By DANIEL TAUB Staff Reporter The area surrounding Hansen Dam in the Northeast San Fernando Valley is a hodgepodge of spent gravel pits, industrial warehouses and an outdated steam plant. But that could soon change. The community of Pacoima a Native American word that means “rushing waters” could be home in the near future to such attractions as a riverside walking trail, a sports facility or even an amenity that would fit its name, a water-themed amusement park. The Los Angeles Community Redevelopment Agency recently put out a request for proposals for developing the 600-acre Hansen Dam area in Pacoima and has received five proposals that are being considered by an advisory committee. The land is owned by the Department of Water and Power, CalMat Co., the city of L.A. and other property owners. The group ultimately selected to develop the area will get a $180,000 city contract to create a vision statement and design plan for the parcel, which is bordered roughly by Foothill Boulevard on the north, Van Nuys Boulevard on the west, Laurel Canyon on the south and Sheldon Street on the east. It must also prepare a financial analysis that tests the feasibility of the project and includes guidelines for such things as building heights, streets and walkways, open areas, lighting, security, rehabilitation of existing buildings and marketing. “It really is a vision statement, and hopefully we’ll be able to make that statement and find companies that will be interested in a major proposal to construct,” said City Councilman Richard Alarcon, whose district includes Hansen Dam and who asked the CRA to put out a request for proposals. An advisory committe formed by Alarcon will choose the best of the five proposals, which then must go to the CRA board for approval. The proposal ultimately must be approved by the City Council something that CRA officials hope will happen by the end of September. Lillian Burkenheim-Silver, the CRA project manager for the Hansen Dam plan, said her agency is following Alarcon’s lead on the project. “We don’t have a preconceived vision here,” Burkenheim-Silver said. “Every council person knows their district in some ways better than anybody else. And Councilman Alarcon has really exciting ideas for his district and this area, and that will lead a lot of the discussion.” Bastion Capital Corp. Chairman Danny Villanueva, who has teamed with historical building restorer Wayne Ratkovich to create one of the five proposals under consideration for the parcel, said the Hansen Dam area is underserved in terms of social activities for local residents. “This, I think, would go a long way to answering that weakness that little gap that exists in cultural and recreational activities there,” Villanueva said. Villanueva’s proposal was the only one made public because Villanueva is a member of the proposal selection committee and has to abstain from decision-making in the matter. The other groups that submitted proposals were not made public, per CRA policy. One of the ideas that Villanueva and Alarcon share is a water park to be called “Rushing Waters.” It would be a family-themed amusement park with water slides and other wet attractions. Alarcon said that creating a plan for the Hansen Dam area’s economic development is the best way to motivate the private sector to build there. “I call my district a victim of piecemeal planning,” Alarcon said. “If you create a scheme, then it makes it easier to sell to major investors.”

INDEPENDENT CONTRACTOR AGREEMENT THIS INDEPENDENT CONTRACTOR AGREEMENT (the “Agreement”) is made this 22nd day of July, 1997, by and between Lisa Steen Proctor (“Contractor”) and CBJ Associates, Inc., d/b/a The San Fernando Valley Business Journal (“Firm”). RECITALS WHEREAS, Contractor has expertise in writing for business publications. WHEREAS, Firm is publishing a specialized publication entitled the San Fernando Valley Business Journal (the “Publication”) and desires Contractor to write one article for Publication; NOW, THEREFORE, in consideration of the covenants and agreements contained herein, the parties agree as follows: Section 1: Independent Contractor/Services Provided. Contractor shall be an independent contractor and shall in no way be deemed an employee of the Firm. Contractor shall write one article for the Publication. The article is due by noon on Friday, July 25, 1997. The Firm shall have final authority whether to publish the article. Section 2: Training/Furnishing of Tools. No training will be provided by the Firm. Contractor shall be responsible for hiring, supervising and paying his own assistants. In no way shall Contractor be acting in the capacity of foreman or supervisor on behalf of the Firm if or when Contractor hires assistants. Contractor must furnish all tools, materials, and other equipment necessary to perform the services under the terms and conditions of this Agreement. Contractor has no authority to enter into any agreements on behalf of the Firm or Publication. Contractor represents that he has all necessary insurance, business licenses and business permits necessary to work as an independent contractor or as required by law. Contractor agrees to indemnify and hold Firm harmless for any and all Claims (including reasonable attorneys’ fees) arising out of or resulting from Contractor’s performance of this Agreement. Section 3: Set hours of work/location of work/services rendered personally. Contractor’s hours of work shall be of his own choosing. Contractor’s workplace shall be of his own choosing at a site other than Firm’s premises. This contract is not exclusive. Contractor has the right to perform services for others during the term of this Agreement. Section 4: Payment. a) Billing: Firm agrees to pay contractor $265.00 for the article. Contractor will be paid by Firm 30 days after publication. b) Kill Fee: In the event that the Firm does not publish Contractor’s article, Firm agrees to pay Contractor $50.00 for any article not published under the terms stated in (a) above. c) No additional compensation: Contractor shall not be entitled to any compensation other than as stated above. Nor shall Contractor be entitled to any benefits that would otherwise accrue if Contractor were an employee of Firm. Contractor accepts full and complete responsibility for filing all tax returns and paying all taxes which may be required or due for payments received from Firm under the terms and conditions of this Agreement. Such taxes include, but are not limited to, FICA tax, FUTA tax, and state and local income or earnings tax. Contractor shall not be eligible for participation in any employee benefit plan now or hereafter offered by Firm to its employees. Section 5: Entire Agreement. This Agreement embodies the entire Agreement between the parties and there are no agreements, representations or warranties between the parties other than those set forth or provided herein. This Agreement supersedes any prior written or oral agreement of this matter. There may be no modification to this Agreement, except in writing signed by all parties. This Agreement shall be governed by, construed and enforced in accordance with the laws of the State of California. Section 6: Copyrights. All Articles prepared by Contractor under this Agreement shall be the sole and exclusive property of the Firm. Contractor agrees to assign and does hereby assign any and all right title and interest to the article to Firm. Contractor further agrees to execute any necessary documents for Firm to perfect such assignment and ownership interest. Section 7: Termination of Agreement/Relationship. This Agreement and the relationship between Firm and Contractor shall terminate upon the payment for the article as provided for in Section 4. Since, under the terms of this Agreement, Contractor is working independently and not as an employee, Firm has no right to discharge Contractor at will. Similarly, Contractor has no right to terminate his relationship with Firm at will. IN WITNESS WHEREOF, the parties have freely executed this Agreement as of the date first written above. CBJ ASSOCIATES, INC., d/b/a The Los Angeles Business Journal By: _____________________________________ Title: ____________________________________ “Firm” Name: _____________________________________ (Print) _____________________________________ “Contractor”

smallbiz/dobb/mike1st/jc2nd BRUCE DOBB When Redken Hair Products abandoned its Canoga Park production facility in l995, it took 360 jobs with it and left behind a 189,000-square-foot industrial property that had been badly damaged by the Northridge quake. Two years later, a state-of-the-art film production facility is emerging on the site with a major studio anchor and a cluster of industry-related small companies that will ultimately add 1,000 new jobs to the local economy. Variel Studios, as the site is now called, is the nucleus of a media cluster in the West San Fernando Valley that may one day rival the one in Burbank. The seed for this blossoming entertainment hub of small businesses started when developer Robert E. Selan and his partners took a big risk by purchasing the 11.3-acre Redken site at 6625 Variel Ave. last year. That risk paid off when New Line Cinema leased 125,000 square feet of the building for two years at a monthly cost of 89 cents per square foot. (Comparable buildings in the area go for 55 cents a foot.) And that company installed millions of dollars in improvements before its lease expired. Today, about the same amount of space in the building is being leased by Fox Television, which is paying 92 cents a foot. The Canoga Park property is uniquely suited for filming. It offers parking for 812 cars, plenty of adjacent surface parking for trailers and vans and a floor plan and structure ideal for film shooting. Warner Bros. and Ivan Reitman Productions both wanted to lease the site, but Fox won out. So what does all this have to do with small business? Well, that studio-based anchor can go a long way toward attracting small, support-oriented companies to the area, which is exactly how Burbank’s Media District became so successful. The Variel Studios site where Fox Television is now housed has up to 30,000 square feet of office and non-production space that will be used to provide a home to some 20 small companies. The Valley Economic Development Center, an independent non-profit Chamber of Commerce spin-off that has worked with more than 7,000 small and mid-sized companies following the Northridge quake, is playing a major role in bringing those small companies to Variel Studios. The VEDC is working with property owner Selan and his partners to offer small, high-potential companies “affordable” rents, tailored to the particular company’s ability to pay, and other amenities, such as conference rooms, secretarial services, business consulting services and computer hardware that smaller and start-up companies may not be able to afford. VEDC is just now beginning its search for the right tenants for this facility. They must be companies with high potential for creating new jobs and for expanding. They need to be operated by success-oriented individuals who understand that risk and reward are related if you believe in your product or service and are willing to work night and day. Jim Jacobs, senior consultant at VEDC, is heading up this effort, and can be reached at (818) 907-9977. He currently runs the West Valley Business Assistance Center and has been assisting small companies with recovery efforts since l994. Los Angeles City Councilwoman Laura Chick understands the importance this project for the future of her district and has helped obtain the Quake Recovery Repair Loan that will make this vision a reality. “What started out as a loss of jobs (Redken leaving) has been rapidly turned into a job bonanza for the local economy,” said Chick. “This is what economic recovery is all about, and my office is working to be sure it happens throughout the Valley.” VEDC provides financing, business counseling, and assistance with marketing, accounting, sales and other aspects of business operations. Many smaller firms in the entertainment industry received quake-recovery relief with VEDC’s assistance. These companies edit films, provide lighting or sound equipment, design special effects, develop software products or provide other vital services needed by the industry. One VEDC client, Orbit Entertainment Group, produces television commercials. This company began by operating out of a single-family house with three employees and within two years has grown to nine full-time workers housed in 3,500 square feet of office space in Hollywood. When in production, it employs dozens of editors, writers and camera crews. Orbit’s sales have grown five-fold over this two-year period. This kind of growth is only possible with the right nurturing and management consulting. VEDC has effectively created an “incubator without walls” that helps Orbit and other companies flourish. The goals of an incubator are: diversification of the local economy, expansion of the small business sector, increased employment and income in a designated community, recycling of existing vacant properties, business retention, technology transfer or development of a targeted technology. As of l997, there were 44 California incubators with more than 500 businesses in them. These incubators are often organized around industry clusters, such as computer software designers, environmentally beneficial products, light manufacturing, transportation, communications, etc. The incubators themselves are subsidized by a wide range of entities: the federal Economic Development Authority, Department of Housing and Urban Development, California State Department of Trade and Commerce, phone companies, utility companies and publicly spirited sources of private capital. If things go as planned, the incubator at Variel Studios will spawn a thriving community of small companies serving the entertainment industry in Canoga Park. Bruce Dobb is the chief credit officer for the Valley Economic Development Center’s revolving loan fund and a regular contributor to the San Fernando Valley Business Journal.

letter/jc. Give Taxpayers a Break Every hard-working Californian gives on average 40 percent of their total income to support the government each year. This year, California is expecting an additional $2 billion in revenue from personal income taxes beyond what had been projected. It is clear to me that this surplus revenue should be returned to the hard-working taxpayers of California. It is often forgotten that this money is not the government’s to be spent frivolously on bureaucratic salary increases, but is our hard-earned dollars that should be used to provide for our families. The state needs to return the money to where it belongs the taxpayers. I support tax relief specifically designed to assist the working families of California. A plan that would allow families making up to $28,000 a year to pay absolutely no personal income taxes. In the first year under our plan, 1.1 million Californians would no longer need to file a state tax return and it would further reduce taxes for another 5.9 million taxpayers. After the initial tax reduction, this relief would spread to reduce taxes for over 7 million taxpayers and 1.4 million citizens would no longer need to file a state tax return. The average tax savings is estimated to be $200 per family. In real dollars that could mean that a single mother raising one child could afford a new playpen, could pay her bills on time and most importantly permit a little extra breathing room. Every hard-working citizen will begin to breathe a little easier at the end of each month as they receive relief from California’s burdensome tax system. Working families deserve some relief from the state of California. GEORGE RUNNER California Assemblyman Republican Whip Lancaster

medialab/24″/1stjc/mark2nd By DAN TURNER Staff Reporter NBC this month introduced a new character named Johnny Chimes, an animated peacock lounge lizard who sings Sinatra knock-offs while promoting the network’s primetime lineup. You wouldn’t know it to look at him, but Johnny is actually a woman. And while she’s certainly lively, she isn’t animated. She’s a real live, flesh-and-blood puppeteer, who dresses in a blue rubber suit and straps on enough wires and cables to resemble a human marionette. Johnny Chimes is an example of a phenomenon called “performance animation,” a computerized motion-capture technology that has been around since 1989 but is only recently taking hold in the American animation business. He is created on a tiny soundstage in Burbank by Medialab Studio L.A., a joint venture between French entertainment company Canal Plus’ digital arm (also called Medialab) and Burbank post-production house Four Media Co. Performance animation is created by strapping puppeteers with wires that control the movements of a virtual, computer-generated character. Johnny Chimes isn’t the only live-action animated figure on TV. A similar live-action animated figure appears on The Site, a news and information program on the MSNBC cable network. And Medialab isn’t the only company producing such characters. But its recent deal with NBC will bring wider exposure for the technology than ever before in this country. The system is already well-known in France, where Medialab’s parent has produced several feature films and a magazine show hosted by an animated video game character “Planet Donkey Kong.” The key attraction to NBC is fast turnaround time. John Miller, the network’s executive vice president of advertising, promotions and event programming, said Johnny Chimes might eventually be an on-air comedian, telling topical jokes about recent events. So the ability to produce him quickly is crucial. “A regular animated character takes forever to animate,” Miller said. “When we have an idea, we can turn this thing around in a matter of days. With traditional cel animation, it would take weeks to get it done.” In the case of Johnny Chimes, one puppeteer controls the movements of his body. Another wearing a glove in which each individual finger movement controls a different facial expression controls his mouth movements and expressions. A third puppeteer controls the blinking of his eyes, while a fourth makes his trademark NBC peacock tail open and close like a fan. Because the character is created in real time, it is possible to produce animation as quickly as a live-action show, and directors have the same control over the finished product as they would if working with a human actor. And because the animated character is easily superimposed over a real background, it is possible to seamlessly mix live characters with animated ones. “The thing that has always kept animation from having a major presence on television was cost and time,” said Mackenzie Waggaman, executive producer at Medialab. “Now you can have the same time and budget for live-action and incorporate animated characters.” Animation executives praise motion capture technology, but point out that it does have limitations. The abilities of the characters are limited to the abilities of their human puppeteers they can’t be squashed flat as a pancake after a safe falls on their heads, for example. And despite assurances from Medialab that performance animation is comparatively inexpensive, cost is still a factor. “Probably, they’ll have to deal with cost issues down the road,” said Andy Heyward, president of DIC Entertainment L.P. The biggest cost for producers is the creation of the animated character. Although the computer interprets all the character’s movements once it has been created, artists first have to set the parameters, coming up with a digital design that involves substantial time and expense. Waggaman said it costs between $100,000 and $150,000 to create a digital character. After that, producers need only pay a day rate to film segments using the character, at a cost of about $27,000 a day to use Medialab’s studio. Compare that to the $350,000 to $400,000 per episode that it costs to produce a half-hour animated TV show, and motion capture is a bargain, Waggaman said. “There’s no comparison between our system and key frame animation,” Waggaman said. “You amortize the cost of your character very quickly.” NBC won’t be the only forum for Medialab. Early next year, the Fox Broadcasting Co. network will debut a mid-season replacement show called “VENUS on the Hard Drive.” Medialab officials aren’t allowed to reveal much about VENUS, but the title character is a virtual woman produced by the studio who will interact with live-action characters. Medialab is also branching into feature films. In last summer’s live-action “Adventures of Pinocchio,” Pepe the Cricket was created by Medialab’s French parent. Currently, the creation of the digital characters is done in France, while ongoing production is performed in Burbank. Waggaman, though, said equipment and animators are being imported to L.A. so that the entire production job can be done locally. “Medialab’s characters have a good look, and they’re smart people (at Canal Plus),” said Heyward. “I think they’ll be very successful.” As for Johnny Chimes, who is still in the testing stage for NBC after appearing last week during the NBA finals, there is no telling where the network might eventually take him. “The best thing about Johnny Chimes so far is, he has no agent,” Miller said. “Even though he has already been written about in a number of magazines, he has not asked to renegotiate his contract. And we can fire him at any time.”

smart & final;/18″/dt1st/jc2nd By JULIE SABLE Staff Reporter Vernon-based Smart & Final Inc. has been selling giant-sized discount groceries out of warehouse stores since 1871, catering to both restaurateurs and family consumers with big appetites. But its new store in North Hollywood, dubbed Smart & Final Plus, marks the beginning of something new for the 126-year-old chain a 30,000-square-foot laboratory where new products can be introduced and tested. If they sell, there’s a good chance they will be integrated into some or all of the chain’s other 173 outlets. Walking into the Laurel Canyon Boulevard store, it’s immediately apparent that one hasn’t entered an ordinary Smart & Final. For one thing, it boasts an on-site bakery and fresh meat section, common sights in regular supermarkets but unique in the Smart & Final chain. But not for long. Store manager Jeff Bloks said business in the bakery, expected to bring in just 2 percent of the store’s sales, has accounted for 4 percent. “It’s been so popular that we’re ready to roll this out in new stores in Bell and Santa Barbara,” Bloks said. Smart & Final chose North Hollywood as the location for its research and development store for several reasons, company officials said. For one thing, the store is surrounded by 4,000 businesses in a three-mile radius, and has a loyal customer base. “Normally we look for at least 2,000 businesses as they comprise a good portion of our customer base,” said Martin Lynch, Smart & Final’s executive vice president. “This was a prime area for us to be in, and so when it came time to relocate the small existing North Hollywood store, this location became ideal.” In addition, the North Hollywood location is 30,000 square feet twice the size of the typical Smart & Final outlet. In addition to the bakery, the Plus store is the only Smart & Final store to carry fresh meat, including beef, pork and chicken. The Smart & Final chain has always been distinctive in that it caters to both consumers and restaurants, and the Plus store is no exception. Restaurant owners looking for industrial ovens, the hardware for a salad bar, a neon sign to hang in a front window, or even chef hats and aprons, can find them within the expanded store. If you can’t find what you are looking for among the store’s 15,000 stocked items, a special order desk uses computer technology to connect shoppers to 10,000 additional items available from Smart & Final’s foodservice distribution warehouse. Unique to this store, the service is expected to become part of more stores in the chain in the future. For small, startup restaurants or those with small kitchen staffs, pre-cooked menu options such as five-pound bags of pre-cooked scrambled eggs, or strips of pre-cooked bacon in packs of 100 are included. “Many chain restaurants like McDonald’s provide food to their restaurants, so this gives smaller restaurants options to include in their menu planning,” Bloks said. The interior of the store differs from other warehouse stores by placing some shelves below eye level. In addition to the standard 8-foot-high shelves found at other Smart & Final’s there are 4-foot-high shelves in the center aisles making the store look more spacious. So far, the store’s clientele is split evenly between foodservice providers and families, Bloks said. Matt Mowry, the director of baseball for Sports Plus day camp in Northridge, shops at Smart & Final Plus every day during the summer. “I have to come for snacks, soda and ice every day and really like to shop here, as they are helpful and I can get in and out in a hurry,” Mowry said. “I’ve got a hungry and thirsty crowd of about 300 children back at the camp, so efficiency is important to me.” As consumer tastes and needs evolve, Smart & Final plans to keep testing new products. “If we try something and find that it doesn’t work, and we use a highly sophisticated tracking system to determine how quickly products move, we will take them off the shelves,” Lynch said. The Plus store is so new that no products have yet been identified as failures. Due to the popularity of the “fresh” products, the Plus store will add more fresh meat, produce and menu selections to its stock, according to Lynch. The North Hollywood store, because of the surrounding demographics, also stocks many ethnic foods including Italian pastas, sauces and seasonings; meats used in Mexican dishes like carne asada; foods with Mediterranean origins like grape leaves, and kosher foods.

TOURISM/14″/dt1st/jc2nd By JOE BEL BRUNO Staff Reporter It sounds like a bad “B” movie: Superman vs. the Tyrannosaur. But the battle is a real one, being fought this summer by the Valley’s two major tourist attractions Six Flags Magic Mountain and Universal Studios Hollywood. Magic Mountain is touting the new Superman: The Escape, while Universal is pushing for tourists to revisit Jurassic Park: The Ride. Both amusement parks are vying for tourist dollars during a summer season expected to be one of the busiest ever. “We’re expecting that attendance is going to be way, way up during the summer from last year,” said Tim O’Brien, an editor with Nashville-based Amusement Business magazine. “Tourists are going to visit both (Valley) parks on vacations, and residents will probably hit both as well because of the new rides and publicity.” Universal Studios Hollywood is the beneficiary of a prodigious marketing campaign for Steven Spielberg’s wildly popular “The Lost World: Jurassic Park” movie, distributed by parent company Universal Studios Inc. Television commercials are encouraging local audiences to see the movie, then extend the experience by visiting or more to the point, revisiting the park’s Jurassic Park: The Ride. Thus, Universal kills two promotional birds with one stone. The year-old Jurassic Park attraction features grazing herbivores, a ferocious T-Rex and a steep, 84-foot water slide. Meanwhile, on the Backlot Tram Tour, props from “The Lost World” have been added to the other cinematic artifacts. “The movie is generating the kind of publicity that we hoped for,” said Eliot Sekuler, a spokesman for Universal’s theme park. “It’s what everyone is coming to see.” But Universal isn’t the only park taking advantage of movie promotions. Magic Mountain is playing off the recent release of the “Batman & Robin” movie from Warner Bros., hoping that the film will draw traffic to one of its attractions the Gotham City Backlot, a reconstruction of the film set from the original “Batman” movie that comes complete with a floorless roller coaster and a reproduction of the Batmobile. Unlike Universal, though, Magic Mountain does not have a promotional tie-in with the latest “Batman” film, and is not advertising the Gotham City attraction. It is, however, running television commercials touting its newest roller coaster Superman: The Escape. The 41-story coaster is one of the world’s first magnetic-propelled attractions and reaches speeds of over 100 mph. The new attraction opened March 15 after more than a year of delays. Magic Mountain sought to open the ride last summer, but technical glitches kept Superman grounded. “We’re getting very high attendance so far since (Superman) opened,” said Palmer Moody, a spokesman for Six Flags Corp., a unit of Time Warner Inc. “We’re much higher than last summer.” Neither Universal Studios Hollywood nor Magic Mountain releases attendance figures. However, O’Brien at Amusement Business said he expects traffic at both parks to jump by about 30 percent this summer. Last year, Universal attracted 5.4 million visitors (up from 4.7 million in 1995), according to estimates from Amusement Business. Meanwhile, Magic Mountain which has not added any new attractions in the past two years hit 3.4 million visitors in 1995 and about the same number last year, O’Brien said.

miscikowski/sfvbj/24″/dt1st/jc2nd By DANIEL TAUB Staff Reporter Starting this month, the San Fernando Valley has a new representative in Los Angeles City Hall Cindy Miscikowski, who worked as a planning aide and chief of staff to predecessor Marvin Braude for nearly two decades. As the new 11th District councilwoman, Miscikowski represents a district that includes parts of Van Nuys, Encino, Tarzana and Woodland Hills. The district also stretches over the Santa Monica Mountains to encompass part of West L.A. and all of Pacific Palisades and Brentwood, where Miscikowski lives. Miscikowski, 48, was the only new council member to be elected this year. She recently met with editors and reporters at the Business Journal: Question: The 11th District is split between the Westside and the San Fernando Valley. Is there a problem in juggling your Valley half vs. your Westside half? Answer: I guess I’ll find out, but I don’t think so. I went to a meeting last night in Mountaingate and that was right between the two areas. And in that community, there were folks from Woodland Hills there, from Tarzana, from Brentwood, from Pacific Palisades all folks who found some common issues in the Santa Monica Mountains and the conservancy and how it purchases land and what’s going to go on with development. And it really was bringing them together. And there is much more joining together, at least with neighborhood associations, that I think has been effective in terms of their lobbying efforts. There clearly is a drumbeat going on that the state of the Valley is different, and one of the areas I want to focus on is Van Nuys. Q: What are you looking to do there? A: Well, I would like to really restore the area. Clearly, you’ve got the Van Nuys (Civic) Center project going on that Marvin (Braude) started. You’ve got the (site of the former General Motors) plant. So you’ve got some energy and excitement looking at the region. I’d like to concentrate on Van Nuys Boulevard next. In the past, there actually was a tentative exploration of a redevelopment project there. And for a lot of reasons that was abandoned. But it might work if one were to go up and down the boulevard, and maybe not even up and down the boulevard to start, but pick a block or two, a block north or south of the Civic Center, where you’ve got abandoned buildings. (I will) really talk to property owners, and say, “What would it take? What would you like to see? What would make things work for you, make you want to come back in and buy a building here?” And literally work on it maybe on a block-by-block basis start with a model block. And not that I’ve got all the solutions, but would a specific plan work? Would some of the incentive programs work? Q: So do you mean a redevelopment area possibly for Van Nuys? A: Not (Community Redevelopment Agency) redevelopment. But why not take a block, a nice big block or two, find out who all the property owners are in that block, and look at the conditions? Around the boulevard there are shuttered, abandoned buildings. And why are they abandoned? Let’s find out who owns them, let’s find out what incentives might attract somebody there. See if you can work on them, a small segment at a time, and really see if it works, and see if it can be replicated. Van Nuys used to be the center of the Valley, with the government and with the business center. And I still remember when I first started working with Councilman Braude in the early ’70s, the biggest problem with Van Nuys Boulevard was that it was still the “cruise” street. Everybody cruised Van Nuys Boulevard. “American Graffiti” that was the image. And it was an interesting spot where people gathered. It’s not now. Is Warner Center the Valley identity? Or can we create a Valley center in Van Nuys as the Valley identity? Q: As development activity picks up again, how do you plan to approach those conflicts that will inevitably arise between business and homeowner groups? A: One of the projects that I pointed to on the campaign stump was on Ventura Boulevard at Hayvenhurst (Avenue), and it’s the last project I worked on. This is the Encino Market Place project. A Ralph’s market is there. Rick Caruso is the developer. Rick came along and said, “Cindy, I think I’ve got a project that will work. I am willing to meet with you and the community.” But he came in September and said the bank was only going to give him three months to get all the entitlements he needed specific plan changes, zone changes and an (environmental impact report). If you know business in the city and process in the city, you would have said it’s impossible. I said we could make it happen. And we did. So again, it’s looking at each project on a case-by-case basis. What do they need to make things work? Q: Are you concerned about recent delays in the Valley rail extension? What’s your sense of that, and what role will you play as that moves forward? A: That’s probably the most difficult question you’ve asked. I don’t have any kind of easy fix. The (Metropolitan Transportation Authority) is such a mess. It really needs to be revamped. I don’t know where and how it ought to be revamped. No one is happy with it. Q: Is the 2007 date for construction to begin too late? A: A commitment to a real date is what I think is important. (The year) 2007 sounds a little bit far off. Ten years from now doesn’t sound bad to me, but I would like to see a real commitment to a line, to a date to get things underway, and not continually revisiting that date.

csun/d.taub/34″/dt1st/jc2nd By DANIEL TAUB Staff Reporter Students and faculty at Cal State Northridge were outraged last month when administrators cut men’s baseball, volleyball and swimming. But the decision also upset another group: Valley business leaders. Corporate officials say they would have donated money, started a fund-raising drive or done whatever else was necessary to preserve the teams but the university never asked. Moreover, business leaders say, the sports situation reflects a larger rift between CSUN and area businesses. “Quite frankly I don’t see a whole lot of activity going on in relating to the business community,” said Walter Mosher, president of Precision Dynamics Corp., a Pacoima-based medical supply company with 350 employees. “I don’t really see them getting out and trying to build relationships with businesses.” CSUN President Blenda Wilson said the university is reaching out to the business community, pointing to $2 million in corporate contributions for the 1995-96 fiscal year. But Wilson also said that the diversity of the Valley’s business community makes it difficult to reach. “The thing to say, I think, is that the business community is segmented in the same way all economic communities are segmented,” Wilson said. Others, however, put the blame on the university. “I really don’t think they’ve connected with anybody here in the Valley, with their athletic programs, their business programs, their fund raising,” said Richard Hardman, executive director of the Northridge Chamber of Commerce. State Sen. Cathie Wright, R-Simi Valley, whose district includes CSUN, said that the university’s ties to the business community were better before the 1994 Northridge earthquake. Damage to CSUN was the most severe ever suffered by a U.S. university from a natural disaster. “It seems to me that things were going well until the earthquake, then I think the university itself got so preoccupied with getting up and running that that was the main thrust,” Wright said. “I think they did lose contact with the local community, which includes the business community.” But Wright also believes that the university is starting once again to realize the importance of having a close connection to the Valley’s businesses and that local business people want to form partnerships with CSUN. “I think the signals are there, and I think the university understands that, and I think you’ll see some changes,” she said. CSUN eliminated the three men’s sports as well as men’s soccer, which was later given a temporary reprieve after it proposed funding itself for one year in order to comply with Title IX, a gender-equity law that requires universities to allow women and men equal opportunities in sports. Although the law was intended to encourage universities to add women’s sports teams, limited budgets have instead forced some to eliminate men’s teams to comply with the law. The decision last month surprised students, faculty, alumni and local business leaders alike. “Had we known any of the sports were in danger at the university, some of us would have tried,” said Barry Pascal, owner of Northridge Pharmacy, located a block from the university’s campus. “I’m not saying that the end result wouldn’t have been the same, but at least we would have tried to do some fund raising.” John Rooney, president of the Valley Economic Development Center, added that Cal State Northridge has only recently made any serious attempts to work with businesses in the area. “If the university was more aggressive in partnering with the business community, I think it would have the relationships needed to meet some of its major goals,” Rooney said. At the same time, Rooney and others said there are signs that relations between the business community and CSUN are improving on some other fronts, including: – A decision by the Northridge Chamber of Commerce to hire CSUN students to do a feasibility study for the Northridge Business Improvement District. “We’re hoping they’re going to do an outstanding job for us,” said Walter N. Prince, chair of the chamber’s Planning and Land Use Committee. – The recent creation by the university of a new major in entertainment industry management a partnership of the schools of arts, business and engineering. The major was designed based on input from local entertainment companies, and students in the program will do internships and apprenticeships at the companies. – The formation by CSUN of a task force primarily composed of local business people and business organization members to give it input on the university’s north campus retail project. Wilson said one example of the university’s increased efforts to connect with the business world is a computer system developed by faculty members that shows which industries in the area are growing, along with the number of students graduating in those fields. “This is an elaborate computer program that will be available to chambers and others in the region,” Wilson said. Ric Hill, vice president of corporate relations for Woodland Hills-based 20th Century Insurance Co., was also complimentary of CSUN’s relationship with the business community, saying that Wilson visits the company once or twice a year. “We as a company have hired a lot of people that have graduated from CSUN,” Hill said, adding that 20th Century hires more graduates from CSUN than any other local university. Wilson also pointed to the funds CSUN has raised from such local businesses as 20th Century, KNBC-TV Channel 4, Hughes Aircraft, Atlantic Richfield Co. and Litton Systems Inc. Businesses contributed more than $2 million to the university in the 1995-96 fiscal year, and are projected to donate $2.4 million in the 1996-97 fiscal year. The $2 million CSUN received in donations from businesses in the 1995-96 fiscal year ranks lower than the average for universities in the CSU system. The average amount was just over $3 million, and CSUN was ranked No. 10 in business fundraising among the 22 universities currently in the system. Bruce Erickson, director of public relations for the university, said CSUN has many connections with the Valley in its art, music, theater, health and counseling programs, but that those connections are often unseen by those not directly involved in them. “It’s almost invisible, the way we’re woven into the community itself, until a program is cut or hurt in some way,” Erickson said. Many people also fail to realize that CSUN has an annual payroll of nearly $90 million, and a $170 million-plus annual operating budget a significant addition to the Valley’s economy, Erickson said. David W. Fleming, a Studio City attorney and Valley business booster, said the university’s relations with local companies have improved since Wilson became CSUN’s president in 1992, but that it along with all of the other universities in the Cal State system has a history of depending on Sacramento for all its funding. Nonetheless, even with recent cuts in state funding, Fleming said the local business community is not the first place CSUN should turn for financial support. “I think the first order in fund raising for colleges and universities is to tap the alumni, and obviously schools that have been around for 100 years have a lot more going for them,” Fleming said. As for the university’s athletic department, CSUN Athletic Director Paul Bubb said he would have liked to solicit the business community for donations, but he was working within tight time constraints at the time he decided to cut the three teams. Even so, Bubb said he doubted they could have been saved with business donations alone. “Could we have, or would we have, raised enough money to save all four sports? I think that might be stretching a bit,” Bubb said, noting that it would have cost $1.5 million to add three women’s sports teams and keep the men’s teams. But the point, Prince said, is not whether the teams could have been saved, but whether CSUN sees itself as being connected with the surrounding business community and whether the school sees local businesses as a place where it can turn for help. “Policy-wise, I think that the school has made a lot of missteps with the local business community,” he said. “So they’ve made a lot of, I think, really bad public relations blunders. Can they correct them over time? I think they can. Are they going to correct them over the next six months? I doubt it.”

newsmakers/valley/18″/dt1st/jc2nd Advertising/Public Relations Carlos Darquea has been appointed executive vice president, creative director and partner at Westlake Village-based Ahlman & Associates. His responsibilities include the creative end of all accounts, including the development of strategic positioning, concepts, visual marketing, advertising broadcast, graphic design, copy and production. Prior to joining Ahlman, Darquea was creative vice president of marketing at Victoria’s Secret. Banking & Finance Verdugo Trustee Service Corp., a subsidiary of Glendale Federal Bank, has named Tim Arick president and chief operating officer. He was vice president of Verdugo prior to the promotion and previously served as deputy to L.A. County Supervisor Edmund D. Edelman. Glendale Federal Bank has named Nancy K. Mueller vice president and manager of real estate underwriting. She will be responsible for retail underwriting and credit services. Mueller was a credit services team leader prior to her promotion. Chatsworth-based Premier America Federal Credit Union has named John M. Merlo president and chief executive officer. He was with Hughes Aircraft Employees Federal Credit Union prior to joining Premier. Jay Laifman has been appointed vice president and counsel at Countrywide Home Loans Inc. Prior to joining Calabasas-based Countrywide, Laifman was an associate with Percher, Nichols & Meeks in Century City. Entertainment Dick Clark Corporate Productions, a subsidiary of Dick Clark Productions Inc., has named David Lee director of production. He was promoted from manager of financial services. Prior to joining Burbank-based Dick Clark, he worked for Martiz Inc. Dick Clark Corporate Productions specializes in corporate events and event marketing, meetings and trade shows. Buena Vista Pictures Marketing, based in Burbank, has promoted Oren Aviv to senior vice president of marketing and creative advertising. He will oversee the creation of all theatrical trailers, broadcast materials and print elements for live-action motion pictures produced and released under the Walt Disney, Touchstone and Hollywood Pictures labels. Buena Visa Pictures Marketing has also promoted Kristy Frudenfeld to senior vice president of media. She had served as vice president of media prior to her promotion. Burbank-based Warner Bros. Inc. has named Barbara S. Brogliatti senior vice president of corporate communications. She will serve as the official spokesperson and chief press officer for Warner Bros. with responsibility for the company’s corporate and business press. Health Care Burbank-based UniHealth has named Arnold R. Schaffer president and chief executive officer of Glendale Memorial Hospital and Health Center. He served as chief executive officer for Encino-Tarzana Regional Medical Center prior to joining Glendale Memorial. Columbia West Hills Medical Center has appointed Judy Apland as vice president of managed care. Prior to joining Columbia, she served as director of managed care for Providence Holy Cross Medical Center. Additionally, Diane Lowder has been named vice president of patient care services at Columbia West Hills Medical Center. She most recently served as vice president of patient services at Northridge Hospital Medical Center. High-Tech / Aerospace Richard J. Hoag has been appointed president and chief operating officer of Logical Computer Services Inc. in Burbank. Hoag was a senior executive in the consulting, retail, entertainment, real estate and securities industries prior to joining Logical. He was most recently with Map Inc., a management consultant firm. Westlake Village-based Digital Theater Systems has named Marina Bosi vice president of technology standards and strategy. She will be responsible for establishing new digital sound technology standards and implementing related strategies. Bosi had served as technology, marketing and standards project engineer for Dolby Laboratories prior to joining Digital. Internet Specialties West Inc. has named Lisa Parson head Web designer. She will be responsible for the firm’s corporate clients’ Web sites. Internet Specialties West, located in Westlake Village, is a full-service Internet Service Provider. Gene Meyers has been named general manager of New Castle Operations of Chatsworth Products Inc. Meyers was vice president of Middle East operations at Mirad International Corp. prior to joining CPI. The Westlake Village-based company, manufactures products used to organize, store and secure computer and communications equipment. Ameron International Corp. has named three new executives to its corporate staff. James R. McLaughlin has been promoted to vice president treasurer. He was with GenCorp Inc. where he served as director of operational analysis, prior to joining Ameron. Dewey H. Norton joined Ameron as vice president – controller. He was vice president of finance at Baldwin Filters before joining Los Angeles-based Ameron. The new vice president of special projects is William L. Baldwin, who joined Ameron after serving as president of Speedring Inc. Real Estate Catellus Development Corp. has appointed Anthony J. Manos vice president of industrial development for the Southwest region. He will be responsible for the development of all industrial properties in that region. Glen Allen, who formerly held the position, has been appointed vice president of construction services, overseeing the Los Angeles company’s industrial building on a national basis.