More than 20 of the town’s favorite elders’a hearty group of residents who are 90 years and older’had their annual birthday party together last Saturday, courtesy of the Palisades Junior Women’s Club. ”With Joe Napolitano, 104, and Rose Rhodes, 99, holding court as the oldest man and woman in the room, the special guests enjoyed a luncheon served by Junior Women members and a half-dozen of their daughters in the Woman’s Club (which was donated for the occasion). ”Napolitano, who still lives independently at his home in the Alphabet streets, is now enjoying his third century, having been born to Italian parents on a freighter off Gibraltar in 1899. He said he’s looking forward to turning 105 on August 19. ”Rhodes, who lives with her nephew and niece on Lachman Lane, will join the century club on November 1. ”The second oldest partygoer was Emery Stoops, 101, a former college educator who is still an active financial adviser. He said he also enjoys working every day in his vegetable garden and fruit orchard in the Riviera. ”Other attendees included Katherine Abbott, 98; Nancy and Victor Boesen, age 91 and 95 respectively; Wilma and George Tauxe, both 90; Maria Reichenbach, 95; Helen Mariol, 94; Joe Kingsley, 94; Harold Waterhouse, 93; Max Gerchik, 93; Mary Elizabeth Gall, 92; Valera Mueting, 91; Jeri McKee, 91; Dr. Leonard Montage, 91; Bob Willet, 91; Dorothy Miller, 91; Louis Shack, 90; Mary Hanzelin, 90; and Carl Christol, 90, a USC professor emeritus who said he swims at the YMCA pool ‘every day’rain or shine, cold or hot.’ ”Junior Women president Jenifer Byington thanked Helen Levin and Lynn Burlin for organizing the event, and introduced three young girls’Grace Levin and Camille and Madeline Oswald’who sang ‘Happy Birthday’ and ‘The Grand Old Flag.’

The latest Potrero Canyon hearing began with a bombshell last Thursday evening when Jane Adrian told Community Council members that within a month she would no longer be in charge of the massive infill project. In fact, the entire building and construction department within Recreation and Parks’which has been responsible for Potrero since work began in 1986’will be folded into the city’s Bureau of Engineering. ”Given this unexpected leadership void, the Community Council moved forward and unanimously passed a motion reiterating its intention to play a vital and public role in the planning and financing of Phase III in Potrero. This final phase is the currently unfocused and unfunded completion of Potrero Park, from the Palisades Recreation Center down to Pacific Coast Highway. ”The council’s motion, which was unanimously passed and forwarded to City Councilwoman Cindy Miscikowski, reads as follows: ”’Opposes the sale of 33 residential lots as presented in the draft motion received by the Board on May 27, under signature of Councilperson Miscikowski; Supports the sale of a sufficient number, but no more, of the City-owned developed (improved) parcels in Potrero Canyon to fund the completion of Phase II, but not Phase III; Supports the sale of such additional City-owned parcels in Potrero Canyon, incrementally and sequentially (taking into account the environmental impact upon the surrounding neighborhood), as is necessary to fund Phase III only after further input from the community is sought by the City regarding the design and plan of Phase III, the Community Council approves such design and plan, and such design and plan includes, but is not limited to, the following particulars: ”’Entrance(s) to the park, permanent funding for park maintenance, restoration of riparian habitat, parking and bathrooms, recreational pads, construction of a walk bridge from the mouth of Potrero Canyon over PCH to beach parking, environmental clearance of project upon abutting neighborhoods, landscaping and permissible uses. ”’All funds raised by such sales of parcels shall be deposited into the proposed escrow account/trust fund and all such deposits shall be used exclusively for the Potrero Canyon Project until completion of all phases.’

Only 26 of a possible 514 members of the Palisades Drive Recreation Association showed up at Tuesday night’s special meeting to recall the board of directors. Even though there was not a quorum, or enough proxy ballots to hold an official meeting, that did not prevent the mudslinging, which went on for some 40 minutes before it was abruptly brought to a halt by board member Angie Cloke. ”Cloke, an attorney and Highlands resident, suggested ‘a new date be set for the recall with new proxy ballots.’ ”The campaign to oust the 5-member board began in February when a small group of dissidents, unhappy with the management of Highlands Park, a recently completed three-acre site off Palisades Drive, sent a letter to homeowners in the area accusing the board of ‘fiscal irresponsibility, violation of the bylaws, and non-responsiveness to the members, allowing for a small minority to obtain control of the association.’ ”The letter was signed by Mitch Chupack, Peter Culhane, Alan Rubin, Art Zussman and former PDRA president Peter Bos, who started the verbal sniping after his group was chastised by Melanie Bingham, legal counsel to the board. ”Bingham declared that while the proxy ballots sent by the board were proper, those prepared by the dissidents were ‘defective’ since they only offered residents the option of removing the board and not retaining it, as required by Section 7514 of the Civil Code. Also, the ballot only provided for two write-in candidates, instead of up to the allowable five. ”Bos retorted that ‘the intent’ of residents to recall the board ‘was clear’ and sufficient in his view to validate the ballot. Bingham disagreed and, after sparring with Bos over some of the wording, declared: ‘You can never be too clear when it comes to meeting the requirements of the code.’ ”Acknowledging that the proxy ballot needed improvement, Zussman suggested a revised version which he suggested could be used next time, a suggestion that was rejected by some residents. ”’I object to sending out a proxy that is negotiated [with the opposition],’ said former PDRA president Greg Schem. ‘I’m a homeowner. This is our board, which we have elected. Let the board prepare the proxy. And I object to the continued inference by a select few that this volunteer board, which has given so much of its time, is incompetent. It’s not in the spirit of what a neighborhood should be.’ ”Attorney Sheri Price, whose home is adjacent to the park, agreed. ‘Shenanigans is what it is, and it has been going on for years,’ said Price, referring to the recall and the battle over control of the park, which is owned by PDRA. ”’This is why residents don’t want to get involved,’ offered another participant, alluding to the low turnout at the meeting, which was held at the Palisades Hills Club House on Monte Hermoso. ”Bos said that the recall was necessary because of what he viewed as the board’s ‘cumulation of blunders,’ and its ‘one failure after another.’ He pointed to the expenditure of legal fees and recent purchase of playground equipment for the park which he said was done ‘without proper consultation. We all love the park, we love the kids, we love the dogs. That is not the problem. It is this board that is the problem.’ ”At which point new board member Andy Caster asked Bos how he, Caster, could be a problem when he was only elected last month. ”’This is my first board meeting. I just got elected. Angie just got elected. Steve [Abraham] just got reelected. Are you talking about us? And if residents are so concerned, as you suggest, how did we get voted in? ‘ ”Bos suggested it was through ‘chaos’ and a series of ‘errors’ that Caster ‘somehow got on the board,’ which led to more sparring, and to Cloke finally suggesting an end to the meeting. ”New proxy ballots will be prepared by the board and sent to residents and a new recall will be held within 30 days. For information on the recall and how Highlands residents can join PDRA in order to gain access to the gated park contact Helmut Martinek (457-1330). (Editor’s note: In our front page story last week (‘Power Struggle Over Highlands Park’) the reference in the ‘Urgent’Save Your Park’ letter should have read that ‘a small MINORITY of Highlands homeowners strongly oppose the park’, as opposed to: ‘A small majority…’. Also, three Highland residents who do not live in the originally designated areas’which includes Palisades Hills, Vista del Mar, Vista Catalina, and the Summit’have now joined PDRA. Besides Angie Cloke and Tracy Landau, Ann Triplett Chappel is now a member.)

Paul Revere art students won second place in a recent citywide traffic safety mural contest. The students’sixth, seventh and eighth graders’painted a mural about pedestrian safety with the theme of ‘Be Smart, Don’t Dart.’.” ”’A boy at our school got hit by a car and died; we did this for him,’ said sixth grader Angelica Huggins, referring to the death in September of sixth grader Carlos Macario. He was killed while crossing Sunset at Allenford when he ran across the busy street, against the light, to catch a bus home. ”The students designed and painted the mural themselves as part of an afterschool class led by art teacher Pennie Dobkin. As part of their prize, the school received a check for $500 to benefit the art program, and each student received a certificate and a bag of goodies from the sponsors. ”The contest was sponsored by the LAPD, Auto Club, the NHRA (National Hot Rod Association), SEMA (Specialty Equipment Market Association), and the Otis School of Art and Design, which judged the entries. Paint was donated by Dunn-Edwards and Norris Hardware. ”The mural, painted in the west driveway of the school, off of Allenford, features a girl chasing a soccer girl into the street, with cars stopped at a crosswalk. The front of the mural features a teacher (who the students say was modeled after music teacher Lara Jacques) holding out her arms to stop the students from crossing. A fellow off to the side of the rectangle points into the mural. ”’Each of us drew a picture of what we wanted it to be, then we drew on the wall with pencil,’ said eighth grader Amanda Mohagen. ‘Then we filled it in.’ ”’I made new friends,’ said eighth grader Steven Garcia. ‘We got a chance to stay after school and it was nice working with the other people.’ Garcia enjoyed the painting part of the mural process, standing on scaffolding and ladders. ”The students worked after school every Wednesday and also put in some time on the weekends. The biennial contest, which started in 1998, switches between high schools and middle schools. ”Other schools’ murals focused on seatbelt usage, gridlock, parking safety and other issues, but pedestrian safety is the focus of the Revere mural. ”’It’s a good way to get the message out,’ says LAPD West Traffic Officer Bill Williamson. ‘The students take pride in creating something with a positive message for all students.’ ”’It’s also recognition for school art departments. It’s a big endeavor for art teachers and dedicated students.’ ”The new captain of the West Traffic Division, Captain Baca, was also on hand to give the students their awards. ”Principal Art Copper says that Revere is one of the few schools that still has art in the curriculum. There are five art classes on the schedule as well as an afterschool class. ”’They loved doing it,’ Dobkin says of her students. ‘They had a great time.’