A Well-Deserved Tribute To Fox Hills

The last bastion of segregation in Los Angeles County . . . Some time ago in the late ‘ 60s, a young white couple moved into the lowlands (the non-Fox Hills area) of Culver City, and they were told by the real estate agent, “Don’ t worry, those Negroes won’ t be moving down here from Fox Hills. We are keeping them in their place.” This statement was made before the current laws prohibiting such statements from real estate agents. Who could have ever dreamed that the once predominantly black area of Culver City called Fox Hills is now the hottest desirable LA neighborhood and the major moneymaker for Culver City? Fox Hills is now listed next to Silicon Beach as the heart of Los Angeles County’ s technology world. Fox Hills Mall (Westfield Mall, Culver City), Fox Hills Plaza, three hotels, numerous office complexes and businesses along with over 2,800 units of condominiums and apartments, contribute greatly to the total income ofCulver City. Fox Hills is a condo-heavy community with nearly 1,800 condominium units, which is more than the 1,314 units of the condominium communities of Lakeside, Tara Hills and Raintree combined. Fox Hills was annexed into Culver City in 1964. However, it was not until 1994 that Fox Hills residents were allowed to attend Culver City schools. Fox Hills was annexed but purposely not incorporated into the Culver City school system. Only due to a lawsuit initiated by Fox Hills homeownerswere Fox Hills residents allowed attendance in Culver City schools. Fox Hills, now the most diverse area of Culver City, has a population which does not mirror Culver City as a whole. Culver City has a population average of 64 percent white, 35 percent non-white, while Fox Hills has a population of 56 percent non-white and 44 percent white. In fact, Fox Hills, with a black population of 29 percent, has the highest black population percentage in the Los Angeles metro area, outnumbering

the Los Angeles metro area percentage of black residents, which is 6.7 percent. Sadly, things have not changed much since 1964 for the over 5,300 residents of Fox Hills. Culver City is 100 years old, and yet Fox Hills has never had a resident on the Culver City Council, Planning Commission or any commission. For the last three years Fox Hills residents with BA degrees or higher have tried and been denied an opportunity to serve on the Planning Commission, with every City Council member voting against appointment. In 2016 a petition with over 100 signatures was presented to the City Council and to Mayor Clarke, requesting that Fox Hills be represented on the Planning Commission. It was denied, even though they had three applicants. A majority of Fox Hills is located within 1,000 feet of the 405 Freeway and thus, according to an LA Times article on March 2, 2017 titled “LA keeps building near the freeways, even though living there makes people sick,” the health of our Fox Hills residents is in grave danger. Development is being encouraged, which increases the pollution dangers to our residents and no one in City Hall cares. There can only be one reason why Fox Hills has never been on the Planning Commission or City Council – is this the “new segregation”? As Culver City celebrates its centennial, Fox Hills, the one square mile powerhouse and moneymaker for Culver City, has absolutely nothing to celebrate. IT IS THE LAST BASTION OF SEGREGATION IN LA COUNTY. Hard to believe, but those who would rather not fly back from Europe could take the Queen Mary II from Southampton to Brooklyn, sailing on August 31, 2017 for seven days with prices starting at $2,577 (single cabins start at $3,916). Call (888) 283-8965. Can it be true? In the January 2017 issue of Trumpet the FBI says all together the United States has about 33,000 violent street gangs with 1,350 in Los Angeles alone. It is estimated there are in San Diego County 14,700 gang members, Orange County has 15,100 members, while in Los Angeles

County 68,000 gang members live; Ventura County has over 12,000 members. The 2015 average American life expectancy was 78.8 years, down a tenth of a year from 2014, the first decline since 1993 during the AIDS epidemic. May 27th is the 80th anniversary of the opening of the Golden Gate Bridge. In the meantime Culver City’ s Symantec acquired LifeLock, adding identity protection to its security technology, and for the bargain price of $75 million. Will wonders never cease? I just know many of you were pleased to see in the February 2017 issue of Los Angeles Magazine our former Culver City Mayor, Edward M. Wolkowitz. Ed has been selected along with nine others from Levene, Neale, Bender, Yoo and Brill LLP for ten years as a super lawyer. His firm, other people and companies turn to him for expedited and creative solutions to financial challenges. I remember, and I bet Ed does as well, when I had a conversation with him in the kitchen of Richard “Alex”and Andy Alexander’ s home and suggested he run for Culver City City Council. There just aren’ t many of us left who recall the Culver City Democratic Club endorsement meeting when Wolkowitz got the support of the club only to lose it when a recount by the piano in the Violins’ home showed Ed didn’ t receive the necessary votes. For those who missed an article, all my commentaries can be found at http://www.culvercityobserver.com by placing Rubenstein in the website’ s search box.