Santa Monica’s ‘Ambassador’ Loves Her Work

Agnes West started a second career 14 years ago after she retired from teaching. She signed on as a travel counselor with the Santa Monica Convention and Visitors Bureau. Several days a week, she runs the city’s Visitors Center, a booth along Ocean Avenue in Palisades Park.

Last week, the city and West’s co-workers celebrated her 80th birthday with a surprise party at the booth. There were balloons, a banner and cake. Mayor Judy Abdo presented West with a proclamation declaring her to be “the best ambassador Santa Monica has ever had.”

West says she loves the work.

“It’s been so wonderful meeting people from all over the world, working with the public and representing Santa Monica. . . . I think that’s what has kept me going, because if I didn’t have something to do, I might not be around.”

West says most people who come to the booth simply need to know how to get somewhere. Noted for her encyclopedic knowledge of the region, West almost invariably has the answer.

In addition to working at the booth, West owns and manages an apartment building in West Los Angeles. And she has no plans for slowing down any time soon.

“I’m busy all the time and I love it,” she said. “I’m looking forward to seeing the 21st Century.”

Thomas Wathen of Bel-Air has been named to the board of directors of Valley Presbyterian Hospital in Van Nuys.

Wathen, chief executive officer and chairman of Pinkerton Security and Investigation Services, has served on the faculty advisory board of Pasadena City College.

He has also been on the faculty advisory council for the entrepreneurship program at the USC Graduate School of Business.

Kevin Borkowski, a student at Loyola Marymount University, has received the American Accounting Assn.’s $2,500 Arthur H. Carter Scholarship.

Borkowski, one of 50 students to receive the scholarship, maintains a perfect grade point average in accounting and an overall GPA of 3.73. He plans to graduate with a bachelor of science degree in accounting and business administration with an international emphasis.