04/29/04

LC040429

Val Zavala>> Tonight on Life and Times --

He's the only Persian politician in 90210 and he's breaking down
stereotypes along with ethnic barriers.

Jimmy Delshad>> They were telling me that it's not the time,
you're not ready, the city's not ready, the community is not
ready. Others have done it, what makes you think you can?

Val>> And then, how an old hotel is offering new life to
seniors on a budget. Plus, what happens when some of the city's
top designers trade spaces in an architectural jewel?

It's all straight ahead on tonight's Life and Times.

Life and Times is made possible through the generous support of
the L.K. Whittier Foundation dedicated to improving the quality
of life by supporting innovative endeavors in the fields of
medicine, health, science and education.

Val>> They've been accused of building gaudy Persian palaces
and locking themselves behind the gates, but could it be that
the growing Iranian community in Beverly Hills is just
misunderstood? Blame it on a culture clash here in the land of
the rich and famous. But now the city's newest councilman has a
plan to bring Beverly Hills together. As Philip Bruce reports,
Jimmy Delshad is blazing a trail as the city's first ever
Iranian office holder.

Philip Bruce>> On the sidewalks of Beverly Hills, his isn't the
most famous face by a long shot, but when Jimmy Delshad goes out
on the town, he gets noticed.

>> "I'm very proud of you. I am so glad to know you."

Philip Bruce>> The waitresses at Nate & Al's Deli say he's the
best thing the city's got going and, judging from all the other
smiling faces here, they're not the only ones. Such is life for
the only Persian politician in 90210. He's living his American
dream.

Jimmy Delshad>> When I started running, nobody took me
seriously. They were telling me that it's not the time, you're
not ready, the city's not ready, the community is not ready.
Others have done it, what makes you think you can? And that
gave me more of a challenge to overcome that. I used to say to
them that I will change that impression. Every time they said
that, I would say I'll change that impression.

Philip Bruce>> His plan worked. Delshad got elected to the
Beverly Hills City Council by beating a much better known
opponent. Now the bigger challenge is bringing this wealthy,
but sometimes divided, city together. For the new councilman,
it starts by persuading his fellow Iranians to leave their gated
homes and get involved.

Jimmy Delshad>> The Iranians feel totally accepted and all
that, but they're just within themselves, get together with
their own families, their own people and they feel very
comfortable doing that, mostly for protecting their culture.

Philip Bruce>> Protecting it from what?

Jimmy Delshad>> Protecting it from what they perceive to be an
outside pressure to take away from their culture. They're very
family oriented. They want their children to grow up with the
value systems that they have which is families, closeness,
education, and they're very much afraid to get their children
involved in something that they see on TV. What they see on TV,
they think that's going on in everybody's family.

Philip Bruce>> The city's famous Rodeo Drive lifestyle isn't
the problem. Delshad says most Iranians love the big cars and
the trendy shops, but they're less receptive to the Southern
California vibe. To many, it seems as foreign now as the day
they moved here. So they're afraid their kids will get sucked
into that whole Beverly Hills 90210 life?

Jimmy Delshad>> Yeah, yeah. It's not just in Beverly Hills.
It's all over like this, even in Los Angeles and other places,
that they're afraid to get involved in something that would be
maybe a negative on their children.

Philip Bruce>> And you were telling me that many Iranians have
not typically voted or even registered to vote.

Jimmy Delshad>> That was probably the biggest challenge I had,
which I was not aware of at the time I started.

Philip Bruce>> That's significant, considering that Iranians
comprise about a quarter of Beverly Hills's population and their
numbers are growing. They started moving here in droves after
the Islamic revolution that forced the Shah from power. But
just because Iranians immigrated here didn't mean they had to
join in, especially if it meant putting their names on the
dotted line.

Jimmy Delshad>> When I got somebody, for example, registered to
vote, first they were afraid to register because they said,
well, our name will get on different names. People will call
us. In fact, they were afraid to get called by the IRS. They
were afraid to get called by the INS.

Philip Bruce>> They were afraid of the government?

Jimmy Delshad>> They were afraid of government. They don't
like their names on anything that the government would come.
That shows you because they were afraid even in Iran to put
their names somewhere because of the government. One, they
didn't trust the government. Second, they didn't want to be
picked up for some other reasons.

Philip Bruce>> Jimmy Delshad understands fear very well. He's
not only Iranian, but Jewish, a combination at odds with today's
realities in Iran, but it wasn't always so.

Jimmy Delshad>> Being a Jew in Iran was comfortable under the
Shah, quite comfortable. He was always encouraging people to
study and go out and do that, so I left the country just to get
a better education and I thought I would go back. After my
graduation and school and all that, I'll go back to Iran and
help Iranians.

Philip Bruce>> The Iran of Delshad's boyhood is history, yet
he's held on to the things that matter most: his family, his
memories and his music.

[Musical Clip]

Philip Bruce>> So how did the councilman learn to trust his new
home, to move beyond the comfort of his traditional Iranian
family? Well, he says it all began with his wife. He credits
her with teaching him how to be an American.

Jimmy Delshad>> My life really changed drastically when I met
my wife. Lonnie Delshad is Israeli-born, but raised in America,
so her family was a great influence on me in learning the
culture of Americans and other culture and I used that bridge
which I created at home to create at other places.

Philip Bruce>> Then came two children and a successful business
career that gave him the financial freedom to pursue his two
American dreams: serving on the City Council and raising money
for a nonprofit that awards scholarships to needy youngsters.
But other Iranians here haven't been so lucky and, in spite of
the prevailing local stereotype, they're not all rich, a fact
that most non-Persians still don't get.

Jimmy Delshad>> What Iranians perceive is what they look like,
what cars they drive, what dresses they have, what clothes they
have. They have no idea what goes on inside their homes. If
you saw the movie, "House of Sand and Fog", you would see that.
Iranians like to be able to be perceived as well-to-do and
sometimes they are not well-to-do at home.

[Film Clip]

Philip Bruce>> In "House of Sand and Fog", Ben Kingsley plays a
once-powerful Iranian immigrant who works many jobs to project
an image of affluence when, in fact, he's barely getting by.
It's just a movie, but Delshad says it provides a true picture
of an Iranian community that's mostly misunderstood.

Jimmy Delshad>> I need to do an educational thing for the non-
Iranians to show that, even though they dress well and are
necessarily driving big cars and all that, they are not all
well-to-do, so they're here to relearn and do good business and
get ahead.

Philip Bruce>> With his new job at City Hall, the councilman
says he has a platform to get everyone's attention. He's
convinced that all sides can learn to be part of the same
community and leave behind the same old stereotypes.

Jimmy Delshad>> It is happening. It is happening without me
working on it because they see, as a representative or as an
Iranian that's in the open, they see he's a normal man, he's
intellectual, he's just like us. Maybe he's got a little accent
and I never had it when I was in Iran, but I have it here. So
it is changing by itself. When I ran, nobody took me seriously.
They said, oh, sure, you've got money, you've got a business and
all that, but you can't get votes because you haven't been
involved. So I tried changing that by bringing the other third
dimension. In order to get anything done, you need some
political power, so that's what I'm hoping to get across to all
the others, to get involved.

Val>> As we mentioned, some Iranians have been criticized for
building massive homes that don't fit into the rest of the
Beverly Hills architecture. Jimmy Delshad admits there are hurt
feelings on both sides of that issue and confusion over what
each side really wants. He hopes to change that.

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Val>> Southern California's red-hot housing market makes it
difficult for working families to meet a mortgage or even pay
the rent. Well, imagine what it's like to be a retiree on a
fixed income and still having to cover the cost of housing.
There just aren't many good options. But for a lucky few, there
is one great option in Whittier. As Gay Yee reports, it's an
old hotel that is allowing seniors on a budget to get a new
lease on life.

Gay Yee>> Ruby Zobrist did the math and it didn't add up.
She's eighty-five years old and lives on $770 a month. The
trouble is, the average one-bedroom apartment rents for over one
thousand a month. But the lopsided equation worked anyway.
That's because Ruby was lucky enough to find a special place in
Whittier designed for seniors just like her.

Ruby Zobrist>> But I take my walker and go down to the bank and
down to the bakery, down to the 99-Cent Store, and I know some
of the people in the shops around here and they know me when I
come in. I'm just -- I'm happy (laughter).

Gay Yee>> The building where Ruby is living so happily is
called Seasons at the Hoover. It houses a senior community
where a one-bedroom apartment costs just over $400 a month, a
place where seniors like Ruby can live independently and
socialize over a game of bridge or a puzzle, a supportive
environment where they remind people to set their clocks forward
and offer bingo Tuesday nights, all at an affordable price. But
finding a place like this wasn't easy.

Jackie Zobrist>> Not low-income, no. You're on a waiting list
for a year and a half, two years.

Gay Yee>> Downstairs in the lounge, Celia Campos and her
daughter tell a similar story.

Celia Campos>> I thought I'd still have my house. I figured by
this time I'd have a place, right? Age sixty-three. But no, it
doesn't work out that way.

Gay Yee>> In her younger days, Celia was an administrator for
several childcare centers. Then her husband divorced her,
ending a twenty-year marriage. Suddenly, at age sixty-three,
Celia found herself out of a house, out of work and forced to
live on $767 a month in social security.

Frances Guijano>> My mother used to help us financially and, as
we were growing up, she was always there. Now we're having to -
- we're not having to, but of course, with our hearts, you know,
help her with her utilities, her bills. Social security is just
enough for her rent and to put food on her table. It is barely
enough.

Hunter Johnson>> There is an incredible problem. The problem
is essentially a lack of supply.

Gay Yee>> As the saying goes, build it and they will come. But
developer Hunter Johnson has found communities often don't want
low-cost housing even for seniors.

Hunter Johnson>> To do the affordable where there is frequently
this "I don't want it in my backyard", the nimby issue, and we
find nimbyism even for seniors. There's a concern that somehow
we're doing affordable housing for seniors and that they're the
wrong kind of folks that are going to be living there without
realizing that it's most likely going to be, you know, a retired
teacher or it could be your parents.

Gay Yee>> People often describe the situation as Los Angeles
County's housing crisis, but if you talk to seniors struggling
to live on a fixed income, they describe it more as a housing
catastrophe. And as baby boomers grow closer and closer to
retirement, the situation can only get worse. This is just
beginning to dawn on Campos's daughter, Frances. Frances's
husband just got a notice from social security informing how
much he's made over the past twenty-five years.

Frances Guijano>> When it comes down and you look at it in
black and white, by all means in twenty years, there's not going
to be enough.

Gay Yee>> With so many people facing a possible retirement
housing nightmare, some developers are trying to meet the demand
with innovative solutions. In the 1930's, the Hoover Hotel was
an upscale social hub in Whittier, but over the years, it fell
on hard times. It suffered major damage after the Whittier
earthquake and declined into little more than a flophouse. But
through a public and private partnership, developers were able
to turn the landmark into affordable housing for seniors, but it
took a lot of work. Developers struggled for a year and a half
to find the money that eventually had to come from seven
different sources.

Charles Fry>> I think politically in local communities
throughout Southern California, it's difficult for elected
officials to support affordable housing, in some cases, in
neighborhoods where those residents don't understand what the
needs of the community are.

Gay Yee>> A University of California report found that
California seniors who rely solely on their social security
checks often spend more than half of it on rent. Campos wonders
in the future, will her children even have that?

Celia Campos>> I worry about my daughter and my grandchildren.
She has all daughters. If there's not enough for us right now,
what's going to be there for them?

Val>> Women outnumber men at the Whittier Hotel. Most are
widows and they have to be able to live independently without
any assistance. Most retirees just need a decent apartment
that's close to stores and services and they've found it there
at the Whittier Hotel. In fact, the converted hotel is so
successful that it's now a model for other senior housing across
the state.

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Val>> Long before there was the Fab Five or Trading Spaces,
there was the Pasadena Showcase House of Design. For the past
forty years, they've been taking a magnificent home and making
it even more spectacular, redoing it from cellar to attic. This
year, fifty thousand people will come through this home to see
the work of Southern California's top designers and it's all to
benefit the arts.

It was built when Woodrow Wilson was president. Cost? $16,000.
Today this ten thousand square foot mansion is worth well over
ten million. It's perched on a shady hill in Flintridge. At
age eighty-six, this Georgian colonial classic has never looked
better. Like the thirty-nine homes before it, it has been
completely redecorated. The home is a project of the Pasadena
Showcase House for the Arts. Charlotte Varner is Benefit
Chairman.

Charlotte Varner>> We usually look for a house that's around
nine thousand square feet or more. This one is about ten
thousand square feet. It has to have at least two staircases
going up and down and it has to have a good flow because we have
to accommodate all the visitors to the house. We've had
approximately fifty thousand people come to Showcase for the
last few years.

Val>> Remodeling delays are notorious and can turn a project
into a nightmare. But if your home is a Showcase home, all the
work is finished in less than three months. Vicki McCluggage is
President of the seventy-member Showcase organization.

Vicki McCluggage>> We also have many homeowners who've not
moved into a home yet and they contact us and say that they
would like to participate with Showcase and then they can move
into a really beautiful renovated home. Sometimes the most
exciting thing for them is that we're able to accomplish so much
in such a short time.

Val>> This 1918 home was designed by the renowned architect,
Myron Hunt. He also designed the Rose Bowl, Caltech, the
Hollywood Bowl, Occidental College and the Ambassador Hotel,
along with many other Southern California landmarks. Every
detail of every room is meticulously planned.

Charlotte Varner>> And the Garden Room. That was an incredible
makeover in there. They had their artists come and do a cloud
ceiling. But the most phenomenal thing in that room, I think,
is the border. Instead of crown molding, they put foil up on
the wall and then used plaster stencils.

[Film Clip]

Val>> And the kitchen? How did that turn out?

Charlotte Varner>> Oh, it's a beautiful kitchen. It's unusual
in the fact that it is a two-tone kitchen. You have a cream and
blue kitchen, which most kitchens are generally one color. They
actually were the only ones that had major construction. They
took out a wall to the adjoining small bedroom so they could
create a family room.

[Film Clip]

Val>> Don't know what to do with that little guest bath under
the stairs? Try this.

[Film Clip]

Val>> Then there is the downstairs. This is called the Pub.
Before and after. But if you explore a little further, you'll
find yourself in the cellar with a vault. It used to look like
this. Now it's called Bacchus's Retreat.

Charlotte Varner>> That's the wine room. That's a sun room
too. There was an existing safe down there, a walk-in vault
with the big doors and everything. Padua Design had it
refrigerated.

Val>> Upstairs is the master suite. Then and now.

[Film Clip]

Val>> Key to the project are the designers who volunteer their
talents.

Vicki McCluggage>> Well, the designers, I think, are
participating because, one, they love to show a multitude of
people their work and the opportunity for their work to be seen
by fifty thousand people obviously is a great opportunity. They
invest a great deal of their own money to present in the
Showcase. We're really very grateful every year because they do
make the show.

[Film Clip]

Val>> One of the most memorable rooms is the Ingénue Room, as
they call it. If Gidget were an heiress, this is what her room
would look like. And careful, those luscious chocolates are
actually doggie truffles.

[Film Clip]

Val>> Thinking about expanding the guest bathroom? Why not add
a rooftop garden?

[Film Clip]

Val>> It's on to the third floor. Only three months ago, these
attic rooms were bare as bones. Today, take a look.

[Film Clip]

Charlotte Varner>> There's an artist loft, or an arts and
crafts loft, at the top. It's a wonderful place to either send
your children up to the top of the house, or go and create.

Val>> The inside of the house is only half the job. Landscape
designers also transformed the grounds of this three and a half
acre estate.

Charlotte Varner>> They've created some fountains. There are a
lot of fountains in the areas, and I think people are really
interested in water features in gardens these days, so we have a
lot of those. We have a faux rock structure that they were
calling Stonehenge originally (laughter).

Val>> Only this one is operated by remote control.

[Film Clip]

Val>> Back in 1964, about seven thousand people came to the
Showcase home. This year, fifty thousand admirers will walk
through, helping to raise about a million dollars.

Vicki McCluggage>> Part of that is going to the Philharmonic
and part of it is going to sixty other schools, charitable
organizations, musical bands, some children's symphonies to
purchase instruments.

Val>> They also sponsor an annual competition for young
performers.

Vicki McCluggage>> Which is open to musicians from the ages of
sixteen to twenty-three and the judges are members of the Los
Angeles Philharmonic. When the winner is selected, it's really
a fierce competition to have been selected the winner.

Val>> When the public viewing is over, the owners who usually
remain anonymous will move back into their new old home. All
the permanent changes like wall treatments, floors and fixtures
will stay. The furnishing and appliances, the owners can choose
to buy if they like.

[Film Clip]

Charlotte Varner>> These are the ideas that people can go home
and say they can't maybe do it all in this style, but there are
ideas that anyone can take from Showcase and apply to their own
homes.

Val>> And even before this year's Showcase home closes its
doors, the selection is underway for next year's home.

Vicki McCluggage>> The process starts early and sometimes you
see a lot of homes before you can see one that would be
appropriate for next year. We try not to be in the same
neighborhood two years in a row. That would just be a courtesy
to the neighbors. But also we try to get the variety of styles
of homes. This is a beautiful Georgian colonial. We haven't
had one like this for a while, but we can do another style of
home next year.

Val>> One thing we weren't able to show you was a part of the
garden that's devoted to a fully operating model train track and
village. And that's our program. I'm Val Zavala. For everyone
at Life and Times, thanks for watching. We'll see you next
time.

Life and Times was made possible through the generous support of
the L.K. Whittier Foundation dedicated to improving the quality
of life by supporting innovative endeavors in the fields of
medicine, health, science and education.

Val>> Next time on Life and Times, rethinking the King Drew
Medical Center. What will it take to save this valuable
community resource?

>> How many people do they want to see die before they, you
know, actually say, well, maybe we could do a little bit better
with this hospital to bring it up to whatever it is that they're
hollering about is wrong?

Val>> That's next time on Life and Times.