LABJ’s LA STORIES
Toilet Tours
Los Angeles is becoming a Mecca for its water and toilet programs.
First came a delegation from Morocco to tour the West Basin Water Recycling Plant in El Segundo. The Moroccans were followed by the Korean Clean Toilet Association, led by section chief Yeon-Shik Kim, who was seeking tips on water conservation and low-flush toilets.
The plant showed off its ultra low-flush and dual-flush toilet programs, according to Nikki Montellano, spokeswoman for the Carson-based West Basin Municipal Water District. The toilets use about 1.6 gallons of water per flush, compared with older models that use three to seven gallons. The dual-flush toilet packs more power into each discharge.
In additions to the Koreans and the representatives from the Morocco Souss-Massa Integrated Water Project, a Mexican delegation also toured the plant recently.
Pat Maio
Food Fight
It doesn’t sound right fighting hunger by eating out more.
But that’s what restaurant-goers will be asked to do next month, when the third annual L.A. Dine Out program gets under way.
From Aug. 16 to 29, more than 50 local restaurants, including Valentino, Eurochow, Vert and Michael’s will offer three-course meals at fixed-price discounts to raise money for the Los Angeles chapter of Share Our Strength, a nationwide anti-hunger organization.
Nestle Waters North America will donate $1 for every meal served and give diners a complimentary bottle of S. Pellegrino sparkling water.
Last year, the program raised nearly $6,500 and this year the goal is at least $10,000. The money will help feed an estimated 777,000 Los Angeles residents who have been identified as hungry or “food insecure” by a California Food Policy Advocates report.
“I think it’s a fantastic program,” said Mary Sue Milliken, chef and co-owner of participating Border Grill and Ciudad. “It’s a really committed group of chefs, and who cares more about people eating than people who cook all day?”
Kim Holmes
More Food
For $150, cuisine aficionados can sample the handiwork that made Michael Lomonaco (photo) executive chef of New York’s Noche. The July 31 event at City Club on Bunker Hill is part of a series of charity fundraising dinner parties to raise money for the James Beard Foundation, the New York non-profit that promotes the culinary arts.
Lomonaco will cook with Derek Healy, City Club’s executive chef and his former colleague from New York’s 21 restaurant.
“It’s kind of an honorary thing to be asked to participate in a James Beard event,” said Healy, who will help prepare several courses including foie gras, yellowtail marinated with pickled onions, braised short rib and roasted New York strip with black truffle. “It’s like the Emmys of cooking.”
The Beard Foundation is known for its invitation-only dinners in the kitchen of the former home of James Beard, a distinguished American chef and cookbook author.
Matt Myerhoff
Charity Ranks
L.A. charities are growing faster than those in many other U.S. cities, and the area has the third-highest concentration of charities promoting health.
Those are among the findings of a recent study by Charity Navigator, which determined that 112 of the nation’s top charities were based in L.A.
Charity Navigator ranked the city’s individual charities for efficiency in fundraising, expenses and growth potential.
Among the highest-ranking charities were the Music Center Foundation, the Jonsson Cancer Center Foundation, Catholic Charities of Los Angeles and Vista Del Mar Child and Family Services.
Los Angeles ranked 16th out of 25 in the Charity Navigator’s overall score, which covers efficiency, growth and expenses. Pittsburgh ranked highest.
Tim Gamory, Charity Navigator’s spokesman, said L.A.’s role in the world of charity is most notable on the health care front, especially considering donations for research. “Los Angeles plays a vital role in our country because they are positioning to continue this important work,” he said.
Kim Holmes
OUT OF THE PAST
1983 Security Issues
‘You’ve never been alive until you’ve been in an alley in downtown Watts at three o’clock in the morning chasing down bank robbers who just killed a cop,” Paul Chamberlain told the Business Journal on March 7, 1983. “That’s when the adrenaline really gets going.”
The 20-year FBI veteran specialized in executive kidnap/extortion cases and had retired from the agency in 1981 and opened his own investigative consulting firm in Beverly Hills. “Every chairman of the board up and down this street that ever had a kidnap or extortion problem, I’ve been involved with,” he said.
Chamberlain spoke of simple mistakes that can leave executives vulnerable. Typically, he said, some maintain too high of a profile and not enough home security.
“The wife is always in the society sections of the local paper, he is listed in ‘Who’s Who,’ and he has a California license plate number registered at his residence. He has the least amount of alarms, no dogs, a detached bedroom.”
Today, Paul Chamberlain International still caters to high-end clients in the areas of fraud, asset recovery, background and pre-loan investigations, and terrorism, kidnapping and extortion, using former FBI agents based in cities around the world.
When he started the company, Chamberlain worked an average of 60 hours per week and had little time for family life. Since then, Chamberlain has learned to delegate and his cases have changed so he can spend time with his wife, who just retired from the FBI, daughter and two sons one of them works for him.
“The types of clients that we investigate are primarily financial. I’m not chasing bank robbers anymore.”
Rebekah Sanders
“Out of the Past” is published each week to celebrate the 25th anniversary of the Business Journal.
