Palisades-News-June-3-2015-

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Page 4 Palisades News June 3, 2015Norm Kulla Leaves City GovernmentPacific Palisades, Brentwood,Santa Monica, Beverly Hills, VeniceCalBRE#01437780By SUE PASCOEEditorNinkey DaltonYour Local Neighborhood AgentThe Agency(424) 400-5921www.TheAgencyRE.comAfter 10 years as a senior counsel, Norm Kulla is resigning July 1.Norman Kulla, who has been servingin Los Angeles city government forthe past 10 years, first as seniorcounsel for Councilman Bill Rosendahl andnow for Mike Bonin, is resigning July 1.“I’m trying to put everything in a path,so that when I leave, the people in the officewill know how to find everything and respond,”said Kulla, who describes his roleas a mediator, trying hard to get differentgroups of people “who really care aboutcertain things to sit down and talk.”Kulla, a former resident of Pacific Pali -sades, has high praise for both of his bosses.“Bill is a phenom who is a blessing for allof us,” Kulla said. “If you believe in God, helives through Bill Rosendahl.”He recalled the first time he met Rosen -dahl—at Tivoli Café here in town, 14months before the 2004 City Council District11 election.“I had met with Flora Krisiloff, who waschair of the Brentwood Community Council,because she was running for Councilperson[against Rosendahl] and wantedmy support. She gave me a stump speech.”Kulla was so irritated by her approach forhis support (he was serving on the PalisadesCommunity Council) that he sought outRosendahl.As Kulla came to the table, Rosendahlwas reading the New York Times and usedsome salty language about an article.“He was showing himself to someone hehad never met before,” said Kulla, a formerattorney. “He was transparent, engaged,there was no hidden agenda and I rememberthinking, ‘This is who we need.’ We bondedand we have been close friends ever since.”After Rosendahl was elected and broughtKulla aboard his team, he placed a sign inhis office that read “No Gifts.” Kulla said itepitomized a man whose driving purposewas to serve the public, until forced to retireearly because of cancer.“There is only one Bill Rosendahl; he’s alife force,” Kulla said. As a councilman, “Heshot from the heart and lived in the moment.He was a big-picture guy who listened.A decision-maker who lived to servethe community.”Kulla also admires Bonin, who succeededRosendahl in 2013. “Mike is a dedicatedpublic servant, who shares Bill’s heart. He’sdisciplined, organized, structured and methodical.I have pride in what he’s doingand in a small way I feel I helped himlaunch his mission.”Why is he leaving?Kulla, 68, explained how people wereasked at a retreat held for Bonin’s staff ifthey felt they would be here in 12 years andto step forward. The question was repeatedwith eight years and then four years.“I never stepped forward, because I sawmy role as one of transition,” Kulla said.“After Mike was elected, I sat down withhim and told him that he should surroundhimself with people who built the teamand were similar to him in age.” Bonin is48 years old.Also, Kulla, who moved from the Highlandsto a beach neighborhood in SantaMonica in 2013, no longer lives in CouncilDistrict 11.“Mike needs someone [as counsel] whoEstablished May 2007Photo: Bart Bartholomewis going to be a link to the community,”said Kulla, who sees his resignation as thestart of another career transition and islooking forward to it, even if his immediatefuture is uncertain.“I’m going to take a trip with each of mykids,” he said. His daughter Julia, 37, is aprogrammer in Durham, North Carolina.His son Hans, 26, who writes and performscomedy, works on the production side ofSaturday Night Live. David, 30, is a leveltwoPGA professional at Westchester GolfCourse and the New Roads golf coach.Massage • Acupuncture • Organic FacialsThank-you, Pacific Palisades,for 8 Wonderful Years! We Love You!— Toni & Stephanie20% OFF Massages & Facials!(Mention this ad. Offer Good Thru June 2015)16704 Bollinger Drive, Pacific Palisades310-454-5855 • OasisPalisades.comJuly 4th Concert Headliners AnnouncedABy LAUREL BUSBYStaff Writerlthough they come from LakeTahoe and New York, respectively,musicians Adam Topol and TomFreund are in many ways Southern Californiaboys at heart.They both love to skateboard. Topol isa surfer, too, while Freund has just startedlearning to ride the waves at age 46—eventaking a lesson from singer/songwriter/surfer Bre t Dennen at Gladstone’s recently.They embrace the beach lifestyle. Topollives in Venice, while Freund has lived andhad a studio there for about 15 years.“We as kids in Lake Tahoe would thinkof L.A. as this mythical place,” said Topol,48, who with Freund has formed a new act,the West Side Troubadours. “I have theseromantic visions of a lot of these cool bandsthat came out of these areas—troubadoursspawning a l kinds of stuff . . We can nowproperly claim our little space.”Both of these seasoned musicians, whohave either spearheaded or contributed tomore than 50 CDs over the course of their Adam Topol (left) and Tom Freund (right) wi l headline the Palisades Rocks the Fourth concert at PaliHi on July 4. Photo: Tom Hofercareers, are excited to perform at the eighth und, who sings, writes songs and plays the for an intriguing set of songs that are “patriotic,but not corny patriotic, with good In addition to Freund’s musical ski ls, thechoice] in a good way.”annual Palisades Rocks the Fourth concert. upright bass, ukulele, mandolin, guitar“I am super psyched” about playing the and piano.American values” that might be a little West Side Troubadours wi l feature Topolupcoming concert with Topol, said Fre-Freund said the “Palisades vibe” a lows unexpected a times. “You can push [song(Continued on Page 21)Homeless Tent City GrowsTWHOKILLEDTHELMATODD?Vol. 1, No. 15 • June 3, 2015 Uniting the Community with News, Features and Commentary Circulation: 14,500 • $1.00 See Page 23he number of people camping on Monica and Venice was more strictly enforcingthe law.Wi l Rogers State Beach, despite theposted “No Camping” sign, is a concernto the community.not sure of the activity in SM or Venice. WeIn a May 22 e-mail, he responded: “I amOn May 14, Santa Monica Canyon residentSharon Kilbride counted 16 tents. beach. We can ask them to leave but weare issuing citations for camping on theWhen she took a photo, one guy begged cannot remove their property or wai toher to photograph him and his bag of pot. see if they come back.”“He told me he was happy and homeless,”Kilbride said, noting that she had officers walked to the di ferent beach en-On Memorial Day, Moore and two otherheard that Santa Monica and Venice police campments at 11 a.m. and issued citations.are enforcing the no-sleeping-on-the-beach “We cannot force anyone to leave publicordinance and the homeless are now comingnorth to Will Rogers because the law ard,” Moore said. “But the citations can be-lands unless we can establish it as a fire haz-is not being enforced here.come warrants, which we can use to makeHomeless tents are now on Wi l Rogers Beach. Photo: Sharon Kilbride Santa Monica Canyon resident Judi Jen - an arrest.”sen sent a le ter to the Palisades News (page He explained that the citations issued on7), saying that she had been accosted and Memorial Day meant the person receivingthreatened when she walked her dog along it has until June 15 to go to court. If thethe bike path at night. She ca led the West person fails to appear, a warrant is issued.L.A. Watch Commander and he told her to “If the person goes to court, the citationcontact Senior Lead O ficer Michael Moore is resolved (perhaps community service,and Councilman Mike Bonin’s o fice. or pay a fine, or even spend a day in jail),”Norman Ku la, Bonin’s senior lead counsel,was contacted and he said that a meet-wi l most likely spend the night in jail, go toMoore said. “If the person is arrested, heing was scheduled for May 28 to address the court, plead guilty, and ge time served forproblem. “I am hopeful that a solution wi l the one night in jail.” Moore notes that thisbe reached.”a reasonable deal for some transients, especialy those who have multiple Moore was asked if it was true that Santawarrants.After receiving his law degree from UCDavis in 1972, Kulla worked as a criminaldefense lawyer and became known as aparole release lawyer. He was the lawyerfor Charles Manson’s first parole request.“I spent a lot of time in prisons,” Kullasaid. “I felt my calling was to represent thedisposed of society.”He and his wife Katherine Mader (Pali-Hi class of ‘65), a Superior Court judge,moved to Santa Monica in 1980. Kulla transitionedfrom criminal defense to tax securitylaw at Tilles, Webb, Kulla and Grant.In 1991, Katherine asked him if he washappy doing that kind of law, and he reluctantlyadmitted he wasn’t. “I do it forthe money.”She convinced him to leave, tellinghim, “You must be inspired, because thatdirects what you do.”The selling of his interest in the law firmcoincided with the verdict on an importantlaw case involving Commercial AcceptanceCorporation. “It was a Ponzi scheme andpension plans were defrauded,” said Kulla,noting that the $40 million to $100 millionlost was totally refunded to clients by thepeople responsible, including payment tothe law firm. “People got their money backand my share allowed me to transition intobecoming a financial analyst,” Kulla said.During the following 10 years, he learnedthe theory of investment, received his CFA(Chartered Financial Analyst), studied behavioralfinance and lectured at different(Continued on Page 5)READ US ON THE WEB!Did you know you can read thecurrent issue of the PalisadesNews (and ALL our previousissues) on our Website? Go towww.PalisadesNews.com.for the link.“The on-line edition of your completenewspaper is one of the most helpfullyaccessible and readable versions Ihave ever seen—from either a largenewspaper or small.” —J.R.www.palisadesnews.com
June 3, 2015 Palisades News Page 5Kulla(Continued from Page 4)venues around Los Angeles.The family moved to Santa Monica Can -yon in 1986, which is when he met communityactivist George Wolfberg. Shortlyafterwards Kulla joined the Palisades OptimistClub, served as president (2000-01) andrepresented service organizations on the PacificPalisades Community Council (PPCC).After the Kullas moved to the Highlands,PPCC Area Two Representative Barry Kurtzasked Kulla to run for his seat on the Council.Kulla was elected and served in thatposition until he was elected PPCC chairin 2004.Then-Councilwoman Cindy Misci -kowski, determined to get the long-stalledPotrero Canyon Park project back on track,asked Kulla and Wolfberg to help her createa Potrero advisory committee. “She was agood partner for Potrero,” Kulla said, notingthat Miscikowski established a trustaccount to protect construction fundsraised by selling City-owned propertyalong the Potrero rim.Kulla embraced his role as PPCC chair.“I love conflict. I’m blessed because whenthings are tense, I’m okay.”He recalled the time that the fledglingRenaissance Academy was set to take overmajor space in the 881 Alma Real building.“There were 200 people at the meetingand it wasn’t on the agenda,” Kulla said.George Wolfberg presents Norman Kulla with an historic photograph (copy) of the mouthof Santa Monica Canyon at the Annual Meeting of the Santa Monica Canyon CivicAssociation, held May 12 at Rustic Canyon Recreation Center. Photo: Sara Jane Boyers“They said they wanted the CommunityCouncil to consider this deal, and so we did.“People were saying horrible things tome, but I didn’t take it personally. It’s importantfor people to express themselvesbecause if they do, they can come back towho they are [which is not the issue]. It becomesan opportunity to change the frameof how people look at things.”Kulla said that he first noticed this as achild during large family weekly gatherings.“When someone was speaking theyweren’t always hearing the person,” he said.“I try to help people hear each other. Theyare so focused on what they want to say,they don’t hear.”SolarPaliHi ContractNegotiationsMediator-facilitated negotiationsbetween Palisades Charter HighSchool’s teachers’ union and theschool management reached a tentativeagreement in mid-May after a sometimescontentious negotiation process.The agreement would provide an 8-percentsalary increase over two years to facultywith 5 percent retroactive to July 1, 2014,according to a statement issued by bothparties. In addition, master’s and doctoralstipends would be increased on July 1, 2015.The bell schedule issue, which involves theadministration’s effort to explore varied optionsto the current class schedule, would behandled by the existing Academic AccountabilityCommittee, Principal Pam Magee said.This committee “will gather and analyzeinformation and research assessing studentneeds and will consider recommendationsbased on those needs,” according to thepress release.Initially, a ratification vote was plannedfor mid-May, but the two parties agreed tomeet with the mediator one more time toaddress further aspects of the agreementbefore a ratification vote will occur.—LAUREL BUSBY(See related story on page 8.)Electricity from the SunLighten Your Electric Bill with Solar!Your own Palisades Solar CompanyFree Quote (310) 459-7062Joyce Brunelle (310) 459-7062Joyce@solarsuntricity.comwww.solarsuntricity.comLicensed, Bonded, InsuredLic #369267, B1, C10, C46
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