 shortly thereafter. At a town hall meeting that same month, Stainbrook attributed this deficit to natural employment cycles.

“When I first came on [as an officer], a lot of Vietnam veterans had become police officers and they were retiring in the 90s,” he said. “We’re in another 25-year cycle where you have so many retirements right now that we just have a lot less officers.”

Trejo told the Courier that the deficit remains around 15 officers. “It is very challenging to keep up with attrition,” he said. “One factor affecting these numbers is the fact many employees do not successfully complete training after they graduate from the academy and are sworn in.”

Stainbrook provided an explanation for the hiring difficulty in a meeting with the Beverly Hills Chamber of Commerce. “Policing isn’t the most popular profession right now, as you can imagine, so just the numbers of people that apply to be police officers has been dramatically reduced,” he told the Chamber. 

The post BHPD’s Recruitment Campaign Shows Early Results appeared first on Beverly Hills Courier.

“At best, I have found our current process, systems and information we are receiving regarding the state of our construction program to be opaque,” Board member Gabriel Halimi, who was absent for the meeting but explained his vote in a detailed letter, wrote. “Just over the last few months, we’ve found ourselves surprised, confused and frustrated. And given the fact that we’re over budget and delayed in delivery, there are questions that need clear answers.”

In 2008, Beverly Hills voters passed Measure E, allowing BHUSD to issue $334 million in bonds. Another bond measure, Measure BH, passed in 2018, authorizing the district to issue another $385 million in bonds. Together, the bonds provide funding for modernization, seismic retrofits, new buildings, and improved security.

But since 2008 and 2018, many of the improvements promised by Measures E and BH have failed to materialize on time or on budget, with certain projects scrapped from the plans altogether. In an October study session, Blake reported to the board that the program was short by $129 million, though TCDS recently put out a revised figure of $89 million.

The delays and cost overruns have led to frustration among Beverly Hills taxpayers, especially those whose children attend BHUSD schools.

“During the entire elementary tenure of my children, they lacked clean bathrooms, adequate classrooms, a presentable cafeteria, and they didn’t benefit from the safe playgrounds or even an auditorium to graduate in,” said one parent, Daphna Hollander, in a public comment. “We put our trust in these board members and others, and unfortunately, we feel let down and lied to. My daughter is now in high school.”

Frustration among trustees has also grown since TCDS came on board in 2017, with members complaining about a lack of transparency on the part of Blake and TCDS.

“From the time that I’ve been on this board, and prior to that, sitting on the [Citizens’ Bond Oversight Committee], I do believe that we have an issue with transparency and accountability when it comes to our bond construction program,” said Board President Mary Wells.

Over the course of TCDS’s tenure, Wells said that it has been “very difficult” to receive information from the bond manager “so that I can have the sufficient amount of information that I need as a board member to make an informed decision.”

Trustee Rachelle Marcus expressed concerns over TCDS’s monthly payroll costs, which she said, “amounted to $268,000 for the month of February.” At that level, the firm would bill the district more than $3.2 million for a year of work.

“I find that amount unbelievable,” Marcus said.

Marcus and others also raised concerns about the process through which TCDS received its contract with the district, saying that the five-year contract had not gone through the typical request process.

“Five years ago,” Marcus said, “there was no [Request for Proposals (RFP)] at that time. The agreement was negotiated with no competing bids.”

Board Vice President Noah Margo pushed back on this, saying that a request had been made in 2016. However, Margo acknowledged in follow-up questions from the Courier that TCDS had not submitted a proposal in 2016. Furthermore, the request put out in 2016 was for construction management services, not bond management services, which TCDS provides.

The school board already voted on Feb. 1 to put out a request for a new bond manager, with the TCDS contract due to expire on July 17. The vote on March 22 approved the language and specifics of that request. Both votes split along the same lines, with Margo casting the lone dissenting votes.

The request gives interested parties until May 23 to submit a proposal. It calls for submissions from firms with “extensive experience in construction of public-school facilities in California,” along with other relevant qualifications. It does not state when the board will make a final selection. 

While TCDS is not barred from submitting a proposal of its own, Blake must first renew his contractor’s license to quality. 

Halimi called for a restructuring of the relationship between the board and the bond manager, whoever that may end up being. As currently structured, the bond manager reports directly to the Board of Trustees, which is charged with interpreting the reports and holding the bond manager accountable. But Halimi, addressing his colleagues in the letter, acknowledged his own limitations in performing that task.

“I, like all of you, am a part time volunteer and not a professional, full time board member. The onus is not and should not be on us as board members to be experts in construction management, forensic accounting, our property inspection and know exactly what reports to request and data to see and then chase the information we’re not getting,” he wrote.

The reports should instead pass through intermediaries with the right backgrounds and expertise to interpret and explain the data to both the board and the public, he said.

Margo, the only current trustee on the board when Blake took over as bond manager in 2017, made an impassioned defense of the bond program and Blake at odds with the rest of the board. Margo described the program as “unparalleled and recognized by every governing state agency involved in our projects.”

“They are a World Series Super Bowl championship team that we are on the verge of getting rid of,” he said.

An audit of the district’s bond management program covering fiscal year 2019-2020 praised BHUSD and TCDS as consisting “of highly experienced development professionals with a strong track record of successful completed projects.” 

Margo said that architects, constructions firms, and contractors working on the construction projects have all applauded “the success of the program.” Even members of the board had extended kind words to Blake as recently as December, with then-President Rachelle Marcus saying she “continued to be amazed at the complications and the unbelievable amount of work and the fact that it’s proceeding is amazing.”

“The decision that is about to be made by this governing body is perhaps the most dangerous and impactful decision I’ve ever been a part of,” Margo said, a mistake he attributed to a changing “narrative combined with a lack of understanding.”

Many of the arguments put forward by Margo were echoed by a Change.org petition circulating just before the vote. Though it only attracted a few dozen signatures, the petition, authored by Deena Wachtel, characterized the vote as “bear[ing] the hallmarks of a false flag initiative” and landed in the inbox of each member of the Board of Trustees. It was shared on social media by Laura Margo, the wife of Noah Margo and a commissioner on the Human Relations Commission.

“Have you decided they are just too expensive?” the petition asks. “Have you made any effort to discuss your concerns with TCDS?  Going through an RFP and award process will definitively drive up costs and possibly durations for the construction efforts, so presumably cost is not your primary concern.”

Former board Vice President Tristen Walker-Shuman, who signed the petition, compared the cost overruns to gas prices.

“Let’s say you owned a business that relies heavily on driving and you allow for $4.50 per gallon for gas and all the sudden the price per gallon goes up to $6,” Walker-Shuman wrote. “Does that mean that you have planned poorly and are over budget? No, it means the price of the commodity has changed so you need to make adjustments like passing the price onto the consumer.”

Walker-Shuman also pointed out to the recent competition of the Beverly Hills High School buildings B1 and B2, which came in on time and under budget as proof of the success of TCDS.

“Trying to say that this means you’re over budget or have poorly planned or mismanaged is absolute gaslighting,” wrote Walker-Shuman, who resigned from the board in September following allegations that she misrepresented her residency status. “This push to replace TCDS and put out for an RFP is nothing more than propaganda.”

In his letter, Halimi acknowledged some of the unforeseen challenges faced by TCDS in executing the bond measures, namely “previously unknown oil well issues, COVID-19, inflation escalations, and the fact that we’re in the worst supply chain crisis of our lifetime.”

But Halimi, like other board members, could not accept these explanations at face value without clear data to back them up.

“In theory, we could have the best managed bond and construction program in the country, but [with] the data I have today, I haven’t been able to come to any conclusions,” he said. “But now, with the imminent expiration of the five-year TCDS contract, we have the opportunity to course correct and I believe we must take it.” 

The post BHUSD Board Takes Step to “Course Correct” Bond Program appeared first on Beverly Hills Courier.

The suspects exited a vehicle near Luxury Jewels of Beverly Hills on the 200 block of South Beverly, their identities obscured by masks and hoodies. In the span of seconds, they proceeded to break the store’s window and snatch what they could from the front display. They fled on foot, abandoning the car they arrived in, which police later determined to be stolen, before entering a second car.

Beverly Hills Police Department (BHPD) Chief Mark Stainbrook acknowledged “community frustration regarding the crime” in its aftermath and said he would make himself available to “discuss with any person or group the reality of the current regional crime situation.”

Stainbrook declined a request for an interview, citing availability issues.  

Police immediately added a camera trailer, extra security patrols, and an “extra special watch from officers” to South Beverly hours after the incident.

BHPD Public Information Officer Lt. Giovani Trejo confirmed to the Courier that one of the suspects had dropped a cellphone, though he could not provide an identity of its owner. As of press time, Trejo had no updates but said the department had “promising leads.”

Wesley Aframian, a jeweler next door at Jewelerette & Co., heard loud banging when he looked outside to investigate. Seeing the burglary in progress and fearing his store could be next, he confronted one of the assailants as he ran by, pushing him into the street. The suspect dropped a few watches, which Aframian returned to the store.

“The City of Beverly Hills has done so much to try to improve security. They can still go a step further, especially on South Beverly Drive,” Aframian told the Courier.

In the immediate aftermath of the burglary, with chunks of tempered glass littering the sidewalk in front of the store, the Courier observed BHPD officers combing through the scene for clues. Store personnel soon brought out a broom and dustpan, while someone else sifted through the glass for jewelry that slipped past the burglars.

News of the burglary, propelled by cellphone video filmed by bystanders, spread rapidly online, eliciting sharp condemnation from officials. A video of the crime obtained by the Courier and shared on Twitter received nearly 100,000 views as of press time.

“This HAS to STOP!!! A Smash and Grab in broad daylight on south Beverly Drive! There MUST be consequences to crime!!! We MUST RECALL DA George Gascón!!!” Vice Mayor Lili Bosse posted on social media.

Mayor Robert Wunderlich and City Council candidate Andy Licht, who currently serves as the chair of the Planning Commission, also alluded to the ongoing effort to recall District Attorney George Gascón in their own responses.

“We have been and are continuing to add resources to counter the unacceptable regional crime situation, as we also pursue political solutions,” Wunderlich wrote on Facebook. Licht called for “more police patrolling our streets” and to recall Gascón.   

As of press time, there is no evidence linking any of Gascón’s policies to this specific crime. The County of Los Angeles has seen a rise in certain types of violent crime since his election in November 2020, homicides in particular. Crime has also risen nationally since the pandemic.

Councilmember John Mirisch took to Facebook to propose expanding the number of Mobile Command Centers owned by the city. The large, all-black vehicles look like futuristic Winnebagos and allow law enforcement to “manage public safety from anywhere in the city,” Mirisch wrote. The city currently owns one.

“In light of the unique public safety challenges facing us, I’m proposing purchasing one or two more mobile command units, and have requested that the item be discussed at the next working City Council meeting,” he said.

“The new Mobile Command Centers would offer us flexibility and could serve as movable substations; they could be strategically deployed across the City as needed to deter crime and to stop crime in progress. Looking forward to this discussion as a matter of urgency and looking forward to hearing from our Chief how these units could help reduce crime.”

Beverly Hills saw similar but unsuccessful attempts at smash-and-grab burglaries in the winter targeting Louis Vuitton and Saks Fifth Avenue stores. On Nov. 21, suspects using a sledgehammer failed to break through the stores’ bullet-proof glass and fled the city empty handed. Other incidents around the same time proved more fruitful, with mass burglaries targeting The Grove and stores in the Bay Area.

Asked whether BHPD suspected connections to any other incidents, Trejo told the Courier, “Nothing is ruled out, to be honest, and everything is on the table.” 

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Breaking: Wesley Aframian, a jeweler next door to Luxury Jewels of Beverly Hills, fights off “smash-and-grab” burglars as they make off with jewelry. He says he was able to recover some watches in the process.

Courtesy of Ashley Aframian. pic.twitter.com/UYbFxkUv8I

— The Beverly Hills Courier (@BHCourier) March 22, 2022

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The hearing began with an expression of solidarity with Ukraine as it continues to undergo a full-scale invasion by Russian forces. Mayor Robert Wunderlich, for whom this will be his first and last in-person hearing as Mayor, announced that the city would place banners in Ukrainian blue and yellow on the bridge that stretches across Rexford Drive to the east of City Hall.

City Attorney Lawrence Wiener updated the Council on the resolution passed on March 1 that instructed staff to research and identify possible Russian individuals and assets for potential sanctions. After a review of property records, contracts, and business licenses, the city had not found any sanctioned entities, but Weiner said that the city would continue to review records and would report back with any news.  

The Council heard an update on the city’s general plan, a comprehensive framework for how the city will grow and develop its land. California requires that local governments submit an annual update on general plan progress.

As part of that review, the Council also looked at the status of its housing element, a comprehensive plan for how the city will accommodate growth over an eight year period that is included in the general plan. California just completed its last Housing Element cycle, which ran from 2014 to 2021, and began the most recent cycle in October 2021.

“We have a public hearing, so the public has the ability to see transparently what the city has accomplished and how they’re meeting their goals that are outlined in the general plan and housing element,” said City Planner Timothea Tway.

As part of the Housing Element, Sacramento tells cities how many housing units it needs to zone to keep pace with population trends. This number, the Regional Housing Needs Assessment (RHNA), has become a source of controversy, with local governments accusing the state of saddling them with an unreasonable zoning burden.

Among the state’s chief critics is Beverly Hills, which has a RHNA allocation of more than 3,000 units – an “unattainable” expectation, according to Councilmember Lester Friedman. For comparison, in the last housing element cycle, the city only had to zone for three units. Last year, the city saw the addition of only 17 units to the housing pool, all in the form of accessory dwelling units.

“We are being set up to fail,” said Councilmember John Mirisch.

Sacramento declined to certify the city’s housing element for this cycle, writing that “additional revisions are necessary to fully comply with State Housing Element Law.” Tway told the Council that she knows of only two jurisdictions that had their housing elements approved.

City staff will have a new revised draft complete within the next few months, said Tway. 

The Council then turned to the historic status of 1001 North Roxbury Drive; a nearly 10,000-square-foot home located north of Santa Monica whose owner has asked the city to declare in writing that the property does not qualify as a local landmark. While the city initially granted the homeowner a certificate of ineligibility, Mirisch called the decision up for review.

“Quite frankly, when I saw this was issued a certificate of ineligibility, I thought why do we even have a Historic Preservation Ordinance,” Mirisch said. “Experts are sometimes wrong.”

The property was built in 1942 for Mildred Naylor by Beverly Hills master architect Carleton Burgess in the Regency Revival style. While the property retains its original core features and feeling, Director of Community Development Ryan Gohlich, who issued the certificate, found that it did not “satisfy the definition of an ‘exceptional work’ by the Master Architect…as it was not the subject of any publications or architectural awards discussing or honoring the property for its design and merit.”

A certificate of ineligibility prevents the Cultural Heritage Commission or the City Council from designating a property as a landmark for seven years. This provides homeowners a level of reassurance to move ahead with changes to the property that would be barred were it deemed historic.

To receive a certificate of ineligibility, a property owner must submit a report by a historic consultant representing that the property fails to satisfy the criteria for landmark status set out in the Historic Preservation Ordinance. That report goes through a peer review process by the city’s own historic consultant.

The results of that peer review get circulated to the Cultural Heritage Commission before Gohlich makes a final determination. The City Council can call up the decision within a 30-day period.

“The staff memorandum, the applicant’s consultant’s assessment, and the peer review by the City’s consultant all concluded that the residence on North Roxbury Drive did not meet the criteria for local historic designation,” according to a report compiled by staff.

But in an eleventh hour-move, Cultural Heritage Commissioner Jill Collins presented the Council with two magazine articles written about the property. The discovery of the articles, she said, showed that the property might qualify as an exceptional work, as defined by the Historical Preservation Ordinance.

Cultural Heritage Commission Chair Craig Corman also addressed the Council, stressing that staff’s finding of ineligibility hinged on the lack of publications. “That was the sole basis on which staff issued a Certificate of Ineligibility and we now understand, having done some additional research over the last 48 hours, that was incorrect,” he said.

But Gohlich explained that the municipal code specifies publications “by people who have expertise in the field of architecture” and defended his determination, saying that the publications found by Collins were “somewhat obscure” upon first glance.

He went on to acknowledge that he did not have the publications brought by Collins at the time of his review. If he had determined that they fit the qualifications of the city code, “I would have referred it to the Cultural Heritage Commission for review,” he said.

Representatives of the applicant urged the Council not to review the determination.

“Everybody arrived at the same conclusion: this is not a historic asset,” said George Mihlsten, a representative of the applicant. “We respectfully ask that you not take this matter up.”

While the applicant’s team had not reviewed the articles at the time of the hearing, project consultant Harvey Englander argued to the Courier that at least one of the articles does not satisfy the city’s standards.

“There’s one article in Luxe Magazine, which is a very slick design magazine that solicits stories about projects. The author of the story is unknown, so there’s no way to determine if it is someone who knows anything about architecture,” Englander said. “The story itself isn’t about the architecture or the architect, it is about the interior design.”

The other article, according to Collins, appears in a foreign language edition of Architectural Digest.

While some council members expressed skepticism at whether the articles would sway the final determination, they felt their existence alone should prompt renewed scrutiny. The Council voted unanimously to call up the matter at the April 12 meeting. 

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“No meeting agenda, speeches, or specific topics. Just a chance to get to know your local police department over a good cup of coffee,” the department said in a social media post.

The department has held these events semi-regularly for years as a form of accessible public outreach and community relations building.

Chief of Police Mark Stainbrook joined residents at the last Coffee With a Cop on Jan. 12. While COVID-19 has made it more difficult to mingle with the people of Beverly Hills, he said that the event gave him an opportunity to “know what’s going on in the community.”

“These events have become such bridge-builders between us and our community,” BHPD Public Information Officer Lt. Giovani Trejo told the Courier. “We can’t wait to see all of you there.” 

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But more than three years later, the Board and the public had yet to hear from the committee. That was, until March 4, when the three members of the CCAC presented an update on district construction projects at a study session on offering a mostly positive take on the controversial and expensive efforts. Board members expressed frustration with the committee, saying that a group tasked with transparency had operated with anything but.

“Even this committee being here tonight and giving us a presentation now after years, from what I understand, is further evidence of the fact that we have not had the proper accountability and governance on this construction program,” said Board member Gabriel Halimi.

“Just by the fact that we’re having this conversation tonight, and all of a sudden, all this information is being thrown at us, it’s just further showing us that we have a problem on our hands,” he said.

The committee itself has a mostly symbolic role in the construction process. Only one committee, the Citizen Bond Oversight Committee (CBOC), is required by law. The CBOC has been meeting since 2009.

But the tension on display in the meeting has grown out of concerns over the management of hundreds of millions of dollars in voter-approved bonds for school improvement projects. At an October study session, it was revealed that the program was running a $129 million shortfall.

In 2008, voters passed Measure E, allowing the district to issue $334 million in bonds. Another bond measure, Measure BH, passed in 2018, authorizing the district to issue another $385 million in bonds. Together, the bonds provide funding for modernization, seismic retrofits, new buildings, and improved security.

But even as voters debated and ultimately passed Measure BH, some began to express doubt in the handling of the funds. Then-Vice Mayor John Mirisch opined against Measure BH in a 2017 blog post on his campaign website, arguing that the School Board had failed to deliver results with the Measure E funding.

“We should not be giving this District another dime until BHUSD can right the ship; until it can prove it deserves our trust to spend an additional $400 million on top of the $344 million from Measure E; until it provides our kids with the kind of education they deserve; and until it stops breaking promises to parents and voters,” Mirisch wrote.

In part to address some of the concerns regarding oversight of the construction projects, in May 2018, weeks before Measure BH would pass, the Board approved the formation of the CCAC.

The idea for the committee was proposed by Don Blake, the owner of the company overseeing the bond programs, Team Concept Development Services (TCDS). 

He said that he had used a similar model in his work at another school district. CCAC would offer support “to complete construction projects on time, within budget, and at minimum risk,” Blake said.

As laid out by Blake, members of the committee would be selected by himself and Superintendent Dr. Michael Bregy. Both Blake and Bregy would also advise the committee, which would meet monthly and release quarterly reports to the Board.  

While Measure E already required the district to have an oversight body, the CCAC, Blake made clear that his proposal would serve more of a communications function, relaying information to the public.  

“This is a group of people that can communicate how we actually do this,” Blake said.

Former Board member Howard Goldstein, who expressed support for the proposal, praised Blake in 2018 for opening himself up to oversight.

“I think that speaks volumes for you, quite frankly,” said Goldstein, who now serves on the committee.

Over the three years since its formation, CCAC has not released any report to the Board. Additionally, critics have pointed out that the committee does not hold public meetings, nor has it released minutes or documents from its meetings. 

March 4 was the first time the Board heard from CCAC. Although the committee was originally envisioned with five to six members, only three sit on it currently, including Goldstein, Jason Rund, and Ted Fentin.

Bregy explained the lack of quarterly reports, saying that the committee did not have “information to share to the Board” up until March 4.

“But it has been an active committee,” he said. CCAC has met 22 times since its inception, according to its March 4 presentation. 

Pointing to the completion of two buildings on the Beverly Hills High School campus, B1 and B2, Fentin said that the bond management program was working. Members of the committee touted that buildings B1 and B2 had come in on time and under budget, with savings of $9 million.

“In my opinion, we are on the right course, albeit with bumps in the road. I’m in the construction development business, we all are facing them. But our bond management and our building program is working. It ain’t broke, so as the saying goes, I don’t think we need to fix it,” said Fentin.

Fentin also presented a new “midrange” estimate of the program’s cost overruns, previously reported at $129 million in October but now put at $69 million. The update was received with skepticism by certain board members and came with the caveat that it included $20 million in state funding that had not yet been applied for. Without that, the revised figure sits at $89 million.

“Regardless of which shortfall amount you consider correct, $89 million or $129 million (both are speculative), the fact is that the modernization program is delayed and short the funds necessary to complete the projects promised in Measure BH,” said Board President Mary Wells in a statement to the Courier.

Pam Johnson, Program Manager for TCDS, said that both the $129 million and $69 million estimates are correct.

“The 129 million is [the] worst case scenario if you bid the projects in 2024. The CCAC’s numbers are presuming that you go ahead right now,” Johnson said, attributing the difference to rising construction costs.

Board member Noah Margo defended the committee against accusations of poor transparency, asking his fellow board members what they “feel is not being transparent.”

“I don’t feel like I’m ever getting duped. I don’t feel like I’m fooling the community,” Margo said. The confusion on the subject, he said, stemmed from the sheer quantity of material and information to process.

“We clearly have an issue with transparency and accountability when it comes to our bond construction program making it difficult to evaluate and ensure that we have received the best value for our taxpayer dollars,” Wells told the Courier. 

According to Wells, the Board is in the process of reviewing the program and its stewardship under TCDS and intends on issuing a request for new potential managers.   

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Rhambo, who grew up in Compton and South Los Angeles, joined the Los Angeles Sheriff’s Department straight out of college, where he spent the next 33 years of his career. Following his time in the Sheriff’s Department, Rhambo also served as Assistant City Manager for the City of Carson and as City Manager of the City of Compton.

Sheriff’s deputies patrol unincorporated areas of Los Angeles and a handful of cities that contract with the department, including West Hollywood and Malibu. With 10,000 sworn officers and 8,000 sworn staff, the department is the largest sheriff’s department in the country. 

The Courier spoke with Rhambo about his experience in law enforcement and local government and why he feels he’s right for the job.

Beverly Hills Courier (BHC):  Most of the people in Beverly Hills right now are very concerned about crime following an uptick in violent crime in the city – most notably in December with the murder of Jacqueline Avant. The Sheriff’s Department obviously has limited involvement in places like Beverly Hills. What role do you envision having as Sheriff in terms of addressing crime across the county?

Rhambo: I spent 33 years in the department and, at one time, commanded all of gang operations for the county, at least for the sheriff’s side. When there are multi-jurisdictional crime trends, we form task forces, cooperate and work collaboratively with other agencies. Knowing that, they come to our custody no matter where they’re arrested in LA County. The suspect that killed Jacqueline Avant is in custody downtown. There’s a little bit of a nexus to everybody in LA County as it relates to the criminal justice system and the Sheriff’s Department, be it civil, when they go to court, or they end up in our custody, or we work jointly with the task force, even including the state or the Feds.

BHC: You have said that you would welcome oversight as Sheriff. Villanueva has a strained relationship with the County Board of Supervisors and the Civilian Oversight Commission. What kind of relationship would you seek to have with them, and how do you see that playing into your vision for the department?

Rhambo: It should be professional. The supervisors realize that the Sheriff is elected by the entire county of Los Angeles, and they’re elected by a district. They intuitively know that we’re electoral peers. We’re not subordinate to the Board and certainly the Board is not subordinate to the Sheriff. There has to be a working relationship and a professional relationship. Where we will have robust discussion that I certainly welcome is, for instance, the closure of Central Jail. Do we close it and rebuild, do we close it and not rebuild? I’m certainly willing to have a discussion about that, but at the end of the day, all of us – both sides of that fence – are responsible for the overall public safety of the people out in the community.

BHC: You’ve positioned yourself as a more reform-minded candidate, as opposed to a traditional tough-on-crime approach; would that be fair?

Rhambo: That would be fair. I mean, I’ve done both. You can be tough on crime, but at the same time, there’s also ways to look at it from a broader perspective in terms of crime reduction. I think people shy away from terms like progressive or reform because, when I was doing it 20 years ago in Compton, for instance, and doing intervention and prevention programs, community engagement, community organizing, operating a Weed and Seed site paid for by the federal government. Bringing in gang and intervention workers to stop retaliatory gang crimes. Those were all considered to be progressive but were not popular. At the same time, I ran all of gang operations and the same people that I put in jail, we now have a relationship. I talk to them and they know me, they remember me from 20 years ago when I did search warrants on their houses.

BHC: Even the notion of reform and what it means to be progressive has changed significantly, especially in the last few years. Where do you see yourself in the modern landscape of criminal justice reform and public safety?

Rhambo: I’ve been in public service my entire adult life, literally since right out of high school. I have really embraced other ways to deal with the mentally ill, people that are drug addicted. But at the same time, I knew Tookie [founder of the Crips]. He grew up in my neighborhood. So, I know violent offenders. One of the first people I met when I went to Central Jail was Ken Bianchi, the hillside strangler. Evil is certainly out there. It has to be dealt with. But that doesn’t mean that you have to treat everybody with a broad brush.

BHC: The Sheriff’s Department operates out of West Hollywood, a community known for its inclusivity of marginalized groups – communities that do not have traditionally a good relationship with law enforcement. How do you address those relationships?

Rhambo: When I got promoted to sergeant, I went to West Hollywood. We did a lot of community engagement and we helped put on the Christopher Street West Parade. Understanding what Stonewall was [and] what the LGBTI community wanted to see out of law enforcement. Cruising was a big deal. Down on the east part of Santa Monica, you had a lot of cruising going on and even people that were part of the LGBT community didn’t like the fact that all these people were cruising in their neighborhood. So, we changed the traffic directions, and we did a little bit more enforcement, but we did it respectfully and treated people with dignity.

BHC: My understanding is that the LGBTQ community generally looks at anti-cruising laws as a way of targeting them.

Rhambo: It was requested by and supported by the City Council. It wasn’t something that we concocted; it was a response to a community outcry. People appreciate, they understand the the sexual freedom of the atmosphere, but they also didn’t appreciate that on their front lawns.

BHC: You say that Villanueva took a model for addressing homelessness that you helped build and “eroded it.” Could you elaborate on that model, and what you would do differently to rebuild it?

Rhambo: In 2004, I was tasked with bringing in what’s called a Community Oriented Policing Bureau. We were tasked with going out in [to encampments and] cleaning those up. We put together a team that had a doctor, because we found people that had some pretty interesting medical issues, we brought in a psych clinician, and we also brought in a public defender that could expunge minor violations.

At the end of the day, if people refuse help, you don’t want to criminalize their behavior, but you or I could not go camp in front of Gucci and live in a broken-down motorhome there forever. We just couldn’t do it. And so, things have to be done for the common decency and quality of life. That’s where the court system comes in, where you bring them into the court system for the violations, be it minor, and you divert them into programs.

BHC: Men’s Central Jail is the largest concentration of severely mentally ill individuals in the world. Critics say that the jail exacerbates illness and hurts individuals that need help. What would you do to address that?

Rhambo: The question is what should you do with these folks? I read the Cares First model that the county would like to do. What I fear is that we do “ready, fire, aim.” Don’t push them out to alternatives to incarceration if there is no capacity for it. And I guarantee you that, having been city manager in two different cities, it’s hard enough to get people to build affordable housing, much less alternatives to incarceration or alternatives to mental health housing. And so, the real question is, is the City Council in Beverly Hills as well as the residents going to support 100 bed space for people who are experiencing mental illness that may have committed a crime, but we don’t think they should be in jail. Can we put that in your city? That’s where the problem is going to lie.

BHC: The subtext of what I hear you saying, and tell me if I’m reading this right, is that the Sheriff’s Department and law enforcement in general has been put in a position of responding to a broad systemic failure that stretches back decades where everyone owns accountability for either inaction or the wrong action and that it’s not an easy answer.

Rhambo: You talk about social inequities and social economic inequities and why people commit crimes and things like that. My response is: law enforcement doesn’t create the environments of the people that we police. We are left with the aftermath of that, and a lot of the economic viability, the education system, our social justice system and all that is not something that we have control over.

BHC: Why should Beverly Hills voters vote for you?

Rhambo: Experience [and] understanding their community. I was working in Hollywood when the Menendez brothers took their parents’ lives. I have a lot of experience in understanding the communities in LA County. And understanding that when people come to custody or people go to the courts, every resident of LA County could be at some point touched by services delivered by the Sheriff’s Department. 

More importantly, I think what I’m seeing now is probably the most politically divisive Sheriff I’ve ever seen in my 35, 40 years. The political environment now is already very acrimonious. And he’s only brought it to the local level now. And I think it’s unfortunate – it’s hard to get things done. Government works best when both sides of the aisle can communicate. I’ve got a history of being a collaborator and, yes, I want to bring in some reforms to police work, but at the same time, I’ve won awards for bringing down violent crime and also won awards for running the Hate Crimes Task Force. I’m a bigger package than “lock them all up,” and I’m not so far progressive that I’m for letting everybody out. 

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The shockwaves of the explosions rippled out across the world all the way to Beverly Hills, one of the only Jewish majority cities in the United States. That night, motivated in part by the potent symbolism of the rocket attack on Babyn Yar, the City Council unanimously passed a resolution condemning Russia in uncompromising terms and standing in solidarity with Ukraine.

“The City of Beverly Hills strongly condemns with moral outrage the unjustified, unprovoked, premeditated, uncivilized, evil, barbaric, abhorrent and inhumane Russian invasion of Ukraine by the oppressive Putin regime,” the resolution reads.

Vice Mayor Lili Bosse quoted a tweet written earlier by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, who is Jewish and has family who died in the Holocaust.

“To the world: what is the point of saying ‘never again’ for 80 years, if the world stays silent when a bomb drops on the same site of Babyn Yar?” Zelensky wrote. “History repeating.”

Bosse, who herself is the daughter of Holocaust survivors, said that the war represented a moment to exercise the lessons of history.

“Back in the Second World War, too many people were silent. This is a situation where we clearly have learned from history, and that we will not stay silent and we will stand strong and we will fight back in whatever way that we can fight back,” she said in voting to pass the resolution.

Babyn Yar, also known as Babi Yar, is a ravine in Kyiv where Nazi-led death squads killed more than 33,000 Jewish men, women, and children over two days in September 1941. Memorial staff have reported that the missiles did not damage the memorial. 

The resolution went beyond condemnation. It instructs staff to “research and implement any federal sanctions and other sanctions which the City has the authority to implement.” This includes levying possible sanctions against Russian oligarchs with assets in the city, divesting city money from funds with ties to Russian assets and terminating any contracts with Russian firms.  

Councilmember Julian Gold stressed that no option should be off the table, even asking if the city could impose additional taxes on Russian vodka – any action, either symbolic or tangible, “to affect either withdrawal or regime change” and “create pain amongst those who would support Mr. Putin.”

Given the timing of Russia’s assault, city staff did not have time to provide the Council with a list of possible actions, hence the broad language of the resolution, said City Attorney Laurence Wiener.

The resolution also makes Zelensky an honorary citizen of Beverly Hills. 

“We, here at home in our own city of Beverly Hills, can and are letting President Zelensky and the people of Ukraine know that they are not alone,” said Councilmember John Mirisch.

Ukraine has received messages of support and solidarity across Los Angeles since the start of Russian aggression. Supporters of Ukraine rallied in Westwood in front of Sen. Dianne Feinstein’s office over the weekend, gathering by the hundreds to denounce the Russian invasion and call on the international community for aid.

With over 100,000 Ukrainian-Americans settled in California, according to the U.S. Census Bureau, many of the protesters came with personal connections to the conflict and real stakes should Russia prevail.

“Tonight, my mom is sleeping in a bathtub,” said Natasha, a Los Angeles resident whose parents live in the northeast of the country, where nearby shelling shakes their apartment building.

Neither Natasha nor her parents thought it would come to this, with her parents opting to remain in Ukraine even as President Vladimir Putin saber rattled and amassed nearly 200,000 troops on the border. She even joked with her mom and dad that they would rather face a Russian invasion than see their grandchildren in the United States.

Now, Natasha worries if her children will see Ukraine or their grandparents ever again. 

The post Beverly Hills City Council Passes Resolution in Support of Ukraine appeared first on Beverly Hills Courier.

“This crime continues to shock the conscience. Mrs. Avant’s death was a tragic loss felt by our entire community,” District Attorney Gascón said in a statement. “In this case, the defendant is facing 170 years to life in prison and is ineligible for elderly parole. Our Bureau of Victim Services will continue to be in contact with the family and their representatives to offer trauma-informed services.”

Maynor shot and killed Avant at her home in the Trousdale Estates neighborhood in the early morning of Dec. 1. Along with Avant, Maynor also shot at a security guard on the property.

Maynor then broke into a house in the Hollywood Hills later that same morning. In the process of stealing items from the home, he accidentally shot himself in the foot. Police say they found Maynor incapacitated in the backyard of the home.

Mayor has pleaded guilty to first-degree murder, attempted murder and possession of a firearm by a felon, in addition to two counts of first-degree residential burglary with person present.

By the time he shot Avant on Dec. 1, Maynor had spent nearly 10 years in prison for two separate charges of second-degree robbery, with additional charges of domestic violence, grand theft, and inflicting great bodily injury. Just months prior to December, Maynor was released on parole from his latest stint in prison for second degree robbery with enhancements for a prior felony.

Maynor made occasional social media posts from prison. In January 2017, he wrote on Facebook, “This my last year. I can’t wait to do big things.” A year later, in March, he marked his release with another post. “Just got out of prison Saturday,” he wrote.

The release was short-lived. On Nov. 1, 2018, he pleaded guilty to second-degree robbery. Under California’s Three Strikes law, second strike offenders receive doubled sentences, giving him a sentence of four years. A spokesperson for the District Attorney’s office confirmed to the Courier that “the strike was used to double his sentence.”

Maynor was released on parole on Sept. 1, 2021, “after serving his full sentence as defined by law,” according to California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation Information Officer Joe Orlando. This included credit for time-served. He was listed as transient while on parole.

The Beverly Hills Police Department (BHPD) led the investigation into Maynor. The murder came just days after Mark Stainbrook assumed the role of Police Chief.

“We are pleased to see Maynor will remain behind bars where he belongs. Our thoughts continue to be with the Avant family,”  Stainbrook said in a statement.

Avant was an active philanthropist, serving as the president of the Neighbors of Watts, the support group for the South Central Community Child Care Center, in 1975, the entertainment chairman of the NOW benefit auction, and she sat on the board of directors for International Student Center at UCLA in 1980. She sat on the board of the Wallis Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts.

The family of Avant released a statement shortly after her death.

“The entire Avant family wishes to thank everyone for their outpouring of love, support, and condolences for Jacqueline Avant,” the statement said. “Jacqueline was an amazing woman, wife, mother, philanthropist, and a 55-year resident of Beverly Hills, who has made an immeasurable positive contribution and impact on the arts community. She will be missed by her family, friends, and all of the people she has helped throughout her amazing life.” 

The post Maynor Pleads Guilty to Avant Murder appeared first on Beverly Hills Courier.

“Tonight, my mom is sleeping in a bathtub,” said Natasha, whose parents live in the northeast of the country, where nearby shelling shakes their apartment building.

Neither Natasha nor her parents thought it would come to this, with her parents opting to remain in Ukraine even as President Vladimir Putin saber rattled and amassed nearly 200,000 troops on the border. She even joked with her mom and dad that they would rather face a Russian invasion than see their grandchildren.

Now, Natasha worries if her children will see Ukraine or their grandparents ever again.

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The so-called “Safer from Wildfire” standards lay out upgrades and precautions homeowners should take to reduce their risk of loss. It also includes broader actions that communities should take.

The state already has similar standards for homes built after 2008 or homes placed on the market, but Safer from Wildfire establishes a framework that insurers could apply to older homes.

“I am using every tool available to protect Californians while reducing the risk of wildfires,” said Insurance Commissioner Ricardo Lara in a statement. “Making homes and businesses safer from wildfires protects all Californians, saving lives, reducing losses, and making insurance more available and affordable for all.”

Mark Ghilarducci, Director of the California Governor’s Office of Emergency Services, described Safer from Wildfire as “an important step forward in providing clear guidance to homeowners and insurance companies alike on the actions they can take to keep their properties safe.”

In Feb. 2021, an interagency group including Lara, Cal Fire, the Office of Emergency Services and other agencies launched an intensive study of fire risk to develop uniform standards that would entice insurers to reduce premiums and resume coverage for the most at-risk areas.

But despite having standards in Beverly Hills that exceed the framework put forward by Safer from Wildfire, residents who live in the fire-prone area north of Sunset have still seen premiums rise and insurers leave, according to Beverly Hills Fire Department Chief Greg Barton. This has left some residents without insurance altogether.

“Due to all the big fires that have happened in California over the last couple of years, insurance companies are starting to pull out of California,” Barton told the Courier. “They’re not getting insurance because they can’t get it. The other part is it’s so expensive that they can’t afford it.”

Since 2017, wildfires have razed nearly 50,000 homes in California, leading to an explosion of claims. In 2017 and 2018 alone, insurers paid out a total of $29 billion in claims. As a result, insurers began to increase premiums in fire-prone areas, sometimes declining to renew coverage altogether.

Anthony Spencer, who lives near the Virginia Robinson Gardens, spoke about his precarious insurance situation at a City Council study session in October. “We’re already in a situation where insurance companies that I insure with…have already informed me that they’re not prepared to potentially insure my house because it is in an area of risk,” he said.

For Robin Kim, who spoke at the same hearing, the situation was worse. “Our insurance company already declined to insure my house,” she said, citing the risk of fire.

Some residents in Kim’s situation have turned to FAIR, the “insurer of last resort” mandated by the state, which Barton says is “expensive and the coverage level might not be what is needed for residents of Beverly Hills.”

The Safer from Wildfire guidelines recommend that structures install a Class-A Fire rated roof, the highest rating of fire resistance that can include concrete or clay roof tiles, fiberglass asphalt composition shingles and metal roofs. Homeowners are encouraged to create a 5-foot “ember-resistant zone” around homes that won’t combust from contact with embers, like a buffer of gravel or slate.

Safer from Wildfires also prescribes the following: at least 6-inches of noncombustible material at the base of exterior walls, installing ember and fire-resistant vents, upgrading windows to double paned or adding fire-resistant shutters, and enclosing eaves.

Slightly further away from structures, the framework calls for clearing vegetation and detritus from under decks, moving combustible sheds or other such structures at least 30-feet away from the home, and complying with local and state “defensible space” requirements by trimming trees, and removing brush and yard debris.

The standards also call for communities to step up by clearly defining their boundaries and seeking a risk assessment from a local fire district or state fire agency. Communities should also identify and maintain evacuation routes clear of overgrowth and have contingencies in case the primary route fails.

Beverly Hills residents already must abide by similar, if not more stringent, recommendations made by Safer from Wildfires. The city conducts inspections of homes in fire-prone areas starting in mid-April of each year to assess compliance with brush clearance standards.

While the overall insurance picture has improved over the last few years, Beverly Hills residents have not seen much relief, Barton says. As it currently stands, 13 insurers, or 40% of the market, offer discounts to homeowners who reduce their fire risk. That share is up from only 7% three years ago.

But part of the issue with how insurers calculate rates, Barton says, is that they look at the general fire risk in a given area, as opposed to looking at how well an individual structure is defended against that risk.

“The Insurance Commissioner’s office needs to do more work with insurance companies to look at individual structures instead of looking at it from a broad-brush perspective, because I believe that our residents are doing what’s required of them around their structures,” Barton said.

“In Beverly Hills, the majority of the residents here are doing an outstanding job with mitigation efforts. That should be recognized by insurance companies.”

The post New Wildfire Home Standards Try to Fix Insurance Troubles appeared first on Beverly Hills Courier.

The gathering was the largest of its kind the city has seen, but BHPD Public Information Officer Lt. Giovani Trejo qualified that assessment.

“It is the largest we have seen here in Beverly Hills, but definitely not larger than what other cities have experienced,” Trejo told the Courier.

BHPD first received reports of “a large-scale sideshow” at the large six-way intersection around 11:30 pm. According to a statement issued by the department on the alert system Nixle, reports described at least 100 vehicles blocking each point of the intersection with a crowd of at least 150 spectators. While cars engaged in dangerous stunts, according to reports, audience members “lit large-scale fireworks.”

“After forming a safe tactical plan, BHPD officers convoyed into the center of the incident causing all vehicles and spectators to flee immediately. Officers stopped several vehicles which led to the arrest of multiple suspects,” the department said in the Nixle release. 

“BHPD does not tolerate illegal vehicular events, such as this, and will respond in force to uphold the safety and security of the community.”

Sharona Nazarian, who lives near the intersection, described a scene of “confusion and uncertainty” as she and her husband were awoken by the fracas, prompting her to call the police.

“Cars had blocked off the roads and were doing donuts in the center of the intersection,” she told the Courier. “When the police arrived, the crowd dispersed into the residential areas.”

BHPD made three arrests of suspects, two of whom were charged with placing a barricade on a highway to facilitate a speed contest, a vehicle code violation, and spectating at an illegal speed contest, a municipal code violation. A third suspect was arrested and charged with engaging in a speed contest and spectating at an illegal speed contest. Police also detained two minors and released them to parents or guardians.

BHPD also seized two vehicles, a 2001 Lexus LS430 and 2009 Chevy Silverado.

While BHPD has had advanced notice of prior vehicle takeovers, which are sometimes advertised on social media in advance, they did not have prior knowledge of plans for Friday’s event.

With such large groups, arresting all participants or seizing all vehicles becomes impractical, if not dangerous.

“We would need several dozens of police officers, patrol cars and tow trucks to surround and impound all the vehicles involved. These conditions create innumerable threats to the safety of the officers,” Trejo said. “The response must be calculated and well-orchestrated. One officer at a time does not make a difference and it may create a situation where the officer may be forced to defend his life by using whatever level of force is necessary.”

Trejo also noted that “these crowds have turned violent toward police in the past.”

The City Council previously took up the issue of vehicular gatherings in a November hearing, when Councilmember Julian Gold, M.D., proposed weekend nighttime closures of Rodeo Drive to prevent similar incidents. Over the prior year, from November 2020 to November 2021, BHPD received six different calls for service on Rodeo Drive in response to “loud and unruly groups of cars and bicyclists,” according to a report compiled by the city.

“Candidly, I am beyond concerned that it’s only a matter of time before somebody really gets hurt, or one of these cars is out of control and then we have a number of injuries right in the middle of Rodeo Drive,” said Gold. “I just think that that would be a huge tragedy that we can avoid.”

The Council decided that the move would be prohibitively expensive but requested other possible solutions. The Council has not reexamined the matter since November.  

Acting Captain Renato Moreno shed light on the phenomenon, explaining that the incidents “involve either car clubs or exotic cars coming in, shutting down the streets and being loud or doing photo opportunities or even doing donuts in the intersections.” 

The post BHPD Makes Arrests in Largest “Vehicle Takeover” Ever appeared first on Beverly Hills Courier.

Of the 16, only three City Council candidates and two Treasurer candidates have officially qualified for the June ballot, according to Ahmed. That includes Councilmember Lester Friedman, Mayor Bob Wunderlich, and Planning Commissioner Andy Licht for City Council, and current City Treasurer Howard Fisher and City Treasurer candidate Jake Manaster.

The other 12 prospective candidates have pulled nomination papers from the Clerk’s Office and have until March 11 to submit the forms with 20 signatures by registered Beverly Hills voters.

Prospective candidates must also comply with complicated state election laws regulating spending and advertising, a process that involves numerous filings and the establishment of a separate bank account if a candidate intends on accepting contributions. So far, only eight people have filed the necessary election finance paperwork with the Clerk’s Office.

“In comparison to 2020, it’s a lot of people who pulled [nomination] papers,” Ahmed told the Courier.

Six candidates pulled nomination forms in 2020. All six successfully qualified for the ballot, with Councilmember Julian Gold and Vice Mayor Lili Bosse declaring victory.

Historically, the largest number of candidates to have ever competed in a single City Council race is 13 in 1988. Within the last two decades, the field of candidates has only cracked 10 twice, with 12 candidates in 2001 and 11 in 2009.

Much of the surge in interest appears driven by concerns around public safety, Ahmed said. Beverly Hills saw an alarming spike in violent crime from 2019 to 2021.

“There’s interest in public safety,” she said. said. “Across the board, that’s huge.”

Ahmed cautioned that the field is still in flux. Debbie Blum, who had previously declared her intention to run for City Council, withdrew from the race within the last week, she said. For someone to receive nomination forms, they need only be a registered voter in Beverly Hills.  

In addition to the City Council seats and the City Treasurer’s office, Beverly Hills voters will also have the opportunity to impose a limit of three terms on those same offices. The initiative generated controversy when it was placed on the ballot in February 2021, partially because of a perception among some residents that it targeted specific council members, but also because of a legally questionable provision that would apply the limits retroactively to terms already served.

Beverly Hills voters will also have the chance to weigh in on the selection of a replacement for the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors seat soon to be vacated by Supervisor Sheila Kuehl, who is serving her second term. While the field of candidates vying for the spot could still change, announced candidates include West Hollywood City Councilmember Lindsey Horvath, State Sen. Bob Hertzberg, and State Sen. Henry Stern. 

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Two forms of testing exist to determine whether someone has an active COVID-19 infection, antigen tests and polymerase chain reaction (PCR) tests. Antigen tests can be administered at home with results in as little as 15 minutes. However, antigen tests are less sensitive than PCR tests. They work best when someone is already symptomatic.

High demand has made them scarce, though the federal government has promised to deliver 500,000 free antigen tests across the country. You can request four free at-home tests at www.covidtests.gov. 

Polymerase chain reaction is a laboratory procedure that amplifies genetic signals in a sample to determine whether someone has COVID-19. The tests are better at catching asymptomatic cases or confirming positive results from an antigen test. 

What you get in accuracy, you typically lose in time and convenience. PCR tests usually take a few hours to a few days to complete, depending on the lab and the demand, but boutique healthcare providers in Beverly Hills can provide results in less than one hour for a charge of up to $350.

Here is a sample of testing providers in and near Beverly Hills offering options to suit most needs. 

Cedars Urgent Care

Cedars-Sinai Urgent Care, located at 8767 Wilshire Blvd., 2nd Floor, offers testing to those displaying symptoms of COVID-19. No appointment is needed. Testing is free and results come back within 72 hours. They do not offer antigen tests. Urgent Care is open 12 to 9 p.m. Monday-Friday and 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. Saturday and Sunday. 

911 COVID Testing

Located at 9900 N. Santa Monica  Blvd. across from the Beverly Hilton, 911 COVID Testing offers a variety of services, including free PCR tests with results in 24-48 hours. Appointments can be made at www.911CovidTesting.com. They also offer same day PCR tests for $155 and 1-hour PCR tests for $249. 911 COVID Testing has antigen tests for $95 and COVID-flu antigen tests for $149. Site hours are 6 a.m. to 10 p.m. seven days a week. House calls are available for an additional $349 between 6 a.m. to 6 p.m. and $499 between 6 p.m. and 6 a.m. 

Dilshad Concierge Medicine

Dilshad Concierge Medicine, located at 435 North Bedford Drive, offers drive-through testing and in-clinic testing. A PCR test with results in less than 24 hours costs $175, results in 2 hours costs $219, and results in 30 minutes costs $319. An antibody test with results in 10 minutes costs $125. They accept walk-ins, or appointments can be requested at 310-307-7865. They request that walk-ins call in advance. They are open 8 a.m. to 11:59 p.m. Monday-Friday, 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. Saturday, and 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. Sunday.

Beverly Hills Concierge Health

Beverly Hills Concierge Health, located at 8900 Wilshire Blvd., welcomes walk-ins and takes appointments both online and over the phone at 310-294-8343. PCR test results in 1-4 hours runs $225; test results in under an hour cost $350. They charge $125 for an antigen test. They are open from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday-Friday and 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Saturday and Sundays.

Covid Test LA

Covid Test LA, located in Mid-Wilshire at 5901 West Olympic Blvd., offers drive-thru same day PCR testing by appointment. Appointments can be scheduled at www.covidtestla.com. Covid Test LA says that results will be sent out by midnight in most cases, but they may be able to accommodate a faster turnaround. PCR testing costs $79 with insurance and $185 without and they accept most PPOs. Services are open Monday-Friday 8 a.m. to 3 p.m., but are closed between noon and 1 p.m.

COVID Testing MD

Covid Testing MD, situated at 113 North San Vicente Blvd., accepts both walk-in and scheduled appointments. Appointments can be made at www.covidtestingmd.com or by calling 310-752-9938. Antigen tests cost $100, PCR tests return results in 24-72 hours and cost $75 with insurance or $150 without. Expedited PCR results in 12-30 hours can be purchased for $300. COVID Testing MD also offers bundled COVID-flu antigen tests for $175. They are open from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. Monday-Friday and 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday and Sunday.

LA Compounding Pharmacy

LA Compounding Pharmacy, located near Cedars-Sinai Medical Center at 8600 W. 3rd Street, Suite #1, offers PCR and antigen tests, in addition to the COVID-19 vaccine itself. Appointments can be made at www.lacompounding.com. PCR tests cost $95 with insurance and $195 without and return results within 12-24 hours. Antigen tests cost $125. Vaccinations are always free, with or out without insurance. LA Compounding Pharmacy is open Monday-Friday, 9 a.m. to 6 p.m.

Beverly Hills Health

Beverly Hills Health is located at 9200 West Pico Boulevard and accepts appointments and walk-ins. Appointments can be made at www.beverlyhills-health.com. Antigen tests cost $125 and PCR tests cost $150, with results in 24-48 hours. They are open Monday-Friday, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.

Linden Diagnostics

Linden Diagnostics, located in the Business Triangle at 462 North Linden Drive, Suite 100, offers antigen tests by appointment only. Tests cost $150 and appointments can be made by calling or texting 310- 574-2399. They are open 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. seven days a week.

My Concierge MD

My Concierge MD is located at 9301 Wilshire Blvd., Suite 405, and offers drive-thru antigen tests and same day PCR tests on an appointment basis. Appointments can be made at www.myconciergemd.com/online-scheduling-checkout. PCR services cost $225 and antigen tests cost $125. House calls are available within a 15-mile radius for an additional $450. They are open from 7 a.m. to 9 p.m. Monday-Friday. 

The post Where to Get Tested for COVID-19 in Beverly Hills appeared first on Beverly Hills Courier.

“I am very proud of the campaign we ran, and I am grateful to everyone who helped to build it,” Bloom said in a statement. “I believe that the future of Los Angeles County is bright, and that our communities can and will solve the challenges we face. I am as committed as ever to working for that future, but I am going to take some time to decide how I can best be of service to our neighborhoods.”

Bloom began his political career in the Santa Monica City Council, spending more than a decade on the governing body. He then joined the Assembly in 2012, where he has fought for a number of environmental protection measures. He is currently serving his final term in office.

Bloom had hoped to take over for outgoing Supervisor Sheila Kuehl, who has represented District 3 on the Board of Supervisors since 2014. District 3 stretches from Santa Monica and the Westside to Agoura Hills, the San Fernando Valley, Beverly Hills, and Hollywood.

Bloom’s departure from the race leaves a field that includes West Hollywood City Councilwoman Lindsey Horvath, State Sen. Henry Stern (D-Calabasas), and state Senate Majority Leader Robert Hertzberg (D-Van Nuys). 

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The petition asks LA County residents whether they want to recall Gascón, arguing that the DA has “deserted crime victims and their families” and “disregarded the rule of law and weakened lawful sentencing requirements for the most violent criminals.”

“George Gascón’s new policies treat career and repeat violent offenders as if they had never committed a crime, ignoring public safety laws approved by the people,” the petition declares.

Hoping to seize on the discontent with Gascón in Beverly Hills, organizers with Recall District Attorney George Gascón plan on holding a petition signing and distribution event on Feb. 5 from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. at Via Alloro Restaurant at 301 N. Canon Drive.

In response to the approval of the recall petition, Gascón campaign spokesperson Elise Moore told the Courier that Gascón made no secret about the progressive policies he would implement if elected.

“The voters of LA County agreed and voted overwhelmingly to embrace reform,” she said, characterizing the recall as an effort to “undermine the will of the voters.” 

“People of LA County are far more interested in actually enhancing community safety for families, victims and all those living in LA County than they are in yet another politically motivated recall attempt,” said Moore.

The organization Recall District Attorney George Gascón, which submitted the petition to the Registrar, has pushed back against Gascón’s accusation of conservative leanings.

“His only rebuttal is to call it a partisan effort,” Tim Lineberger, spokesperson for Recall District Attorney George Gascón, told the Courier. “It’s led by victims and a bipartisan group of folks.”

Under Los Angeles’s recall rules, recall proponents have 160 days from the approval of a petition – July 6, in this case – to gather valid signatures equal to 10% of registered voters. This comes out to over 560,000 signatures. Factoring in normal rates of invalid signatures, Lineberger says that the campaign expects to need closer to 800,000 signatures.

The first recall attempt only managed to gather around 200,000 signatures and failed to attract significant funding. Lineberger says that the organization is going into the second effort with a “large infrastructure” and $2.7 million in funding this time. There are no limits to the number of attempts that can be made to recall an elected official in Los Angeles.

If the effort reaches the required number of signatures before July 6, LA voters will have the option to recall or keep Gascón on the Nov. 22 ballot. Voters would encounter a similar question as the one they faced in the 2021 gubernatorial recall. Angelenos would first be asked whether they wanted to recall Gascón. For those who answer yes, they would then select the candidate they want to replace him with. If 50% or more of voters say yes on the first question, then the candidate with the most votes wins.

California and Los Angeles have seen a spate of recall attempts over the last year, with Newsom’s recall as the most notable and costly among them. Bids to oust Los Angeles City Councilmembers Mike Bonin, Nithya Rama and Kevin de León all failed to realize their goals.

Beverly Hills has become a prominent voice against Gascón during both the current and former recall campaigns. The City Council made the unprecedented move in March 2021 to issue a vote of no confidence against the new DA. The Council voted 3-2, with Mayor Robert Wunderlich and Councilmember John Mirisch casting dissenting votes, citing reservations with the process rather than support for Gascón. In January, a unanimous Council voted in favor of supporting the second recall attempt.

“We should be a city where people could feel safe. And I don’t mean just Beverly Hills, I mean everywhere in Los Angeles,” said Vice Mayor Lili Bosse in voting to support the recall. “People should be able to feel safe to walk the streets of their city. People should feel safe to sleep at night in their homes, in their beds, anywhere.” 

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The ordinance would set up a system by which a resident could challenge any permit for the “inclusion of inaccurate, substantially incomplete or erroneous information in an application,” according to a draft of the ordinance.

Not all inaccuracies would necessarily lead to the revocation of permits under the ordinance –only inaccuracies or omissions that “materially deviate” from the approved plans. In other words, if the omission of certain information or the inclusion of inaccurate information had an impact on the approval of a permit, then the city could take the permit away once alerted to the issue by a reporting resident.

“I’m really perplexed as to why there’s even a need for this,” said former Mayor Stephen Webb, who also previously served on the Planning Commission. “I’m also perplexed at the ambiguity of some of the language that’s here and it’s troubling to me.”

Mark Egerman, a legislative advocate on behalf of multiple developers in Beverly Hills and himself a former mayor, expressed concern that the ordinance would dampen potential development in the city. “My concern is that this ordinance’s main effect will be to so substantially increase costs for developers that the city will not have future development, or future development that complies with code will not be undertaken,” Egerman said.

Director of Community Development Ryan Gohlich laid out the existing enforcement mechanisms for projects that deviate from the plans submitted to the city. He gave the example of a hypothetical 100-foot wall. For minor deviations – say, an extra 10 feet – the city could issue “a correction to bring the wall back into conformance with what they got approved for,” Gohlich said. For more “severe” deviations, like if the developer instead constructed three separate walls adding up to 100 feet, “that would normally result in a stop work order on the project where they would not be allowed to do further work on that project, they would be subject to additional permit fees as a penalty, and they would also be required to eliminate the unpermitted portions of the project and bring it into conformance with what they were approved for.”

Similar procedures are in place for by-right projects.

“In many cases, we have items that are identified by building inspectors while they are out in the field doing their inspections, because there are many inspections that are required at various milestones throughout a project. And in some instances, we have items that are reported to us by neighbors,” Gohlich said. “We take those reports seriously, we investigate all of them, and in cases where we find there to be a violation, we have the same procedure in place where there will either be a correction or a stop work order issued, depending on the nature of deviation from the approved plans.”

But supporters of the ordinance said that the existing rules were insufficient, pointing to two projects that they said intentionally misled the city. In one case, an applicant misrepresented that a floor qualified as a basement when it did not, said Debbie Weiss. In another, the applicant misrepresented their plans on earthwork, she said.

Councilmember John Mirisch, a City Council liaison on the task force, said that these issues would not have happened if existing mechanisms were sufficient.

He added that “good actors” should have no issues with penalties for “bad actors.”

But Egerman said that the ordinance would have unintended negative consequences for good actors as well. “I believe strongly that it is not a question that good developers have nothing to worry about. It creates substantial additional risks and costs and will limit the type of development that the City Council has stated it wants, which is increased housing,” Egerman said. “It is a simple reality Beverly Hills has the reputation of being a very difficult entity to do business with.”

Mayor Robert Wunderlich, who also serves as a City Council liaison on the task force, proposed doing further work on the ordinance in a subcommittee before bringing the ordinance before the Council. He expressed hope that “the people on this call today and others perhaps could participate so that we can be in a better position after discussing these issues.”

A subcommittee meeting had not been scheduled as of press time, according to staff. The timeline of the ordinance reaching the City Council will be dependent on the subcommittee’s own timeline.  

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“It’s just another set of eyes and ears out there and gives us the ability to get over calls very quickly,” Stainbrook told the Courier.

Stainbrook announced the program at a community forum in December, with the first test run taking place on Dec. 10 “in support of patrol operations.” While Stainbrook laid out a vision of “seven days a week, 24-hour coverage,” the pilot program currently makes the drone available Saturdays through Tuesdays, 40 hours a week. The BHPD examined crime trends around the Business Triangle in choosing those days, said BHPD Public Information Officer Lt. Giovanni Trejo. 

While Stainbrook characterized the program’s early results as a success, he added that it still needed work. “We’re still working through technical issues,” he said.

The drones are operated by a two-person team that launches the craft from a parking lot roof to minimize the signal interference from buildings. The drones can fly within a range of three to five miles for 25 minutes before they must return to base for a new battery. The drones are outfitted with cameras capable of taking still images and recording video.

The city has contracted with the drone operator Flying Lion, one of the few companies to work exclusively with law enforcement, Stainbrook said.  

Stainbrook and Trejo pointed to two cases in which the drone program has already played an integral role in law enforcement.

On Jan. 23, BHPD responded to a call of petty theft at the Rite Aid on Canon Drive. The suspect had fled the scene, and the operators launched the drone.  

“The suspect was literally one block over west,” Trejo said, “and he was found on top of a parking structure on Crescent. Had it not been for the drone, the ground units would have never seen this suspect hiding up in the parking structure.”

The following day, immediately after launching the drone on top of the Santa Monica Boulevard parking structures for a routine patrol, operators “saw a male in a nearby alley who suddenly stepped onto private property very near the garage door” of a house, Trejo said.

The operators zoomed in on the male and observed him “hiding from public view to smoke what appeared to be a meth pipe.” The operators directed officers to the location where they arrested the individual.

Trejo said that the two examples demonstrated proactive and reactive uses of the drone. “We have reasons to continue to justify the use of the drone program in the manner in which we’ve used it so far. That is, crime prevention and apprehension of suspects who are wanted for a crime that has occurred.”

Privacy groups have warned for over a decade that drones could further erode privacy in an age of near-constant surveillance.

“The prospect of cheap, small, portable flying video surveillance machines threatens to eradicate existing practical limits on aerial monitoring and allow for pervasive surveillance, police fishing expeditions, and abusive use of these tools in a way that could eventually eliminate the privacy Americans have traditionally enjoyed in their movements and activities,” American Civil Liberties Union said in a 2011 report that anticipated the increasing role of drone technology in law enforcement.

According to the Atlas of Surveillance, a joint project of Electronic Frontier Foundation and the University of Nevada, at least 1,181 police departments in the United States are using drones.

Trejo defended the privacy precautions taken by the city. The pilot program currently focuses on the Business Triangle, minimizing potential interactions with private property. He added that the drones “don’t fly specifically over a house or over a residence for the purpose of just monitoring what is in the residence, either in the backyard or on top of the roof.” 

“We fly over an area for protection of life, protection of property, and we only fly over a specific location when we have a justification to do so,” said Trejo.

Inclement weather paired with COVID-19 staffing shortages prevented the department from launching drones for large parts of the last month, prompting BHPD to extend the pilot another month to collect more data before evaluating the program. Even after more data comes in, though, Stainbrook says he is in no rush to scramble the drones.

He acknowledged that the department has to figure out the best use of the drones in the context of the other tools at BHPD’s disposal. “The challenge is how do we blend it into all the other technology we have with the [CCTV] cameras and the license plate readers? How do we use all that in a coordinated way?” 

The department currently has enough funding to run the pilot program through the end of the fiscal year. Once BHPD has a concrete proposal for an extended drone program, it will present its request to the City Council for additional resources. 

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“There’s no reason not to shine as bright a light on this as possible,” said Councilmember John Mirisch.

The ordinance combines large portions of a 2018 state election transparency law with elements of a local ordinance passed in 2010. The 2010 measure set campaign disclosure requirements for groups formed in support or opposition of ballot measures. Under the ordinance, so-called ballot measure committees would have to disclose in advertisements the identity of “top donors,” individuals or entities who contributed more than $10,000. Only the highest three top donors are displayed in advertising material.

The 2018 state law went further. The Democracy is Strengthened by Casting Light on Spending in Elections (DISCLOSE) Act set advertising standards in state elections for everything from print, television, radio, social media, and text messages. The law gets into the specifics of election advertising, detailing rules for background color, contrast with text, font size of disclosures, and the amount of time given to disclosures in shorter and longer radio commercials.

The DISCLOSE Act takes a narrower view on the definition of advertisements. Under the city’s prior ordinance, advertisements consisted of “any communication other than a personal communication between individuals,” according to a staff report. Now, taking its cue from the DISCLOSE Act, the city’s ordinance excludes things like most campaign buttons and bumper stickers, promotional items like pens and keychains, campaign apparel, and sky writing.   

The updated ordinance also reduces the amount considered a top donor from $10,000 to $1,000. In an earlier meeting, City Attorney Laurence Wiener acknowledged that the $10,000 threshold was arbitrary when it was chosen in 2010. 

While candidates for local office, who agree to a voluntary $80,000 spending limit, can only accept a maximum donation of $450, no such limits exist for Political Action Committees (PACs), organizations formed to support or oppose candidates or ballot measures. Following a controversial 2010 Supreme Court ruling, PACs can accept limitless donations provided that they do not coordinate their spending activity with candidates.

A letter submitted by a group of more than 30 prominent residents in favor of the $1,000 top donor threshold argued that PACs “undermine the policies that the City’s contribution and expenditure limits are designed to promote.”

The 2020 City Council race saw the participation of two PACs, most notably the Beverly Hills United to Support Bosse and Gold for Council 2020. While both Bosse and Gold agreed to the $80,000 spending limit, the PAC supporting them spent an additional $112,500, according to filings with the city. Many of the donations to the PAC sat just below the $10,000 threshold, with none exceeding $10,000. Under the new threshold, the names of the top three largest donors surpassing $1,000 would appear in its advertisements.

Councilmember Lester Friedman expressed the most opposition to the $1,000 threshold, though he ultimately voted in favor of the amount. “One thousand [dollars] just seems like a really low threshold to be considered a top contributor,” he said, pointing out that all contributions had to be reported to the city clerk.

The Council also moved to adopt a new state law that mandates fuller disclosure for Limited Liability Companies (LLCs). Under prior law, LLCs could make contributions or spend money in support of candidates and ballot measures without disclosing any information about the source of funds or the individuals in control of the LLC. A new law that went into effect in the new year, S.B. 686, states that LLCs that qualify as committees or sponsor a PAC must file detailed membership information to the California Secretary of State’s office.

The City Council agreed to codify a similar provision in the city’s own election transparency ordinance, requiring any LLC that spends $1,000 in Beverly Hills elections to file the same paperwork with the city clerk.

Lastly, the Council agreed that the city’s ordinance would automatically update whenever updates are made to the DISCLOSE Act.

The full text of the ordinance will be brought before the Council at its Feb. 8 Regular Meeting for a final vote. 

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Just In Case BH is a neighborhood-based emergency preparedness program proposed by Vice Mayor Lili Bosse in 2020. It seeks to bring together residents, businesses, and city agencies in the event of city-wide disasters.

The program relies on volunteer participation from members of the community who undergo emergency response training and serve as conduits of information during crises. The program splits the city up into nine geographic zones, each with an emergency center in the event of a crisis. Each of the nine zones has a zone coordinator, who passes along information from the fire and police departments to block captains, who in turn disseminate the information to neighbors.

Just In Case BH has spent the last year walking through each zone and knocking on doors to inform residents and businesses about the program and encourage them to participate. The recent COVID-19 outbreak has paused the last few zone walks.

The National Neighborhood Watch Program, which began in 1972, enlists residents to communicate with law enforcement agencies about suspicious activity in their areas and disseminate information among community members. The Beverly Hills Police Department (BHPD) created the city’s first Neighborhood Watch program in the early 1980s. The city counted over 120 neighborhood blocks involved in the program by the early 2000s, according to a report compiled by staff.

Though BHPD started the first Neighborhood Watch program in the city, Police Chief Mark Stainbrook described it as “decentralized and informal,” where any neighborhood could join the program of its own accord.

The last BHPD officer tasked with coordinating with Neighborhood Watch groups retired in 2019, and the COVID-19 pandemic delayed selection of a new Community Relations Sergeant until December 2021. Stainbrook said that he looked forward to “reenergizing [and] reviving the program.”

Pamela Beck, the founder of the Beverly Hills Flats Neighborhood Watch, submitted a comment to the hearing. She said that BH Neighborhood Watch, a city-wide consortium of Neighborhood Watch groups, has over 900 members and 96 block captains. The program functions as a tiered system of communication, she said, where block captains communicate with each other and with law enforcement contacts to provide vetted information to neighbors.

But according to members of Just In Case BH, the similar structures of the two programs could potentially confuse residents during times of emergency.

“We have now hit a major stumbling block where there’s a possibility that Neighborhood Watch were to separate from Just In Case BH,” said Just In Case BH Founder Vera Markowitz. “The problem is that both programs would have separate block captains in many areas. During an emergency, residents as well as block captains in the Neighborhood Watch Program will be confused as to what to do, who to contact, and who to listen to. We must have only one umbrella emergency preparedness program for residents and businesses to be a part of and participate in.”

Dr. Sarah Negar, the Just In Case BH liaison to the Persian community, said that she had observed “remarkable” confusion among members of the Persian community over the two programs.

“They…see Just In Case BH and Neighborhood Watch as two competing programs. They generally feel that they can join only one,” she told the Council.

Both Negar and Markowitz argued that Just In Case BH should function as the primary emergency preparedness program.

“Neighborhood Watch only covers a small portion of our city. Just In Case BH covers the entire city and its entire population,” Markowitz said.

City officials, however, focused on ways in which the two programs could function in tandem and differentiated between the mandates of either program.

“I certainly see them as complimentary under the city’s guidance,” Stainbrook said. “Some people may be interested in emergency management [and] disaster preparedness and some might be interested in more in crime prevention and there might be people that are interested in both.”

Stainbrook explained that BHPD offers Neighborhood Watch participants classes on crime prevention, home security, and reporting suspicious activity. Neighborhood Watch members do not receive the same level of training for “how to respond to a disaster.”

Stainbrook dismissed concerns that having block captains in both programs could lead to confusion. It didn’t matter whether someone became a block captain with either program “because that just allows my staff to reach out to that many more people,” he said.

The Council members echoed Stainbrook’s sentiment.

“I see these things as synergistic,” said Councilmember Julian Gold. “They overlap some, but their major focus is a little different.” 

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Two suspects wearing red hoodies held a male victim at gun-point on Roxbury Drive south of Olympic Boulevard, Lt. Todd Withers told the Courier. The suspects took a Rolex from the victim and fled in a white four-door sedan, according to Withers.

The victim was standing on the sidewalk around 12:10 p.m. when the robbery took place, Withers said. Police are reviewing surveillance footage from the area for additional information. Withers could not confirm reports on social media of the license plate number of the getaway vehicle.

The victim, who lives across the street from the park, told the Courier that he left his home to take a walk down Roxbury Drive. He requested anonymity, citing concerns for his safety.

Beverly Hills and surrounding areas have seen a spate of robberies of high-end watches in the last year, including the armed robbery of a $500,000 watch from a diner at Il Pastaio in the Business Triangle in March 2020.

Related Story: BHPD Makes Arrests After Three Robberies

“Be aware of your surroundings and what’s going on around you,” Withers said.

This is a developing story and will be updated.

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According to BHPD Public Information Officer Lt. Giovani Trejo, officers arrested James Terrell Williams, 47, of Los Angeles on Jan. 4 for the incident. Officers picked up Williams near the intersection of Hollywood Boulevard and La Brea Avenue.

Crustacean did not respond to a request for comment.

Trejo explained that the hefty haul from Crustacean included top-shelf liquor.

“It’s not so much the amount of liquor that he stole, but the price of the liquor he stole,” Trejo said, though he could not provide any brand information. “That’s what made the total go over the $100,000 mark.”

Williams has a lengthy rap sheet going back at least as early as 1999. He also has a preferred target, according to Trejo.

“We investigated him in 2021 for two separate incidents involving commercial burglaries [in Beverly Hills],” Trejo said. “His MO appears to be commercial burglary, where he targets businesses.”

One of those incidents occurred on Feb. 2, 2021, according to Trejo. In that case, Los Angeles Superior Court records indicate that Williams was sentenced on Dec. 20 to 16 months in state prison for one count of burglary. It was not immediately clear how or why Williams was out of custody by the time of the Crustacean burglary. 

Trejo said this was part of a recent pattern of criminals reoffending after release.

“We keep seeing arrestees with lengthy convictions for the same offense, like in this particular case,” Trejo told the Courier. “This is the revolving door that we are seeing constantly, where we arrest someone for an offense that he or she was convicted of literally months before the commission of a crime here in Beverly Hills.”

Thanks in part to his history of offenses in the city, Trejo said that BHPD detectives promptly closed in on Williams as a suspect. Detectives were also aided by surveillance footage.

“They’re definitely familiar with the MO and they started to put the pieces together,” he said. “That’s the detective work that some of our people are doing here where some of these repeat offenders like Mr. Williams, he is now known by detectives because of the way he operates.”

While property crime is down in Beverly Hills, the business community has been shaken by a series of high-profile robberies and attempted burglaries. Todd Johnson, Beverly Hills Chamber of Commerce President and CEO, says that businesses everywhere are worried, not just in Beverly Hills. He insisted, though, that Beverly Hills remains safer than most places.

“I don’t think businesses that are coming to Beverly Hills should be scared,” he told the Courier. “Crime is a part of life, but we have one of the best police departments in the country.” 

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“The magnitude of the Omicron variant and the impact it is having on learning cannot be understated. Although we are confident in our ability to pivot, the number of students in quarantine is unlike anything we have experienced without transitioning the entire school to Distance Learning,” BHUSD Superintendent Dr. Michael Bregy said in a statement.

The district saw early warning signs about the variant in the last days of the fall semester. By the start of winter break on Dec. 21, the district reported 40 infections among students and 12 among staff. School board members told the Courier that the district might have to consider testing each student prior to the resumption of learning.

On the morning of Jan. 9, the Sunday before classes, administrators, teachers, and staff marshaled at Hawthorne with more than 9,000 rapid antigen COVID-19 tests. In addition to testing each of the district’s 3,300 students and roughly 750 staff, the district distributed tests to household members accompanying students in the same car.

Guests who came to the testing first checked in with an official on Rexford Drive to verify the enrollment status of students. The district told the Courier that a number of individuals without students in the district attempted to secure tests but were turned away. Then, cars made their way onto Elevado Avenue and into the Hawthorne parking lot, where the district had erected a field office to distribute tests and log results as they came in. After getting the tests, the guests parked on the surrounding streets to self-administer them.

For many staff and faculty assisting in the process, the day became an enjoyable “soft open” for the spring term. “It’s been really nice to see families that we taught a long time ago and have been in the district for a long time,” Hawthorne Principal Sarah Kaber told the Courier. “It’s been a really nice day actually.”

Parents largely expressed gratitude for the service and its execution, with wait times often taking less than five minutes.

“I thought it would be a mess [with] cars waiting in line. It’s really fast. I’m really surprised,” said one parent named Sarah who declined to give her last name.

But allowing parents and students to administer the tests themselves also seemed to open the tests up to wider margins of human error. The Courier observed some younger students struggle with the dense instructions. Remus “RJ” Johnson, a long-time security guard at Hawthorne, told the Courier that he helped some families whose first language was not English.

“Some parents, they cannot read English,” said the college-age cousin of two BHUSD students who drove his cousins to the testing site and asked for anonymity to speak candidly. “They’re foreign. How can they do it?”

The testing protocols instituted by the district acknowledged the limitations of the rapid antigen tests, which are less reliable than polymerase chain reaction (PCR) tests. Those with positive test results were then directed to the district office for a second antigen test. If that one also returned a positive, the individual was considered an active case. If, however, the second test came back negative, one of the district’s COVID-19 testing contractors would administer PCR test, the results of which determined the person’s status.

At a time of nationwide testing shortages, “the challenge was securing tests,” School Board President Mary Wells told the Courier. The district placed an order for tests with the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health (Public Health), but suspecting that demand might outstrip supply, district officials worked with existing contractors to acquire antigen tests of their own. By Jan. 9, the district still had not received any tests from Public Health, officials said.

The district had a contingency plan for families who did not attend the Jan. 9
drive- thru. On Jan. 10, in conjunction with the city and police department, the district shut down Rexford Drive along the Civic Center for a second drive-thru event.

In a demonstration of omicron’s virulence, the district shared that “numerous people who tested negative” on Jan. 9 developed symptoms afterwards and tested positive the next day.

The district reported the results of its own testing along with tests administered separately on Jan. 11, which showed 39 active cases among staff and 159 among students, by far the largest number of cases since the start of the pandemic. By Jan. 13, the case numbers had risen to 48 and 219, respectively.  

All of the nearly 270 infected students and staff will have isolate at home for at least five days. On the fifth day, if they no longer show symptoms, they may return to class with a negative antigen test.

In an abundance of caution, the district has instituted a new policy for this latest wave whereby the siblings of infected students are assumed to be positive as well. They, too, must isolate for the minimum five days. Isolating students can attend class via Zoom. 

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The Beverly Hills City Council unanimously passed a resolution backing the latest attempt to recall Los Angeles County District Attorney George Gasco?n. In an effort to wrest some measure of local control from the DA, the Council also further explored the creation of a city prosecutor to handle state misdemeanor charges. The City Council previously passed a vote of no confidence in the new DA last March in a 3-2 vote.

“We should be a city where people could feel safe. And I don’t mean just Beverly Hills, I mean everywhere in Los Angeles,” said Vice Mayor Lili Bosse, a vocal critic of Gasco?n. “People should be able to feel safe to walk the streets of their city. People should feel safe to sleep at night in their homes, in their beds, anywhere.”

The resolution cites “three Special Directives of concern to the City” as its basis. In his first day in office, Gasco?n issued a handful of policy directives, including: ending cash bail for misdemeanors, non-serious felonies, or non-violent felonies; dismissal of certain misdemeanors, absent “exceptions” and an end to the use of most sentencing enhancements. Gasco?n also announced that his office would no longer seek the death penalty and would work to convert former death penalty sentences to life without parole.

Members of the City Council argued that these policies have contributed to recent instances of crime in the city. “District Attorney George Gasco?n believes he has good intentions, but what he fails to realize is that the unintended consequences overtake his intentions,” said Councilmember Lester Friedman.

Beverly Hills Police Department (BHPD) Chief Mark Stainbrook described a “frustrating” dynamic in which officers arrest suspects and the DA’s office declines to pursue charges. Between 2020 and 2021, the department filed 839 cases with the DA’s office, including 167 felonies and 346 misdemeanors.

“Almost 200 of those cases were rejected,” Stainbrook said.

Stainbrook reiterated a common point of criticism against Gasco?n, arguing that the elimination of cash bail had allowed suspects to return to the streets to commit more crimes. He described one case in which BHPD arrested a juvenile “for being involved with robberies,” but then arrested the same juvenile 30 days later “because he was immediately released from juvenile detention.”

A BHPD spokesperson could not verify details of that case, citing the ongoing investigation and confidentiality in juvenile matters.

The language of the city’s resolution cites the recent murder of philanthropist Jaqueline Avant, who was killed in the early morning of Dec. 1 in her Trousdale home. The suspect arrested for the crime, Aariel Maynor, had a lengthy criminal record that predated Gasco?n’s tenure.

Mayor Robert Wunderlich acknowledged in an interview with the Courier that “the decisions that were made about [Maynor] were made pre-Gascon and not by Gascon.” He did add that the murder of Avant represented a case in which Gasco?n failed to “make people feel that they’re safe.” In a town hall in December, Stainbrook shared that property crime in Beverly Hills fell by 7% while violent crime rose “significantly” from 2019 to 2021.

“In 2019, the city of Beverly Hills had 82 violent crimes within the city. In 2021, it was 132,” he said.

The uptick is not unique to Beverly Hills.

Data released by the FBI for 2020 showed a rise in crime nationally. In line with the trends experienced by the city, the country saw a 7.8% decrease in property crime and a 5.6% increase in violent crime, according to the FBI’s Uniform Crime Report.

While the resolution supporting the recall passed unanimously, back in March, Councilmember John Mirisch and then-Vice Mayor Wunderlich voted against passing a vote of no confidence in Gasco?n. Although both Mirisch and Wunderlich expressed opposition to Gasco?n and his policies, neither felt that the vote was an appropriate vehicle for their disagreement.

“I agree that we have to protect our community, but I think we can send messages without undermining democracy,” Mirisch said at the March 16 meeting. In explaining his recent vote in support of the recall, Mirisch pointed the Courier to his suggestion at the time that a voter-led recall would be a better alternative.

At the March 16 meeting, Wunderlich said that the resolution should focus on Gasco?n’s policies, not on Gasco?n as “an individual.”

“When we’ve disagreed with certain policies from L.A. County or from Sacramento, we didn’t vote no confidence in the elected officials. We opposed the specific policies that we disagreed with,” Wunderlich said at the time, adding that he was not a supporter of the new DA and had voted for Gasco?n’s opponent, incumbent Jackie Lacey.

This week, Wunderlich told the Courier that he had switched positions in response to Gasco?n’s refusal to change his policies. “In the face of someone who isn’t open to trying to eliminate the negative consequences of what he’s doing, it becomes a situation in which the remedy that’s available to deal with these things with the urgency that’s required is, in this instance, to go for the recall,” he said.

This is the second attempt to oust Gasco?n from office. An earlier effort in 2021 failed to attract significant funding or gather enough signatures to qualify for the ballot.

On Dec. 12, members of the Recall District Attorney George Gasco?n  campaign served the District Attorney with a notice of intent to recall for the second time. Once the recall petition is approved by the Registrar of Voters, the campaign will have 160 days to collect over 580,000 verified signatures. To account for disqualified signatures, this means the campaign must gather around 800,000 signatures.

In its first unsuccessful run, the recall campaign collected just over 200,000 signatures.

Three of the co-chairs of Recall District Attorney George Gasco?n called into the City Council hearing, including Tania Owen, a former Los Angeles County Sheriff ‘s Department deputy. Owen recounted how her husband, Sgt. Steve Owen, was shot and killed while responding to burglary in Lancaster. Prior to Gasco?n, the assailant faced the possibility of the death penalty. Once Gasco?n took office and implemented his directives, he received a life sentence without the possibility of parole. Owen described Gasco?n as “a domestic enemy.”

“There is no rhyme or reason for what he is doing other than to embolden criminals,” she said.

Former District Attorney Steve Cooley, another co-chair of the campaign, appeared remotely in the hearing to take fire at Gasco?n’s policy instructing his prosecutors not to attend parole hearings or argue against release of felons – another one of his special directives.

“This has never happened before in Los Angeles County’s history,” Cooley said.

In his directive laying out the policy, Gasco?n argued that “parole is an effective process to reduce recidivism, ensure public safety, and assist people in successfully rejoining society.”

Along with Cooley, dozens of others called or wrote into the meeting to express displeasure with Gasco?n. Callers identifying themselves as residents of Beverly Hills said they were fearful of taking walks in the city or allowing their children to play outside unsupervised. One resident, Randy Simon, said he lives near the Trousdale home of Avant and recently purchased a gun and installed a fence and gate. Other callers raised the prospect of leaving the city or even the state altogether.

While Beverly Hills cannot elect its own district attorney, the city can request to handle prosecution of state level misdemeanors – a request decided by Gasco?n. This would include prosecution of drug possession for personal use, theft below $950, or assault and battery that does not involve a deadly weapon or serious injury. In most cases, the maximum penalty for state misdemeanors is a $1,000 fine and/or six months in jail.

The City Council reviewed a proposal from the City Prosecutor’s Office and expressed unanimous support for paying an estimated $960,000 for prosecuting state misdemeanors. The City Attorney’s office now must approach Gasco?n with the request to prosecute such cases.

Council members expressed concern over whether Gasco?n would approve the request, but Bosse said that a denial would foment even more anger in the community.

“This community wants a new prosecutor. They want him not to be the one making these decisions,” she said.

Correction: An earlier version of this story incorrectly identified the organization responsible for serving Gascón with the notice of intent to recall and whose co-chairs called into the City Council hearing. The group is Recall District Attorney George Gascón, not Recall Gascón Now.

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Even with early evidence of omicron’s infectiousness, the rapidity of the new wave has startled public health officials and experts. Out of nearly 10 million tests reported on Dec. 28, 15% returned positive results, according to the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health (Public Health). The figure represents a tripling of test positivity since mid-December, “indicating surging transmission across the county,” Public Health said in a statement.

Multiple early studies have found that infections from the omicron variant tend to result in milder symptoms and lower rates of hospitalization than the delta variant. Still, though, “the current rise in hospitalizations is a cause for concern,” Public Health said, with a 30% rise in hospitalization since last Tuesday.

“As we approach the new year, with the staggering reality that over 27,000 LA County residents have lost their lives to COVID-19, we extend our thoughts and prayers to those who have lost their loved ones,” Director of Public Health Dr. Barbara Ferrer said in a statement. “And while we all wish that 2022 would begin without the continued tragedy of serious illness and death associated with COVID, we are instead facing the prospect of an alarming surge that requires every person to act with intentionality: get vaccinated and boosted, get tested, and please, always wear a mask around others. These are the tools we have to try to keep each other safe over the holidays.” 

The general public has multiple options for receiving vaccines throughout Beverly Hills, including ACE Medical Pharmacy on Wilshire Boulevard, CVS on Wilshire, Hepps Prescription Pharmacy on South La Cienega, Rite Aid on North Canon Drive, and Mickey Fine Pharmacy on North Roxbury Drive.

With every cough or scratchy throat suddenly suspect, the omicron surge has also ramped up demand for testing. Two forms of testing exist for COVID-19, rapid antigen testing and PCR testing, each with drawbacks and advantages. Antigen tests can be administered at home with results in as little as 15 minutes, making them ideal for confirming whether a sore throat or fever is the result of COVID-19 or another seasonal illness. However, antigen tests are less sensitive than PCR tests. Add to that, the increased demand has made the tests scarce.

PCR, or polymerase chain reaction, is a laboratory procedure that amplifies genetic signals in a sample to determine whether someone has COVID-19. The tests are better at catching asymptomatic cases or confirming positive results from an antigen test. What you get in accuracy, you lose in time and convenience. PCR tests take a few hours to a few days to complete, depending on the lab and the demand.

Free testing options are limited in and around Beverly Hills. DoctorNow at 181 N. Robertson Blvd. offers free PCR testing regardless of insurance status. Results typically come back the day after testing, but DoctorNow offers expedited services for $120, according to its website. DoctorNow does not accept appointments and takes walk-ins only. For wait times, you can call in advance at 424-249-3038. 

The post City to Run Pop-Up Vaccine Clinic For Employees appeared first on Beverly Hills Courier.

In the plea agreement, which was reached last July but not unsealed until Dec. 21, Bisignano pleaded guilty to six of the seven charges in her indictment. Those charges are Obstruction of an Official Proceeding and Aiding and Abetting; Civil Disorder; Entering and Remaining in a Restricted Building or Grounds; Disorderly and Disruptive Conduct in a Restricted Building or Grounds; Engaging in Physical Violence in a Restricted Building or Grounds and Disorderly Conduct in a Capitol Building. The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia, who is prosecuting the case, dropped a charge for Destruction of Government Property under the terms of the agreement.

The agreement notes that “neither the Government’s recommendation nor the Sentencing Guidelines are binding on the Court.” It does, however, estimate Bisignano’s possible prison time at 41 to 51 months. It also estimates Bisignano’s potential financial penalty as between $15,000 to $150,000, with an additional $2,000 to the Department of Treasury as restitution for the $1.5 million in damage to the Capitol.

Under the deal, Bisignano agrees to cooperate with federal, state, and local law enforcement. She is required to “promptly turn over to the Government…any and all evidence of crimes about which [Bisignano is] aware.”

The government, in turn, agrees to “bring to the Court’s attention at the time of sentencing the nature and extent of [Bisignano’s] cooperation or lack of cooperation.”

In an interview with the Courier following the insurrection, Bisignano acknowledged entering the Capitol building and using a bullhorn to encourage others to do the same. “Everybody, we need gas masks. We need weapons. We need strong, angry patriots to help our boys, they don’t want to leave. We need protection,” Bisignano called out to the rioters, standing in the archway of a broken window.

“I was caught up, I was scared, I was excited,” Bisignano told the Courier. “A guy said to say that over the megaphone. I don’t even remember saying it.”

The plea deal, signed by Bisignano on July 28, is conditioned upon her “acceptance of responsibility.”

Bisignano is among a group of alleged Capitol rioters who frequented the Beverly Hills Freedom Rallies that took place in 2020. The group includes two other Beverly Hills residents, John Strand and Simone Gold, both of whom have been charged in connection with their participation in the Capitol insurrection. Gold confirmed to the Washington Post that she had entered the Capitol with other rioters but insisted that she did not participate in or witness any violence.

Strand and Gold, who are being tried together, are both charged with Obstruction of an Official Proceeding and Aiding and Abetting, Entering and Remaining in a Restricted Building or Grounds, Disorderly and Disruptive Conduct in a Restricted Building or Grounds, Disorderly Conduct in a Capitol Building, Parading, Demonstrating, or Picketing in a Capitol Building. 

Bisignano is next scheduled to appear for a remote status conference on March 4. 

The post Terms of Bisignano Plea Deal Unsealed appeared first on Beverly Hills Courier.

Even with Super Bowl Sunday set to take place at SoFi Stadium in Inglewood on Feb. 13, hotels and businesses in Beverly Hills are benefitting from the event, said Beverly Hills Chamber of Commerce President and CEO Todd Johnson.

“I know all the hotels are booked for the Super Bowl. Most are sold out,” Johnson told the Courier. This comes as a sorely needed balm to the city’s hospitality industry, which has been one of the sectors hit hardest by COVID-19, Johnson added.

Running from Feb. 17-20, Frieze Week and Frieze Sculpture Beverly Hills will bring over 100 art galleries from 17 countries to Beverly Hills, in addition to highlighting the city’s trove of outdoor public art. The headquarters of the event will be at 9900 Wilshire Blvd. directly across from the Beverly Hilton, the site of the future One Beverly Hills development. Organizers have estimated that the event will bring in tens of thousands of visitors from across the globe to Beverly Hills, although rising COVID-19 case numbers have made planners cautious.

Christine Messineo, Director of Frieze Los Angeles and Frieze New York, said in a statement that she looks forward to showcasing “the creative community” of the city.

“In Los Angeles, this takes many forms, both within the framework of the tent, with significant participation from Los Angeles galleries, as well as outside of the fair architecture,” she said. “This intention extends to our inaugural Frieze Sculpture Beverly Hills presentation, which will remain on public view in Beverly Gardens Park for three months, and our continued collaborations with not-for-profits, local institutions and artists throughout Frieze Week.”

The new year promises to have plenty of political activity as well. Vice Mayor Lili Bosse will take over as Mayor in April, replacing current Mayor Robert Wunderlich. Then, on June 7, polls will open for residents to cast their votes for three open City Council seats. 

Many of the candidates vying for the seats plan to host public events as election day draws nearer. Wunderlich told the Courier that he will announce plans for “a campaign kick-off event and multiple coffees to meet with the residents of Beverly Hills” in the new year. Public Works Commissioner Sharona Nazarian, who announced her candidacy for City Council in August, told the Courier that she and other candidates are looking to hold a joint kickoff event in March, though a specific date has not yet been chosen. 

“Beverly Hills candidates have traditionally coordinated the day candidates have their official campaign kickoff. It’s like an open house where the community members go from home to home to meet the candidates on the same day,” Nazarian told the Courier. “The time a candidate will speak at the podium is specified so no two candidates speak at the same time. It’s a courtesy and practice in civility that our city candidates have always followed, and I am excited to honor that tradition.”

In addition to the city election, June will also play host to the city’s summer Concerts on Canon and the hopeful return of the Rodeo Concours d’Elegance, the annual Father’s Day car show on June 19. The Concours d’Elegance was canceled in 2020 due to the pandemic, with a paired down version called the Tour d’Elegance held in 2021. While the pandemic makes certainty impossible, the city hopes that 2022 will allow for the return of crowds to Rodeo Drive to ogle dozens of classic and luxury automobiles  

The post Beverly Hills Looks Forward to 2022 appeared first on Beverly Hills Courier.

“My goodness, what an amazing community,” Matsch said from the “fire memorabilia” room in his home in Chino. “I’ve been blessed beyond measure and I have nothing but gratitude to them. I’m indebted to this community and I wish I had another lifetime to serve this community here.”

Like many toddlers, Matsch had that seemingly innate reverence for firefighters and their alluringly candy apple-red trucks. “As a kid, I remember my parents got me a pedal fire engine for Christmas,” he said. “It had a little ladder on the side of it and I remember pedaling around the house…and I’d stop the engine and take off the ladder and I’d put it up against the wall or a cabinet and I’d climb up just pretending.”

His mother soon returned the fire engine, claiming Matsch was “too big for it.”

But Matsch kept that same reverence as he grew up, deciding to go into the U.S. Air Force Fire Protection after high school in 1987 to receive his training as both a firefighter and an emergency medical technician (EMT). After over four years of service in the Air Force, he moved to a fire department in Torrance and then to the Ontario International Airport, where he worked as both a police officer and a firefighter.

Matsch found he loved police work, but didn’t much care for splitting his time between firefighter and police officer duties. In 1994, Beverly Hills announced openings for its fire department. Matsch said that had it not been for two crucial decisions, the next 27 years of his life would have been fundamentally changed.

First, he didn’t go golfing.

In the Stone Age pre-internet era of job applications, Matsch had to call BHFD to get one of 1,000 applications available. The department even set up a phone bank to field the influx of interest. Matsch began calling as soon as he got off work, plugging in his car phone and dialing the number. As he drove home, he got a busy signal. As he called from his home phone, he got a busy signal.

Enter into this crucible of patience Matsch’s friends, who began pestering him to go golfing. “Oh my goodness, I am so glad I stuck with it. Didn’t go golfing that day and ended up getting a phone call,” he said.

The next decision came after Matsch had completed his written exam for the opening (which took place at the Beverly Hilton). For six months prior, Matsch had scrimped and saved for a missionary trip to post-Soviet Russia, laying down a nonrefundable $2,200 for the expenses. Going would mean missing the oral exam, but he had no guarantee he would make it past the written portion and had to make the choice before he would find out.

“I’m so glad I canceled my golfing trip [and] I canceled my Russia trip,” he said.

Matsch recalled his first structure fire in Beverly Hills with vivid clarity. When the call came in sometime around 1996, Matsch and the other firefighters were running ladder drills on the roof of the Rite Aid on Canon Drive. They could see the plume of smoke, emanating from Cove Way, all the way from the business district.

The house in question was undergoing construction and metal plates had been placed along the “winding” driveway. However, the plates had become wet and the fire engine could not make it up the slope, leaving Matsch and the crew to carry their supplies–ladder and all–up the serpentine path.

Matsch led the charge into the attic, where the fire was located. Inside, he saw the fingers of the fire “rolling across the ceiling,” a sign of extreme heat and combusting gasses. As he carried the hose further into the space, he became entangled in the metallic loops from exposed HVAC tubes. “I remember getting tangled up in a slinky and not being able to move. I’ve got fingers of fire going across the ceiling and thinking, this isn’t good,” he said. “This is how firefighters die.”

Following his training, he calmly clipped his way out of the thicket of metal in about a minute and a half. He soon emerged from extinguishing the fire with little snippets of wire still hanging off of him. To this day, he jokes about the incident with his crewmates from the time.

Matsch said that the highlights of his career were the creation of the 9-11 Memorial on Rexford Drive next to the fire station and the department’s accreditation by the Center for Public Safety Excellence.

Said Matsch, “Who would have ever thought that a piece of the [tower] would be there in Beverly Hills, so prominently displayed with such dignity and grace?”

Matsch leaves at a time of tumult for the department, as it deals with internal strife over the Los Angeles County vaccine mandate. While around 80% of the department is vaccinated, a handful of firefighters have requested exemptions to the mandate. One firefighter, whose exemption was denied, is suing the city and county.

He acknowledged that the department was “going through a challenging time.” But he insists that “there isn’t division in the fire department.” 

“We are still very unified because we honor those differences, we don’t necessarily agree with those differences. Just like any family.”

Matsch added: “I just want to say to the community, we are a professional workforce. When it comes to providing a high level of service, we do not waver and you will continue to receive that professional service that you received yesterday and into the future.”

Matsch plans resting and evaluating his next steps over the next month or two before going back to some form of emergency management work. 

The post Deputy Fire Chief Joe Matsch Hangs Up His Helmet appeared first on Beverly Hills Courier.

“The Beverly Hills City Council would like to remind all who commit acts of hatred toward members of our community that these cowardly acts and any divisive attempts of intimidation will be rejected outright,” the city said in a statement signed by all five members of the City Council.

“As a City that is made up of a diverse population and being one of the only Jewish-majority cities outside of Israel, the City condemns this unwarranted hate speech that has been unsuccessfully used to disparage a community that has, and always will, stand strong together and fight hatred of any kind.”

The flyers combine age-old antisemitic tropes with conspiracies about the COVID-19 pandemic. The flyers list members of the government who it claims are Jews, incorrectly identifying at least one person as Jewish. The text, “Every single aspect of the COVID agenda is Jewish,” appears at the top, sandwiched between a Star of David and a pentagram.

Identical flyers were previously discovered on Nov. 28, the first day of Hanukkah, in the northeast area of the flats. A statement from BHPD Capt. Elisabeth Albanese described the flyers as “propaganda style hate speech related to the COVID pandemic and the Jewish people.”

Vice Mayor Lili Bosse took to social media to share her thoughts on the incident. “Once again, these disgusting words of Jew Hatred blaming Jews for involvement with COVID were dropped on the sidewalks of our city. As we have fought for ‘Never Again,’ I am sickened to see once again, this despicable act occur in front of our homes,” she wrote on Facebook. “As a daughter of Holocaust survivors, this cuts to my core of my soul. I know it cuts all of our hearts to see hatred in Humanity still exist. My heart breaks to see this mortifying antisemitism.”

Bosse has received hate mail for her condemnation of the flyers, posting a bigotted email she received on social media. “Shut your stupid Jewish hole,” the subject line read, according to the post. “Those flyers were just the facts.”

This latest incident appears to be a part of a coordinated, national effort led by the Goyim Defense League, a “loose network of individuals connected by their virulent antisemitism,” according to the Anti-Defamation League. Residents in Pasadena discovered identical flyers early Dec. 19 also bearing the group’s logo, according to the Pasadena Police Department. Flyers were found in states across the country, including Texas, North Carolina, Idaho, Vermont, Alabama, Illinois and Florida.

The Anti-Defamation League responded with alarm to the news of the flyers. “We are outraged to once again see antisemitic fliers dropped in Beverly Hills, but now also in Pasadena, which we previously saw on the 1st night of #Hannukah,” The Los Angeles branch of the ADL said on Twitter. The post added that the organization was in touch with law enforcement “to address the situation.”

While some COVID-19 conspiracy theorists have deployed antisemitic rhetoric in increasingly public ways, others have long sought to co-opt the narrative of the Holocaust by conflating public health restrictions with the limits placed on Jews in Nazi Germany. 

On Dec. 21, West Hollywood City councilmember Lindsey Horvath shared on social media an image of a poster outside the gay bar and nightclub The Abby. The poster depicts the word “anti-vaxxer” inscribed in the Star of David, in an apparent reference to the badges used to identify Jews by the Nazis. The poster contains the text “report anti-vaxxers” and includes the phone number for The Abby. During a weekend in August, The Abby was the site of protests by a small group of activists over its policy of requiring proof of vaccination or a negative COVID test for entry.

“Senseless acts like this have no home here and will never be accepted,” the Beverly Hills City Council said about the flyers. “Our community is home to families of survivors of the Holocaust who have seen evil and will never give in to such attacks.”

According to the city, the BHPD is “thoroughly investigating” the incident and will bolster officer patrols and private security throughout the city “to ensure a safe holiday season.” 

The post Antisemitic Flyers Found Again appeared first on Beverly Hills Courier.

Rachelle Marcus, Beverly Hills Unified School District (BHUSD) Board of Trustees liaison, reported to the commission that the district had seen an uptick in cases prior to the Dec. 21 start of winter break. As of Dec. 21, the district reported 40 active cases in students and 12 in staff, all together representing over 40% of all cases detected in the current school year.  

“It’s…almost somewhat of a blessing that tomorrow is the last day of school for almost two and a half weeks,” Marcus said. “Hopefully, we will be able to get a feel when we come back [of] what’s happening.”

Marcus added that she felt “very nervous about January 10,” the day students return from winter break. She floated the idea that every student should be tested before returning to class on the first Monday of school, though the proposal has not been discussed by the full board.

In response to questions from the Courier, School Board Members Noah Margo and Amanda Stern, and President Mary Wells voiced support for proactively testing before the resumption of classes. Board member Gabriel Halimi did not respond to a request for comment.

The district has the third highest rate of vaccinations in the county among students ages 12-18, nearly 93% of whom have received at least one dose of the vaccine. For students between the ages of 5-11, the most recent cohort for whom the FDA granted vaccine approval, about 28% have been vaccinated. Marcus stated that she would like to make vaccines mandatory for all eligible students, though the board previously declined to take such action.

Currently, the district requires unvaccinated students to get tested once a week. Additionally, the district screens a random selection of vaccinated students along with students who have come into contact with an infectious individual.

For unvaccinated students who are exposed to the virus but test negative, they must quarantine for 10 days with the option of testing after day five and returning after a week. For vaccinated students or those with a recent infection who come into close contact with a positive COVID-19 infection, no quarantine is required provided they test negative.  

The new variant has led to an eerily familiar scene of last-minute cancellations and postponements for events. The American Film Institute postponed its awards luncheon scheduled for Jan. 7 at the Four Seasons Beverly Hills citing “concerns over current health conditions,” according to a statement.

“Throughout the country, we’re seeing increased lines for testing, increased demand for home tests as case counts rise across the board. We’re seeing events all across our communities and communities across the nation being impacted,” Emergency Manager Meena Janmohamed told the commission. “All of this is less than one week until the Christmas and New Year’s holidays. So unfortunately, this recent COVID-19 surge is real and unfortunately timed.”

In a demonstration of Omicron’s virulence, officials with the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) revealed on Dec. 20 that omicron accounted for 73% of all new infections. On Dec. 22, Public Health announced that cases more than doubled over one day to 6,509, “one of the steepest rises we’ve ever seen over the course of the pandemic,” said Public Health Director Barbara Ferrer.

Beverly Hills’ relatively high vaccination rate puts it in a better position for the upcoming surge, according to experts. As of Dec. 16, nearly 77% of Beverly Hills residents 5 and older were fully vaccinated, according to the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health (Public Health)–more than 15% higher than the national average reported by the CDC.

While case numbers have started rising, this has not yet translated into the deluge of hospitalizations that Los Angeles experienced during the delta wave a year ago. According to Phil Hampton, Director of Communications for UCLA Health, UCLA Health hospitals had 17 COVID-19 positive patients as of Dec. 21–a number that has remained stable for the past two weeks.

“UCLA Health believes the region’s vaccination rate limits the likelihood of hospitalizations approaching levels seen in early January 2021,” Hampton told the Courier. He added that UCLA Health “is well-prepared in the event of an increase in the volume of patients requiring hospitalization.”

President Joe Biden took to the airwaves on Dec. 21 to address the omicron surge. He acknowledged the frustration shared by Americans across the country as they go into their second winter of COVID-19 discontent. He reiterated the advice of public health officials that in spite of a likely rise in breakthrough cases, vaccines still protect against severe illness and death.

While data related to the omicron variant remains sparse, Public Health previously reported on Nov. 15 that unvaccinated people are seven times more likely to get infected with the disease and 44 times more likely to be hospitalized.

Beverly Hills has opted to follow the COVID-19 safety guidelines issued by the county. Public Health currently requires face coverings while indoors except for when eating or drinking. Additionally, patrons must show proof of vaccination for access to indoor bars, breweries, nightclubs and lounges.

Cities including Los Angeles, West Hollywood, Pasadena and Culver City have implemented restrictions that go beyond the directives of the county. Los Angeles and West Hollywood, for instance, require proof of vaccination for indoor restaurants, fitness centers, personal care facilities, entertainment venues and city facilities.

“We’re not an island. Every action that we take has a reaction and all of our fates are tied with taking the right steps and protecting ourselves, our communities and the communities outside of us as well,” Janmohamed said.

Going into this next wave of infections, Janmohamed cautioned residents about making the mistakes of previous waves like “panic buying and hoarding.”

“We know that essential goods and items and services will not be shut down,” she said.  

Chair Cathy Baker warned that even milder infections can lead to the long-term complications known as long COVID. She also made an impassioned appeal to unvaccinated residents. 

“In our community, for those who have had past experiences distrusting government, whether here in the United States or living abroad, I have empathy. For those who have lived under tight government control where your personal freedoms such as freedom of speech is severely restricted, I have empathy,” she said. “But I want to say, these are very different concepts. Vaccines are about benefiting all people of every race, religion, gender, socio-economic background, and the like. Vaccines are about giving us our lives back so that we can enjoy the freedoms America has to offer. So please, reconsider.” 

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Under the city’s current regimen passed in 2017, the Rent Stabilization Ordinance requires owners of rent stabilized units to provide relocation fees to evicted tenants if the landlord or his family (including spouse, children or parents) plan to live in the unit; if a landlord seeks to move a new building manager into a unit occupied by a previous building manager; when a landlord intends to demolish or move the building, or convert the unit into condominiums, stock cooperatives, or community apartments; or if a landlord wishes to do major remodeling.

In those situations, the landlord must pay the tenant a relocation fee that scales with the number of bedrooms of the unit. Disabled, elderly, or minor tenants receive additional support. Landlords must pay tenants approximately $7,000 for a studio, $10,300 for a one bedroom, and $14,000 for a two or three bedroom. Landlords must pay an extra $2,000 for disabled, elderly, or minor tenants.

Director of Community Development Ryan Gohlich offered some context to the Commission, saying that these types of evictions happen with vanishing frequency. “We have a very, very low number of relocation fees that get paid out annually when we’re not in the middle of a moratorium,” he said. “I think that number of relocation fees actually represents less than one quarter of 1% of our total RSO inventory.”

In a motion offered by Commissioner Neal Baseman at the Nov. 3 meeting, the Commission voted to recommend to the City Council “that the relocation fees be adjusted based on the formula of three times median rent for the same size unit [based on number of bedrooms], based on the city’s rent registry each July 1, commencing July 1, 2022, plus an additional $1,000 for moving expenses, plus an additional $2,000 for a household with a qualifying member, which would be a senior, a disabled member or a minor child.”

Commissioner Frances Miller, who sits on the Commission as an alternate, pushed back against the use of median rent as the metric for calculating the fees. She said that people paying lower than median rent would receive a “bump up,” while people paying higher than the median would be getting cheated. Baseman disputed this idea, saying that “a person who is paying higher rent probably could better afford to relocate than somebody who’s paying a lower rent.”  

The Commission weighed whether or not the moving expense stipend should scale with the size of the unit. While a majority of commissioners opted to maintain a flat rate, commissioners Kathy Bronte and Zachary Sokoloff held that the fee should rise with the number of bedrooms.

“I’m sorry to disagree with you,” said Bronte to Gohlich, “but I know that living expenses for a two or three bedroom or even a four bedroom apartment [are] not even close to $1,000.”

Chairman Lou Milkowski suggested that the “increased dollar amount by the number of bedrooms” could be seen as going toward moving expenses “because we’re upping the ante at each level based upon the number of bedrooms.”

The motion passed four to two, with Bronte and Sokoloff voting no.

The Commission also considered at its Dec. 1 meeting whether to recommend a reduction in relocation fees for so-called “mom and pop” landlords, or landlords who own a smaller number of units. 

Both Los Angeles and Culver City grant smaller landlords reductions in relocation fees, though each city defines mom and pop landlords differently. Culver City defines small landlords as those who own no more than three rental units both inside and outside the city and are not corporations or real estate trusts. Los Angeles, in contrast, sets the limit at no more than four units within the city and does not take into consideration properties owned outside of Los Angeles.

Before the Commission could consider the degree of reduction offered to mom and pop landlords, they first had to pick a definition. For this, Miller, a landlord herself, had to recuse herself to avoid a conflict of interest. In a motion made by Commissioner Donna Tryfman, the Commission defined mom and pop landlords as those owning four units or fewer plus a single family residence, all in Beverly Hills. 

Under the recommendations, qualifying landlords would receive a reduction of 25% in fees, which would go down to a 15% reduction in the case of tenants who have lived at a property for 10 years or more. The recommendations received a five to one vote, with Bronte voting no out of an objection to the 15% long-term tenant reduction, which she viewed as insufficient. 

The recommendations will land before the City Council in the first quarter of next year, Gohlich told the Courier. 

The post Rent Stabilization Commission Recommends Updating Relocation Fees appeared first on Beverly Hills Courier.

Senate Bill 9 allows property owners to divide a single-family lot in two, either adding a second home on the property or a duplex. In effect, the law opens up single-family lots to as many as four housing units. Currently, California only allows the addition of accessory dwelling units (ADUs) on properties zoned for single-family homes. The law requires jurisdictions to approve proposals that fall within specified size and design guidelines.

“This is effectively the removal of single-family zoning in the state,” said Director of Community Development Ryan Gohlich.

“What we have here is a misguided attempt by the state legislature to have a one-size-fits-all [approach] regarding housing issues, and it just doesn’t work in a fully built out city such as ours,” said Councilmember Lester Friedman.

Gohlich explained that the law does include some “limited development standards.” Properties can only be divided in half if the two resulting lots are at least 1,200 square feet. The lots created in the split also cannot be a minimum of 40% of the original lot size. Additionally, the units built on the divided lots must be at least 800 square feet. Lastly, units constructed under SB 9 cannot be used for short term rentals and owners must sign an affidavit attesting that they will live in one of the units for at least three years.

The law has some exceptions. To prevent the loss of affordable housing, proposed developments cannot replace rent controlled units or market rate units that a tenant, as opposed to an owner, has occupied within the last three years. Historic properties and properties residing in historic districts are also protected. And the law also exempts properties located in high risk areas for fires or earthquakes, such as the properties located north of Sunset Boulevard.

“The law does, however, leave open the possibility for jurisdictions to adopt objective standards on subdivisions or developments that result from SB 9,” Gohlich said.

As such, the Council approved an urgency ordinance that establishes standards on any projects constructed under SB 9. The ordinance introduces a covenant that SB 9 applicants must sign that prohibits short term rentals and non-residential uses, prohibits the subsequent splitting of an already-divided lot, and requires the owner to sign an affidavit promising to inhabit one unit on the property as a primary residence for at least three years following the lot division.

Council members expressed disappointment with the limitations of the affidavit, which serves a largely symbolic role and cannot be enforced.  

“What’s the consequence to somebody lying?” Vice Mayor Lili Bosse asked. “It’s like Monopoly money, it means nothing. [Do] we have anything we can do to have it mean something? If not, it’s somewhat insulting.”

“Nothing. Really, nothing,” said City Attorney Laurence Wiener. “Normally, I am all for coming up with some kind of creative idea–we came up with the covenant–some kind of creative idea to enforce these sorts of things, but it specifically says the affidavit is all you can require.”

The covenant also requires that if more than one unit is developed on a lot and put up for rent, one unit “shall be rented at a maximum rate affordable to
low income tenants.” Landlords will be required to provide the city with a copy of a lease for “any unit that is rented and has resulted from an SB 9 project.”

The ordinance also introduces a series of standards to make it so that lot divisions under SB 9 would create a “front” and a “back” lot, as opposed to two side-by-side lots. Split lots would have to be roughly equal in size. Any new unit created under the law would be limited to a maximum of 800 square feet, including the basement, and to 14 feet or one story for the foremost unit.

The purpose of these standards, Gohlich said, is to maintain “the garden quality of the city and some of the look and feel of our existing residential zones.”

Even while SB 9 excludes the properties located north of Sunset, the urgency ordinance proactively establishes standards to maintain the “existing topography of the hillside and Trousdale areas,” Gohlich said.

The urgency ordinance will remain in place while city staff work with the Planning Commission on developing an ordinance to establish permanent regulations.

The City Council also heard an update on construction on the Burton Way Median Green Street and Water Efficient Landscape Project. The city granted a $10 million contract in the summer to install drainage and infiltration systems and make landscape and irrigation improvements. The project, slated for completion in late 2022 or early 2023, will transform the median into a sustainable garden.

Derek Nguyen, Project Manager in the Public Works Department, told the Council that construction will begin in January 2022.

“This project will help us capture approximately 20 million gallons of runoff per year that will be reused at the median for multi beneficial uses,” Nguyen said. 

The post Council Passes Urgency Ordinance in Response to SB9 appeared first on Beverly Hills Courier.

Wolff served in the U.S. Army Air Corps and flew eight bombing missions from his base in Scotland. On his last mission, his aircraft lost three engines and crashed into the English Channel. He and his crew survived, but were subsequently captured and interned by German forces until the end of the war.

“Captain Wolff, on behalf of our entire City Council, I’d like to thank you for your incredible service and heroic acts of patriotism that you’ve dedicated and demonstrated throughout your life. You truly are a hero and a representative of many in your generation,” said Mayor Robert Wunderlich.

“I don’t really feel like a big hero. I just did what I had to do. That’s all,” said Wolff, who recently celebrated his 100th birthday.

The Council also issued a proclamation in the honor of Jacqueline Avant, the 81-year-old long-time resident and prominent philanthropist who was shot and killed on Dec. 1.

Noting her accomplishments throughout her life, Wunderlich read from the proclamation, “[W]e, the City Council of the City of Beverly Hills, do hereby honor Jacqueline Avant for her positive impact on the community throughout her life that will never be forgotten.”

Wunderlich also shared a statement on behalf of the Avant family. “Thank you for the heartfelt condolences over the loss of our beloved Jacquie. We feel incredibly blessed to have received the support kindness and prayers over the last week,” the family said.

According to the statement, the family has arranged the Jacqueline Avant Memorial Fund for the new MLK Children’s Center in Watts as per her wishes. Avant previously invested time into the Watts community in 1975 as the president of the Neighbors of Watts, the support group for the South Central Community Child Care Center.

Bosse, a personal friend of Avant’s daughter Nicole, described Avant as “a guardian angel on this earth.”

“She changed so many lives and there isn’t one human being who didn’t meet her that didn’t say that she was the kindest, most loving, humble, giving human being,” Bosse said. 

The post Beverly Hills City Council Acknowledges Two Tragedies appeared first on Beverly Hills Courier.

The Virginia Robinson Gardens, the six-acre property that abuts the Beverly Hills Hotel and is listed in the National Register of Historic Places, has become the focal point for a controversy pitting Beverly Hills against the county. In early November, the county announced a proposal to expand public access to the facilities, immediately raising concerns among neighbors about the impact the changes could have on the area.

The Virginia Robinson Gardens are currently open to up to 100 members of the public a day from Monday to Saturday from 9:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. The county can host four special events per year on the grounds. The gardens have 35 parking spaces on site.

Under the county’s proposal, the gardens would be open to 200 visitors a day from 9:30 a.m. to sunset. In a notice of the proposal, the county’s Department of Park and Recreation promises that the guests would be “spread throughout the day for either tours, meetings seminars/classes, events or commercial filming (video only, no motion picture) or a combination of any of these activities.” Additionally, the grounds would be opened up to family ceremonies, such as weddings.

“I understand that there is a desire to give more people access to the beauty and the history of Virginia Robinson Gardens and a house which is a treasure,” said Councilmember John Mirisch. “But parties, events, commercial uses  – that’s really going overboard.”

Dozens of community members called into the meeting to express similar sentiment. (As a neighbor of the gardens herself, Vice Mayor Lili Bosse recused herself from the discussion.)

One neighbor, Anthony Spencer, explained that he and his wife purchased their house near the gardens for the quiet neighborhood. “I believe that I’m entitled to quiet enjoyment of my home,” he said. Spencer listed concerns about the noise and the number of cars that would come into the area.

The 1911 mansion and grounds that comprise the Virginia Robinson Gardens once belonged to retail magnates Virginia and Harry Robinson of department store fame. Prior to the death of Ms. Robinson 1977, she bequeathed the property to the county for its continued enjoyment by the public.  

The City Council voiced universal concern over the changes. Council members requested that City Attorney Laurence Wiener review the condition of Ms. Robinson’s original bequest to ensure that the proposal does not violate the terms.

“A sixfold increase in the number of events just seems way out of line,” said Councilmember Lester Friedman, who supported drafting a position letter to the county in opposition to the project.

Councilmember Julian Gold described the proposal as “outrageous” and suggested a series of measures to protect the neighborhood if the county moves ahead with the proposal.

“We need to restrict parking on every one of the streets that’s around there,” Gold said. “I don’t care if we post somebody from [the Department of Transportation] to stand there and ticket everybody as they leave their car.”

The county is accepting public comments on the proposed changes for a Supplemental Environmental Impact Report (SEIR) through Dec. 16. A Draft SEIR will be available in April 2022.

The city will continue to monitor the project and staff will report back to the Council with possible avenues of recourse as the county moves forward with the EIR process.

The Council also moved the city closer to its sustainability goals by setting its default energy rate to 100% renewable energy sources starting Oct. 1, 2022. Previously, members of the community were automatically set to receive 50% of their energy from sustainable sources.

The city is a member of the Clean Power Alliance, a cooperative of 30 cities and Los Angeles and Ventura counties that buys power generated by renewable sources. As a member of the group, the city can select the default level of how much of its energy comes from renewables, with different costs associated with each level. Residents or businesses can select higher or lower levels, or opt out altogether and purchase energy from Southern California Edison–otherwise, they will receive the default amount chosen by the city.

The city formerly opted to set 50% as the default level. Starting on Oct. 1, 2022, the city will join the ranks of Santa Monica, Culver City, West Hollywood and 12 other municipalities that set a 100% default level. According to a staff report, those 15 municipalities see participation of nearly 95% of customers.

“If this is burdensome for people based on today’s numbers, they have the ability to choose the level at which they’re comfortable, and that will not change,” said Gold, though he added that he expected the cost of energy through the Clean Power Alliance to fall below Edison within the next few years.

“There’s nothing else we can do that will have the impact that this decision tonight has,” Gold said. “I really do believe that this is a question that only has one answer. It’s an obvious answer: Yes.”

The city will now educate the Clean Power Alliance of its decision and, in conjunction with the Alliance, will begin an education campaign to notify community members of the change. 

Finally, the City Council voiced unanimous support for another 3-year commitment with Vanity Fair to allow the glossy to host an Academy Awards after party on the 400 block of North Crescent. The commitment is non-binding and the event will come before the City Council each year for approval.

“It’s mutually beneficial. It’s beneficial for the city and it’s beneficial for Vanity Fair,” said Mayor Robert Wunderlich. “It adds to and it maintains the position of Beverly Hills as being prominent in the entertainment industry, it being the premier location for truly special, special events. It’s an attractor for visitors and support for our businesses.”

While dates have not been selected for 2023 and 2024, the party is scheduled to take place next year on March 27. 

The post Virginia Robinson Gardens Proposal Stirs Controversy appeared first on Beverly Hills Courier.

“I am very proud of our police officers and civilian staff who have been working tirelessly,” Stainbrook said. “For the time that I have been here, I have been impressed with the level of interdepartmental teamwork, our excellent access to technology and the amazing level of community support.”

Stainbrook told the Council that the department had tripled the number of armed private security. A BHPD detective will join the Los Angeles Police Department Follow Home Task Force to “ensure real time information sharing,” he said. The department has also deployed three camera trailers to “high visibility locations” and is in the process of buying a fourth trailer. Stainbrook also assured the Council that they would see “foot beat and bike patrol units within the business districts.”

While the city already has a thorough network of CCTV cameras, Stainbrook told the Council that the department was working with the Public Works Department “to increase and ensure proper camera coverage for the city.” Stainbrook also said that the department would purchase 20 new license plate readers with the goal of covering every entrance into the city.

The department hired five new police officers on Dec. 6 and has plans to onboard seven more officers in the next three months.

Beverly Hills residents called in to the meeting to express their anxiety, with the most passionate voices coming from the Trousdale Estates neighborhood where Avant lived and was killed.

“[The] Trousdale neighborhood is up in arms,” said Sharam Melamad, who spoke on behalf of the Trousdale Estates Neighborhood Association and requested that the Beverly Hills Police Department assign two full time police patrols to the neighborhood. “The challenge we have in Trousdale right now is that we feel our police [are] not as visible as they should be. And although we know they’re there, unfortunately, the criminals do not see it as a deterrent because they cannot see them.”

Melamad and other residents also raised concerns that Airbnbs, movie rentals, and house parties–things that draw in people from outside of the community–are “major contributing factors” to crime in the area. Outside visitors “could be easily casing houses, casing the streets,” Melamad said. Airbnbs and short-term rentals are illegal in Beverly Hills.

Melamed said that he was meeting with City Manager George Chavez soon to discuss the concerns around party houses.

The post City Council Hears Concerns from Residents about Safety in Beverly Hills appeared first on Beverly Hills Courier.

“Mrs. Avant was a treasured member of our community. Her generosity and good will touched so many lives,”  Gascón said in a statement. “My office is working closely with the Los Angeles and Beverly Hills police departments in the investigation and prosecution of this case. We must continue to work together to hold accountable the people who commit violent crimes against our community.”

In addition to one count of murder and one count of attempted murder, Gascón’s office charged Maynor with possession of a firearm as a felon and two counts of residential burglary with a person present.

A representative for the City of Beverly Hills was not immediately available to respond.

According to Beverly Hills Police Department Chief Mark Stainbrook, Maynor shot and killed Avant at her home in the Trousdale Estates neighborhood in the early morning of Dec. 1. Prosecutors and law enforcement allege that Maynor then broke into a house in the Hollywood Hills later that same morning. In the process of allegedly stealing items from the home, he allegedly accidentally shot himself in the foot. Police say they found Maynor incapacitated in the backyard of the home.

Early in life, Avant modeled for the Ebony Fashion Fair, a traveling fashion event that exposed Black communities to high-end fashion. She married Clarence in 1967. The couple had two children, Nicole and Alex.

She was an active philanthropist, serving as the president of the Neighbors of Watts, the support group for the South Central Community Child Care Center, in 1975, the entertainment chairman of the NOW benefit auction, and she sat on the board of directors for International Student Center at UCLA in 1980. She sat on the board of The Wallis Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts.

Clarence, nicknamed the “Black Godfather,” is a titanic figure in the music industry who has worked with artists including Bill Withers, Sarah Vaughan, and Babyface. Their daughter Nicole served as U.S. ambassador to the Bahamas under President Barack Obama and is married to Ted Sarandos, co-chief executive officer and chief content officer for Netflix.

Susan Strauss, a former Design Review commissioner, knew Avant for 40 years, living near her in Trousdale at one point. The two worked together as docents at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art and served as board members on The Wallis. She described the news as “devastating.”

“She was generous of spirit and kind and a wonderful friend,” Strauss told the Courier. Strauss remembered her as a devoted mother and wife of over 50 years who preferred to remain behind the scenes. “She was somebody who did her own thing in her own way that helped the community and a lot of people.”

As a Beverly Hills resident for over five decades and a lover of the arts, The Wallis had a special place in Avant’s heart, Strauss said. Strauss recalled that for Avant’s 80th birthday, she requested that friends make donations to The Wallis in her honor. On Dec. 1, The Wallis Executive Director and CEO Rachel Fine and Artistic Director Paul Crewes announced news of Avant’s death at the opening night of “LOVE ACTUALLY LIVE” and held a moment of silence. Fine noted that Avant and her husband would likely have been sitting in the audience and dedicated that night’s performance in her honor.

“Jacquie was the kindest, most beautiful, humble and generous soul, who loved and appreciated The Wallis. Both she and her remarkable husband, Clarence, have been passionately involved with The Wallis since its earliest days, well before our campus opened to the public,” said Fine.

Outside The Wallis, the American flag and the California state flag flew at half-mast.

As shock rippled across the Beverly Hills community and beyond, people took to social media to express sorrow over the tragedy.

“A heartbreaking day in the history of Beverly Hills,” Vice Mayor Lili Bosse said in a Facebook post. “Crime of any type will never be tolerated in Beverly Hills. I, as well as our community, send our love and deepest sympathies to the Avant family.”

Maynor was scheduled to be arraigned on Dec. 6, but his medical condition delayed the arraignment to Dec. 7. He will appear in department W30 of the Los Angeles County Superior Court, Airport Branch.

The post Man Charged With Killing Jacqueline Avant appeared first on Beverly Hills Courier.

“To the Beverly Hills Community, let me reassure you, this is one of the most protected and patrolled cities in the world. Crime of any kind will not be tolerated here. Let this be a message to anyone thinking of committing a crime in Beverly Hills–you will be caught and brought to justice,” Chief Mark Stainbrook said at a news conference on Dec. 2. 

The suspect, 29-year-old Aariel Maynor of Los Angeles, was discovered by the Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD) later the same early morning of the Avant shooting allegedly burglarizing another home in the Hollywood Hills, according to Stainbrook. In a moment of proverbial irony, law enforcement said that Maynor shot himself in the foot in the course of the burglary, incapacitating himself. Stainbrook said that the gun used in both cases was the same caliber. Stainbrook said that Maynor has an extensive criminal record and was currently on parole. 

“Multiple surveillance videos, including city cameras, showed the suspect’s vehicle heading eastbound out of Beverly Hills shortly after Mrs. Avant was shot early Wednesday morning,” Stainbrook said. 

Stainbrook previously confirmed that Avant’s husband and a private security guard were present at the time of the shooting, neither of whom were injured. He declined to state a possible motive for the crime. 

“I think it’s too early in the investigation to get the motive,” he said. “It may have been targeted. And for what purpose? We don’t know. We’re still looking at that.”

Stainbrook said that evidence suggests that the suspect was working alone and that the department believes “there is no further threat to public safety.” 

At another press conference the day before, Stainbrook read a statement from the Avant family. “The entire Avant family wishes to thank everyone for their outpouring of love, support, and condolences for Jacqueline Avant,” the statement said. “Jacqueline was an amazing woman, wife, mother, philanthropist, and a 55-year resident of Beverly Hills, who has made an immeasurable positive contribution and impact on the arts community. She will be missed by her family, friends, and all of the people she has helped throughout her amazing life.”

“The Avant family’s contribution to the world of entertainment and to better communities across Los Angeles are unmatched. There are no words to express our profound sorrow for this immense loss for Jacqueline’s husband, Clarence, their children, and the entire Avant family,” Stainbrook said.

Early in life, Avant modeled for the Ebony Fashion Fair, a traveling fashion event that exposed Black communities to high-end fashion. She married Clarence in 1967. The couple had two children, Nicole and Alex. 

She was an active philanthropist, serving as the president of the Neighbors of Watts, the support group for the South Central Community Child Care Center, in 1975, the entertainment chairman of the NOW benefit auction, and she sat on the board of directors for International Student Center at UCLA in 1980. She sat on the board of The Wallis Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts.

Clarence, nicknamed the “Black Godfather,” is a titanic figure in the music industry who has worked with artists including Bill Withers, Sarah Vaughan, and Babyface. Their daughter Nicole served as U.S. ambassador to the Bahamas under President Barack Obama and is married to Ted Sarandos, co-chief executive officer and chief content officer for Netflix.

Susan Strauss, a former Design Review commissioner, knew Avant for 40 years, living near her in Trousdale at one point. The two worked together as docents at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art and served as board members on The Wallis. She described the news as “devastating.”

“She was generous of spirit and kind and a wonderful friend,” Strauss told the Courier. Strauss remembered her as a devoted mother and wife of over 50 years who preferred to remain behind the scenes. “She was somebody who did her own thing in her own way that helped the community and a lot of people.”

As a Beverly Hills resident for over five decades and a lover of the arts, The Wallis had a special place in Avant’s heart, Strauss said. Strauss recalled that for Avant’s 80th birthday, she requested that friends make donations to The Wallis in her honor. On Dec. 1, The Wallis Executive Director and CEO Rachel Fine and Artistic Director Paul Crewes announced news of Avant’s death at the opening night of “LOVE ACTUALLY LIVE” and held a moment of silence. Fine noted that Avant and her husband would likely have been sitting in the audience and dedicated that night’s performance in her honor. 

“Jacquie was the kindest, most beautiful, humble and generous soul, who loved and appreciated The Wallis. Both she and her remarkable husband, Clarence, have been passionately involved with The Wallis since its earliest days, well before our campus opened to the public,” said Fine.

Outside The Wallis, the American flag and the California state flag flew at half-mast.

As shock rippled across the Beverly Hills community and beyond, people took to social media to express sorrow over the tragedy.

“A heartbreaking day in the history of Beverly Hills,” Vice Mayor Lili Bosse said in a Facebook post. “Crime of any type will never be tolerated in Beverly Hills. I, as well as our community, send our love and deepest sympathies to the Avant family.”

Stainbrook has sought to reassure the community during a moment of heightened anxiety over crime.

“Beverly Hills remains one of the safest cities in the United States…and we deploy a lot of resources to keep it safe. This type of crime, in general, is extremely rare. This type of crime in Beverly Hills is extremely rare,” he said.

The post Suspect in Avant Murder Arrested appeared first on Beverly Hills Courier.

“I’ve learned very quickly that this is a highly engaged and super supportive community and I’m very excited about that,” Stainbrook said at a ceremony held on the steps of City Hall to mark the occasion. “I’m sure that the current state of American law enforcement is on the minds of everyone here. Certainly these have been challenging times, but there’s things that remain constant. We want safe neighborhoods, we want our world renowned business districts to be safe and thriving, and we believe in great community and police partnerships and relationships.”

“I have no doubt that Mark will be an incredible leader to our Police Department and the residents of our community,” said Mayor Robert Wunderlich.

Wunderlich also offered a parting message to former Interim Police Chief Dominick Rivetti, who took the helm of the department after the abrupt departure of Sandra Spagnoli. Rivetti oversaw the department during a tumultuous confluence of events: the COVID-19 pandemic, Black Lives Matter protests, and the 2020 presidential election.

“There’s no way that you or we could have anticipated the events that have occurred during your time period here and the city is extremely fortunate that you were here to help lead us through these times. The respect that you’ve engendered throughout our community is a testament to how ably, responsibly and equitably you’ve carried out your many responsibilities during these often difficult times, always in a manner that made working with you a delight,”  Wunderlich said. “You will long be remembered in Beverly Hills as a chief of great distinction.”

Rivetti managed the department during a renewed focus on the role of law enforcement in American society–scrutiny that at times fell on Beverly Hills. Under Rivetti, BHPD fielded criticism for its response to Black Lives Matter protests, including the arrest of 28 protesters in June 2020. The department also faces a proposed class action lawsuit for allegations of racially biased policing by a task force convened during the summer of 2020.

Stainbrook comes to the city with a background in both law enforcement and the armed services. He most recently served as the Chief of Police and Vice President of Public Safety for the Port of San Diego. He began his public service at 17, when he enlisted in the Navy before switching to the Marines. He served in the United States Marine Corps Reserve for 32 years before retiring recently at the rank of Lieutenant Colonel.

Stainbrook served in Iraq during Operation Iraqi Freedom in 2003. In a previous interview with the Courier, he recounted the experience of reconstituting the Baghdad police in the immediate aftermath of Saddam Hussein’s fall.

“All basic services were gone–electricity, water, looting everywhere, sniper fire, sporadic fighting still going on. We had nothing to work with. We were trying to get as many former police that, in one sense, we were just fighting three days earlier,” he said. “It was there where the realization struck me that cops are cops wherever you go. These officers there, they just wanted to see their city return back to a normal, safe environment.”

Before his time in San Diego, he worked for the Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD) beginning in 1995. He served in a variety of units there, including Community Resources Against Street Hoodlums, gang, internal affairs and counterterrorism.

The swearing in ceremony was attended by dozens of community members, BHPD officers, and members of law enforcement and the armed services. Many of those who came to support Stainbrook had history with him going back to the beginning of his career.

David King, Executive Director of the San Diego Imperial High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area, first met Stainbrook in 2010 at the FBI National Academy in Quantico, Virginia. He worked closely with Stainbrook over the last five years. “He is a man of high integrity [and] high energy. Beverly Hills is quite fortunate to have a leader of Mark’s caliber,” King told the Courier.

Bill Bodner, the Special Agent in Charge of the Drug Enforcement Administration Los Angeles Field Division, also voiced high praise for Stainbrook. The two worked together during Stainbrook’s time in LAPD’s counterterrorism unit.  

“We had such an outstanding cooperative task force going after people selling drugs and using that money to fund terrorism,” Bodner told the Courier. “He’s very worldly, understands different cultures, understands diversity, and he was able to really open a lot of doors for us and help us see things that we would not have seen.”

A small contingent from the Culver City Police Department (CCPD) came to the event, including CCPD Chief Manny Cid. “We have a good partnership with Beverly Hills, one that we’ve leaned on a lot over the last year. We’re excited for him, excited for the city and here to support him and the city in any way we can,” Cid told the Courier.

Stainbrook takes the department’s reins as tensions in the community mount over a string of high-profile crimes in the city. The city’s business district, mere blocks from BHPD headquarters, has seen several armed robberies within the last few months. On Dec. 1, Jacqueline Avant, wife of music executive Clarence Avant, was shot and killed in a home invasion.

Stainbrook made an appeal to the community in his address.

“But this mission can never be successful without the members of the community,” Stainbrook said. “We’re going to spend the time to invest in each other, in this department, in the city and the community that we serve. Together, we will maintain the high standards of safety and security expected by the city, we will foster robust relationships within our community, and we will continue to uphold the Beverly Hills community quality of life.”

The post Mark Stainbrook Sworn in as Beverly Hills Chief of Police appeared first on Beverly Hills Courier.

“This is a difficult day for our city,” said BHPD Chief Mark Stainbrook, only on his third day as Police Chief. According to Stainbrook, police received a call of a shooting around 2:23 a.m. Beverly Hills Fire Department paradmedics transported Avant to Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, where she was pronounced dead.

“The Avant family’s contribution to the world of entertainment and to better communities across Los Angeles are unmatched. There are no words to express our profound sorrow for this immense loss for Jacqueline’s husband, Clarence, their children, and the entire Avant family,” Stainbrook said.

At a press conference, Stainbrook read a statement from the Avant family. “The entire Avant family wishes to thank everyone for their outpouring of love, support, and condolences for Jacqueline Avant,” the statement said. “Jacqueline was an amazing woman, wife, mother, philanthropist, and a 55-year resident of Beverly Hills, who has made an immeasurable positive contribution and impact on the arts community. She will be missed by her family, friends, and all of the people she has helped throughout her amazing life.”

Stainbrook confirmed that Avant’s husband and a private security guard were present at the time of the shooting, neither of whom were injured, but did not supply a possible motive behind the crime.

“The motives in this case are still unknown and we’re investigating all possible motives,” he said. “We will not speculate on anything that’s out there, including if this was a robbery attempt or not.”

Early in life, Avant modeled for the Ebony Fashion Fair, a traveling fashion event that exposed Black communities to high-end fashion. She married Clarence in 1967. The couple had two children, Nicole and Alex.

Clarence, nicknamed the “Black Godfather,” is a titanic figure in the music industry who has worked with artists including Bill Withers, Sarah Vaughan, and Babyface. Their daughter Nicole served as U.S. ambassador to the Bahamas under President Barack Obama and is married to Ted Sarandos, co-chief executive officer and chief content officer for Netflix.

Susan Strauss, a former Design Review commissioner, knew Avant for 40 years, living near her in Trousdale at one point. The two worked together as docents at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art and served as board members on The Wallis Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts. She described the news as “devastating.”

“She was generous of spirit and kind and a wonderful friend,” Strauss told the Courier. Strauss remembered her as a devoted mother and wife of over 50 years who preferred to remain behind the scenes. “She was somebody who did her own thing in her own way that helped the community and a lot of people.”

As a Beverly Hills resident for over five decades and a lover of the arts, The Wallis had a special place in Avant’s heart, Strauss said. Strauss recalled that for Avant’s 80th birthday, she requested that friends make donations to The Wallis in her honor.

As shock rippled across the Beverly Hills community and beyond, people took to social media to express sorrow over the tragedy.

“A heartbreaking day in the history of Beverly Hills,” Vice Mayor Lili Bosse said in a Facebook post. “Crime of any type will never be tolerated in Beverly Hills. I, as well as our community, send our love and deepest sympathies to the Avant family.”

Earvin “Magic” Johnson shared his and his wife’s grief on Twitter, writing, “Cookie and I are absolutely devastated at the loss of one of our closest friends Jackie Avant.”

He added: “This is the saddest day in our lives.”

At the press conference, Stainbrook sought to reassure the community during a moment of heightened anxiety over crime.

“Beverly Hills remains one of the safest cities in the United States…and we deploy a lot of resources to keep it safe. This type of crime, in general, is extremely rare. This type of crime in Beverly Hills is extremely rare,” he said.

“Crime is generally low,” Stainbrook said. “I’ve been a cop for 30 years, and when I first started, crime was much higher in the Los Angeles region. It’s much lower now. But of course, in the last couple years, we have seen an uptick in crime everywhere.”

The post Jacqueline Avant, Philanthropist and Long-Time Resident, Shot and Killed appeared first on Beverly Hills Courier.

At the start of the meeting, Wunderlich took the opportunity to address the group regarding safety in the city. “There has been that swarm of organized grab and go thefts from a variety of stores, including two attempts in Beverly Hills,” Wunderlich said. “And just to let people know, we have increased security, and we have an increased police presence and the private security presence in response to that.”

The committee gathered after the liaison meeting to begin the process of electing a vice chair. Currently, Noelle Freeman serves as chair, and Tiffany Davis as vice chair. Committee members will be able to nominate someone from the list of other eligible members to serve as vice chair. To be considered eligible, a member must have either attended over 50 percent of the committee meetings or be active on a subcommittee. 

Nominations are open now through Dec. 1. Members who accept their nomination will be asked to submit a candidate statement by Dec. 8, with online voting to follow. Election results will be announced on Dec. 17. The new vice chair will be installed Jan. 20.

“It’s going to be a transition the next month, so it’ll be exciting to see someone step up,” said Freeman. 

Citywide valet discussed

Last month, the committee discussed a new initiative exploring the possibility of a citywide valet service. The topic is timely, since the city is also considering long-term implementation of the OpenBH program. 

Wunderlich confirmed that while the OpenBH subcommittees have started to meet to discuss safety, design and operational standards, there was nothing to report back yet. “Trying to find an appropriate way to continue the program going into the future, one aspect to support it conceivably could be the city valet,” Wunderlich said. Gold agreed, inviting Next BH members to bring the initiative before the council and city staff as the conversation develops. 

“I personally find valet to be even more important now for safety,” Davis said. “I understand that not everyone has the same concerns if you’re not female, but safety is always our number concern, especially walking alone, walking back to a garage,” she added. “There are garages in the city I absolutely love and feel safe in, and there are garages in the city I try to avoid, because I don’t. So, I think that there’s a lot to look at there, but I think citywide valet would have a part in maybe helping deter some activity and bring some safety to those of us who are looking for it.”

A summary of the group’s consensus opinion on the pros and cons of a citywide valet will be prepared for a future meeting. The next committee meeting is scheduled for Dec. 16 at 6:30 p.m. 

The post Next BH Proposes Citywide Valet appeared first on Beverly Hills Courier.

The task force examined a possible ordinance that would prohibit developers and contractors who conduct business with the city from contributing to local races. Councilmember John Mirisch, who asked to discuss the matter, suggested that the prohibition would apply to entities for up to five years from the time of doing business with the city.

The City of Los Angeles passed an ordinance limiting contributions to political campaigns by developers or contractors with the city in 2019. The task force is examining the 2019 ordinance for guidance in drafting the city’s own version.

The Sunshine Task Force, established in 2013 under then-Mayor Mirisch, studies and advances matters of “transparency and public involvement in local government operations.” Mirisch and Mayor Robert Wunderlich sit on the task force as City Council liaisons, with City Clerk Huma Ahmed and Assistant City Manager Nancy Hunt-Coffey serving as staff liaisons. Along with the liaisons, the task force also consists of interested residents. 

The conversation comes amidst a renewed dialogue around contributions to candidates and candidate spending in elections in Beverly Hills. A recent open letter written by Planning Commissioner Peter Ostroff and signed by at least 85 residents, including five former mayors, called for local candidates to “actively discourage the establishment and support” of Political Action Committees (PACs).

Political Action Committees are groups that pool together resources to support or oppose candidates, ballot initiatives, or legislation. While they can accept unlimited donations from individuals, groups, and corporations, they are not allowed to coordinate their activities with candidates.

Mirisch suggested that the ordinance incorporate enhanced reporting requirements for contributions to PACs. Even if entities that do business with the city were banned from contributing to campaigns, they could still donate to PACs. Mirisch hoped that requiring PACs to label donations from city contractors would disincentivize entities from simply funneling contributions into a PAC.

“[For] any PAC materials, if it includes money from a developer who’s doing business with the city, a disclosure requirement should be on any materials that the PAC disseminates,” Mirisch said. “That’s the best remedy and perhaps the only remedy that we have to create some measure of a level playing field so that elections are not just bought.”

City Attorney Laurence Wiener said that he was unsure if the city could institute such a rule. He also cited a previous issue the city faced with disclosure requirements for political advertisements for initiatives and referendums. “We wanted to require so much information that it dominated the ad and so we needed to cut back on some of that information,” he said.

Staff will continue to review the Los Angeles ordinance over the next month as the City Attorney’s office drafts an ordinance of its own.

The task force next took up another potential ordinance regarding the revocation of building permits in the event of inaccurate or incomplete information on a permit application. The ordinance would set up a system by which a resident could challenge any permit for the “inclusion of inaccurate, substantially incomplete or erroneous information in an application,” according to a draft ordinance reviewed by the task force. 

Not all inaccuracies would necessarily lead to the revocation of permits under the ordinance–only inaccuracies or omissions that “materially deviate” from the approved plans. In other words, if the omission of certain information or the inclusion of inaccurate information had an impact on the approval of a permit, then the city could take the permit away once alerted to the issue by a reporting resident. 

While the draft of the new ordinance presented to the task force specified “residential buildings” as its target, Mirisch clarified that he intended for the ordinance to apply to “all property types.”

Violations would be brought before the city by a resident by submitting a form supplied by the city. In instances where the city finds that the violations reach the level of material deviations, the resident can file for reimbursement of form fees, attorney’s fees and investigative costs from the developer.

In cases where the city finds in favor of the developer, the reporting resident can request an arbitrator from the city. The resident would bear the costs of the arbitrator, which the resident could recoup in the event that the arbitrator finds in their favor. 

At the task force meeting, resident Debbie Weiss suggested that the ordinance be expanded from permit applications to include city presentations. In those cases, inaccurate information or omissions in presentations before the City Council or Planning Commission could also result in the revocation of a permit. Wiener had no issue with the change.

The draft ordinance is tentatively scheduled to appear before the City Council at the Dec. 21  Study Session. 

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For Thanksgiving, around 200 volunteers with Project Angel Food gave out 2,000 hot turkey dinners to critically ill patients and their caregivers throughout the county. Around 10% of Project Angel Food’s clients live on the Westside of Los Angeles in and around Beverly Hills. The food delivery and nutritional counseling non-profit, which feeds more than 2,400 people a day, saw unprecedented growth over the course of the pandemic.

“In February, before COVID, we had about 1,500 clients a day we were serving. Now, we’re feeding 2,400 [and we’re] on our way to 2,500 people a day,” Brad Bessey, Head of Communications and Talent Relations, told the Courier. “It’s a huge increase from about 650,000 meals a year to now over 1.2 million.”

On Monday of this week, the Courier met with Project Angel Food’s Executive Chef John Gordon at the organization’s kitchen in Hollywood. Gordon described the Thanksgiving dinner menu in the works for clients.

“It’s a roasted turkey breast and we’re using a light poultry gravy that’s adjusted for calories and salt content, but it’s still good nonetheless. And then we have a roasted vegetable we’re serving on the side, and then peas with roasted pearl onions,” Gordon said.

The meal also included sides of stuffing and Cumberland cranberry sauce from a recipe of the former head chef, Chef Derbeh. Project Angel food also offered a vegetarian option consisting of a butternut squash ravioli with an herb butter sauce. For dessert, they offered pumpkin cheesecake.

In addition to the growing pains incurred by the 54% rise in daily client meals over the pandemic, the kitchen has had to contend with the same supply chain issues faced by businesses across the country. With the USDA reporting that turkey inventories are 24% below the 3-year average, Gordon had to locate enough turkeys to accommodate the rising demand.

Other organizations in Los Angeles have noted the same surge in need since the pandemic. The Los Angeles Regional Food Bank reported a 110% increase in food distribution compared to pre-pandemic levels. That translates to 274 million pounds of food, 224 million meals, at a value greater than $400 million since March 2020.

Not all operations could expand their footprints during the pandemic. All Saints’ Episcopal Church in Beverly Hills closed in-person services for over a year following the outbreak in March 2020. This also meant a halt for the church’s weekly outreach program, The Monday Meal. The program began in 1992 to provide food to people suffering from HIV/AIDS and matured into a weekly meal for houseless and food insecure people, serving hundreds of people each week.

This Monday, the program was revived after 20 months of dormancy.

“There were people that I hadn’t seen since March of 2020,” Lonnie Hinckley, chair of The Monday Meal told the Courier. “The grace that comes with being able to serve is so profound.”

Dorian Kracht, who started coming to The Monday Meal 10 years ago when he struggled with housing, said that it was “devastating” when the program shut down last March. “It was actually one of the best meals on the Westside,” he said. “I come in from Hollywood. So, for me, it is also a pilgrimage.”

But he kept coming back to All Saints’ not for the quality of the food, but for the “social aspect,” he told the Courier. Kracht could find food elsewhere, but the connections he formed and fostered at the weekly gathering vanished with the program. The Nov. 22 Monday Meal gave him a chance to reconnect with friends that he had not seen for nearly 2 years.

Church officials hope to resume a full-scale return of the program in January. 

“We think everybody needs community,” said Hinkley. 

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“Are you ready to add even more glow to our evening?” Mayor Robert Wunderlich called out to the throngs of people before he and the City Council ceremonially “turned on” the lights along the street.

Sounding a cautious note, the city incorporated safety precautions into the event. Organizers set up two main stages on either ends of Rodeo Drive between Santa Monica and Wilshire Boulevards to prevent guests from congregating exclusively at one stage, as had been the case in former years.

Additionally, signs posted along the street instructed visitors to wear masks when not actively eating or drinking. That request was not universally observed, however. 

The cast for “LOVE ACTUALLY LIVE,” playing at the Wallis Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts in Beverly Hills, took a break to perform a number from the show. A trio of singers dazzled the many children in attendance with a rendition of “Let It Go” from the animated feature and Broadway show “Frozen.” The crowd also looked on in suspense as acrobatic performer Christian Stoinev and his Chihuahua Scooby performed feats of balance and strength.

In addition to the stage acts, other holiday characters populated the street and interacted with the crowds. Holiday elves posed for photos with families and rode up and down the street on enormous tricycles while surreal, ghostly-white reindeer on stilts towered over children and adults alike. 

Last year, the city drastically scaled back the event due to public health concerns. While Rodeo Drive underwent its usual holiday glam-up, the city scraped plans for in-person events. This year’s celebration drew approximately 6,000 attendees, and marked the largest event hosted by the city since the pandemic. Other years have seen as many as 10,000 visitors at the festivities. 

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As a part of the Health and Safety Employee Excellence Award, the commission honored the work of Public Works Facilities Maintenance Supervisors Juan Morales and Elmer Andujar Colon and their team.

“I want to commend you for the many things that you do normally, including routine maintenance, cleaning and repair of our facilities,” said Chairperson Cathy Baker.

Baker also listed the many ways in which Morales and Colon have assisted in hardening the city against COVID-19, including: installing handsfree thermometers and COVID self-monitoring stations in city facilities; changing manual faucets to automatic, hands-free faucets in city bathrooms and kitchens; upgrading the city’s HVAC systems and installing MERV-13 filters; nightly flushing of facilities with fresh air; and coordinating deep cleaning and disinfection of city facilities.

“I hope this gives all people confidence in their safety when entering our facility buildings,” Baker said.

Beverly Hills Fire Department Battalion Leader Scott Stephens addressed the commission with an update on Fire Department activity in the city. Of a total of 442 incidents in the month of November, 279 were for emergency medical services. The average response time for all Fire Department calls was under four minutes and 51 seconds.

The Fire Department responded to two large calls, Stephens said. On Oct. 29, a professional document shredding truck burst into flames in the parking lot of the Chase Bank building. The abundance of shredded paper provided a “receptive fuel bed,” Stephens said, attributing the fire to overheating machinery. The fire was extinguished “rather quickly” and no injuries were reported.

Then, on Nov. 8, the department responded to a hazardous materials incident at a medical office located on San Vicente Boulevard. The office, which conducts medical research, experienced an argon gas leak on the third floor. The office was evacuated and by the time Los Angeles Fire Department crews arrived with specialized testing equipment, “all of the argon had dissipated.”

“The cause of the leak was likely a loose connection at one of their tanks,” Stephens said.

The commission heard an update of COVID-19 from Emergency Manager Meena Janmohamed. While COVID-19 continues to be the leading cause of death in the United States, Janmohamed pointed to continuing data on the efficacy of vaccines. According to current case data in Los Angeles County, only slightly more than 1% of fully vaccinated people have tested positive for COVID-19 since vaccines became available. Janmohamed also pointed to data showing that nearly 78% of Beverly Hills residents 12 or older have been fully vaccinated.

“When comparing that to the L.A. County average, Beverly Hills is 5% more vaccinated, and compared to the United States, Beverly Hills is 9% higher than the national rate of vaccination,” she said. 

The commission ended with the announcement from Deputy Chief Joe Matsch, who also serves as the Fire Department liaison for the Health and Safety Commission, that he plans on retiring on Dec. 21. His final service will be the commission meeting on Dec. 20. Matsch retires from a 34-year career in the fire service, 27 of which he spent in Beverly Hills. 

“This place has been absolutely amazing to me,” Matsch said. “I leave with a lot of respect, admiration, and, again, love for this commission, for this community, for this fire department.”

Matsch told the commission that he plans on pursuing other options in retirement. 

“I look forward to my last month working for the commission and I certainly look forward to our December 20 meeting and I think there’s nothing more befitting me leaving as soon as we adjourn this meeting and I will be officially retired,” he said. “That’s my last call of action and it’ll be an honor to finalize my career with you.” 

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Around 12:30 a.m. on Nov. 21, the Beverly Hills Police Department responded to two attempted burglaries.

“Multiple suspects traveling in several vehicles descended on the locations and used a sledgehammer to try to break through front windows. No entry was made in both cases,” Lt. Giovani Trejo said in a statement to the Courier. “Beverly Hills Police units supported by armed private security have increased patrol in the area.”

Trejo said that BHPD detectives are investigating the incidents. They have not yet identified suspects and have not made connections to other incidents, he said.

The Louis Vuitton store appeared to have replaced the damaged glass by the afternoon.

That same day at 10:40 p.m., an unknown number of suspects broke through windows at the Nordstrom at The Grove, according to the Los Angeles Police Department.

“The suspects fled in an SUV and a pursuit was initiated by Wilshire officers in the area,” Officer Drake Madison told the Courier. “The pursuit ultimately ended in South LA and a perimeter was set. Three suspects were taken into custody.”

A sledgehammer was found near the Nordstrom, according to video of the crime scene shared on social media by freelance journalist Sean Beckner-Carmitchel. Madison did not comment on possible connections between the incident and other similar crimes.

Los Angeles Police Chief Michel Moore spoke out against the crimes to the Los Angeles Police Commission, a civilian oversight body for LAPD. “We are worried that this kind of conduct will be seen as allowable, and nothing can be further from the truth,” he said.

San Francisco saw a spate of burglaries of high-end retailers on Nov. 19 starting at 8 p.m., when 40 people broke into a Louis Vuitton store in the city’s tony Union Square shopping area.

Other stores that were burglarized that night include Burberry and Bloomingdale’s in the Westfield mall and Yves Saint Laurent on Geary Street. According to San Francisco Police Chief Bill Scott, police stopped attempted thefts at Fendi and Hermès stores. Police arrested eight suspects and Scott expressed confidence at a press conference that more arrests would be made.

On Nov. 20, around 80 people descended on a Nordstrom store in Walnut Creek, a city located in the East Bay of the Bay Area. Many of the group escaped with merchandise, assaulting two employees in the process. Police arrested three suspects, one of whom was in possession of a firearm. 

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Residents filed the petition in late 2019, with 25 of 38 households requesting the modification to the existing one-hour parking limit. The Traffic and Parking Commission reviewed the petition in February of 2020. Based on the support from the community and similar parking restrictions approved on adjacent blocks, the commission recommended that the City Council approve the request.

The City Council was scheduled to review the petition in the spring of 2020 before the Novel Coronavirus pandemic derailed the plans.

Residents who participated in the meeting described parking conditions worsening after Beverly Vista transitioned to a middle school, which resulted in changes to release times and traffic patterns. They also cited increased parking levels since neighboring streets on South Canon Drive had “No Parking Anytime” modifications approved.  

City Transportation Planner Martha Eros said that available data showed no change since the switch to a middle school. Additionally, she shared the results of a parking occupancy study conducted during a 12-hour period on Jan. 14, 2020, a Tuesday. The city observed a total of 74 vehicles parked along South Crescent. The average occupancy over that stretch of time was 30%, with a peak of 42%.

Using a license plate reader, the study differentiated between commuter and resident vehicles. Of the 74 cars, 53 belonged to commuters, the study found. Eros also noted “high volume activity during the release of the middle school.” Spot counts conducted more recently in August and September found similar occupancy levels to the pre-pandemic study.

The petition was launched by resident Anoosheh Bostani, who spoke at the meeting. “The reason I initiated the petition was because we observed a significant increase in traffic on our streets, coupled by lack of available parking spaces for residents and their guests,” she said. She attributed this to a lack of enforcement, which enabled “commuters and shoppers” to park along the street for “hours at a time.”

Prompted by questioning from Vice Mayor Lili Bosse, Bostani said that she did not feel the petition would be necessary if the city enforced the one-hour limit.

Dr. Kelly Skon, Beverly Vista’s principal, spoke against the parking restrictions. “To date, neither myself nor my predecessor had been contacted or had the opportunity to meet the neighbors that have requested this parking restriction,” she said. “I am concerned and would like to understand why the recommendation is being made for all day no parking, when the report seems to focus on drop off and pickup times, which is a short window in the morning and afternoon.”

Skon committed later in the meeting to work with parents to address resident concerns. 

The council members expressed discomfort with denying a petition with majority support of homeowners, though most felt that the occupancy data did not support approval of the petition. Council members voiced preference for more robust enforcement of the existing one-hour parking limit. As a compromise, the Council voted to extend discussion of the request to a future date to give the parties an opportunity to address the issues through existing mechanisms.

“Residential area streets are for residential parking,” Councilmember Lester Friedman allowed. Still, he added, “There needs to be some outlet for the parents.”

Friedman did not believe that the data indicated enough of an issue to warrant granting the petition. “I just don’t see that the parking impact of less than 40% during the day is a significant factor. I think that having the parking there, in fact, slows down people who are speeding through the street.”

“So, my real desire would be to see some sort of compromise worked out which would involve significantly more enforcement,” Friedman said.

“I’ve always been very supportive of resident generated petitions, because everybody is entitled to the quiet enjoyment of their home,” said Councilmember Julian Gold. “I’m unconvinced that if we do what’s been asked of us, we’re going to achieve that goal.” 

The post Council Denies Petition for South Crescent Drive Parking Restrictions appeared first on Beverly Hills Courier.

Visitors enjoyed numerous performances held on three stages along the street. For the first time in the event’s history, the city joined forces with the Wallis Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts in Beverly Hills to present the cast of the “Love Actually LIVE.” The Lighting Celebration included additional musical, dance, and acrobatic performances. 

The event culminated in an address by Mayor Bob Wunderlich and the Beverly Hills City Council, who nodded to the difficulty of the COVID-19 era while expressing hope for the future. In a gesture of hope for that future, the ceremony ended with a dazzling fireworks show. 

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“In looking back over Avedon’s career, which is storied and broad, from fashion photography, to civil rights photography, to documenting New York City life to the great American West, this turns out to be his greatest achievement,” Deborah McLeod, senior director at the Gagosian told the Courier.  

Out of the 125 images chosen for the series, Avedon selected 10 that he felt best represented its spirit, according to McLeod. He then printed those 10 at an enormous scale that required piecing together two sheets of photographic paper. The prints stand nearly 7 feet tall, a scale meant to emphasize the humanity of the subjects.

The 10 portraits occupy the two rooms of the Gagosian’s vaulted showroom. At their scale, they are quite literally larger than life. The shallow depth of field of the camera places their eyes in sharp focus as they stare directly at the camera, and by extension, the viewer. The stunning clarity of the photos renders legible details like the peach fuzz on the lip of a 14-year-old and the reflection of Avedon’s camera in his subject’s eyes. 

McLeod said that the collection is currently for sale, though she would not disclose the price. Visitors must show proof of vaccination and are required to wear a mask.

When Avedon took the commission for the project from the Amon Carter Museum of American Art in Fort Worth, Texas, he was one of the top fashion photographers in the country. He had worked as the chief photographer for Harper’s Bazaar and lead photographer for Vogue. He shot campaigns for brands including Calvin Klein, Dior, and Versace. The same year he accepted the commission, his fashion photography had appeared in a solo exhibition in the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York. 

Avedon’s work documented some of the most prominent figures of his time with his idiosyncratically minimalist portraiture. In his life, he shot celebrities like Marilyn Monroe and The Beatles, public figures like President Dwight D. Eisenhower and Malcolm X, and artists like Allen Ginsberg and Andy Warhol.  

For his work capturing the American West, even as he continued to photograph celebrities, politicians, and cultural luminaries, he took stints traveling through 21 western states to photograph subjects otherwise considered minor–at least from the perspective of New York high society. Among his subjects, he photographed butchers, carnies, drifters, oil rig workers, and coal miners.

Avedon poured himself into the task, hauling an 8 x 10 Deardorff field camera across the country (with assistance, of course), shooting 17,000 sheets of film of over 1,000 people. The original exhibition narrowed down the work product to 125 images, which identified the subjects by their name, profession, and the location and date of the shoot.

“They would set up to shoot these pictures in these rural Western towns,” McLeod said. “They would shoot in barber shops, in gymnasiums; they would shoot on street corners and fields; they would set up the white sheet that you see behind each subject and just do it raw right there.”

“There’s just nothing like them,” McLeod said. “He didn’t edit his subjects on site. In other words, he didn’t put oil on the guy in his overalls to make it look like he was on an oil rig, or add charcoal to someone’s face who was a coal miner.”

Though popularly received, the collection has fielded criticism in certain artistic circles. Art critic Max Kozloff accused Avedon of portraying an exoticized vision of the West–”a myth based on geographical desolation, rather than engagement with any real society.”

But Avedon himself, in the forward to “In the American West,” admitted to the limitations of portraiture in revealing something about a subject, famously writing, “All photographs are accurate. None of them is the truth.” 

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Beverly Hills joined hands with other cities on Nov. 7 to create the 26.2-mile track for the Los Angeles Marathon. An estimated 13,000 athletes set out from Dodger Stadium to chart a course through Silver Lake, Los Feliz, Hollywood, West Hollywood, Beverly Hills, West L.A., ending in Century City. In Beverly Hills, runners were greeted by cheering fans as they ran, jogged, walked, and hobbled down glamorous Rodeo Drive.

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Beverly Hills has unique provisions regulating campaign contributions and spending, which were passed in 2014. Candidates can only accept donations from individuals or organizations of up to $125. This limit rises to $450 if the candidate agrees to spend $80,000 or less. Additionally, for candidates who agree to the spending limit, the city will bear the costs of including their statement of support for their candidacy in the sample ballots mailed out to voters. 

But even when candidates commit to reigning in their spending, PACs do not have to abide by the same limits. Political Action Committees are groups that pool together resources to support or oppose candidates, ballot initiatives, or legislation. While they can accept unlimited donations from individuals, groups, and corporations, they are not allowed to coordinate their activities with candidates.

To Peter Ostroff, who sits on the city’s Planning Commission and penned the open letter, this strikes him as an unfair arrangement. 

“What’s your commitment to a spending limit worth if you can expressly or impliedly encourage or somehow acquiesce to these contributions?” he told the Courier. “In a small city like this, we have many bright, talented people. We should encourage folks to run for office whether or not they have very wealthy folks who are willing to support them for whatever reason.”

As such, the letter requests that “the written commitment to the spending limit submitted by any candidate voluntarily include a statement under oath that the candidate has no knowledge of or information about any actual or potential PAC support and will make it known that he or she does not want and will not accept any such support.”

The 2020 City Council race saw the participation of two PACs, most notably the Beverly Hills United to Support Bosse and Gold for Council 2020. While both Lili Bosse and Julian Gold agreed to the $80,000 spending limit, the PAC supporting them spent an additional $112,500, according to filings with the city. Additionally, candidates who agreed to the limit on expenditures could not accept donations over $450. However, the PAC supporting Bosse and Gold received four-figure donations reaching as high as $9,999. 

The Courier reached out to the candidates for City Council for a response to the letter, including Sharona Nazarian, Andy Licht, Mayor Bob Wunderlich, Councilmember Lester Friedman, and Councilmember John Mirisch. Licht did not respond by press time.

“I support the effort to limit the role of money within our electoral system, specifically the role of PACs and dark money to try to influence elections,” Mirisch told the Courier. Mirisch said that he had no awareness of an existing or potential PAC and would reject any support from a PAC.

Mirisch confirmed publicly for the first time his intentions to seek reelection, though he has not yet filed the official paperwork with the city. “The election is in June of next year and there’s still a lot going on,” he said. “It’s not a secret, but I don’t feel a need to make any great grand announcement.”

Friedman told the Courier that he has “no knowledge of any actual or potential PAC support.” 

“Additionally, I am not seeking support from any PAC and my campaign will not accept any such support,” he said.

Nazarian responded that she does not “want PAC’s playing a major role in this election.” She said that she was not aware of any existing or potential support from PACs.

Wunderlich told the Courier that he would adhere to the $80,000 voluntary cap on expenditures in the upcoming campaign. “I can only control donations to my campaign committee and will not be seeking donations from PACs to my committee,” he said. “I cannot have any involvement with and do not have any knowledge of independent expenditures.”

Candidates for office in Beverly Hills have voluntarily agreed to limit spending going back at least to the 1990s. In 1994, the eight candidates for City Council made an agreement with the Beverly Hills League of Women Voters to limit campaign spending to no more than $60,000, according to the Los Angeles Times. A similar effort in 1988 to get candidates to agree to a $65,000 limit failed to get traction, the Times reported. 

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“It’s been 18 months of this pandemic. We all truly feel that the community is ready to celebrate safely,” Kathy Gohari, President of the Rodeo Drive Committee, told the Courier. “Between everything that we’ve all gone through, it just makes us appreciate spending time together as a community.”

The plans are a collaborative effort of the Rodeo Drive Committee and the City of Beverly Hills as a part of the city’s Beverly Hills Open Later Days (BOLD) initiative. Visitors will be required to wear a mask and practice social distancing regardless of vaccination status except when eating or drinking. For those unable to attend, the city will broadcast and stream the evening on Cable TV Channel 10 and www.beverlyhills.org/live starting at 7 p.m.

Last year, the city drastically scaled back the celebration on account of the pandemic. While Rodeo Drive had its usual holiday face lift, the city scraped plans for in-person events. The Rodeo Drive Holiday Lighting Celebration will be the largest event hosted by the city since the pandemic. Other years have seen as many as 10,000 visitors at the festivities.

“We are thrilled to welcome visitors and residents back to our holiday celebration that we missed last year due to the pandemic,” said Beverly Hills Mayor Robert Wunderlich in a statement. “We’ve been anxiously waiting for our festivities to return and for families to once again enjoy the holiday season that is truly magical in Beverly Hills.”

The event will have three stages along Rodeo Drive. The cast for Love Actually LIVE, playing at The Wallis Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts in Beverly Hills, will reprise part of the show for visitors. There will be performances by all-female a cappella quintet The Noelles, singer Gabriella Valdes (aka Vella), roller skating duo Victor and Jenny Arata, and an acrobatic chihuahua. Stilt walkers will add yet another flair of whimsey to the evening. 

In addition to the spectacles, visitors will have an array of food trucks to choose from and options by 208 Rodeo at the Wine & Champagne Garden. Children between the ages of 1 and 92 can catch a glimpse of Santa Claus and his holiday helpers, who will arrive on a vintage 1920s Beverly Hills fire truck. 

Santa will also pose for photos with visitors in a red sports car. Gohari declined to share the make and model of the vehicle, only saying that “Santa has saved up and it’s expensive.”

While the intent in setting up multiple staging areas was to disperse crowds, Gohari said the innovation may carry over into future iterations.

“What we’re trying to do is have different acts on each block throughout the night, and be able to spread the crowd out on each block, rather than have everybody attend only one stage at all times,” she said. “I don’t know if we will ever go back to one stage again.”

Organizers will also place monitors throughout the event space to show the performances from other stages. Again, the move had public health in mind.

“You can sit in the wine garden, have a glass of wine and some cheese and crackers, and know exactly what’s happening two blocks down,” Gohari said. “I think that is also very helpful in crowd control.”

Even after the conclusion of events on Nov. 18, the city will continue holiday festivities around the Golden Triangle. From Nov. 18 to the New Year, visitors can view the Glowing Reeds Audio and Light Show at the Lily Pond in Beverly Gardens Park and an enormous “Elf Tree” and light tunnel at Beverly Canon Gardens by the Maybourne Beverly Hills. The ornate decorations along the Rodeo Drive median will also remain until Jan. 1. 

“It’s a sign of better times ahead,” Gohari said. “It is a sign that we’re going in the right direction. It is a sign that we are getting control of our community and our businesses and our lives. People are starting to travel again, and people are starting to shop again. We are seeing international visitors in our city. And this is what we do; we celebrate the holidays.” 

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The first sign of trouble came when Yonatan Golian, an otherwise healthy 12-year-old boy, fell to his living room floor in an epileptic fit. Two years later, after Yonatan had begun treatment for epilepsy, the unthinkable happened; his younger sister, Revital had her first seizure. Faced with the improbability that two siblings both had epilepsy, doctors administered genetic tests and identified the culprit: Lafora disease, a rare and terminal genetic illness.

Daryoosh Golian Moghaddam and his wife Gladi Gidanian had never heard of Lafora disease until their children’s diagnosis. The genetic disease occurs at a rate of one in a million, mostly in the Mediterranean and the Middle East. Lafora presents as a combination of Alzeihmer’s, Parkinson’s, and epilepsy beginning in early adolescence. Affected individuals typically live for 10 years after showing symptoms.

Gladi and Daryoosh, who are Jewish, brought their family to the United States from Iran 10 years ago in pursuit of “the American Dream.” Gladi remembers her childhood in Iran fondly, but like Daryoosh, she worried about her children growing up as second-class citizens in the Muslim-majority country. “We had to wear uniforms and scarves, we had to go to school on Shabbat, and as a Jew, you can’t get certain degrees,” she said.

While the family could have afforded to buy a house in Glendale or possibly Encino, the four of them landed in a two-bedroom apartment in Beverly Hills for one reason: “Good schools,” Daryoosh said.

Before the daily regimen of pills, before the seizures, before Lafora, “everything was good,” Gladi said. “The kids were blooming,” Gladi recalled. “In just a span of six months, they were talking [English] like their mother language.”

Now, Yonatan can barely walk on his own and speaks only a handful of words each day. Revital went without a seizure for nearly two years and seemed relatively unaffected until recently. But within just the last 30 days, she went from speaking full sentences with ease to stumbling over her words, growing frustrated when she cannot find words that she knew the day before.

The process is unbearable, and yet, as Gladi told the Courier, she and Daryoosh have had no choice but to bear it. Lacking both money and time, the Golians have pinned their hopes to an expensive experimental treatment that may give the children a chance at survival. And with a massive outpouring of support from the community, they may be able to afford it in time.

Multiple possible treatments for Lafora are in various stages of development, says Dr. Matthew Gentry, a professor at the University of Kentucky. Gentry, who is in contact with the Golians, is at the forefront of an international search for a treatment as Director of the Lafora Epilepsy Cure Initiative. Gentry could not comment specifically on the Golians, citing confidentiality, but he spoke broadly about the recent advancements made in the field.

“When I got in, I could never envision a therapy. In the last five years, we’ve made outstanding progress,” Gentry told the Courier.

Gentry added, “Now it feels like we’re stalled a little bit in terms of getting into the clinic.”

The pandemic derailed and delayed promising Lafora therapies, Gentry said. For a disease as aggressive as Lafora, Yonatan and Revital may not have time to wait for clinical trials to begin. But under federal law, pathways do exist for patients with life-threatening diseases to gain access to experimental treatments outside of the context of a clinical study. There’s a catch, though: the patient must pay for the cost of making the drug available and administering it.

According to Daryoosh, the price tag for the experimental treatment comes out to around $1 million. That doesn’t include the second round of treatment that would be necessary to make any gains permanent by either changing or silencing the mutated genes, which he said would add at least another million to the total.

“I will do everything to save them. Even if I have to, I will sell my organs,” he said.

Daryoosh has spent the last several months going from synagogue to synagogue, starting with his own local temple, Nessah, sharing his children’s story and asking for donations. He set up a table with information about his children at a recent Cyrus the Great Day celebration in West L.A., where hundreds of members of the Iranian diaspora celebrated the first Persian emperor.

He was recently put in touch with the Hope Foundation, a nonprofit that primarily assists Iranian Jewish immigrants in need of assistance. The Hope Foundation, in turn, has spread the word even further.

The results have been overwhelming. The family raised nearly $500,000 in just about two months. The community has rallied around them in a way that has surprised and heartened Nazy Nazarian, a special advisor with the Hope Foundation.

“I started with WhatsApp and calling and emailing and it just became viral. In the blink of an eye, everybody knew about them,” she told the Courier. “Everyone wants to do something, everybody wants to help.”

“I never thought we would get this much help and love and support,” Gladi said, noting that both her and Daryoosh’s family almost all live in Iran. “God heard us the nights that we cried and said, ‘Oh, God help us. We are so alone.’ He heard us. We are not alone.”

Those interested in helping the family can donate to their GoFundMe (https://www.gofundme.com/f/saving-the-life-of-two-teenage-siblings) or can contact the Hope Foundation at 424-234-0588.

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The fair will run from Feb. 17-20 in a tent on the former Robinsons-May lot across from the Beverly Hilton.

“The City of Beverly Hills has a time honored tradition of engaging and recognizing incredible creative and artistic endeavors,” said Frieze curator and spokesperson Christine Messineo at a Nov. 2 City Council meeting.

The Frieze art fair, an event launched by the founders of frieze magazine, began in London in 2003. The fair moved across the pond to New York City’s Randall’s Island in 2012. Frieze made it to Tinseltown in 2019 for a four day run on the Paramount Studios backlot. After delaying the second L.A. fair once, organizers scrapped plans for 2021 altogether on account of COVID-19 concerns.

In addition to the main art tent located on the future site of One Beverly Hills, Frieze will utilize spaces across the city. Frieze Sculpture will make its west coast debut with a temporary sculpture park in Beverly Gardens Park and along the Rodeo Drive median. The so-called Frieze Sculpture Beverly Hills, which would include 10 to 15 pieces, would open in February along with the fair and would be free and accessible to the public during Frieze Week. The sculptures would remain in the park for approximately three months.

The city will launch the Arts and Culture Commission’s Docent Program alongside Frieze Sculpture Beverly Hills, highlighting the city’s own permanent collection of sculptures. This includes works by Ai Wei Wei, Yayoi Kasuma, Mr. Brainwash, and others.

Frieze would also use Greystone Mansion for two dance performances, which Frieze would fund itself. Messineo said that they would increase the capacity of the mansion from 100 to 200 attendees, promising that 50% of tickets would be available to the general public. Messineo told the Council that Beverly Hills residents would receive priority ticketing to the event. The other half of attendees would consist of guests invited specifically by Frieze.

The fair’s new location comes as no surprise. Talent agency William Morris Endeavor, the majority owner of Frieze since 2016, is headquartered in Beverly Hills on Wilshire Boulevard.

Frieze organizers have asked the city to waive more than $73,000 in fees for the use of public facilities, including Beverly Gardens Park and Greystone Mansion. Frieze has also requested the use of the Beverly Hills trolley to shepherd visitors from parking garages to the fair’s various locations.

The City Council previously expressed displeasure with waiving the fees for a for-profit event that uses “Los Angeles” in its branding.

“I think if the ask is of Beverly Hills, then obviously, we should get more recognition for that,” said Councilmember Lester Friedman at the Oct. 26 Study Session. “The fact that the event is going on in Beverly Hills primarily and the waiver of costs is being asked of Beverly Hills, I think that’s something that needs to be considered.”

Representatives for Frieze seemed to balk at the prospect at the time. “I think that this is part of the larger conversation that we weren’t totally prepared for, to be honest, that there would be an ask around a name change,” Messineo said at the meeting.

But after reaching a compromise on the branding with the city, the council members were more superlative in their support. “I think that the value that is brought by the art that’s going to be displayed in our community far outweighs whatever waiver of costs that the organization is asking for,” Friedman said.

Many details of the fair have yet to be worked out. The Council expressed concerns about relying on the trolley as the only source of transportation.

“It doesn’t hold a lot of people, it is a little clunky. I think it’s a great visual, and I think it is an attraction,” Councilmember Julian Gold said. “But as a practical matter, if you’re looking to move a lot of people, I don’t think it’s going to suit you that well.”

Todd Johnson, CEO and President of the Beverly Hills Chamber of Commerce, wrote in to the Nov. 2 hearing to express support for the fair. “This event and associated city programming art and performance events presents a great opportunity to showcase the city and drive business and revenue to our community,” he wrote.

While Frieze has not yet announced ticket prices for the event, Councilmember John Mirisch had previously inquired into the possibility of offering Beverly Hills residents a discounted rate. Messineo told the Council that Frieze could not agree to the proposal at this time. She said tickets will likely go on sale at the end of November or the beginning of December.

Vice Mayor Lili Bosse asked whether Frieze would be interested in returning to Beverly Hills “next year and the years to come.”

“We would be very interested in continuing a partnership with Beverly Hills,” Messineo said. 

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“As far as I’m concerned, the legislature took a very short sighted view of the issue of housing and it is my belief that what they did will not accomplish the ultimate goal that the legislators thought they were satisfying by implementing SB 9,” Councilmember Lester Friedman said. “I don’t think it’s going to really have a significant effect, surely not in Beverly Hills, of accomplishing the goal of creating more housing.”

Senate Bill 9 allows property owners to divide a single-family lot in two, either adding a second home on the property or a duplex. In effect, the law opens up single-family lots to as many as four housing units. Currently, California only allows the addition of accessory dwelling units on properties zoned for single-family homes. The law requires jurisdictions to approve proposals that fall within specified size and design guidelines.

The law has exceptions, though. In order to prevent the loss of affordable housing, proposed developments cannot come at the expense of rent controlled units or market rate units that a tenant, as opposed to an owner, has occupied within the last three years. Properties designated as historic or those within historic districts are protected. And–crucial for Beverly Hills–the law also exempts properties located in high risk areas for fires or earthquakes.

Also, not every lot is eligible for division. Properties can only be divided in two if the two resulting lots are at least 1,200 square feet. Additionally, the units built on the divided lots must be at least 800 square feet. Lastly, units constructed under SB 9 cannot be used for short term rentals and owners must sign an affidavit attesting that they will live in one of the units for at least three years.

While the passage of SB 9 came with headlines portending the end of single-family housing across the Golden State, the reality of SB 9 in Beverly Hills is less extreme, said Director of Community Development Ryan Gohlich. Beverly Hills has around 5,900 single-family lots. Just under 1,800 fall within natural hazard or sensitive areas, the vast majority of which fall within the Very High Fire Hazard Severity Zone north of Sunset. Only about 180 homes exist within earthquake fault zones. That leaves over 4,000 eligible lots.

Gohlich presented the Council with multiple options for how to live with the new law while still exerting some local control over developments.

“The City Council could also consider adopting objective standards that do not physically preclude development of two 800 square foot units on lots in the city,” Gohlich said. “These objective standards could look at things such as the garden quality of the city, and making sure that we have standards in place to try to preserve the the qualities that make Beverly Hills unique.”

The council members supported considering adopting such standards in an urgency ordinance.

Council members raised concerns with the system of using affidavits to ensure that owners reside in the properties they construct.

“I think they’re not even worth the paper they’re written on, or the time it takes the lawyer to write it,” Councilmember Julian Gold said.

When asked what penalty existed for those who broke with their affidavit, City Attorney Laurence Wiener said, “There really is none.” Gold asked Wiener to consider how the city could add teeth to the provision.

Gohlich told the Council that staff would return before the Council with an urgency ordinance before the end of the year. 

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“We’re excited about the 36th run in the Los Angeles marathon and Beverly Hills has been a great partner for the event,” Dan Cruz, Head of Public Relations for the L.A. Marathon, told the Courier. “The new route is truly going to showcase what everyone knows around the world, that Los Angeles is the entertainment capital of the West Coast.”

“We are thrilled to welcome the LA Marathon back to Beverly Hills,” said Beverly Hills Mayor Bob Wunderlich in a statement. “We hope our iconic streets inspire and bring a spring to the steps of the runners as they enter the final third of the race.”

As a first, the 2021 L.A. Marathon will finish in Century City on Avenue of the Stars, as opposed to its traditional endpoint in Santa Monica. This represents a potential boon to the hospitality industry, according to Howard Sunkin, a representative for The McCourt Foundation, which organizes the race. 

“There’s a unique opportunity now for hotels in Beverly Hills to be benefited largely as a result of that decision,” Sunkin told the Rodeo Drive Committee/Special Events City Council Liaison at an October 2020 meeting. “Runners historically like to stay at the finish line.”

The marathon brings significant foot traffic along with it. Cruz told the Courier that organizers anticipated 13,000 contestants this year, a significant drop from its all-time high of 25,000 last year. Cruz attributed the decline to the lingering effects of the pandemic and the schedule change from the spring to fall.

The L.A. Marathon will follow health and safety guidelines dictated by the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health. Attendees are encouraged to socially distance and wear masks along the route.

The funds raised by the race will go toward The McCourt Foundation, an organization dedicated to supporting patients and families affected by neurological diseases and disabilities.

Much of Los Angeles Country grinds to a halt during the marathon. Beverly Hills will see major road closures and parking restrictions on Sunday from 5 a.m. to 1 p.m., including: Doheny Drive closed from North Santa Monica Boulevard to Burton Way; Burton Way closed from Doheny Drive to South Santa Monica Boulevard; South Santa Monica Boulevard closed from Rexford Drive to Rodeo Drive; Rodeo Drive closed from South Santa Monica Boulevard to Wilshire Boulevard; Wilshire Boulevard closed from Rodeo Drive to South Santa Monica Boulevard; and South Santa Monica Boulevard closed from Wilshire Boulevard to Moreno Drive.

Additionally, there will be a detour in effect on the western border of Beverly Hills, at Wilshire Boulevard and North Santa Monica Boulevard, as well as at Moreno Drive and South Santa Monica Boulevard until 5 p.m. All local businesses will remain accessible.

“The Los Angeles marathon is the greatest event in L.A.–26.2 miles of sights and sounds celebrating the diversity of Los Angeles [and] showcasing landmarks,” said Cruz. “Running through Chinatown, downtown, Little Tokyo, Hollywood, West Hollywood, Beverly Hills, and our new finish line on Avenue of the Stars, this is truly going to be a celebration that we’re very much looking forward to this weekend.” 

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The Council first adopted eviction protections for renters in March 2020 near the start of the pandemic. At the time, analysts and policymakers worried that economic lockdowns could lead to a tidal wave of evictions. Since then, the Council has adopted newer versions of the protections, passing a moratorium on evictions and rent increases most recently in September 2020.

The ordinance bars landlords from evicting tenants for nonpayment of rent, provided the tenants can prove that COVID-19 substantially impacted their ability to do so. It also prohibits no-fault evictions, except if the eviction is necessary for the health and safety of tenants, neighbors, or the landlord. Finally, the ordinance imposes a moratorium on annual rent increases for rent stabilized units.

At the Oct. 26 hearing, the Council discussed recommendations by the Rent Stabilization Commission to end the moratoria at the same time as the state eviction ban, which expired this past Sept. 30.

Councilmember Lester Friedman expressed optimism that ending the protections would not lead to a wave of evictions. “I am a believer that landlords do not want vacancies. They want to work with people. Having somebody moved out is an expense,” he said.

But City Council members voiced concern over the possibility of back-to-back rent increases by landlords. Each year, the city calculates rent increases for rent stabilized units based on the Consumer Price Index (CPI). For units that have delayed rent increases twice over the course of the moratorium, landlords could effectively raise the rent twice in one go–once for each deferred increase. According to the Community Development Department’s Deputy Director of Rent Stabilization, Helen Morales, this could mean some tenants would face an increase by as much as 8%.

Vice Mayor Lili Bosse said that the number “horrified” her. “Even though I do feel that things are better [and] we’re moving in the right direction, I think it would be a tremendous hardship to expect for any tenant to pay two times the CPI at one time,” she said.

City Attorney Laurence Wiener explained the limitations of what the city could do. While the city could delay the first rent increase to 2022, it also has to allow landlords to recoup the amount they would have made were it not for the moratorium. According to Wiener, landlords are constitutionally entitled to make a fair rate of return on their investment, which the city calculates using the CPI.

Councilmember Julian Gold suggested that the city allow landlords to spread out the rent increases over multiple years to soften the blow to tenants.

City staff will prepare an amendment to the ordinance per the Council’s instructions. The City Council will vote on the amendment at a later date.

The City Council also authorized Mayor Wunderlich to sign a letter addressed to Lithuanian Prime Minister Ingrida Šimonyt?. The letter, written by the Save Vilna Coalition, expresses opposition to a planned conference center that would be developed on an existing Jewish cemetery.

“The Snipiskes Jewish cemetery…is an important heritage site for Lithuanian Jewry and their descendants,” the letter reads. Over 50,000 graves lie on the site, according to the letter.

In 2015, the Lithuanian government passed a resolution authorizing the development of an international conference center in the capital city of Vilnius. The issue reemerged on Aug. 25, 2021, when the Vilnius City Council formally urged authorities to begin construction on the center.

The letter signed by Wunderlich describes the move as in violation of international law and the Lithuanian constitution.

Finally, the City Council extended the urgency ordinance authorizing the conversion of existing commercial spaces to medical uses for another year.  

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“This is about making America live up to its creed that we don’t allow you to treat Black and brown people differently than you treat white people,” said civil rights attorney Benjamin Crump at an Oct. 27 press conference announcing the new claims.

The suit centers around the Rodeo Drive Team, a task force convened on Aug. 29 until Oct. 24 that patrolled the Business Triangle. According to internal documents obtained by the Courier, the Rodeo Drive Team was formed in response to “an increase in calls for service in the Business District” for mostly so-called quality of life violations, including jaywalking, marijuana consumption, playing loud music, and skateboarding.

But the task force quickly found itself playing defense against an unprecedented surge of unemployment insurance fraud. Within five weeks, the Rodeo Drive Team recovered over $250,000 in cash along with fraudulent unemployment insurance cards with a potential value of $3 million. The majority of the 90 arrests made by the Rodeo Drive Team resulted in charges for identity theft.

According to BHPD records first reported by the Courier, 80 of the 90 people arrested were Black.

“Beverly Hills is only 2% Black. Our state is only 13% Black. Why were 90% of the arrests African American?” attorney Bradley Gage, who has represented over a dozen former BHPD officers and employees in lawsuits against former-Police Chief Sandra Spagnoli, said at the press conference. “You can’t justify that.”

The new governmental claim filed on Oct. 24 alleges that BHPD officers made a racially-motivated traffic stop of Joseph Nett and his girlfriend Lakisha Swift, both of whom are Black. On Aug. 5, 2020, Nett and Swift were driving through Beverly Hills to the beach when they were pulled over for allegedly stopping three inches over the limit line.

“I was a passenger in my girlfriend’s car and we were on our way to the beach, when, out of nowhere, we were suddenly pulled over, handcuffed, and humiliated for no reason,” Nett said at the press conference.

In the course of the stop, the officers discovered a restraining order against Nett by Swift, prompting them to detain him. Gage said that Swift told the officers that the order was no longer necessary. Nett remained in detention for over three days, the claim alleges, at which point police released him without charging him with a crime.

In a statement following the press conference, Beverly Hills Chief Communications Officer Keith Sterling said, “The members of the Beverly Hills Police Department take an oath to protect human life. The Department’s practice is to contact and question individuals when it is believed they may be involved in criminal activity or another violation of the law.

“It was determined that Mr. Nett was in violation of a restraining order obtained by the female driver,” Sterling said about the incident. “While the woman indicated she did not wish to press charges, for her safety and according to the law, Mr. Nett was taken into custody.”

A governmental claim must be filed before a lawsuit can be brought against a governmental entity. While Nett and Swift’s detention came several weeks before the formation of the Rodeo Drive Team, the claim asserts that the interaction demonstrates that the department was targeting African Americans for “driving while black” for years. 

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“This is a very, very safe city,” Rivetti said. “All I can say is the Beverly Hills Police Department is second to none. We do a great job of protecting the city. The men and women of this department work very, very hard to keep Beverly Hills safe.”

Rivetti’s appearance follows a shooting that took place in front of the restaurant Via Alloro on Oct. 19, leaving one man with a non-life threatening gunshot wound to his leg. Authorities have described the incident as an attempted robbery. Rivetti did not report significant updates in the case, but told the Council,”we are working diligently to solve that crime and we are making progress.”

Rivetti added that the department has beefed up security measures in the Business Triangle. In addition to the existing CCTV trailer on Rodeo Drive, the department has moved a second trailer onto Canon to monitor the street “24 hours a day,” he said.

Beverly Hills has an expansive network of CCTV cameras spread throughout the city. Rivetti said the department frequently relies on the cameras in solving crimes in the city. The department plans to put grant funding towards the purchase of another CCTV trailer.

“In addition to that, we added additional resources through Covered 6,” Rivetti said, referring to one of the two private armed security firms contracted by the city. “They now have three vehicles just in the Business Triangle for 10 hours a day. Two of the vehicles are two man units and what we’re asking them to do is each of them put one officer on the street to walk a foot beat while the other security officer does patrol in the marked security vehicles.”

According to Public Information Officer Lt. Giovanni Trejo, the city’s private security contractors did not participate in the response to the shooting.

The department has also put more BHPD officers on foot beats, bike patrols, and police car patrols in the Business Triangle. When other units are not answering calls or dedicated to another area, the department has instructed them to “drive through the Triangle and provide extra coverage and visibility,” Rivetti said.

The enhancements bring the Business Triangle security presence from two Covered 6 officers to five. The Covered 6 guards will patrol the area until midnight, while the additional BHPD officers will patrol until 10 p.m. Rivetti clarified that BHPD patrols regularly assigned to the Triangle will be present 24 hours a day.

“We’ve asked them to stay very visible, don’t get involved in minor things, and interact with the merchants and tourists and the public,” Rivetti said.

Rivetti told the Council that the additional BHPD resources dedicated to the Business Triangle would not siphon away officers from residential areas.

The city has remained on high alert since the civil unrest in May 2020 led to looting and vandalism in its Golden Triangle. The subsequent tensions brought by ongoing rallies led the city to enlist the aid of two private armed security companies, Covered 6 and Nastec International. As of June 1, the city had spent around $5 million for private security.

At the same time, the city has seen several high-profile robberies in its commercial corridors. In an incident described by Rivetti at the time as “brazen,” three individuals stole a $500,000 watch at gunpoint in March at Il Pastaio. The robbery, which took place in broad daylight, left one patron with a minor injury when a gun went off. In the immediate aftermath of the robbery, the city boosted the number of private security officers in the area.

Rivetti seemed to attribute the crimes to progressive policies enacted in the state over the last few years. “Our criminal justice system in California and particularly here in L.A. County can only be described as broken. Oftentimes, in many cases, there’s just no consequences for criminal behavior,” Rivetti said. “[There’s] been a steady erosion of public safety in California for the last several years and it’s impacting all communities, including Beverly Hills.”

According to the most recent department data, overall crime remained down 5% in September compared to a year ago.

While Rivetti thanked the Council for its support of law enforcement, he added that the department has “quite a few openings.” He said the department is developing an advertising campaign to recruit new officers. “We might be coming to you with some suggestions on how we can enhance our recruitment program,” he said.

Mayor Robert Wunderlich praised Rivetti and the department “for all that they do to keep us safe,” adding: “Safety is a hallmark of Beverly Hills, for our residents and for our businesses, and we are committed to doing what we have to do…to keep that true.” 

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The documents, obtained through a Public Records Act request, reveal two sets of numbers–arrests by the Rodeo Drive Team, and overall arrests for unemployment insurance fraud. The Rodeo Drive Team operated from Aug. 29 to Oct. 24, 2020, according to the city. In that time, the task force arrested 90 individuals, 80 of whom were Black.

The records also contain the number of total arrests for unemployment insurance fraud or Employment Development Department (EDD) fraud. Beverly Hills police arrested 107 people on suspicion of unemployment insurance fraud, 99 of whom were Black. While this number encompasses some of the Rodeo Drive Team arrests, it also includes additional arrests made by officers outside of the team, according to the city’s Chief Communications Officer Keith Sterling.

The lawsuit alleges that Team Rodeo Drive made 106 arrests, 105 of which were of Black pedestrians and motorists. The suit was filed by national civil rights attorney Ben Crump and local attorney Bradley Gage. Gage’s firm has recovered millions against the city, representing former BHPD employees in actions involving former Police Chief Sandra Spagnoli.

When asked to clarify the number of arrests that have led to prosecutions, Sterling told the Courier, “It is the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office that makes the decision whether to prosecute an arrested individual. Some of the cases are still under investigation, and accordingly, the city does not have complete information regarding the number of cases that will be prosecuted. The city is aware of at least 10 cases that have been prosecuted by the District Attorney’s Office.” 

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“Detective Zoeller dedicated many years of service to law enforcement, shaping the Beverly Hills Police Department and the history of policing through many of his cases,” the department posted on Facebook. “The BHPD will always remember you, Les.”

Zoeller suffered a major stroke on July 9, sustaining a brain bleed. He was placed into a coma and never regained consciousness. He died on Aug. 4. He is survived by his wife, Lisa, and his children, Ashley and Kyle. 

Zoeller joined the department in 1976 from the city of Gardena, retiring in 2002. He played a pivotal role in headline-grabbing cases like the Menendez Brothers murders, the Billionaire Boys Club and the Van Cleef & Arpels robbery-murders. 

Zoeller was the primary investigator in the double homicide of Jose and Kitty Menendez, which took place on North Elm Drive. The detective told the Los Angeles Times that he suspected the brothers from the outset, but it took seven years to prove it. 

“It was an honor to attend the memorial service remembering the life of my friend Les Zoeller, the legendary Beverly Hills PD Detective who was well known for his honesty, utmost integrity and for being the Prime Lead Investigator of famous high-profile cases like the Menendez Brothers and Billionaires Boys Club,” wrote retired LAPD officer Todd Rheingold on social media. “A life well lived with his beautiful family and in the pursuit of justice for the many victims he came across in his Law Enforcement career.”

The event was attended by around 150 people, including Mayor Robert Wunderlich and Councilmember Julian Gold. The city honored Zoeller with a proclamation and an honor guard conducted a flag presentation ceremony to his family.  

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“At approximately 8:45 p.m. this evening, Beverly Hills police communication center received several 911 calls regarding a shooting that had just occurred in the 300 block of North Canon. Arriving officers located a victim who was suffering from a non-threatening gunshot wound to the leg,” said BHPD Lt. Giovani Trejo. The victim is in stable condition and retained all of his belongings during the incident, he said. The suspect remains at large.

“Preliminary information appears at this point that the male victim was the target of a robbery.”

Witnesses told the Courier that the victim, a young Black man, had come to Via Alloro with a woman and a baby.

A restaurant employee who requested anonymity to speak candidly was just feet away when the gun went off. While the woman and child were inside, the victim left the restaurant to cross the street to Rite Aid.

“He went to buy something at Rite Aid and he came back to his car,” he said, pointing to a white Lamborghini SUV still parked in front of the restaurant on Canon. A light-colored sedan pulled up beside the victim, the employee said, and a passenger exited the vehicle and approached him. “I thought they were friends,” the employee said.

Trejo told reporters that a “struggle ensued between the victim and the suspect” at this point. People on the balcony above Via Alloro began to yell, “Leave him alone,” the employee said. “I ran to help him…and I heard the gunshot.”

One woman on a date told the Courier, “We heard the gunshot and I got under the table.”

Udy Ivazov was celebrating his sister’s birthday with his parents and sister when they heard the gunshot from just feet away. At first, he mistook the sound for a breaking dinner plate. He realized otherwise when he saw a valet driver and other bystanders running away from the sound. Ivazov looked in the direction of the noise and saw the light-colored car speed away through a red light.

“Then I saw a guy walk forward. He was like, ‘I’m shot, I’m shot,’ and I didn’t think he was serious because he looked o.k.,” Ivazov told the Courier. “Then he got down on the floor and took his pants [off] and I saw a gunshot.”

In March, only a block away from this latest incident, Beverly Hills experienced a robbery with gunfire in broad daylight at Il Pastaio. In that case, a watch valued at $500,000 was stolen. Three men accused of perpetrating the theft were arrested in May and recently pleaded guilty to two counts of conspiracy to commit interference with commerce by robbery and one count of possession and use of a firearm during a crime of violence.

Trejo said that the department had no reason to suspect a connection with the Il Pastaio robbery.

More recently, on Sept. 22, two individuals were robbed at gunpoint by two suspects on the 300 block of North Beverly Drive. In the holdup, which happened around 9:30 p.m., the victims complied with demands and gave the suspects their watches and jewelry.

“The city of Beverly Hills is a safe city,” Trejo said. “If everything points to the need to increase security in the area, then that’s what we’ll do. We’re trying to make sure that our residents [and] our visitors feel safe in the city of Beverly Hills.”

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“The behavior of the protesters who harassed kids and their parents on Walk to School Day was simply horrific and it can’t be allowed to happen again,” said Mayor Robert Wunderlich, who joined Walk to School Day and was confronted by the same group of protesters.

In a statement to the Courier, Beverly Hills Unified School District (BHUSD) Superintendent Dr. Michael Bregy said that he had personally met with Wunderlich, Interim Police Chief Dominick Rivetti, and City Attorney Laurence Wiener following the protest. “The discussion was extremely encouraging, the subsequent actions that were taken by BHPD over the weekend and our City Council on Tuesday clearly indicate their unwavering dedication to keeping our students safe,” he said.

Wiener justified the buffer zone on the physical impact of having demonstrators on a narrow sidewalk, noting that some parents and children had to walk in the street to avoid the protest. “As a consequence,” he said, “there isn’t enough room on the sidewalk adjacent to the entrances to safely accommodate both protesters and children entering or leaving the school.”

The ordinance prohibits demonstrations within 300 feet of school entrances, with the exception of Beverly Hills High School, on days when school is in session and at times immediately before and after the beginning and end of the school day. The ordinance also holds that protesters cannot follow within 100 feet of a student on their way to or from school. The restriction applies anywhere within 10 blocks of a school. 

While the original draft of the ordinance excluded Beverly Hills High School, the Council unanimously agreed that the protections should extend there as well. Given the particular geography of the school, the ordinance proscribes demonstrations within 100 feet of the entrance at Durant and Moreno Drive. 

The ordinance additionally forbids parades or assemblies from making noise “distinctly audible within any classroom of the school building during times that school is in session.” It further prohibits parades and assemblies within 50 feet of a school playground while school is in session. The ordinance applies to both public and private schools. Violation of the ordinance carries a potential fine up to $1,000 and up to six months in jail. 

While Hawthorne Elementary School holds a Walk to School day each month, the school and its PTA organized a more elaborate event for Oct. 6, National Walk and Bike to School Day. But the day also came during a moment of heightened attention on the city from anti-vaccine mandate activists, who just the day prior rallied at City Hall in support of Beverly Hills firefighters refusing to take the vaccine.

One activist promoted the Hawthorne protest at the rally, noting that Mayor Wunderlich and School Board President Rachelle Marcus would be present.

“They think it’s going to be a fun and safe photo opportunity with parents and kids. Let’s show up here and show them it’s not,” he said. “Let’s make them afraid, because it’s no longer that we need to be on the defense–we need to be on the offense.”

The protest was also promoted by the Beverly Hills Firefighter Association (BHFA), the union representing the city’s firefighters. In a statement following the protest, union president Victor Gutierrez said the BHFA had posted a flyer for the protest to the union’s Instagram account. After hearing the rhetoric used to promote the protest at the rally, “We immediately removed the flyer from our social media and informed our members that we would not be supporting the event,” he said.

Demonstrators followed parents and children as they walked to school and then picketed outside the entrance, at times loudly equating masks and vaccines to “child abuse” and “rape.” Most parents and children tried steering clear of the demonstrators, but several parents became embroiled in tense exchanges with protesters that led to shouting.

Previously, the Beverly Hills Police Department (BHPD) said officers had limited options in dealing with the protesters so long as they were only exercising their First Amendment rights. During the protest, when approached by parents, officers declined to intervene in the heated encounters between parents and demonstrators.  

But following the local and national outcry over the event, Rivetti said that BHPD took an incident report and presented footage of the demonstrators to the District Attorney’s office to determine if any penal codes were violated. The department also presented the evidence to the city attorney’s office to investigate whether demonstrators violated the city’s municipal code. Both the DA and the city attorney’s office are in the process of reviewing the material, he said.

“Getting into a kid’s face, getting a foot away from the kid and screaming at that kid, and obstructing that kid from being able to walk forward with his or her parent would meet my definition of assault,” Wunderlich said. “It seems like there should be a law against that already on the books.”

Armed with the urgency ordinance going forward, Rivetti told the Council that officers will “create a safe zone” with protesters on one side and students, parents, faculty, and staff on the other. “As the ordinance is fashioned, we’re confident that we can enforce the ordinance [and] allow the demonstrators to exercise their constitutional right, but at the same time, ensure the safety and well being of the children, parents and faculty,” he said.

Vice Mayor Lili Bosse pressed Rivetti on whether BHPD would follow through on enforcement of the new ordinance, noting that the department declined to enforce masking requirements at the weekly Trump rallies in Beverly Gardens Park in 2020. The department said at the time that it lacked the numbers to enforce the ordinance and feared escalating encounters with rally-goers.

“If we’re dealing with the same situation as last Wednesday, we will take care of it,” Rivetti said.

The Oct. 6 protest continues a trend of right-wing and populist activism in the city. The protest was the second time that demonstrators had gathered in front of Hawthorne Elementary School. On April 21, protesters stood outside the school’s entrance in opposition to masking requirements in the district. Activists have also staged protests at other schools across the county, including John Adams Middle School and Palisades High School. 

Councilmember Lester Friedman harshly condemned the actions of the activists, noting that many of them had protested twice in front of his home during his mayoral tenure. “I thought it was extremely rude, shameful, and obnoxious using children to promote a minority position regarding vaccinations. Using children to make a point and to scare them, harass them, intimidate them, torment them. It’s just shameful,” he said. “I am fully aware of their First Amendment rights. They do have those rights, but to use children as a tool–they should just be embarrassed that they did so.”

Schools across the country have turned into battlefields over politicized public health measures like face coverings and vaccinations. On Oct. 4, Attorney General Merrick Garland directed the FBI and U.S. Attorneys’ Offices to meet with state and local law enforcement to address a rise in violent threats against school board members across the country. The Beverly Hills Board of Trustees has not reported any threats.  

The Council technically passed two ordinances at the Oct. 12 meeting, both an urgency ordinance and a regular ordinance. The urgency ordinance will go into effect immediately; the regular ordinance will remain in place after the urgency ordinance lapses. 

Bosse shared the story of a mother who spoke with her after the protest: “Every day she walks her kids to school, and that day [she] was part of the walk and her children are truly traumatized and will not walk to school with their mother since Wednesday, to the point that she now is looking to help get some counseling for her children.”

“I wish we actually had this in place so the situation never would have arisen,” Bosse said. 

The post Council Passes Ordinance Restricting School Protests appeared first on Beverly Hills Courier.

“I am thrilled to welcome Mark to Beverly Hills,” City Manager George Chavez said in a statement. “His international credentials, experience in high-profile agencies and collaborative approach will bring new energy and valuable insight to our community and the department.”

Stainbrook has a lengthy background in both law enforcement and the armed services. He enlisted in the Navy at 17 before switching shortly thereafter to the Marines. (He told the Courier he was bad at math.) He served in the United States Marine Corps Reserve for 32 years before retiring recently at the rank of Lieutenant Colonel. Before his time in San Diego, he worked for the Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD) beginning in 1995. He served in a variety of units there, including Community Resources Against Street Hoodlums (CRASH), gang, internal affairs and counterterrorism.

Stainbrook is expected to assume leadership of the BHPD in late November, according to the city. In this exclusive interview, Stainbrook spoke to the Courier about his background, his leadership philosophy and his hopes for the future of the BHPD.

BHC: What influenced you to go into the military and law enforcement?

Stainbrook: My dad was in the Navy for 42 years, so looking at him as I was growing up, all I really wanted to do was be in the military. I never wanted to be a police officer. I went to a military college in Vermont called Norwich and I enlisted in the Navy at 17 to pursue a military career. I got into an officer program when I was in college and switched to the Marines.

I was busing tables my sophomore year and some state troopers walked in and asked for directions. They said [they were] hiring auxiliary troopers to work boats and work snowmobiles in the winter. I said, ‘you pay for that? That sounds a lot better than busing tables.’ So, I started as a reserve officer in Vermont and worked for three different departments and just fell in love with law enforcement.

BHC: Jumping a little bit ahead in your life, what prompted you to write your master’s thesis, “Attitudes of American-Muslims towards Law Enforcement: A Comparison of before and after September 11, 2001?”

My dad was in the Pentagon when it got hit on September 11. I was working LAPD CRASH in West L.A. at the time. I woke up in the morning and saw that the buildings were burning and then I looked down to the righthand corner [of the TV] and they had the Pentagon, which was on fire. I was with my wife and I said, ‘oh my God, my dad works there.’ I didn’t know all day whether he was alive or dead. He was a PIO for the Navy and he briefed the admiral who briefed Rumsfeld every day. He’d be in really early in the morning, so I knew he’d be there.

He got out alive. He got smoke inhalation. He was one room in and to the right of where the plane hit. I call him every September 11 and tell him I don’t forget.

The next month, I left for Kosovo and I took a 10 Marine civil affairs team. Kosovo is 80% Muslim and I worked in an area called Štrpce, which was 40% Albanian Muslim and 60% Serbian. Our job was community policing of the Marine Corps [and] the military. We were out working with civilians all the time and the Muslim community loved us. I was like, wait a second, I’m confused. Muslims attacked the country, but they love us here. So, I really started studying the issues. I came right back and then I got deployed in Iraq for ground combat. There, I was working with Shia in the south, I was working with Sunni around Baghdad–completely different types of Muslim communities than I experienced in the Europeanized, Albanian Muslim community.

It fascinated me, this world ummah [Arabic for “community”] of the Muslim community. When I got back, I worked with LAPD and I was very interested in how the different Muslim communities around L.A. felt about police officers post-9/11. So that’s what I did my master’s thesis on.

I ended up getting a Fulbright Fellowship at Leeds university and studying the Muslim diaspora in Europe at the Theoloy and Religious Studies department. When I came back, I joined the counter-terrorism unit in LAPD and forming the first community outreach unit that specifically dealt with terrorism.

What the experience told me, too, was when you talk about community policing, whenever you typically meet an officer, it’s not in a good situation. I personally have had bad interactions with police officers and I am a police officer. So, what you want to try to do is set up as many non-conflictual engagements [with the public] and get to know each other on a more personal level. Because cops are just humans. We make mistakes, we have bad days, we don’t know everything.

BHC: In Iraq, during Operation Iraqi Freedom, you were tasked with setting up the Baghdad police in one sector and starting joint patrols with Marines. You were given no additional direction and only two Marines, who were also LAPD officers. Can you talk about the challenges you faced in reconstituting a working police force in a war-torn country?

That takes me back some 18 years ago now. All basic services were gone–electricity, water, looting everywhere, sniper fire, sporadic fighting still going on. We had nothing to work with. We were trying to get as many former police that, in one sense, we were just fighting three days earlier. We ended up getting thousands coming in and tried to organize them into some sort of working unit. It was very difficult. A lot of police cars and fire trucks had been stolen. So, one of our first jobs was just setting up checkpoints and trying to get vehicles back and just trying to get some semblance of order back.

It was there where the realization struck me that cops are cops wherever you go. These officers there, they just wanted to see their city return back to a normal, safe environment. A lot of the prisoners had been released or escaped from prisons and jails and police stations had been looted. I found a lot of commonality with Iraqi police. We did joint patrols with them while we were there. And so, then I transitioned to Southern Iraq and tried to help set it up on a broader, regional scale.

BHC:  In your account of this time, you repeatedly refer to certain individuals, both American and Iraqi, as “good cops.” The term seems to carry special weight for you. In this context and beyond, what is a good cop to you?

I think it goes back to servant leadership, somebody that puts others ahead of themselves. When you want to serve others more than your own self-interests, I think that’s the basis of what makes a good cop. I was going through doors with Iraqis that we had just been fighting a couple of days before because they were cops and I was a cop. We went side by side into some dangerous situations.

BHC: To put a cap on your military service, you’ve received multiple military commendations, including the Navy-Marine Corps Medal for heroism, as well as the Army Commendation Medal and the Navy Achievement Medal. Could you give us the backstory?

The highest one is the Navy Marine Corps Medal for heroism. In ’92, there was 11 days of rain, which we probably need right now. The Base Camp Pendleton has the Santa Margarita river flowing through it. It was a major river and dried up over the last hundred years. But after all that rain, just a wall of water came washing down the basin. It destroyed the airfield. It was a massive flood and me and some of my MPs, we went in and rescued a bunch of people out of water.

BHC: What did that involve?

To effect one rescue, we got caught in a chlorine gas leak. We had to take a big truck and essentially navigate through five, six feet of water to get people stranded in different places. You had sinkholes, massive flooding, people trapped. I rescued some Marines using a bucket of a bulldozer. They were trapped, holding onto the top of vehicles and telephone poles at night. We pulled out six people.

BHC: Had you ever operated a bulldozer before?

No, but I had a corporal who was from a bad part of town that could pretty much operate any vehicle. He did a couple of old tricks to get it started. I was actually told by the Commandant of the Marine Corp after we potentially misappropriated a vehicle that it was good initiative, poor judgement. But we were trying to get people out of a flood.

BHC: Tell us about your experience with LAPD.

It was really interesting. I’m a farm boy from Maryland, so it was kind of like, wow. Being in the big city was kind of eye opening. I was the class leader in my academy class and the honor graduate in my academy class, so I got to pick where I wanted to go and I thought, I’m in L.A., I want to go to Hollywood, because Hollywood has a little bit of everything.

BHC: You wrote in a column entitled “What Didn’t They Teach Me In The Academy” that at times there can be a great deal of pressure on young officers to succumb to the ‘group think’ mentality. Is this something you’ve experienced personally and can you speak about that?

So, I think one of the things that shaped me…when I was a gang officer, my partner had a kickback in his department from some dope that wasn’t returned to court. He looks at it and he goes, ‘This isn’t mine. I don’t know what this is.’ It turned out that Rafael Perez had used his name and essentially stole the dope, which kind of started the whole Rampart scandal.

It was very eye opening to be where that thing got rolling. Then, later on, I was at internal affairs and I worked the Special Operations Division, which looked at officers who were potentially corrupt or doing bad things. It just makes you realize that there are people in any industry, in any organization that could be bad apples. You have to make sure that everybody is not having group think and just going along with everything. It’s okay to question some things and if something’s not right, say something about it.

BHC:  Over the years, you’ve repeatedly written on the subject of leadership. Coming into a new department and city, in the most concrete terms possible, what will it mean to be a good leader?

That’s pretty easy for me. The first question I ask myself every day is, ‘what have you done for your people today?’ When you become a leader, it’s no longer about you. It’s about other people. I’ve done all the things I’ve wanted to do in my career. I’ve had a great career. My joy now is seeing other people succeed. I typically go around when I go to a new organization and I ask two things: ‘Are you getting what you need to succeed and how can I help you?’

BHC: Do you read much in your off time?

I read constantly. Right now, I’m reading “Range,” by David Epstein. It’s about how generalists outperform specialists and how specialized our society is getting. I’m usually reading multiple books at one time. A lot of biographies.

BHC: What’s a biography that’s stuck with you?

Ron Chernow’s “Washington: A Life,” because Washington didn’t really want to be a public servant, but he realized it was his fate to be one.

I’ll tell you what we do at my department. The command staff, we all read a book together. It’s a shared experience and it puts us in the same frame of mind. The first book we did when I was chief was “The Culture Code,” by Daniel Coyle–which is, by the way, the book we’ll be reading together at Beverly Hills when I get there. It talks a lot about how to build positive cultures within organizations. … [Reading together] helps develop relationships, helps bring out how people really think about deep issues in a non-conflictual way.

BHC: Speaking of Beverly Hills, have you spent much time in the city before?

I was in LAPD for 17 years. I worked in the West L.A. division for five years. You can see similarities between Beverly Hills and West L.A. in terms of the community and some of the issues. [In Beverly Hills], I was able to go on a ride along and talk to some people and come up for my interviews, but I definitely am looking forward to spending a lot more time learning about the community and the city and the department and just getting down in the weeds.

BHC: You’re stepping into a department that has faced controversy for the last several years. The city has paid out millions in judgments and settlements stemming from allegations of misconduct by the former chief. The department is currently facing a proposed class action lawsuit for racial discrimination. How do you propose to right the ship?

Having new leadership means a fresh start. I literally don’t know anyone at the department. So, everybody there has a fresh start with me and I hope that leads to fresh starts with their internal relationships with each other and building bridges with each other and with the community. I don’t really focus on the past too much. A leader, as the term conveys, is about going into a bright future. And there’s no doubt to me that it’s a good department, it’s a great city and there’s a bright future there. It’s been a tough time for every officer in the state, every officer in the country, and there’s not a department that you go to right now where they won’t say morale is kind of low. You ask why and nobody can quite put a finger on it, but some combination of COVID and vaccines, low staffing, and some of the abuse that law enforcement has been taking over the last couple of years. Another book I’m really into is called “Failure of Nerve” [by Edwin Friedman]. It talks about the leader reducing the anxiety in an organization or a family, or even the nation. I have no doubt that everybody there knows the things that need to be done. They just need someone to help them actualize it. My first job is to listen.

BHC: What do you want to know from the people of Beverly Hills? What do you want to know from the community?

I want to know how they want to be policed, what they want their law enforcement to do. This is the national discussion, isn’t it? As a young officer, I was constantly being asked to move homeless people, engage with homeless people, arrest homeless people. We weren’t the right tool for that, but we were asked to do all these things. Now it’s clear to me that society as a whole has said, we don’t necessarily want our police to enforce every minor crime or issue. I’m not sure the public even knows what they want, but you can see that things like mental illness, drug abuse, alcohol addiction, homelessness–they’re not really law enforcement or criminal issues. They might lead to criminal issues. But, we haven’t retooled society to say, ‘how are we going to address these issues?’ Because we’ve always had the police do it. We’re put in a funny position right now where law enforcement is trying to rethink what we should be doing and how we should be doing it. And that’s a positive thing–that should be the national dialogue. But to abuse law enforcement and to treat us poorly because of systemic things that are out of our control, I think it’s disingenuous. Crime is still the lowest it’s been in the 25 years I’ve been a cop here. It’s come up a little bit, but you’re more than likely to be the victim of a cybercrime, hacking, identity theft on the internet, than you are of a violent crime in the street. L.A. is safer, the county is safer than I’ve ever seen it. Same in San Diego. But we’re not putting as much effort into cybercrime, for example, or elder abuse or identity theft and things like that. We’re putting a lot of effort into quality-of-life issues, nuisance issues. I don’t know, maybe the community wants us to focus a little more on nonviolent crime or prolific offenders. I’d like to get that sense from the general public: What is it that you want from law enforcement? We can do it, but I don’t know that everybody can agree on what they want out of law enforcement right now. What do you think?

The post Courier Exclusive: Q&A with Mark Stainbrook, New BHPD Chief appeared first on Beverly Hills Courier.

“Vaccinating more Angelenos is our only way out of this pandemic, and we must do everything in our power to keep pushing those numbers up,” said Mayor Eric Garcetti in a statement after signing the ordinance. “These new rules will encourage more people to get the shot, and make businesses safer for workers and customers–so that we can save more lives, better protect the vulnerable, and make our communities even safer as we fight this pandemic.”

In an effort to balance the public health benefits of the restrictions with its burden, the ordinance omits grocery stores and pharmacies.

“We’ve spent too much time placing restrictions on people who did their part by getting vaccinated and wearing their masks. We need to both limit the transmission of the virus as well as make it inconvenient for those who are unvaccinated to access indoor venues and put lives at jeopardy. The stakes are too high,” Council President Nury Martinez said at a previous meeting.

As of Sept. 30, slightly less than 78% of eligible county residents age 12 and up have received at least one dose of vaccine, while 69% are fully vaccinated.

Those exempt from vaccinations, either due to medical reasons or a “sincerely held religious belief,” will be exempt from the new regulations. Establishments will have to review exemptions on a case by case basis. 

In cases where unvaccinated people are permitted to enter, they will be allowed to use outdoor areas. If unavailable, they can enter indoor spaces after showing proof of a negative COVID-19 test.

The Council grappled with the question of how to enforce the ordinance. Buscaino voted against the measure, citing a lack of an enforcement mechanism. Other council members, including Bob Blumenfield, Mike Bonin and Paul Krekorian, echoed Buscaino’s concerns, but felt it more urgent to pass the requirements first and settle the details later. 

“All those concerns being said, we can’t delay a day longer. We need to advance forward with an ordinance that is going to protect people from their fellow citizens who are making a choice not to be vaccinated,” Krekorian said last week. 

The post Los Angeles Passes Sweeping Proof of Vaccine Requirement appeared first on Beverly Hills Courier.

Hawthorne Elementary prides itself on its monthly Walk to School Day organized by the Parent Teacher Association that draws scores of parents and children. For years, walkers have made their way up Rexford Drive from Kelly’s Coffee to the school, where staff and administrators wait to greet students. 

For the particular walk on Oct. 6, National Walk to School Day, the PTA pulled out all the stops, promising food and prizes for participating students once they reached the school. The PTA planned to have a fitness instructor outside the school lead the students through a workout using elastic bands purchased for the occasion. 

The event attracted some 200 students and parents who traveled to Hawthorne in two cohorts. But the day also caught the attention of activists who already had their eyes set on the city over state and county vaccination mandates for firefighters.

The day before on Oct. 5, at a rally against vaccine mandates for Beverly Hills firefighters, local attorney David Hakimfar encouraged the crowd at City Hall to join him and others in protesting Walk to School Day, where he said Mayor Wunderlich and School Board President Rachelle Marcus would be.

“They think it’s going to be a fun and safe photo opportunity with parents and kids. Let’s show up here and show them it’s not,” he said. “Let’s make them afraid, because it’s no longer that we need to be on the defense–we need to be on the offense.”

The protest also received a boost from the Beverly Hills Firefighter Association, the union representing firefighters in the city. Union president Victor Gutierrez also spoke at the Oct. 5 City Hall rally. According to screenshots reviewed by the Courier, the union shared a flyer on its official Instagram account that told followers to “grab your signs and come to Kelly’s Coffee” where the walk was scheduled to start. 

“Do you want to tell them how you feel about forced vaccine mandate?” the flyer read. 

On Walk to School morning, a group of around 10 protesters gathered at Kelly’s Coffee prior to 8:15 a.m. and confronted Wunderlich. In an effort to ease tensions, he offered to meet with them later that afternoon (and did so). Nonetheless, the protestors followed Wunderlich as he joined with the first cohort of parents and children on Santa Monica Boulevard and Rexford. “Masking children is child abuse, you mask your child you’re a child abuser,” one protester shouted.

While most parents appeared to try and ignore the protesters, the two groups found themselves in heated exchanges at times.

At the school, the protesters stood outside the front entrance with picket signs decrying vaccine mandates as “medical tyranny” and claiming “COVID-19 fear is brainwashing.” 

On multiple occasions both on the walk and at the school, parents requested that Beverly Hills Police Department officers intervene in disputes. Aside from instructing people to remain on the sidewalk, police declined to get involved, citing the First Amendment. 

Section 626.8 of the California Penal Code makes it a misdemeanor to “interfere with the peaceful conduct of the activities of the school or disrupt the school or its pupils.” When asked by the Courier later in the day for comment, BHPD Acting Captain Max Subin responded by highlighting a subsection of the code that states that it “shall not be utilized to impinge upon the lawful exercise of constitutionally protected rights of speech or assembly.”

“We always strive to provide the safest environment possible when individuals are expressing their first amendment rights,” Subin noted.  

In addition to a number of parents who reached out to the Courier to express their frustration, School Superintendent Dr. Michael Bregy expressed grave disappointment at the events of the day. “The behavior exhibited by grown adults is nothing short of atrocious. Intimidating our youngest members of society, threatening students, and making them feel unsafe is unacceptable,” he said in a statement.

“Unfortunately, BHUSD does not have any authority outside of the school campus,” Bregy said. “The disruption of peaceful conduct on the sidewalk or public way adjacent to school buildings is where we place our trust in the jurisdiction of the Beverly Hills Police Department. BHUSD will exhaust every possible legal remedy available to us to ensure this never happens again.”

Bregy did not elaborate on the potential legal actions available to the district.

Bregy also seemed to allude to the Beverly Hills Firefighter Association’s role in promoting the event, saying, “We feel let down by the organizations and people who promoted this protest on their official Instagram account only to delete the story after the damage was done.”

Gutierrez did not respond to a request for comment.

Parents told the Courier that their children were confused and scared by the chaos. 

“Many of the kids were scared that protestors were going to come into the school. My child asked me not to leave,” said one mother. (The parents who spoke with the Courier requested anonymity out of fear of reprisal by local protesters.)

“I have a five-year old kid, she doesn’t understand what’s going on. They’re standing in front of our school yelling stuff that nobody understands,” a parent who identified herself as Elena said. “If you want to protest to make a difference, make a difference with the adults. Go to the City Council, go to the school board.”

One parent told the Courier that her seven-year-old removed their mask after seeing the protesters and, once inside, “got in trouble for not wearing it.”

“I will never walk to school again,” she reported her child saying. 

The post Protesters Oppose Vaccine Mandates at Walk to School Day appeared first on Beverly Hills Courier.

In a statement over the weekend, BHFD Fire Chief Greg Barton said that nearly 80% of firefighters are vaccinated, up significantly from the 63% reported in August. The city itself has no role in requiring the vaccinations outside of enforcing the mandates. The requirements come from two authorities, the state and county public health departments, both of which have ordered healthcare workers to either get vaccinated or request an exemption. 

While not healthcare workers per se, all BHFD firefighters are also certified EMTs and paramedics, qualifying them for the mandates. The orders gave healthcare workers until Sept. 30 to be fully inoculated against COVID-19 or receive an exemption on religious or medical grounds.

“The Beverly Hills Fire Department will make operational adjustments as needed to ensure the greatest level of protection for the community with vaccinated paramedics assigned to engine companies wearing full personal protective equipment when responding on medical calls,” Barton said. “I want to assure every member of this community that our quality of service and your health and safety will not be compromised.”

On Oct. 1, the city announced decisions for the 25 exemption requests. Of the five firefighters seeking medical exemptions, one received a full exemption while the rest were granted 30-day temporary exemptions. None of the 20 seeking exemptions for “sincerely held religious beliefs” received full exemptions. Instead, 14 were given 30-day exemptions and six requests were denied. Five of those denied religious exemptions took the shot, while one has been placed on unpaid administrative leave. 

Over the course of the 30-day temporary exemption, those seeking medical exemptions have been asked to provide the city with documentation submitted by their health care provider for further evaluation. The city will meet again with those seeking religious exemptions at the end of the 30-day period to reevaluate their request. 

Beverly Hills Firefighter Association President Victor Gutierrez, who helms the union representing the city’s firefighters, described the move as “segregation” and “in disregard to public safety.” 

In response to concerns about staffing levels, the department added an additional vaccinated firefighter to each shift. 

Gutierrez told the Courier that the union does not oppose the mandates–rather, it opposes removing unvaccinated firefighters from medical calls. Gutierrez pointed out that the county vaccination mandate does not prohibit healthcare workers from working with patients so long as they test regularly for COVID-19 and wear face coverings.

On Oct. 5, over a hundred protesters decried the mandates on the steps of City Hall. The crowd included a number of firefighters from other departments, including Los Angeles, the county, and at least two from Beverly Hills. One BHFD firefighter present, Josh Sattley, had his religious exemption request denied and refused to take the vaccine. As a result, he was placed on unpaid administrative leave.

He came to the front of the crowd accompanied by his family and greeted by chants of “hero.” 

“I’m not a hero, I’m just a man who loves God, I’m a man who loves my country, and I’m a man who loves my family,” he said. “I’m being punished because I stood up for what I believe to be right and I’m going to continue to stand up for what I believe to be right.”

Gutierrez also spoke at the rally in support of Sattley. “Please follow our mission, follow Josh. This is all about having a choice and not having that choice stepped on,” he said.

Sattley declined an interview request from the Courier. He has become a vocal critic of the city, characterizing the measures as “draconian and tyrannical” in an Instagram post. He appeared on the conservative news outlet Newsmax on Oct. 5 to discuss the mandates with host Grant Stinchfield. 

As with the debate in other areas of life, from schools to hospitals, firefighters in Beverly Hills are already required to receive certain vaccines as a condition of employment, according to Deputy Fire Chief Joe Matsch. Opponents of the vaccine frequently raise concerns with the speed of its development, but legal experts say that such objections would not qualify as religious in nature.  

The post Beverly Hills Fire Department Addresses Vaccine Mandate appeared first on Beverly Hills Courier.

The members of the Planning Commission had glowing praise for the document. “I want to reiterate in the strongest possible terms that I think this is a magisterial work that has been undertaken by the staff,” said Vice Chair Thomas Hudnut.

Every eight years, cities and jurisdictions in California draw up a new Housing Element, a part of the City’s General Plan that considers the housing needs of the community and anticipates how that need will change. At the center of the Housing Element is the Regional Housing Needs Assessment (RHNA, pronounced “ree-na”) number, an evaluation of the number of housing units needed in the state in the next eight years.

This is how the state comes up with that number. The State Department of Housing and Community Development (HCD) first determines the housing needs in each region of California by examining population data, and economic and demographic trends. The number that HCD calculates gets passed to a local regional planning agency that looks at more local data and distributes the total among its jurisdictions.

In 2019, as cities across California grappled with soaring rents and an ongoing homelessness crisis, HCD announced an ambitious goal of about 3.5 million new units over the new Housing Elements cycle. What trickled down to Beverly Hills: a hotly contested 3,104 units, more than half of which must be affordable. (In comparison, in the last housing cycle, Beverly Hills’ allotment was only three.)

But as Principal Planner Timothea Tway made clear to the Commission, “RHNA represents a planning target for new residential growth and not a building quota.” In order for HCD to certify the city’s Housing Element, it must prove to the state agency that the city’s housing and development policies as detailed in the Housing Element could allow for the development of 3,104 units. 

Critics of the RHNA allotment have described the number as unreasonably high, citing the city’s lack of undeveloped land and high property values as impediments to that level of growth. To get around this for the next cycle, the Housing Element proposes that the city will reach its RHNA number through two main sources: mixed-use housing and accessory dwelling units (ADU). 

While the city has been in the thick of the Housing Element process for nearly a year now, the Planning Commission’s hearing marked only the second time the commission had reviewed the draft. Including the staff report, supplemental material and appendices, the total paperwork before the Planning Commission totaled more than 700 pages.

In addition to the draft itself, the packet of information given to the Planning Commission also included the responses to the draft by HCD, the state agency in charge of certifying the Housing Element. The agency generally commented on the lack of a timeline for certain programs offered in the draft, said Tway. The state also wrote that they would like to see additional steps taken for extremely low-income households and special needs households.  

The comments repeatedly mention the city’s obligation to “affirmatively further fair housing,” which Tway explained “means taking meaningful actions in addition to combating discrimination that overcome patterns of segregation and foster inclusive communities free from barriers that restrict access to opportunities based on subjective characteristics.” 

In response to these comments, the city made numerous updates to the draft to more robustly address concerns around inclusivity in Beverly Hills. The revised Housing Element would commit the city to working with a consultant to develop a fair housing action plan by 2023. City staff involved with housing and other relevant departments would receive annual fair housing training under the element. Beverly Hills would also launch a website with information on fair housing resources.  

But the city also responded to HCD by saying that “the primary barrier to fair housing in the city is high housing costs, which has affected limiting access by lower income households in the city, and there’s no evidence to suggest that discrimination against racial groups or persons with disabilities is a major issue,” Tway said.

The city also made changes to the Housing Element to encourage construction of more ADUs. Under the Housing Element, the city would allow ADUs above existing garages and create “by right” pre-approved ADU plans. The city would revisit the regulations in 2025 to assess whether more needed to be done.  

The Commission addressed questions to the possible consequences of SB 9 (“the hippopotamus in the bathtub,” according to Ostroff). The recent legislation, which Gov. Gavin Newsom signed into law Sept. 16, could potentially impact the city’s housing stock by allowing the development of duplexes on qualifying single-family lots. Given the timing of the law, the current draft does not take its potential impact into account.

But according to Director of Community Development Ryan Gohlich, the city can satisfy its RHNA obligation without looking to the new law. “I think there are still a lot of unknowns about it at this point, probably a lot of legal arguments about how the law gets applied, and there may also be challenges to the law. I’ve heard everything from legal challenges to potential ballot initiatives for the coming year.”

When asked by Commissioner Peter Ostroff about the likelihood of certification, John Douglas, a land-use consultant for the city, said he could not answer. He did hazard a note of caution, though. “We’re into a new world in terms of housing, completely different than anything I’ve seen in the previous cycles that I’ve worked in,” he said. “I would not be surprised to see many cities not receive certification of their first submitted adopted housing element.”

Douglas pointed to the region that includes San Diego, which is six months ahead of Beverly Hills in its housing element process. Of the 19 jurisdictions in that area, only a few of them have received certification, he said.

State law sets a “due date” of Oct. 15 for adopting the Housing Elements. There is no automatic consequence for missing the due date, but if the city fails to do so, “the city must prepare a subsequent update to the housing element in four years, rather than eight years,” Douglas said.

The City Council will review the draft at its Oct. 12 meeting, where the body will decide to approve or reject the document. 

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“If an exemption is approved, weekly COVID testing of those staff members not vaccinated will be mandatory per LA County Department of Public Health requirements.  As we have from the beginning of the pandemic, the City will ensure compliance with the County’s Health Order,” said Chief of Communications Keith Sterling.

An email from BHFD Chief Gregory Barton to City Manager George Chavez obtained by the Courier reports that 25 firefighters out of the department’s 97 have filed exemptions with the city, two citing medical reasons and 23 citing religious beliefs. 

As of press time, the city’s Director of Human Relations and a member of the City Attorney’s Office were in the process of interviewing those seeking exemptions. 

In an interview with the Courier, Deputy Fire Chief Joe Matsch emphasized the department’s safety record over the last 18 months. “We have had zero cases of COVID transmission from a first responder to a patient,” he said. “It is because we have that level of PPP protection when we go into somebody’s home, because we do screening twice a day, because we do contact tracing.”

He acknowledged the fractiousness of the current moment and asked for patience from the community to allow the process to unfold. “Let’s see what happens after it works through the process. We can make informed decisions at that point,” he said. 

Matsch said he had 100 Johnson & Johnson vaccines “ready to go” and felt optimistic about where things would land. “You’re going to see firefighters making decisions that are best for the community, best for their families, and best for themselves.”

Currently, no major religious denominations oppose COVID-19 vaccinations. Pope Francis has declared getting vaccinated a “moral choice because it is about your life but also the lives of others.” The Christian Science Church, a proponent of prayer as an alternative to medicine, has remained neutral on the vaccine, counseling practitioners to have “respect for public health authorities and conscientious obedience to the laws of the land, including those requiring vaccination.” 

But for a religious belief to qualify as “sincerely held,” it need not stem from organized religious doctrine, according to Professor of Law at the University of California Hastings College of the Law Dorit Reiss, who writes about vaccine law. While difficult to police what constitutes a valid religious belief, the city can assess whether an employee’s belief seems genuine–especially if the city believes that the high number of requests indicates non-religious motivations on behalf of some of the firefighters. 

The city’s task is made more difficult, Reiss said, by the way that the vaccine has been politicized. Anti-vaccine groups have sought to obfuscate the borders of ideology and religion, holding workshops to coach vaccine objectors on how to seek exemptions, she said. 

Already, according to Matsch, firefighters in Beverly Hills are required to receive certain vaccines as a condition of employment. This could prove an obstacle for those claiming religious opposition to only the COVID-19 vaccine. Matsch could not name the specific vaccines at the time of the interview. 

Other municipalities around the country have raised eyebrows at their own high levels of religious exemption requests. The president of the civilian Los Angeles Police Commission called the more than 2,600 religious exemptions filed by Los Angeles Police Department officers “extremely dubious.” Nearly 11% of Los Angeles city employees have indicated plans to seek a religious exemption.

The post A Fourth of BHFD Firefighters Seek Vaccine Exemptions appeared first on Beverly Hills Courier.

The three men involved in the Il Pastaio robbery are identified by law enforcement as members of the Rollin’ 30s Harlem Crips street gang. According to an affidavit filed by an FBI special agent in support of the charges, Powell’s car was used as the getaway vehicle. The affidavit states that a fourth accomplice surveyed the area around the Business Triangle before the group singled out Shy Belhassen and the Richard Mille watch on his wrist.

Belhassen told the Courier that he saw three men “running towards me with a gun” before the two unarmed men took his $500,000 watch. A third man held him at gunpoint. Belhassen fought back, saying that he “grabbed the gun” from the suspect and “fought him to the ground.” In the ensuing scuffle, the gun went off and injured another patron who sustained a minor injury to her leg as a result.

The watch still has yet to be recovered, according to Beverly Hills Police Department (BHPD) Acting Captain Max Subin. Belhassen has offered a $50,000 reward for its return.

McGhee and Powell submitted their pleas on Sept. 29, while Gardon pleaded guilty on Sept. 10. McGhee and Powell are scheduled to face sentencing on Oct. 14; Gardon’s sentencing date is scheduled for Nov. 29.

On Sept. 22, two individuals were robbed at gunpoint by two suspects on the 300 block of North Beverly Drive. In the holdup, which happened around 9:30 p.m., the victims complied with demands and gave the suspects their watches and jewelry, according to Subin.

“Beverly Hills detectives are actively investigating this robbery,” he said. 

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“The film industry and L.A. are synonymous,” Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti said in a speech liberally sprinkled with film puns. “We’re the epicenter, the chief cultural exporter in the world, and this Academy Museum will, from here to eternity, serve as that powerful symbol that L.A. is passionately invested in film.”

“This is more than an American beauty, it’s an international landmark,” he said. “The museum will be a beacon of inspiration to visitors from across our city, as far away as Casablanca and beyond, shining a light on a much beloved art form.” 

The seven-story, 300,000-square-foot museum in the Miracle Mile district opens with five exhibitions exploring the history of cinema. Guests can explore a collection of pre-cinematic optical toys and step into the world of acclaimed Japanese filmmaker Hayao Miyazaki. Stories of Cinema, the core exhibition, will offer perspectives on filmmaking past and present.

It also includes an immersive experience offering guests a chance to step onto the stage of the Dolby Theater and accept a genuine Oscar. Unfortunately, the 15-second event does not leave much time for delivering an acceptance speech.

The Miyazaki exhibit, the museum’s first temporary installation, immerses guests in the world of the director’s visionary storytelling and idiosyncratic animation. Visitors make their way through multiple rooms full of original imageboards, production cels, and concept art while projectors beam scenes from his movies onto surrounding walls. The exhibit provides a microscopic view of Miyazaki’s process and a broad-level perspective of his stunning career. 

Mike and Kris Kolker described the exhibit, housed on the third floor of the Saban Building, as “astonishing”–with one caveat. “I’m old enough that, as a little kid, I came into this building,” Mike Kolker told the Courier. “I’m a little disappointed that none of the original architecture is here.

Guests can also glimpse archival collections from cinematic classics, such as storyboards and screenplays from iconic films like “Psycho” and “When Harry Met Sally.” The Moviemaking gallery will have a collection that takes viewers behind-the-scenes of “The Wizard of Oz.” The museum displays a vast array of artifacts and information that explores every facet of the moviemaking process, with exhibits on sound design, makeup artistry, special effects, and costume design.

The museum will also serve as a space for movie-oriented activities and events. The museum will host family education events, including family studio activities, school tours, and teen programs.

The museum will also host film screenings in the 1,000-seat David Geffen theater and 288-seat Ted Mann Theater. Some screenings will include discussions with filmmakers and actors. The David Geffen theater will open with a special screening of “The Wizard of Oz” accompanied live by the American Youth Symphony and conducted by David Newman. 

“We’re finally returning to a community life after such a long and painful and traumatic year,” Garcetti said. “It feels like the perfect moment for Angelenos to come together safely to celebrate, to find our soul, to know who we are. And nothing reveals more about who we are than the arts, especially movies.”

The museum’s first visitors take in scenes from classic cinema at the Stories of Cinema exhibit. Photo by Samuel Braslow

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The Project Angel Food benefit, co-hosted by Flagg and friend Melissa Rivers, saw 120 guests sit down for a $1,000-a-plate dinner, participate in an auction, and listen to music by Grammy-nominated musician Taylor Dayne. The event had initially been scheduled for March 2019 before home remodeling derailed it for the first time. A second attempt ran headfirst into the brick wall of COVID-19. But with over 80% of Beverly Hills vaccinated with at least one dose of the vaccine and the summer Delta variant surge subsiding, Flagg put the soiree back on the calendar. “Two and a half years later, dinner is finally served,” he joked.

Project Angel Food executive director Richard Ayoub told the Courier that the event–the non-profit’s first in 19 months–represented a celebration of weathering unprecedented times. Project Angel Food saw “explosive growth” in clientele, eight in 10 of whom rely on the organization for daily sustenance. But through all the shortages and shocks, he said, “We never left. We had to keep our doors open.”

(Dinner, incidentally, came courtesy of former Project Angel Food board member Chef Wayne Elias of Crumble Catering, who gave guests the option of stuffed chicken breast, braised short ribs, or soy citrus tofu, with dessert choices including chocolate raspberry ganache cake with gold leaf and Meyer lemon curd tart with meringue and fresh berries.)

At The Wallis, guests gathered in the courtyard for an evening of food (catered by Wally’s) and music. The night was hosted by lauded performer and director Debbie Allen and headlined by Paris Hilton, who deejayed a set of music. In addition to Hilton, the event included entertainment by Grammy-nominated R&B artist Sheléa, soprano Camille Zamora, and jazz pianist Connie Han.

The event saw in attendance the Beverly Hills City Council, including Councilmember John Mirisch. “It was great to be back at The Wallis for live entertainment. Entertainment, including live entertainment, is such an important part of our community and hopefully we’ll be able to enjoy a lot more live entertainment in the next year,” Mirisch told the Courier. “We really missed it.” 

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The building came into existence in 1938 when Jules Stein, ophthalmologist and renowned talent agent, commissioned Beverly Hills Master Architect Paul Revere Williams to construct a space for his growing firm, Music Corporation of America (MCA). Williams designed an elegant English Georgian Revival complex more suggestive of East Coast old money than Los Angeles’s prevailing, laid back Art Moderne style.

The complex changed hands in 1964 to defense contractor Litton Industries, who reengaged Williams to design a second, larger three-story addition. The complex is currently owned by private equity investment firm Platinum Equity, which, according to city staff, “meticulously maintains the buildings and manicured grounds.”

The post Former MCA Headquarters Granted Historic Status appeared first on Beverly Hills Courier.

“A hate crime is a crime against all of us,” Gascón said in a statement. “My office is committed to doing all we can to make Los Angeles County a place where our diversity is embraced and protected.”

The incident took place amid a 15-day episode of armed conflict between Israel and Hamas, the militant Islamist group that controls the Gaza Strip. Los Angeles saw multiple rallies both in opposition and support of Israel’s actions, both of which were overwhelmingly peaceful. 

Pabon and Jayylusi took part in a pro-Palestine caravan on May 18. Members of the caravan made their way past Sushi Fumi, a restaurant located north of the Beverly Center. Cellphone video of the incident captures one of the protesters shouting from a jeep with a megaphone, “Israel kills children and women every day. You guys should be ashamed of yourselves.” A diner yells back an expletive at the protester before the sound of breaking glass can be heard. 

The frame of the video moves away from the action for roughly a minute. By the time it returns its attention to the opposing groups, members of the caravan have exited their vehicles and one of them appears to push a diner to the ground and kick him. As other members of the caravan begin to leave, another diner swings a stanchion at them, setting off a brawl.

Attorney Mark Kleiman, who represents both defendants, pushed back against allegations that the men had said anything antisemitic. While eyewitnesses have claimed that the members of the caravan shouted antisemitic comments at the diners, Kleiman pointed out that no video evidence of that exists.

“Not one once of evidence that either of these guys said anything antisemitic at all,” Kleiman told the Courier. 

News of the charges came as a relief to members of the Jewish community. “We thank prosecutors from the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office for filing hate crime charges in the heinous antisemitic assault that occurred outside Sushi Fumi restaurant on La Cienega Blvd. that shocked Jewish communities in LA and around the world,” said ADL Los Angeles Regional Director, Jeffrey Abrams. “Much work remains to be done in the fight against antisemitism and all forms of hate, and this is an important step towards justice.”

Pabon and Jayylusi are scheduled to appear in court on Oct. 6 for a preliminary hearing. Kleiman said that the date will most likely get pushed back. 

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Walker-Shuman said in a statement that she opted to step down because of the growing personal cost of the controversy and the cost to the district. “I am no longer willing to sacrifice my personal peace, my family or my time to oppose the current malign efforts. This manufactured issue has become an untenable distraction at a time when all of our efforts should be focused on servicing our students and recovering from the ongoing pandemic,” she said.

“I have dedicated myself to tirelessly serving the district, our students and families for years at great sacrifice and personal expense. I am proud of the work accomplished over the last three years, BHUSD has never been in a better fiscal position, our construction program is humming, we have expanded pathways and opportunities for students in addition to supports through reconfiguration.”

Walker-Shuman told the Courier that she plans to “continue taking care of my parents and family, finishing graduate school and advocating for education.”

The news of the resignation first broke in a statement from Superintendent Dr. Michael Bregy, who did not allude to the circumstances of her departure. Instead, Bregy thanked her for her years of contributions to the district.

“Before her time on the Board of Education, she was instrumental in the reconfiguration of BHUSD in her capacity on the Future Focused Schools Team,” Bregy said. “Mrs. Walker-Shuman has volunteered as a parent, community member, and finally a board member. Whether in the boardroom, construction site, or sidewalk assisting students with safe drop-off, the impact Mrs. Walker-Shuman has had on BHUSD will always be remembered.”

Bregy said that the district would communicate the next steps to the community regarding the vacancy “[i]n the coming days and weeks.”

Walker-Shuman’s term was scheduled to end in December 2022. According to the school board bylaws, the board must order a special election or make a provisional appointment to fill a vacancy that occurs four or more months before the end of a board member’s term. This decision must be made within 60 days of the vacancy.

School Board President Rachelle Marcus, who at times found herself at heated odds with Walker-Shuman in the closing days and months of her tenure, reiterated Bregy’s statement. She added: “Contrary to any other public statements given, Mrs. Walker Shuman’s resignation reflects the facts and issues that were clouding her true residency and ability to legally serve on the board.”

While questions about her residency had been circulating for months, the 21-page complaint included detailed allegations and exhibits. Among the documents were exhibits that appeared to indicate ownership of two properties in Pennsylvania by Walker-Shuman and her husband, David Shuman.

The District Attorney’s Public Integrity Division, which receives complaints regarding public agencies, conducted a preliminary review of the matter to determine whether there was probable cause to believe that a crime had occurred. The District Attorney’s office told the Courier that the Public Integrity Division closed the matter and that no further action would be taken.

But even though the District Attorney’s office determined the matter inappropriate for a criminal forum, the allegations nonetheless raised concerns among members of the community and the school board itself. In a closed session meeting on Sept. 14, the school board agreed to initiate an investigation with private counsel into Walker-Shuman’s residency.

As recently as the public school board meeting that same day, Walker-Shuman rebuffed the complaint and the resulting questions as “a purely political stunt perpetrated by social terrorists designed to harass me by weaponizing my personal life.”

Board member Noah Margo, largely seen as a supporter of Walker-Shuman throughout the ordeal, echoed Walker-Shuman’s tone at its conclusion. “Whoever dares to claim victory from this tragic turn of events has no idea what the community has lost,” he told the Courier in a statement. “There is no doubt of the remarkable depth of Mrs. Walker-Shuman’s service to our district, just as there is no doubt as to the motivations that drove the unvalidated accusations and the horrendous smear campaign that followed.”

Board member Dr. Amanda Stern told the Courier that she wanted to “acknowledge that Ms. Walker-Schuman chose to return our focus to the needs of our students and the challenges of the pandemic.”

“Her contributions and hard work will not be forgotten,” she said.

Similarly, board member Mary Wells expressed gratitude to the outgoing Vice President’s service. “I am pleased that the issues surrounding her residency will no longer concern the board, allowing the board to focus on the critical issues facing BHUSD,” she told the Courier.

The post Walker-Shuman Resigns From BHUSD School Board appeared first on Beverly Hills Courier.

As the city’s land use agency, the Commission makes recommendations to the City Council about whether or not to grant requested entitlements for developments. This involves determining whether the project conforms to the city’s general plan. In addition to reviewing all the jargon-rich documents that go into a new project–environmental impact reports, general plan amendments, overlay specific plans–prior to the change, the Commission would also examine development agreements. 

A development agreement functions as a contract between the city and the developer that the city will not change pertinent regulations during the term of the agreement and will grant certain entitlements that would otherwise conflict with the city’s codes (excessive height, for instance). In return, the city can exact certain public benefits from the developer.  

Previously, the development agreement was negotiated prior to appearing before the Planning Commission by an ad hoc committee consisting of two City Council members appointed by the mayor and relevant staff and consultants. After months of bargaining, the agreement would go before the Planning Commission.

“What we’ve experienced over the years with review of development agreements is that, at times, having the Planning Commission review development agreements can create an awkward process,” Director of Community Development Ryan Gohlich said. “The most relevant reasons for some of these issues are that development agreements typically take the form of a fiscal policy document because they include public benefits, and the Planning Commission is typically not involved in any fiscal policy setting.”

In an interview with the Courier, Planning Commissioner Peter Ostroff said a more reasoned solution to the awkwardness was simple: “The cure for that is to give us a little information and some time.”

Ostroff worried that the removal of the Planning Commission from the process would give future development agreement approvals the impression of a rubber stamp. He pointed out that the commission only had three days to review the development agreement for One Beverly Hills. 

“Who the hell is going to have the time or energy to look at something like that?” he asked.

At the City Council meeting, Councilmember Julian Gold, M.D. argued that, given the Council’s role in negotiating the development agreement, it made sense to assign the Council to review it. 

“We cannot put the Council in a position where we’ve spent maybe months negotiating a deal and then have it up for an opinion from the Planning Commission, which does not have the authority to either negotiate or ratify the deal,” he said. “I think that it makes much more sense for the Council to take responsibility for the development agreement–for the land use, and at the same time, for the general plan consistency. It’s our decision that rests with us.”

Along with Gold, Councilmember Lester Friedman also expressed frustration with what he viewed as opining by the Planning Commission on the quality of agreements, saying “the planning commission shouldn’t critique whether or not the deal is fiscally good or bad, but that is exactly what the Planning Commission has done in the past.” 

Ostroff acknowledged that the Commission’s role does not include judging the merits of development agreements, only their conformance with the general plan. And while he believed he had not opined on the One Beverly Hills agreement, he said if he had, “so what?”

“They’re free to [disagree with the Planning Commission],” he said, “that’s what’s so silly about this.”

In public comments, one resident said that the current process–negotiating the agreement prior to public hearings on the project’s merits–constituted “de facto approval before the Planning Commission holds its public hearings.”

Gohlich said negotiations do not begin after public hearings, but sometime during the process. “The reason for that is in order to provide some level of known quantities for both the City Council and to the developer going through the process, so that if there’s a complete mismatch of what expectations are for deal points, we know that earlier on and don’t get all the way to the very end to find out that there’s no chance of a deal happening,” he explained. 

Planning Commissioner Myra Demeter submitted a written comment to the City Council, stating, “The Planning Commission serves as an independent authority providing oversight, ensuring there is a layer of review for consistency with the general plan. Independent oversight is essential if Beverly Hills is to function in a transparent and open way.” 

The post Council Changes Planning Commission Role In Project Review appeared first on Beverly Hills Courier.

“We’re excited to be moving to our new urgent care location, which includes a more spacious, modern waiting area and updated exam rooms,” Cedars-Sinai Urgent Care Division Chief Dr. Stacey Tarradath told the Courier. 

The new facility, located on the second floor of 8767 Wilshire Blvd., offers all urgent care services for adult and pediatric patients. The clinic welcomes all patients, regardless of whether they have been seen by a Cedars-Sinai doctor before and accepts both walk-ins and appointments. The clinic also accepts most forms of insurance and offers payment plans to both insured and uninsured patients, according to Mary Clare Lingel, vice president of Strategic Integration at Cedars-Sinai Medical Network. 

Tarradath added that the new clinic optimizes workflows to improve the patient experience. “Our patients will definitely notice the difference,” she said.

Urgent care facilities offer services for medical situations that don’t quite rise to the level of life threatening, but still require attention sooner than the next time your physician can squeeze you in, according to Tarradath. 

“Urgent care is your best option when you need same-day care for an illness or injury that isn’t life-threatening,” Tarradath said. “Common reasons for urgent care visits include health concerns such as cuts or lacerations with contained bleeding; ear infections; fever or chills; nausea, diarrhea and vomiting or urinary tract infections.” 

“If you’re experiencing a true medical emergency, such as bleeding that won’t stop; chest pains or stroke; seizures without pre-existing condition; serious burns or sudden loss or change of vision–then you should go to the emergency department immediately,” said Tarradath.

In short, if you don’t have time to wonder if you should go to urgent care or the emergency room, you should likely opt for the latter.

Cedars-Sinai is continuing to expand its offerings beyond the new clinic. Its newest location, located in Los Feliz on Hillhurst Avenue, will open March 2022. That facility will offer primary care, urgent care, and OB/GYN services.

“Cedars-Sinai continues to focus on bringing excellent outpatient care and services to our patients where they live and work across the Los Angeles region, with growing specialty and primary care offices in Beverly Hills, Culver City, West L.A., Santa Monica, Playa Vista, Marina del Rey and Tarzana,” Lingel told the Courier.  

The post Cedars-Sinai Urgent Care Moving to New Location appeared first on Beverly Hills Courier.

At the end of its Sept. 14 meeting, BHUSD Board President Rachelle Marcus announced that a closed session agreement had been reached to “initiate an investigation with a private counsel to look into the matter of Mrs. Walker-Shuman’s residency.”

“The serious allegations against Mrs. Walker Shuman, if true, would indeed affect the legitimacy of the school board, and any decisions that were made, or would be made, with a member of this board ineligible to hold office as could and would be challenged,” Marcus said.

At the meeting, Walker-Shuman responded forcefully to the claims. “Nietzsche said, ‘They muddy the water to make it seem deep.’ This is not deep. This is shallow. We all know who is behind this ugly effort. It is a purely political stunt perpetrated by social terrorists designed to harass me by weaponizing my personal life.”

“I am a resident of Beverly Hills, as I have been for nearly my entire life to date. I remain committed to BHUSD and focusing on the students, their education, and most importantly, our ongoing response to the pandemic.”

The 21-page complaint that brought the controversy to the fore was shared with the Courier and other news outlets.  It also lists as recipients the Los Angeles District Attorney, the California Secretary of State and the Los Angeles County Office of Education. 

The complaint’s central allegation is that Walker-Shuman moved from California to Pennsylvania around August 2021. Exhibits include documents that appear to indicate ownership of two properties in Pennsylvania by Walker-Shuman and her husband, David Shuman. Additional documents include a copy of a court order granting permission to Shuman to relocate his biological child from California to Pennsylvania. 

The District Attorney’s Public Integrity Division, which receives complaints regarding public agencies, conducted a preliminary review of the matter to determine whether there was probable cause to believe that a crime had occurred. The District Attorney’s office told the Courier that the Public Integrity Division closed the matter on Friday and that no further action would be taken.

The fact that the D.A. found that no actual “crime” has been committed does not signal an end to the investigation of this matter, however. During the lengthy public commenting period at the Sept. 14 meeting, parents called on Walker-Shuman to resign or respond to the allegations. 

“It is the height of hypocrisy and frankly privilege for Ms. Walker Shuman to insist she can retain her seat when a minor child who is caught not residing in Beverly Hills is removed from the school,” one commenter said.

In another indication of eroding relations, Marcus read into the record an email sent to her by Walker-Shuman that she characterized as “inappropriate and abusive.” 

“You are wrong. About me, about my residency [,] and when it is proven publicly [,] the only thing your presidency will be remembered for is your jealous petty attacks on me,” the email, sent from Walker-Shuman’s official BHUSD email address and reviewed by the Courier, said. “You are an embarrassment, Rachelle. Your need for attention and adulation has lead [sic.] you to make seriously flawed decisions.”

Marcus, who said she has been connected to the district “in one way or another for 58 years,” responded to the email at the close of the Sept. 14 meeting. “During my tenure as a board member, every single decision I made was done so in the best interest of our students, and almost every decision had a unanimous vote,” she said.

The board will further consider the investigation at a future closed session, where they will select independent counsel to look into the matter. 

The post BHUSD Board Opens Investigation into Walker-Shuman appeared first on Beverly Hills Courier.

As of press time, there have been 17 students in the district who have tested positive for COVID-19 and seven staff. While the majority of positive cases among students have been at the high school, Hawthorne Elementary reported its first student case this week. 

Approximately a month into the new school year, BHUSD Superintendent, Dr. Michael Bregy, feels good about those numbers. “The data from students and staff that are having positive cases with COVID-19 are relatively low,” Bregy said. “That is because of the things that you’re doing at home and the hard work of our teachers to ensure that we’re following protocols with wearing masks. We have not had any epidemiologically linked clay cases with our students, which is really important, and that shows you that the masks are working.”

In early August, the California Department of Public Health (CDPH) issued a public health order requiring all school staff to either show proof of full vaccination or be tested at least once per week. While the policy for school staff went into effect on Aug. 12, 2021, schools have until Oct. 15 to be in full compliance. According to Bregy, 442 staff members have already submitted proof of vaccination to the District. 

Shortly after the state announced vaccine mandates for teachers, the Culver City Unified School District became the first public school to extend vaccine directives to students. Despite growing concerns over potential litigation, the L.A. Unified School District Board of Education unanimously approved a plan on Sept. 9 that requires students ages 12 and up to provide proof of full vaccination by Jan. 10. Those who fail to do so must either transfer to an independent study program or seek an alternative education outside LAUSD. 

Judith Manouchehri, a parent in the BHUSD, told the board that she was vaccinated and encouraged her children to wear masks in class. “Yet I believe each family has the right to make decisions on their children’s health, given the fluid nature of information in our pandemic environment,” she said, voicing the concerns of many parents.

Many parents also raised issues with the school’s quarantine policy and lack of remote access to classrooms. One caller noted, “Just last week, my own daughter was quarantined with absolutely nothing to do. “Our district spent a significant amount of money and resources to come up with a robust online learning program last year. What happened to it?”

Alana Castanon, a science teacher at Beverly Vista Middle School and president of the union representing BHUSD teachers, called in to advocate for robust testing of students in the district. “Finding who has the virus early means steps can be taken to prevent COVID-19 from spreading and causing an outbreak so schools can stay open,” she said. “Regular testing also means parents and guardians get notified if their child tests positive, allowing them to plan for treatment and take steps to protect the rest of their family from COVID-19.”

Alma Ordaz, a BHUSD alumnus who has worked in healthcare since 1987, read a letter into the record signed by more than a dozen physicians and pediatricians supporting vaccinations for children 12 and up. “We know what works: social distancing, masks and vaccination,” she said. “The COVID-19 vaccine is the best way to ensure that our schools remain open and that our children remain in school.”

While the board unanimously supported weekly testing for all students, it split three to two on the question of requiring vaccination. Vice President Tristen Walker-Shuman thought it likely that the state would issue a requirement shortly and felt it was prudent to get a head start with those 16 and up. Board member Dr. Amanda Stern expressed that current mitigation strategies were sufficient to keep students safe.

“I really respect people’s rights to decide not to vaccinate or not to vaccinate their children. The caveat, of course, to all of those arguments is the fact that you’re sending your kid to a public school,” Board Member Noah Margo said. “It’s not about you anymore. That’s the problem. It’s about everybody.”

Board President Rachelle Marcus said she had grappled with the question, speaking with two doctors who had urged her to issue a mandate. Nonetheless, “I’m not comfortable with telling somebody” to vaccinate their child, she said. “I don’t want anybody to tell me that I have to do that.”

While Pfizer’s vaccine, called Comirnaty, has received full approval from the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in people over 16, it has emergency use authorization for use in children 12 to 16. Dr. Shira Shafir, UCLA Fielding School of Public Health associate professor of epidemiology and community health sciences, told the Courier that parents should be reassured by the extensive data available on the Pfizer vaccine’s safety in children 12 and up. 

“Pfizer conducted rigorous safety trials for their vaccines in 12- to 15-year-olds, and they are currently testing the vaccine in younger populations,” she said. “More than 4.4 million children over the age of 12 in the United States are fully vaccinated against COVID and another 4 million have received their first dose of the COVID vaccine, so there is more data about the safety of the COVID-19 vaccine than any previous vaccine in history.”

Children are much less likely to die from contracting COVID-19 than adults. In California, only 24 COVID-19 deaths have been reported in those between 5 and 17. Still, Shafir notes that children can get infected, infect others and get quite sick. 

Multiple studies have documented the phenomenon known as long COVID in children, persistent COVID-19 symptoms months after contracting the virus. A recent survey by the Israeli Health Ministry of 13,864 children aged 3 to 18 found that more than 1 in 10 reported symptoms of long COVID. The symptoms included shortness of breath, fatigue, and cognitive decline. The findings lend support to an English study released earlier in September that found that up to one in seven children studied developed long COVID.

Parents in the hearing raised concerns about reports of myocarditis, or inflammation of the heart muscle, in adolescent boys in response to the vaccine. A large study also out of Israel published on Sept. 16 looked at the health records of nearly 2 million people 16 or older and found that the virus was much more likely to cause myocarditis than the vaccine. Researchers and public health agencies continue to monitor and study any possible connection between the vaccine and myocarditis. 

Shafir said that the COVID-19 vaccine should “absolutely” join the regimen of vaccines already required to attend public school in California. “The COVID-19 vaccine is safe and effective,” she said. “It prevents those who are vaccinated from getting seriously ill if they get infected and can help ensure that students can return safely to face-to-face instruction,” she said. 

Additional reporting by Bianca Heyward

The post BHUSD Adopts Universal Testing But No Vaccine Mandate appeared first on Beverly Hills Courier.

The report identifies the key role that the internet and social media played in disseminating debunked and noxious ideas. “Conspiracies about the 9/11 attacks began spreading in the days immediately following the tragedy, as individuals grappled with the enormity of the scale of the events and conflicting information that emerged as authorities and media outlets attempted to understand what had happened,” the report reads. “The internet was used to spread many of the key conspiracy theories right from the beginning and has continued to serve as a space for these communities to flourish.”

The tragic events of that day–and the government’s mishandling of the subsequent wars in Iraq and Afghanistan–proved a fertile ground for centuries old conspiracies about the Jewish people. One theory the report mentions holds that “Jews did 9/11,” an update on the anti-semitic trope that accuses Jews of “committing evil acts for financial and political gain.” 

“Many of these conspiracies are promoted within far-right extremist circles, but wider belief about Jewish complicity in the 9/11 attacks can be found in more mainstream spaces,” the report says.

A photo on Facebook from 2012 that has been shared more than 2,000 times shows a man holding a sign digitally altered to read, “we all know why all Jews were on leave on 9/11 at [the World Trade Center]” (an easily disprovable theory; numerous Jewish people died in the attacks). The post goes on to claim that the attacks were committed by America on behalf of Israel for the purpose of extracting oil from the Middle East. 

Although these theories found homes in other forms of media, including podcasts, books, and even t-shirts, nascent social media platforms like YouTube and Facebook gave the conspiracy-driven 9/11 Truth Movement exponentially greater reach. One documentary-style video from 2005 identified in the report helped lay the groundwork for many of the most persistent conspiracies in the movement. As the report points out, the video remains available on YouTube, Amazon, iTunes and Vimeo, with one version racking up 1.3 million views on YouTube. The Courier has made the decision not to republish the title of the video in the interest of not further publicizing it.

The report notes that YouTube has taken steps to stem the issue of 9/11 misinformation. Even then, “this content has found audiences on other alternative platforms.”

An account dedicated to sharing a variety of conspiracy theories on the popular video sharing app TikTok has about 280,000 followers, the report says. A 31-part video series on the September 11 attacks claims that planes did not fly into the Twin Towers, which were actually brought down by a controlled demolition. The series has millions of views and likes.

All major social media companies have fielded criticism for their content moderation and handling of misinformation. TikTok has rules in place regarding misinformation, restricting content that “incites hate or prejudice,” spreads incorrect medical information “that can cause harm” to viewers, and “misleads community members about elections or other civic processes.”

YouTube’s policy does not go as far as TIkTok, banning “[c]ertain types of misleading or deceptive content with serious risk of egregious harm.” 

But with some companies addressing the issue of misinformation to varying degrees, new platforms have sprung up to offer users virtually no restrictions on content. The report gives the example of InfoWars, the conspiratorial “hotbed” founded by Alex Jones, who promoted the idea that the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting was a hoax. Jones began his Sept. 11, 2018, show proclaiming that the World Trade Center was destroyed through a controlled demolition. 

The report accuses mainstream social media platforms of obfuscating the issue of conspiracy theories by restricting their guidelines to certain types of misinformation. “Despite the efforts being made by mainstream platforms to curtail the spread of misinformation and harmful content, it is clear that specific policies pertaining to conspiracy theories and networks could be better enforced,” it reads. 

“Changes to policy enforcement and community guidelines could help in reducing the amount of misleading and often hateful material available online, distorting the memory and historical record of the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001.” 

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The timing of the pandemic with the street closure threw a lifeline to Beverly Hills culinary institution Spago, which struggled as the pandemic decimated business. Expanding into the cul-de-sac with the large dining pavilion has proved vital to business, Spago owner Barbara Lazaroff told the Courier. 

“It was a true act of community. I’m deeply thankful for all of the people–the property owners, the business owners, and all the people on the block who worked to make this happen,” she said. “I don’t know what would have happened if we hadn’t had done this. We were deeply struggling.”

The D Line Extension Project promises to connect the westside with downtown, bringing the D Line from its current endpoint at Wilshire Blvd. and Western Ave. to a new station in Westwood. The project is being completed in three sections. Section one includes three new stations (Wilshire/La Brea, Wilshire/Fairfax, and Wilshire/La Cienega) and is expected to begin service in 2023. Section two includes stations at Wilshire/Rodeo and Century City/Constellation and is slated for completion in 2025. Section three connects the line to stations at Wilshire/Westwood and Wilshire/VA Hospital, which Metro expects to open in 2027.

In order to mitigate the impact of construction of the Wilshire and Rodeo portal on the city’s busy Business District, the City Council approved the closure of North Canon and the placement of a sound wall on Wilshire for two to six years. Members of the business community on North Canon advocated for installation of the sound wall, citing concerns about the impact of noise and pollution. Installation of the wall took place in September 2019. 

As the virus restricted indoor dining and pushed commerce and recreation outside, the city implemented the OpenBH Program to allow restaurants to operate in the open air. The city’s current OpenBH program allows businesses to temporarily expand their services to adjacent areas such as parking lots and the public right of way by acquiring a Special Event Permit without having to pay applicable fees. The City Council voted May 4 to extend the program to Dec. 31.

Under the program, street closure fees and meter revenue are also waived, with costs related to traffic circle equipment and staff time being absorbed by the city. With the closure of indoor dining and ever-changing Public Health restrictions, OpenBH proved to be a critical lifeline for many restaurants and retailers teetering on the edge of foreclosure.

About the program generally, Lazaroff described it as “an inspired, visionary program” for the city. “It has been a huge boost in aid to restaurants, hotels, boutiques, hairdressers, all sorts of people that were unable to do business, and were truly decimated by the whole COVID situation,” she said.

The COVID-19 pandemic presented an opportunity to the city and businesses around the North Canon cul-de-sac. The design the city adopted for the closure allowed for traffic circulation and parking, but Lazaroff said that they always envisioned using the space for larger events. With the pandemic hobbling indoor dining, the cul-de-sac could become one large dining space.

At the Sept. 21 meeting, the Council will consider how OpenBH will operate after Dec. 31. This includes examining the fees for businesses wishing to continue the program, the process for approval and review, and whether and for how long to continue the dining pavilions on North Canon.

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An anonymous 21-page complaint shared with the Courier and other news outlets claims that Walker-Shuman moved from California to Pennsylvania around August 2021.

It provides documents that indicate ownership of two properties in Pennsylvania by Walker-Shuman and her husband, David Shuman. It also contains a legal filing granting permission to Shuman to relocate his biological child from California to Pennsylvania. 

The Los Angeles District Attorney’s office confirmed receipt of the complaint to the Courier and said that the matter “is under review.” The Public Integrity Division of the District Attorney’s office fields complaints for public agencies, including school boards. The office first conducts a preliminary review to determine whether probable cause exists to believe an offense occurred.

In a statement provided to the Courier, Marcus expressed support for “a full investigation by our BHUSD legal counsel.”

“Each individual Board member as an elected official has a fiduciary responsibility to uphold the law. Personally, I believe that Mrs. Walker-Shuman, as an elected official, must fully address her residency status and be truthful and transparent considering the numerous and detailed allegations contained in the complaint,” Marcus said in a statement.

Walker-Shuman pushed back against the claims, saying that she still lived in the city. “The allegations are simply a political hit job by people who are so bitter, so vindictive and so morally bankrupt that they are perfectly ok using my children, my family, and the most difficult moments of my life as fodder for a smear campaign,” she told the Courier through email.  

Walker-Shuman characterized Marcus’s call for an investigation as an overstep of her authority, saying that “she violated board policy by issuing a statement in her official capacity that was not agreed upon by the whole board.”  

“From a procedural standpoint, a single Board member (even a Board President) cannot direct counsel, [and] I am hopeful that a majority of the board decides to give direction to district counsel to clarify the definition of residency in the next meeting. I would welcome an opportunity to demonstrate that I fully meet the defined standard for residency of the state of California, and the city of Beverly Hills,” she said.

According to Walker-Shuman, she has moved back into her childhood home. Walker-Shuman provided the Courier with photos of her current State of California Real ID Driver’s License and an absentee ballot. Both list a Beverly Hills address that she confirmed belongs to her mother and stepfather. Citing her privacy, she declined to answer additional questions about her current living situation and whether her child remains enrolled in the district. 

A now-familiar split appeared to be forming among the board. Board Member Mary Wells agreed with Marcus’s call for an investigation but told the Courier that she supports appointing independent legal counsel.

“I take the complaint against Board Member Tristen Walker-Shuman very seriously and I will request that the Board seek independent legal counsel to advise of the appropriate next steps,” Wells said. She reiterated a point she made at the April 8 School Board meeting, saying, “Changing the rules to suit individual board members’ interests creates an uncertain environment and the Board cannot operate effectively. I will continue to voice my concerns, point out how the operations of the board are being manipulated for self-interest and to fight for what serves our constituents and our stakeholders as opposed to ourselves.”

While Board Member Noah Margo voiced support for “clarification of the law as it pertains to the residency requirements for elected officials,” he also echoed Walker-Shuman’s claims of political axe grinding.

“As far as I am concerned this is another concerted effort to attack an individual community member and has no merit in addressing educational issues within our district,” he told the Courier. “Where Mrs. Walker-Shuman takes her shoes off some of the time is certainly not one of those issues.”

Board Member Dr. Amanda Stern did not respond to a request for comment.

The complaint points to Government Code 1770, which holds that “[a]n office becomes vacant” once a public officer ceases “to be an inhabitant of the state.”

Marcus could not identify the recourse available to the Board if the allegations against Walker-Shuman bore out. The BHUSD School Board bylaws incorporate provisions from the California Government Code and Penal Code that apply to the removal of public officers.

According to the Government Code, the District Attorney can pursue removal of a board member “for willful or corrupt misconduct in office.” Additionally, the California Penal Code includes a section on “removal from office for violation or neglect of official duty by public officers” at the discretion of the court. 

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On Aug. 31, the L.A. County Board of Supervisors unanimously voted to create an Afghan Refugee Task Force to provide support for Afghans arriving in L.A. County. Even for those lucky enough to make it onto a plane chartered for America, resettling in the United States requires more than alighting on American soil. Refugees face the tall order of finding housing, a job, and other resources, often while navigating a language and cultural barrier.   

Several organizations in southern California and beyond are working to ease the burdens for thousands of Afghan refugees coming into the U.S. The Courier has compiled a list of organizations providing aid as a resource for those wishing to do the same. 

Visionary Women

Visionary Women, an organization dedicated to “high-impact initiatives” for women and girls, is making a donation of $100,000 of emergency relief and encouraging others to do the same. Donations to the organization will go to Women for Afghan Women, the largest women’s organization in Afghanistan, and Protect Afghan Women, an organization aiming to evacuate at-risk women journalists, activists, politicians and their families.

Miry’s List 

Miry’s List is a Los Angeles-based organization that connects families needing temporary housing and help resettling with the resources other organizations may not be providing them. The organization recently launched an emergency action fund to help Afghanistan refugees. Families arriving in the U.S. are met at their new home by a volunteer, who helps them make a list of supplies they need. You can donate items on a family’s list or volunteer your time to help as a list-maker. Miry’s List is also looking for longer-term volunteers to help families readjust to their new life. 

International Rescue Committee

The International Rescue Committee is a global humanitarian aid organization. The IRC provides tents, clean water, sanitizing stations, and basic needs for struggling families in Afghanistan. The organization also provides specific resources for women and girls. You can donate to the IRC’s national organization or the Los Angeles chapter.

International Institute of Los Angeles

The International Institute of Los Angeles is an organization that provides legal aid, job assistance, housing, and other vital services for refugees as they resettle. The Los Angeles location is helping to coordinate the arrival of refugees in southern California. IILA accepts donations and volunteers and has opened a special Refugee Fund.

Episcopal Migration Ministries 

Episcopal Migration Ministries, a ministry of the Episcopal Church, is an agency that helps resettle refugees in the United States. The agency has resettled over 1,100 refugees from nearly 30 countries. Afghans who need help can turn to Episcopal Migration Ministries for airport rides, housing, English classes, job assistance, and more. The agency also has several other locations throughout the United States.

Hebrew Immigrant Aid Society 

The Hebrew Immigrant Aid Society (HIAS) is a Jewish-American humanitarian aid organization that works with refugees. HIAS focuses their aid on groups that face persecution or violence in their home countries. HIAS is currently partnering with AirBnB to connect refugees with temporary housing. Donations to HIAS can help provide food, housing, English classes, job training, counseling, and more.  

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 Los Angeles County lags behind the state as a whole, with 74% of residents having received at least one dose of the vaccine, according to data compiled by the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health (Public Health). Beverly Hills, in contrast, tracks slightly ahead of the state average, with 81% of eligible residents injected with at least one dose of the vaccine.

Public Health Director Barbara Ferrer acknowledged on Aug. 31 that fluctuating rules and guidelines surrounding the coronavirus have confused just as much as clarified how to stay safe during the pandemic. The confusion seems to have played into a growing movement of vaccine skepticism and outright opposition. “Over the last few weeks and months, as we have issued revisions and modifications to guidelines that affect so many aspects of our lives, we’ve heard from people all over our L.A. County community who are frustrated by the changes in our guidance, and sometimes confused by recommendations that seem to contradict their expectations or interfere with what they were hoping would be a return to a more normal way of life,” she said.

While the tightening of restrictions after the brief respite of the spring came across as capricious to some, Ferrer emphasized the dynamic nature of our understanding of COVID-19 and of the virus itself. “The reality is that the recent changes we make to our guidance are all tied to the Delta variant, which changed what we know about COVID-19,” she said. “And as the science on COVID-19 has changed, we have been forced to adapt our guidance on how we keep each other safe. We will continue to follow the science and the data in the guidance we create to help keep ourselves and our loved ones safe, and when we need to make changes, we will do our best to explain why.” 

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“It seems like things have exponentially grown lately,” BHFD Deputy Fire Chief Joseph Matsch told the Courier. “It seems like every year we’re getting a new record for California.”

Climate change has exacerbated extreme weather conditions and primed California, already a fire-prone state, for the kinds of conflagrations we see today. The largest seven fires have taken place within the last three years, with the Dixie fire (only 55% contained) coming in at number two.  

Another factor in the state’s wildfire crisis, a history of fire suppression that has allowed fuel sources to build up to dangerous levels. A new report out of the University of Washington that reviewed over 1,000 published papers concluded that the states of the western United States must engage in proactive, long term forest management strategies that includes controlled burns and forest thinning.

“Given the known risks of modern wildfires and climate change, embracing the role of fire and a return to intentional transgenerational management is of critical importance,” the paper concludes.

“When I first started here in Beverly Hills 26-plus years ago, it seemed like you would get a big fire every three, four years,” Matsch said.

Video by a member of the strike team shared with the Courier shows the remains of the town of Greenville. The patinaed hulls of cars lay stranded where rubber wheels have melted out from under them. Brick chimneys protrude from razed lots like headstones to the homes once there. The truck passes arbitrary patches of green, bits of color against a sepia-toned landscape.

The current strike team from the city started a two-week stint on Aug. 26, relieving the previous strike team. The teams work a 24-hour operational shifts, during which time the team will work within an assigned area putting out fires or hardening the area for advancing fire.

Even the length of time spent in the field has grown over the years in tandem with the fires. “There was a time when, if you went out for four days, it was like, oh my gosh, you were gone a long time. Now, when you go out, you expect to be out for two weeks, and I attribute most of that to the fact that we have severe drought conditions and the lack of rainfall,” Matsch said.

Matsch expressed concerns about the situation closer to home as fall brings the hot and dry Santa Anas. “We have to keep in mind that October is coming. We will be having the Santa Anas, we will have more Malibu fires, we will have more localized fires here in San Diego County,” he said. If that happens, he says that not only will the department respond similar to the Dixie fire and lend support, but departments from Northern California will reciprocate the aid they are currently receiving.

Matsch praised the Beverly Hills Fire Department as “blessed” with significant resources and “off the charts” community support. Still, fire pays no heed to lines on a map–a reality that seems to inform the spirit of cooperation among fire departments of different jurisdictions.

“We are poised to put up a good fight here in Beverly Hills…but for a sustained fire sustained campaign, I need resources to come in to help” he said. “That’s why we spend those resources. That’s why we team up with L.A. City. That’s why we team up with Culver City and Santa Marta. We’ve got to assist each other. We’re not an island.” 

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The suit brings together prominent civil rights attorney Ben Crump, who has represented the families of Ahmaud Arbery, Breonna Taylor, George Floyd, and Jacob Blake, with local attorney Bradley Gage. Gage’s firm has recovered millions against the city, representing former BHPD employees in actions involving former Police Chief Sandra Spagnoli.

The suit filed Monday seeks class action status for “[a]ll African Americans and other individuals with a dark complexion, who were considered ‘Black,'” that were detained or arrested by the Rodeo Drive Team, also referred to as the Rodeo Drive Task Force, without reasonable suspicion or probable cause between March 1, 2020 and July 1, 2021. According to the complaint, the lone non-Black individual arrested by the task force was a dark-skinned Latino man “who looked Black.” 

“If implicit bias goes unchecked and discrimination goes unchecked, then it leads to what happened to George Floyd in Minneapolis,” Crump said at a news conference in front of Beverly Hills City Hall.

The case has already attracted the attention of the federal government. 

“I was contacted by the Department of Justice after they saw the allegations that were being made. And so, we’re going to encourage the Department of Justice Civil Rights Division to look into this matter,” Crump said. 

The Rodeo Drive Team was convened in the Summer of 2020, in part as a response to rising reports of crimes in the Business District. In a statement following the press conference, Acting Chief Dominick Rivetti defended the department. 

“The women and men of BHPD take an oath to protect human life and enforce the law–regardless of race. Any violation of this pledge is contrary to the values of this department,” he said. “We take all concerns regarding the conduct of our officers very seriously.”

According to Rivetti, within five weeks of its formation, the task force recovered an “unprecedented” 13 loaded firearms from individuals on Rodeo Drive and uncovered “widespread fraudulent use of California unemployment benefits.” 

Before the lawsuit was filed, Dowling had already submitted a letter of resignation, effective Oct. 1. In the letter, which the Courier has obtained, Dowling reflects proudly on 37 years in law enforcement, but writes that “[t]he future of policing in this modern society is tenuous.” It makes no reference to the allegations contained in the complaint. On Aug. 31, the day after the case was filed, the city announced the resignation of BHPD Assistant Chief Marc Coopwood.

“I would like to thank Assistant Chief Coopwood for his meaningful contributions and dedicated service to Beverly Hills,” City Manager George Chavez said in a statement. Coopwood leaves the department on Oct. 1 to pursue opportunities in the private sector, according to a press release.

As recently as this April, Coopwood publicly praised the task force at the center of the lawsuit. “We saw last summer, we piloted that Business District team along the Business District corridor. It was hugely successful,” he told the City Council at its April 28 meeting. 

Coopwood called for the creation of a permanent team assigned to the area “to really reduce those calls for service and those nuisance related crimes that we see within the business district.” Although the Rodeo Drive Team has been disbanded, the City Council voted on June 24 to prioritize the formulation of a new team tasked with policing the city’s Business District. By that time, the city had already received a governmental claim that included the allegations of racial profiling, according to documents reviewed by the Courier.

Subin told the Courier that the new team has not yet been formed.  

The new lawsuit, which seeks class-action status, is brought on behalf of named plaintiffs Jasmine Williams and Khalil White. White told the Courier that during a visit from Pennsylvania, he and his girlfriend Williams picked up the two electric bikes near the SLS Beverly Hills. From there, they rode to Rodeo Drive, where BHPD officers made contact with them. 

Though the suit says that the couple “were not violating any laws,” the city currently has a moratorium on ride sharing apps like Bird or Lime. White and Williams told the Courier that they were unaware of the city’s policy. Based on video of the interaction later circulated on social media, at least five officers made contact with them. Prosecutors charged them both with an infraction for riding the bikes and misdemeanor resisting arrest, according to Gage, but a judge dismissed all of the charges.

In his statement, Rivetti said that White and Williams “were warned earlier that day that riding a scooter on the sidewalk in Beverly Hills was prohibited.” Police only arrested them after they committed the same violation later that day. 

Crump disputed this point to the Courier, saying, “They may have warned some Black people, but it wasn’t these two Black people.”

The lawsuit points to an ongoing history of racial discrimination by the city’s police department. Among the examples cited is a 1995 civil rights lawsuit, in which the BHPD was accused of stopping Black people without “reasonable suspicion.” The plaintiffs reached a settlement with the city in 2000, requiring the city to form the Human Relations Commission to address issues of racial profiling. 

The BHPD has not had a permanent police chief since Spagnoli resigned in the wake of the city’s multi-million-dollar payouts from lawsuits accusing her of racist, homophobic, and anti-semitic remarks and conduct. The resignations of Coopwood and Dowling leave the BHPD with vacancies in two additional top positions.  

The post BHPD Task Force Accused of Widespread Racial Profiling appeared first on Beverly Hills Courier.

Like Beverly Hills, the city of West Hollywood appoints its mayor and mayor pro tempore (vice mayor, essentially) on a rotating basis. The position serves more of a bureaucratic than an executive function, unlike the city of Los Angeles.

Horvath, who is seeking to replace outgoing County Supervisor Sheila Kuehl on the Board of Supervisors, nominated Meister and Shyne for their new positions, marking the first time a woman has nominated two women for the mayoral succession in the city’s history.

Meister first joined the West Hollywood City Council in 2015 and is currently serving her second term. She previously served as mayor from April 2016 to May 2017. In her tenure as a council member, Meister has voiced support for maintaining the city’s affordable housing stock, preserving parks and green space, and improving mobility options around the city. 

Iranian-born Councilmember Shyne joined the City Council in 2020. She believes that she is the first openly LGBTQ Iranian elected to office anywhere in the world. Her dual experiences as gay and an immigrant led her to earn a legal degree and pursue civil rights advocacy on behalf of the LGBTQ community.  

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Beverly Hills currently hosts 16 upright pianos hand-painted by artists including Guest. Following their month-long stay in Beverly Hills, the pianos will go to underserved schools throughout the county, including Jordan High School in Watts, Vanalden Early Education Center in Tarzana, Montebello Gardens Elementary School in Pico Rivera, Dorris Place Elementary School in Elysian Park, View Park Preparatory High School in Hyde Park, and George Washington Carver Middle School in South Park.

The Sing for Hope Piano program began in New York City over 10 years ago and describes itself as the “country’s largest annual recurring public arts project” with the goal of democratizing music. The public can enjoy the pianos at Beverly Hills City Hall, Beverly Gardens Park, the Wallis Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts, Will Rogers Memorial Park, La Cienega Park, and Roxbury Park.

Guest’s own piano shows characters and scenes from Buffalo Warrior’s story. In an interview with the Courier, Guest recounted the origin of Buffalo Warrior. Born into slavery and freed following the Civil War, protagonist Booker Cooper finds purpose by enlisting with the Buffalo Soldiers, the Black regiments formed after the war. Out on duty one day, Booker gets separated from his group, winding up at the bottom of an open grave of buffalo. There, the spirit of a sacred buffalo saves his life and gives him the power to fight evil.

Apart from his son’s request, Buffalo Warrior comes out of Guest’s prior work, his celebrated “Cotton Series” of paintings depicting enslaved Black men, women, and children. Guest painted the series on American flags spun from pure Georgia cotton. The resulting portraits are searing indictments by virtue of the deep humanity of the subjects. 

While Guest has never shied away from the thorns of American history, he has found that viewing slavery and its legacy through the lens of the superhero genre makes the subject more accessible. “It allows me to gently have a real conversation about what humanity is,” he said.

Guest loved superheroes growing up in the inner city of Philadelphia. But with decades to go before Hollywood broke ground with Black Panther, “the closest one to me was Hulk, because he was green.” After he left behind Philadelphia, Guest made his way to New York City, where he studied fashion illustration and design at the Fashion Institute of Technology. After that, he hopped across the Atlantic and worked in Paris as an illustrator for the haute couture magazine, Joyce. 

Guest had established himself as an illustrator by the time he discovered his idiosyncratic style of painting with the help of his good friend and legendary alto saxophonist Kenny Garrett. Garrett invited Guest to paint on stage at a show in Japan in 1997 as Garrett and his band played.

“The music started weaving together and I didn’t think anymore, I just started moving,” he said. In that moment, Guest began developing his characteristic style of long, gestural lines dancing across richly textured surfaces. 

Guest’s work now lives in the homes of Barack Obama, who owns a portrait of trailblazing Supreme Court Justice Thurgood Marshall and himself, Oprah Winfrey, Angelina Jolie, jazz legend Herbie Hancock and filmmaker Tyler Perry. 

Guest saw an opportunity in Sing for Hope to enrich the lives of children that, like when he was growing up, make do with less.  “The thing that really got me in here was the fact that when I was in the inner city of Philadelphia, I was the only one of the three boys that enjoyed music and art. I had to witness the government snatching those programs out of my school at the time,” he said.

“I actually postponed my trip to New York to do this piano because I think it’s very important that this piano winds up in school and they see this superhero coming from this little boy that was in the cotton fields. That’s going to start to teach them their true narrative, not from a European perspective, but from an African perspective–the perspective of our true history that’s not so often told correctly.” 

The post Piano Profile: Chaz Guest appeared first on Beverly Hills Courier.

On Aug. 23, Granucci uploaded a 12-minute video of Granucci was uploaded to the social media app Telegram. In the video, he decried the city’s vaccine policy that requires city employees to either get vaccinated or submit to regular testing.

“I am done being silent on this matter,” he said in the video, wearing a LAFD cap and shirt. “The vaccinations will come, and then after that, it will be a booster and another booster and another booster. And when will this end? When will this tyranny stop?”

In the video, Granucci claims that there are “hundreds” of other LAFD employees who have retained an attorney–”and he is a shark.”

LAFD said in a statement that they learned of the video on the morning of Aug. 24. “While we respect the individual’s right to his opinion, he is not authorized to speak on behalf of the Department. The individual is in uniform and appears to be on duty, thereby giving the impression that he is speaking in an official capacity,” the statement said.

“Therefore, the matter has been submitted to our Professional Standards Division for investigation. The course of the investigation includes interviews and consultation with the City Attorney’s office.”

The Los Angeles City Council voted on Aug. 18 to require that city employees be fully vaccinated against the novel coronavirus by October, with exemptions granted for medical or religious reasons. Those exempt from the mandate must submit to regular testing.

Los Angeles Mayor Deputy Communications Director Alex Comisar defended the city’s vaccine requirement in a statement to the Courier.  “The vaccine requirement for city employees is in place to protect the health and safety of our workforce and the broader public,” he said. “The Mayor hopes that full FDA approval of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine will help reassure people that these vaccines are safe and effective–and he strongly urges any Angeleno who hasn’t been vaccinated to get the shot right now.”

Despite Grannuci’s dramatic claims, vaccine requirements have existed in some form since the founding of the country. George Washington famously forced his soldiers at Valley Forge to inoculate themselves against smallpox. In 1905, the Supreme Court upheld the right of states to mandate vaccination against smallpox or levy a fine against those who refused in Jacobson v. Massachusetts. 

A three-judge panel of the United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit cited Jacobson when it affirmed Indiana University’s right to require that students be vaccinated against COVID-19. Judge Frank Easterbrook, a prominent conservative jurist appointed by Ronald Reagan, wrote in the opinion that “vaccination requirements, like other public-health measures, have been common in this nation.” Easterbrook’s ruling was signed onto by two judges appointed by Donald Trump. Justice Amy Coney Barrett, herself appointed by Trump, declined to hear an appeal of the ruling, thereby upholding a lower court’s ruling in favor of the university.

Additionally, every state and the District of Columbia currently require vaccinations for children to attend school. This, too, has withstood the scrutiny of litigation. In 1922, the Supreme Court ruled in Zucht v. King that a school district in San Antonio, Texas, could prohibit unvaccinated children from attending school. In that case, San Antonio had enacted an ordinance requiring students to show a “certificate of vaccination” to gain admittance to educational facilities. Justice Louis Brandeis pointed toward the Jacobson case in his opinion, which he said “had settled that it is within the police power of a state to provide for compulsory vaccination.”  

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Although the project has yet to reach the draft stage of its environmental review process, neighbors have started speaking out against the project’s scale. “They want to put a huge electronic billboard on [the Sunset Jewel Box], which will shine into all of our apartments [and] ruin our view. This is a residential neighborhood, they’ve gone too far,” Laurie Rodkin, who lives in the nearby Sierra Towers, told the Courier. 

In addition to other residents from the Sierra Towers who spoke with the Courier, Rodkin is joined by the Doheny Sunset Plaza Neighborhood Association, which put out a “call to action” against the project in an Aug. 1 newsletter, urging residents to email City Council members and sign an online petition. The petition currently has over 100 signatures.

Another Sierra Towers resident, Paul Alan Smith, worried about additional distractions to drivers. Smith told the Courier he commuted via bike for years but had to stop because he saw more and more drivers texting behind the wheel. “We know what lights can do to people, they’re hypnotic,” he said. 

According to the developer, West Hollywood-based real estate firm Faring, residents have nothing to worry about. He cited an initial study completed by the City of West Hollywood and a lighting study commissioned by Faring from the architectural lighting and design firm Francis Krahe & Associates. Both studies found that the impact on the surrounding area would be “less than significant,” according to the city’s study, and in compliance with the city’s strict rules dictating light intensity of digital signage. 

“The project EIR closely examined our digital canvas and the analysis from credentialed experts confirms neighbors in the hills of Los Angeles will not experience any light trespass or glare,” Jake Stevens, the project’s spokesperson, told the Courier. Stevens additionally stressed that the signage would have sensors monitoring it 24/7 to ensure that it stayed within the proscribed limits. 

Ellen Evans, President of the Doheny Sunset Plaza Neighborhood Association, has not had the opportunity to review the lighting study. Still, she expressed skepticism at its findings. “I can hardly believe that a 13,900-square-foot billboard isn’t going to light up the neighborhood,” she said.

For nearly as long as the Sunset Strip has attracted swarms of music-lovers, clubsgoers, and various other diversion-seekers, it has also attracted advertisers to market products to them (not to mention the countless cars that pass through each day). The 1.5-mile belt of Sunset Boulevard stretching from Phyllis Street in Beverly Hills to Marmont Lane in Los Angeles boasts the densest concentration of billboards and tall wall signs on the West Coast, according to the city. The city describes the advertisements as “a key driver of the West Hollywood economy.”

As the Sunset Strip has moved into the 21st century, West Hollywood has rolled out plans to incorporate electric signage across the iconic thoroughfare. The city updated its policies on advertising along the corridor in 2019, dividing the Strip into seven zones with a set number of digital signs allowed in each. The updated policy envisions the digital billboards as a public-private artistic collaboration and encourages each project to use “innovative media formatting” and act “as a good neighbor to surrounding area by limiting light spill-over and visual intrusion.”

Electronic billboards cost less for advertisers, allow for greater flexibility, and also generate more revenue for the city, with each billboard netting West Hollywood $500,000 a year. In addition to tax revenue, the city also requires that digital billboards grant the city “17.5% of programming time for art or civic announcements.”

The policy includes rules dictating the brightness of digital signs during different times of day and different light conditions. From sunrise until 20 minutes before sunset, signs may not exceed a brightness of 6,000 candelas per meter squared. (A candela is the unit measuring the intensity of light; a single wax candle produces one candela and a 25-Watt fluorescent bulb puts out 135 candelas.) 

From sunset until 20 minutes before sunrise, billboards must turn the brightness down to 300 candelas per meter squared. From 2 a.m. until sunrise, digital signs may not display animated content or moving patterns. Additionally, the light from any signs may not exceed 1.4-foot candles at any nearby residential properties, which is the equivalent of the light of roughly 1 1/2 candles as measured at the zoning line.

This is not the first time that the city’s electronic ambitions have created friction with residents. The city’s pilot electronic billboard, a 64-ft.-tall installation at 8775 Sunset Blvd. called the Sunset Spectacular, generated complaints shortly after its debut in April. However, the city approved the project prior to updating the digital signage in 2019. 

According to the initial study, the city expects construction to begin in December 2022 and wrap up by 2024, pending approvals. 

Correction: A previous version of this article stated that the Change.org petition put out by the Doheny Sunset Plaza Neighborhood Association in opposition to the Sunset Jewel Box electronic signage had no signatures. It has over 100.

The post Electronic Billboard Proposal Worries Residents Near Sunset Strip appeared first on Beverly Hills Courier.

According to the survey, 78% of Beverly Hills employees are fully vaccinated, meaning that they have received either two doses of the Moderna or Pfizer vaccine or the single dose of Johnson & Johnson. This number comes with several caveats, though. The survey received responses from 670 of the city’s 1,012 employees–a response rate of 66%. Respondents had between Aug. 9 and Aug. 15 to fill out the survey, which was entirely anonymous and voluntary, only identifying people by their department. Given the voluntary nature of the survey, it possibly overestimates the level of vaccination among city employees.

In the City of Beverly Hills, slightly over eight in 10 residents over the age of 12 have received at least one dose of the vaccine. A whopping 99% of residents 65 and over have received at least one dose.

Of the city departments, the Beverly Hills Police Department (BHPD) and the Beverly Hills Fire Department (BHFD) have the lowest level of vaccinated employees, with 64% and 63% respectively. For comparison, the department with the next lowest level of vaccination is finance, at 79% of employees. These results are in line with trends among other law enforcement agencies and fire departments across Los Angeles and the United States, raising concerns about the safety of those hired to keep the community safe.

The survey had a large range of response rates among departments, making any apples-to-apples comparison somewhat difficult. For example, 151 of the Police Department’s 223 employees returned the survey, a response rate of about 67%. Meanwhile, of the Fire Department’s 97 employees, 87 replied to the survey–a response rate around 90%, making their results more reliable and less likely to overestimate vaccination levels. Public Works, the city’s largest department with 255 employees, had a response rate of about 54%.

Even while Beverly Hills has balked at instituting any employee vaccination requirements, city firefighters nonetheless find themselves subject to a county vaccine mandate. All BHFD firefighters are also certified as Emergency Medical Technicians (EMTs) or paramedics, which makes them subject to the Aug. 12 Public Health order requiring vaccination of healthcare workers in the county. The order mandates that all healthcare workers receive their full vaccination by Sept. 30, only making exceptions for religious beliefs or medical reasons. Those exempt from the vaccine must wear masks and submit to regular COVID-19 testing.

The BHFD did not respond when asked what would happen to employees who did not comply with the rules. According to Public Health, “Each covered facility will be required to enforce the vaccine and testing requirements of their respective staff.” Beverly Hills Chief Communications Officer Keith Sterling said the city is exploring whether the health order applies to BHFD civilian staff in addition to firefighters.

In a response to the report by BHPD Acting Captain Max Subin on behalf of both Police and Fire Departments, Subin told the Courier, “We work to provide Police and Fire Department staff members with the latest County health guidance as they make their decisions regarding vaccination.”

Neither the BHPD nor the BHFD supplied the total number of COVID-19 infections in the departments.

“Since the vaccines were first made available earlier this year, the City has proactively communicated the most timely information to all employees,” Sterling told the Courier. Sterling pointed to messaging the city had done for its employees on vaccine eligibility, in addition to a limited amount of vaccinations administered by BHFD in April.

Law enforcement agencies across the state have reported lower rates of vaccination than their surrounding communities, even as COVID-19 killed more officers than all other causes combined in 2020, according to the National Law Enforcement Memorial and Museum. The Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD) reports that 52% of employees received at least one dose of the vaccine by July 21, according to the most recent data available provided to the Courier. Los Angeles County, by contrast, reported that 70% of residents had received at least one dose in the same time frame. Similarly, only 58% of the San Jose Police Department reported being vaccinated in June, compared to 68% of the region at the time.  

The novel coronavirus has become the single most deadly threat for law enforcement officers in both 2020 and 2021, far outpacing deaths from other factors. On Aug. 3, Officer Becky Strong became the 10th LAPD officer to die due to complications of COVID-19. 

The Los Angeles Fire Department (LAFD) has also lagged behind the city it serves in vaccination numbers. According to an LAFD spokesperson, only 54% of sworn members are fully vaccinated. (Interestingly, bucking the trend, the Culver City Fire Department told the Courier that of its 71 personnel, 93% are fully vaccinated.)

The Beverly Hills survey also organizes the objections and hesitations of those who have declined to get vaccinated so far. Most of the 145 unvaccinated employees who filled out the survey (30%) cited “Safety/Side Effects” as their primary reason for not being fully vaccinated, with 20% citing “Personal Beliefs” after that.

Sterling told the Courier that city employees could use supplemental COVID-19 paid sick leave provided by the state “to get the vaccine and recuperate from any side effects.”

Public health officials have struggled with messaging around the coronavirus and the vaccine, in part owing to occasional missteps, but also because of the politicization of the vaccine and ubiquitous misinformation. While nearly one-third of city employees who have not been vaccinated cite safety concerns, the vaccines have shown themselves to be overwhelmingly safe. 

The most recent data on public opinion toward the vaccine from the non-profit Kaiser Family Foundation shows that 67% of adults say they have received the vaccine. Of those who haven’t received it, 14% say they will “definitely not” get vaccinated–a group that overwhelmingly reports not being worried about serious illness from the virus. Three fourths of those who say they will “definitely not” get the vaccine also say that the vaccine represents a greater risk to their health than the novel coronavirus, which has killed over 630,000 Americans. 

The post Beverly Hills Reveals City Employee Vaccination Rates appeared first on Beverly Hills Courier.

“Congratulations to both. I’m very excited to be heading off this baton that is long overdue,” said current Mayor Lindsey Horvath.

Like Beverly Hills, the City of West Hollywood appoints its mayor and mayor pro tempore (vice mayor, essentially) on a rotating basis. The position serves more of a bureaucratic than an executive function, unlike the City of Los Angeles.

Horvath, who is seeking to replace outgoing County Supervisor Sheila Kuehl on the Board of Supervisors, nominated Meister and Shyne for their new positions, marking the first time a woman has nominated two women for the mayoral succession in the city’s history.

Meister first joined the West Hollywood City Council in 2015 and is currently serving her second term. She ran unsuccessfully twice before in 2003 and 2009. She previously served as mayor from April 2016 to May 2017, during which time she stood with mayors across the country in expressing support for preserving the Affordable Care Act. She also introduced an item to prevent the City of West Hollywood from conducting business with entities that provide financial or other benefits to then-President Donald Trump.

Meister, a West Hollywood resident for over 30 years, entered city government through the Los Angeles Sheriff’s Department’s Community Emergency Response Team (CERT) training program and attended the West Hollywood Sheriff’s Community Academy. She subsequently headed one of the city’s neighborhood associations. In 2013, she helped to pass a measure that limited council members to no more than three full or partial terms in office.

In her tenure as a council member, Meister has voiced support for maintaining the city’s affordable housing stock, preserving parks and green space, and improving mobility options around the city. Outside of her work in local government, Meister owns and manages her own market research firm based in West Hollywood.

Councilmember Shyne joined the City Council in 2020, becoming the first woman of color on the Council. She says that she is the first openly LGBTQ Iranian elected anywhere in the world.

In biographic materials, she describes being born in Iran in 1977 before fleeing the country with her family following the Iranian Revolution. Her duel experiences as gay and an immigrant led her to earn a legal degree and pursue civil rights advocacy on behalf of the LGBTQ community. She served in a leadership capacity in the LGBT Bar Association of Los Angeles and the Human Rights Campaign, one of the world’s largest LGBTQ civil rights organizations.

Prior to her election to the City Council, Shyne served on the Business License Commission, as an Advisory Board Member for the County of Los Angeles Office of the Assessor, and as a member on the Lesbian and Gay Advisory Board for the City Of West Hollywood.

The post WeHo Elects New Mayor and Mayor Pro Tempore appeared first on Beverly Hills Courier.

The trail, which abuts Beverly Hills on two sides, falls within the property lines of five of six lots owned by Hadid, on which he had planned for years to build a sprawling gated compound complete with three guard towers and a helipad. But after defaulting on loans and declaring bankruptcy, a bankruptcy court will decide on Sept. 1 whether to auction off all the properties together or to sell only two of the lots. 

On Aug. 17, the City Council passed a resolution in support of keeping all the properties together and preserving the public’s right to use the trail, declaring that the trail “preserves natural resources and wildlife habitats, protects clean air, provides opportunities for recreation, and provides open space for current and future generations.”

“The City of Beverly Hills supports keeping the Hastain Trail as open space for the benefit of the public and environment,” the resolution reads. The resolution adds that the city “supports the sale and bidding procedures for all six of the [lots] in order to preserve the Hastain Trail as open space for the benefit of the public.”

For at least 65 years, untold numbers of hikers, bicyclists, equestrians, and dog-walkers have trekked, peddled, trotted, and tail-wagged their way up and down the Hastain Trail. The 1.5 mile path begins at Coldwater Canyon Drive and runs to Lake Drive in Franklin Canyon, granting easy access to Beverly Hills residents. While most of the trail sits on public property, certain segments cut through privately owned land, including land owned by Hadid.

Hadid, the father of models Gigi and Bella Hadid, has a somewhat notorious reputation for his outsize developments in some of Los Angeles’ ritziest neighborhoods. In 2017, Hadid was ordered to do community service and pay fines after pleading no contest to criminal charges related to a colossal development in Bel Air. Prosecutors in the case accused Hadid of constructing a mega-mansion on Strada Vecchia Road far larger than permitted by the city. 

In 2011, Hadid began work on an expansive vision for his Franklin Canyon properties–11 estates, a stable for horses, a helipad, and three guard towers with living quarters of their own. The work caught the attention of trail regulars, including Ellen Scott, who sat in front of a bulldozer to impede the project’s progress, according to the Los Angeles Times and court records. When that didn’t work, Scott took Hadid to court under the auspices of a group she formed with other hikers, Friends of the Hastain Trail. After five years, an appeals court sided with Hadid. 

In spite of the win, financial losses and growing debts weighed the project down until Hadid defaulted on loans and declared bankruptcy earlier this year. On Sept. 1, a bankruptcy court will decide whether to auction the properties as a bundle, or to auction only two of the lots. The latter scenario “significantly lowers the possibility of maintaining the continuity of the Trail,” according to the resolution.

Councilmember John Mirisch recounted hiking the trail for years, rhapsodizing about the views from the top where you can see Catalina Island on a clear day. “One of the things that makes our region so great is the proximity to pristine and beautiful nature trails,” he said. “What a shame it would be if this would be lost for profit.” 

The post City Council Weighs in on Future of Hastain Trail appeared first on Beverly Hills Courier.

The Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors approved a motion on Aug. 10 to direct the County Department of Public Health (Public Health), along with others, to provide a report on possible proof of vaccination requirements for access to certain indoor spaces. The motion requested the report by Aug. 24 at the latest.

If the Board of Supervisors passes an ordinance codifying the restrictions, it would only apply to unincorporated parts of the County. If Public Health issued a public health order, however, it would apply to all parts of the county under the jurisdiction of the county’s public health department, including Beverly Hills. 

Dozens of businesses in Los Angeles have taken the initiative and instituted proof of vaccination requirements of their own. Businesses in Beverly Hills seem not to have followed suit. In an interview with the Courier, Beverly Hills Chamber of Commerce President and CEO Todd Johnson could not think of any establishments in the city currently requiring proof of vaccination or a negative COVID-19 test.

Institutions and governments around the state have started requiring employees to get vaccinated. On Aug. 4, Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors Chair Hilda Solis issued an executive order requiring the county’s 110,000 employees to provide proof of vaccination by Oct. 1. The Los Angeles City Council unanimously passed a similar ordinance on Aug. 18, giving city employees until Oct. 5 to be fully inoculated unless they can show medical conditions or “sincerely held religious beliefs” that stops them from doing so. Santa Monica has indicated plans to require the vaccination once it receives approval by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA). 

“How can we ask Angelenos to be vaccinated if we are not doing it ourselves?” City Council President Nury Martinez said on Aug. 18, when the L.A. City Council passed vaccine requirements for employees. “We need to set the strong example for our communities.”

So far, at least New York, San Francisco, and New Orleans have issued mandates requiring proof of at least partial vaccination for certain indoor activities like dining or getting drinks.

The Council heard data on vaccination rates among city employees. City Manager George Chavez shared that 670 of the city’s 1,012 employees responded to a voluntary survey, with 78% indicating they had received the vaccine. For comparison, the West Hollywood City Council reviewed results of a similar survey at its Aug. 2 meeting in which 92% of respondents reported being vaccinated. Santa Monica announced on July 27 that 59% of the city workforce had reported being vaccinated. 

Councilmember Julian Gold expressed concern about issuing “blanket pronouncements” requiring employees to get the vaccine. 

“If it’s true that a quarter of the workforce is not vaccinated and there was a mandate that said, effectively, you can’t come to work if you’re not vaccinated, could we run the city?” he said.

Council members unanimously expressed frustration at those who have chosen not to get vaccinated and urged unvaccinated residents to get the jab. “It just amazes me that people don’t want to do it,” Councilmember Lester Friedman said, decrying the politicization of vaccines. “It’s just the right thing to do. You’re helping yourself; you’re helping others.”

Gold worried that if Beverly Hills became an island of stricter vaccine requirements at a time when restaurants are still struggling, diners and other patrons would simply seek out establishments outside of the city. 

“We know that our restaurants are having a hard time getting workers, so if now, all of a sudden, [patrons] have to show a card [and] they don’t want to do it, then they go to the restaurant where they don’t have to show it,” he said.

“We are looking to you, county, to guide all of these cities so we have a common path forward,” Gold said. “We’re looking to you, because you’ve got all the experts and all the rest. We’re looking to you to provide us guidance about how we can keep our city safe and we want it to be consistent throughout the county.”

While the Council now looks to Public Health for its marching orders, only last year the Council bristled against moves by Public Health to restrict all in-person dining, both indoor and outdoor. Public Health issued the mandate on Nov. 24, in the midst of the county’s worst wave of infections. In response, the Beverly Hills City Council passed a resolution rebuking the agency and calling on staff to explore the possibility of creating a Beverly Hills public health department, describing the Public Health order as ungrounded in data.

Councilmember John Mirisch came out strongest in favor of new restrictions, advocating for requiring city employees to get vaccinated or submit to regular testing and having certain businesses require proof of vaccination for access to indoor spaces. 

“I actually think this will help our restaurants, it will help our businesses, because people will feel secure there, because people will know that it’s safer for them to be there than elsewhere, and it will also be safer for their employees as well,” he said. “We can’t wait for the county to maybe do the right thing in this case.”

The hearing received public input from Dr. Lee Hilborne, Professor of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine at UCLA’s David Geffen School of Medicine and a member of the Beverly Hills Health and Safety Commission. Dr. Hilborne, who also has a degree in Public Health, urged the City Council to take action and require vaccination.

“For the safety and health of our community, there really is no option but to follow the lead of other thoughtful communities and require vaccination, both to prevent transmission and to prevent the emergence of new variants,” he wrote. 

In an interview with the Courier, Dr. Hilborne explained that the two-pronged approach taken by some establishments of requiring either proof of vaccination or a negative COVID-19 test comes with dangerous drawbacks. Given the fact that vaccinated individuals can in some cases carry the virus without showing symptoms, unvaccinated people that opt to get tested may find themselves at risk for contracting the virus from an asymptomatic carrier. 

Looking at the case of restaurants that require proof of vaccination or a negative COVID-19 test, Dr. Hilborne said, “The risk to the unvaccinated people in that setting is probably greater from the vaccinated people who may harbor a breakthrough infection.”

Still, despite breakthrough cases, the vaccine remains the most potent form of protection from the novel coronavirus. Statistics released by Public Health on Aug. 14 showed that fully vaccinated people are four times less likely to contract the virus and 14 times less likely to become hospitalized as a result of infection. 

The post City Council Defers to County for Vaccine Policy appeared first on Beverly Hills Courier.

“I’ve never seen it this high,” said Deputy Director of Rent Stabilization Helen Morales at the Aug. 3 Study Session. The uptick represents more than a 60% rise from last year.

While owners are not required to report why a tenant vacates a rent stabilized unit, Morales said that the timing suggests a possible connection with the pandemic. Morales could not say definitively, but added that rents may have declined as a result of the pandemic, especially given the vacancy rate. 

“The rent amounts may have decreased as a result of that in order to get tenants to move into the units,” she said. The latest data of rent stabilized units shows that the most frequently rented units are one bedroom at an average of $2,260.

In response to a question from Vice Mayor Lili Bosse, Morales said that the city could conduct outreach to landlords and tenants to determine the reasons behind a vacancy. 

“I think we all do want to understand why we have this vacancy [rate],” Bosse said.

The report took stock of the impact of its Rent Stabilization Ordinance, which passed in 2017. Morales said the data showed that “the rent stabilization has helped keep rents down for those households who have longer tenure.”

Mayor Robert Wunderlich dove into the data himself and surfaced with the conclusion that the ordinance has worked. He compared the rent of rent stabilized units with no change in occupancy to rent stabilized units that returned to the market and had an opportunity to adjust to market rate. For one-bedroom apartments, the difference between the two was $2,269 and $2,279. For two-bedroom units, the difference was $3,135 and $3,144. 

“This indicates to me that the ordinance is working, that it’s provided protection against isolated incidents of exorbitant rents, while still not resulting in a large deviation between market rents and the rents under the rent stabilization ordinance,” he said.

Morales also presented the Council with updates on the city’s COVID-19 Rent Subsidy Program, which the City Council approved in September 2020. The program applies to tenants living on multi-family properties that fall under the Rent Stabilization Ordinance, prioritizing seniors and households with children enrolled in Beverly Hills Unified School District (BHUSD). The program offers eligible residents up to $1,000 for three months, with the money going directly to the landlord under the condition that the landlord grants the tenant a year to repay back rent. Landlords also must agree not to evict tenants for a year.

According to Morales, the city has received 520 rent subsidy applications, more than twice the anticipated number of applications. About 84 of those applications were from households with children enrolled in BHUSD or with a senior household member. Jewish Family Services, the nonprofit contracted by the city to administer the program, reviewed about 450 of the applicants and granted rent subsidies in 99 cases – an approval rate of 19%. In total, the city gave property owners about $300,000 in direct subsidy payments.

The rate of denial raised some concerns for some council members. Morales explained that in most cases, applicants were making as much or more money from unemployment than they were prior to the pandemic. In other instances of rejection, applicants did not provide sufficient documentation, generated income above the 80% Area Median Income threshold, paid over $4,000 in rent, lived in a non-RSO unit, or received rental assistance from Los Angeles County.

Also of concern to the Council, 41 applicants could not receive the subsidy because their property owner refused to participate in the program. “I cannot get a straight answer from owners,” Morales said about why the landlords refused the funds. “They feel like they’re giving something in exchange by saying they won’t evict the tenant.”

At the Rent Stabilization Commission meeting, the commission swore in the newest members. The commission is composed of two landlord representatives, two tenant representatives, and two homeowners. Zachary Sokoloff replaced Gwendolyn Owens, former-alternate Kathy Bronte replaced Kathryn Jacoby, and Kandace Lindsey-Cerqueira filled the alternate position left by Bronte. The newly recomposed commission voted to recommend to the City Council that the city’s eviction moratorium end at the same time as the State of California’s moratorium.  

The post Rent Stabilization Commission Returns as Vacancy Rate at 11% appeared first on Beverly Hills Courier.

On Aug. 10, the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors voted unanimously to look into options to require residents to show proof of vaccinations to enter certain indoor spaces, though exactly which spaces are still being determined. The Board directed the L.A. County Department of Public Health to provide a report in two weeks on the specifics of the plan, and how it will be enforced. If passed, the new rules would only apply to unincorporated areas of the county and would not apply to Beverly Hills.

The city of Los Angeles is considering a similar proposal. On Aug. 4, L.A. City Council President Nury Martinez and Councilmember Mitch O’Farrell introduced a motion to require vaccine proof at restaurants, bars, gyms, stores, spas, movie theaters, concert venues, and sporting events. The motion passed unanimously on Aug. 11. Now, city attorneys will draft legislation to come back before the Council. 

While the City of los angeles and the county have begun openly exploring increased restrictions for unvaccinated people, the Beverly Hills City Council has yet to meet to address the matter. “With the spread of the Delta variant and constantly evolving guidelines, the City Council continues to closely monitor these issues,” Beverly Hills Chief Communications Officer Keith Sterling told the Courier on Aug. 12.

On Aug. 11, Newsom introduced toughest-in-the-nation requirements mandating that school employees must either be vaccinated or submit to weekly COVID-19 testing. On the same day, the California Department of Public Health (CDPH) began requiring visitors to general acute care hospitals, skilled nursing, and intermediate care facilities in California to show either proof of vaccination or documentation of a negative COVID-19 test within 72 hours of the hospital visit.

“We are eager to see the written plan from the state,” BHUSD Superintendent Dr. Michael Bregy said in a statement to the Courier. “Until then, we are having positive discussions with our labor partners to ensure we achieve our common goal to keep our schools open with the least amount of disruption to the continuity of in-person instruction in the safest way possible.” 

Alana Castanon, president of the Beverly Hills Education Association, the union representing BHUSD employees, told the Courier that the union “intends on complying with all state and county health orders.”

“BHEA members want to be in our classrooms with our students,” she wrote in an email. “The governor’s announcement yesterday is supported by the California Teachers Association, requiring vaccine verification or testing for all school staff as an appropriate next step to ensure the safety of our school communities and to protect our youngest learners under 12 who are not yet vaccine eligible from this highly contagious Delta variant.”

The Beverly Hills Unified School District said in an Aug. 6 email that it does not require COVID-19 vaccinations, in line with Los Angeles County Department of Public Health (Public Health) guidelines. Students must provide a negative COVID-19 test if they have traveled outside California 10 days prior to starting school, in addition to complying with other Public Health regulations. 

Starting Aug. 11, anyone visiting a medical facility in California must show either proof of vaccination or a negative COVID-19 test within 72 hours, according to a new order from the California Department of Public Health. 

“The more individuals get vaccinated, the closer we get to progressing beyond this pandemic,” the department wrote in an Aug. 5 statement when the new policy was announced. “And the more people are vaccinated in any given setting, the safer that setting becomes.” 

A steady rise in COVID-19 cases across LA County – 2,622 new cases were recorded on Aug. 10 – has caused countywide hospitalizations to double in just 15 days, from 745 on July 24 to 1,503 on Aug. 8. Statewide, COVID hospitalizations have seen a similar spike, from 2,981 hospitalized COVID-positive patients on July 25 to 5,973 on Aug. 8.

This latest wave has been driven by the highly contagious Delta variant. “Every time that we leave the window open here in the U.S., or in the world, and we are not being careful with these viruses, they tend to mutate, they change, they try to adapt to us and they become very efficient,” Dr. Ilan Shapiro, Medical Director of Health Education and Wellness for Altamed, told the Courier. 

Given the current spread of COVID-19, Dr. Shapiro stressed the importance of getting more vaccines into more arms to prevent the mutation of another, possibly more virulent and deadly strain. “One of these days, it could be the epsilon or lambda variant,” he said. “That’s why it’s so important to layer as many public health barriers between us and COVID-19.”

Cedars-Sinai Medical Center and Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center, the two largest hospitals near Beverly Hills, have both confirmed that they are complying with the new orders. However, while UCLA specifies that it will accept a negative COVID test acquired within 72 hours of the visit as an alternative to official vaccination verification, Cedars-Sinai does not. 

When asked whether a negative COVID test would grant entry into Cedars-Sinai, a spokesperson told the Courier, “The inpatient visitation policy is exactly as it appears on the site now.”

Suitable forms of proof include a CDC-issued Vaccination Record Card, a WHO Yellow Card, a photo of a Vaccination Record card, documentation of the vaccination from a health care provider, or a digital record with a QR code. All forms of ID must include the visitor’s name, the type of vaccine, and the date of the vaccine administration. Digital records must also include the visitor’s date of birth. 

Cedars-Sinai does not allow visitors for patients with moderate or high suspicion of having COVID-19, unless a clinical team considers the patient to be end of life. In that case, the patient will be allowed one visitor a day for two hours. UCLA Health does not specify their policy on visitation of COVID-positive patients and did not respond to questions. 

Visitors can obtain a digital copy of their vaccination records online at https://myvaccinerecord.cdph.ca.gov. 

Additional reporting by Michael Wittner

The post Continuing Surge Prompts Vaccination Requirements appeared first on Beverly Hills Courier.

“The turnout is wonderful tonight. I think you’re seeing built-up demand,” Mayor Robert Wunderlich, who came with his wife, Andrea Spatz, and his golden retriever, Luna, told the Courier. “The Concerts on Canon have been a long time institution in the city and Michael Libow and Rod Lightning and the Thunderbolt of Love, they’ve been regulars here, so it’s a great band to kick off the concert series.”

Band frontman and luxury real estate agent Michael Libow was just as enthusiastic to perform as the crowd was to watch. 

“We have been so eager to perform for a live audience for two years now,” he told the Courier. “Without an audience, there’s no feedback, there’s no energy.”

According to Libow, the band has been playing together for about 16 years, with Libow joining 13 years ago. 

The concert series will take place each Thursday from Aug. 12 to Sept. 9. 

The post Concerts on Canon Return appeared first on Beverly Hills Courier.

“Los Angeles has the rare distinction of being a city bisected by a mountain range,” City Planning Associate Patrick Whalen said at a Nov. 20, 2020 community workshop presentation. “The ridgelines of these mountains provide dramatic and unique natural backdrops to the city and are among the factors that established Los Angeles’ sense of place. In addition to the scenic and aesthetic benefits of ridge lines, they are also important ecological resources in the city, often serving as corridors for wildlife.”

The ordinance, proposed by Los Angeles City Councilmember Paul Koretz, would create a new Ridgeline Protection (RP) District that would apply to areas within 50 feet of the crest of a hill. The idea for the ordinance was first proposed in 2016, with the Los Angeles City Council instructing the Department of City Planning to draft an ordinance in 2019. City Planning released a draft in May. Similar laws exist already in Calabasas, Grass Valley, and unincorporated Los Angeles County. 

“To facilitate the protection of these natural ecological, topographic, and aesthetic resources, the City has developed a method to identify ridgelines that may merit additional protection by evaluating their height, slope, topographic features, and potential for wildlife connectivity,” the proposed ordinance reads.

As it is drafted now, the ordinance would roll out in a pilot area defined by the 405 Freeway on the west, Laurel Canyon on the east, the Mulholland corridor on the north and Sunset Boulevard on the south. Beverly Hills would not be impacted. The pilot area would cover about 4,500 parcels.

The proposed ordinance would establish two tiers of ridgeline protection: RP1 and RP2. The former, more restrictive designation is meant to protect the physical integrity of a ridgeline by limiting the location and height of developments built along it. Structures must be set back from the lowest level of nearby ridgeline by 50 feet and must be 50 feet below the lowest point of the ridgeline. Additionally, RP1 prohibits grading within 50 feet of the ridgeline.

According to Whalen, this designation would apply mostly to undeveloped areas. “Given the level of development that has already occurred in many of the hillside areas of the city, it is anticipated that RP1 will be fairly sparingly applied and will be most useful for targeted application for pristine ridge line segments that are threatened by development,” he said. 

The second designation, RP2, is meant to protect the visual integrity of ridgelines, preventing obstruction by new developments by setting height limits. Under this protection level, structures may not exceed 18 feet above the lowest point of the surrounding ridgeline, essentially limiting developments to one story. 

Confusingly, though, a map of the pilot area released by the Planning Department seems to categorize all 4,500 parcels as RP1 with no inclusion of RP2. In a July 31 letter from the Doheny Sunset Plaza Neighborhood Association, which represents 2,000 households north of Sunset in the 90069-zip code, the association expressed their strong frustration at the scope of the RP1 designation. 

“While there may be a few ‘remaining ridgelines,’ nearly all of these areas are urbanized, the parcels are developed and the areas for the most part could hardly be construed to be on a ridgeline with remaining value as a scenic or ecological resource,” association president Ellen Evans wrote to the Planning Department. The letter expressed support for “preserving natural ridgelines,” but said the sweeping RP1 classification burdened homeowners “with significant and needless market uncertainty and resulting property value damage related to their homes.”

Even the RP2 designation has its detractors. Shawn Bayless, executive director of the Bel Air Association, explained to the Courier that he does not see a reason to limit the height limit on ridgelines that have already been developed.  “Folks want to look at ridgelines that haven’t been developed: great, let’s talk about it. But otherwise, it’s just a penalty to existing homeowners,” he said.

He gave as an example Somera Road, one of Bel Air’s many branching tributaries that run along the crest of the hills. The ridge in Somera’s case has already been graded and paved over, Bayless points out. “What’s the virtue of an 18-foot height limit on a street that already has homes on it? All you’re doing is penalizing the folks that haven’t put a second story on.”

Bayless, a former Director of Planning and Legislation for City Council District 5, warned that the height limit could have unintended consequences, forcing homeowners to expand down the hillside. “If you plug a hole in one area, it just puts more pressure on another,” he said. 

Residents have also raised concerns about the impact on existing houses that would not be in compliance with the ordinance. For the thousands of structures already built along and on the applicable ridgelines, the proposed ordinance ensures that they “may be maintained, repaired or structurally altered provided the building conformed to the requirements of the zone and any other land use regulations at the time it was built or established.”

Even so, the proposal has many residents spooked, including Alison MacCracken. “If our house burns down, or if an earthquake makes it perish, or if we just want to tear it down to rebuild it, because the majority of the homes in the hills are actually quite old, you wouldn’t be able to rebuild it,” MacCracken told the Courier. “Say goodbye to rebuilding, financing, resale value, reverse mortgages, et cetera.”

Benjamin Resnick, a land use attorney whose firm of Jeffer, Mangels, Butler and Mitchell represents homeowners in the pilot area, elaborated on these concerns in a public hearing held by the Department of City Planning on June 17. 

“The truth of the matter is, if you’re applying the city’s nonconforming laws and if there’s another wildfire and buildings are destroyed to more than 50% of the value of the house or replacement of the structure, you don’t get a right to rebuild it under your legal nonconforming status,” Resnick said. 

After the hearing, Koretz announced the formation of an advisory committee of hillside design professionals to help revise the draft ordinance. 

MacCracken, a realtor, and her husband, a real estate attorney, mobilized their neighbors to voice their opposition to the proposal, printing letters and taking them door to door throughout the pilot area. She even spent her Fourth of July canvassing. The result: Hillside Neighborhoods United (HNU).

“We are for protecting pristine ridgelines and the wildlife but making us build or rebuild our homes down a hill would require many more caissons, retaining walls, harm more pristine environment, and cause the animals even more harm,” MacCracken says of the group. “There are enough regulations in place to prevent more of the huge mansions we have seen built in the past decade. We do not need more housing regulations.”

Koretz, who introduced the motion calling for the ordinance, pushed back against MacCracken and her group’s characterization of the ordinance, describing it to the Courier as “misinformation.”

“Fact number one, these ordinances are not intended to impact existing buildings. These wildlife and ridgeline protections will apply to new developments,” Koretz said.  

Though he did not address what would happen to structures in the case of fire or other disaster, Koretz stressed that the proposed ordinance still has a long way to go before it has a chance to become law. “Number two, these are draft ordinances that the Planning Department has released for public comments. This is the process by which we find and address any specific problems.”

The Planning Department announced in a June 30 newsletter that it will finalize the ordinance in the coming months and expects that the ordinance will make it to the Planning Commission in the winter of 2021. 

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Beverly Hills has yet to consider any vaccination requirements for either private businesses or public facilities and employees, but Mayor Robert Wunderlich told the Courier that the City Council would have to consider all its options. “With the trajectory of COVID of vaccinations, with the continued emergence of the Delta variant, I wouldn’t be surprised if it comes back before the City Council for us again to have to discuss what requirements we want to put into effect in the city,” he said.

For a few months following the devastating winter surge, it seemed that Los Angeles County was on track to beat the virus. While the vaccine rollout was not without its problems, the high enthusiasm, long lines, and occasional chicanery for the medical breakthrough was promising. Even as the county and the nation resolved vaccine supply issues, interest seemed to wane. Lines shrank, mega vaccination sites closed, and doses went unused. 

The latest surge of the Delta variant marks the fourth wave of COVID-19 infections in the United States. Case counts and hospitalizations in L.A. remain far below the winter deluge, which inundated hospitals and killed thousands, but have nonetheless seen worrying gains in the last two months. In that period of time, L.A. County has seen an 18-fold increase in coronavirus cases and a five-fold increase in hospitalizations. Unvaccinated people have driven both trends.

Beverly Hills experienced a particularly intense form of whiplash with this latest wave. The City Council planned to repeal parts of its COVID-19 urgency ordinance at its first in-person meeting in almost a year and a half on July 15. The meeting came the same day Los Angeles County reinstituted an indoor mask mandate and the City Council scrapped plans to repeal the ordinance and returned to virtual hearings.

Private businesses have responded to the surge with increased safety measures of their own, requiring proof of vaccination or a negative COVID-19 test. Already, dozens of restaurants and bars across the county have announced these sorts of requirements, including some in Beverly Hills. While the industry has been forced to pivot several times to align with Public Health orders since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, now, the mandates are coming from the businesses.

“For the time being, all we require from our staff is a negative COVID test result if they have a fever or show any other Covid like symptoms,” Giuseppe Mollica, the general manager at Via Alloro, told the Courier. “Should the local officials require a mandatory vaccination for all staff, then we will comply. We are not asking our customers (yet), but again should something change, we’ll comply. Understandably there is some concern among our customers, as well as our staff, and we will address it as necessary. We are taking all possible precautions to protect and prevent any outbreak.”

“We require the workers, but not the customers,” Vartan Kemanjian, the manager of Euro Caffe on Canon Drive, told the Courier. “LA County Health Department, they tell us what to do. They haven’t told us that the customers need to be vaccinated, but our employees, yes, of course.”

Popular eateries such as Croft Alley and Urth Cafe will soon be implementing vaccine mandates of their own. 

“This is something that has to be discussed,” the manager at Il Pastaio, Nina Chua, told the Courier. “No further comment.”

The surge has prompted an about-face by cities, states, and federal agencies, all of which had gleefully begun the process of reopening in the spring. The Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) partially revised its recommendation on face masks on July 27, advising that everyone should wear one inside regardless of vaccination status in areas with “substantial” or “high” transmission rates. Even before that, L.A. County mandated indoor masking for everyone starting July 18. 

On Aug. 4, Los Angeles City Councilmembers Nury Martinez and Mitch O’Farrell introduced a motion to consider requiring proof of vaccination against COVID-19 “to enter indoor spaces, including but not limited to, restaurants, bars, retail establishments, fitness centers, spas, and entertainment centers such as stadiums, concert venues, and movie theaters.” Later the same day, Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors Chair Hilda Solis issued an executive order requiring the county’s 110,000 employees to provide proof of vaccination by Oct. 1.

Health experts in the city are also putting pressure on the private sector. Dr. Lee Hilborne, Professor of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine at UCLA’s David Geffen School of Medicine, and a member of the Beverly Hills Health and Safety Commission, urged the city to take robust action. “It seems it’s time for cities (counties and states) to consider requiring proof of vaccination to enter publicly accessible indoor spaces. At least as a community, we should launch this discussion and potentially follow the lead of other prominent cities that have made this informed public health decision,” he told the Courier.

While Beverly Hills boasts one of the highest rates of vaccination in the county (78 percent of those 16 years and older have received at least one dose, compared to 71 percent county-wide), its population may be at higher risk for hospitalization from the Delta variant compared to other areas. A report by data science company, Cogitativo, lists Beverly Hills among the top 10 cities in LA County at the greatest risk for increased hospitalization. 

According to CEO Gary Velasquez, Cogitativo built machine learning models that combined COVID-19 infection and vaccination data with anonymized health records from California health insurers to determine which zip codes had the greatest risk for COVID-19 infections resulting in hospitalization. The model specifically broke down risk into 20 clinical conditions including hypertension, obesity, and diabetes. Having any of these clinical conditions increases someone’s chance of hospitalization if they develop COVID-19, Velasquez said.

For the most part, the results confirmed what health officials already knew–that majority-minority communities like Inglewood and Palmdale face higher risk than majority white areas. But the report also listed Beverly Hills, an affluent, majority-white city with high vaccination rates. 

Velasquez attributed this to the relative seniority of Beverly Hills’ residents. According to the most recent census data available, 21 percent of Beverly Hills residents are 65 years or older. This, compared to Los Angeles, in which only 12 percent of residents are over the age of 65. 

“Unfortunately, as you get older, part of aging is you have these clinical conditions,” Velasquez told the Courier.

The Courier will continue to update this story as it develops. 

Additional reporting by Bianca Heyward and Michael Wittner

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In a special performance at the Wallis, Sing for Hope co-founders and celebrated sopranos Monica Yunus and Camille Zamora sang “The Flower Duet” (“Sous le dôme épais”) from the opera Lakmé by Léo Delibes. The ceremony at the Wallis also saw actor and activist Monique Coleman receive Sing for Hope’s annual Art for All Award for her work advocating for youths across the world.

The Sing for Hope Piano program began in New York City over 10 years ago. The program describes itself as the “country’s largest annual recurring public arts project” with the goal of democratizing music. The public can find its pianos at Beverly Hills City Hall, Beverly Gardens Park, the Wallis Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts, Will Rogers Memorial Park, La Cienega Park, and Roxbury Park. 

Following the month-long residency of the pianos in Beverly Hills, they will go to underserved schools throughout the county, including Jordan High School in Watts, Vanalden Early Education Center in Tarzana, Montebello Gardens Elementary School in Pico Rivera, Dorris Place Elementary School in Elysian Park, View Park Preparatory High School in Hyde Park, and George Washington Carver Middle School in South Park.

Each of the 16 pianos has been hand painted by a diverse group of artists, including established figures like Chaz Guest and younger talents like Yalda Sepahpour. Other artists include Adam Rodgers, Alexandra Nechita, Bendow, Çi?dem Akbay, Gooey, Helena Faitelson, Laishan Mui Ito, Laurie Tsou, Marisabel Bazan, The Miracle Project with GRoW @ The Wallis (a performing arts program for young people across the autism spectrum), Mireille Fournier, Ms. Yellow, Punk Me Tender, and Sheila Darcey. 

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Hernandez has spent her life in clothing. Her parents, who migrated from El Salvador, worked in garment factories producing items for Calvin Klein and Tommy Hilfiger. She began designing clothes herself at a young age, attending the Fashion Institute of Design and Merchandising (FIDM) before working at brands like Seven7 and Lane Bryant. At 24, she founded GLAUDI, named after her mother, Gladis (in attendance at the show).

Hernandez has been involved in fashion shows her whole life, but she realized that the affairs would not be the same after the pandemic. No more indoor catwalks with throngs of fans, press, and celebrities crowding close together. But she was also put off by the virtual alternatives some brands opted for.

“I feel like fashion shows are made to see in person, because you have to look at the clothes, you have to send a message through how you present your collection,” Hernandez told the Courier.

But as the pandemic progressed, Hernandez noted how different forms of live entertainment innovated to keep audiences safe. For her show, she drew inspiration from drive-thru movies and shows where she “could bring my mom, my cousins, and we just go in one car.”

Hernandez wanted the show to do more than just celebrate her designs–she wanted to celebrate the idea of celebration itself after more than a year of canceled plans, delayed reunions, and virtual parties. “This whole fashion show was inspired to celebrate family and to inspire people to celebrate again,” she said.

After six months of planning and a few postponements, she felt the show went better than she could have anticipated. “It was magical,” she said.

The show set up small stages down Brighton Way, where models wearing GLAUDI stood, sat, and in one instance, swung. The Beverly Hills Police Department closed off the street from Rodeo to North Camden Drive, allowing crowds to mingle, gawk at the clothing, and enjoy crepes and cotton candy. But when the main event began, organizers cleared the street to allow permitted cars through to peer out onto the beaming, waving models. After all the cars had passed, Brighton turned into a block party deejayed by one of GLAUDI’s own models, Esther Anaya, who played along with the music on her electric violin. The models represented a range of sizes, shapes, and ages, in line with GLAUDI’s mission of inclusivity.

Others agreed with Johana’s assessment, including Mayor Robert Wunderlich, who attended the show. “What Johana brings to her clothing is imagination,” he told the Courier. “You can see it in what she’s doing tonight. What an imaginative way to celebrate her imaginative designs.”

“It’s a great use of public space to be able to liven up the city.”

Vice Mayor Lili Bosse, who advocated for nightlife in Beverly Hills through her Beverly Hills Open Later Days (BOLD) initiative and also went to the show, said the event represented the future of the city.

“What Johana has done is so out of the box, so visionary, truly creative, and really represents what Beverly Hills is made of,” she told the Courier. “During COVID, there were some blessings. It forced us to think creatively and I believe that this model that she has created for us today is a wonderful jumping off point for other businesses and our community to keep reimagining our city.”

GLAUDI’s Drive-Thru Fashion Show Brightens Brighton appeared first on Beverly Hills Courier.

Working primarily in oil, Sepahpour’s work exalts the feminine form and interrogates the female condition in rich, warm tones of ochre, peacock blue, and saffron sometimes juxtaposed with darker, heavier reds and blacks. Her line work is at times delicate and precise, and at others frenetic and bold, and appears on expansive canvasses standing 9 feet tall. 

She draws from her childhood in Iran, depicting nude and partially clothed women amid the natural and historical elements of her birth country. The women of her work often appear beside endemic animals such as Arabian horses, camels, and local endangered species like the Arabian Oryx and the Asiatic Cheetah.

Her particular piano will be at home in Beverly Hills, which has a large Iranian immigrant community. 

“Being so far away from home, it’s such a warm feeling to come here and see that the Iranian community is also here,” she said. 

While she has loved the opportunity to share Iran’s history and culture with audiences in the United States, Europe, and China, she feels excited to share her art with a community with a similar background. “It’s just nice to touch base with my home and my culture,” she said.

“You see stuff on the news and it’s just not everything. Until you go and see it, until you live there [and] you see the beauty of the country, as well.”

The Sing for Hope Piano program places artist-designed upright pianos throughout public spaces to encourage community engagement. The project will begin on Aug. 5 and run until Sept. 6, at which point the organization will donate the pianos to underserved public schools throughout the greater Los Angeles area. Beverly Hills will be home to 16 pianos located in areas including Beverly Hills City Hall, Beverly Gardens Park, the Wallis Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts, Will Rogers Memorial Park, La Cienega Park, and Roxbury Park.

Sepahpour has lived an international life, growing up in Iran, going to school in Switzerland, and then moving to the United States in 2014. She speaks English, French, and Farsi. In 2015, she enrolled in Laguna College of Art and Design, and before finishing her studies, she was discovered by the French Canadian gallery Simard Bilodeau Contemporary and began painting professionally.  

A stroke of kismet put her on the gallery’s radar. Her studio at the time in Laguna Beach sat right across the street from the gallery. The owners, Eve-Marie Bilodeau and Guy Simard, visited Sepahpour one day as she modeled for another one of their artists. After seeing a 9 ft. mural-in-progress, Bilodeau asked if she could have it finished in time for the LA Art Show. One week and many late nights later, the piece appeared in the show under the gallery’s auspices and sold to the well-known street artist RETNA within 30 minutes.

A waiting list soon formed for Sepahpour’s work, which sold nearly as fast as she could paint it. Her pieces adorn the walls of Cult Gaia founder Jasmin Larian, “The Avengers” director Joe Russo, and an unnamed Eastern European president.(Sepahpour could not disclose their name). Her work lives across the world in the United Arab Emirates, Switzerland, the United Kingdom, Iran, and Canada.

About her success, she said, “You work hard, you put in the time, and just put it out there. And if it sells, it sells.” 

The post Piano Profiles: Yalda Sepahpour appeared first on Beverly Hills Courier.

“We are pleased to see the defendant being held accountable for her actions,” said Beverly Hills Chief Communications Officer Keith Sterling.

Bagheri faced three misdemeanor charges for holding assemblies without a valid permit on Nov. 28, 2020, Jan. 6 and Jan. 9, 2021. Each charge carried fines up to $3,500 or six months in jail. 

The Beverly Hills Freedom Rally began in July 2020 in response to COVID-19 public health guidelines requiring face coverings and restricting certain businesses. At one of the first weekly rallies, with attendance in the dozens, Bagheri led a smaller group of protesters to then-Mayor Lester Friedman’s house to demand an end to mask mandates and school closures (policies that are not within the mayor’s authority to change).

As the election season heated up, the Saturday rallies at Beverly Gardens Park became a gathering place for pro-Trump supporters. Each successive week, the number of Trump 2020 flags (and the people holding them) multiplied. In August, #WalkAway, a group that encourages Democrats and unaffiliated liberals to defect to the conservative movement, marched from West Hollywood to Beverly Gardens park, bringing hundreds of followers in tow. The exposure from that event triggered a surge in attendance from that point forward, reaching a peak of more than 4,000 in October.

The growing crowds also brought controversy. Many residents complained about the lack of access to Beverly Gardens Park each Saturday and about the loss of parking. Others complained about the low levels of compliance with Beverly Hills’ masking requirements, especially with the rally-goers marching through the Business Triangle and getting close to al fresco diners. The rallies also saw repeated instances of violence between counter-protesters and Trump supporters.

On Oct. 27, in anticipation of unrest following the Nov. 3 General Election, the City Council adopted Urgency Ordinance No. 20-O-2821, which updated and clarified the City’s rules on parades and assemblies. The ordinance set dedicated areas for unpermitted assemblies at Beverly Gardens Park, La Cienega Park, and the Civic Center and stipulated that gatherings greater than 500 people must obtain a permit.

When the election returned a negative result for Donald Trump, the rally’s message transitioned from “Trump 2020” to “Stop the Steal.” It did not, however, go away.

The City Council readdressed the question of unpermitted rallies on Nov. 24, updating its ordinance to ban all rallies without a valid permit in Beverly Gardens Park, citing “considerable hardship for area residents as expressed in numerous complaints, including repeated obstruction of local access to and through the park, sudden and sharp increases in illegal parking (including in residential neighborhoods), and safety concerns.”

“I’m going to be there every Saturday until we get our freedoms back,” Bagheri told the Courier at the time.

Toward the waning months of the Freedom Rally, Bagheri received multiple citations for failures to comply with the city’s masking ordinance. She says that she did not pay the hundreds of dollars in fines and returned a ticket to the city with a note from her doctor that she says exempts her from wearing face coverings. She says the city has left her alone since then. A spokesperson for the Beverly Hills Police Department said that he did not know the status of the citations and a spokesperson for the city could not confirm Bagheri’s story. 

Bagheri, who works as a dance instructor, did not have a background in activism prior to organizing the Freedom Rally. In fact, she voted for Barack Obama in 2008 before casting her ballot for Trump in 2016. She is now a familiar figure at protests at grocery stores, restaurants, and other businesses, joining others in defying masking requirements and picketing against vaccines. 

The experience with the Freedom Rally has also inspired political aspirations in Bagheri. In March, she announced on Facebook that she plans to run for Beverly Hills City Council in 2022. She has not yet filed the required paperwork.

Bagheri’s brush with the law seems to have mostly chastened her organizing efforts in Beverly Hills. Shortly after she was served with a notice to appear in court for the misdemeanor charges, she took a step back from the Freedom Rally, making occasional appearances but leaving the planning to other regulars. The mother of a student at Hawthorne School, Bagheri organized a small protest of the school’s mask policy in April. 

While she now intends on applying for a permit to hold another Freedom Rally, she has continued to protest COVID-19 public health restrictions outside of Beverly Hills. On July 22, Bagheri and other anti-vaccine activists protested mask-wearing policies at Cedars-Sinai Hospital’s breast cancer treatment center. 

Bagheri is scheduled to appear in court again on Oct. 27 for a progress report.  

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