February 2011 Archives

If you've ever tuned in to listen to Colin Cowherd, chances are you know the longtime sports radio host has an affinity for the South Bay.

Cowherd, a television and radio personality for ESPN, recently spoke about his love for Manhattan Beach, the Shade Hotel and Petros Restaurant in an interview with laist.com.

Here's an excerpt from the interview with the website's Caleb Bacon:

LAist: Do you have a favorite part of Los Angeles?

I like the beach communities a lot, like Manhattan Beach.

LAist: I've heard you mention on your show that you love staying at the Shade Hotel in Manhattan Beach.

I love that joint. I was there last weekend. I walked in and [USC Football Head Coach] Lane Kiffin was there and we just sat and BS-ed about recruiting for an hour. Another one of my favorite cities is Miami, another one is San Diego. When you can put a great city by a beach -- I'm in. If you put New York City on a beach I'd like New York City more.

In the interview, Cowherd discussed the strengths of the USC and UCLA football programs, the proposed NFL stadium downtown and how the Dodgers are "wildly" underrated this year.

Cowherd hosts The Herd and can be caught locally from 7 a.m. to 10 a.m. on KSPN 710 AM. He also co-hosts SportsNation, a program on ESPN2.

Democratic Assemblywoman Betsy Butler has endorsed California Secretary of State Debra Bowen's bid to replace retiring U.S. Rep. Jane Harman.

Campaign consultant Steve Barkan had told the Daily Breeze that Bowen, a Democrat, was withholding endorsements to avoid the shuffle of the March 8 municipal elections, but news of Butler's backing slipped out last weekend.

Butler confirmed her endorsement Monday, citing her decade-long association with Bowen, who once held the 53rd District seat Butler won in November.

Butler represents most of the South Bay in Sacramento, making her the most prominent local politician to support Bowen's campaign thus far. Both women live in Marina del Rey.

"Debra's a friend," Butler said. "She's at my community events. Everyone in my community knows Debra."

Los Angeles City Councilwoman Janice Hahn, the San Pedro Democrat who is also running in the race, has announced about 100 endorsements. Her list includes Sen. Dianne Feinstein, several members of Congress and state Sen. Ted Lieu of Torrance - whose 28th District seat was also once held by Bowen.

Butler voiced her respect for Hahn but said, "I just don't have that kind of relationship with Janice."

Harman is expected to resign today to take over the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars, a nonpartisan Washington think tank. Press spokesman Alex Nguyen said this morning that he hadn't heard any change to Harman's plan.

Gov. Jerry Brown is expected to call a special election for June once Harman quits.

Anti-war activist and high school teacher Marcy Winograd started her campaign for seat on Saturday. 

Winograd, who lives just outside the district in Santa Monica, took 41 percent of the vote last June in the Democratic primary against Harman.

Anti-war activist and progressive Democrat Marcy Winograd said Thursday that she's planning a weekend announcement initiating a run for a soon-to-be-vacated South Bay congressional seat.

The announcement will be made at 10 a.m. Saturday at Fox Drugs, 1327 El Prado Ave. in Torrance, said Winograd.

Winograd, a Santa Monica resident, took 41 percent of the vote in last June's 36th Congressional District primary against Rep. Jane Harman, who is expected to resign Monday to lead the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars, a Washington think tank.

Explaining her decision to run, Winograd said, "I feel that we need a real progressive in the race, somebody who has been advocating for a long, long time that we need to transition from a war economy to a green economy."

Winograd's entry complicates a Democratic field that includes California Secretary of State Debra Bowen and Los Angeles City Councilwoman Janice Hahn of San Pedro.

Last Friday, Hahn called on Bowen to sign a pledge supporting Israel that condemns statements made by Winograd.

The move appeared to be designed to bait Winograd into joining the race, which could cut into the liberal base of Bowen, who lives in Marina del Rey. Bowen quickly obliged and signed the pledge. The letter can be viewed here.

The gambit seems to have worked.

"It was part of my decision," Winograd said. "Clearly she wanted to provoke. I don't doubt that."

"I thought that it was a very sad commentary that people who are running for office would feel compelled to sign a document that, right or wrong, they're going to support another country regardless of what that country does."

It's worth noting that Winograd is Jewish. Winograd also said that Hahn asked for her endorsement.

Reaction was subdued from the camps of Bowen and Hahn regarding Winograd entering the race.

Bowen campaign consultant Steve Barkan had no comment.

Dave Jacobson, a Hahn spokesman, said the campaign always assumed that Winograd would run.

"We're focused on getting Janice's message out, talking about jobs and getting our economy back on track," said Jacobson.

Last August we reported that white sharks are passing through the fertile waters off Santa Monica Bay to swim, mate and - most importantly - eat.

Experts, pointing to new tracking technology, say great whites are migrating down the coast to Baja, right on through our oceanic 'hood. With all those delicious seals frolicking around, the waters off Los Angeles County seem to be a prime congregating place for whitey's offspring, according to the experts we spoke to.

And shortly after our article appeared, two 12-year-olds reportedly spotted a 6-foot tiger shark off RAT Beach near Malaga Cove in Palos Verdes Estates, providing more evidence that sharks are in our area. Through the years, there have been a consistent string of sightings from Malibu to San Pedro - Tiger sharks, Great Whites, even a Hammerhead. (That sighting was  in '78 and near the Manhattan Beach Pier).

It's important to note that experts, researchers and Los Angeles County lifeguard officials say any type of shark attack on a human is incredibly rare and usually a case of mistaken identity - a curios shark mistaking a wet suit-clad surfer for a seal, for example.

In October, however, a 19-year-old bodyboarder was attacked and killed by a suspected white shark off a Santa Barbara County beach.

But annual data backs up the claim that shark attacks are rare. Last year, for example, there were seven attacks along the West Coast in 2010, according to a recent press release from the Shark Research Committee, a Southern California-based nonprofit. A seriously small number, especially when you consider the millions of surfers, swimmers, divers, kayakers, SUPers and everyone else taking to the waters off the California coast each year.

 

Nevertheless, new data seems to indicate there are more sharks off the Pacific Coast.  There were 108 unprovoked attacks along the coast in the 20th century. Through 2010, there have already been more than half that number.

Here is the release:

There were 7 authenticated unprovoked shark attacks reported from the Pacific Coast of North America during 2010. There were 5 attacks (1 fatal) from California and 2 from Oregon. The attacks were distributed in the following months; July (2), August (2), September (1) and October (2). From 2000 to the present, of 56 total reported shark attacks, 28 (50%), occurred during the months August (10), September (8), or October (10).

If we use the Southern Santa Barbara County line as a division between Southern and Central California, 1 of the reported attacks occurred in Southern California with the remaining 4 north of the division line. Both Oregon shark attack locations were about midway between the California and Washington borders at Winchester Bay and the Siuslaw River. Activities of the victims were; 3 Surfing, 2 Kayaking, 1 Paddle-Boarder, and 1 Boogie Boarder (fatal). The Great White Shark, Carcharodon carcharias, was positively identified or highly suspect in all 7 of the attacks.

The publication "Shark Attacks of the Twentieth Century" authenticated 108 unprovoked shark attacks from the Pacific Coast between 1900 and 1999. The Great White Shark was implicated in 94 (87%) of the 108 confirmed attacks with an annual average of slightly more than one shark attack per year. The 7 cases reported for 2010 brings the total number of unprovoked shark attacks occurring along the West Coast during the first decade of the 21st Century to 56.

This is 'more than five times' the Twentieth Century annual average and represents 52% of the total number of attacks reported for the entire Twentieth Century. The Great White Shark has been implicated in 48 (86%) of the 56 attacks reported during this Century. There have been 164 authenticated unprovoked shark attacks reported from the Pacific Coast of North America since 1900. The Great White Shark was positively identified or highly suspect in 142 (87%) of the 164 reported cases.

Victim activity for the 56 unprovoked shark attacks reported from the Pacific Coast since 2000 are distributed in the following groups; surfers 38 (68%) of the documented attacks with 5 swimmers (9%), 5 kayakers (9%), 3 divers (5%), 3 paddle boarders (5%), and 1 boogie boarder (2%).

The number of adult, sub-adult, and juvenile Great White Sharks observed in Southern California during 2010 seems to support the contention that there is a possible change in their population dynamics and seasonal site preferences. The number of stranded marine mammal carcasses reported, specifically their location and time of year, would seem to support this observation.

The Shark Research Committee will continue to closely monitor this activity. Additional information regarding the Shark Research Committee's conservation, education, and research programs is available at:

www.sharkresearchcommittee.com

Los Angeles City Councilwoman Janice Hahn on Monday added South Bay state Sen. Ted Lieu's endorsement to her bid to replace Rep. Jane Harman.

If endorsements alone decided elections, Hahn would have this one sewn up: in addition to Lieu, her lengthy list includes Sen. Dianne Feinstein, Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, several Los Angeles County U.S. House members and even Los Angeles Lakers legend Magic Johnson.

How decisive the support will prove for Hahn is not certain. Harman announced she would resign Feb. 28 to take over the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars, a Washington think tank. Once Harman quits, Gov. Jerry Brown would have 14 days to declare a special election, likely to be held in June.

Several Democrats have declared their candidacy, but Secretary of State Debra Bowen is expected to offer the strongest challenge to Hahn. Bowen represented the South Bay in the state Legislature for 14 years prior to winning her current office in 2006.

Bowen, who announced a run for the congressional seat last week, has announced no endorsements.

Last week, in an interview with the Daily Breeze, Bowen downplayed the heavy backing Hahn has been compiling from officeholders, labor and community leaders.

"I never stopped feeling like a grass-roots candidate in any of my races," she said. "Voters tend to do their own homework when it comes to candidates and don't pay too much attention to endorsements."

Bowen appeared to be positioning herself as an anti-war candidate through a Sunday post on Twitter.

"I have my own path in CA-36 bid. Already talking abt $$ spent in Afghanistan. It adds to deficit, ignores our needs at home, cost lives," Bowen wrote.

Lieu, a term-limited assemblyman from Torrance, won a special election for the South Bay's 28^th Senate District last week.

In that race, insiders regarded a possible Hahn candidacy as threat to Lieu's bid to succeed Long Beach Democrat Jenny Oropeza, who died Oct. 20.

But Lieu lined up endorsements quickly, much as Hahn is doing now, compelling Hahn to drop out of consideration and toss her support to Lieu.

Monday's announcement was made in Harbor City at Balqon Corp., a manufacturer of zero-emission electric heavy-duty trucks that Hahn has helped secure contracts for at the Port of Los Angeles.

Lieu chose to endorse Hahn, he said, because of her record of job creation, what he labeled as the "single most important issue" facing the country today.

On that topic, Lieu said, "Janice Hahn has by far the best record of any candidate."

Republican Mike Webb, the Redondo Beach City Attorney, is the only GOP candidate to officially announce for the race for the 36^th Congressional District, which stretches from Marina del Rey to San Pedro.

Torrance-area researchers released findings Wednesday that may lead to new treatments for Alzheimer's disease.

Dr. Stanislav Karsten, a researcher at Los Angeles Biomedical Research Institute, published findings in the scientific journal Human Molecular Genetics showing that accumulation of certain kinds of proteins lead to "tangles" in the brain that are a hallmark of Alzheimer's and other forms of dementia.

The research concluded that increasing a specific brain enzyme (called "puromycin-sensitive aminopeptidase") reduces the frequency of these damanging proteins. So far, this technique has only been demonstrated in animal models; it has yet to be tested in humans.

Alzheimer's affects roughly 2 to 4 million Americans, and the ranks are expected to grown to 14 million by 2050 as the population ages.

 

The Hermosa Beach City Council on Thursday will start discussing possible changes to the city's fee structure to recoup increased costs to vital services.

It's not yet clear which fees will change or by how much.

A report conducted by a third-party firm found that the city is spending $3.6 million more on services than it collects in fees.

"City Council members will be discussing this study in detail with the community to determine what, if any, fees should be changed," said Mayor Tucker.

According to the report, police responses to false alarms cost the city $32,822 each year. Booking and processing people for crimes runs $238,021 and building plan checks and inspections cost the city $1,034,450 a year.

A preliminary budget will be submitted by City Manager Steve Burrell to the City Council on May 15. Under city municipal code, the annual budget is to be be adopted by the City Council no later than June 13.

The fee discussion will take place at a pre-budget study session on Thursday at 6:30 p.m. in Council Chambers located at 1315 Valley Drive.

We'll have more on the possible fee increases as the story develops.

Here's the press release from the city:

HERMOSA BEACH, CA - To ensure the city remains financially sound and continues to provide the public services its residents deserve, the Hermosa Beach City Council is scheduled to launch its review of the cost of each facet of local government on Thursday as a first step in adopting a fee structure to protect local taxpayers.

"In our continued focus on prudently managing our local resources and revenues, the members of the City Council engaged an independent firm to closely examine the costs of all aspects of our local government operations to ensure we're fully informed as we make choices about the future direction of the city's budget in these challenging economic times," said Mayor Peter Tucker. "This study is a great starting point for assuring Hermosa Beach's financial future and maintaining the high quality of public services for which our city is known."

The Council, at a pre-budget study session on Thursday, is scheduled to receive and discuss the 427-page study, which details the expense of each of the city's public services. It divides these services into two categories: community-supported public services, such as police and fire protection which benefit all members of the community, and personal choice public services, such as dance classes and building permits which are provided to an individual or group and could be withheld if payments weren't made.

The study notes that the property tax-cutting measure, Proposition 13, and subsequent initiatives that implemented Proposition 13 required cities to rely on fees to cover the cost of personal choice public services. It also notes that fees often don't match the cost of the services provided, and this can result in general fund revenues being spent on personal choice public services.

Altogether, the report found the city is spending $3.6 million more on the personal choice public services than it collects in fees. But the study points out that the City Council may wish to continue to support some of these services because of the benefits they provide to the broader community. It also notes that some services, such as booking someone into jail, cannot be covered by fees and charging large enough fees to cover the costs of some services would result in their cancellation because they would be too expensive for an individual or group to pay.

"City Council members will be discussing this study in detail with the community to determine what, if any, fees should be changed," said Mayor Tucker. "We welcome Hermosa Beach residents to join us in this ongoing discussion as we chart the budgetary future for our city and its services."

 

 

Yep, that's who you think it is. 

South Bay native and professional surfer Alex Gray has once again landed on the cover of Surfer Magazine.

The photo is featured on the magazine's March 2011 issue and was taken in December at Log Cabins on Oahu's North Shore.

"The cover of Surfer, the biggest honor possible," said Gray, 24, in a video posted on the magazine's website, surfermag.com. "This is one of my best waves of the winter."

Gray, a graduate of Palos Verdes Peninsula High School, was also featured on the cover of Surfer's January 2007 and April 2009 issues.

You can hear more about the photo in the Gray's own words by checking out the video posted when the issue his newsstands.

 

Gray spoke with the Daily Breeze in January about last year's epic El Nino conditions and his plans for 2011.  

The closure will run from 7 a.m. to 3 p.m. while city street crews perform repair work on about 300 feet of the the southbound No. 2 and No. 3 lanes on Crenshaw Boulevard beginning at the south end of the freeway undercrossing.

That will leave just one southbound lane open on Crenshaw, so travel delays are likely.

In addition. the left-turn pocket for Crenshaw northbound traffic to access the freeway will also be closed.

Again, the freeway's southbound on and off ramps will also be shut.

Questions?

Call Steven Cooper of the city's Public Works Department at 310-618-6900.

As Election Day nears and campaigns look to build momentum, the four hopefuls vying for a seat on the Manhattan Beach City Council gathered this week to reflect on current civic issues and discuss the future in a debate at City Hall.

Amy Howorth, David Lesser, Viet Ngo and Kathleen Paralusz are competing for two open seats on the seaside community's five-member governing board. Councilwoman Portia Cohen is not seeking re-election and Councilman Mitch Ward is termed out. Election Day is March 8.

The forum Thursday gave residents an opportunity to listen as the candidates spoke to a variety of pressing issues facing the city. And they came through, straying little from the standard rhetoric of small-town political debate.

Each candidate, for example, agreed that fiscal conservation, government transparency and environmental stewardship were top priorities.

Ngo, however, used the bulk of his speaking time to address perceived mis-management and civic corruption. The longtime resident is a regular and vocal presence at City Council meetings. His allegations Thursday were far-reaching and injected in nearly every question posed to him. They ranged from violations of open meeting laws and government secrecy to fiscal mismanagement and intimidation tactics by city staff members.

"I believe it's time to act," Ngo said in his heavily accented English. "To protect our property, money and the values for our children."

The one-minute responses of the three other candidates, meanwhile, were relatively more subdued.

Howorth, a twice-elected member of the Manhattan Beach Unified School District's Board of Education, touted the city's strong schools and her experience saving educational programs in the face of deep state-mandated funding cuts during the past seven years.

"I feel like I've been battle tested," Howorth said to the 60 residents gathered in city council chambers. "I've been accountable for your money," she added later in the debate. "Your home values have risen because of what the school board has been able to do."

Lesser, a corporate attorney and two-term planning commissioner, maintained that fiscal responsibility and increased communication between city officials and residents was a primary focus of his campaign. Lesser has worked on city committees overseeing mansionization issues and parking improvements.

"This is a community with challenges, but challenges that I think can be met," Lesser said. "For me, this is community service. This is not a stepping stone for higher office."

Paralusz, an attorney for Northrop Grumman and a city planning commissioner, touted her own civic knowledge acquired during stints on advisory boards and the planning commission. She ran for a seat on the council in 2009, losing narrowly to Councilmember Wayne Powell and her brother-in-law, current Mayor Richard Montgomery.

Both Montgomery and Paralusz have downplayed the relationship, and Paralusz addressed the issue Thursday. "I'm really happy to be able to answer this question because I've waited two years to do it, "Paralusz said when asked how the relationship would affect her decision-making if elected to the city's governing body. "As much as I enjoy having him as my brother-in-law, we see things differently and we respectfully disagree on some issues."

Absent from the debate were questions regarding the abrupt departure of former City Manager Geoff Dolan in December 2009. The city is currently mired in a legal battle against Richard McKee, a noted open-government advocate who is seeking the release of key documents surrounding Dolan's exit, including the severance paid to him. The lawsuit and Dolan's departure, like many issues in the city, have sparked a strong reaction and divided many residents.

The forum Thursday was sponsored by the Manhattan Beach Residents Association and moderated by Planning Commissioner Sandra Seville-Jones. Questions posed to the candidates included nearly a dozen issues affecting the city, among them: utility undergrounding, open carry, the upcoming project to rebuild the city's branch of the Los Angeles County Library and civil discourse between the City Council and residents.

The four candidates gathered earlier this week at the Neptunian Woman's Club for the first debate in the three-part series. A final candidate forum is planned for 6 p.m. March 3 at American Martyrs Catholic Church, 624 15th Street. It will be sponsored by the Manhattan Beach Chamber of Commerce.

The Manhattan Beach City Council last week approved moving forward with a public art project honoring Henry Pearson and Jon Wilhite.

The two Manhattan Beach natives were victims of a highly publicized 2009 crash in Fullerton that took the life of Pearson, Angeles pitcher Nick Adenhart and Courtney Stewart. The crash was caused by Andrew Gallo, a Riverside man and repeat drunken driver offender, who was sentenced in December on three counts of second-degree murder to 51 years to life in prison.

Wilhite survived the crash and continues to recover from his injuries.

 

The project in Manhattan Beach will rely heavily on private funding and an account has been setup at a local bank.

 

Anyone looking to contribute to the project can make a check out to the Pearson-Wilhite Commemorative Fund.

 

Checks can be sent to:

4733 Torrance Boulevard, #562

Torrance, California 90503

Include the account number 9423723981 in the "memo" line.

 

Also, the Henry Pearson Classic between Mira Costa and El Segundo High Schools is scheduled for 5 p.m. and 7 p.m. on March 23. The games will be held at "Big Marine" field at the park, located at 1625 Marine Avenue. 

 

More about the project from the article that appeared in the Daily Breeze:

Details of the so-called Marine Avenue Park Project and financing specifics were heard Tuesday by the Manhattan Beach City Council, as community members publicly remembered native sons Henry Pearson and Jon Wilhite, two victims of the highly publicized 2009 crash.

"This project is not and has never been conceived as a memorial," said Tom Tyrer, a former president of the Manhattan Beach Little League who has helped spearhead the project. "It's a call to action."

The commemorative wall, slated for the city's heavily used sports facility on Marine Avenue, will also have room to honor other community members credited with having a positive and influential impact on local youth. A committee will evaluate each potential member based on selected criteria.

 

"A whole spectrum of people will be represented," Tyrer said. "This is the beginning of a living commemoration."

***

Manhattan Beach youth sports leaders, including Tyrer, pointed to Pearson's life and Wilhite's recovery as inspiration for the Marine Avenue Park Project. They said they hope it will make kids and teenagers think twice before getting behind the wheel after drinking.

"This (project) has been a long time coming," Councilman Nick Tell said. "This is something that will honor a family and inspire a community."

The project will consist of a circular marble display with a stone wall adjacent a walkway between the nearly 8-acre park's basketball courts and "Big Marine" - the park's full-size baseball field. Its final design was crafted through a series of public meetings.

Financing for the $30,000 project, which could be completed within the year and unveiled in March 2011, is expected to come from private donations and the city's public art fund.

Organizers hope to privately raise $20,000. Anyone who is interested in donating to the Marine Avenue Park commemoration should send an e-mail to Thomas Tyrer at thomastyrer@mac.com.  

The Palos Verdes Peninsula League of Women Voters is hosting a forum on Measure C in Rancho Palos Verdes tonight.

The 7:30 p.m. event -- in the community room at Hesse Park, 29301 Hawthorne Blvd. -- is set to address a March 8 ballot measure that would turn Rancho Palos Verdes from a general law city into a charter city.

In recent weeks, the debate over the measure has proved surprisingly contentious, with opponents raising the specter of  the shenanigans in Bell (a charter city) and saying the measure is coming to voters with little warning, despite multiple public meetings on the proposed charter.

Tonight's event will have speakers from both sides as well a question-and-answer session.

Stumped for Valentine's Day plans? The county invites couples who want to make the big day "extra special" to tie the knot at one of its courthouses.

Special Feb. 14 wedding services will be offered this Monday at all seven County Courthouses. Marriage licenses will be processed and civil ceremonies will be performed the same day, and at the main Norwalk courthouse, "multiple" ceremony areas will be available. These one-stop weddings will be performed at the LAX Courthouse on La Cienega Boulevard from 8:30 a.m. to 3 p.m. No appointment necessary; just show up with a photo ID. 

The last time the county offered this service on Feb. 14 was in 2008, and 271 couples took the plunge. At 90 bucks a pop for a license, and $25 for a civil ceremony, the county is hoping for the same Valentine's Day deluge (though, in 2008, Valentine's Day would have fallen on a Saturday, a more wedding-friendly day of the week).

According to national statistics, however, February ranks third-to-last in the number of weddings performed (behind January and March). Just 7 percent of couples wed this month, according to the National Association of Wedding Ministers. (June is the most popular month, when nearly 11 percent of couples wed.)  

It's a program similar to Neighborhood Watch.

Remember the pod of orcas that swam past South Bay's beach cities last weekend and lunched on a common dolphin? Here's a link to the previous blog about their unusual visit: Orca off shore.

We have more information about the members of that pod, thanks to Alisa Schulman-Janiger, a local biologist and director of the annual whale census for American Cetacean Society - Los Angeles.

Schulman-Janiger said the pod was made up of four whales -- a mother, her 12-year-old son, her newborn calf, and another of her offspring born in 2005. The mother, dubbed CA49, was first spotted off of Monterey in May 1992, she said. She was also seen here in May.

A group of whale watchers and other boaters saw the oldest male kill and eat a common dolphin. The orcas left behind the dolphin's heart and lungs, which were photographed by Phil Garner and his fiancee, Merry Passage. Here is a link to their photos.

Onlookers saw the young calf nibble on the dolphin's vital organs after the pod finished eating (and it sounds like it was pretty cute -- in a predatory, carnivorous kind of way).

Here's a link to a video of the sighting.

An inquiry by the District Attorney's office into the residency of Patrick "Kit" Bobko was completed in December and this week the two-term Hermosa Beach City Councilman supplied a letter to the Daily Breeze confirming the matter was closed.

We reported in September that the Los Angeles District Attorney's Office had opened an "inquiry" into Bobko's residency after receiving an e-mail from a recently-retired city fire fighter. An inquiry preludes a possible investigation.

Here's the DA's letter to Bobko:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Paul Hawkins, a 30-year veteran who retired from the department last Summer, claimed in September there was a long-running rumor that Bobko did not  live in the small beach town.

 

After reading Hawkin's e-mail and speaking to him on the phone, I ran voter registration and property record searches on Bobko. Two addresses came back - a two bedroom, second-story apartment near Torrance beach and another for a small apartment on 19th street in Hermosa. Then I called Bobko. He denied the allegations and said he lived in the Torrance place with his brother for a short time after earning his law degree.

"This is naked, unabashed intimidation," the city councilman told me. "It is completely related to me taking a stand for the taxpayers and fighting against the problems that exist in our retirement system."

The residency allegations came as the city prepared to vote on proposed reductions to the pensions of future public safety employees. Bobko has been a staunch advocate of the spending cuts. (The City Council has yet to approve a new employee pension plan)

I went to the two apartments listed on the property and voter registration searches. First, I knocked on the door of the apartment on Paseo de la Concha near Torrance beach. A middle-aged man answered. We spoke for a few minutes. It was clear he had no idea what I was talking about.

"I'm not Bobko ," said the man, who declined to give his name. "And he doesn't live here."

It was time to move on. I went to the 19th street apartment in Hermosa. And like Hawkins said, it appeared to be vacant. No one answered the door. The neighbors weren't home. Beige paint on the front door was faded and peeling, dust covered a window sill and the blinds were closed. Take out menus were stuffed in the screen door.

I came back the next day unannounced around noon with a colleague and found the city councilman home. We began asking questions.

Here's what I wrote in the article that appeared in September:

When Bobko answered the door Thursday, books and framed pictures of family members lined shelves. Stationery with the 19th Street address sat on a desk near the door. A laptop computer was open, revealing the website of a local news publication. Outgoing mail was attached to his door.

"This is what the District Attorney's Office does when they open an investigation," Bobko said, opening the door of a refrigerator in the apartment's kitchen and taking out a carton of milk. "They check expiration dates."

The expiration date on the carton of milk was September 10, 2010.

 

Bobko then revealed his driver's license, which had the 19th Street Hermosa Beach address on it. Bobko also confirmed that he pays rent monthly for the apartment.

"They just upped it to $1,400," he said.

Neighbors in apartments immediately surrounding the residence did not answer their doors.

 

Greg Breen, a former school board member, lives across the street from the 19th Street apartment and said he had no doubt Bobko lives there.

"I see him quite often," said Breen, who has lived in his home for about 20 years. Breen said Bobko once let his wife borrow a cell phone when she was locked out of their house.

"He's a real decent guy," Breen said.

Then, in December, my colleague Larry Altman followed up with the District Attorney's Office. From the article:

David Demerjian, head of the District Attorney's Public Integrity Division, said Tuesday that prosecutors reviewed the matter and "determined that it appeared that the councilman did live in the city."

Hawkins said the allegations were not political attacks stemming from the proposed pension plan.

"It had nothing to do with it," Hawkins said. "This was something going on way before these (pension) discussions took place. I felt that if I ever had the opportunity to do something about it, I would. When I made the allegations, it was not on behalf of the police or fire associations. It was completely on my own accord. I'm like that, I shoot from the hip."

In addition to two churches vandalized last weekend on The Hill, a Rancho Palos Verdes resident snapped photos of racist graffiti he discovered at Eastview Park on Jan. 22.

The resident, who did want to be named, found swastikas and slogans derisive to black people spray-painted on playground slides, on bathroom doors and inside a bathroom stall at the park. The resident said he reported the crime to the Sheriff's department.

The two incidents at the churches are being investigated by the Sheriff's department as hate crimes. Early Sunday morning, church officials at the Seventh-day Adventist Church in Rolling Hills Estates found an racial expletive and a Star of David painted on a wall; on Sunday evening, officials at the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Rancho Palos Verdes found the number "666" spray-painted on a rear wall.

Sheriff's officials would not say whether the crimes are connected. No suspects have been arrested.