In my bedroom I have an upholstered chair known as a “rocker recliner.”  My dad was in the furniture business as a manufacturer and this blue, velvety upholstered chair came from his factory, Mechanics Furniture Manufacturers, in Worcester, Massachusetts back in the 1970s. The rocker recliner was a popular item back in the day. It allowed the person using it to rock or to recline and it swiveled side-to-side.

It was originally owned by my aunt Ronnie Kramer who lived in North Hollywood, California. Ronnie was the pride and joy of our family because she worked in “the industry” as personal assistant to Danny Thomas and later, his daughter Marlo Thomas (of “That Girl” fame), before starting her own recruiting agency for film production workers.

Ronnie was my dad’s younger sister and with just a 20 year difference between us, we related as if she was my older sister. I moved to Los Angeles at her invitation in 1988 after she was diagnosed with lung cancer. Together, we braved some of the hardships she underwent during the short time we had together. When she died in November 1989 it was up to me to dispose of many of her personal possessions.

I kept the rocker recliner as a memory of her and also of my father’s furniture business. As a child, I spent many weekends exploring the four floors of “the factory” at 306 Shrewsbury Street in Worcester, MA, playing hide and seek with my brother and sister. When I was a little older, I was allowed to work there sweeping the floors around the double rows of sewing machines where the Italian ladies worked.

I loved being there and over time I got to know all of the longtime employees pretty well. There was Frankie Pelligrino, the shop foreman and his wife Vickie, the head seamstress. There was Angelo Pelligrino – Frank’s brother, who was an upholsterer and who I considered my friend. Then there was Emil, the German fabric cutter who was stern but always nice to me. I also remember Jimmy Mitti, the shop’s truck driver (although my Uncle Arnie would sometimes fill in when a delivery needed to be made) and Joe, the African American driver who worked there at one time.

It was at the factory where I developed an appreciation for people of all cultures and in doing so, I always felt like we were all equal in stature. I may have been the boss’s daughter but I felt just as much at home with the people who worked there.

Most every night now, I sit in that rocker recliner because it brings me comfort to think back to those days. That chair is all I have to remind me of the factory. It closed in the early 1990s after the furniture manufacturing industry moved, first, to the southern United States, and then, to China. I know my dad was always very disappointed that he wasn’t able to leave us more of an inheritance from the more than 50 years of the factory’s existence.

The building, which my family owned, was sold to a records storage facility which now anonymously occupies that location with its chain link fence and padlocked front door. It’s no longer the friendly place I used to visit as a child with its well – worn wooden stairs leading up to the office or down to the furniture showroom.

The last time I stopped by the old factory building, the security guy motioned me to leave and wouldn’t allow me to take a quick look inside.

I won’t ever go back there again, but I will hold onto that rocker recliner until it falls apart. Every night before I go to sleep, I sit in that chair and I enjoy the legacy of this 50 year old upholstered chair, now well – worn, and I get to hold onto a piece of my past.

In 1993 I was asked by a well-known Los Angeles publicist to contribute my expertise as a news journalist for publicists attending an industry event held at UCLA. It was my first public speaking event and I was nervous but I knew my topic area very well, having served as a news journalist for nearly ten years for radio and print media. In fact, you could say I was at the “head of the pack” when it came to getting elusive or difficult people to give me an interview.

I laugh now when thinking about my first “real” interview while still a student at Emerson College in Boston. My professor had assigned the class to interview the person who most influenced us in our careers. I had chosen Hunter S. Thompson, known as “the Gonzo Journalist.” Hunter had written the controversial book on the Hells Angels motorcycle club, which I had read while in high school. He later went on to write “Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas” and several other books which defined him as a rather edgy and (some would say “weird”) and always intoxicated journalist.

I managed to get a ticket to see Hunter, who happened to be speaking at U. Mass, Dorchester that month. I brought my trusty little tape recorder with me with its little plastic mike and I hung out backstage waiting for Mr. Thompson to arrive. He was late. Very late. And when he did show up, he had a fifth of Jack Daniels with him which he nipped off of behind the podium.

While I didn’t really have any journalist credentials, I did have to do this assignment and it was the last minute before it was due. When Hunter raced off the stage rather abruptly, I followed him down the hall. He jumped into an elevator – and I jumped in with him. I recall him saying, “Oh God. What do you want?”

I explained that I was a student trying to complete this assignment and I told him that I admired his style of journalism and wanted to get a few quotes from him. Honestly, he was trapped. He couldn’t avoid me so he mumbled something that I used in my paper and then he got out of the elevator.

After saying my goodbyes to his staff, who had been so kind to arrange my ticket, I realized that I couldn’t get back to campus because the MBTA had stopped running for the night. I was in kind of a quandry as I didn’t have the money for cab fare and this was not a good neighborhood to be walking at night. So I did what any young journalist would do – I asked his staff if I could catch a ride with them back to Boston.

Again, they took pity on me and said they would squeeze me in their car. What I didn’t know was that Hunter was also going to be riding in that car, and boy was he surprised when I jumped into the backseat right next to him – actually, almost on his lap! I remember what he said to me: “Oh God. Not YOU again!”

And that was my first interview, of which I was very, very proud!

I went on to become a news reporter for radio – a broadcast journalist – and later, a print journalist, as well, writing for Variety, the Los Angeles Business Journal, San Fernando Valley Business Journal, Boxoffice magazine, Pasadena Weekly, Insurance Journal and many other publications.

My career has given me access to some very interesting and successful people, among them: Jerry Rubin of “Yippie” fame, film actress Ginger Rogers, King Carl Gustav of Spain, Glenn Frey of the Eagles, Rick Wakeman, keyboardist for Yes, Dee Snider of Twisted Sister, bluesmen John Mayall, Buddy Guy, Johnny Winter, and the list goes on.

So getting back to my first panel as a journalist, I wrote a speech outline where I listed every tip I could think of as I went through the process I used to prepare for an interview. Some of it was common sense tips but it all derived from my, then, 15 years of experience in interviewing people for news stories.

The speech went well and after doing it I was excited to do it again. In 1997, I took an extensive course to become a Certified Seminar Speaker and with that added boost of confidence the floodgates opened up: I started giving workshops for the L.A. Community College System called “Jumpstart Your Business with Free Publicity.” At the same time, I hit the road, whenever I had some free time, to give a speech to business associations called “Self Promotion for the Self Employed” and “Do’s and Don’t for Media Success.”

Since that first little speech in 1993, 26 years ago, I’ve developed several more, very popular speeches such as “Utilizing LinkedIn to Maximize Your Business” which I have presented to high-level business associations, including: Vistage, Worldwide, ProVisors, NAWBO-LA, American Association of Daily Money Managers, Pasadena Bar Association, the San Gabriel Valley Financial Planners Association, Mid Valley Chamber of Commerce, Entertainment Publicists Professional Society, Bruin Professionals, Asian Business Association, German-American Chamber, Glendale Chamber, Montrose-Verdugo City Chamber, Lions Clubs and Rotary Clubs all over Southern California.

Since I believe in giving back to others, I also speak to high school and college students seeking journalism or business degrees. To date, I’ve presented at Loyola Marymount University, Pepperdine University, UCLA Extension, the University of Southern California and UC, Pomona as well as at 15 high schools in Los Angeles.

While I’ve been out doing speaking engagements, I’ve received my own fair share of publicity through interviews with hosts from KCKC AM, Bill Black’s Exit Coach Radio and Eszylfie Taylor’s “Ask the Experts” show as well as the Los Angeles Daily News, Crescenta Valley Weekly, Inland Empire Business Journal, and for my alma mater, Emerson College.

My newest speaking engagement takes me into the hearts of those living in retirement homes where I speak about “The Importance of Writing Your Memoirs.” I enjoy seeing the smiles on the faces of those who attend as they think about their own beloved memories.

If you are thinking about the virtues of speaking on a topic of your profession, I highly encourage it. You may find, like me, that you like it and it may lead you to even greater experiences in life.

On November 12^, 2019, the State of California’s newest tax initiative aims to hit the most vulnerable commercial property owners, those who own properties worth $2 million or more, basically mom and pop businesses and property owners. The California Schools and Local Communities Funding Act, which seeks to raise money for public schools, if passed, would remove the Prop 13 protection on commercial properties with an assessed value of $2 million or more.

The State of California, the sponsor of this initiative, justifies this new tax by claiming that there are a large number of commercial property owners who are not paying their fair share of taxes, and identify this group as the “largest corporations and wealthiest investors.”  However in today’s market, nearly all commercial properties would exceed the $2 million threshold very easily.

Who would be most harmed by this initiative?  Small business owners and investors of commercial income properties, i.e. retirees who are living off the income generated by properties they own. Primarily, those who bought properties, post – recession under the $2 million threshold will see a huge increase on their property taxes if this passes.

The Prop 13 protection has been in place since the mid 1970’s, setting property tax values based on the purchase price with only incremental increases, rather than the market assessed value. Without this protection, any commercial property owner whose property is worth $2 million or more will be taxed 1.26% every year on the market assessed value, rather than the purchase price they paid.

For example, a property purchased in 2012 for $1 million would now pay property taxes of roughly $12,000 a year. If this initiative passes in November, that same property, which is now worth well over the $2 million threshold, would be taxed at about $24,000 a year. At Triniti Partners, we refer to the California Schools and Local Communities Funding Act as “the claw-back initiative,” since it is focused on taking away the longtime protection of Prop 13 on income properties and small businesses.

Looking ahead, not only would this new tax harm those who own commercial property, it would also hurt tenants in commercial properties.

In commercial leases, if the lease is drafted correctly, the landlord has the ability to raise the rent on tenants by the percentage increase of their property tax. (If you are a landlord and do not have this provision in your lease, you would not be able to ‘share the pain’ with your tenants, but rather, you would be forced to absorb this huge tax increase).

As a longtime commercial agent and the owner of commercial real estate, myself, my fear is many voters will think that this initiative is justified because “only the largest corporations and wealthiest property owners” – as it is worded – will have to pay. However, this is simply not true.

As a result, that increase would be passed on to tenants who are leasing space in a commercial building – and they, in turn – will pass on this increase to their customers. The Big Picture is that everyone will be paying more for products and services provided in the State of California if this initiative goes through.

Triniti Partners is working to create awareness of this very high cost initiative which would raise taxes at the expense of those who could least afford it. While the public schools in California are a worthy cause to support, The California Schools and Local Communities Funding Act is the wrong way to fund them. We saw a similar measure aimed at raising taxes on residential properties with Measure EE last June.

It’s difficult enough to be in business in California, especially if you are a small businesses. We believe small businesses should be rewarded for trying to live the American Dream in today’s economy and every effort should be made to entice businesses to come to California – not to leave for other states or other countries.

If you are a commercial property owner or lease property for your business and you are concerned about how this tax would affect you, Triniti Partners may be able to help you.

Triniti Partners provides commercial real estate services to north Los Angeles’ landlords, sellers, tenants and buyers of commercial/industrial properties in the San Fernando Valley, Santa Clarita Valley, and southern Ventura County. We founded Triniti Partners with the objective of providing uncommon expertise and value-added service to our clients – and that’s what we are known for.

For more information, please contact Triniti Partners, Inc. at: 818 788-3800, email: George.stavaris@trinitipartners.com or visit: www.trinitipartners.com.

As a writer of branding content for over 30 years now, my rule of thumb is “don’t try to write content that reaches everyone.” In other words, don’t be too generic; you will end up watering down your messaging and it won’t be as effective as if you fine-tune your message to a certain audience.

If you are a business owner or sales person for a company (and we are all sales people for the companies we represent), you might benefit from the information I shared in my recent interview with Eszylfie Taylor on “Ask the Experts.” In this interview, I discuss the tools that will be most effective in defining your brand. As a marketing, PR and branding expert, I always tell my clients to “have three balls in the air at all times,” similar to a juggler. If one isn’t reaching your audience, the other two have a chance at getting through as sometimes, one method is effective with a certain demographic but not with another.

In my interview, here, with Eszylfie Taylor, founder and owner of Taylor Insurance and Financial Services in Pasadena, CA, I explain ways you can set yourself, your company or your brand apart from your competition and do it on a shoe-string budget. This podcast is now being played on DashTalk X Radio.

Each week, Eszylfie gives away an hour of his Taylor Insurance business time to highlight and promote someone who he believes is knowledgeable in their chosen profession. Besides being a highly-successful and knowledgeable insurance professional, Eszylfie is unmatched in his energy and efforts to provide resources to others: hiring and training young people for a career in insurance, creating a basketball camp for kids – and offering scholarships to underprivileged children; and supporting his children’s schools, his church and the business community as a whole through monthly networking mixers.

In short, Eszylfie is a gem of a man and I am very grateful to him for inviting me to participate on his “Ask the Experts” podcast which you can listen to by clicking on the hyperlink above.

For more information about writing content or branding your business, please visit: https://writerpatkramer.com or email: pat@writerpatkramer.com.

For my first blog of the year, I thought I would talk about common misuses of wording in the English language. This is something I see quite frequently as an editor and proofreader. For those who don’t speak English as their primary language, it can be very confusing, given that many words have alternate meanings.

Here are some words that sound the same but are spelled differently and have quite different meanings:

Take the case of Assure, Ensure, and Insure:

Assure means to promise; to give assurance.
Ensure and Insure both mean to make certain – to guarantee.
Insure is usually in reference to taking necessary measures, beforehand, as in an insurance policy.

Let’s look at another example: Beside or Besides.

Beside means next to. Besides means in addition to or other than.

Another example is Compare versus Contrast.

Compare means to examine the qualities of more than one item so you can discover similarities or differences. Contrast means to examine two or more items, specifically to differentiate them.

In one final example, let’s look at the differences in meaning between the words Council, Counsel and Consul:

A Council is an advisory or legislative body.

Counsel means to give advice, or when used to describe a person, it refers to an attorney.

A Consul is a foreign service agent, stationed abroad.

By learning the exact meanings of words, you can ensure that all your documents: i.e. blogs, web content, reports, etc., actually mean what you “think” they mean.

When in doubt, hire a writer or editor to review your work before you finalize it or post it on social media.

Writer For Hire provides editing and proofreading services in addition to writing fresh, unique and customized content for businesses. For more information, email: pat@writerpatkramer.com.

On September 20, 2018, I attended the “Road to Resilience,” an emergency management conference sponsored by the Business Industry Council on Emergency Planning & Preparedness (BICEPP). The full day event was held at the AirTel Plaza hotel in Van Nuys and was well attended by private sector, government employees, and non-government organizations (NGOs). Given the information provided, I believe everyone came away with an upgraded level of knowledge about how to prepare for the next earthquake, fire, flood, or other natural disaster.

While sponsors Jeff Edelstein of SOS Products and Glen Granholm of Safe-T-Proof told us what every company and home should have in their emergency supply kits, informational presentations included Caltech’s Margaret Vinci on the science of studying earthquakes, Los Angeles City Emergency Management Department’s Jon Brown on the Ready Your LA Neighborhood program, Ventura County Emergency Preparedness Program’s Dan Wall on lessons learned from the Thomas Fire, and Dr. Dennis Mileti, Professor Emeritus from the University of Colorado on modernizing public warning messaging. BICEPP President Chris Wright gave opening remarks and kept the program moving at a fast pace and Ross Kocen of First on Scene Training explained how companies and organizations can get the most out of their EPP training.

Additionally, Les Borsay, Emergency Planning Specialist for The J. Paul Getty Trust spoke about how the December 6, 2017 fire in the Sepulveda Pass caused his facility to go into emergency procedures. We heard from Abby Browning, Chief of the Governor’s Office of Emergency Services on how she manages Private Sector/NGO coordination for the State of California during a disaster. Nina Johnson from the Institute for Emergency Training explained what it takes to activate an Emergency Operations Center, and Michael Ripley, CEM, CBCP talked about the essentials of developing a corporate Emergency Operations Center, from design and budget to technology, supplies and resources.

The presentation by Dr. Dennis Mileti was particularly poignant. He stated, “It’s a myth that people immediately take protective action when they receive a warning message. In reality, people don’t change their mind without following up with others and checking other resources. Human nature delays protective action when warned.”

He suggested maximizing alerts that are ‘actionable’ and make sure your messaging is clear, direct, and no more than 360 characters in length. Craft messages that reduce milling and public action delay and be specific as to what you are telling the public to do. Also, use symbols that have universal understanding so those who do not speak English also get the message. For more information on what emergency messaging looks like, he suggested reviewing the Army Corp of Engineers’ Guidebook to Public Alerts.

Margaret Vinci, manager of Caltech’s Office of Earthquake Programs had some strong warnings for California businesses noting, “There are over 30 earthquakes per day in Southern California and 300 known earthquake faults. The 1971 Sylmar earthquake registered 6.6 on the Richter scale while the Northridge earthquake registered 6.7.

Because earthquakes cannot be predicted, it’s essential to have a good early warning system that can kick into action sending out alerts once the vibrations begin. Caltech, presently, can only give us a five to ten second early warning. With that type of warning, immediate action is required to avoid injury or possible death. Vinci said Caltech is now looking for people to build better earthquake warning mechanisms to make the public ready. In the meantime, she suggested that individuals and businesses run regular warning drills to enhance their earthquake readiness capabilities and attend any public Shake Alerts that serve your business locations and residences.

Dan Wall, Ventura County Public Health Emergency Preparedness Manager, gave us a grim but vivid overview of the terrible destruction that occurred during the December 4, 2017 Thomas Fire that burned 281,893 acres – and advanced through 96,000 of them in just two days with the 65 mph Santa Ana winds. Of the population of 854,223, seventy thousand people were evacuated. Due to dangerous levels of smoke and particulates, the air became extremely toxic, requiring distribution of N95 and P95 face masks to virtually every person living there. Ralphs and Von’s markets helped distribute the masks from their cashier stands which greatly assisted in protective measures.

In all, the Thomas Fire destroyed 1,063 structures, and damaged another 280. It burned through 440 square miles in Ventura and Santa Barbara counties and caused over $2.2 billion dollars in damages. There were two fatalities in this fire: 70-year old Virginia Rae Pesola died from a traffic incident while trying to flee the fire in Santa Paula, and 32-year old Fire Apparatus Engineer Cory Iverson of the CAL FIRE San Diego/San Diego County Fire Authority died while trying to put out a flare up.

The Thomas Fire was the largest wildfire in modern California history with over 8,500 firefighters involved. Over 500 residences were destroyed in one night in Ventura, alone. As a consequence of the fire, mudflows caused by flash floods in January later killed 21 people and destroyed 100 homes in the area of Montecito, with a portion of the 101 freeway, buried, which caused closure of the roadway for weeks.

With climate change and rising sea levels caused by increased levels of CO2 in the atmosphere, ‘super storms’ are now taking place around the globe and early warning systems may not be enough. If this conference taught us anything, it was that we all need to take measures to prepare for disasters, in our personal residences, at our offices, and in our communities.

Take a CERT class, learn emergency First Aid, and at the very least, set up an emergency plan for your own family that includes pets. The more prepared all ages of the family are, the greater your chances of survival.

For more information on emergency preparedness supplies & restoration, visit:

Think Trauma Kits:  www.thinktraumakids.com

SOS Survival Products: SOSproducts.com

Simpson Strong-Tie: www.strongtie.com

Blue Can H2O: www.bluecanh2o.com

SAFE-T-PROOF:  https://www.safe-t-proof.com

HARBRO Emergency Services & Restoration: Harbro.com

WorkSafe Technologies: https://worksafetech.com/

Pacific Protection Services: http://www.pacific-protection.com/

Belfor Property Restoration: https://www.belfor.com/en/us

Kinmetrics: https://kinemetrics.com/

Pat Kramer is a freelance writer and longtime board member of the STNC neighborhood council in the City of Los Angeles. For more information, go to: www.writerpatkramer.com.

If you know anyone who would benefit from this service, please contact me at: pat@writerpatkramer.com.