American Flags mysteriously appear over the July 4th weekend. Photo By Jim Hart.

On the July 4 Weekend, Tiny American Flags Appear Mysteriously Along Neighborhood Blocks:

It’s a Brilliant Strategy; Was it Janice Hahn, Craig Huey – Or Superman?

By Diana L. Chapman

In my small neighborhood nestled along quiet streets called the Palisades, tiny mysterious American flags popped up out of nowhere over the July 4 weekend, waving in the playful ocean breeze.

They were set carefully along city medians, rolling up and down the hilly streets, tucked neatly and safely on non-residential property so no one could complain it was on their land.

First thoughts: Either Superman was trying to perk up our low economic self-esteem or one of the two fierce opponents for the 36^th Congressional seat, Democrat Los Angeles Councilwoman Janice Hahn and Republican Craig Huey, finally got wise with a positive, thought-provoking strategy.

After all, the congressional race has been disgustingly negative on both sides.

For the past several weeks, ugly campaign messages have swamped our mailbox. Hahn has saturated us with anti-Huey campaign literature, while Huey has tried to remind us of a news story, later debunked, that Hahn paid gang members to work the city streets to calm things down.

So flooded with campaign literature is our one small home, one can only imagine the sheer thousands of wasted dollars on these pieces –during a recession/depression I remind you --  and know other residents must be doing the same thing: sending them directly to the recycle bin.

When the flags popped up, it hit me: Wow! An American symbol – probably equal or less expensive to put out as fliers – and a symbol residents can keep if they choose. It’s a gentle reminder of what Independence day is all about.

Leaning over, I plucked away a note that said “From Our Family to Yours….Have a Safe and Happy Independence Day!” The note was from  Karen Anderson who wanted to thank residents in the area for using her realty services frequently.

But it was even more than that, she told me in an interview, adding that she spent “significantly less” than campaign brochures to put out 600 American flags in the neighborhood where yes, she wants more people to know about her.

However, her symbolic gesture, she added, was to remind people of the holiday, because her husband is a Korean War veteran and her stepson is a former Marine who now serves in the National Guard.

“It’s not really a new idea,” explained Anderson, who agrees the congressional race has been nasty. “A lot of Realtors have used it. It’s not a political statement. It’s obviously my way of saying thank you to the Palisades for supporting me. And to remember what the holiday is about. Times have been so hard and we all need a little patriotism.”

For the gesture, Karen said she’s received more than a half-dozen calls thanking her and when she was putting them out along the streets, many residents responded with gratitude.

If only Hahn or Huey had been so smart. For those who might have read my articles in the past about Hahn’s reign, I’ve bitterly watched our town disintegrate and have witnessed firsthand how she couldn’t (or wasn’t interested in) getting the things done necessary to make us a whole community again.

She was elected three times to do that. Huey, on the other hand, responded to my last article that I was staying home for the first time in decades from the polls because I can’t vote for a woman who has done nothing and I don’t want to vote for Huey, a man I barely know.

When Huey emailed me, I asked to interview him and he told me he’d check his calendar. I didn’t hear back, so I emailed again. No word. So I still don’t know him!

Basically, I’ve got this lackluster feeling about voting July 12 and our political process entirely. This was only reinforced by Huey’s own lack of follow-up and then when I read Hahn’s typical email letter on July 4.

It  basically said vote for me “and I hope we will all take a moment to truly think about the idealism and sacrifice that built the United States of America and what citizenship in this great nation means.”

Action, however, is much larger than words.

Right now, I’m seeing more action from a realtor who wanted to thank her clientele in such a simple – but meaningful way – I wish we could check Anderson’s name on the ballot box.

One last thing: in the past three days, it appears few people took the flags down as they still waved boldly in the sea winds.

  

David Kooper, right, celebrates many programs at LAUSD's  Science Center in San Pedro with the director, John Zavalney.

Former  Los Angeles School Board Member Richard Vladovic’s Chief-of-Staff Steps Down from His Post to Tend to Wilmington Elementary School Children;

It’s His First Post as a Principal

By Diana L. Chapman

For more than four years, David Kooper buffeted phone calls, took complaints, managed suggestions, led campaigns and dealt with the media for his former boss, Los Angeles School Board Member Richard Vladovic.

But with a keen interest in kids and education, the former chief-of-staff began his new career Friday – as the principal of Gulf Avenue Elementary School, one of the few remaining schools in LAUSD that still runs on a year-round track.

It’s his first principal post.

Kooper, 33, said he was delighted to take on the role as he’s always dreamed of being a principal. The post with Vladovic, he said, essentially prepared him for the job.  He worked with scores of administrators, teachers and principals during the nearly four years he worked for the school board member and was pivotal in helping Vladovic successfully win March’s election for his second, four year term.

“Every job brings new experiences and new challenges,” said Kooper, a San Pedro resident who taught at three different elementary schools and was a magnet coordinator at South Shores Magnet Elementary School. “I have focused on student achievement district wide and I am eager to focus on one school and provide guidance and support for our hard working employees and eager students. 


 “I have had many great principal role models over the years. I have watched them lead teams that have produced great results and wonderful atmospheres and I want to do the same for another set of children.”

Kooper replaces Nora Armenta who was promoted to the executive director post for LAUSD's Early Education Division. He began Friday at the more than 1,000 student campus on L Street, but has yet to meet scores of students as they won’t begin school again until Tuesday.

On his blog, Vladovic bid adieu to Kooper and said he was saddened by his departure.

“The end of my fourth year on the Board is also met with sadness, as my Chief-of -Staff David Kooper leaves my office to take over as principal at Gulf Avenue Elementary School in Wilmington,” Vladovic wrote. “He has helped the Board of Education develop innovative district policies and procedures as well as been a great friend of the schools and communities of Board District 7.

“Although I’m excited for David, I am sad to see him go for he was a truly wonderful asset for my Board District.”

Vladovic’s District 7 takes in schools in Harbor City, Harbor Gateway, Wilmington,  San Pedro, Gardena, Carson, Lomita and a large chunk of southern Los Angeles.

Jacob Haik, who assisted Kooper, was named as Vladovic’s new chief-of-staff.

Known for always returning phone calls and attempting to do what’s right, Kooper most recently was able to work with San Pedro resident Robert Brandin to halt a long-termed LAUSD policy to toss out 22,00 federally-funded meals a day – due to fear of litigation.

Kooper asked LAUSD attorneys to review the laws and find ways that the district could spare  further, uneaten meals from being trashed. The good Samaritan Act, Kooper said, had changed enough to allow the district to hand over such meals to non-profits and other organizations  known for caring and feeding the homeless – without facing lawsuits if someone fell ill by eating the food.

 The new procedure  was triggered when Brandin asked Vladovic during a community forum why the second largest district in the nation wasted so much food and challenged Vladovic to change it. Kooper, with Vladovic’s blessing, pushed for the change.

Looking forward to meeting students on Tuesday, Kooper said his first day was spent getting the campus “and the paperwork ready for Tuesday’s opening.”

“I have a wonderful staff that has put together a good program for Tuesday,” he said adding that he has no interest currently in running for the school board in the future. “I want to do whatever job I do well and I don’t want to focus on what might be in the future. I am committed to giving Gulf Avenue Elementary School my full heart and all my energy.”

The school’s website says the school is often lovingly called “the old brick building”  because it was Wilmington’s first school house, only had four teachers and opened in 1920.

Today, it boasts more than 60 teachers and administrators and a more than 90 percent rate of Latino students.

While Kooper speaks only a bit of Spanish, he said, he understands it well and likely will learn more while tending to his new school. 

Harbor Area LAPD Senior Lead Officer Joe Buscaino flanked by police advisory board members,  Christopher Fukatake, 17, at left, Kavita Desai, right and Emmanuel Jimenez, 17, several at a recent teen conference.

LOS ANGELES POLICE EMBRACE ESTABLISHMENT OF TEENAGE POLICE BOARDS ACROSS THE CITY WHICH STARTED IN THE HARBOR AREA; YOUTH CRIME DROPPED AND STUDENTS INVOLVED SAY THE EXPERIENCE CHANGED THEIR LIVES FOR THE BETTER

“Doing the hard right instead of the easy wrong,” motto of the LAPD Teen CPAB.

By Diana L. Chapman

Six years ago, Los Angeles Senior Lead Police Officer Joe Buscaino landed squarely in the heart of two major San Pedro schools where problems abounded.

Fights took place outside Dana Middle and San Pedro High schools frequently. The students flooded the streets when both schools got out at the same time. Drugs were a constant and Buscaino felt somewhat overwhelmed. Then it hit him.

“We just weren’t connecting with teenagers in terms of problem solving,” Buscaino said, who lives in San Pedro with his wife, Geralyn, and two children. “What was a better way than to bring them to the table? It was ultimately the idea to give them access to the police department.

“Often we were just turning a deaf ear to what kids had to say.”

That’s when Buscaino pushed for and received permission to form  the Teen Community Police Advisory Board in the Harbor Area. The goal: to establish LAPD relations with teenagers, get them to know and trust police officers and to work with them toward the betterment of the community. The program has been so successful --with youth crime taking such a dip -- that the top brass soon noticed.

Now, Police Chief Charlie Beck ordered that all 21 LAPD areas host teen police advisory boards by the end of July.

“Through the vision and leadership of Joe Buscaino, the Teen CPAB has been very successful,” explained Patrick Gannon, a deputy chief. “Joe brought together a core group of teenagers who were dedicated at addressing serious community issues such as graffiti and bullying in our schools and neighborhood. The insight and the effort that these young people brought to these issues has been tremendous.

“Community policing is all about partnerships and problem solving. Increasing our partnerships with teenagers and then using them to solve problems of mutual concern is a valuable asset as we continue to try and improve public safety.”

Since it originated, youth crime slumped across the Harbor Area. Teen members encourage and help other students to stay away from drugs or other criminal activities. And  teen board members conduct public awareness messages – such as anti-bullying videos that will play in the fall at San Pedro High. The bottom line, Buscaino said, is an all out effort to build  associations between students and police. The young members also mentor students who are faced with troubles and don’t know where to go, said Kavita Desai, the current teen board’s co-president. The board has 38 members.

“We mentor students one on one,” said 17-year-old Kavita, whose friend, Andrew Andrade, also 17 is a member. “Being teenagers at school, we know who is under a bad influence. Students don’t want to go to adult. They can talk to us and it’s confidential. We basically try to stop them before they do something they regret.”

Since Buscaino’s brainstorm, the teen board has helped influence relationships between hundreds of students and officers for the better and statistics seem to prove that the program – made up of students from the Wilmington, San Pedro, Harbor Gateway and Harbor City – have possibly aided in a large dip in teen crime.

 For instance, five youth committed homicides in 2006 versus  none in 2010. In the same time frame, aggravated assaults dropped by nearly half, 97 to 45; robbery 105 to 65; grand theft auto dipped 19 to eight, according to LAPD statistics. Burglary, theft  and rape numbers stayed about the same, however.

The teen CPAB meets monthly at Boys and Girls Club sites to problem solve, work on issues that are becoming trendy, such as tagging, and to give teens “a voice.” It also heads yearly teen conferences in the spring where about 200 youth from all over Los Angeles gather to give them a voice to law enforcement.

While the program has built quite a bit of steam, in the beginning, Buscaino said students were wary and unsure if they even wanted to join.

“They were very hesitant and distrusting, and rightfully so,” the senior lead said. “What I gained was they never had an opportunity to establish a relationship with the police. They were timid and shy and it was hard to break that.”

But break it he did and the wall came crashing down between some officers and youth, some of whom nicknamed  Buscaino “Papa Joe” and said their lives changed for the better.

Gabe Maldanado, who joined as the executive secretary at the age of 16, touts the board left him with the sense that he could accomplish most anything and “puts a face” on police officers. Buscaino, he said, attacked the trouble “from the root” and was “clever” in that he handed over the reins to the students to let them lead the advisory board. He witnessed students involved in the program quit ditching classes and improved their grades. He applauds  LAPD’s decision to expand it across the city.

“Teen CPAB taught me to dream bigger every day,” said Maldanado, a 21-year-old graduate from UC Riverside who is now a marketing coordinator. “We went to Sacramento to speak to state legislators. We had teen conferences. It taught me I could do practically anything. I put myself through college. I just got back from Europe. It really changed the way we thought and we were inspired that we could do something for our community.”

Maldando also established a non-profit  TruEvolutions, dedicated to help develop youth in academic, artistic and entrepreneurial endeavors. All this, he said, came from his time with CPAB.

Another former board member, Isaiah Alexander, 21, who attends California State University, Sacramento said he’s ecstatic that the LAPD had the vision to expand on such success. Many students, he said, “feel like no one cares about them.” Those involved will change dramatically, as he did, for the better.

Alexander’s family had many gang ties in Long Beach. When he moved to San Pedro, it helped him cleanse away those ties, but serving on the board allowed him to grow and flourish and understand his capabilities.

“We have a lot of students who don’t like police,” Alexander said. “This (expansion) will define and change behaviors. There will be more trust and rapport and less stereotypes. It gave me a different image of police. I saw their human side.

“It gave me the chance to really work with officers and delegates. I had a chance to express myself and go to the capitol. We really took pride in what we did.”

Buscaino believes part of his success was that he was there to listen to the students and he gave them the freedom to run the board. For instance, he said, the teens decide on the topics to discuss at the meetings. Those involved tip Busacaino off to specific problems taking place in schools, which in turn, will be shared with school police and administrators. That can include anything from traffic and gang problems to narcotic issues.

Many issues involving after school problems at Dana and San Pedro were resolved with the use of the teen board along with help from the Safety Collaborative, a board of school officials, police and non-profits in charge of children’s welfare.

Although Buscaino is pleased with his work, he’s proudest of his youth’s work to pull together teen conferences each year which links hundreds of children with officers, including the top brass. The recent conference focused on bullying.

From that April conference teen Angelica Arreola wrote: “When someone asks me what did I learn from this day, I would say, it’s a day never to forget, a bunch of faces I will always remember. The different stories I heard really touched my heart because to know there are people out there going through what I went through makes me feel a bit less lonely. Bullying is one of the worst things to go through…

“Bullies, all they do is feed from our weakness and we should never give them that power. I also believe we are put in this world to make a difference. I want to make a difference in this world, and show kids out there that they are not alone.”

The Teen CPAB seems to have done just that.

Derek Esquibel, 17, goes to battle in his fight against Crohn's, this Father's Day.

LOOKING FOR A DIFFERENT FATHER’S DAY GIFT?  TAKE DAD RACING AT AN INDOOR GO-CART  TRACK  AND HELP RAISE FUNDS TO BATTLE CROHN’S DISEASE

By Diana L. Chapman

For the second year in a row, San Pedro High Student Derek Esquibel – who battles with Crohn’s  -- will host a fundraiser at the K1 Speed racetrack this Father’s Day weekend in his “race against Cohn’s.”

Derek, 17, an auto racing enthusiast, decided to combine his love for racing with his drive to prevent Crohn’s disease – an illness no child should suffer from, he said. He’s gearing up this weekend, both Saturday and Sunday,  to bring funds to the Crohn's & Colitis Foundation of America through the electric go-carts racetrack.

Fliers will be passed out in front of K-1 in Torrance. For each $20 race purchased, K1 will donate $5 to the foundation.

Since a severe episode in 2009, which dramatically threatened his health and kept him hospitalized for a month, Derek  told his parents that he wanted to shift gears and drive out Crohn’s. It lead him to do several fundraisers in which he’s garnered more than $4,000.

He also talks publicly about his less-than-glamorous illness, which inflames the bowels. In Derek’s case, it impacts both his small and large intestine, which has led to severe weight loss. Stress makes the disease worse and it can be life-threatening.

“It’s horrible to the immune system,” Derek told a group of students at the San Pedro High School Community Outreach Club. “Stress is a big part of it and racing helps me relieve my stress.”

At first, Derek said he was  skeptical about having his fundraiser on Father’s Day, but realized “it could be a great way to celebrate.”

Last week, a San Pedro McDonald’s donated cookies for the student to sell at school. He raised an additional $250.

To become part of this, donations will be accepted at K1 or online at:

http://online.ccfa.org/goto/RacingAgainstCrohns Race times are 11 a.m. to 11 on Saturday and 11 a.m. to 7 on Sunday.

K1 is located at 19038 S. Vermont Avenue in Torrance.