Bob Jeffers: Sparkplug Winner

Thanks to writer Bob Jeffers, a 2004 Golden Sparkplug winner, the entrance to the Palisades along Sunset is a lot more appealing this spring. Jeffers spent nearly two years raising funds and working on beautifying the 600 feet of Sunset median strips near Chautauqua. ‘Like a lot of people, I would always drive by those asphalt median strips and, especially in the springtime, when the weeds would get up to 6 ft. high, I’d say to my wife, ‘I can’t believe we live in this beautiful area and we have this ugly median strip.’ She said, ‘Why don’t you do something about it?” So Jeffers came to Pacific Palisades PRIDE (Protect and Renew Our Identity and Environment) with his idea, and he was promptly made a new board member and put in charge of the project. ‘He was the heart and soul of the project’he made all the contacts, did all the legwork, and supervised the contractors all the way to the very end,’ said PRIDE president Naidu Permaul. The beautification group hired landscape designers Pamela Burton & Co. of Santa Monica to design the median strip and established a partnership with L.A.’s Adopt-a-Median program. The project was completed last fall and the medians are now planted with 120 five-gallon dwarf bougainvilleas, 800 day lilies, 200 red-hot pokers and 20 flats of gazanias. Jeffers was nominated for Sparkplug honors by PRIDE member Kurt Toppel. In his letter, Toppel wrote: ‘Total project cost was about $115,000 and required extensive City involvement and participation. To accomplish that by itself is worthy of an award!… I have worked closely with Bob as a member of PRIDE and consider it a privilege to nominate him for Sparkplug recognition to inspire others in our community to follow his example.’ PRIDE raised about $50,000 through a Donor Diner program. ‘Bob not only came up with the idea for the project, he suggested how to fund the project through the ‘Donor Diner Program,” said Permaul. ‘He went to the restaurants in town and talked them into it.’ Jeffers explained: ‘A lot of people want to give to PRIDE, but they don’t want to spend $450 for a tile.’ His idea was to also encourage smaller donations, and in return give donors two-for-one entrees at local restaurants. ‘It’s been successful and we’ve accomplished getting a lot of people to donate who hadn’t been before,’ Jeffers said. ‘It’s nice to give a thank you for donating.’ PRIDE is continuing the program, in which a $25 donation is good for a two-for-one entree at Kay n’ Dave’s, Mort’s Deli, Caf’ Vida, Terri’s and Tivoli Caf’. Fifty-dollar donations are good for two-for-one entrees at Modo Mio, Pearl Dragon and Hidden Caf’. Jeffers has lived in the El Medio Bluffs area for seven years with his wife Karen and their sons Dylan, 11, and Charlie, 9, both of whom attend Marquez Elementary School. He grew up in Denver and Bethesda, Maryland, and attended Duke University. After graduating, he moved to New York City and worked for large ad agencies, including Ogilvy & Mather and McCann-Erickson. After six years, he ‘got the film bug’ and came out to L.A. to attend USC Film School. He graduated with a master’s degree in film, wrote screenplays and for the last 14 years has worked as a freelance copywriter in entertainment advertising, specializing in writing movie trailers and television promotions for TV shows. Working from home, Jeffers screens a rough cut of the movie or television show and writes several scripts for the narrator. ‘It gives the editors of the trailer a road map of how to cut the trailer.’ Working from home has worked out well for him. ‘Luckily, the work has been good to me,’ Jeffers said. ‘The nice thing is I do have time to coach baseball in the afternoon and a little extra time for civic activities.’ In addition to coaching PPBA baseball, he’s an AYSO soccer referee. Jeffers had a positive experience working with the city on the project and found that their Adopt-a-Median program really streamlined the process. ‘I found everybody to be very pleasant and pretty informative’no trouble at all,’ he said. One potential stumbling block occurred when workers discovered multiple layers of asphalt under the median strip. ‘There would be 8 or 10 inches of dirt and then you hit the old Sunset Boulevard.’ Jeffers and others had assumed that there was dirt under the asphalt they could use for the planting. ‘That’s when Cindy Miscikowski’s office came to the rescue with funding for demolishing the asphalt,’ Jeffers said. Her office donated about $45,000. Jeffers scheduled the demolition work, which was done by the City, for two weeks, and was surprised it was completed in three days. Several large donors contributed to the landscaping project, including the Palisades Junior Women’s Club, the Palisades Lions Club, a bequeath from Lion Merry Richards, and Prudential California Realty/John Aaroe Division. ‘These people were really instrumental in getting us the funds we needed to accomplish this,’ Jeffers said. ‘Like every construction project, it got more expensive as it went along.’ PRIDE’s maintenance fund will be used for gardener Francisco Cervantes to maintain the median. ‘Palisades has really been a big part of my life lately. It’s a labor of love to improve the area,’ Jeffers said. ‘I’m pleased and honored to be a Sparkplug. It’s really a thrill.’ Now one of the vice presidents of PRIDE, Jeffers worked on replacing and upgrading the Christmas lights in the trees along Sunset last winter and is beginning to work on the Marquez-area commercial district improvement. Regarding community involvement, Jeffers said, ‘It’s habit-forming; once you get involved you enjoy it and enjoy the people. At our meetings we have a lot of laughs. ‘I’d just encourage people to do what they can, whatever time they can give to PRIDE or other groups,’ he said. ‘I think people are pretty generous. We all really benefit from it’just a little time and you can make a difference.’ Jeffers is looking forward to seeing the plantings in the median strip mature and bloom. ‘There are hundreds of yellow lilies that haven’t done their thing yet.’ PRIDE President Permaul told the Palisadian-Post: ‘Pacific Palisades is the beneficiary of the likes of Bob Jeffers. He exemplifies what it means to be a member of the community. He not only has vision but he works to bring that vision to completion.’