More important than anything I can write in this e-mail is the specific example presented in the above link. The Palos Verdes Peninsula Land Conservancy has marshaled Federal, State and County funding, along with significant private donations to preserve and restore hundreds of acres of open space on the Palos Verdes Peninsula. Explore the various links nested in these pages to see the road map to success as it is unveiled before your eyes. They began 16 years ago, and now have an annual budget of over $1 million. The residents of Redondo Beach and the rest of the South Bay have to ask themselves, "What can we do to improve the quality of our lives?" (other than driving back and forth to work in our ever increasing traffic, of course), and "What can we do for future generations?"

And NO!, they didn't have to pick the pockets of the local residents like all the pro-development forces would have you believe. None, that's right NONE of the monies for the 160 acre Forrestal Property on the coast of the Palos Verdes Peninsula came directly from the local residents. Did I say, NONE? How about 'zero', 'zilch', 'zippo', or 'icksnay' (is that a word?), 'nada'. That's right, NONE!

Of the $8 million used to purchase the land, the majority came from LA County Bond Measure A, with the remainder coming from other conservation organizations such as the California Wildlife Conservation Board and the State Coastal Conservancy. The PVPLC also had monies earmarked for future land purchases on the Peninsula in the Los Angles County Safe Neighborhood Parks Act, which eventually passed overwhelmingly and added millions to their coffers. This is how it's done folks.

I'm going to profile a different area every month to demonstrate to our citizens that the type of restoration we are working towards at the AES site in Redondo Beach is being accomplished not just in our own backyard, but in cities all over California, America, and in fact, the world. Each area I will profile in the coming months are unique in their own way, but there are lessons to be learned and inspiration to be had from all of them. Next time I'll discuss the 256 acres that was recently purchased by The State Coastal Conservancy at Ormond Beach, in Oxnard. Their City Council voted unanimously to save this area for open space.

We have made great strides in the formation of our 501(c)3! We've identified who the Directors and Officers will be, signed and filed the Articles of Incorporation, and we will be holding our first meeting to adopt the by-laws and kick-off our activities very soon.

This non-profit public benefit corporation will serve our needs as we work to educate the public about the importance of creating more open space and parklands in the South Bay - the biggest near-term opportunity being the 'Heart Park' plan in Redondo Beach. This organization will continue to serve the visions of those of us in the South Bay who want to improve our lives by restoring and creating open space at every opportunity. The full announcement will be coming soon, so stay-tuned!

Many of you have called or written me expressing your support and wanting to know how you can help with our cause, but we were still formalizing ourselves and the time has not been right. Both of those have changed now, so, on September 22nd, at 7 p.m., in The Beach Cities Room of The Beach Cities Health District (514 N. Prospect Ave.), we will have a 'kick-off meeting' to describe our organization and the people involved to date, and to present the various activities we will be performing in the next several months.

Now is the time if ever you wanted to participate in a movement that will successfully, and significantly, improve the quality of your life and that of the generations to follow. Your help is needed, we can't succeed without individuals like you. This will be an important meeting, kind of like the first day of class, so try to make it.

We have created an organizational structure/foundation that we think will provide the necessary information to the residents of Redondo Beach when they go to the polls in March and decide what is best for the community in the former 'Heart of the City' area. We have identified 5 committees that volunteers will be able to choose from based on their interests and skills. It should be a lot of fun! Bring your neighbors and anyone else in the South Bay who would like to help...we already have some people from PV, Hermosa and Torrance.

The more people we get, the less work everyone has to do, and the more fun it will be. We successfully stopped the development plans once in this area, and we can do it again by offering up our own workable, open space and restoration plan. This town is long overdue.