EE FR
FRIDAY, AUGUST 15, 2003
Volume 2, Issue 234
Santa Monica Daily Press A newspaper with issues
Organization’s finances released to some members
L O T T O FANTASY 5 5, 31, 24, 28, 22 DAILY 3 Afternoon picks: 1, 3, 3 Evening picks: 5, 8, 3
DAILY DERBY 1st Place: 08, Gorgeous George
Legal complaint requesting documents ignored by board chair
2nd Place: 10, Solid Gold 3rd Place: 07, Eureka
Race Time: 1:43.69
NEWS OF THE WEIRD
BY CAROLYN SACKARIASON Daily Press Staff Writer
by Chuck Shepard
A neighborhood community organization’s finances that were kept secret for more than two years apparently have been released to some of its board members. However, the one person who legally requested bank statements from the Ocean Park Community Organization hasn’t received them, despite having filed a complaint in Los Angeles Superior Court nearly a year ago. In that complaint, OPCO member Tom Fuller demanded the release of financial records for 2000 and 2001. The complaint, filed last September, has gone unanswered
QUOTE OF THE DAY “These
– Robert Orben
INDEX Horoscopes Smile tonight, Aries . . . . . . . . . . . . .2
Local Readers opine on OPCC . . . . . . . .3
Opinion Railing against homeless shelter . .4
John Wood/Daily Press
Big Blue Bus driver Michael Burton, the longest-serving city employee, will retire in December after nearly four decades.
Bus driver found his true calling in life Kindness, smile gained him many friends during 36 years behind wheel BY PATRICK KINMARTIN Special to the Daily Press
Entertainment Costner rides the ‘Open Range’ . . .7
State Mysterious statue appears . . . . . .11
National Bush visits SM Mountains today . .12
International North Korea to receive nothing . .13
People in the News Diaz photographer arrested . . . . .20
When Michael Burton stood at the front of a Big Blue Bus for the first time, his mind began to race. “I felt like I was like looking down the edge of a cliff — it was like the darn thing never ended,” he said, recalling the day he began training as a driver. “It was humongous, and I was about to drive it ... All I remember thinking was, ‘What am I getting myself into here?’” Little did Burton know he was beginning what would become a
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highly fulfilling career. Burton has driven a Big Blue Bus around Santa Monica ever since that day in 1967. His 36 years on the job make him the longest employed city worker. Burton, 63, was honored by the City of Santa Monica during the Big Blue Bus’ 75th anniversary commemoration last March. At the ceremony, he was given a clock with a Big Blue Bus on it as a symbol of the city’s gratitude for the time he has put in. “You don’t think about it until people remind you, and then it just hits you in the face,” Burton said. “I can’t believe it when I sit and think about it. I could have never envisioned 36 years.” But what’s more impressive See BURTON, page 9
“I have a right to see them and I asked for them.” — TOM FULLER OPCO member
Because of legal technicalities, Fuller and his attorney, Gary Clouse, were asked by Superior Court Judge Allan J. Goodman to amend the complaint. The court required that Laudati be served See FINANCES, page 8
SM beaches are better, but still among state’s dirtiest BY JOHN WOOD Daily Press Staff Writer
Santa Monica Bay beaches are among the dirtiest in the state, according to a report released this week by a national environmental group. However, the report also said water quality in 2002 improved over 2001 and 2000, largely because of drier weather. Beaches in Los Angeles County were either closed or slapped with advisories for a total of 913 days in 2002, making them the second dirtiest in California, directly behind those in Orange County, according to the Natural Resources Defense Council’s 13th annual report on water quality. Ninety-two percent of beach closures and advisories in 2002 were caused by high levels of bacteria stemming from “undetermined sources,” according to the report, which attributed 7 percent to rain
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According to Norway’s Newspaper VG (which is currently running a series on odd summer jobs), teenager Svein Tore Hauge’s job may take the prize: Armed with a shovel and a container, he works at Saerheim Plant Research, following cattle around and catching their excreta before it can hit the ground. Because the work-product is used for scientific study, it must be “pristine,” free of grass, dirt, foreign bacteria, etc. Sometimes, it’s easy, he said, but, “Sometimes it just sprays in all directions.”
are days when it takes all you’ve got just to keep up with the losers.”
by OPCO chairman Rick Laudati. The organization missed its deadline last fall to respond in court to the complaint. The inaction put OPCO in technical default, thus preventing the organization from defending itself.
and 1 percent to sewage discharge. Santa Monica Beach was either closed or hit with a warning 59 times in 2002, while Will Rogers State Beach was targeted 34 times, according to the report. To the See BEACHES, page 9
Heal the Bay’s ‘Beach Report Card’ this week: Ocean Park Beach at Ashland Ave. . . . . . . . . . . . . . .A+ Santa Monica Beach at Strand St. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .A Santa Monica Beach at Pico Blvd. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .C Santa Monica Beach at Arizona Ave. . . . . . . . . . . . .A+ Santa Monica Beach at Montana Ave. . . . . . . . . . . . . . .F Will Rogers State Beach at Santa Monica Canyon . . . . .A+
IRS PROBLEMS? PERSONAL • BUSINESS • OFFERS SAMUEL B. MOSES, CPA
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