Beverly Hills Third Grader Wins State Gymnastic Titles, Moves On To ...

Page 8 | April 8, 2011CITY HOSTS ECO-FRIENDLY GUEST SPEAKER—Woodrow W. Clark, MA3, PHD, lecturer and author ofGlobal Sustainable Communities: The Third Industrial Revolution spoke at the City of Beverly Hills ForumSeries Monday where he spoke about his book. The next lecture in the series is on April 12 at 7:30 p.m.called, “Do Great Books Make Great Movies?” featuring Ron Bernstein. The lectures are free and located inthe council chambers. For more information, call (310) 285-6930.Photo by Brad MeyerowitzJULIEN(Continued from page 4)with Jackson, was aborted inApril 2009 after the singerreached a separate legal settlementin his own legal disputewith Julien’s Auction House.Jackson died two months laterat age 50.The items that were to beauctioned off included Jackson’slarge collection of antiques,decorative arts, musicawards and other items.LaPointe, of Quebec,Canada, filed suit against theauction house and founderDarren Julien in Oct. 2009,claiming ownership of items hebid for online ahead of the auction.They included a replicaclassic automobile used byJackson. LaPointe sought$306,600 in damages. His attorney,Nicholas Hornberger,said the jury was unable to finda contract existed between hisclient and Julien’s. He also saidcurrent contract law has notkept up with the advent of theInternet and online bidding.Hornberger said he is consideringan appeal.“We’re disappointed, butthis may not be the end of it,”Hornberger said.Julien’s attorney, MilesFeldman, said the lawsuitshould never have beenbrought and that the verdictwas “a complete vindication ofmy clients.”Hornberger maintains theauction was “no reserve” in nature,meaning the highest biddercould claim each item.—City News ServiceKOLIN(Continued from page 1)worth approximately another$150,000 per year.“I think a lot of our employeesdo great jobs and itwould be great to be able toaward all of them,” Mirischsaid. “But we’re faced with theunique situation where wewouldn’t be able to afford that.”He voted “no.Earlier that day, in responseto a question from Mirischabout city finances, Kolin wasunable to tell the council theincrease in the city’s TransientOccupancy Tax over last year,claiming the amounts were“uncertain.” He did not providean estimate.Kolin, who at a study sessionjust weeks earlier stated ithad increased 5.5 percent overlast year, said he did not knowthe number Tuesday.This was another instancein which Kolin and his stafffailed to be prepared at citycouncil meetings to discussagenda items.In the recent election atwhich Measure O, the oil severancetax, was presented tothe voters, city staff had failedto learn on whom the taxwould fall, did not disclose thatresidents who received royaltiesalready paid taxes on theoil and gas reserves under theirproperties, that they would betaxed more, and that staff hadnot reviewed terms of any oiland gas leases.On Measures 2P and 3P,BEVERLY HILLSKolin’s staff never prepared aplan to implement the citysponsoredmeasure, Measure3P, and could not advise thecouncil of the costs of implementing3P.This contrasts with the performanceof his predecessor ascity manager, Roderick Wood,who invariably was prepared todiscuss city revenues and expensesor had appropriate citystaff present to provide the informationshould the councilrequest it.More recently, Kolin admittedthat city staff had not reviewedmaterials submitted tothe council by promoter JeffreyBest trying to convince BeverlyHills to subsidize his newagreement with the Los AngelesTimes to use the City as onevenue of many for a food showevent. The council was blindsidedand staff could not commentbecause they had noteven looked at the materials.Independently, The Courierconfirmed that TOT taxes arereported monthly and that salestax amounts are reported quarterly,two quarters in arrears.Thus, TOT through January31 of the current fiscal year andsales tax through at least thefirst quarter of the current fiscalyear (September 30, 2010)would be available for comparisonto the previous year.Kolin provided neitheramount and said they were not“final” although specific numberswere available.