Monday, April 3 Investing Know-How Morgan Stanley Dean Witter hosts a seminar on “Investing for the New Millennium” at 15490 Ventura Blvd., Sherman Oaks. Information: (818) 907-2464. Monday, April 10 Chamber Lobby The United Chambers of Commerce of the San Fernando Valley goes to Sacramento to lobby state legislators. Legislative conference begins at 9:30 a.m. Monday and continues Tuesday. Information: (818) 981-4491. Tuesday, April 11 Women Executives The San Fernando Valley Chapter of Executive Women International meets at 6 p.m. at Aquaria Inc., 6100 Condor Drive, Moorpark. Cost is $32. Information: Nina Perry at (626) 564-4840. Wednesday, April 12 Capitol Breakfast The Valley Industry and Commerce Association honors Assembly speaker-elect Robert Hertzberg, D-Van Nuys, with a breakfast at the state capitol. Breakfast runs from 8:30 a.m. to 9:30 a.m. in the Governor’s Council Room. Information: (818) 226-6470. Thursday, April 13 Drugs at Work The Professionals in Human Resources Association hosts a seminar on drugs in the workplace that focuses on identifying problem employees and implementing a drug-free work program. Seminar begins at 11:30 a.m. at Warner Center Marriott Hotel, 21850 Oxnard St., Woodland Hills. Information: (818) 989-6555.

For more than a year, as the economy improved and the real estate market tightened, brokers bemoaned the lack of large, contiguous blocks of space to show potential office tenants. But now that several new facilities have opened with the capacity to house tenants of 50,000 square feet and more, they are filling with a number of small tenants that need less than 15,000 square feet. To be sure, San Fernando Valley developments like Glendale Plaza and the West Hills Corporate Village have snared a fair share of giants, but these buildings are also leasing to smaller office users, for whom the availability of large blocks of space doesn’t matter. What gives? “I think, really, L.A. is a city made up of small and medium-sized companies,” said Larry Kosmont, president of real estate consulting firm Kosmont & Associates. “You always look for a big tenant, but everyone knows those tenants are few and far between. The building is going to be filled up with small tenants because, guess what, our economy is filled with small tenants.” According to a report recently compiled by the Economic Alliance of the San Fernando Valley, 4,398 of the 63,810 firms housed in the San Fernando Valley have annual revenues of $10 million or more. At the same time, developers, even those with the most attractive properties, are first and foremost interested in renting their buildings no matter the size of the tenant. And larger tenants take longer to make leasing decisions. “The larger tenants are out there, they just haven’t landed yet,” said Bill Inglis, a broker with CB Richard Ellis Inc., who points out that Baxter International and Health Net are both currently shopping for space as large as 300,000 square feet. Small companies can often make a decision about a lease within weeks because the process only involves one or two principals. Large companies, on the other hand, must consider a wide variety of factors from location of the workforce to the company’s long-term growth strategy and these issues have to wind their way through a long chain of command. “These types of deals take a while to close,” said Mark Leonard, a principal with Trammell Crow Co., which is currently developing three properties in the Valley. “These tenants go into the marketplace well in advance of their needs and there aren’t as many large as small, but they are still taking place.” Some of the recently signed office leases in the Valley include the 135,000-square-foot deal made by State Compensation Insurance Fund at Glendale Plaza and Boeing Co.’s 170,000-square-foot lease at West Hills Corporate Village. Still, it is the small companies that are likely to represent the lion’s share of the market, both now and in the future. “For every one big block of space, you’re going to have double that square footage of small tenants,” said Rick Pearson, a broker with Cresa Partners. “The reason is that, for all the big companies, there’s a ton of little companies that have to support them.” In the long run, developers, even those with large buildings, are not likely to feel pinched by the preponderance of smaller tenants. For one thing, a building filled with a lot of smaller tenants is not as vulnerable if one tenant leaves as one with just a few large tenants. There is also a cost advantage to leasing smaller spaces. “It doesn’t really matter that much,” said Jerry Katell, president of Katell Properties. “Tenant improvements cost roughly the same amount per square foot, and certainly from a negotiating standpoint, the bigger tenants have more strength.”

Move Over Mickey It may not have a permanent home yet, but the annual Valley Fair now has its own mascot. While Burbank is still the undisputed home of Mickey Mouse and the Looney Tunes gang, the Valley Fair has inducted Manfred Moose into its ranks. Who is Manfred Moose? According to his Web site, www.manfredmoose.com, the cartoon character hails from Alaska and has appeared in numerous children’s books. Fair officials named the dubious moose mascot following the suggestion of the fair’s honorary sheriff, Dick Spangler, who also happens to be president of Phoenix Media Co., which owns Manfred Moose. The Valley Fair may not have the glamour of Disneyland and Manfred Moose may not have the fame of Mickey Mouse, but that hasn’t stopped Phoenix Media from taking on the famous mouse. At Manfred Moose’s Web site, Phoenix CEO Ron Irwin offers this challenge for Disney CEO Michael Eisner: “My moose, your mouse, anywhere, anytime.” Bugs Online Speaking of Bugs and Daffy, Warner Bros.’ entertainment portal, Entertaindom.com, doesn’t seem to be entertaining many if you believe Nielsen//NetRatings. According to the Internet tracking service’s February numbers, Entertaindom ranked No. 664 in popularity, just behind Backstreetboys.com. Nielsen reported that just 486,000 users visited the site in February, for an average of 3 minutes and 49 seconds. Company officials blame the site’s low showing on the fact that Nielsen’s numbers only took into account home use. Warner Bros. officials say most users log in from work. And they may have a point. According to Media Metrix, which tracks home and work use, Entertaindom ranked No. 53 overall in January (the most recent period available), with 4.3 million users. The site was just ahead of ATT.net, and right behind Sportsline.com. You Talkin’ to Me? A Pasadena Web site recently discovered the power of television. The site, www.wiseguys.com, was mentioned in a CBS trailer for the network’s upcoming “Falcone” series when a mobster asked a cop, “Where’d you get the information? Wise guys dot-com?” Company officials at www.wiseguys.com, a marketing agency, reported its Web traffic tripled from 500 hits a week to 2,000. That may seem like small potatoes, but Reagan Reed, Wiseguys’ “Diva of Digital Domains,” said prior to the March commercial airing, Web traffic at the site could “best be described as sleeping with the fishes.” Viva Las Glendale When the Three Tenors needed a top-notch orchestra to play at their first performance in Las Vegas, they didn’t turn to New York, Chicago or even Los Angeles. They looked to Glendale. The Glendale Symphony Orchestra will be backing the tenors April 22 when they perform live at Mandalay Bay Resort & Casino. Glendale Symphony Orchestra President Bill Ellis said he was honored to be working with the tenors. “The whole world will be given an opportunity to hear our musicians perform,” he said. Tilting at Windmills From the too late file The L.A. City Council unanimously approved a motion by City Council President John Ferraro asking the Chandler family to reconsider its decision to sell Times Mirror Co. and the Los Angeles Times to the Tribune Co. of Chicago. Ferraro wrote in the motion, “The announcement of this merger has been aptly characterized by some as: ‘I felt like I woke up and heard that the Pacific Ocean had been sold.'” The motion goes on to credit the Chandlers and the Times with several milestones over the past century. But one achievement Ferraro credits to the Chandlers and the Times seems a little dubious: “They helped to make a president of a hometown Congressman named Richard Nixon.” Of course, the L.A. City Council has absolutely no power to block the sale. And spokespeople for both the Times and its parent company failed to return calls last week. Water, Water Everywhere Water took center stage at the recent dedication of the Metropolitan Water District’s Diamond Valley Lake, which eventually will hold enough of the stuff to quench the thirst of all 16 million Southern California residents for six months. Of course, that doesn’t mean people at the MWD headquarters in downtown L.A. will be sampling the new supply. The beverage of choice for many employees is bottled water supplied by Sparkletts and Arrowhead.

It’s a typical day at the Encino-Tarzana Regional Medical Center. In the maternity ward of the hospital’s Women’s Pavilion, about 35 patients have just delivered babies. Another 14 women are in labor, about to give birth. Nothing unusual about any of that, except for the fact that the hospital’s maternity ward only has 29 beds. The arithmetic of managing a maternity ward, challenging at best, is especially problematic for a hospital like the Encino-Tarzana center because of its small size. So the hospital has launched a program it hopes will help expand its capacity. Moms who opt to give up one day of a hospital stay following delivery can receive three days of part-time home assistance with their newborn instead. (An early discharge also requires the approval of the attending physician.) Freeing up beds once mothers have delivered not only helps the hospital ensure it doesn’t run out of beds, it can also boost revenues. “If we eliminate one day (of in-patient stay), that’s 300 days a month,” said Susan Woolley, director of maternal-child health for Encino-Tarzana Medical Center. “Then I can bring in many more patients on the front end where we make the most profit.” Under the program, which began as a pilot and is about to go into full swing, Encino-Tarzana subcontracts with Tender Care Doula Service Inc., a Valencia-based provider of home health care practitioners called doulas who are specially trained in the needs of mothers and their newborns. The doula, a Greek word that means something like “mother’s mother,” helps with everything from guidance on breast feeding to cooking meals and tending to other children or just giving the mother a chance to take a nap while someone else watches over the newborn. Badly needed rest Encino-Tarzana Medical Center began to test the program in October as a way to help relieve overcrowding and improve profitability. Originally built to serve the wealthy, the hospital now draws most of its patient population from managed care and other types of insurance contracts with lower reimbursement rates than those it derived from private patients. “In the managed care environment, if they can get someone out of the hospital sooner and cut the cost, they’re going to make more money,” said Art Nemiroff, national director of health care advisory services for BDO Seidman LLP. The hospital pays Tender Care $20 an hour for each doula it uses. That compares with $400 a day in the cost of meals, supplies, equipment and fixed costs in the hospital, Woolley said. In addition to saving money on in-hospital stays, the program is expected to help Encino-Tarzana take on new business. By shaving one day off the stay of its maternity patients the hospital averages 300 deliveries a month it could add as many as 30 or 40 more deliveries each month, or $49,500 to $66,000 in revenues. In 1997, California passed legislation that mandates minimum hospital stays following delivery 48 hours for a normal delivery and 96 hours for a caesarian section unless the mother opts to leave earlier. Many moms would prefer to go home quickly, but with families dispersed geographically, the grandparents, sisters and aunts who once pitched in while mom caught a few badly needed hours of rest, are often no longer available. Doulas can provide that added support. “She’s the perfect auntie,” said Chris Morley, founder and president of Tender Care Doula Service. Under the Encino-Tarzana program, doulas are assigned to work four hours a day during the first three days after a newborn is brought home. The time frame is somewhat arbitrary, Woolley concedes, but it can make a big difference in the mom’s transition back home. “We looked at that period of time when mothers are most challenged and most susceptible to depression,” Woolley said. “They haven’t had a good night’s sleep. Their husbands are going back to work. We felt if we could get someone to help mom get off to a proper start, we would be giving them a leg up.” Training more doulas In the hospital, one nurse ministers to about 13 mothers. Specialists in lactating are only available on a part-time basis. And medications to relieve the pain of stitches are often placed at the mom’s bedside so patients can apply the ointments themselves. Doulas, who are all mothers themselves, receive 40 hours of training in breast feeding, post-partum depression and recognizing the symptoms of common ailments such as jaundice, so they provide the same support services a mom would receive in the hospital, on a one-on-one basis. “It makes sense on two levels,” said Nemiroff. “It sounds like a very astute program and probably offers the new mother some real benefits as opposed to lying in the hospital.” So far, because of limited availability of doulas during the pilot program, only about 10 percent to 20 percent of mothers have used the option. But in June the hospital will begin running its own doula program, using Tender Care to provide the curriculum and exams necessary for certification, with a larger staff. In the short time the program has been running, Woolley said moms and doulas have established the kinds of long-term bonds that hearken back to the days when villages really did care for children. She believes that when more doulas are available, more moms will take advantage of the option. The service not only helps the hospital’s bottom line, it also helps deliver better care to maternity patients. “We feel we’re going to be reducing re-admissions to the hospital and reducing morbidity that could have resulted in additional medical service by being able to improve the environment in the home,” Woolley said.

Game Show Fan? Ever since the ABC show “Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?” hit it big, and “Is that your final answer?” became a national catch phrase, the number of game shows on primetime television has exploded. But four months into the craze, one show “Winning Lines” has already been cut, and others could be headed for a similar fate. So the San Fernando Valley Business Journal asks: Do you watch the new game shows? Shirley Bower Engraver The Trophy Emporium I’m sick of them. I used to watch game shows as a kid and I still watch “Jeopardy.” But the “Millionaire” thing, I hate it. It takes five minutes for them to answer the question and then more time to say if it’s right. It’s about five minutes of actual game and 25 minutes of hype. Greg Pieschala Executive Vice President Environmental Industries Inc. I’ve seen them a few times. My impression is that they are far too easy. That, and it’s just amazing how quickly something like “Is that your final answer?” is incorporated into everyday vocabulary. But I don’t really watch the shows. Bennett Levin Owner Studio 3 Graphic Design I very rarely watch them. I’m not that taken by them. Occasionally I watch “Jeopardy.” I don’t watch any of the new ones. I’ve watched them a couple times but they don’t interest me. Chris Olsen Law Offices of Christopher Olsen I do watch the new shows occasionally. I think it’s kind of typical, all the knockoffs. Once one (network) does something that’s hot, everyone else jumps on it. I don’t watch the (shows) all the time, but I’ve checked them out. I’ve watched “Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?” It’s not deliberate, but if it’s on, I’ll watch and see people screw up on easy questions. I’ve seen “Greed” once or twice and it’s obviously a knockoff of “Millionaire,” but it seems a bit harder. The questions are more difficult and you compete in teams and people get knocked out. I haven’t watched “Twenty-One.” They’re pretty popular now, but it’s like anything. I bet in a year, most won’t be on. But who knows. Hank Yuloff Owner Promotionally Minded Ad Specialties The “Millionaire” one: the only time I watch it is when I’m tuning into “Dharma and Greg” and I catch the last few minutes. I’ve never watched the whole show. I’m so not interested in it. I haven’t wanted to watch any of them. I haven’t shown the slightest bit of interest. Christiane Dover Web Designer Computer Resources Unlimited Actually, I don’t watch them. I haven’t even wanted to check any of the new ones out. I just don’t have time for it. Sarah Withers Economic Development Manager City of San Fernando I have a 2-year-old and a 3-year-old, so I only watch kids’ videos and cartoons. I haven’t even seen them. I don’t have time. But I’ve heard a lot about that “Millionaire” one. What do they say, “Is that your final answer?” It seems to be getting a lot of hype. I keep hearing about it, but I’ve never checked it out.

Baxter Beefing Up Illinois-based Baxter Healthcare Corp. announced it will add 200 jobs to its Los Angeles and Thousand Oaks facilities over the next two years. The company said it will spend $200 million to add the additional jobs in an effort to triple production of its genetically engineered blood-therapy products. Baxter has applied for FDA approval for a $100 million expansion of its Thousand Oaks location, where it makes a treatment for hemophilia. About 150 jobs will be added to the Thousand Oaks facility by 2001, company officials said. That would bring the number of employees at the 100,000-square-foot facility there to 500. Another 50 employees will be added at the company’s Los Angeles facility. MTA Studies Housing Project The Metropolitan Transit Authority board agreed to start negotiations for a Los Angeles Children’s Museum and a senior housing project on land it owns near the North Hollywood Red Line station on Lankershim Boulevard. The National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences has proposed a six-story apartment building, with half the 160 units reserved for retired musicians, on the corner of Chandler and Lankershim boulevards. While they agreed to start the negotiations, MTA board members expressed concern over whether the housing project would be the best use for the land. The Children’s Museum is also considering other sites in downtown L.A. and at Hansen Dam in Lake View Terrace, and directors have said they will choose whichever landowner signs a deal first. Key Trial for Amgen Preliminary hearings began March 27 in a trial pitting Amgen Inc. against another drug maker in a patent infringement suit in U.S. District Court in Boston. Thousand Oaks-based Amgen filed the lawsuit against Massachusetts-based Transkaryotic Therapies Inc., which is seeking to make a knockoff of the biotech giant’s No. 1 selling product, Epogen. Amgen has grown to its present size largely thanks to Epogen, a drug used to prevent anemia during kidney dialysis. The drug has generated worldwide sales of $4 billion, making it the biotech industry’s best-selling drug. Transkaryotic, in partnership with European drug company Aventis, wants to sell its own version of Epogen. The case could have a far-reaching impact on drug makers beyond Amgen. Legal experts say if the court allows Transkaryotic to use its technology to develop its own version of the drug, other companies could likely do the same, leading to cheaper versions of drugs and decreasing profits for drug makers. Transkaryotic has six other knockoff drugs under development. Investors are watching the case closely because of the potential impact on the industry. The trial will begin sometime in April. Major Development Deal Trammel Crow Co. will develop a $43 million light-industrial business park on 33 acres in Van Nuys at the former site of the Marquedt Co., a defense contractor. The announcement of the development deal came from Mayor Richard Riordan, who said it was part of his Genesis L.A. program, which seeks to bring jobs to troubled areas. The property on Saticoy Street near Hayvenhurst Avenue and adjacent to Van Nuys Airport is one of the last large industrial sites available in the Valley. Marquedt employed up to 5,000 people in its 1970s heyday at the location, where it made bombs and space-shuttle propulsion systems. Trammell Crow is expected to renovate two buildings on the site and have them ready for occupancy by late April. The company will also build five more industrial buildings, which will be completed within a year. Vitesse Buys Chipmaker Camarillo-based Vitesse Semiconductor Inc. bought chipmaker Orologic Inc. for $450 million, a move that will allow Vitesse to increase its line of chips. Orologic makes silicon semiconductors. Vitesse makes semiconductors for telecommunications equipment using gallium arsenide instead of silicon. Company officials said the purchase will allow the company to offer customers a more compete chip package. Vitesse will issue additional stock to complete the purchase. Company officials said that while they expect the sale to have a slight negative impact on 2000 earnings, the move should eventually provide a substantial boost.

It’s a familiar story. A small business did gangbuster business through the late 1980s and then, boom, the recession hit. Business plummeted and it nearly went bust. That’s what happened to Larry Lindsay. After two decades of steady growth, his company, California Expert Moving and Storage Inc., fell on hard times. By 1996, he had scaled back his fleet from 14 trucks to six, and cut his staff from 35 people to eight. He also relocated his business from a 30,000-square-foot warehouse in downtown Los Angeles to an 8,000-square-foot facility in North Hollywood. “It was a smart move for us,” Lindsay said. “This business is feast or famine. We had to downsize.” Four years after hitting rock bottom, Lindsay’s company is back on a growth track, thanks to a booming economy that’s allowing many clients to move into bigger spaces. The company now has 30 employees and 11 trucks. And plans are in the works to move back into a 30,000-square-foot facility in the coming year. Meanwhile, revenue has steadily increased from $700,000 in 1997 to $1 million in 1999. In the process, Lindsay has learned a few lessons. He now plans to grow the company slowly. Instead of buying all its trucks, he has started renting vehicles when needed on larger jobs, avoiding hundreds of dollars in monthly loan payments and insurance costs. And instead of expanding his staff beyond what’s absolutely needed, Lindsay keeps a list of freelance day laborers to call on for bigger jobs. On the move Lindsay, now 53, got into the business with Lyon Moving and worked there for nearly two decades until he and George Hammer, a close friend and co-worker, decided to strike out on their own in separate enterprises. Lindsay formed his company in 1979. Hammer held onto his firm, Viking Transfer, until last May. When his parents passed away, he called Lindsay, who agreed to buy the business on one condition Hammer had to work for him as his lead salesperson. Hammer agreed. Between the two of them, they’ve done moving work for firms like Amgen Inc., Walt Disney Co. and Warner Bros. They’ve also done household moves a small percentage of their business for stars like Dennis Franz, James Cagney and Dean Martin. One long-time contract has involved the state of California. Mary Powers, district director of the State Compensation Fund, began working with Lindsay in 1992. She’s now working with him again, as her Woodland Hills branch is moved to Glendale. “They really are much more than a moving company,” Powers said. “They help us plan things we don’t think of ourselves. And they have a really stable workforce.” Lindsay estimates that about 90 percent of his business comes from repeat customers or word-of-mouth. “You’re only as good as your last move,” he said. Few days off Lindsay said service and low prices allow him to compete with major chains and the dozens of independent movers out there. He also has allied himself with Wheaton Van Lines to expand into national moves. In some cases, he acts as an agent, setting up work for Wheaton and collecting a finder’s fee. “This is a service business,” Lindsay said. “Anyone can do what we do, we just don’t want anyone to do it better.” For example, workers are not only trained to move heavy objects like desks but also fragile items like picture frames and computer systems. Employees also learn how to work with the people they’re moving. “There are tough guys in this business,” Lindsay said. “We train them not to whistle at the women, we teach them about service. If a client wants his desk moved around six different times, then we do it. It’s one of the reasons we maintain our contracts.” Weekends are the biggest moving days, so employees at client firms can leave their old offices on Friday and head to new office space on Monday. “There’s only one day we won’t work Super Bowl Sunday,” Hammer said. Before each move, crews are given a blueprint of the building being left behind and the one being occupied. The move is planned two weeks in advance, and items are numbered so nothing is lost or misplaced. Either Hammer or Lindsay oversees just about every job. “We’re not too big that we don’t take care of the little people,” Hammer said. Over the years, they’ve been given a variety of collectibles from people they’ve relocated. Lindsay has a copy of the Declaration of Independence, printed in 1876 to commemorate its signing, and a stagecoach used in the movie “Shenandoah.” Hammer ended up with an original agreement signed by Pancho Villa and the Mutual Film Co. of New York. While the friends specialize in commercial work, they say the hardest jobs are residential moves that involve divorces or widows leaving a house after a death. “You have to do a lot of P.R.,” Lindsay said. “When a spouse dies, they don’t see furniture, they see memories.”

Surfing the Net these days is, if nothing else, an act of market research . Wherever you go, your clicks are collected, categorized and filed away in hopes of using what you read and watch to guess at what you’d want to buy. Even if advertisers don’t know your real name, they can learn enough through this process to target you with pitches for products you’re likely to like. Why should this kind of research be limited to information elite? You hear a lot about the digital divide, but that phrase refers to home computer users. What about underprivileged marketers, the poor saps who lack the world wide wherewithal to compete with the Yahoos and the Amazon.coms? Enter NeedCom, the first Web site to provide critical market research for people who really need it: panhandlers. The site is built around a panhandling effectiveness survey, which invites visitors to rate the technique of six actual New York City beggars. “See, hear and read their panhandling pitches,” it says. “Vote with your virtual wallet and compare your generosity with the Web average.” A tour of the subjects ensues, including portraits, images of their equipment signs, old coffee cups, etc. and recordings of their standard sales pitch. “I’m asking for a little help to get a bed and a meal for the night,” one man slurs. “Anything you can spare would be greatly appreciated.” Another tries a more esoteric approach: “Love each other, love one another. Love each other, love one another. God bless you.” After watching each pitch, you click a button to say whether it would convince you to donate a quarter, 50 cents, 75 cents, $1 or nothing at all. Your responses are then compared to the average of other visitors’ offerings and you get a chance to learn more about the panhandlers. Panhandler picks So what approach works best? The survey’s most popular panhandler was Gary, a disabled veteran whose simple sign and humble appearance extracted an average of 38 cents from each visitor. Robert, the elderly wheelchair-bound man who encourages passersby to “love each other” finished a close second with 37 cents per visitor. As any advertiser will tell you, this kind of data should represent pure gold for the panhandling community. While you can’t actually trade it for a meal or a warm bed, the market knowledge available on NeedCom can help any beggar turn nickels into Susan B. Anthonys. There’s only one problem: Since most panhandlers don’t spend much time online, the research really won’t do them any good. But then, it isn’t really intended for them anyway. No, the beauty of this particular online marketing experiment is that it’s designed to help the guinea pigs that is, us. The site (www.pbs.org/weblab/needcom/home2.html) is meant to encourage us to reevaluate our attitudes toward the people we pass on the street on the way to our well-wired homes. By presenting poverty as a problem that might be solved by better marketing, the site’s creators jar us into actually looking into the minds of those we might otherwise ignore. “To bring panhandlers into the public eye requires a fresher, more comprehensive take on the issues surrounding panhandling,” write the site’s creators, Cathy Davies and Drew Gorry. “It requires a method that uses satire to slip past intellectual defense mechanisms and stereotypes of poverty.” Reaching the hard-hearted After doing the test myself, I was taken aback by my relative stinginess. While the average Web surfer spread out $1.55 among all six beggars, I donated a mere 50 cents. I thought about who got my quarters the panhandlers who didn’t directly ask for money and wondered about my reasoning. Should I have given more? If not, why? Though the site doesn’t actively encourage people to give more money to panhandlers, the mere act of inviting us inside their minds is bound to have that effect. And if it doesn’t if, after visiting NeedCom, you remain as hard-hearted as me at least you’ll be compelled to think about why you’re holding out. It’s a shame more panhandlers can’t see the site for themselves. But they should rest assured that it’s the best marketing campaign money can’t buy. To contact Joe Salkowski, e-mail him at [email protected] or write to him c/o Tribune Media Services Inc., 435 N. Michigan Ave., Suite 1400, Chicago, Ill., 60611.

With its “Rugrats” and World Wrestling Federation (WWF) wrestling games flying off the shelves last holiday season, it appeared that the sky was the limit for Calabasas video game maker THQ Inc. In the course of a few months, though, THQ’s shares have tanked. Chief Executive Brian Ferrell warned analysts that earnings would slow in the first and second quarters, and the stock began to decline. Making a bad situation worse, several law firms piled on by threatening to file class-action lawsuits against the company for allegedly tipping off analysts to the earnings slowdown before putting word out to the public. (The company has issued a statement saying the allegations are without merit.) In December THQ was trading at a split-adjusted high of $39.25 a share. As of the end of March, it was going for around $18, prompting investors to wonder whether THQ is headed for a TKO (technical knockout, in boxing lingo). Yet with THQ sitting on a broad product lineup this year and the company gearing up for the release of Sony’s hot new PlayStation 2 console in fall 2000, some analysts believe the company is poised for a comeback. “I see this as a great buying opportunity,” said Anthony Gikas, an analyst with U.S. Bancorp Piper Jaffray. “There has been a tremendous amount of shares trading hands and the stock appears to have built somewhat of a base. I don’t think there’s too much more downside.” Stewart Halpern, an analyst with Banc of America Securities LLC, agreed. THQ has a strong lineup of games for 2000, with several new titles as well as sequels to some of its most popular games, including the wrestling and “Rugrats” titles. Despite the decline in share price, Ferrell sees a bright future for THQ and the industry as a whole. A lot of people in their 30s and 40s grew up playing video games, and now the industry out-grosses the Hollywood box office. As Sony prepares for the U.S. launch of its PlayStation 2 console and Microsoft develops its X-Box game console, the interactive entertainment software industry is about to venture into a new frontier, Ferrell said. “PlayStation 2 dramatically increases the quality of graphics and sound. When you’re driving down the road in a road racing game, rather than just see a tree, you see leaves blowing on the tree,” he said. “You’ll be able to see facial expressions, pain, joy, the thrill of victory, the agony of defeat. We can do all those things now.” THQ is developing a role-playing fantasy game called “Summoner” that it hopes to have out in time for PlayStation 2’s U.S. launch in the fall. Ferrell hinted that the company has other games in development for the new platform. “Sony’s talking about (selling) 10 million units the first year and 100 million units in the first five years,” said Ferrell. “You’ll have a unit next to the television and it will be able to play DVD movies, audio CDs, games and connect to the Internet on a broadband level.” In January, Ferrell boasted in a press release that THQ had its biggest holiday selling season ever. THQ’s customers include Wal-Mart, Toys R Us, Target and Best Buy, as well as other national and regional retailers. The company’s games are developed both internally and under contract with independent creators and are typically based on properties licensed from third parties. THQ reported net income of $14.9 million (72 cents a diluted share) for the fourth quarter ended Dec. 31, compared with $10.9 million (57 cents) for the like year-earlier quarter. Revenue was $131.7 million vs. $111.5 million. According to consensus estimates from I/B/E/S International Inc., the company’s net income will drop to 25 cents a share in the first quarter and 3 cents a share in the second, before rising to 36 cents in the third quarter and powering to $1.44 in the fourth. But analysts have come under criticism in the financial press for forecasting such a big fourth quarter so far in advance. Gikas said he’s comfortable with the estimates, but conceded that it is difficult to make accurate projections in the entertainment software sector more than one or two quarters ahead. As for the threatened class-action lawsuits over the company’s earnings disclosure, no such suits had been filed against THQ as of the end of March, but the threat of legal action has likely scared away some investors. “It’s total B.S.,” said one analyst, who doubts any legal action would hold water. Company officials said they’re not prepared to comment unless a suit is actually filed, but they did say the company would vigorously defend itself if THQ is sued.

It’s been 12 years since Santa Clarita’s four communities joined to form a city government that would allow more control over growth, development and tax revenue. And yet, the formal ability to influence development adjacent to its borders is one of the biggest goals to elude Santa Clarita to date. In 1985, the Cortese-Knox Local Government Reorganization Act provided a way for local government to achieve orderly growth and development. It particularly addressed how to deal with urbanizing areas and urban sprawl, such as what is happening today in Santa Clarita. Specifically, this legislation created Local Agency Formation Commissions (LAFCOs), which designated city “spheres of influence.” These spheres are areas surrounding a city that allow local governments to formally comment on land-use planning occurring adjacent to city boundaries. The concept of a sphere of influence seems tailor-made for Santa Clarita, a growing city of 148,000 people in approximately 50 square miles, completely surrounded by developing unincorporated areas of Los Angeles County. Since the city’s incorporation 12 years ago, more than 20 communities and developers with proposed communities have requested and been successfully annexed into the city; eight more are currently pending. Seeking higher service levels, especially in the areas of police and recreation, and avoiding taxes levied within the unincorporated areas, newly emerging neighborhoods have joined the city of Santa Clarita with a laundry list of wishes and special needs. Lower standards for new development in the surrounding county area have created a discrepancy in the provision of infrastructure and service levels between the city and the county. Residents often notice these differences and proceed to annex into the city, then want the city to “fix” things. If the city had a formal role in the county entitlement process before development takes place, more consistent and cohesive planning would occur. In its first attempt to obtain a sphere of influence in 1989 from LAFCO, Santa Clarita was told it needed to complete its own general plan before a sphere could be given. In Santa Clarita’s second request for a sphere of influence in 1991, with its newly adopted general plan for the entire Valley floor of 256 square miles in hand, LAFCO denied Santa Clarita its request for a sphere, based on the city’s recent incorporation and perceived unproven financial stability. The city recently began its third attempt to secure a sphere. With its 10-year-old general plan under one arm, and its more than 40 awards for excellence in financial management, strategic planning and budgeting under the other, the city of Santa Clarita is now returning to LAFCO with a request for its much-desired sphere of influence. Like the other two requests, this one envisions a planning area for the city that centers upon an area within the Santa Clarita Valley that makes sense from a planning perspective, and represents a reasonable, ultimate city boundary. Ideally, this sphere area should encompass the 256-square-mile Santa Clarita Valley, which is already part of the city’s general plan. However, the city’s humble request is quite a bit smaller. Artificial government boundaries should not be taken into account when land-use planning decisions are considered for the Santa Clarita Valley community. No matter where someone lives in the Valley, community values consistently center upon quality schools, excellent public safety, preservation of oak trees, hillsides, ridgelines and preserving the natural Santa Clara River. Good government dictates that decisions for land use and planning are best made at the local level, with community concerns heard by an easily accessible legislative body that keeps its residents’ interests at the forefront of their mind. The practice of good government would dictate that Santa Clarita be granted its long-awaited sphere of influence. It is time to follow the 1985 Cortese-Knox Local Government Reorganization Act and bring local control to local government. Los Angeles County and its LAFCO have a unique opportunity to help implement good governance in a successfully emerging city. Let Santa Clarita have its sphere of influence and get on with self-governance. And let’s hope the third time is the charm for Santa Clarita. This article was signed by the entire Santa Clarita City Council: Jill Klajic, Janice H. Heidt, Frank Ferry, Laurene West and Mayor Jo Anne Darcy.