As you will be receiving your ballots for the June 2 election around the time that you receive this issue of the Weekly, I thought that I would give your my impressions of some of the leading candidates for the Beverly Hills City Council at this stage of the campaign. My impressions are presented in alphabetical order and are not intended to suggest support for or opposition (with one exception) to any particular candidate. Les Friedman – he has been a diligent, serious member of the Council for nine years and was a firm hand on the tiller when he was Mayor during the pandemic. Andy Licht – he has served well on three City Commissions, has lived in the City for most of his life and really, really wants to be on the City Council. Sharona Nazarian – just finished a productive and enthusiastic term as Mayor; she has a very large following and it is difficult to imagine that anyone else will earn more votes. Rebecca Pynoos – she has served productively on two commissions, has a thorough grasp of all of the policy issues and has by far the most substantive knowledge and ideas of any per-

son I know who has not already served on the City Council. Russell Stuart – he presents an affable demeanor and calm confidence at least until challenged; he was elected to the Board of Education by committing that he would serve the entirety of his four year term; he now proposes to abandon that commitment after 18 months; he is not remotely qualified by reason of his education (none beyond some community college classes), experience or temperament to serve in any position of leadership; in my opinion, his manifest anger management issues are disqualifying; notably not one of his four Board of Education colleagues and not one of the five members of the City Council support him. Although Mr. Stuart has posted favorable comments that Mr. Mirisch made about him when running for a different office in the past, Mr. Mirisch confirmed to me that he is not endorsing or supporting Mr. Stuart for City Council. Roger Tanenbaum – he is a pleasant and earnest young man from a great Beverly Hills family; if you are looking for a responsible conservative person who is committed to public safety, and enhanced enforcement of speeding limits on residential streets, you may

want to consider him.

*** Last Saturday, Dr. Alan Dinner and I conducted indepth research to select the best venue for the May meeting of the BELCH eating group. At the outset I should explain that the term BELCH is an acronym for the full name, which cannot be disclosed, of the group whose members shall also be unidentified. Our objective was to find the best Korean barbeque venue. We knew that the only possible location was in Korea Town, one of the most interesting neighborhoods in greater Los Angeles west of the vast predominantly Asian neighborhoods generally referred to as “Monterey Park” (but encompassing numerous municipalities east of Los Angeles City Hall). I have often observed that if you live in those areas, you cannot afford to eat at home because there are so many great inexpensive restaurants. But for Korean barbeque, K-Town was the only possible place to look. So we set off on foot, maps in hand (actually in phones) from Alan’s home in mid-city. Initially, we walked east on 8th Street but headed north to 6th Street once our progress was interrupted by the walled off fortress of Fremont Place. (Do you know anyone who lives in that enclosure of mansions?) Our first stop was Brothers Korean BBQ [3680 W. 6th], one of four related restaurants with in a few blocks under the umbrella of Galbi Brothers, Inc. As you likely know, “galbi” means “Korean BBQ short ribs”, an essential

to any Korean BBQ. Brothers has an AYCE option (AYCE means all you can eat) which is ideally suited for the BELCH group. It is located in a small strip mall which was attractive because it offered $3 valet parking. Next was Moohan Premium BBQ [3435 Wilshire] which was a very large restaurant located in a plaza in the hi-rise Equitable Building. This was probably the most upscale of the places that we considered but the plaza was largely vacant and somewhat depressing. Then we went to what I consider the beating heart of K-Town, the iconic Chapman Market located on 6th street and occupying the block between Alexandria and Kenmore [3465 W. 6th]. It was built in 1929 in a Spanish Colonial/Baroque Revival Style and its architecture is largely intact. It was designed as one of the first drive-in, drive- through shopping centers in the US. Today it is a modern Koreatown dining and nightlife center. We considered two BBQ establishments in the market, Quarters and Origin. The name Quarters signifies that many quarter pound options are available. The name Origin signifies that it has authentic, traditional Korean BBQ roots evoking 1960s Seoul as a cultural origin moment. Both of these seemed fantastic and perfect for our group. Both offered magnificent and generous platters meats and veggies for BBQ for six persons. (For the eight of us, we will consider ordering two of those.) Ultimately, we chose Origins as it promises to be slightly quieter than Quarters (probably the noise level of an LAX runway). After our visit in mid-May, I might report back.