briefs cont.

from page 3 installment of the shows sixepisode first season aired Sunday night, attracting over 1.5 million viewers. The show has been accompanied by controversy, includReza Farahan ing the West Hollywood City Councils vote March 19 to condemn the show for perpetuating negative stereotypes of the Persian community. One of the shows stars Reza Farahan, a 1991 Beverly High graduate, said Tuesday not all the feedback has been negative, but he had harsh words for former Beverly Hills Mayor Jimmy Delshad, who has criticized the show. I just got back from New York, where I received the most amazing warm welcome from every walk of life, but what was really wonderful and really special to me was the Persians out there are so loving and so appreciative, which makes me detest Jimmy Delshad, Farahan said. All of a sudden hes out speaking against my show. Your time is done, you were mayor, keep it moving. Dont ride my coattails. Its embarrassing. Before the show aired, Delshad was quoted in the Los Angeles Times expressing concerns Shahs would leave viewers with a negative impression of Persians. Delshad told the Times he was afraid this program will take us back and make us look like undesirable people. When the Weekly interviewed Farahan in Issue #647, he said the only reason he agreed to be on the show was to try to serve as an inspiration to gay youth and gay Persians. Ive received hundreds and hundreds of messages that just touch me and warm my heart and make me feel like putting myself out there and getting criticism from Jimmy Delshad [is] well worth it, Farahan said. Hes using my platform to do interviews and put his name out there, and its shameful. I actually have a powerful message to get across, and he should be embarrassed for himself. In response to Farahans comment that Delshad was using Farahans platform, Delshad said Wednesday, I dont know what platform he has, but I have been mayor of Beverly Hills twice, and the highest [Persian] elected official in America. Im not following anyone elses platform. Delshad said he has watched the show and he does not believe it represents the Persian community in America. This show does not show the good side that we have, Delshad said. I think that this show is only for the purpose of the greed of taking something thats in the news, which is the Persian community, and using that to enrich the people involved. Farahan said he thinks jealousy is behind much of the criticism coming from viewers based in Los Angeles. I have received at least 40 or 50 messages from people whether they know me or not, tweeting me, Facebooking me, asking me,

Planning process for Roxbury Park still under way

Recreation and Parks liaisons Mayor Willie Brien and Councilmember Julian Gold are continuing to assess the programming needs for the Roxbury Park community center renovation project at a series of meetings with staff and community members. Weve gone through current programming needs. Were looking at additional programming requests, Brien said. Then well put programming in based on what we believe is a reasonable space allocation keeping the same [guidelines] we started this review with, that we are going to preserve greenspace and decrease the size of what was the prior discussed community center. Another meeting had been scheduled for this past Wednesday, but it has been moved to a date to be determined due to yesterdays Metro Planning and Programming Committees meeting about the Westside Subway Extension final EIR. Brien said the liaison is also evaluating the cost of resolving the parks irrigation and drainage issues, the cost to refurbish the childrens play area, and also the comparison of renovating the existing community center with building new. Brien said he expects to bring the liaisons assessment of programming needs for the full City Councils consideration in May or June. We want to present our assessment of programming needs present and reasonable programming needs in the future to prioritize what the council thinks is important, Brien said. Well also be talking about size and design of the multipurpose room. Brien said the liaisons would also present the council with feedback from the community, including former Board of Education member Gerald Lunns proposal to locate the community center on the northeast corner of Olympic Boulevard and Roxbury Drive with a single level of underground parking beneath the building. Lunn first presented his proposal in a series of guest columns in the Weekly, which concluded in Issue #652. Gerald Lunn put a lot of time and energy and was thoughtful in what he was trying to accomplish and is trying to bridge different facets of needs and wants in the community, Brien said. I respected him and appreciated the fact he came forward and shared [his idea]. Thats part of the dialogue in making a good decision in what we will ultimately do with the park. Lunn presented his plan to the liaisons April 5, and received a mixed reaction from meeting attendees. Southwest Homeowners Association President Ken Goldman called the plan idiotic. In a highly urban area, open areas and grass are to be prized, not shut away, and by creating buildings along Olympic, youre isolating the park from the adjacent residential area and from Olympic, and theres just no sense to it, Goldman said. Goldman expressed concern about the potential safety and traffic issues that could result from the underground parking deck. Goldman said he preferred the existing location to the corner of Olympic and Roxbury. The original plans for the Roxbury renovation called for the building to be along Olympic and for an underground garage. Both of those were summarily abandoned when community discussion began, and theres no reason to resurrect them, Goldman said. Ideally, Goldman said he would like to see the community Why are you on the show? No one called me. Why didnt they ask me to be on show? Farahan said. Its not like its Rezas dads production. Its Ryan Seacrest Productions. If they didnt come to you, they didnt come to you. Relax. Although many were quick to judge, Farahan said he has also heard from former critics turned admirers. I have to say a lot of people that were criticizing us are now fans, Farahan said. I get messages from people saying, When the show came out, I didnt know what to expect. Everyone was talking s--- about it, and now Im hooked. I cant get enough.

center rebuilt or remodeled to accommodate existing programs. He said he does not believe a two-story structure is necessary, nor does he think a full-size basketball gymnasium is needed, since the BHUSD may be building additional basketball facilities with Measure E funds. Lunn said according to his plans, the building would be screened by tall trees. If youre driving east on Olympic Boulevard, the only view that would be blocked is of the apartment building on the east side of Roxbury, Lunn said. It seems to me Italian cypress trees are prettier than apartment buildings. If youre heading west on Olympic it would mainly block your view of the existing clubhouse building, which is not a pretty building. Regarding the safety concerns about underground parking, Lunn said he has proposed a network of 12 security cameras that would cover the community center and underground parking area that would be monitored by a security staff member. He also proposed attendants in the parking area. Lunn said the proposed modular design of the building would make it easier to monitor security, and also allow the use of movable walls to accommodate different space and programming needs in the center. Lunn said he would be open to re-designing his plans without underground parking, but surface parking would take up valuable greenspace. Its still better than surface parking at the south part of the park, because the north part of the park is less desirable greenspace, Lunn said. If youre going to put parking anywhere, put it along the busy, noisy, air quality-deprived area, instead of putting it in the middle of the neighborhood where its not busy, not noisy and the air quality is pretty good. Goldman said he thinks the process so far has been open and the liaisons are listening to all feedback shared at the meetings. However, Goldman said some of the information presented by staff has not been entirely accurate or straightforward, including pie charts showing programming needs that did not add up to 100 percent, and giving more weight to community center programs that are held only occasionally. Weve got to get to a situation where the community and the council is presented with straight-up, accurate information, Goldman said. So far, the entire discourse on Roxbury Park has been a banner for how not to communicate.

Waxman urges Metro to put safety first with subway decision

In a letter addressed to Metro CEO Art Leahy, Rep. Henry Waxman (D Los Angeles) urged Metro to put safety first as it considers its choice of alignments for the Westside

Henry Waxman

Subway Extension next week. I have heard a great deal of concern from the Beverly Hills community about the proposed Century City station at Constellation Boulevard, because of the possible safety risks involved with tunneling under Beverly High, Waxman wrote in the letter dated April 12. The City of Beverly Hills and the [BHUSD] have commissioned independent studies and made a strong case that the route poses safety risks and would be less desirable for cost, speed and ridership. These concerns must be weighed carefully alongside the study commissioned by Metro, which identified serious seismic concerns for alternate station locations on Santa Monica Boulevard. Waxman said safety should be the Metro

Page 4 Beverly Hills Weekly

New tile wall brightens Hawthorne campus

Hawthorne fifth graders Lital Mizrahi (left), Chantel Sabouhi (center) and Shaina Sabar (right) pose in front of Hawthornes newly installed tile wall, adjacent to the existing tile wall near the library. Last spring, the Hawthorne PTA organized a fundraiser that invited Hawthorne students and their families to decorate tiles provided by Color Me Mine. boards No. 1 concern when it meets April 26 to consider the final EIR for the Westside Subway Extension. I would urge the Metro Board to only choose a route that would require tunneling under the school if there is a definitive conclusion that it is the safest alternative, Waxman wrote. Metro spokesperson Dave Sotero said safety is Metros No. 1 priority. Metro has received the letter and will not make any recommendation that does not ensure the safety of the public, Sotero said. Waxmans Communications Director Karen Lightfoot said the letter was the first Waxman had sent to Metro regarding tunneling under Beverly High. She said Waxmans offices in Washington D.C. and Los Angeles have received just under 50 calls, e-mails and letters about the project in the last six months, with about two-thirds of them coming in the past two months. Lightfoot said constituents comments have expressed both concern about and support for the subway project. a larger community-based panel of about 10 to 15 members, Woods said. A smaller panel, including Woods and representatives of the Board of Education, conducted the second-round interviews. When youre dealing with principals, youre looking for a lot of community input, Woods said. The interview process also involved an agency called Target Success, which conducted additional phone interviews with the finalists, Woods said. This [service provides] a third-party, objective analysis on the characteristics candidates possess that lead to demonstrated success, Woods said. This Tuesday, Woods also plans to present his reorganization plan for the district office, in response to Assistant Superintendent of Business Services Alex Cherniss departure from the district at the end of March to work at the Los Angeles County Office of Education. It is unclear whether or not the district has plans to actually replace the assistant superintendent of business services position, since Woods said he would not reveal the details of the proposed reorganization plan until Tuesday. Woods said he has been discussing options with the board over the course of about a month. Its a simplified plan with very clear lines of authority, Woods said. I need this team functioning at high levels. We need to be efficient and effective. [Well be] matching up a number of positions with skill sets that are currently here, and I hope to do some things in terms of how we reorganize that really is putting our district in a positive spot for the future. In the meantime, Woods said administrators including Assistant Superintendent of Human Resources Dawnalyn MurakawaLeopard, Interim Director of Curriculum, Instruction and Professional Development Jennifer Tedford, Budget & Food Services Executive Director Mary Anne McCabe, and himself have taken on Cherniss former

Residents voice support, safety concerns for pilot bike route program
More than half a dozen residents addressed the Traffic & Parking Commission bicycle ad hoc committee April 11 to express their views about a proposed pilot bike route program in the City of Beverly Hills. Commissioner Jeff Levine, who spearheads the committee with Vice Chair Alan Grushcow and Commissioner Ira Friedman, said most comments focused on safety issues but were generally supportive of the Citys effort to create a bike route for Beverly Hills. The committee has been tasked with studying potential bike routes and making a recommendation to the City Council. The committee is studying three east-west options and two north-south options, that would be designated with road signs and sharrows, which are painted markings indicating the road is to be shared by automobiles and bicycles. The east-west bike routes to be reviewed are on Carmelita Avenue within City limits; Burton Way between Crescent Drive and Robertson Boulevard; and Charleville Boulevard between La Cienega and South Santa Monica boulevards. The north-south routes to be reviewed are Beverly Drive between Sunset and Olympic boulevards; and Crescent-Charleville-Reeves between Sunset and Olympic boulevards. Most people were voicing concerns about safety issues, Levine said. There were comments [that residents] liked the idea but they wanted to make sure its done in a smart way and as safely as possible. Mark Elliot, founder of Better Bike Beverly Hills, said as a whole, the route options the City has identified are the perfect core for a bike network in Beverly Hills. Elliot said establishing a limited pilot program was a good start, but he said the City had identified the easiest steps for establishing a route. Thats because they constrained the engineers who did feasibility studies that said, We wont change traffic flow or lose parking, Elliot said. Elliot said Beverly Drive and Charleville are already popular with cyclists, but safety on both roads could be improved. Charleville connects with bike lanes in Century City, Elliot said. Elliot said diagonal parking on Beverly makes it difficult for drivers to see cyclists as they back out of parking spots. To improve safety on Charleville, Elliot suggested the possibility of removing one side of parking to widen the road traveled by cyclists and automobiles. [Someone commented,] Well evolve these facilities as demand increases, Elliot said. We dont build roads like that. We build roads to anticipate capacity and create safe travel conditions. Its the same with bicycles. We want to anticipate the demand and encourage it. If a route is established by the City Council, the committee would monitor the pilot program for a period of 6 to 12 months, Levine said, and then make a determination. The next meeting will take place this Wednesday at 7 p.m. in the Conservation Room of the Citys Public Works Building at 345 North Foothill Road. The Traffic and Parking Commission will convene at a special meeting May 9 at 7 p.m. at in Room 280-A of City Hall to develop recommendations to present to the City Council. responsibilities. Beverly High are circulating an online petition. As of Wednesday afternoon, over 1,079 individuals had signed the petition. To sign, visit www.change.org/petitions/no-subwayunder-beverly-hills-high-school. briefs cont. on page 7 April 19 - April 25, 2012 Page 5

Beverly Vista principal search down to two finalists, board to vote on district office reorganization Tuesday
After reviewing more than 80 applications and interviewing 10 candidates for the Beverly Vista principal position, Superintendent Gary Woods said Monday the BHUSD selection committee has narrowed down the field to two finalists. The district is in the process of running background checks on the finalists, and Woods expects to present one candidate to the Board of Education for its approval at next Tuesday evenings formal meeting. Principal Irene Stern is retiring for a second time at the end of the school year. Stern returned as principal in 2010 after having previously served as principal 1999 to 2006. The first round of interviews involved

Residents circulate online petition opposing tunnel under Beverly High

Beverly Hills residents opposed to the Westside Subway Extension tunneling under