I bumped into Flo Chapgier a few days after the Paris attacks.
Flo, as many in Brentwood know, is Brentwood’s favorite French person.
She lives in Mandeville Canyon, serves on the BCC and became a U.S. citizen a while back. She still speaks with a beautiful French accent. Everybody likes her.
Flo told me, as horrible as the Paris terrorist attacks were, she thought something good would come of it all – that the entire planet would soon see a big shift in the direction of world peace.
Let’s hope so.
One of the perks of being editor of the Brentwood News is that you get to meet all kinds of interesting people doing all kinds of interesting things – right here in Brentwood.
Nancy Freedman and I recently had coffee at Early World with Pam Dawber (Pam played “Mindy” in “Mork & Mindy” – Mork was played by Robin Williams). “Mork & Mindy” was a very popular show in the late seventies and early eighties.
Mindy always had a big smile in that show, and Pam Dawber still does today. Pam lives in Brentwood and Nancy Freedman got her to agree to serve as emcee for the upcoming “Centennial + 10” celebration that will take place this coming January 23.
I know from past email exchanges with Pam that she cares a lot about our community and especially wants to see progress made at the VA that will result in additional services for wounded veterans. She will make a terrific emcee.
At the big event January 23, Tom Safran will be honored for all he does to support the betterment of Brentwood. And that’s a lot. To get on the invitation list, send an email to info@brentwoodcommunitycouncil.org.
The time to get in comments regarding the VA Master Plan has come to a close. In recent weeks, there was a flurry of activity from Brentwood Village, which fears losing its parking lots. Dog owners are worried about losing the dog park on Barrington. The VA’s plan talks about making this all green space, with a road giving access to vehicles going in and out of the campus.
Many comments were posted on this topic, I’m sure. The parking lot is the lifeblood of Brentwood Village; without the dog park, there will be a lot of unhappy pooches (and their owners) – if it comes to that. Vince Kane recently talked about wanting to be a good neighbor. Maybe some compromise can be made. I think the key is to come up with proposals that are veteran and VA-friendly. The VA really has no particular obligation to the community. Its mission is to take care of veterans.
I posted two items in the comments section of the VA master plan. In one, I questioned the number of housing units proposed. The VA is calling for up to 900 housing units for currently homeless veterans. But there are 4,000 or more homeless veterans in LA. The rest will be given vouchers to find housing, but housing is particularly tight right now. Rents keep going up and more and more units are being used for AirBnB.
Much of the VA plan is about making the place a very nice campus. That’s all well and good, but it would be a shame to go to all this effort and find, once everything is completed, there are still homeless veterans out there. It sure would be unfortunate if, later, someone had to say, “Whoops. We didn’t build enough housing units on campus.”
It feels like the political will is there to do something now, but will there be a second time around?
I also suggested in the comments section there could be a “Saturday Afternoon at the Movies” that would take place at the Wadsworth. What if every Saturday afternoon the VA played war movies like “Patton,” “The Longest Day,” or “Saving Private Ryan?”
Hollywood has made lots of money-making war films and TV shows. What if all war movies premiered at the Wadsworth and veterans got free admission? What if TV and movie companies contributed 1 percent of all ticket sales to helping veterans on campus? What if there were a small museum celebrating the Hollywood/soldier connection?
Think about it: Bob Hope, Phyllis Diller, Tom Hanks, Steven Spielberg – haven’t they all made our veterans feel a little prouder? Have they made our men and women in uniform overseas laugh? Sure they have. So let’s do this on a more ongoing basis right here in Brentwood.
Directors, writers, producers, and stars could discuss their film projects before an audience of veterans and their friends and families. Youngsters could learn a little history. Veterans could be honored for their real-life contributions. A percentage of ticket sales could go toward housing or services for veterans.
This seems like a natural for the West LA VA campus. We’re right in the heart of show biz country.
Whatever is going to happen at the VA will take a while to happen. In the meantime, let’s join Flo Chapgier and hope that world peace really is around the corner. Happy holidays, all.
