Issue September 18, 2014 - September 24, 2014

briefs Kuehl and Shriver debate

transportation and economic development Page 3
cover story pages 8-9
briefs 9900 Wilshire project
plans to break ground in 2015 Page 3
briefs Beverly Highs Romeo and
Juliet to perform this weekend Page 10
On the Safe Side
Health and Safety Commission Chair Stacia
Kopeikin discusses making Beverly Hills safe
Page 8 Beverly Hills Weekly
coverstory
ON THE SAFE SIDE
Its incumbent on
us as individuals to
be informed and to be
prepared. We have to
[have] more individual
responsibility. We cant
count on the city to do
everything for us, and
not in the way that they
cant do it, but in the
sense that there are
things that we need to
take responsibility for
ourselves
Health and Safety
Commission Chair Stacia
Kopeikin
How did you become involved with
the commission?
I became a commissioner in 2007
when the commission restarted. There
was a health and safety commission
years ago. I was on the first group of
seven and I had an interest in it. I had
done Team Beverly Hills and part of
that is to encourage community involve-
ment, which I had been involved in very
much in Beverly Hills. It just seemed
like a perfect fit, specifically, the safety
element is something that I`m passionate
about.
At the time, and currently, I work with
the Beverly Hills Police and it`s some-
thing that`s close to my heart. I thought
that this would be a good fit for me to be
involved in the city side as well as being
involved professionally.
I`m actually finishing up my term. I`ve
been on the commission for seven years
now. It`s been a fabulous rewarding
opportunity.
In what ways has the commission
grown and changed since it restarted
in 2007?
It`s definitely changed when the com-
mission first started. We had two medi-
cal doctors. We have a dentist now, but
we don`t have an MD. The composition
has changed, but it`s a diverse group of
citizens. Everybody seems to bring a dif-
ferent area of expertise to the table. It`s a
really good mix of people.
There are seven [commissioners]
although we`re going down to five.
We`re the last commission to have
seven. The City Council has voted to
make everything more uniform so we
will be going down to five like the other
commissions.
What other organizations were you
involved with in Beverly Hills?
I went through the CERT and CPR
training. I was vice president of the PTA
at both the elementary and high school
level when my children were attending
the public schools. I was a member of
the General Plan Update Committee
with the commercial and residential
interface. Then I managed numerous
political campaigns and was involved
politically for many years, both on the
school board and the city council level.
We interviewed former Chair Gail
Millan in the Weeklys Issue #733.
She said she hoped to make people
aware of doing a better job of taking
care of their health and safety and
that the commission continues to
work to really build a better, stronger
community thats more aware of
health and safety issues. What is
the Health and Safety Commission
working on to continue those
endeavors?
Currently, we are working with the
Human Services Department of the city.
We`re going to be supporting and host-
ing a collaborative event for networking
agencies that assist with Beverly Hills`
older adult community with health and
safety issues. That`s going to be held in
November. That`s probably the biggest
thing we`re working on right now.
We most recently participated last
month in National Night Out. We had
a booth doing outreach on a diverse
number of subjects from flu prevention
to clean hands, pedestrian safety, [and]
vector control issues.
Recently, we studied, reviewed and
provided policy recommendations for
the City Council on the issue of the
sale and use of e-cigarettes, which fol-
lowed up on us doing the same thing for
tobacco. We are suggesting doing the
same laws that are currently being held
for tobacco with e-cigarettes.
We get presentations from different
city of Beverly Hills` departments and
interface with them regarding health and
safety issues. For example, we would go
tour the Emergency Operations Center
and then learn about
the different citizen`s
parts within each of
the departments and
what people can do
and then we do the
outreach to get people
involved
We also instituted
the Health and Safety
Award a few years
back. It is for an indi-
vidual or an organi-
zation that has made
a contribution to the
city in the department
of health or safety.
For example, one of
the winners was the
Every 15 Minutes
Committee. They
received the award as
the group for putting
on the event at the
high school.
Also, we`re involved
in Dangerstoppers.
We helped developed
and participate in the
Dangerstopper vidoes,
and that`s in conjunction with the city`s
cable office. Our latest is on pedestri-
an safety, but we`ve also done them on
fighting the flu [and] protecting your pet.
They`re scenarios and situations for differ-
ent emergencies and health issues, and how
the community can best get the information
of what to do during these [situations]. The
commissioners participate in the videos.
For example, you can see me and my dog
Buddy in the 'Protect your Pet video.
Recently, the LA Times released
a chart showing that BHUSD has
one of the highest rates of personal
belief exemptions for kindergarten
vaccinations in the LA County. How
does the commission plan to inform
the community on the importance of
vaccinations?
Our commission has addressed this issue.
We`ve had speakers give us presentations
regarding that and while we don`t take any
hard and fast policy statement on it, [it] has
been discussed that vaccinations are very
important and necessary for the health of
our community.
The speakers come to the commission
meetings, which are public. Everybody is
invited to attend our meetings and they are
televised live as well. Any presentations
we get are for whole community.
Tells us about what you do for the
BHPOA.
For the BHPOA, professionally I have
a business partner, and I do all of their
events, fundraising, marketing, merchan-
dise, PR, just about everything.
What are some upcoming BHPOA
events?
The Police Service Day and Pancake
Breakfast day was Sunday from 8 a.m.
to noon. It was an
enormous success.
Approximately 2,500
people braved the
heat to attend and
enjoy delicious free
pancakes prepared
by Beverly Hills`
finest, station tours
and other interac-
tive BHPD displays.
We want to thank
our fabulous spon-
sors, Rotary Club of
Beverly Hills, Langers
Juice, The Beverly
Hilton and Individual
Foodservice.
The Black and
White Gala is on Nov.
3. It will be held at the
Beverly Hilton. This
is our largest fundrais-
ing event of the year.
We expect close to
1,000 attendees and to
have a fabulous silent
and live auction. It`s
the community`s way
to say, 'Thank you,
back to this fabulous police department that
we are so lucky to have.
Tell us about your family.
I`m married. We just celebrated our 30th
wedding anniversary. I met my husband,
Larry Kopeikin, in college and he is a part-
ner at an entertainment law firm, Morris
Yorn, in Century City.
I have a son, Max, who`s 26 years old.
He lives in San Francisco. He is in gradu-
ate school getting his masters to become
a marriage and family therapist. He`s also
a yoga instructor who specializes in acro-
yoga, which is acrobatics in yoga.
My daughter Hannah, 24, works in
evens and marketing for Yahoo in New
York. Both my kids are graduates of UC
Berkeley. My daughter graduated Phi Beta
Kappa.
What are your goals as Health and
Safety Commission Chair?
Our goals are pretty much consistent. As
Gail said, our mission is to create commu-
nity culture of awareness and preparedness.
We serve as ambassadors to the city in all
health and safety related issues.
This year we`re continuing to do what
we`ve done in the past. We help the Office
of Emergency Management under Pamela
Mottice Muller [Office of Emergency
Management Director] to get involved in
hoping and helping our city be prepared in
the event of a disaster. It`s not a question of
if it will come, it`s when.
We`ve partnered with Mayor [Lili]
Bosse in helping with the Mayor`s Lunch
and Learn program. We`ve been provid-
ing input on the subjects. In fact, one of
our former commissioners spoke at the
hea|th aod SaIety 0omm|ss|oo 0ha|r Stac|a kope|k|o
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By Nancy Yeang
September 18-September 24, 2014 Page 9
first Lunch and Learn program on heart
health. That`s something that we`ve been
continuing and is a goal of ours this year.
What have you learned from being on
the commission?
It`s incumbent on us as individuals to
be informed and to be prepared. We have
to [have] more individual responsibility.
We can`t count on the city to do every-
thing for us, and not in the way that they
can`t do it, but in the sense that there are
things that we need to take responsibility
for ourselves. A lot of that has to do with
preparedness in the event of an emergency
as well as our own everyday health needs.
We deal with things like washing our
hands and trying to avoid getting the flu.
Besides being involved with the
BHPOA, in what other ways will you
continue to be involved with the City?
That`s probably my main way that I
will stay involved with the city right now.
My kids are both grown and gone and
I`m not involved in the schools anymore.
My main involvement will be through the
police.
It`s sometimes not a bad thing to take a
step back from things.
ALEX CHERNISS
SAN MARINO UNIFIED SCHOOL
DISTRICT SUPERINTENDENT
Hawthorne Principal: 2006 to 2008
Hawthorne Assistant Principal: 2004 to
2006
Beverly Vista math teacher: 2000 to 2004
2013 ~ 2014 student population: 3,132
'I had a great experience as a principal at
Hawthorne. I would say that one of the most
important lessons I`ve learned as principal
of Hawthorne is that there`s no such thing as
a small issue because to somebody it`s a big
issue. [I understood] that when parents or teach-
ers come to you with a matter or a concern, to
them it`s a big deal. To be able to learn that and
to value the input of all stakeholders in the school community is a really important les-
son that I translate to my job as superintendent at the SMUSD.
The SMUSD is the highest achieving school district in the state of California,
which we`re very proud of. At the same time, there`s also a really high expectation
to succeed. It`s my job to continue that tradition. Not so much focusing on being the
highest achieving district in the state of California, but really focusing on providing
the best and most innovative programs for the students and having the most highly
trained teachers in the state of California. If we do that, then the results will take care
of themselves.
The community in San Marino is very similar to Beverly Hills in that the schools are
really the crown jewel of the community. The entire community has a lot of tradition
and a lot of second and third generation folks that come to the schools. The schools
drive the community and it`s been an unbelievable place to work.
There`s a special place in my heart for Beverly Hills because that`s where I spent
the majority of my career as a principal and as a district administrator. My wife [Liz
Cherniss] still works as a preschool teacher at Beverly Vista.
There`s a lot of untapped potential in the BHUSD, and I don`t believe they are where
they want to be or where they need to be. But I hope in time, with the right people
leading the district, that they`ll get there.

NANCY LYNCH
SOLANA BEACH ELEMENTARY
SCHOOL DISTRICT SUPERINTENDENT
BHUSD Instructional Services Director:
2006 ~ 2007
Hawthorne Principal: 2004 ~ 2006
2013 ~ 2014 student population: 3,031
'Serving as a principal and Director of
Instructional Services in the BHUSD gave me
experiences that have benefited me in my cur-
rent position.
Solana Beach is a similar community to
Beverly Hills with highly engaged and sup-
portive parents. Our students benefit from the
Solana Beach Schools Foundation, which is
facilitated by very dedicated and hard working
parents and volunteers to meet the supplemental and enrichment needs of our young
learners. Both communities provide meaningful support to schools and place an
exceptional focus on education. In many other districts, there is not the same level
of engagement and participation by parents and the community as a whole.
I developed strong relationships with staff and parents while in Beverly Hills and
still maintain some of those friendships to this day. Working in Beverly Hills pro-
vided me wonderful experiences that helped me to become a superintendent in the
Placerville Union School District and now Solana Beach.
PAT ESCALANTE
HERMOSA BEACH CITY SCHOOL
DISTRICT SUPERINTENDENT
El Rodeo Principal: 2005 to 2010
2013 ~ 2014 student population: 2,689
'I have several, very strong relationships
professionally and in the Beverly Hills
community. [Being an El Rodeo principal]
helped me because [Hermosa Beach City
School District also] has a grade continuation
from kindergarten through the eighth grade.
They`re both K-8 and we`re also a high per-
forming district. My placement in Beverly
Hills along with my other experiences alto-
gether, including being a stay-at-home mom
for 19 years, helped me prepare for being
superintendent. I`ve seen both sides.
DAN STEPENOSKY
LAS VIRGENES UNIFIED SCHOOL
DISTRICT SUPERINTENDENT
Beverly High Principal: 2003 to 2006
Beverly High Assistant Principal: 2000
to 2003
Beverly High Science teacher: 1995 to
2000
2013 ~ 2014 student population: 11,137
'Working in Beverly Hills was terrific. I
started my first 11 years of education there as
a teacher, an assistant principal, and a prin-
cipal. The support and the expectations from
the community, the parents, and the staff,
[made] it an amazing place to learn and grow.
Some of the leaders that I learned and fol-
lowed from, and modeled myself after [were] Tanis Harris, Art Fields, Steve Fisher,
Sol Levine, Ben Bushman, Gwen Gross, Vivian Saatjian-Green, Carter Paysinger,
Toni Staser, Stewart Horowitz, Jane Wortman, and Joel Pressman. There were so
many great people and many are still there. Even the police chief, Dave Snowden
was always great to the schools, and he still is.
I learned a lot about servant leadership. You`re really going to earn a lot of
credibility if you`re willing to roll up your sleeves, work next to everybody, be a
team player and listen. The more you listen, the more you gather information and
perspective from others, and the better chance you have of moving an organization
forward. When people have a sense that you`ve considered their points of view and
perspectives, and their concerns and excitement, and their ideas or any of those kinds
of things, they`re much more willing to follow someone like that [instead] of a top
down leadership model.
I tried to capture a lot of the best of the elements that were part of Beverly when
I was there. A family feel, an open door feel and a small town feel, and a team
approach to things. That doesn`t mean that we don`t disagree. Disagreement is going
to happen. It`s natural, it`s good and to be encouraged, but let`s focus on solving
problems, checking our ego at the door and focusing on the mission of student learn-
ing. Many things come at schools, especially higher profile schools like Beverly and
Las Virgenes, we get easily pulled by lots of forces in different directions. Keeping
it simple and focused on kids and what`s best for kids is what we`re trying to do.
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