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BEVERLY HILLS VOLUME: LII
NUMBER 7
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www.bhcourier.com
SINCE 1965
February 17, 2017
ELECTION ENDORSEMENTS The Courier Endorses Nancy Krasne For Beverly Hills City Council By Courier staff There are many important issues facing the City of Beverly Hills over the next several years. To name just a few of those issues – the City’s rising pensions are unsustainable. Unfunded liabilities have ballooned to $300 million and are rising. Small businesses need more support than ever as empty storefronts continue to pop up, especially along Wilshire Boulevard through the heart of the City. The Police Department is in need of new officers and a pay scale that puts it
Yorkie mix Jester is this week’s Adoptable Pet of the Week. 4
Beverly Hills is surveying the health of its sidewalks on City streets. 5
The BHHS girls soccer team won their first-round playoff game this week. 19 •Fashion •Health & Wellness •Birthdays
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How these issues will be handled going forward is a crucial decision residents must make when heading to the polls on March 7 to vote for the three open seats on the Beverly Hills City Council.
Paul Koretz The Courier Endorses Paul Koretz For L.A. City Council 5th District. See page 5 to read our full endorsement.
By Victoria Talbot A regular meeting of the Human Relations Commission lasted nearly four-and-a-half hours as landlords assailed the new Rent Stabilization Urgency Ordinance for, “taking away their tools,” reducing their profits and making it harder to evict tenants. “There was a pervasive bias against non-owners,” said tenant David Berke. “For example, the persistent use of the word ‘tenant,’ as though we are somehow ‘less than.’ I am not a ‘tenant.’ I'm a resident.” The phrase resonated deeply with some of the commissioners.
Thursday’s meeting was packed with landlords, who heckled several of the renters and at several points, disrupted the meeting with their catcalls. “The divisiveness is due to labels,” said Commissioner Ori Blumenfeld. “’Renter’ has become almost derogatory.” He is the only renter on the commission. Said one landlord, the ordinance is like, “taking a sledgehammer to a problem that needs tweezers to fix.” Landlords objected to every aspect of the ordinance, from decreasing allowable rental (see ‘RENTERS’ page 18)
Beverly Hills Elders: Madeline, Morris Richman – 57 Years Of Love In Beverly Hills Part 78 in a series on Beverly Hills residents who have grown with the Centennial City
George Christy, Page 6 Brad Krevoy At e.baldi ... High Praise For The Tesla ... The Nudist Parade In San Francisco ... Angela Merkel’s Payoff To The Million Muslims She Invited To Germany That She’s Now Asking To Leave
CLASSIFIEDS • Announcements • Real Estate • Rentals • Sales • and More
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After observing the candidates at various debates, studying their campaign material and spending time with each for an Editorial Board interview at the Courier’s office last week, the Courier has decided to make only one endorsement for the 2017 City Council election. We endorse only Vice Mayor Nancy Krasne for re-election. Krasne, who is running for a third (see ‘ENDORSEMENTS’ page 23)
“I’m A Resident, Not A Tenant” Resonates With Human Relations Commissioners At Renters/Landlords Meeting
By Laura Coleman Morris Richman was taking no chances when it came to love. Flashback to 1940 when he finally made his move to woo Madeline, his now-wife of 73 years. “He tricked me,” she recalled of that fateful night when she was just 18. “He was good at card tricks. So he was dealing out cards and says, ‘I bet you the next card I turn over, it’ll be yours.’ I said, ‘What’s the bet?’ He said, I’ll bet you a kiss.’ So, I said, ‘Okay, I’ll bet you a kiss.’ So I turn over the card, put it in the pile and he goes in the pile and pulls it out and turns it over and there it was. So I had to
Morris & Madeline Richman
kiss him.” Seventeen years after they were wed, the couple made Beverly Hills their home in 1960, (see ‘RICHMAN’S’ page 20)
Bregy Ready To Lead New BHUSD Superintendent Michael Bregy Shares His Goals For The District By Laura Coleman After just a few days on the job, Beverly Hills Unified School District’s new superintendent, Dr. Michael Bregy, is proving himself to be a man who’s not afraid to shake things up a bit. One need only look at his reorganization of the dais at public Board of Education meetings, where he arranged to have the board president seated beside him and added a key leadership staff member, to see he wants to rock the status quo–at least by the look of it.
Celebrity Photo Agency/Scott Downie
THIS ISSUE
on an equal footing with comparable cities. After the tree-cutting fiasco on Parcels 12 & 13, many residents are and should be questioning the level of Nancy Krasne transparency and accountability at City Hall.
On Bregy’s 11th day in his new role as leader of the five Beverly Hills public schools, the Courier sat down with him for an exclusive interview to get a better handle on his vision for the district and the strengths that he brings to the position. After stepping into the leadership position previously held by veteran administrator Steve Kessler, Bregy is well aware that he has his share of challenges ahead of him as he (see ‘SUPERINTENDENT’ page 13)
FIGHT NIGHT LADIES — Christina Hendricks, JoAnna Garcia and Dania Ramirez attended the world premiere of Fist Fight presented by New Line Cinema and Village Roadshow Pictures at Regency Village Theatre For more photos, see George Christy’s column on page 6.