My Night at the PNC

Being an election year and all (and me being unemployed and all), I have more time to try and wear my Concerned Citizen hat. So when I came across the website for the Palms Neighborhood Council, I figured it would be a worthwhile resource. After all, what better way to get to really know your neighborhood than going to a council meeting?

So I dusted off my trusty notebook and headed off to the monthly board meeting, feeling a bit 11th gradish and wondering if Mr. Hubbell was somewhere smiling. Though he never really smiled much. And when he did, it was kinda creepy. Like he didn't do it all the time and was still getting used to the sensation.

Anyhoo...

I slid in the side just a couple of minutes late, snagged a couple pieces of pizza and found a seat off to the side. Moments later, I was scribbling away in my notebook. But this time it was actual notes. Not like high school when I was pretending to take notes while actually dealing out a quick hand of Pusoy Dos.

While the kid in me curses the grownup in me for maturing enough to get some value out of a council meeting, the grownup in me felt like he was "in the know" for hearing about DWP's plan to refurbish its electricity transmission line from Olympic down to the Scattergood power plant near LAX. While the project is still in the idea stage, it's expected to take about a year to replace and refurbish a utility line originally set in 1976. There will be the expected road closures and street construction, but the end result means repaved roads and better electrical transmission with fewer outages.

Of course, there's no telling how that proposed construction could conflict with the expansion of the Expo Line of the Metro - perhaps the most exciting project on the Westside right now - that will stretch out to the beach. Traffic already can back up in Palms. It could certainly get worse...even if the end result is more accessibility to public transportation. No pleasure without pain, eh?

Speaking of which, there was mention of planning for a Palms-Culver City Film Festival. Would be cool, no?

Without going all High School civics, it was very cool to see a group of people who love my 'hood as much, or probably more, than I do. For anyone living or working in the neighborhood, they have open board meetings on the first Wednesday of every month. Or you can just keep up with them via their website.

I'll do my best to post any community events here. If you know of anything, definitely pass it on to the Council...and don't be afraid to cc me as well. Deal?