We Honor Our Fallen Heroes On Monday, Sept. 11
BEVERLY HILLS NUMBER 36
THIS ISSUE
BHEF received a $3,000 donation from Enterprise Holdings. 4
A Beverly Hills High grad led a special birdwatching tour at Robinson Gardens. 4
Peter Ostroff will join the Beverly Hills Planning Commission. 5
Assistant City Manager George Chavez will receive the Fred C. Cunningham Distinguished Service Award. 5
Roxy is this issue’s Adoptable Pet of the Week.
19
•Real Estate •Birthdays •Letters to the Editor
12 22 31
George Christy, Page 6 Dear Filmmakers, Please Produce Better Movies That Will Bring Us Box Office Results, As Opposed To The Disastrous Returns From The Films During The Labor Day Weekend
CLASSIFIEDS • Announcements • Real Estate • Rentals • Sales • and More
25
www.bhcourier.com
SINCE 1965
September 8, 2017
City Council To Push For Smoking Beverly Hills City Council Ban In Multi-Family Homes Confirms Rental Registry To Go Forward By Victoria Talbot In keeping with, Beverly Hills Mayor Lili Bosse’s Healthy City initiative, the City announced in a press release Thursday that the City Council will discuss a proposed ordinance to prohibit smoking in multi-family residences. The City Council Study Session will take place at 2:30 p.m. Sept. 19. Acting on a recommendation from the City’s Health and Safety Commission, the prohibitions would ban smoking, effective Jan. 1, 2018, in all common indoor and outdoor areas of multi-family dwellings, such as hallways, pathways, lobbies, community rooms and laundry facilities. The prohibitions would apply for all multi-unit residences, including apartments and condominiums. The City Council will also consider a proposal for a plan to implement a prohibition on smoking within renter-occupied and owner-occupied dwellings, including any associated balconies, porches or decks, that would be phased in over a two-year period. That plan would begin Jan. 1, 2019 with the added prohibition against smoking within apartment units and associated patios, etc., regardless of the start or renewal date of a lease. On Jan. 1, 2020, the antismoking legislation would prohibit smoking within condominium units and all exclusive areas,
including owner-occupied units, and regardless of the start date of a renter’s lease. The proposed regulations would apply to cannabis and vaping, as well as tobacco. In 2014, several smoking prohibitions were enacted that banned smoking and vaping in public areas. The City banned smoking and vaping in public right-of-ways in May 2017, unless traveling through an area. The City has neither proposed a solution, nor considered the issues for smokers who live in or own their own residences, or who rent in multi-family dwellings, who will be prohibited from smoking in their homes or public areas. The public is encouraged to attend and to comment on the proposed ordinance. For more information visit beverlyhills.org/smoking or call 310-285-1014.
New Horace Mann Principal Juliet Fine Embraces Community By Laura Coleman After 15 years in education, it’s fair to say that Horace Mann Principal Juliet Fine cut her teeth well before she took the reigns of the Beverly Hills K-8 school this year. She joined Beverly Hills Unified this summer after working for seven years as a high school assistant principal, the last five spent at the William S. Hart Union High School District in Santa Clarita. “I try to approach every day with a mindset to be better,” she told the Courier in an interview this week. That “growth mindset”–an idea coined by renowned education expert Carol Dweck–is a framework she’s determined to lend to the students and staff at Horace Mann. And while she has brush strokes for a vision of where the
Juliet Fine
school should be, she emphasized that she’s still in the formative learning and information-gathering stage. Further, when she is ready to create an actionable plan, she wants it be collaborative, where all the stakeholders are readily involved. (see ‘JULIET FINE’ page 17)
By Victoria Talbot After a lengthy City Council meeting in which dozens of apartment residents and landlords filled the Council Chamber to capacity, the Beverly Hills City Council voted unanimously to confirm the Rental Registry, authorizing funds for temporary staffing, a Deputy Director to oversee the registry, a professional consultant to study rent control increases and appropriate relocation fees, a landlord-tenant board for dispute resolution and the exploration of suitable habitability standards. The decision moved forward the implementation of the rental registry, part of the Rent Stabilization Ordinance (RSO) amended January 24, as
required by State law (The Petris Act, Civic Code Section 1947.7, to implement the rent certification process. The City has about four months remaining to complete the registration by landlords, receive tenant verification of rent amounts, and complete all appeals hearings related to disputes regarding rent amounts. With the implementation of the rental registry, the City can finally put to rest speculation on the number of units, landlords, the rate of rents and rent increases and the conditions of tenancy because they will have verified information. Public comments followed a concise report on the seven facilitated dialogue events (see ‘RENTAL REGISTRY’ page 17)
Beverly Hills Faces New Round Of Metro Construction Closures By Victoria Talbot With Santa Monica Boulevard reconstruction, nearly two-thirds complete, the City’s motorists have had a long, hot summer. Unfortunately, those traffic jams are just beginning on the southeast side of the City. The Metro Purple Line Extension construction of the La Cienega Station is about to go full bore, as in tunnel boring. Over the next several months, the Wilshire/La Cienega Boulevard station underground box on Wilshire Boulevard, in the area from La Cienega Boulevard to Tower Drive, is about to begin construction. There will be three phases of construction over 17 weeks,
Celebrity Photo Agency/Scott Downie
VOLUME: LII
beginning September 8 for two weekends. The first phase will lay piling across Wilshire Boulevard. This phase will include weekend closures of Wilshire Boulevard to San Vicente Boulevard, with a full closure, from west to east, beginning on Fridays at 8 p.m., until Monday morning at 7 a.m. La Cienega will have lane restrictions. Detours will include San Vicente Boulevard, Burton Way and Robertson Boulevard, west and eastbound. Phase 2, decking, will be four weekends starting October 6. There will be a full closure of Wilshire Boulevard from La Cienega to San Vicente Boulevard, and La Cienega (see ‘METRO’ page 21)
BELLE OF THE BALL — Lorde was a shining star in her couture ballgown the night of the 2017 MTV Video Music Awards at The Forum. For more photos, see George Christy’s column on page 6.