The town’s new Honorary Fire Chief, Wally Miller, has a long record of community service in Pacific Palisades. At the town’s Law Enforcement Day last Sunday, he was sworn in and presented with a plaque by Honorary Mayor Steve Guttenberg. Station 69 chose Miller because of his community leadership. ‘I felt honored,’ says Miller, 77. ‘I didn’t realize I was getting so old that these are the kinds of things people think of me doing.’ He will ride on Station 69’s fire engine at the Fourth of July parade. Previous honorary fire chiefs have been Theresa Stewart, the late Mort Farberow, Arnie Wishnick and Dr. Mike Martini. Miller has been active in numerous organizations and was a founder of PAPA People, Graffiti Busters and PRIDE. He also came up with the idea for the Village Green, which he says came from idle conversation. ‘Bob Abernethy was honorary mayor at the time [1972] and he was interviewing different people to see what he could accomplish for the town,’ Miller recalls. ‘We were in a coffee shop where the Mobil station is now. He asked, ‘What could I do to improve the Palisades?’ Pointing across the street, I said: ‘Why don’t we get rid of that Standard station and build a park there?’ And that’s what we did. Bob Abernethy was the power behind it.’ The owner of Denton Jewelers from 1960 to 1996, Miller helped with fundraising, design and day-to-day watching over the Green as it was being built. Miller, now retired, spent nearly 50 years in the jewelry business, starting with a store in South Gate and then Denton in the Palisades, as well as another Denton in Brentwood which he owned for nine years. He and his wife of 53 years, Bonnie, have lived in the Palisades since 1961. They have three children’Lisa, a veterinarian in Cambria; Jeffrey, a commercial photographer in Seattle; and Michelle Scheiperpeter, a physical therapist in Ventura, plus six grandchildren and one great-grandchild. A native of Grafton, North Dakota, near the Canadian border, Miller moved to Los Angeles after his military service. He was in the Army Ordnance Corps just after World War II. He studied watchmaking and gemology and then opened his jewelry store in South Gate, where he belonged to the Optimist Club, the Chamber and other organizations. ‘When I came to Pacific Palisades, I decided I was going to mind my own business and not get involved because I didn’t have much time,’ says Miller. His decision didn’t last long. ‘I realized I needed to get involved because there was so much that needed to get done.’ Miller was Citizen of the Year in 1980 and Citizen of the Decade in 1990. He is past president of the Chamber of Commerce, PAPA (the parade organizing committee), the Village Green Committee and the Optimist Club. Also, he was chairman of the Design Review Board, the Palisades commercial-area Specific Plan and the Sign Standardization Committee (overhead sign removal and control), and was a member of the Palisades-Brentwood Community Plan committee, the Civic League board, while also serving on the founding committee of the Community Council. Miller is grateful he was able to improve the environment of Palisades. ‘Living in the Palisades has been a learning experience and I don’t regret any of the time I’ve been here,’ he says. ‘I wish I had gotten more involved in L.A. as a whole because they are the people that need the help. People here should be willing to contribute to the overall quality of life in the city of L.A. and a lot of them do.’ His philosophy is ‘If we can’t do it, nobody can; if we don’t do it, who will?’ A good example of that is Graffiti Busters, which he started after attending a Chamber of Commerce meeting in which people were complaining about the graffiti problem. Another part of his volunteer philosophy is having fun. After the Rotary Club and Optimist Club members helped at the Palisades parade for many years, Miller went to the Rose Parade and noticed all the volunteers dressed in white. He founded PAPA People, whose members take this pledge: ‘I promise to help with the parade and have fun doing it and if I can’t have fun doing it I will resign.’ Miller enjoys golf and traveling, and keeps involved in volunteer work as an advisor for PRIDE, the community beautification group. He set up the PRIDE board of directors with six-year term limits. ‘I’m a firm believer in turnover of people doing community service, so they don’t get too self-centered or too important to themselves. There are many people who would like to do community service but they don’t know what to do or how to get started. All they need to be is asked.’

The American Legion Post 283 briefed the Palisades Charter High School Board of Governors Tuesday night on its proposal to institute a Junior Reserve Officer Training Corps (JROTC) program at the school. The agenda item drew more than 20 audience members who were anxious to weigh in on the controversial issue. Bill Branch, 1st Vice Commander of Post 283, and Lt. Col. Ted McDonald, officer in charge of the JROTC program, described the program’s objectives and the benefits for the school in a presentation that was intended to test the waters on the philosophical question, rather than provide specific details. JROTC was established 88 years ago to ‘instill in students in secondary education institutions the values of citizenship, personal responsibility and a sense of accomplishment,’ according to its Mission Statement. A graduate of the program some 60 years ago, Branch said that he credits the JROTC for the self-confidence and professionalism he gained in helping him earn a master’s degree in electrical engineering, followed by a 40-year career in management at McDonnell-Douglas. ‘The Junior ROTC emphasis on motivation, dedication and leadership convinced the Legion that the program is worthy of consideration as an addition to the Charter high school curriculum,’ Branch said. The school would select the Army, Air Force, Marines or Navy to sponsor the program, which in turn would provide the necessary curriculum materials, equipment, uniforms and transportation. The Legion, which has a history of supporting PaliHi in the form of grants to the Booster Club as well as college scholarships, would provide resources for any JROTC unit at the school, including scholarships, award dinners and other extra-curricular activities. The sponsoring corps would provide partial reimbursement to the school for salaries of JROTC instructors. The Legion requested that parents offer input on the decision, and towards that end prepared a questionnaire that asks if they support such a program, which military corps they would prefer to be the sponsor and if they would like to attend an information briefing. Following the presentation, members of the audience spoke in both support and opposition to the proposal. Former Legion Commander Dr. Mike Martini advocated the program, and PaliHi parents Loree Fahy and Jack Sutton outlined their objections and presented the board with a petition signed by 250 members of the community. The petition restated many of the objections that were included in a letter written by Marcy Winograd, a PaliHi English teacher and Palisadians for Peace member and sent to Principal Linda Hosford in March. That letter, signed by 27 teachers, parents and community members, decried the militarization of the student body and called for a full debate on whether the school should allow and provide financial support for a JROTC program. At the conclusion of Tuesday’s meeting, the Board of Governors voted to refer the question to the school’s educational program committee, which is made up of stake holders including teachers, administration, parents and students.

After spending at least $13 million to acquire 33 landslide-impaired lots and another $17 million to reconstruct Potrero Canyon into an upscale neighborhood, L.A. Recreation and Parks officials explained last week why the end result is far from resolved. Appearing before the Palisades Community Council, the three officials gave a PowerPoint presentation which outlined the project’s three-sided nightmare: bureaucratic demands, fiscal constraints and lack of consensus on what should ultimately constitute the landscaping and public amenities in Potrero. The immediate challenge, said Kevin Regan, the new area manager for Rec and Parks, is to find about $1.2 million to complete the final phase of construction (Phase II). The city owes $300,000 to the contractor for work already done and $850,000-$900,000 to repair two landslides in the canyon, one off De Pauw, the other off Alma Real. Then there’s the estimated cost of $7 million to $12 million to complete Phase III in Potrero, with suggested plans calling for 7.9 acres of riparian habitat and 22 acres planted in coastal sage, along with a system of trails and picnic areas leading from the Recreation Center down to PCH. This final package is also currently unfunded. Although the City of L.A. now owns 33 residential properties along the edge of Potrero that are ready to be certified for sale at auction, the California Coastal Commission ruled many years ago that none of these lots could be sold until after the entire park project was completed. Since the city’s real estate investment could now easily pay for Phase III, ‘we want to remove that special condition,’ project director Jane Adrian said in her presentation to the Community Council. ‘[But] Coastal Commission staff has advised us that they will not consider an amendment to do so until a designated account is set up to safeguard the proceeds from lot sales. This will ensure that the proceeds go first to complete all phases of the project, before the [city’s] general fund gets reimbursed.’ Adrian said her department has to take the following steps in this process: ”Rec and Parks has already drafted a City Council motion asking to set up the designated account. ”The Council has forwarded it to the City Attorney for review as to form. ”Council District 11 (Cindy Miscikowski) takes the motion before Council. ”Council must approve. ”The City’s General Services Department sets up designated account for lot sales proceeds. ”Rec and Parks submits amendment to Coastal Commission to remove special condition. ”General Services sells lots and deposits proceeds to the designated account for use to finish project. ‘I think Coastal will approve our request, though they’re kind of whimsical at times,’ Adrian said. When asked about a time frame for getting the lots finally sold, her predecessor, Kathleen Chan, said: ‘We’re looking at over a year.’ Meanwhile, as the financial process bumps along, Rec and Parks plans to submit two more amendment requests to the Coastal Commission. One is to remove the proposed re-circulating stream from the plan originally mandated by the commission and instead ‘depend on seasonal water and irrigation to maintain riparian habitat’ (as it originally existed when Potrero was a deep, wild canyon before the bulldozers and dump trucks arrived). The cost was estimated at $13 million a year ago. The second request by Rec and Parks will be to ‘remove the condition of constructing a parking lot and restrooms at the bottom of the canyon, unless a bridge can be funded and constructed across PCH.’ Audience member Judith Collas asked, ‘Will there be any public input into the final plan?’ Chan responded, ‘This plan will be done through community meetings and workshops. We’re just not there yet.’ Determined to have the Community Council retain an influential voice in creating the final overall plans for Potrero Park, Highlands representative Norm Kulla made a motion urging Rec & Parks to return to the council for input before submitting any amendment requests to the Coastal Commission. The motion passed, and Potrero Canyon will once again be on the council’s agenda next Thursday evening, May 27, at the branch library.

Fairgoers like these girls enjoyed flying down the big slide, among other rides, carnival games, tasty food and entertainment on the St. Matthew’s campus at this year’s fair.

For Palisadian businessman Jim Blumel, Tuesday, April 27 started off as another busy day. By 12:30 p.m., he was on his way from the Santa Clarita Valley office of his business, Sunset Landscaping, to an appointment in Calabasas. Heading southbound on the I-5, Blumel was going about 60 to 70 miles per hour when he saw a big-rig truck on fire, coming at him from the northbound lanes. ”’There was no way off the freeway,’ Blumel said in an interview with the Palisadian-Post. ‘When the truck stopped [in the right southbound lane], I was 100 ft. away.’ ”The big-rig’s driver, Jos’ Sanchez, was transporting 24 tons of municipal waste when his truck crashed through a guardrail and hit a parked truck full of hazardous materials. ”’We think [Jos’s truck] blew a front tire,’ said Sanchez’s manager at Ecology Autoparts, Saul Gracian, who arrived at the scene 30 to 45 minutes after the accident. ‘When the truck came to a stop, it was hanging off a 45-ft. embankment, with flames coming out of the sides of the truck.’ ”The truck’s compartment separated from the trailer and Sanchez could see the fire inside the cab. ‘I thought I wasn’t going to live,’ he said, recalling that he tried unsuccessfully to open both doors but couldn’t get out. ”Blumel automatically started running towards the big-rig. ‘I saw [Sanchez] trying to get out and the adrenaline kicked in. I could hear people saying, ‘Don’t go near it, it’s gonna blow!’ but once I’d committed to running, I couldn’t stop.”’ ”Sanchez later told Gracian that when he heard Blumel’s voice, he went toward the sound, though he felt disoriented. Blumel, 6’2” and 195 lbs., had to stand on the passenger side step to reach Sanchez, who is 5’9” and 230 lbs., and help him out of the window. ‘He pushed and I pulled,’ Blumel says. ‘I was telling him to jump and I’d catch him.’ ”When Sanchez made it through the window, Blumel took him over to his car, where he gave him water and waited with him until the police and firemen arrived at the scene. ‘He was in shock,’ Blumel said. ‘I gave him my card in case he had any questions about the accident later.’ Blumel also gave his name and contact information directly to the police. ”While no other drivers stopped to help, a few came up to Blumel afterwards. ‘They said, ‘I can’t believe you did that.” ”Blumel, age 39, says, ‘You always wonder how you’ll react in situations like that. When it counted, I stood up’I was the right person at the right time in the right place.’ ”According to Gracian, Sanchez, who has been with Ecology Autoparts for two years, returned to work on Monday, May 3. ‘What Jim did was really extraordinary,’ Gracian said. ‘He’s kind of like an unsung hero.’ Blumel and his wife, Jill, have three young daughters. ”Sanchez, 52, has four children, ages 11 to 33. Daughters Carmen Raman and Roxanna Sanchez have written thank-you notes to Blumel. Raman wrote: ‘My family and I would like to thank you sincerely for everything you did to help (encourage) my dad to get out of the burning truck. We honestly believe that if it wasn’t for you, my dad would have panicked and might not have made it out.’ Sanchez wrote: ‘Most people would have kept on driving…I don’t know what I would do without my Dad and without your help.’ ”(Additional reporting by LIBBY MOTIKA)