Tweet
Down and Out on Rodeo Drive
By IAN LOVETT
BEVERLY HILLS, Calif. — Just how widespread is the budget crisis in California? Even on Rodeo Drive, whose retail strip is synonymous with luxury, this city has taken a hit.
For the last decade, Gregg Donovan has served as “Beverly Hills ambassador,” an actual job in which he greeted tourists in his signature top hat and red tailcoat shouting “Welcome to Beverly Hills!” in dozens of languages.
But last month, the Beverly Hills Conference and Tourism Board eliminated the position, and Mr. Donovan found himself added to California’s still-swollen unemployment rolls.
“They said it was part of budget cuts,” said Mr. Donovan, 51. “But I brought in so much more money to this city than they paid me.”
Mr. Donovan, who had previously worked as a personal valet to Bob Hope, was originally hired in 2002 to help combat so-called “Pretty Woman” syndrome, which left some shoppers hesitant to enter upscale stores, afraid of being humiliated by snooty sales clerks like the Julia Roberts character was in that film.
Jennifer Brandenburg, who was visiting Rodeo Drive on Monday for the first time, said she was embarrassed to go inside the stores.
“I’m just window-shopping,” said Ms. Brandenburg, 23. “Clearly, I’m not dressed to go shopping.”
Mr. Donovan had tried to make shoppers like Ms. Brandenburg feel welcome, and guided them into the designer shops or onto tour buses.
“He would bring clients to us who were looking for watches or gifts,” said Korosh Soltani, manager of the jeweler David Orgell on Rodeo Drive. “People would take pictures with him. He was almost like a sightseeing attraction.”
Indeed, Mr. Donovan has come to represent the city so thoroughly that there is now a debate over the rights to his likeness.
As part of the separation agreement sent to Mr. Donovan, the Conference and Tourism Board sought the right to continue to use his image on promotional materials. Mr. Donovan has refused to sign the agreement, his lawyer said.
The Conference and Visitors Board declined to comment on Mr. Donovan’s termination, as did members of the Beverly Hills City Council.
Mr. Donovan now hopes to find similar work for another city — perhaps Hollywood, or even New York.
On Monday, Rodeo Drive was quiet until Mr. Donovan arrived, shouting hello to Brazilian tourists in hopes of drumming up support to get his job back.
“I love it there,” Mr. Donovan said. “I consider it home. But if they say they can’t afford me, what else can I do?”
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/02/08/us...or.html?ref=us
By IAN LOVETT
BEVERLY HILLS, Calif. — Just how widespread is the budget crisis in California? Even on Rodeo Drive, whose retail strip is synonymous with luxury, this city has taken a hit.
For the last decade, Gregg Donovan has served as “Beverly Hills ambassador,” an actual job in which he greeted tourists in his signature top hat and red tailcoat shouting “Welcome to Beverly Hills!” in dozens of languages.
But last month, the Beverly Hills Conference and Tourism Board eliminated the position, and Mr. Donovan found himself added to California’s still-swollen unemployment rolls.
“They said it was part of budget cuts,” said Mr. Donovan, 51. “But I brought in so much more money to this city than they paid me.”
Mr. Donovan, who had previously worked as a personal valet to Bob Hope, was originally hired in 2002 to help combat so-called “Pretty Woman” syndrome, which left some shoppers hesitant to enter upscale stores, afraid of being humiliated by snooty sales clerks like the Julia Roberts character was in that film.
Jennifer Brandenburg, who was visiting Rodeo Drive on Monday for the first time, said she was embarrassed to go inside the stores.
“I’m just window-shopping,” said Ms. Brandenburg, 23. “Clearly, I’m not dressed to go shopping.”
Mr. Donovan had tried to make shoppers like Ms. Brandenburg feel welcome, and guided them into the designer shops or onto tour buses.
“He would bring clients to us who were looking for watches or gifts,” said Korosh Soltani, manager of the jeweler David Orgell on Rodeo Drive. “People would take pictures with him. He was almost like a sightseeing attraction.”
Indeed, Mr. Donovan has come to represent the city so thoroughly that there is now a debate over the rights to his likeness.
As part of the separation agreement sent to Mr. Donovan, the Conference and Tourism Board sought the right to continue to use his image on promotional materials. Mr. Donovan has refused to sign the agreement, his lawyer said.
The Conference and Visitors Board declined to comment on Mr. Donovan’s termination, as did members of the Beverly Hills City Council.
Mr. Donovan now hopes to find similar work for another city — perhaps Hollywood, or even New York.
On Monday, Rodeo Drive was quiet until Mr. Donovan arrived, shouting hello to Brazilian tourists in hopes of drumming up support to get his job back.
“I love it there,” Mr. Donovan said. “I consider it home. But if they say they can’t afford me, what else can I do?”
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/02/08/us...or.html?ref=us
Copper Prices and Incidences of Copper Theft Rise
By TIMOTHY WILLIAMS
Thieves broke into a muffler shop in Chillicothe, Ohio, and stole cash — and 130 catalytic converters. Pervasive thefts of copper wire from under the streets of Fresno, Calif., have prompted the city to seal thousands of its manhole covers with concrete. And in Picher, Okla., someone felled the town’s utility poles with chain saws, allowing thieves to abscond with 3,000 feet of wire while causing a blackout.
Near-record prices for copper, platinum, aluminum and other metals have spurred a resurgence in the past several months in the theft of common items that in better economic times might be overlooked — among them, catalytic converters from automobiles and copper wiring that is being stripped out of overhead power lines, tornado warning sirens, coal mines and foreclosed homes, where thieves sometimes tear down walls to get to copper pipes and wiring. The thieves then make quick money by selling the items to scrap yards.
The thefts have proved difficult to stop for overmatched law enforcement agencies and have been a costly nuisance to public utilities, which have been forced to spend millions of dollars on repairs and security.
From Hawaii to Florida, thieves have electrocuted themselves and caused electrical and telephone failures and street light blackouts. Many municipalities, which have been hard hit by budget deficits, have been unable to afford repairs.
Highways in some states have remained darkened for months. In California, where copper wire theft appears to be most rampant, according to law enforcement officials, Little League baseball fields have gone dark because the wiring was stolen from the lights.
“We believe this is a national security issue,” said Bryan Jacobs, executive director of the Coalition Against Copper Theft, an advocacy group in Washington that includes telecommunications firms, power companies and railroads. “The only thing keeping it from being an epidemic is that scrap yards are now scrutinizing the material. But theft is still rampant.”
The ebb and flow in the thefts over the past several years appear to be tied to the movement in international commodity markets. Copper, for instance, is near an all-time high, which has translated into $4-a-pound prices for scrap copper at salvage yards. The price in 2009 was about $1.25 a pound.
“If you watch the price of copper, you notice a correlation between the price and the rate of theft,” said Lynne Monaco, security director for Frontier Communications, which has seen an increase in thefts of its power and broadband lines in the 27 states it serves.
Platinum is now trading at about $1,800 an ounce; rhodium at about $2,400 an ounce; and palladium, at more than $800 an ounce. Catalytic converters, a component of an automobile’s exhaust system, contain trace amounts of one of the three precious metals. The metals help cleanse emissions by turning toxic gases into less harmful exhaust at high temperatures.
In December, the Ohio Department of Insurance warned about a rash of catalytic converter thefts in the state. “It’s a $200 or $300 payday for a minute’s worth of work,” said Jarrett Dunbar, a spokesman for the state’s insurance commission.
The F.B.I. has said it considers theft of copper wire to be a threat to the nation’s baseline ability to function. Last month, the agency said it was planning to update a 2008 report that called the crime a threat to the nation’s “critical infrastructure.”
Several states have enacted laws in the past few years to combat the theft of copper and catalytic converters. Some cities have taken particularly strong measures.
Fresno had been losing nearly $1 million a year to copper wire thefts before it began shuttering its utility covers with concrete.
“At one point, for every street light we would repair, five more would go out because of wire theft — that’s the pace of the battle we were losing,” said Patrick N. Wiemiller, director of public works in Fresno. “We can’t sneeze away $75,000 a month, especially as a self-insured city.”
California enacted a law in 2009 requiring people selling copper wire or catalytic converters at scrap yards to be photographed, have their driver’s license copied and wait at least three days for payment. Georgia and Oregon have approved similar laws.
Other states, including Florida, Hawaii, Michigan and Oklahoma, have elevated the illegal possession of a large amount of copper wire to a felony. In Arizona, the purchase or sale of individual catalytic converters by most people is now illegal.
But whether the flurry of new legislation has reduced thefts is unclear.
“Our goal was to completely stop copper theft,” said State Representative Guy Liebmann, who wrote Oklahoma’s law. “It pretty much has done that, but this is like trying to pass a law to stop people texting from their cars. It’s not easy to stop. I think we’ve done all we can.”
Salvage yard owners say the primary flaw in the laws is that local police forces lack the time to monitor every scrap business, which larger business owners insist gives smaller firms a competitive edge.
“The problem is that everybody has to go by the law or it gives an unfair advantage to the smaller guys, who are going ahead and buying it,” said Matt White, general manager of Yaffe Iron & Metal in Muskogee, Okla. “It has hurt our business.”
Utility companies have taken their own preventive measures, including offering rewards of as much as $10,000 and painting copper wire to make it less valuable as scrap.
The American Electrical Power Company in Ohio said it had begun to replace its copper wire with wire that contains less copper and is also more difficult to cut through. The company has also put up signs letting prospective thieves know that the new brand of wire is not worth stealing.
“The new wire has no scrap value, and nobody has been able to cut through it,” said Pat Hemlepp, a company spokesman. “But we don’t know whether it has been successful in reducing thefts because traditional copper thefts are continuing.”
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/02/08/us...ft.html?ref=us
By TIMOTHY WILLIAMS
Thieves broke into a muffler shop in Chillicothe, Ohio, and stole cash — and 130 catalytic converters. Pervasive thefts of copper wire from under the streets of Fresno, Calif., have prompted the city to seal thousands of its manhole covers with concrete. And in Picher, Okla., someone felled the town’s utility poles with chain saws, allowing thieves to abscond with 3,000 feet of wire while causing a blackout.
Near-record prices for copper, platinum, aluminum and other metals have spurred a resurgence in the past several months in the theft of common items that in better economic times might be overlooked — among them, catalytic converters from automobiles and copper wiring that is being stripped out of overhead power lines, tornado warning sirens, coal mines and foreclosed homes, where thieves sometimes tear down walls to get to copper pipes and wiring. The thieves then make quick money by selling the items to scrap yards.
The thefts have proved difficult to stop for overmatched law enforcement agencies and have been a costly nuisance to public utilities, which have been forced to spend millions of dollars on repairs and security.
From Hawaii to Florida, thieves have electrocuted themselves and caused electrical and telephone failures and street light blackouts. Many municipalities, which have been hard hit by budget deficits, have been unable to afford repairs.
Highways in some states have remained darkened for months. In California, where copper wire theft appears to be most rampant, according to law enforcement officials, Little League baseball fields have gone dark because the wiring was stolen from the lights.
“We believe this is a national security issue,” said Bryan Jacobs, executive director of the Coalition Against Copper Theft, an advocacy group in Washington that includes telecommunications firms, power companies and railroads. “The only thing keeping it from being an epidemic is that scrap yards are now scrutinizing the material. But theft is still rampant.”
The ebb and flow in the thefts over the past several years appear to be tied to the movement in international commodity markets. Copper, for instance, is near an all-time high, which has translated into $4-a-pound prices for scrap copper at salvage yards. The price in 2009 was about $1.25 a pound.
“If you watch the price of copper, you notice a correlation between the price and the rate of theft,” said Lynne Monaco, security director for Frontier Communications, which has seen an increase in thefts of its power and broadband lines in the 27 states it serves.
Platinum is now trading at about $1,800 an ounce; rhodium at about $2,400 an ounce; and palladium, at more than $800 an ounce. Catalytic converters, a component of an automobile’s exhaust system, contain trace amounts of one of the three precious metals. The metals help cleanse emissions by turning toxic gases into less harmful exhaust at high temperatures.
In December, the Ohio Department of Insurance warned about a rash of catalytic converter thefts in the state. “It’s a $200 or $300 payday for a minute’s worth of work,” said Jarrett Dunbar, a spokesman for the state’s insurance commission.
The F.B.I. has said it considers theft of copper wire to be a threat to the nation’s baseline ability to function. Last month, the agency said it was planning to update a 2008 report that called the crime a threat to the nation’s “critical infrastructure.”
Several states have enacted laws in the past few years to combat the theft of copper and catalytic converters. Some cities have taken particularly strong measures.
Fresno had been losing nearly $1 million a year to copper wire thefts before it began shuttering its utility covers with concrete.
“At one point, for every street light we would repair, five more would go out because of wire theft — that’s the pace of the battle we were losing,” said Patrick N. Wiemiller, director of public works in Fresno. “We can’t sneeze away $75,000 a month, especially as a self-insured city.”
California enacted a law in 2009 requiring people selling copper wire or catalytic converters at scrap yards to be photographed, have their driver’s license copied and wait at least three days for payment. Georgia and Oregon have approved similar laws.
Other states, including Florida, Hawaii, Michigan and Oklahoma, have elevated the illegal possession of a large amount of copper wire to a felony. In Arizona, the purchase or sale of individual catalytic converters by most people is now illegal.
But whether the flurry of new legislation has reduced thefts is unclear.
“Our goal was to completely stop copper theft,” said State Representative Guy Liebmann, who wrote Oklahoma’s law. “It pretty much has done that, but this is like trying to pass a law to stop people texting from their cars. It’s not easy to stop. I think we’ve done all we can.”
Salvage yard owners say the primary flaw in the laws is that local police forces lack the time to monitor every scrap business, which larger business owners insist gives smaller firms a competitive edge.
“The problem is that everybody has to go by the law or it gives an unfair advantage to the smaller guys, who are going ahead and buying it,” said Matt White, general manager of Yaffe Iron & Metal in Muskogee, Okla. “It has hurt our business.”
Utility companies have taken their own preventive measures, including offering rewards of as much as $10,000 and painting copper wire to make it less valuable as scrap.
The American Electrical Power Company in Ohio said it had begun to replace its copper wire with wire that contains less copper and is also more difficult to cut through. The company has also put up signs letting prospective thieves know that the new brand of wire is not worth stealing.
“The new wire has no scrap value, and nobody has been able to cut through it,” said Pat Hemlepp, a company spokesman. “But we don’t know whether it has been successful in reducing thefts because traditional copper thefts are continuing.”
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/02/08/us...ft.html?ref=us
Comment