Real Estate Quarterly, See Pages 15-19
BEVERLY HILLS THIS ISSUE
VOLUME XXXXVII NUMBER 30 $135 PER YEAR - $1.25 PER COPY •
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SINCE 1965
AUGUST 5, 2011
BH Safety Employee Pensions Aren’t Sustainable: Task Force Courier By
Harbor cruise set sail in honor of LA Navy Week. 4
National Night Out, sponsored by the BHPD, was held on Tuesday night. 4
Peninsula Beverly Hills will celebrate its 20th anniversary on Monday. 5
Staff It doesn't matter how rich the city of Beverly Hills is, it cannot sustain the level of public employee pensions it now gives, mainly tax-free, to its staff. That's the conclusion of the Beverly Hills Pension Task Force headed by City Treasurer Elliot Finkel. The Task Force presented its findings at Tuesday's city council meeting. Calculating and paying city pensions is convoluted and hard
to follow. The Task Force had its hands full getting to the truth. The way it works is this: the City pays into the California Public Employee Retirement System (CalPERS. CalPERS sets the rate based on a combination of payroll, rate of return on CalPERS' investments, and the payout needed for retired workers. The norm is that each public safety employee is supposed to con(see ‘PENSIONS,’ page 13)
Beverly Hills City Confirms Staff Get 13 Weeks Time Off By The Courier staff City Councilman John Mirisch wanted to know just how much paid time off city staff receives. He got his answer at Tuesday’s city council study session from Assistant City Manager Mahdi Aluzri. Yes, most get 13 weeks paid time off on top of the astonishing salaries, overtime
and other benefits awarded staff. According to Aluzri, the jaw-dropping total results from vacation (3-6 weeks per year/beginners only 2), overtime - unlimited, “sick days” (8 per year), regular holidays, the “every other Friday or Monday off” (the “9/80 Plan”) even for executive (see ‘13 WEEKS OFF,’ page 11)
BHHS student establishes fashion Website. 5
ACADEMY PRESIDENT RE-ELECTED—Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences President Tom Sherak was re-elected to a third one-year term Tuesday night at its Wilshire Boulevard headquarters by the AMPAS Board of Governors. Matt Petit/A.M.P.A.S
How South Pasadena Fought And Won Its Battle To Survive Against Caltrans And Metro By Marla Schevker and The Courier staff The small city of South Pasadena (pop. 25,000) had CalTrans’ bulls eye painted all over it from 1949 on. That year, California’s thenGov. Earl Warren (grandfather of current Vice Mayor Willie Brien) ordered a study of connecting
Concerts on Canon attract a crowd last week. 5 •Fashion •Birthdays
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George Christy, Page 6 A Celebration Sherry Hackett Hosted For Phyllis Diller’s 94th Birthday; Phyllis’ Memoir, Like A Lampshade In a Whore House, Is Chockablock With Her Zany Zingers Editorial from Rabbi Pressman AND MORE
CLASSIFIEDS • Announcements • Real Estate • Rentals • Sales • and More
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SALUTING ‘THE GODFATHER’–A champagne reception at Neiman Marcus honoring Fred Hayman, the legendary “Godfather of Rodeo Drive,” was hosted by former General Manager John Martens. The occasion marked the publication of Rose Apodaca’s Fred Hayman: The Extraordinary Difference The Story of Rodeo Drive, Hollywood Glamour And The Showman Who Sold It All. Pictured (from left): author Rose Apodaca, author Judith Krantz (Scruples), Martens and Fred Hayman. For more information, visit www.fredhayman.com. Photo by Philip Oshiro
New Legislative Boundaries Will Affect B.H. Districts By Brenton Garen New boundaries for California’s congressional and legislative districts will affect Beverly Hills should tentative final maps be approved by the California Citizens Redistricting Commission on Aug. 15, 2011. The changes will then take effect after the November 2012
election. If approved, these are the changes that affect Beverly Hills. When it comes to Congressional representation, Beverly Hills will change from District 30 to District 33, which would exclude parts of Culver City, but include Marina del Rey, Santa (see ‘REDISTRICTING,’ page 8)
HERE COME THE SMART ASSES— Freida Pinto plays a primatologist and James Franco is a scientist developing a higher intelligence in primates, bringing on a war for supremacy in Rise Of The Planet Of The Apes, which is being released today. Inset: Producer Peter Chernin. More photos in George Christy’s column on page 6. Janet Gough/ Celebrity Photo
Long Beach to Pasadena. That study started the move to slice South Pasadena in two. California’s all-powerful state transportation agency and nearly all the players in L.A. County transportation planned to split the historic little city in two with the final leg in the 710 Free(see ‘SOUTH PAS,’ page 10)