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BEVERLY HILLS NUMBER 17
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THIS ISSUE
COMMITTEE OF 100 — The Committee of 100’s Annual Conference was last weekend in Beverly Hills. Pictured, from left, at the gala dinner at The Beverly Hilton: Ming Hsieh, Roger Wang, Frank Wo (Chairman of the Committee of 100), Lily Chen (former mayor of Monterey Park), Homer Yen and Dr. George Sun. For more photos, see page 14. Celebrity Photo/Scott Downie
Beverly Hills Hosts Chinese Leaders At Committee Of 100 The El Rodeo middle school concert band won 5 top honors last week.
Virginia Robinson Garden is prepping its annual Garden Tour. 5
Beverly Hills AYSO had a big weekend in Moorpark last Saturday. 21 •Health & Wellness •Birthdays •Letters to the Editor
16 22 35
George Christy, Page 6 “What I Love Is The Play Of Sun And Shade In Her Designs,” Says Paris Couturier Karl Lagerfeld of Suzanne Belperron’s Jewelry. She Is One Of The Most Influential Designers Of The 20th Century
CLASSIFIEDS • Announcements • Real Estate • Rentals • Sales • and More
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April 22, 2016
L’Ermitage Hotel’s Avec Nous Closure Debacle: Oversight Or Cover-Up?
The Wallis’ Friends and Founders hear of the center’s future plans. 4
The Rotary Club and Buckley School’s Interact Club raised Earthquake awareness on Earth Day. 4
SINCE 1965
By Victoria Talbot Beverly Hills was the backdrop for the Committee of 100 last week, for their C-100 2016 Annual Conference, concluding with a gala dinner hosted by Courier Publisher Marcia Hobbs and sponsored by Beny Alagem, chairman of the Alagem Capital Group, Ming Hsieh, co-founder of Cogent, Inc. and Roger Wang, chairman of Golden Eagle International Group at the Beverly Hilton. Mayor John Mirisch, Vice Mayor Nancy Krasne, Councilmember Julian Gold, Recreation and Parks Commission Chair Frances Bilak and Commissioners Robbie Ander-
son and Simone Friedman welcomed C-100 members to the City. “China can be mystifying,” said Ming Hsieh. “Even to people of Chinese descent. China has changed so much and continues to develop so rapidly, we’re all trying to figure it out. It’s endlessly interesting and sure to be worthwhile.” The conference promotes USChina relations and the advancement of Chinese-Americans, bringing the most influential Chinese Americans together from around the globe. This year, the C-100 conference, which took place at The (see ‘COMMITTEE OF 100’ page 14)
Guest Editorial by Robert K. Tanenbaum
Law, Elections, and Legacy: In Support of the Hilton Initiative During my eight year tenure on the Beverly Hills City Council, my service as Mayor for two terms, and President of the Beverly Hills North Homeowners Association, I have steadfastly been committed to maintaining and enhancing quality of life for all the residents of our precious city. As part of that effort, I worked assiduously with fellow residents to democratize the decision-making process by providing the legal framework to have our residents in special elections vote citywide on matters of significant public concern. Accordingly, in 2008, when we scrutinized the proposed Hilton expansion project, specifically, regarding building density and attendant traffic concerns, we committed to placing the matter on the ballot for a vote of our residents. I personally drafted news letters disseminated to our
By Victoria Talbot When Viceroy L’Ermitage project representative Mitch Dawson appeared before the Planning Commission last week to request changes and to renew their Conditional Use Permit (CUP) and Development Plan Review (DPR), he could not have anticipated what happened next. No one present could believe that at meeting’s end, the newly renovated restaurant, Avec Nous – at a cost Dawson put at $10 million, (hotel General Manager Sal Abaunza said $4 million) – would be closed to all but hotel guests. The outdoor dining is closed until a new CUP can be brought before the Planning Commission. It started when Commissioner Lori Greene Gordon received the agenda packet from staff; she realized that the original CUP was not included. “The staff report referred to
By Matt Lopez As the newly-elected BelAir Association (BAA) continues pouring through electronic and physical documents obtained from ousted former members, revelations about the old BAA have come to light. Those revelations confirm many of the fears of community members, that the old BAA sided with developers rather than residents on major construction projects in West L.A. Electronic documents ob-
Robert K. Tanenbaum
community, organized and arranged town hall meetings where I debated and put forward in the public forum resident concerns questioning specific developmental proposals. My family has resided in our city for over seventy years. Patti and I were married here fortynine years ago. During all that time, we have witnessed the beneficial effects elections have had on our city’s quality of life. All (see ‘HILTON’ page 35)
City Council resolution 99-R10211 passed in 1999, upon which these changes were requested. I could not understand how we would be asked to consider any changes without first reading the original resolution.” Greene Gordon asked to see the original CUP. “About 13 pages into the resolution, I discovered the passage that stipulated that these entitlements had to be renewed annually (it was subsequently changed to every 3 years), and if the renewal was not requested 60 days in advance of expiration, they were no longer in force and new entitlements had to be applied for. Our staff report clearly indicated that the entitlements had expired.... in 2012. I don't know how often the city allows these entitlements to lapse, but in this case, no one but me seemed aware that renewal was NOT an (see ‘AVEC NOUS’ page 19)
Documents: Ex-Bel-Air Association Leaders Backed Developers, Not Residents
Celebrity Photo Agency/Scott Downie
VOLUME: LI
tained this week by The Courier, off the computer of former BAA Executive Director Paulette Dubey, appear to paint the picture of what was once a community organization, transforming into a vehicle to push forward with development projects at almost any cost. Some of the most shocking communications from the former BAA leadership came in February, when discussions were ongoing about recruiting (see ‘BEL-AIR’ page 12)
A MOTHER’S LOVE— Director Garry Marshall with wife Barbara Marshall, along with Jennifer Aniston and Julia Roberts attended the Open Road presentation of Mothers Day at the TCL Chinese Theatre. For more photos, see G e o r g e Christy’s column on page 6.