Santa Monica City Councilmember Pam O’Connor shared the dais with Congressman Henry Waxman and Supervisor Zev Yaroslavsky at the April 11 breakfast meeting of the Westside Economic Collaborative and the Westside Urban Forum. The Collaborative is a consortium of businesses, residents, Chambers of Commerce and public officials of the six Westside cities (Beverly Hills, Culver City, Los Angeles, Malibu, Santa Monica and West Hollywood). This week’s program was devoted to Westside Infrastructure, with an emphasis on transportation.
Notable remarks: Shortly after Mr. Yaroslavsky announced that he had been mistaken in urging the new Exposition light rail transit line to follow a longer, slower route rather than cut through Cheviot Hills on the old right-of-way, his cell phone rang on stage; “That’s someone calling from Cheviot Hills who just heard about my statement,” he said. And: When no one on the dais would hazard an estimate as to when the Red Line subway might reach even as far as Westwood, Ms. O’Connor stepped up to the plate and allowed that it might happen about the time her beloved Cubs won another World Series.
Sleeper infrastructure issue: The future use and possible development of all that federal land occupied by the Federal Building at 11000 Wilshire Blvd., the VA and the armories at Wilshire Blvd. and Federal Ave., which Paul Reznik (a VP of the Greater West Los Angeles Chamber) called “the core of the Westside.” Mr. Waxman said the plan to build larger facilities for the FBI at 11000 Wilshire “makes no sense to me at all.”
imX Solutions, Inc., a Michigan-based technology company, has located its new West Coast sales office on Cloverfield Blvd. in Santa Monica. The company provides services in online banking, digital gift cards and corporate secure data. David N. Farris is sales and marketing director in the new office; he previously served as vice president for The Marketing Resource Group Worldwide in Los Angeles, assistant director of marketing for the State of Washington Lottery in Seattle and development area manager for Toyota GB in Epsom, England. “Expanding our business to the West Coast and gaining a sales and marketing expert with strong management experience will allow us to grow into new markets,” said chief executive officer Jim Downes. imx-solutions.com
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