Second Fire at Lombard

November 18, 2015 Palisades News Page 9
Awards
(Continued from Page 8)
High, he has been leading a three-phase renovation
of the campus. His goal has been to
make the campus more aesthetically pleasing
and welcoming, while creating a greater
home-away-from-home atmosphere for
students and faculty alike. Around campus,
banners and large-scale graphics now illustrate
the history of Temescal Canyon, building
surfaces have been repainted in blues
and soft browns, and two new landscaped
gardens have been completed at the main
entrance to the school and along Bowdoin.
Awaiting final approvals and sufficient
funding, Suisman and his committee will
next construct a Gateway Garden and a
widened walkway at the Bowdoin/Temescal
corner that will provide safer passage for
the hundreds of students who arrive and
leave campus at peak hours at this corner.
The project’s website is paligateway.com.
Laurie Sale has led the pursuit of a Business
Improvement District (BID) for Pacific
Palisades since 2011. It finally was ratified
by the City of Los Angeles on June 23, 2015
with 80 percent of the commercial property
owners who voted casting a yes vote.
Sale, who was on the BID Board for the
Fashion District downtown, said in a 2012
interview: “I’ve seen how merchants and
property owners can benefit from having
an umbrella organization that oversees a lot
of the day-to-day issues and problems.”
Doug Suisman
Photo: Don Flood
She acknowledged that “the City of Los
Angeles should be paying for the services
the BID will provide, but it is a fact that the
City doesn’t have the money.” Some of the
services the BID will provide include sidewalk
sweeping and pressure washing, graffiti
abatement, handbill and trash removal,
landscaping, tree trimming and lighting—
plus marketing campaigns.
“Merchants AND property owners have
worked diligently together to form this BID,
which is a wonderful statement of how
everyone, pulling together in the same direction,
can make positive things happen,” Sale
said. “With all of the new development and
the implementation of the BID, this is a very
exciting time for the Palisades community.”
When the Pacific Palisades lost its only
bookstore, Village Books, in 2011, many residents
tried to figure out a way to bring one
back. Friends of the Library board member
Laurel Garver came up with one alternative.
Noting that the Palisades Branch Library
had an unused patio facing the park, she
met with Friends President Alice Inglis and
suggested using that space to sell gentlyused
books, which would augment the
Friends’ financial support of the library.
The “new” used bookstore opened on July
1 this year, and thanks to volunteer workers
and book donations from residents, the
store now offers a wide variety of books for
purchase at hugely discounted prices six days
a week. The Friends use the proceeds to purchase
new books and audio-visual materials
for the library and provide maintenance
support (gardening and trash pick-up).
* * *
2015 Pride of the Palisades award
The will be given to the Pacific Palisades
Task Force on Homelessness. In announcing
the selection, President Chris Spitz
praised the group for its efforts and accomplishments
this past year. Growing out of
a need in the community, members have
attacked the homeless problem from two
fronts: enforcement and social services.
The group is responsible for enforceable
“no camping” signs and for raising more
than $100,000 towards hiring two OPCC
social workers for a year to speak with and
hopefully relocate those in need.
Recipients will be honored at Gladstone’s
at 6:30 p.m. on Thursday, December 10.
Space is limited. E-invites will go out shortly.
Woman’s Club
To Give at Least
$10,000 in Grants
The Pacific Palisades Woman’s
Club (PPWC) will award at least
$10,000 in grants this coming year to
community and charitable organizations
that work in the areas of education,
beautification, arts and recreation.
All applications must be submitted
in final form by December 10.
The application is available online:
ThePPWC.org.
To be considered for a grant, applicant
organizations must be based in Pacific
Palisades and/or provide services
that benefit the Palisades community.
The PPWC also offers an alternative
to the cash awards by providing a free
four-hour use of the clubhouse facility.
The PPWC’s primary fundraiser is
the annual Home Tour (November
22) and Holiday Boutique (November
21 and 22), with proceeds going
to charitable and service organizations,
and also towards refurbishing
the clubhouse.
Contact club administrator Roberta
Donohue at (310) 454-9012 or e-mail
rndonohue@yahoo.com.