Eye on Brentwood

Ex-Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger will long be remembered for his final Sacramento grand stand decision which highlighted his otherwise forgettable eight year stint. His parole of Esteban Nunez, the son of the former Assembly speaker Fabian Nunez and a longtime friend of the governor, has kicked off a major turmoil including a lawsuit filed by the murder victim’s father. Separately, some 250 convicted killers are claiming the governor put politics before the law while failing to uphold the parole board¹s decisions to release them. Many are suing and are expected to prevail.
Neighbors recall that Brentwood¹s Maria Shriver opposed her husband’s ambitions to become Governor of California. She was as surprised as anyone when Arnold Schwarzenegger appeared on the Jay Leno TV show eight years ago to announce his plans to run. Despite her reservations, Maria played the good soldier and made appearances to help him win. Before he left office, Maria had become increasingly popular as she supported dozens of worthy causes while the Terminator’s popularity rating dropped below 22 percent.
Neil Shekhter, 47, a Soviet refugee now living in Brentwood, recently unveiled his new 50-unit Santa Monica luxury apartment complex in Santa Monica. He came to the U.S. from Ukraine at age 17 and began as a cab driver. He later purchased several cabs and started his own cab company which he sold to get seed money to start NMS properties which is based in Brentwood. Shehkter now owns 30 affordable and luxury apartments mostly in West Los Angeles and the San Fernando Valley.
In 2004, one of the top rated Internet sites, the Huffington Post, was organized at a meeting at the Brentwood mansion of Ariana Huffington. The group included Larry David, Norman Lear, David Geffen, Peter Daou and James Boyce. The founders were shocked recently when Daou and Boyce, who had not been active in the affairs of the Huffington Post for over six years, sued, claiming their ideas were responsible for the success of the on-line liberal voice. It may become a bitter court battle, especially in light of the Huffington Post’s recent sale to AOL for $315 million.
Joe Lumer, 62, who lived in Brentwood, drowned while swimming in Buenos Aires last month. Lumer was born in a Holocaust survivors camp in Germany and migrated to the United States. He developed a major parking lot company across the nation, including 75 Joes¹ Auto Parks in downtown Los Angeles. Lumer had a reputation as an easy going, well respected individual. He wrote two heavily researched books on the Holocaust.