Development in Encino

As a homeowner in Encino, I recently received a letter of solicitation from City Councilmen Marvin Braude and Zev Yaroslavsky and Kathy Lewis of the Encino Property Owners Assn. asking for funds to help stop the developers from taking over our community.

I have long sought a true definition for the word chutzpah (gall), and now I have it: the letter. My previous best definition was the concept of a child’s killing his parents and then asking for mercy on the grounds of being an orphan.

Where were they when developers were allowed to build the 16000 Ventura Building with entrance and exit on a residential street?

Where were they when the plans for the Fujita Building (Ventura Boulevard between Gloria and Densmore) were approved?

Where were they when the southeast corner of Ventura and Balboa boulevards was turned into Manhattan?

Where were they when construction made Hayvenhurst and Ventura virtually unpassable?

Where were they when a private institution (a Jewish temple) petitioned to remove nine private homes in favor of a parking lot?

And where were they when homeowners (as opposed to property owners) groups in Encino, Sherman Oaks, Tarzana and other communities screamed themselves blue in the face?

Come on guys, give us a break!

BENNETT J. MINTZ

Encino