Valley Talk

Who? Me? For better or worse, City Councilman Alex Padilla is on almost everybody’s list of political up-and-comers: Good looks, an engineering degree from MIT, local-boy-done-good charisma and not an opponent to be found in the upcoming council election. So, while others in the ongoing campaign have to still carefully choose their words, Padilla is clearly a little more relaxed. In an appearance one morning last week at the Sun Valley Chamber of Commerce, Padilla fielded routine written questions about plans for a new library, the San Fernando Valley Fair, neighborhood councils and the vacant lot next to Roscoe Hardware. Somehow, the final question, the one at the bottom of the stack, ended up being: When will you run for mayor? His first response, following the obligatory chuckle, was, “I can’t see beyond April 2001.” Then, after reminding himself he was running unopposed in next month’s election, he said, “I’m just now beginning to look a little further ahead.” Finally, he looked down at the card with the question written on it and asked, “Can I save this?” Say what? Almost every real estate broker a Business Journal reporter spoke to last week about the softening in the San Fernando Valley real estate market ended the conversation the same way: “Make my comments positive.” Brokers are typically an upbeat lot, so such a request was a surprise. So was the fact every request was almost identical, right down to the use of the very same words. The brokers actually offered a number of signs that the market was, indeed, softening, leading them perhaps to worry that their comments to a reporter could make the situation even worse. “Well, I know that’s the story,” one broker said, “but just make sure you make my comments positive.” Thanks, Bud or No Hard Feelings It’s a journalist’s nightmare: spell a name wrong, then run for the nearest border and declare your reporting days over and out. That’s the feeling Business Journal reporter Jacqueline Fox had after misspelling Burbank City Manager Robert “Bud” Ovrom’s name in a Feb. 19 story on the Burbank Airport and upcoming local elections. But Ovrom let the Journal down easy. In fact, he revealed the spelling of his name has bitten many members of his own staff and, at times, he’s even been a perpetrator of the crime himself. Responding to an apology for the error, Ovrom wrote in an e-mail: “If you have misspelled it any place, I have not even noticed. Many of our city employees misspell it on a regular basis. It is misspelled so often, I sometimes forget what is the right way.” Short-Order Cops Call it community policing with a twist. Last week, patrons of Acapulco Restaurant in Sun Valley and Lulu’s Caf & #233; in Van Nuys were stunned to find uniformed LAPD officers and top brass waiting tables, preparing orders and cleaning up after customers. It was all part of the second annual “Tip a Cop” fundraiser put on by the Jeopardy “Balancing the Odds” Foundation, which focuses on gang intervention. The event raised $9,000, a little short of the $10,000 goal, but still a success in the eyes of Vicki Boss Edwards, Jeopardy’s executive director. “Some people were really shocked and pleasantly surprised,” Edwards said. “They got a real kick out of seeing Deputy Chief Ron Bergmann dressed in an apron.” Scoop Dreams An ice-cream maker with a growing presence in the Valley has come up with a way to avoid the labor crunch while stocking its stores with some of the perkiest employees around. Cold Stone Creamery of Scottsdale, Ariz. encourages its franchisers to hold auditions, or casting calls, for prospective scoopers. Dave Siemienski, co-owner of stores in Glendale and Westlake Village, said that auditions offer a better way of assessing personalities than traditional job applications and make the stores fun places to work. “Ultimately, we get them to bust a move, to dance and sing and all that,” Siemienski said of the audition regimen. “We’ve come upon a process that weeds out the dead wood and gets the most dynamic personalities in our stores.” Red Velvet Marilyn It is known cryptically as “Red Velvet Pose No. 6.” To Butterfields Auctioneers, it is better known as Marilyn Monroe naked. And that means big bucks. Butterfields will auction off the famed nude photos of the Hollywood icon including poses No. 2 through No. 6 on March 22 in Los Angeles. The photos, part of the so-called “Red Velvet” series, were taken in 1949 and created a stir when they ran in the inaugural issue of Playboy magazine in 1953. The photos and the rights to the images are expected to fetch $1 million. The lot also includes the Deardorff & Sons camera that snapped the photos and the silk gown Monroe wore in “The Prince and the Showgirl.” For the less lascivious, there is Monroe’s high school newsletter with her pencil inscriptions and classmates’ notes (estimated bid: $2,000).