Brentwood Meet Is Bringing Brentwood Neighbors Together
By Jeff Hall
There is something fresh in our Brentwood air, and it feels – and smells – good.
A few months ago, I wrote about BrentwoodMeet.com, a group organized by Brentwood resident Simone Joseph. Simone is originally from France, became a U.S. citizen and she lives in Brentwood.
She made an observation about Brentwood that I think is very accurate: It’s a great place, filled with intelligent, interesting people – but we are quite disconnected.
BrentwoodMeet.com is organizing all kinds of mini-events: French lessons, trivia nights, street cleanups, dinner nights, cards, and more.
Often, participants don’t know each other, pre-arrival. Then, at the event, they become friends.
I think BrentwoodMeet is a splendid idea. It is said loneliness is rampant in our society. Maybe BrentwoodMeet offers a model that can be reproduced all around the country. We should all get together more often than we do.
BrentwoodMeet helped organize an Earth Day event recently at Barrington Recreation Center, along with the Brentwood Community Council. Young kids planted flowers and enjoyed activities, including planting flowers into flower boxes.
Planting flowers at the Brentwood Earth Day Event at Barrington Recreation Center.
Traci Park, our newly-elected city councilwoman, attended.
Especially since the pandemic, we all go out less and seem to prefer the convenience of Zoom. I know I hate to drive, so finding new friends right here in Brentwood. Let’s give BrentwoodMeet.com a shot.
Congratulations to Simone Joseph. She saw a need and actually did something about it. She’s quite vivacious and makes it look fun.
Brentwood real estate agent Sheila Simmons and Traci Park, our new CD11 city councilwoman, at Barrington Recreation Center.
Arnold Schwarzenegger took matters into his own hands recently and did something about a pothole that needed fixing (or maybe it didn’t, depending on the source).
I have suggested before in this column that putting the homeless to work fixing potholes and cracked sidewalks would be beneficial for all. Our unhoused friends could see the connection between work and pay; we’d all see better streets and sidewalks over time.
Those in charge of repairing streets and sidewalks take forever to get around to this – if they ever do – so I applaud Arnold even if he gets his wrist slapped for having done this himself.
Maybe we should all go out and fix sidewalks on our blocks. Maybe BrentwoodMeet can help organize this and we can approach some homeless individuals about joining us for a day. We can rustle up some money to pay them. We can feed them, too.
Maybe this idea could catch on, too. If we put the homeless to work, that could be an important part of their recovery.
Carolyn Jordan, head of the Brentwood Community Council, was also there. She was unloading BCC baseball caps because the BCC is adopting a new logo. I don’t know about you, but I really like it.
I look forward to a new baseball cap with the new logo!
Brentwood Community Council’s new logo.
Congressman Adam Schiff visited Brentwood recently. He attended a fundraiser at Tom Safran’s house. Adam Schiff is now running for U.S. Senate.
I was told it was an off-the-record fundraiser, so I didn’t take notes. I did take a few photos after the event concluded.
Adam Schiff greets well-wishers in Tom Safran’s backyard.
I will say this: I have watched Adam Schiff on television many times, as have we all. He has always struck me as very lawyer-like, professorial, even – very careful to get each word exactly right. He is often presenting a “case.”
In person, he exudes a lot more personality. Or maybe he’s getting speech coaching as he enters the race to become senator, I don’t know.
Schiff wove several jokes and even a few expletives into his remarks. He did a really good job warming up the crowd. I hope he will show more of this side of his personality when we see him on TV; it will serve him well, I think, in his senate run.
Here’s a funny one for you, if you haven’t heard it before: Adam’s wife is named Eve. Yup, you got that right.
Before closing out this column, I need to mention Dick Riordan, a Brentwood resident who served ably as mayor of Los Angeles. As everyone knows, he died recently. He was always very generous with his time when it came to being interviewed by the Brentwood News. He was fun to interview; he wasn’t your typical guarded politician, not at all.
I think his taking command the way he did right after the Northridge Earthquake offers a good example of how things really can be done if you set your mind to it.
I remember hanging out with him at Kenter Canyon Elementary School one day. He purposely acted dumb in front of the kids, saying he didn’t know how a computer worked.
The kids loved showing him what to do. He kept showing delighted surprise at the kids’ genius and encouraged them to show him more, which they happily did. He wasn’t in any hurry to rush off to his next event. Just as he lifted up those kids that day, I think he lifted up our city.
Maybe it’s the better weather, a new mayor, a new city councilwoman, or a new logo for Brentwood Community Council, but everyone’s mood seems to be lightening up a bit these days.
There’s only one problem with all this “spring is in the air” stuff. My allergies have really kicked in.
Here’s to a glorious spring and summer.
