Cartoon image has some wondering, ‘What’s wrong with this picture?’

CALIFORNIA SCREAMIN’: Take a look at the cover of the California Journal’s 1993 Roster & Government Guide. Notice anything wrong?

Hint: Look closely at the Los Angeles area. Now take a gander at the San Francisco area. Does it occur to anyone that perhaps the artist went a little too far in glorifying the north and bashing the south? And this on the cover of a listing of state agencies and legislators that went out to 100,000 people statewide?

The Journal did include Disneyland, but is Southern California truly this barren? Is L.A. really shrouded in grayish brown smog all the time? Do cars frequently fall off the cliffs of what appears to be the Palos Verdes Peninsula? Is San Pedro just an oil slick? San Diego merely a mission? Bakersfield but an outhouse?

Now look at Northern California. No fog or shaky ground around San Francisco? No torrents of heat or fat cat politicians around Sacramento? No fields overrun by tourists in Napa? No smog in the San Joaquin Valley? No blizzard in the Sierra?

Publisher Thomas Hober said there “certainly was no attempt to slur Southern California.” The artist who did the drawing, Christopher van Overloop, was not available for comment, but Hober defended him.

“It’s a cartoon image of the state,” Hober explained.

*

ICE MONEY COMETH: Inglewood city officials have more than a sporting interest in how the Los Angeles Kings have been doing in the Stanley Cup playoffs. The team’s unprecedented advance through the playoffs has meant additional games on home ice at the Forum. And that, in turn, has been a boon for Inglewood, which receives 58 cents out of every ticket sold for the games. Given the city’s severe budget problems, one can safely assume that city administrators who may not even know what a puck looks like will be rooting for the Kings, who face the Toronto Maple Leafs tonight at the Forum, to make it to the Stanley Cup finals.

*

KEPT AFLOAT: David H. Parker, owner of Pelican Products Inc. in Torrance, has been honored as a federal Small Business Administration “Business Person of the Year” for 1993. Parker was named second runner-up in the national SBA competition, which judged businesses on such matters as the use of SBA loans and the providing of jobs for community residents.

Pelican Products designs and manufactures underwater flashlights and equipment cases. Parker and other SBA honorees met with President Clinton at a May 12 ceremony at the White House Rose Garden. He had been nominated for the award by Liberty National Bank and had already been chosen California and Western Regional SBA “Business Person of the Year.”

“The funny thing is, we had no master plan or business plan at all,” said Parker, recalling how he and his wife, Arlene, started the business in 1975. “It just happened.”

*

PUBLIC SPEAKING: Laurence Greenblatt--a.k.a. Melrose Larry Green, who finished 16th in a field of 24 in the April primary for mayor of Los Angeles--remains a voice that will not be silenced, despite the best efforts recently of harbor area City Councilwoman Joan Milke Flores.

Greenblatt is a fixture at council meetings and can be counted on to speak up on the issues of the day. Last week, Council President John Ferraro made a point of acknowledging Greenblatt as a “minor celebrity” and told him to take the microphone and let the council know what was on his mind.

Ferraro quickly had reason to regret his invitation. Greenblatt called upon him to apologize for describing mayoral candidate and fellow council member Michael Woo as a “snot-nosed kid.” The council president made that remark at a news conference at which he endorsed Woo’s opponent, Richard Riordan.

Ferraro declined to respond to the apology request. Flores, however, quickly opined that Greenblatt was out of order because he was speaking on subjects that were not on the agenda.

Greenblatt, characteristically, was undeterred.

QUOTE OF THE WEEK

“With this new compelling information, it’s clear your right to smoke ends at my lungs.”

--Susan Brooks, mayor of Rancho Palos Verdes, about studies on the dangers of secondhand smoke. The city banned smoking in local restaurants.

LAST WEEK’S CITY HALL HIGHLIGHTS

Torrance: A small group of municipal bus drivers gathered at the Civic Center on Tuesday to urge city officials to take disciplinary steps against transit supervisors accused of sexual harassment and racial discrimination. The drivers also asked the City Council to review City Manager LeRoy J. Jackson’s investigation into the Transit Division. In an April 23 letter to the drivers, Jackson said his office found “fundamental supervision problems” among Transit Division managers but made no mention of disciplinary measures.

Beach cities: Robert Riley will become the new executive director of the Beach Cities Health District after serving in the job on an acting basis for the last six months. The agency’s board chose Riley for the $90,000-a-year job after receiving more than 100 applicants and interviewing six finalists. The agency, formerly known as the South Bay Hospital District, funds health care programs in the beach cities. Redondo Beach: Five years after the Redondo Beach pier was nearly destroyed by two storms and a fire, the City Council on Tuesday awarded a $9.78-million contract to General Construction Co. of Irvine to rebuild it.

Inglewood: Former Democratic Congressman Mervyn M. Dymally endorsed Inglewood City Councilman Daniel K. Tabor in the June 8 runoff election. Tabor is trying to buck a strong challenge by political newcomer Curren Price.

THIS WEEK’S CITY HALL HIGHLIGHTS

Palos Verdes Estates: The City Council will vote on an ordinance that would require people who work out of their homes to have a home-occupation license.