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9/25  Mtg. Recap; News & Events        View this email in your browser
Pacific Palisades Community Council
PPCC Board Meeting Recap - 9/25/25 
Here's a brief recap of our September 25th meeting:
 
Presentations:
The meeting featured two presentations:
  • Jim Cragg gave an informative presentation on the work of the new Palisades Long Term Recovery Group (Pali LTRG),  which is part of the nationwide “VOAD” network (Voluntary Organizations  Assisting in Disasters), and provides wildfire recovery assistance to the community, particularly to vulnerable and/or at-risk residents, including those without insurance and the elderly.  We thank Jim (Pali LTRG President) and the many community members, including Jessica Rogers (Pali LTRG Executive Director) and other PPCC Board members, who are volunteering to work with this important organization. For more information visit Pali LTRG.
  • Kerjon Lee and Iggy Ruiz of the County Board of Public Works updated us on the status of the  Marvin Braude Bike Trail repairs and the Santa Monica Canyon Channel Outlet restoration. They showed slides and explained the history and work on each of the projects, noting that completion is expected by the end of this year.
  • A link to the recording of both presentations can be accessed HERE and on PacPaliCC.
PPCC Grant Approvals:
The Board unanimously approved five Grants, from donations received by PPCC, to the following organizations: the Pali LTRG; Lotus Rising LA; Friends of Marquez; St Matthew's Parish School; the Pacific Palisades Baseball Association (PPBA). See the 9/25 Agenda (item 9.2) for more information about these grants.

Bylaws Amendments:
The Second Distribution and vote on new proposed bylaws amendments, took place, with all proposed amendments unanimously approved, including adding the new Malibu-Palisades Chamber of Commerce (Palibu) as a PPCC organizational member. We welcome the Palibu Chamber to the Board! The amended bylaws can be seen HERE.

Committee Anouncements:
  • Awards Selection Committee: the President appointed the following members of this committee, which reviews nominations and will decide on the 2025 Citizen of the Year and Golden Sparkplug Awardees: Daphne Gronich (Chair & past COTY); Richard Bllumenberg, Karen Ridgley, Chris Spitz (past COTY) and Cindi Young (past COTY). See below for information about the Awards nomination process.
  • Awards Event Committee:  the President appointed the following members of this committee, which plans the Gala Awards dinner to take place on December 11, 2025, at Spruzzo Restaurant:  Lorie Cudzil (Chair); Kimberly Bloom,  Beth Holden-Garland, Lee Anne Sanderson. Stay tuned for more info. to come!
  • Undergrounding Committee: the President has formed and appointed the members of this new important committee, to study, interact with DWP and other officials, and provide information and possible recommendations to the PPCC Board about  the status of undergrounding utilities in the Palisades: Reza Akef (Chair, Palisades builder, Rebuild Committee member & past PPCC member); Kimberly Bloom (Area Five Rep), Allison Holdorff (Area Five 2nd Alternate & Team Palisades Block Captain); Kambiz Kamdar (builder & Palisades resident), Justin Skaggs (utilities consultant), May Sung (architect & Team Palisades Block Captain).
  • Rebuild Committee: Quentin Fleming reported that individual links to the PPCC-NORC community survey are being emailed to residents, who are encouraged to take the survey -- look for an email from PPCCstudy@norc.org -- check your spam!  If you are a resident and didn't receive this email, contact info@pacpalicc.org.
  • LUC:  Chair Chris Spitz presented a motion for the Board to support a motion in City Council by CW Traci Park, for a report on the impacts of SB 79 on the City (should the bill be enacted); the Board unanimously approved the motion, which can be seen in the 9/25 Agenda (item 11.3).
Additional Announcements:
We heard several announcements from the President, Board members and government reps.  Some of the highlights:
  • The President thanked and bade farewell to the outgoing organizational members: Haldis Toppel, Theatre Palisades; John Evans, Village School; Janet Anderson, AYSO; Hagop Tchakerian, Pacific Palisades Rotary Club.  The new organizational members will take their seats at the next meeting on October 9th.
  • An orientation session for new PPCC Board members will take place on September 29th via Zoom.  
  • Lorie Cudzil (Area Six) related that residents of her area (the Spitz's) received word that LAFD would not sign off on their rebuild permit unless they installed a new fire hydrant, costing them several hundred thousand dollars and thus effectively preventing them from rebuilding and returning. This onerous requirement has typically been applied in the past to voluntary construction of new residential projects in Los Angeles that are not within 300 ft. of a fire hydrant -- entirely unlike the unprecedented situation here, when thousands of homes were destroyed by the Palisades Fire, existing hydrants (regardless of distance) were inoperable, and rebuilding by devastated homeowners now is not voluntary as in the past. The Mayor and Councilwoman are aware and staff are working to resolve this problem so that the requirement will not be applied to Palisades fire rebuilds.   
  • We heard reports on SB 79 (veto requests sent to the Governor by PPCC, the Mayor and CW Park, among others; Gov. Newsom has not yet acted; he has until October 12th to sign or veto; if he does neither the bill will be enacted); and on the proposed statewide Zone Zero (defensible space) regulations, which PPCC, CW Park, and many others oppose (the draconian regulations may be enacted by the end of the year).  We will monitor. 
  • JoAnna Rodriguez (Area One) reported that the Coastal Commission will hear the application for a Coastal permit for the Gladstones redevelopment project on October 8th, at the Commission's meeting in Redondo Beach. The agenda notice stated that "transportation stations" would be installed in the parking lot, raising concerns about what these were and that this might implicate SB 79. Supervisor Horvath's deputy Zac Gaidzik has advised that this language was a misnomer, that Coastal staff have been asked to change the wording to the actual plans for "bus turnaround stops" (for the Big Blue Bus and Metro buses), and that the County and City of Santa Monica maintain that such turnaround stops will not trigger SB 79. Chris Spitz noted that PPCC has long supported creating a bus turnaround in the Gladstones parking lot (contact her for more information).
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Next PPCC Board Meeting: 
October 9, 2025,
6pm via Zoom
On the agenda:  Guest speaker Supervisor Lindsey Horvath, on the proposed County Authority for the Palisades; an update from the Palisades Recovery Coalition.  Mark your calendars!
News and Events
PPCC NORC Community Survey

    

PPCC encourages Palisades residents to complete the PPCC-NORC survey.. Please see the Survey Message for more information.  Don't forget to check your spam folder for the email from PPCCStudy@norc.org.  Residents who would like to take the survey but haven't received the email should please contact info@pacpalicc.org.
 
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PPCC Awards Information
PPCC invites the community to submit nominations for the 2025 Citizen of the Year and Golden Sparkplug Awards!

Visit Awards Information Notice for eligibility and submission requirements. Deadline for  nominations:  5pm on October 17!
 
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CD 11 -- CW Park Palisades Update



Click HERE to access the weekly update.

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Palibu Rebuild Expo
TODAY, Sunday, September 28
2 - 5pm at the SM Woman's Club 


Click on the above graphic for details

A free event, sponsored by the "Palibu" Chamber, for homeowners and businesses in Malibu and Pacific Palisades that were affected by the Palisades Fire.  For more information visit Rebuild Expo.
 
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Palisades Park Advisory Board meeting
Tuesday, September 30
6:30pm via Zoom



See the agenda for the PP-PAB meeting, 
including login link, HERE.

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United Policy Holders Workshop
Sunday, October 5
10am - 1pm at the American Legion Post 283


Click on the graphic for an enlarged version
 
This event for fire survivors will take place on October 5, 2025, at the American Legion Post 283 on La Cruz Dr.  Information and strategies will be given about the contents of insurance claims and home inventories. 
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Lowe Family YMCA Events
in October at Simon Meadow


Click on the graphic for an enlarged version

See the flyer above for the many wonderful Lowe Family YMCA events taking place in October at Simon Meadow -- including the beloved Pumpkin Patch opening on October 2, 2025!
 
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Last but not least . . . Visit the
 new Team Palisades Wellbeing website

 
Team Palisades is hosting a new "shareable" website on wellness,
Palisades Wellbeing, which Palisades fire survivors may find helpful!

 Beautiful Potrero Canyon

See you at the October 9th meeting!

Palisades Strong!
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Pacific Palisades Community Council · PO Box 1131 · Pacific Palisades, CA 90272 · USA