|
|
- Marilyn Manson, "Dope Show"
This story appeared in the Antelope Valley Press October 23, 1998.
By BELINDA M. PASCHAL
Valley Press Staff Writer
PALMDALE - Gaggles of onlookers milled around the intersection of Carolside Avenue and Avenue P-12 throughout Thursday, hoping to get a glimpse of a particular "dope show" - the one starring shock-rocker Marilyn Manson.
Manson, along with some 300 cast and crew members, was in town filming the video for his latest single, "I Don't Like the Drugs (But the Drugs Like Me)." Wholesome stuff. Normal fare for a performer whose idea of cool is an update of Alice Cooper's 20-year-old act.
Production and security personnel were reticent to talk to fans or the press, keeping them at bay behind yellow police tape. About midday, crews obscured the set from curious eyes by forming a barrier with several trucks.
One fan, Vanessa Ponschke, arrived to the set Thursday morning on the premise that the early bird catches the worm - or in this case, a photo of Manson.
"I've been here since about 7 a.m.," the camera-wielding 18year-old said in the early afternoon. "I saw (Manson) walking back and forth a little earlier.
"I'm a big fan. He's just different from everybody else - his makeup, his music, everything about him."
Ponschke, who lives a few streets over from the shoot site, said the video production company, Mars Media, passed out notices throughout the neighborhood notifying the residents of the project.
Another Manson devotee, 29year-old George Patten, rushed to the location from his home at Avenue S and 47th Street East after receiving a tip from a friend who lives in the neighborhood.
"I like Manson's music, and I like him a lot. Everybody labels him as a bad person, but he's just being himself," Patten said.
"I Don't Like the Drugs" is the second single from Manson's Mechanical Animals LP. The singer directed the video with Paul Hunter, whose credits include projects by Janet Jackson, Mariah Carey, Everclear, Erykah Badu, Boyz II Men and the late Notorious B.I.G.
The Manson shoot took place in a block of Carolside featuring several dilapidated homes that recently were declared public nuisances and authorized for destruction by the Palmdale City Council.
The bleak, abandoned look was precisely what Los Angeles location scout Ron Abrams was seeking when he called last week, said Barbara LaFata, public information officer and film liaison for the city of Palmdale.
"He called looking for a rundown, kind of post-apocalyptic area, where they could do some pyrotechnics, and this was a good area since the houses are going to be torn down," LaFata said.
In addition to the rickety houses, the set featured some equally battered-looking Christmas trees, a large stuffed bunny and what was indisputably the video's visual centerpiece, a crucifix constructed from television sets which Manson shouldered, presumably symbolizing the burden of the media on his back.
Born Brian Warner in Canton, Ohio, the 29-year-old Manson was attending college in southern Florida as a photojournalism major when he formed the band that would ultimately catch the eye of Nine Inch Nails frontman Trent Reznor, who produced Manson's first album, Portrait of an American Family.
In addition to legions of frenzied fans, Marilyn Manson - both the band and its namesake - has attracted just as many detractors, who view the singer and his lyrics as anti-Christian.
Manson and his bandmates - guitarists Twiggy Ramirez and John 5, drummer Ginger Fish and multi-instrumentalist Madonna Wayne Gacy - kick off a tour next week that will cover the Midwest, East Coast and South before veering to Europe, Australia and New Zealand.
Manson's location scouts found the gritty, post-apocalyptic look they wanted in the condemned neighborhood where many homes are owned by Beverly Hills slumlord Milton Avol.
For the demolition costs, the city would borrow the money from the Community Redevelopment Agency to knock down a number of unsafe houses outside the city's official redevelopment areas.
The decision will be made at the council's regular meeting at 7 p.m. Wednesday at 708 East Palmdale Blvd.
The council can use agency funds outside official redevelopment areas if the action is deemed beneficial, Mayor Jim Ledford said Monday.
The city would borrow the money to cover the cost of razing homes identified as public nuisances in a neighborhood on the southwest corner of Avenue P and Division Street, where Manson visited to shoot footage for a new music video.
"We have to make a finding that (the destruction) would be of benefit to the redevelopment project areas, though this project is not in one," Ledford said. "But I think it shouldn't be too hard to make that finding."
With the money in hand, the city should be able to demolish the first 10 dilapidated homes by Dec. 9, he said.
Of those 10 homes, nine are owned by Beverly Hills physician and slumlord Avol, who was paid by Manson for the use of some for backdrops.
The doctor owns 63 other houses in the 382-home neighborhood, which was annexed by the city in May 1995.
Fifty-eight of Avol's other 63 houses are boarded up as well, and 30 of that number have been deemed substandard, hazardous, uninhabitable and a visual blight, according to municipal code enforcement officer Mike McNeil.
Referred to as Focus Area Two by municipal officials, the neighborhood is the subject of a concerted rehabilitation effort by the city, which is providing low-interest loans to help homeowners repair exteriors, driveways, fencing and landscaping.
So far, 45 owners have received assistance; 15 more are in the process of obtaining help; and another 40 have applied for the aid, said Elizabeth Hammond, the city's neighborhood improvement specialist.
The city, with the help of the Palmdale Home Depot store, also is replacing a 1,150-linear-foot block wall that separates traffic on Avenue P from backyards between Third Street East and Division Street.
The city is providing low-cost loans to 16 owners who will benefit from the wall's replacement.
The $88,000 cost of the project does not include the cost of the blocks, which are being donated by Home Depot.
By BOB WILSON
Valley Press Staff Writer
---------------------------------------------------------------------
PALMDALE - The City Council agreed unanimously Wednesday to demolish 18 more dilapidated and nuisance houses owned by Beverly Hills slumlord Dr. Milton Avol.
The action means 57 of the 72 homes Avol owns in the vicinity of Division Street and Avenue P have been earmarked for destruction. The work has been postponed by an appeal filed by Avol attorneys Paul Estuar and Sa'id Vakili.
A response to that appeal has been filed by Palmdale's legal counsel. The appellate court judge is deliberating whether to uphold a Jan. 6 decision by Superior Court Judge Pro Tem Ross Amspoker, rejecting a request by Avol for a temporary injunction preventing the city from demolishing his homes.
Meanwhile, the Antelope Valley office of the Los Angeles County district attorney has filed misdemeanor criminal charges against Avol and his wife, Ann, in relation to their properties.
In documents filed Jan. 21, the District Attorney's Office charged the Avols with violating seven Palmdale municipal codes. Each of the seven charges was filed in connection with each of the 57 homes owned by the Avols, for a total of 399 counts.
On Wednesday, Avol attorneys Estuar and Vakili asked the City Council to reject a resolution ordering the demolition of the last 18 homes and consider a new plan submitted this past week by Avol to rebuild them.
"Your client has very little credibility; in fact, he has none whatsoever" when it comes to proposals for rehabilitating his properties, Councilman David Myers replied.
The homes, many of which were left unrepaired and vacant for years despite numerous pleas, warnings and threats by both Palmdale and Los Angeles County, "are disgraceful, and I think the residents in that area have put up with them for too long," Myers said.
As for considering a new plan by Avol to rebuild them, "The answer is no. I'm not the least bit interested in rehabilitation. I want them gone," the councilman said.
Councilwoman Shelley Sorsabal said Avol "could have taken care of the situation by rehabbing these homes many years ago, and that hasn't been done. So why are we to believe he would do so now?"
"The time is past," Councilman Joe Davies opined.
Councilman Terry Judge told the attorneys their client "has tried our patience, and our patience has run out. It's that simple."
"Quite frankly, there's no credibility left" when it comes to Avol's promises and plans, Mayor Jim Ledford said.
"Our client is prepared to take certain steps to provide assurances, so the credibility issues can be addressed," Vakili said. "It's inconceivable to me that we can't come up with some sort of plan."
"Well, it seems inconceivable that your client has done anything up to now," Ledford said. "He's only moved when the law has forced him to do so."
City Attorney Matt Ditzhazy called the plan submitted by Avol "a real half-hearted attempt" that included no specific guarantees of performance. For example:
Rough estimates submitted for the cost of rehabilitation lacked many foreseeable expenses, including the cost of building permits, inspection fees, abatement of leadbased paint and asbestos, and the mandatory hooking up of some of the homes to the area's sewer line.
No time line was submitted for completion of the work, no provisions were included for maintaining security while the work was under way, and any work still hinged on future assessments of cost.
"To me, if there was good faith, it would already have been demonstrated. There has been no good faith demonstrated," Ledford said. "I would just as soon let the law take its course."
"So I guess the position is that you're not willing to entertain any counterproposals or any other options?" Vakili inquired.
"Drive careful; mind the snow" on the way back to Los Angeles, Myers suggested.
Demolition crews have removed the asbestos from two of Avol's homes in preparation for demolition, said Mike Miller, Palmdale's municipal housing coordinator. The rest of the work rests on the pending decision by the appellate court judge.
That decision could come in days or weeks, Ditzhazy said.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
By BOB WILSON
Valley Press Staff Writer
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
PALMDALE - A trio of appellate judges sided with the city and lifted a stay prohibiting Palmdale from razing 57 rundown homes owned by Beverly Hills slumlord Dr. Milton Avol.
The ruling means the city can hire a contractor to perform the demolition work at the Feb. 10 meeting of the City Council, Palmdale City Attorney Matt Ditzhazy said.
"The stay was vacated completely," Ditzhazy said Friday. "The ruling was issued on the 27th, but we just got it today."
After issuing the proper notices to Avol and the Antelope Valley Air Pollution Control District, the demolition could begin as soon as Feb. 22, Ditzhazy said.
Under air-pollution regulations, the city would be limited to knocking down two houses a day. "At two houses a day, five days a week, it will take five to six weeks" to raze all of Avol's uninhabitable structures, he said. "Maybe less because some contractors work on Saturdays."
The stay was enacted Jan. 13 when Avol's attorneys appealed a Jan. 6 decision by Superior Court Judge Pro Tem Ross Amspoker, who also declined to stop the demolition planned by the city.
Avol has been fighting the city for months after failing to bring his houses up to municipal building codes for years.
"I'm elated," Ditzhazy said of the decision. "I'm glad they didn't take months to render a decision on this."
The move means that "a year and a half of hard work is finally going to pay off for the residents who live around those homes," city housing coordinator Mike Miller said.
It also means a process is in place for the city to proceed against the owners of other dilapidated nuisance properties, Miller said.
"The code enforcement department is already sending out letters (demanding action), and property owners are now paying attention" because of the city's fight against Avol, he said. "This sends the message" that the city is within its rights.
"This effort will be continued as the council proceeds to give us additional direction" concerning other problem properties, Miller said.
"But if anybody won anything, it's the residents in that neighborhood" where Avol's homes sat empty for years, he said.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
Avol homes meet wrecking ball
This story appeared in the Antelope Valley Press March 5, 1999.
By BOB WILSON
Valley Press Staff Writer
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
PALMDALE - It's four down and 49 to go after workers on Thursday knocked down the first of 53 homes slated for demolition in one of the city's older neighborhoods.
All 53 homes are owned by Beverly Hills physician Milton Avol, who has fought the destruction of his vacant and unsafe houses for months. Avol lost his last legal battle Feb. 22, when Los Angeles Superior Court Judge David Yaffe rejected his request for an injunction against the city.
That request was nearly identical to one denied Jan. 6 by Lancaster Superior Court Judge Pro Tem Ross Amspoker, Palmdale City Attorney Matt Ditzhazy said. An appeal of Amspoker's denial also was rejected Jan. 29 by a trio of Los Angeles appellate court judges.
Faced with a denial of his appeal, Avol directed his attorneys to restart essentially the same process in a different court, Ditzhazy said.
Despite claims by the attorneys of new findings that justified the renewal, "the judge didn't buy any of it," Ditzhazy said.
Instead, the move left Judge Yaffe "kind of beside himself," the city attorney said. "He basically accused them of forum-shopping."
The latest rejection should mark the end of the legal process, Ditzhazy said. And the demolition of the first four of Avol's homes marked the beginning of the demolition process.
Workers usually are limited by state air-quality regulations to the destruction of two homes a day. In this case, up to six houses a day could be demolished by the ATE Environmental company if its workers take the proper steps to control dust.
After knocking down the first four homes, all on the west side of the Carolside Avenue culdesac north of Avenue P-12, workers will knock down the five homes remaining on the east side of the culdesac on Friday, city housing coordinator Mike Miller said.
"We will be moving on to the next homes on the 15th" of March, Miller said. The plan is to demolish at least five homes a week, but workers must remove all asbestos from each before it can be razed.
"It looks like we will be completely through no later than June 4," he said. When finished, the city will assess the cost of demolishing each structure and place a lien against the remaining cleared land.
Avol will have five years to repay the city, and if he does not, the city can foreclose, he said. "It's not like the liens can sit there forever."
Because of changes in the city's General Plan and zoning laws, Avol cannot build new homes on the vacant land, Miller said. Now, the land is restricted to light-industrial uses.
Thursday's efforts drew supportive honks and friendly hand signals from other residents of the neighborhood, he said.
Because of the city's success in that neighborhood, city code enforcement officers are finding a greater degree of cooperation with the owners of other dilapidated properties throughout the city, Miller said.
Some have already expressed interested in demolishing their run-down structures themselves in an attempt to save time, effort and court costs, he said.
Of 39 structures identified as blighted, 16 are slated for demolition in the near future, city code enforcement officer Chuck McKaughan said. Of those, one is a commercial building; five are multifamily dwellings; and the rest are a mix of single-family homes and other structures.
Most of the structures are being taken down at the owners' expense because they would be too expensive to fix, McKaughan said. Some, even if rehabilitated, would go unused because they are too small.
"Most have been boarded up and uninhabited for several years," he said. Also, "a large majority of the owners live out of town or out of state."
So far, inspectors have concentrated their efforts in the area between avenues P and S, 10th Street West and 47th Street East, he said.
"I think everybody is getting the message that this (clean-up) will not stop," Miller said. "People are seeing the momentum the city now has and they are more willing to take care of things on their own."
City officials have estimated the cost of razing Avol's homes at about $258,000.
|
|
