Ron Kassan has a second career as a licensed fly-fishing guide in Alaska. Every summer the executive vice president at the Sherman Oaks office of Beitler Commercial Realty flies to Anchorage, then takes a private charter flight to the tiny village of Iliamna. He stages at Pike Lake and then boards a floatplane to the headwaters for weeklong trips down Grizzly Creek. “You camp at night riverside with the bears,” Kassan said, adding that on a typical day he sees 20 to 30 grizzlies. “Nights are frightening. Last year, unbeknownst to any of us, a grizzly came into camp during the night and walked off with a pair of waders.” Although each member of the party carries a gun, bear spray or both, Kassan has never shot a bear in the protected habitat, but he has fired warning shots. … Vahid Khorsand, a former analyst at BWS Financial Inc. in Woodland Hills, has joined the office of L.A. City Councilman Bob Blumenfield to work on planning issues in the West Valley. For the last eight months, Khorsand has worked for Mayor Eric Garcetti on COVID response programs. … Sensi.ai has hired Kerry Burnight as the Calabasas company’s gerontology advisor. She is the founder of Gerontologist Inc., a consulting firm that helps companies understand older adults. Sensi.ai makes in-home virtual care technology for home care agencies. … The Calabasas Chamber of Commerce on Aug. 20 held its annual Mayoral Lunch at the Calabasas Country Club, which is regarded as a highlight for the mayor. But before this year’s mayor, James Bozajian took the microphone, a bouquet of flowers was presented to last year’s mayor, Alicia Weintraub, who, it was noted, got stuck with the difficult pandemic year and never got to preside over a mayoral lunch. But at least she got a beautiful bouquet, Bozajian joked; the event’s organizers instead considered giving her a giant paperweight shaped like a coronavirus.
VALLEY INSIDER
