Atwatergate: Quote of the Week

FROM AN ATWATER VILLAGE forum post: "They really did a good job getting the word out on the day. Sucks to see that someone didn't get it together to make sure it went through. I ALMOST participated this time. Now it seems like they lost my/our attention or will."

Atwatergate: A Few Logical Follow-Ups

WITH THE ATWATER VILLAGE Neighborhood Council election canceled for the third time in less than a year, one has to wonder: 1. Why cancel an entire election for alleged infractions of only two of the 14 candidates? 2. How can someone from Reseda cancel an AVNC election, issue a 660-word gossip column non election report, and then refer "all questions about the report and the canceled election to the current AVNC Board"? 3. Shouldn't the election be postponed instead of canceled? 4. Who gains from eliminating two of the three candidates for business representative? 5. Will Mrs. Newbie and I ever get to vote in a neighborhood election? Neighborhood Council Election Procedures - PDF File [lacity.org]

Atwatergate: 660 Words from the Election Administrator

THE INDEPENDENT ADMINISTRATOR assigned to the Atwater Village Neighborhood Council election - canceled for the third time in less than a year - reports this via Valleynews.com: "After investigation I discovered that the candidate statements posted on the Atwater Village Neighborhood Council's website were altered from the original submitted version. The two altered candidates were Michel Khalil and Luis Lopez. The altered text corrected the grammatical errors on Luis Lopez's statement and suggested looking at a website. It also stated 'Vote for Luis and Mike on February 24th!'" That's the gist of the 660-word "non election recap" from Reseda's Walt Sweeney. I can see disqualifying a couple of candidates, but canceling the entire election? Over grammar? Sweeney said he doesn't want to "waste taxpayers money," but what about the reported $12,000 cost of this election, canceled just days in advance? This statement is sure to be parsed further in days to come. Stay tuned. Neighborhood Council election scandal brewing? [Valley News]

'Please Don't Call Help, We're OK'

LOCAL TV WAS A NO-SHOW at the Los Angeles River rescue in Atwater Village two months ago, but made it to one on Monday. KCAL 9 gets an earful from "Issis," the rescued woman who lives on a strip of earth in the river: "I've lived down there for like seven years. We watched the weather. We're river rats. We know. I mean, look at it. It's beautiful now. The water has gone down like five, six inches already. "She screamed down, 'Don't try and cross the river.' And we tried to yell up, 'We're not trying to cross the river.' And she calls 911. We're like, please don't call help. We're OK. We're just trying to be nonchalant." More than 100 LA and Glendale firefighters were involved in the midday rescue. "They were real Christian about it. Just real kind. Made sure we were OK."

Cole Massie, Neighborhood Superkid

LET'S FOLLOW THE RAPID RISE of one Atwater Village youngster: TLC series 'My Life as a Child' - "Monday's opening installment looks at ... Cole Massie, a 9-year-old Atwater Village boy with a delightfully sunny disposition despite the serious challenges cerebral palsy has thrown at him." [San Bernadino County Sun] Boy with cerebral palsy learns karate - "The sensei announced that in 25 years as a teacher he never had one student score 100 percent on his yellow-belt test. Cole Massie was his first." [LA Daily News] Kids liven up press tour - "Cole, who has cerebral palsy and was on stage with his service dog whom he called his brother: 'I'm in a wheelchair and all this stuff. I can do things your average person can, just in a different way.'" [LA Times] Strides Rider in Rose Parade - "We were delighted on New Years Day to see our own rider, Cole... riding atop the Ronald McDonald House Charities float..." [Strides News] Got Some Game - "The youngster battling cerebral palsy got a group of USC players to get him out of his wheelchair to play catch." [The Press-Enterprise] Surely there's more to come. Cole's episode of "My Life As a Child" airs Monday Feb. 26 on TLC. Photo from TLC

LA Mag Jumps on Canele Flanwagon

IT'S OFFICIALLY A MEDIA DARLING. Atwater Village bistro Canele (3219 Glendale Blvd.) has been positively inked by the leading daily, weekly and, now, monthly print publications in Los Angeles. As follow-up to its restaurant award dessert blurb, Los Angeles Magazine gives Canele the full photo-and-caption treatment: "Chef Corina Weibel, formerly of Lucques, is bringing aioli-intensive, Cal-Mediterranean cooking to Atwater Village. The walls are exposed brick, the kitchen is open, and the atmosphere is relentlessly festive. A pissal-adiere appetizer crowns a browned and blistered crust with tangy cooked-down onions. Herb-roasted leg of lamb with braised endive and grapefruit and Israeli couscous whips around several cultures before finding its own perfect place. The flan's an ideal dessert. Reservations not accepted."

Electile Dysfunction in Atwater Village

AFTER A BANNER YEAR for resignations (June, July, August, September) and three delays of the Atwater Village Neighborhood Council elections, I think the neighborhood deserves an explanation. We could just roll our eyes and move on. But elections cost money. Banners, mailings, publicity and promotion take money and time. Does anyone know why this election was canceled and what will happen next? Is this the end of the AVNC? Leave non-libelous comments below or email: atwatervillagenewbie@gmail.com Besides, Mrs. Newbie and I were really looking forward to voting.

Breaking! Third Time is Not the Charm

SO MUCH FOR THE NEXT Atwater Village Neighborhood Council election. It was supposed to be this Saturday, Feb. 24. But then this note appears atop atwatervillage.org: "Due to election irregularities. There will be no candidate forum on Thursday, February 22 and there will be no election on Saturday, February 24. Further information will be available from the Atwater Village Board shortly." The note is signed by Walt Sweeney, RNC Chairman. Is that RNC as in Republican National Commitee? Highly doubtful. Though there is a Walt Sweeney who chairs the Reseda Neighborhood Council. Is the Valley annexing Atwater Village once and for all? A quick recap of our neighborhood's attempts at democracy: May 31, 2006 - AVNC will hold its Third Election on August 12, 2006... July 16, 2006 - The election is October 14... Aug. 18, 2006 - Approximately February 2007... Feb. 21, 2007 - February election canceled Does anyone know what the hell is going on?

It's OK That LA Isn't All About Architecture

LET PEOPLE SLOBBER OVER New York skyscrapers. So what if Los Angeles ranks no higher than 75 among AIA's top buildings. As much as I personally dig architecture, I often see it as a 19th century pursuit. It's so industrial age - gathering stone and glass and metal to see who can make the biggest, sexiest pile. LA strikes me as a 21st century pursuit. (No matter what the History Channel says.) We're flickering lights, not piling rocks. We're more about dreams, ideas and zeitgeist. Buildings, as is the Hollywood custom, are simply set pieces in a big picture show. Or simply a tire factory converted to an outlet mall. America's Favorite Architecture Doesn't Reside in LA [Franklin Avenue] LA comes up short on long list of favored landmarks [LA Times] America's Most Beloved Buildings Not in LA [Curbed LA]

Atwater Chatter - Foodie Edition

Pigs in a New Car, originally uploaded by Atwater Village Newbie.

Taco stand on Fletcher 'off the hook' [Goodgoings] Canele: 'My new favorite restaurant' [Daily Nosh] Pirate Chai at Kaldi Coffee: 'Relish' it [Food and Music Club] Tam O'Shanter fish and chips: $19 [LA Times] Guac Bowl crushes hopes, dreams [Cooking Critic]

Countdown to Tragiversary IV

It's three weeks since the second anniversary of the worst Metrolink commuter railroad disaster. A new memorial stands near Seneca Avenue and Los Feliz Boulevard. But old feelings continue. Patty Alcala writes intimately about becoming a widow on January 26, 2005. Read her blog here: Metrolink Derailment 1/26/2005