NEWSMAKERS
Ex-Police Chief Takes Interim Port Post
William Ellis has had more jobs since retiring in 1996 than he had during his whole career.
The former Long Beach police chief is now interim security director at the Port of Long Beach after serving stints as interim police chief in the cities of Claremont, Manhattan Beach and West Covina.
He replaces Bob Barker, who retired after five years in the post.
Ellis will serve as director until a permanent replacement is named as part of a review of the port’s security department. Ellis said he would not apply for the permanent post.
“The port was in need of someone to assist in a time of transition,” said Ellis, who started Sept. 3. Proposals from consultants would be taken until the end of the month and a firm chosen to do the review soon after that.
Ellis said that the Sept. 11 attacks have made the review a priority for the Board of Harbor Commissioners, which oversees the port. His job includes identifying the port’s vulnerabilities and cooperating with the Port of L.A. and other law enforcement departments to boost security.
Since the Sept. 11 attacks, the port has added to its 50-person security staff by contracting with the city of Long Beach to use 12 of its police officers full-time at the port.
Ellis said his appointment to interim law enforcement positions since retiring has been an interesting change of pace from his 31 years with the Long Beach police department, five of them as chief.
“It’s challenging; it’s generally of relatively short duration,” he said.
Ellis, 59, is a native of San Pedro and is a criminology graduate of Cal State Long Beach. He and his wife live in Long Beach. They have two grown sons.
Jason Schaff
Advertising
Inter/Media has enlarged its media planning department with three new hires. Anita Paul joins the Encino advertising agency as planning supervisor for its Ditech.com account. Paul has been media supervisor at Ground Zero Advertising in Marina del Rey. Mar Kanayama and Erik Griffin join Inter/Media as media planners for the Ditech.com account. Kanayama had previously worked for Initiative Media as account manager and Giffin worked in advertising sales for Gold Coast Broadcasting in Ventura.
Apparel
Nancy Shachtman has returned to Guess Inc. as president of the wholesale business unit. She had held the post from 1998 through 2002. She initially joined the jeans maker in 1986.
Banking
Sarudzayi Hwayire and Walter H. Hackett have been promoted to vice president at PFF Bank & Trust in Pomona. Hwayire is a commercial credit analyst in the commercial credit department at the bank responsible for the review of wholesale and retail commercial credit over $1 million. Hackett is the bank’s commercial note manager overseeing lending documentation and servicing commercial loans.
Education
R. Stephen Wheatly has been chosen as interim vice president for university advancement at California Lutheran University in Thousand Oaks. Wheatly replaces George Engdahl who has accepted a position as vice chancellor of university advancement at the University of Denver. Wheatly will direct capital campaigns and oversee fund-raising operations of the university. He was formerly Cal Lutheran’s director of estate and gift planning.
Entertainment
Bob Kaminsky has joined Riptide Music as a partner. Marina del Rey-based Riptide provides composing and recording services as well as post production audio equipment to the broadcast, advertising and film industries. Kaminsky was a founding member of Intertainer, a video-on-demand program supplier and served as executive vice president of content solutions for marketing communications firm Pittard Sullivan.
Health Care
Laura S. Wiltz has been elected chairwoman and Cynthia Ann Telles has been elected vice chair of The California Endowment, a private health foundation. Both will serve one-year terms helping to lead the foundation’s grant-making activities. Wiltz joined the board in 1996. She retired as chief executive of the YWCA of Greater Los Angeles in 1999. Telles joined the board in 2001 and is director of the Psychosocial Clinic of the Neuropsychiatric Institute and Hospital at the UCLA School of Medicine.
Hospitality
Tracy Larrua is the new director of marketing at the Century Plaza Hotel & Spa on Avenue of the Stars. Larrua, who most recently was area director of public relations for the Ritz-Carlton hotels in Marina del Rey and Kapalua, Hawaii, will oversee advertising, marketing and public relations for the hotel.
Insurance
Lyddy Martin Co., an insurance broker and risk management firm based in Los Angeles, has hired Suzanne Matheson as a partner and vice president, sales. Matheson will be involved in helping the company increase its sales as part of its expansion plans. She has been managing director for IManagement Group at Tegner-Miller Insurance Brokers in Santa Monica.
Manufacturing
Emergency Evacuation Systems, a Los Angeles-based company that manufactures emergency evacuation parachutes, has hired retired L.A. Fire Department Assistant Chief Thomas Curry as director of the public sector for the firm. Curry’s job will be to raise awareness among rescue workers of the parachutes that are designed for evacuations of high-rise buildings.
Non-Profit
Sheila Bergman has been appointed executive director of P.S. Arts, a non-profit organization dedicated to promoting arts in public schools. Bergman was the director of development and capital campaign at the San Francisco Zoological Society. Santa Monica-based P.S. Arts is a project of the Crossroads Community Foundation.
William Overholt has joined Rand Corp. in the Asia policy research chair at the Center for Asia Pacific Policy in Santa Monica. The center conducts research in U.S.-Asian relations, politics and economics for the think tank. Overholt most recently conducted research on financial reform in Asia as a joint senior fellow with the Center for Business and Government and the Asia Center at Harvard University.
Public Relations
Adi Liberman has joined Edelman Public Relations Worldwide as executive vice president and head of its public affairs and issues management practice in Los Angeles. He will spearhead public affairs campaigns for corporate, non-profit and public sector clients. Liberman formerly was senior vice president at Winner & Associates and chief of staff for Los Angeles city councilmember Ruth Galanter from 1995-2001.
Real Estate
Lori Tierney has been appointed president of BKM Total Office, an office relocation consultant. Headquartered in Torrance, she will direct 80 employees in Southern California providing moving services as well as products such as office furniture. Tierney was formerly Seattle area manager for Haworth Inc., an office furniture manufacturer.
American Realty Advisors has promoted Greg Blomstrand to senior asset manager responsible for several accounts in the real estate investment management firm’s portfolio. He was previously asset manager. Art Simonian has been hired as an acquisitions officer for the Glendale-based firm responsible for the identification and implementation of acquisition strategies for clients as well as the underwriting of investments. He was previously with Madison Marquette, where he was responsible for the management and underwriting of acquisitions.
Al Beaudette has joined real estate development and management firm Lowe Enterprises as a senior vice president. Beaudette will be involved with the Los Angeles-based firm’s Corporate Services Group, which provides development, strategic consulting, investment and management services. He was most recently president of Griffin Advisors
Diane Cimino has been appointed vice president, property management, for Crown Realty & Development overseeing the management of the firm’s two-million-square-foot portfolio of properties in Los Angeles County. Crown has offices in Beverly Hills and Los Angeles. Cimino worked for eight years as senior manager for Lakeshore Towers, an office project in Irvine.
Vincent E. Pellerito has been hired as a senior managing director for the Southern California region of commercial real estate services firm Julien J. Studley Inc. Pellerito, who will be based in Los Angeles, will deal with tenant representation. He was a senior director in the Century City office of Cushman & Wakefield.
