The Park Advisory Board worked to get DWP out of the Rec Center and return it to residents.
Photo: Rich Wilken
The Pacific Palisades Recreation and Park Board (PAB), will hold its monthly meeting at the small gym at the Palisades Recreation Center at 6:30 p.m. on Tuesday, November 18. The meeting will also be available via zoom (meeting ID: 812 7644 6573, the URL https://hklaw.zoom.us/j/81276446573)
On the agenda is a park update by Senior Facility Director Jasmine Dowlatshahi. Rec and Parks (RAP) General Manager Jimmy Kim will give a ground and soil testing update; a status report of Quimby Funds that were allocated to this Rec Center before the Fire; and a temporary library update.
The last item on the agenda is a proposal for a synthetic turf field proposal that will be presented by Bryan Whalen of the Pali Community Center Committee and Youth Sports Organizations. After the presentation, public comments will be taken on this agenda item. Then, there will be a PAB discussion and vote.
The meeting will conclude with public comment on anything not covered on the agenda.
CTN has received several letters from readers, who object to synthetic turf and question PAB governance, asking for board members to recuse themselves.
People are already questioning the time given to public discussion – before the meeting even starts. PAB has always been upfront about the time allotted and it’s the same amount of time for each speaker. It is announced whether it is one or two minutes based on the number of people wishing to speak. The Board allows everyone to comment. In the 20 years I’ve been covering park meetings, no one was turned away from expressing an opinion.
Next, it was suggested by some members of Resilient Palisades that a time-bound community advisory circle be formed to “widen the lens” of PAB.
Members of the Board are volunteers and have willingly given up their time, many have served years with little or no public thanks. They have welcomed everyone, including youth on the board. And in these meetings they hear everything from bathrooms to tree trimming to garbage pickup—these are not single-topic members.
Members have gone on their own time after the Palisades Fire to LA City RAP meetings (held all over the city) in an effort to reopen the park and to see that DWP did not become a permanent fixture at the park.
To join the PAB board, members are usually nominated by the facility director and approved. Most likely they were nominated because of volunteering at the Rec Center as a coach or helping with sporting events. To read about the city requirements for a PAB click here.
(Editor’s note: This meeting should not be about “gotcha.” Instead, it seems like civility and working together to achieve a common goal, is what all Pacific Palisades residents should strive for.)
Tennis Courts 5 & 6 were a storage area for DWP. The Board lobbied to have the courts returned to Pacific Palisades residents.