Westchester/Playa Council approves $43,750 in grants

The Neighborhood Council of Westchester/Playa del Rey voted Tuesday night to spread $43,750 among seven community projects that ranged from new equipment at the Westchester Recreation Center to outreach programs for the area's homeless population.

The council voted 16-5 to in favor of funding the following projects:

• $12,500 - Westchester Recreation Center for youth sports equipment and facility upgrades, including padding for the walls of the indoor basketball court to prevent injuries. The requested amount was $20,000.

• $12,000 - Westchester Playa del Rey Achieving Results Together Educational Foundation to continue the Peters Procedures program at Orville Wright Middle School. The requested amount was $10,000.

• $8,000 - People Assisting The Homeless (PATH) for homeless outreach in Westchester and Playa del Rey. The requested amount was $10,000.

• $5,000 - Loyola Village Elementary Booster Club to buy 22 new printers for classroom use at Loyola Village Elementary School. The requested amount was $5,000.

• $2,500 - Flight Path Learning Center for repairs and continued operations of the center's flight simulators for youths. The requested amount was $5,000.

• $1,000 - Westchester Playa Village to help the nonprofit with its marketing and outreach efforts to provide services for senior citizens. The requested amount was $5,000.

• $2,750 - 87th Street Merchant's Group for a beautification project on 87th Street in Westchester.

The board members heard public comment and held a lively debate before determining the final amounts. The grant awarded for the Peters Procedures program was higher than the amount requested after several speakers, including students from the middle school, lauded its effectiveness.

Patrick Hayes Jr., 11, a sixth-grader at Orville Wright Middle School was named a governor through the Peters Procedures program, which teaches students education-enhancing social skills such as staying focused, being personal responsible and good old-fashioned manners. Hayes urged the board to support funding the program and said it had made a difference at his school.

"Basically, what I want to say is Peters Procedures has helped my class and not only my class but a lot of sixth graders," Hayes said. "Because a lot of sixth graders were like new to the school, so they didn't really know what was going on.  I don't want to say bad, but kind of rowdy. My class was not responsible. When Miss Peters introduced her Peters Procedures practice to us, a lot of kids didn't want to do it at first, but once they went over it they kind of liked it."

His father, Patrick Hayes, also backed the program and said his son's grades have improved.

"I think it's been a good deal," he said.

Genevieve Peters, founder of Peters Procedures, said the program was in the first year of a three-year stint at the school.

Some board members were reluctant to fund Westchester Playa Village, a new nonprofit that aims to help senior citizens in Westchester, Playa del Rey, Marina del Rey and Playa Vista. At one point during the debate over funding, it's funding was completely withdrawn and allocated to other projects Some board members said they did not believe the council should be funding the marketing efforts of new nonprofits and pointed out that other recipients, such as PATH, had a strong track record of community involvement.

Board member Tony Schaeffer pointed out that senior citizens are an often ignored part of the population.

"There are many seniors who are lost in their homes and don't come out in the community. They're literally lost and that's a problem in itself. There are numerous examples where public money is used as seed money because it's a worthy cause and this is a worthy casue," Schaeffer said. The board shortly thereafter decided on granting $1,000 to the group.

Board member Cheryl Burnett pointed out that many of the grant recipients had direct or indirect ties to board members and urged that the board be more aggressive in recruiting organizations without affiliation to board members.

Burnett said she went on the council's Web site to see how someone would know that funding is available and she spent 25 minutes trying to find out how to apply for a grant.

"When I look at the dollar requests and the numbers of organizations, we're looking at over 50 percent, 60 percent of the money were giving and the organizations that were giving to are affiliated with someone on this board," Burnett said. "I think we need to address that in the future and figure out how we can improve that."

In other board action, members voted unanimously to endorse a letter being sent to Councilman Bill Rosendahl and the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power indicating the council's preferred route for the high-voltage Scattergood-Olympic transmission line that will run from Playa del Rey to West Los Angeles.

The letter stated: "NCWP recommends that the preferred alternative routing of the line include Westchester Parkway because it presents the least impact on residents long term and an opportunity to accelerate completion by not limiting construction times to off hours normally required to reduce vehicle traffic impacts."

The DWP recently held community meetings to solicit input and share the proposed alternative routes for the 230kV transmission line.

The board also approved new bylaws and a funding request of $3,700 for council outreach efforts, including the Fourth of July parade.