A Little History
Thirty-six
years ago the City of Rancho Palos Verdes was incorporated.
It took several years and was the product of two organizations.
One was Save Our Coastline (SOC), an umbrella organization
that was responsible for fund raising and some strategy in
forming the city. The other organization, The Palos Verdes
Peninsula Advisory Council, was made up of the homeowner’s
organizations in the incorporation area and Eastview. The two
organizations were coordinated through a steering committee
made up of members of both organizations. John was a member
of the Board of Directors of the Palos Verdes Peninsula Advisory
Council representing the Palos Verdes Village Homeowners Association
and sat on the Board for two years prior to the incorporation.
The Advisory Council represented the area to be incorporated
as the official petitioner for the incorporation of the city.
When we
had successfully fought the developers and won the right to
incorporate. The
election proceeded and was resoundingly positive. The new city
council appointed a Planning Advisory Committee and proceeded
to develop our General Plan and Zoning Code. While the committee
was working on these plans and ordinances the number of meetings
that it took required that some subcommittees meet as often as
four times per week. This work was done through joint committees
of the council and the advisory committee.
John was
appointed to the Planning Advisory Committee by the council
and as a member was sued by a developer for $20,000,000 for
conspiring to violate the developer's constitutional rights. The court threw out the claim against
the advisory committee because an advisory committee could not
conspire without having the power to make decisions. The trial
proceeded with the city prevailing. When the advisory
committee was changed to serve as the planning commission it
was reduced from seven to five members. John was one of
the five appointees to the first Planning Commission. In
all, John served in the planning process of the city for ten
years. During that time the Coastal Specific Plan was designed
and approved and John served for a year as the chair of the Planning
Commission. John then ran for city council and has
served since.
He has shown commitment and
leadership ever since. |
