Jeff:
Thank you for “exposing†Rosen, Freeman and Keller.
I have been a long time resident of Brentwood. I co-developed the Coral Plaza office building and moved my CPA firm there in1981, co-founded and developed Toscana restaurant in 1988, and own a small office building on the boulevard.
Notwithstanding my long term relationship and support of Brentwood, in 2008 when I leased the previously empty space next to Toscana for the purposes of developing a small restaurant-bar concept I was literally attacked by these folks for over two years. Multiple hearings, negotiations, lawyers, facilitators, consultants and $200,000 later we finally opened 6 months ago.
As members of the BCC they were ultimately voted out by the other well meaning and rational members and subsequently formed their own three person group which, in my opinion, has absolutely no support in the Brentwood community, save for a few loyal followers.
However, I found that the city officials, both elected and appointed, are fearful of ignoring them. Hence, I think the BCC needs to be more pro active in combating groups like the BRC who thrive on confrontation primarily to enhance their own distorted sense of personal self esteem.
Thanks again, Mike Gordon
Dear Mr. Hall,
It was fair for you to single out Wendy-Sue Rosen as a major cause of the recent freeway shutdown. I saw her on Friday and Sunday of that weekend, and both times she was telling people, “I’m the one who caused Carmageddon!†And the back story was that she and her husband had threatened a lawsuit that would have put the whole 405 project on hold if the planners had sought to avert this first of two shutdowns with a late-developed plan. It’s possible her husband or his law firm, in which he is a partner, would have stood to gain from an award of legal fees in such a case.
So I’m writing to defend you and your writing against all the charges of making an unfair or unbecoming “personal attack†on Wendy-Sue Rosen. You were at the same Sunday event I was, where she made Carmageddon about her (and seemed pleased about having caused it). Your writing accurately reflected the facts of the almost-case.
Now things I would like to learn more about (and you might want to report more about) include the awards of legal fees in similar cases; the funding and composition of the Brentwood Residents Coalition at the time of the lawsuit threat; whether any other group would have actually sued and delayed the 405 project based solely on defense of the existing bridge alignment; the economic impact of the “Carmageddon†scare; the difference in construction-related economic stimulus between the two competing plans; the animal crossing issue; and the safety record of the existing bridge.
I mention the safety record because I saw the bridge recently from the existing “Y†intersection, and it reminds me of a viaduct in my home town, which one of my high school classmates flew off in her car. Since the alignment is not going to change, and there are a lot of schools nearby, it might be worth looking at measures to slow traffic on the new bridge.
— David Holtzman, Brentwood
Editor:
I experienced an “incident†in Brentwood with the parking meter man and thought it may be news enough for the residents who enjoy reading your paper. This is what happened. I was fortunate enough to find a fantastic parking space near Brent-Air Pharmacy yesterday afternoon. As per my quick errand I deposited two quarters into my computerized meter stand selecting the proper parking space with 15 minutes purchased time allotted. I ran into the shoe repair and returned to my car to discover a parking ticket citing my expired meter. I returned to the stand showing me 11 minutes left before expiration.
I spotted the meter man across the street in front of Starbucks and asked him to look at the meter knowing he made an error however he refused to investigate and told me it must be up to me to dispute the citation. Now I’m angry and found a stronger voice. Using all the restraint I could possibly find (short of vulgar/foul language), I reminded Mr. Garcia he is a city representative of which we expect lawful and ethical behavior. Both of which he failed considerably.
As I’ve relayed this story to many friends I was astonished to learn many have experienced this same fraud. Perhaps the city’s need to raise funds and possible “quotas†required by these officers, we are being fraudulently abused and unnecessarily fined. I have requested an investigation of the officer with the city as well as this incident. I think it would make for in interesting survey in the newspaper to discover others who may have had similar experience.
Regards, Mary Ann Weisberg,
Los Angeles, CA 90049
