Ride To Fly Kids, And Their Horses, Will Be Wearing Costumes This Thursday

Members of Ride To Fly, the therapeutic riding program that trains in the corral at 50 Narcissa Drive, will be celebrating Halloween this Thursday, October 28, from 2 to 4 p.m. 

The kids and their horses will be in costume and they will be trick or treating in the neighborhood. Please give them a friendly wave, and perhaps even a treat, if you see them.

Mr. Long, You're Wrong

I received one of those annoying robocalls from RPV Councilman Tom Long the other day. You know what a robocall is, right? It's a recorded message from someone with a political ax to grind and they're too busy to talk to you but they want you to drop whatever you're doing and listen to them because whatever they have to say is SO important. But because it's a one-sided flood of information, you can't ask questions or say anything back.

So I thought I'd have my say here.

According to Mr. Long, I should vote "no" on Prop. P because Marymount College can build everything in its plan just the way it wants to, right now.

Unfortunately, the devil is in the details, Mr. Long. But I would not have known that if I had not gone to the PBCA Board Meeting a couple of weeks ago and heard Marymount President Dr. Michael Brophy and Planning Commissioner Jim Wright discuss the pros and cons of Proposition P in a friendly, well-mannered and detailed way. 

What I learned that night is that on the last go-round of the Marymount plan, when the college received its final approval from the city council, the council had made two minor changes to the plan, which no one seems to be discussing.

First: the council lowered the height of the gymnasium 10 feet.  This seemed, to Dr. Brophy, to be a somewhat arbitrary change because the issue of view obstruction had been discussed at length during the previous years of negotiation about the plan.  The question was, would the height of the gym, as planned, obstruct the view of any neighbors who lived above the site?  According to Brophy, the college had agreed that when the time came to build the gym, they would put up flags to mark the intended roof line, and if it impacted any views, they would lower the roof of the gym. But the council, in its wisdom, made the change in the final plan anyway and never explained why.

Second: the council changed the location of two of the four planned tennis courts, making that part of the plan, in Marymount's eyes, unworkable. Here's why: The planned soccer field is adjacent to Palos Verdes Drive East, a curvy, heavily-traveled road that runs right by the campus. Although the field will be 10 feet below the level of the road, and is topped by a five foot wall, leaving 15 feet between road and field, there were concerns on the part of some council members that a wayward soccer ball might fly up on to the road and cause an accident. To mitigate the problem, Marymount agreed that during games and practices, they would raise a net to make the barrier between ball and road even higher. Up until the last meeting, everyone on both sides had agreed to that solution.

Now comes the bothersome detail that no one is discussing:

The original Marymount plan called for construction of four tennis courts to be located between the soccer field and the rest of the campus.  When Marymount got the final approval for its plan, it discovered that the city council had split the courts, putting two between the edge of campus and the soccer field, and two in the original location, on the other side of the soccer field. The purpose of this was to move the soccer field farther from the adjacent road, further decreasing the likelihood that a soccer ball would fly up on the road and cause an accident. 

But, this change meant that the four tennis courts would be split by the width of the soccer field. Brophy said that this situation is completely unworkable for both instruction and competitive use of the courts. And if you look at the plan, you have to agree. 

None of this had anything to do with dorms, libraries or any of the other land-use issues associated with the plan and Prop. P. And admittedly, these two things might be considered minor points. But Mr. Long, if you want me to listen to your calls, please get all your details right.

As for the other, perhaps bigger, issues surrounding Measure P, more on that later.

But I hope the person who invented the robocall rots in hell.

Related articles

• New California Poll Shows Robocalls Largely Fall on Deaf and Hostile Ears (prweb.com)

Let's All Go See What the Artists See This Saturday At Zask's Gallery; Saturday's a Big Day for Portuguese Bend

Some people call it "old junk." 

But artists see with different eyes...(which is why they are artists)...so they see "interesting,"" beautiful," "opportunity for creativity" and even "fun."

You can see the result of all this Saturday from 6 to 10 p.m. at the grand opening of the new show at the PS Zask Gallery, in the gallery's new location, 31246 Palos Verdes Drive West, upstairs, across from the entrance to the Admiral Risty restaurant.

The show, Lost But Profound, will feature works by a group of artists whose primary medium is the found object. These include M.C. Armstrong, Charity Capili, Pat  Cox, Peg Grady, Jen Grey, Beanie Kaman, Geoffrey Kieran, Dorothy Magallon, Kelly O, Stan Resnicoff, Marian Seiders, Silvia Simmons, Mark Tanner, Patrick M. Tierney, Susan Levin, Joyce Weiss, Michael Wood and last, but certainly not least, Ben Zask.

Also on the agenda for the evening: live jazz by the Mark Fitchett Trio, and if you come early, you can watch the sunset.

With its  new location, the Gallery also has new hours: Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday from 5 to 9:30 p.m., Friday and Saturday from noon to 9:30 p.m. and Sunday from 1 to 4 p.m. The gallery is closed Monday. 

Coming soon: arts and crafts for sale on the patio on weekends. Also some classes. 

This all sounds like lots of fun. Why not make Saturday a Portuguese Bend day? We've got the community garage sale in the morning, college football on tv in the afternoon, and the opening of a new show in the Zask's new gallery in the evening. Saturday's a big day for Portuguese Bend. 

See you at the show?

Flyers and Letters to the Editor Don't Do It For Me; I Hope Monday's Board Meeting Clears Up My Confusion

I am really looking forward to Monday's PBCA Board meeting, particularly the part where neighbor and Planning Commissioner Jim Knight and a representative from Marymount College discuss Proposition P. 

I gather, from the proliferation of Pro and Anti Prop P signs in our neighborhood, that many neighbors have made up their minds on this issue. However, I'm still confused and I'm hoping to get enlightened Monday.

In general, I tend to be pro-education and I think that a college is a great addition to the community. I've read the news stories and letters to the editor in the PV News, and I've read all the mailers that have arrived in our mailbox, but I still don't feel as if I really understand the issue. 

A recent telephone call from a Marymount booster did not clarify things at all. 

"Ring, ring."

"Hello."

"Hi. I'm calling about Proposition P. Are you familiar with it?" a cheerful woman's voice asked.

"As a matter of fact, I've just been reading about it in the paper, so I sort of know what it's about but I do have a few questions," I replied.

"Well, then you know that voting for Prop P will give the community a library, a gymnasium and all sorts of other facilities that will be open to the public," she enthused.

"But I thought that the city had already approved that," I replied. "I thought that the major issue here was dorms."

Silence.

"Isn't that right?" I asked. More silence. 

I continued: "I think your approach isn't quite honest. You're telling me all about the things we're going to get  if I vote for Prop P, but I thought that those things had already been approved by the city. Isn't that right?"

The next thing I heard was "click." She hung up.

The pro-Prop P flyers are equally unhelpful.  The latest one features a local father  and five-year soccer coach telling me that if I vote for Prop P my kids will get new playing fields, at no cost to the taxpayer. But none of the changes approved by the city called for any tax money in the first place.

So I'm still confused. I thought the issue was dorms.

I could use some explanation pro and con, in words of one syllable, from both sides so that I can understand the issue and make an educated decision when it comes time to vote. I'm hoping to get that Monday. 

See you there? Ladera Linda. 7 p.m.