LENNY FRIEDMAN stepped forward to lead the Pledge - and then did double-duty by leading us in the song, Home on the Range, with GREGG ELLIOTT on the piano. Next up was PDG BILL GOODWYN, with the thought for the day. He told us the story of Lafayette College challenging Carlyle to a track meet - and Carlyle showed up with just 5 team members, compared to over 40 for their opponents. Carlyle squeaked by, 71-30, with Jim Thorpe winning the high jump, long jump, pole vault, and low hurdles, plus placing second in the 100 yard dash. The moral being, never underestimate what a few good men can do, with good leadership and motivation.

PP STEVE ADLER introduced several visiting Rotarians, including PDG Paul Netzel, consultant in Financial Development from LA 5, Maarten Wageniek , who is a marketing consultant, from North Hollywood, and Kathy Marashlian, a corporate business development manager from Century City. PP STEVE had two guests of his own, Cheryl Kingston, who does PR work for WVRC, and Derek Tennell, who works with today's speaker as Director of Community Relations. LENORE MULRYAN introduced Eva Walthers, who has worked with us on the Ambassadorial Students program, and Pres. GEORGE brought Special Guest Kazuko Nihira, retired professor of psychiatry at UCLA.

There were at least two jokesters. Our parking lot attendant, Kevin told about St.. Peter, who was having trouble finding who was knocking on his door, but then learned that the subject was being resuscitated, and thus maybe not yet eligible! PP RALPH WOODWORTH explained the success of their 48-year marriage. Seems he and Bettye go out to dinner twice a week - Bettye goes on Wednesday, and RALPH on Friday!

KEN KILPO presented a check for $100 to Christy Walden, who runs the Pico Beautification Project - the money will be used to plant trees along Pico, and we are all invited if we wish to volunteer or donate to the project. PP HOWIE HENKES introduced our newest member, LYNDON PARKER, an Executive Recruiter who was previously affiliated with LA 5. PP HOWARD SISKEL donated four tickets to this week's opener for USC - they play Fresno State, and PP MIKE NEWMAN snapped them up for a bargain 10 clams.

Jim Greathead resumed his duties as Coordinator of the District Breakfasts, and reminded us that the next meeting will be Monday, September 17th, 0715 at the LAX Marriott Hotel. The day before, the 16th, Opal Desch's memorial service will be held at the Methodist church at 2 p.m. I just had a call about the memorial service for DON PARSON - it will be on Saturday the 15th of Sept, l:30 at Calvary Church in the Palisades. For us old-timers, I'm asking us to remember DON, please. Being at his service is the best way to show our concern over a longtime member, OK? And on the 13th, we will be dark, since our Club Assembly will be that evening, at the Bel Air Bay Club. Everyone is expected to attend, and new members in particular will learn a great deal about our many activities. LENNY FRIEDMAN reminds us that the deadline for providing donated items for the Paul Harris Celebration is Friday the 14th of September. And the last event in September to mark on your calendar is the Annual WVRC Picnic - Sunday the 23rd, at the Siskels, starting at 1 p.m. - BRING THE KIDS!

TODD GURVIS again announced the forthcoming meeting of the International Service Committee next Thursday, 11:30 at the hotel. And true to my earlier threat, here is the list of those who SHOULD be there - (damn the alphabet - full speed ahead!) -Bob Wessling, Bert Kreisberg, Bill Bloomfield, Bruce Harris, Ernie Wolfe, George Cox, Harlan Lewis, Henrietta Lian, Henry Tseng, Homer Newman, Howard Siskel, Joe Fischer, John Singleton, Julie Thompson, Lenore Mulryan, Leo Tseng, Max Lichtenberger, Raleigh Shao, Ralph Woodworth, Ray Zickfeld, Ro Shaw, Ron Wanglin, Wally Fischmann, and Yosh Setoguchi, with Mark Block in charge of Vice…

And while we are talking about Committee Meetings, note that Community Service, under KEN KILPO will be meeting at the same time, same place - so here are THOSE members -Andy Anderson, Bill Michael, Bill Pierce, Dick Davis, Don Nelson, Don Park, Dore Charbonneau, Floyd Dewhirst, George Reed, Hank Heuer, Howie Henkes, Jack Harris, Jim Collins, Jim Greathead, Lenny Friedman, Nora Aquino, Rick Livermore, Sandy Sanderson, Sharon Rhodes-Wickett, Sloss Viau, Terry R. White, Tom Lenehen and Wally Fischmann - with Chris Gaynor as Vice Chair.

GENE PRINDLE finally showed up, and got nicked 100 bucks for stealing PP STEVE SCHERER'S car. Without knowing more than I do, I suspect his long absence was due to the difficulty of selling the purloined auto - is that right, GENE? More money came in from PP TOM LENEHEN, since his wife, Elinor, is now the women's paddle tennis champ at the Beach Club. He forked over 400 big ones - and this, without the ameliorating effect of any offsetting Dea Dollars. By this time, we were desperate to have an update on those beloved DePauw Tigers, as reported frequently by PP BOB WESSLING. Sure enough, they will play again this season, and hopes are high that they won't have to wait until BOB'S visit in October before they notch a win. Stay tuned.

Rocky Delgadillo, our new City Attorney, was introduced by PP STEVE ADLER. After graduating from Harvard, he got his law degree at Columbia - and these accomplishments came after being surrounded by gangs in the inner city while he was growing up. A pretty impressive resume, certainly. He thanked us for our support during his campaign - and allowed as how those who didn't vote for him could 'leave now'.

Rocky's formal talk was brief. He has three priorities - First, to implement the conditions set forth in the Consent Decree covering the LAPD. He would like to stay ahead of the curve on this, since progress has been slow so far. One unfortunate result of the Decree is that officers sometimes are hesitant to enforce the law, at least until they fully understand any new rules and regulations. A major concern here is the low morale of the LAPD, and raising this morale is certainly timely and important.

Priority #2 is a new approach to PREVENTING crime. Education is the key here, which means a focus on literacy. He noted that we need to build 85 new schools in the next four years - this after building just FOUR schools in the last five years! This means there is not much 'hands on' experience available among current school administrators. Another bad side effect of the pending Decree is that gangs are no longer under control - gang violence is up 100% since the Rampart mess started. He believes that he can chase gang members out of gangs, by providing education and jobs.

#3 is the need to reinvent what we do. We must reduce our liability for police actions, and he thinks this can come down by l/3rd. An example is the past lack of coordination between the City Attorney and LAPD in firing or disciplining officers. Once established, such coordination would materially reduce the city's liability - and money saved can be used for more positive activities.

Q&A -Neal Zaslavsky lives in West Hollywood, and he feels that their level of community support is greatly reduced because of jurisdictional disputes between their police force and the LAPD. Rocky pointed out that West Hollywood voted to become independent - and that's part of the price that must be paid. ELLIOTT TURNER asked his opinion on legalizing drugs. Rocky didn't feel he knew enough about the subject to reply. PP MIKE NEWMAN. reminded us that the City Attorney only prosecutes misdemeanors - the D.A. handles felonies. PDG BILL GOODWYN asked what the specific responsibilities of Rocky's office are. He is the chief advisor to the city in legal matters, which means that 40% of his staff of 1000 is involved with prosecutions, while 60% spend their time defending the city against lawsuits. They also advise on getting permits - and this function will be most helpful when they start building all those new schools. MIKE YOUSEM wanted to know why so many cops are leaving LAPD.

They feel they are under siege - the very small percentage of bad cops gives the entire force a bad name - not fair, but it still works that way. And most of them cannot afford to live in the city - thus they commute from far away, which they can avoid by joining the police force close to where they live. PP ROY BELOSIC asked about the status of Belmont. One problem is the seeping of methane gas - it can be fixed for 15 million, and since we have already spent 200 million, that seems to be a good expenditure. Also, Eli Broad is active in getting Belmont designated a Charter School. If this is done, it eliminates the liability question - you only attend there by choice. GEORGE COX asked if the proposed 3 day, 12 hour shift idea is primarily favored because it would allow officers to hold another job Yes. PP STEVE ADLER asked how the 3-strike law is working. Not as expected, certainly. DORE CHARBONNEAU wondered about the quality of life issue, especially in the effort to rehab the homeless. The homeless will always be tough to help, since discipline is often lacking.

Summary - this was a broad ranging inquiry, and Rocky handled it well. However, as a personal opinion, he does seem to have almost more plans than he can supervise. Politics isn't easy.