In our last update of the Observatory - Wolfgang Puck Catering saga, we said the Recreation & Parks would be hosting a meeting to accommodate input from community representatives and to settle on acceptable guidelines. Well, that meeting was held on March 29th, and it turned out to be something other than what was advertised.
Vickie Israel, Superintendent of Griffith Section, presided at the meeting, flanked by upper management executives, Kevin Regan and Jon Mukri, as well as Observatory Director Dr. Edwin Krupp. Council District 4 representatives Rory Fitspatrick and Patty Malone remained mostly uninvolved during the meeting. The remaining space in the auditorium was filled with public representatives and concerned residents that either wanted to mitigate the service of liquor at the Observatory or were opposed to liquor service entirely.
Recreation and Parks came to the meeting with a definite idea of what they would be agreeable to, but fell short of putting it all on paper for us. Therefore, there was an air of mistrust for many that attended. Also, without any written handouts, many folks that have not gone to all the other meetings and the downtown hearing were at a major disadvantage.
For those of us that have gone the distance, Greater Griffith Park Neighborhood Council’s proposed guidelines were, for the most part, verbally agreed to, except for two points, 1) the total number of events per year where liquor would be served, and 2) the closure time for events where liquor is served.
After much discussion, a 10:00 pm time for “drinking to stop” was agreed to. This represents a compromise, allowing for some events to go beyond 10, but without the booze after 10. And, after slugging it out for two hours, the public left with the assumption that RAP will not ask for more than 26 liquor-serving events per year.
Because the guidelines were not in writing, and because there are so many important details that need to be included, many pleaded that there be another meeting. Some of the public demanded that there be no liquor served at all because the Observatory’s mission is solely educational and astronomical. Could there be a legal challenge coming? We’ll see.
After the meeting Oaks HOA wrote to Council District 4, to say, “we would like to see another meeting where the "guidelines" are produced on paper, and various community representatives have a better understanding of what will actually be presented to the Recreation and Parks Commission (probably on May 2nd) and the Zoning Administrator.” Without such meeting, how can we be sure what will actually be turned in to the Commission for what some call their “rubber stamp”?
In a separate meeting on April 5th, PROS (Parks, River,and Open Space) Committee representatives of GGPNC met with Jon Mukri, RAP General Manager. Mr. Mukri later sent a directive to other RAP staff with some recommendations including: 1) more vetting of the issues be allowed, 2) a one year “master schedule” of all events be kept and made available to all, and 3) strong controls be in place for parking and shuttling.
GGPNC’s Zoning Committee has invited RAP staff to further be available for discussion of the guidelines. The meeting is scheduled for April 11th. It is hoped that RAP will distribute the exact guidelines that they want to present to the Commission on May 2nd. The GGPNC Committee is ready to discuss them, and also has alternatives prepared in the event they are found to be unacceptable. This meeting may very well be the last chance for public input prior to the May 2nd Commission meeting.
