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Life & Times Transcript

01/10/06

Val Zavala>> Tonight on Life and Times --

Steve Bennett>> If the county attempts to stabilize the hill, then that means the taxpayers of Ventura County become liable for every penny of damage after that.

Don Ski>> I don't give a damn about the hill. I want my house back.

Val Zavala>> And then, the dream of pollution-free cars is coming true. How did this ordinary family get to own the world's hydrogen cell car?

These stories and more next on tonight's Life and Times.

Announcer>> 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.

And by a generous grant from Jim and Anne Rothenberg.

Val Zavala>> Why is it we're able to recover from some disasters so much faster than others? Take the small town of La Conchita just south of Santa Barbara. A year ago, it was hit by a terrible mudslide and today its residents are still at risk. Sam Louie headed north to find out why.

Sam Louie>> It lasted only thirty seconds, but it altered the lives of the two hundred residents of La Conchita, a tight-knit seaside town north of Ventura. Four hundred thousand tons of mud came crashing down, burying cars, homes and people. Thirteen houses were completely destroyed and ten lives lost.

Don Ski>> I was right here and it was like a locomotive coming. The ground was vibrating. Everything was vibrating.

Sam Louie>> Forty-seven year old Don Ski remembers that day vividly.

Don Ski>> The people that did die, it was a matter of which way they ran and, you know, where they were at that time. The people that ran down this road here didn't make it. They died. But the people that happened to go that direction, they lived. I mean, we're talking inches, you know. It made that much difference. If you were an inch to the right or an inch to the left, you lived or you died.

Sam Louie>> Rescue crews searched the rubble for two days, but no one was found alive.

Pedro Nava>> "On January 10, 2005, a year ago on Tuesday, we lost ten of our neighbors and our friends. The loss was sudden and terrible and, for their families and friends, the grief is heavy."

Sam Louie>> It is one year since the fatal disaster and the people of La Conchita have gathered for a memorial service.

[Film Clip]

Warren Mingus>> To me, La Conchita is not the same really for me. Not really. I mean, since this happened. However, though, I don't know. I think, though, that we'll try to make a comeback. But it's just not the same after that happened.

Sam Louie>> And making a comeback has not been easy. Several main streets are still closed because of safety concerns. A handful of the damaged homes remain untouched, red-tagged as unsafe, and most importantly, the hillside is still moving.

Rodleen Getsic>> This was a major disaster here. It was declared a national state of disaster. People died and something needs to happen here to help the situation.

Sam Louie>> But 2005 was not the first time this community suffered through a mudslide. In 1995, a smaller mudslide in La Conchita buried nine homes, but no one was killed. A geological firm determined that terracing the hill would be the best way to prevent future mudslides. But since then and even after last year's fatal mudslide, nothing has been done. This weekend, talk of terracing came up again.

Jannell Beck>> It's unfair. We need this hill fixed. Come in and terrace it and we'll leave them alone.

Rodleen Getsic>> "This is not about a landslide. It's about neglect."

Sam Louie>> Rodleen Getsic, who organized the memorial service, says La Conchita has filed a lawsuit to force Ventura County to terrace the hill.

Rodleen Getsic>> It was basically a kind of steps going down. It was actually drawn up after the major mudslide that happened here in 1995 to terrace the hill. The county decided to just put up a retaining wall.

Sam Louie>> And why, after eleven years and two mudslides, has the hill not been terraced? Ventura County Supervisor, Steve Bennett, says it's just not an option.

Steve Bennett>> The county has designated this as a geologically high-risk area for them to live and that the county will not be able to take on the liability of stabilizing the hill.

Sam Louie>> He says terracing would put all Ventura County taxpayers at a financial risk.

Steve Bennett>> What everybody has to be aware of is that, if the county attempts to stabilize the hill, then that means the taxpayers of Ventura County become liable for every penny of damage after that if the hill does slide. We have lots of indications that there isn't any sure fix way to stabilize the hill.

Sam Louie>> Bennett also says the hill is private property of the La Conchita Ranch which grows avocados and citrus fruit, and forcing private land owners to make changes would be unfair. Bennett adds that La Conchita is not the only community facing these issues.

Steve Bennett>> We have thousands of people that live in high-risk areas where they have big hills like this close to their property and the taxpayers can't go around and stabilize all of those hills.

Sam Louie>> Don is among the three dozen homeowners with either a damaged or destroyed home. For the past year, he's been living in legal limbo.

Don Ski>> Red-tagged, you pretty much have zero value. You can't live there, you know. You can't get rid of the property. You're pretty well -- the rug is taken out from under you and where you lay is where you lay and that's the bottom line. This is it right here. You can see what the mud is doing to my deck. It's literally taking this deck and removing it, ripping it off the wall here.

Sam Louie>> Don's three-bedroom house sits right up against the hillside. While the house remains intact, it's at risk of collapsing under the gradual movement of the mud.

Don Ski>> It varies. It moves. It moves on a daily basis. It may be a mud hole right here today, but tomorrow that'll be dry and up there will be a mud hole. I mean, it just bubbles up out of the ground.

Sam Louie>> Don says, as the pressure builds, it's pushing against his stone wall which will eventually wipe out his deck and his foundation.

Don Ski>> And when that happens, I'm going to have real problems.

Sam Louie>> Supervisor Bennett says, although Ventura County hasn't terraced the hill, it has helped in other ways.

Steve Bennett>> Ever since 1995, the county has not allowed any new construction here, has not allowed any expansion of any of these homes here. So I think the county is trying to act prudently. Once we made that determination that it's geologically a high-risk area, we said, hey, you can't continue to expand.

Sam Louie>> But that does not help homeowners like Don.

Don Ski>> It's such a lost feeling, you know. Every day I wake up like that. You know, I don't know what I should be doing to make things different.

Sam Louie>> Don has given up hope that the county will provide residents with the reassurance they're looking for. At this point, he's just trying to find another place in town that he can call home.

Don Ski>> Obviously, in my lifetime, I can't see this hill being anything done, you know. I'm not real concerned. In fact, I don't give a damn about the hill. I want my house back, you know. Not that one exactly, but I want a place to live, you know.

Sam Louie>> And whether it's paid for by private land owners or the government, the residents of La Conchita are hoping the hill will get the attention it needs so that history will not repeat itself.

Rodleen Getsic>> We're reminded of the tragedy and, you know, the possibility of it coming again. We can't heal. We can't finish grieving until we're safe and we know that our community is safe.

Sam Louie>> I'm Sam Louie for Life and Times.

Announcer>> Kcet.org is the place to look for the very latest on Life and Times. You'll find previews of upcoming stories, plus transcripts and audio of past episodes and links to some of our most interesting features. Just go to kcet.org, scroll down the page and click on "Life and Times".

Val Zavala>> It was just another workday for a middle school teacher in Long Beach. He had no idea that, by the end of the day, he would be $25,000 richer. How did that happen? Take a look.

It's a sunny afternoon at Cecil B. DeMille Middle School in Long Beach. The school band has taken the stage. Students have been told that it's a special school assembly to listen to state education officials, but the real reason for this gathering is a secret that only a handful of people in the room know. This teacher has no idea that he's about to be awarded $25,000. The prize comes from the Milken Family Foundation. Among their spokesmen is comedian, actor and screenwriter, Robert Townsend, who tells the students how one teacher made a difference in his life.

Robert Townsend>> "When I was a little kid, there was a teacher. His name was James Reed. I lived in the worst neighborhood on the west side of Chicago and he would pick me up and take me to speech festivals. One day, we had to read in front of everybody and the reading went like this. "Oedipus, Oedipus." And I read like this: "Oedipus, I pray not thy rage upon thy soul. Oedipus!" And the whole class went whoa."

Lowell Milken>> "Good afternoon."

Val Zavala>> Then Lowell Milken took the mike. He is co-founder of the Foundation that rewards one hundred outstanding teachers every year. He starts to drop hints about the real reason behind the gathering.

Lowell Milken>> "Yes, I know a secret and I've known it for about three weeks now. But I was told that I couldn't tell anyone what that was until I came to your school today. Now does anybody in this room know what the words "financial prize" means? Could you come up here for a moment? Yeah, come on up. Now what is your name?"

Karen>> "Karen".

Lowell Milken>> "Karen, what grade?"

Karen>> "Sixth".

Lowell Milken>> "Sixth grade. Do you know what the words "financial prize" means?"

Karen>> "Money?"

Val Zavala>> Then he asked for some student volunteers.

Lowell Milken>> "I want you to know that the person who receives this award receives a financial prize of this. That's right. And the person can use the money for any purpose whatsoever."

Val Zavala>> Finally the surprise announcement.

Lowell Milken>> "May I have the envelope, please? It gives me great pleasure to present the Milken Educator Award to an outstanding teacher and that teacher is James Orihuela. James, come on down here."

Val Zavala>> James was so stunned that it was hard to get him to the stage. James is from Denver and has been here since 1996. He teaches Spanish literature and he's worked intensely to raise the skills of Spanish-speaking students through a successful dual emersion program. His students have the fewest discipline problems in school and have received the most academic awards.

Lowell Milken>> "Congratulations."

Val Zavala>> And on top of all that, James organizes a yearly diversity talent show.

Lowell Milken>> We're looking for people who are often young in the early part of their career or mid-career who not only have already distinguished themselves, but have the potential to do so much more.

Val Zavala>> It took a few minutes for all of this to sink in.

James Orihuela>> "The hardest thing is just trying to hold it together here. I mean, when they said it over there, I just about lost it over there. I don't know where this ride's going to take me, but I guess it's the first step and I'm sure I'm going to enjoy it and I've sure enjoyed what I do and I really do love my job. I tell that to my kids. I'm lucky. I'm lucky to do what I do. I'm lucky to have the kids that I work with. I hope it continues to be that way. Thank you for everything."

Val Zavala>> Since the Milken National Educator Awards began back in 1987, more than fifty-four million dollars has been given out to more than two thousand teachers and each one has been surprised.

Lowell Milken>> I have never been part of an announcement where the secret leaked out, but we've had a few instances where certain of the teachers, I think, may have known.

[Film Clip]

James Orihuela>> "I'm even now still trying to take it in. My hands are all sweaty and my knees are shaking."

Val Zavala>> "I know it's a little bit too early to ask, but do have any idea what you're going to do with $25,000?"

James Orihuela>> "No. All I'm thinking is when I go home and tell my wife today."

Val Zavala>> Research has shown that the single biggest factor at our schools for student achievement is having a talented teacher.

[Film Clip]

Lowell Milken>> "Let me ask you a question. Have you told your wife yet?"

James Orihuela>> "No."

Lowell Milken>> "Do you have your cell phone?"

James Orihuela>> "Yes, I do."

Lowell Milken>> "Call her right now."

Val Zavala>> Finally, as the assembly settles down, it was time for James to make that phone call to his wife.

James Orihuela>> "That's right. Let's see if she answers."

Lowell Milken>> "Just tell her you won $25,000."

James Orihuela>> "Celia, you're not going to believe this (laughter). Yes, I did, in a sense. I don't even know where to begin. From the Milken Foundation, they came, they found me. The assembly that we're having today that I was telling you about? The superintendent and everybody else? It was because they recognized me. They recognized me from the Foundation and they gave us a $25,000 grant to go with it. No, I'm not kidding (laughter)."

Val Zavala>> Winners of the Milken Award get more than a big check. They get to go to Washington, D.C. for a professional development conference. Previous winners were on hand to give James an idea of what was to come.

>> "When I tell you that your life is going to change, your life is going to change. In about five or six months when you go to D.C., you're going to be meeting with your senators, with your Congress people. You're going to have influence that you didn't even realize you had because you cared here. They came and found you and you need to like soak that in."

Val Zavala>> California is facing a severe teacher shortage that will only get worse in the next decade. So although the spotlight was on James, the award was designed to impress students as well.

Lowell Milken>> "I want you to think about becoming a teacher yourself. When you go through school and you think about the different careers that you could have, think of the positive impact that you could make in this community, in your state and in fact our nation by becoming a teacher. Thank you very much."

Announcer>> To send a comment or a question to our program, you can reach us by mail at this address:

Life and Times
4401 Sunset Blvd.
Los Angeles, California 90027

You can also call our viewer comment line (323) 953-5555) or contact us the fast way by e-mail at kcet.org.

Val Zavala>> Imagine a car whose only pollution is a little bit of water vapor. Well, that technology is with us today in hydrogen fuel cell vehicles, but only a few people across the country ever get to drive one. But Sam Louie found one family in Redondo Beach who went to the top of the list.

Sam Louie>> This is a glimpse of the future. Ford, Mercedes, Hyundai, all showing off a different kind of car. These cars don't run on gasoline or batteries and they aren't a hybrid. Instead, they run on an odorless gas whose only pollution is water. They are cars powered by hydrogen gas known as hydrogen fuel cell vehicles.

Steve Ellis>> So you would have zero carbon emissions, zero smog emissions from the fuel, and you have the great benefit of energy supply that is not imported or not brought in from other countries.

Sam Louie>> Sounds too good to be true, doesn't it? A car that emits nothing but a little water vapor from the tailpipe. In fact, these are just prototypes, so many of these won't be ready for the road and you can't buy one at a dealership. So how did the Spallino family get one? Sandy Spallino of Redondo Beach is a stay-at-home mother. She and her family has the distinction of being the first in the world to own a hydrogen-powered car.

Sandy Spallino>> It has fifteen minutes of fame, which we figure there's only three minutes left (laughter). No, it's been fun. It's been really fun to be a part of that.

Sam Louie>> Honda has spent ten years designing and fine-tuning the Honda FCX, which is the first hydrogen fuel cell car being produced on a limited basis for private owners.

Steve Ellis>> We needed to get them out in the field and learn by having them in the hands of the customer. This is a lot different than running a car on a test track under controlled conditions. Nothing beats the real world. Real world customers do things you just can't imagine.

Sam Louie>> Jon Spallino is a Chief Financial Officer for an engineering company in Irvine and he spends lots of time commuting on the road.

Jon Spallino>> The reality that we recognize is the celebrity here is not so much us, but --

Sandy Spallino>> -- it's the car.

Jon Spallino>> It's the car, so it's a coming-out party of sorts for the FCX and we just get to play along.

Sandy Spallino>> Play with it.

Sam Louie>> And the family is making the most of it. For Sandy, a typical day is full of driving.

Sandy Spallino>> My day is usually getting in and out of the car twelve times a day. You know, short errands.

Sam Louie>> The car may be small, but it stands out.

Sandy Spallino>> "Yeah, it's actually roomier than a regular car. It sits up a little higher. It's really comfortable."

Sam Louie>> The Spallinos are the first of only twenty owners in the entire country driving a Honda fuel cell vehicle. Sandy and Jon have gotten used to the attention.

Sandy Spallino>> You'll be at a stop sign and you'll look over and the guy's honking and he gives you the thumbs up or he rolls his window down at the stoplight and is yelling, "How do you like the car?" I get that all the time. It's fun.

Sam Louie>> So why did Honda choose the Spallinos? First, they are used to alternative fuel vehicles. They already own a separate Honda which runs on natural gas. They also live close to Honda's headquarters in Torrance and Honda liked their down-to-earth values.

Jon Spallino>> We don't see ourselves as extreme in any way. Extreme environmentalists, nor do we see ourselves as extreme conservatives, if you will, when it comes to the environment. But when we find something that's practical that we can incorporate in our daily routines that isn't too obtrusive or difficult, we try to incorporate those things.

Sam Louie>> The biggest hurdles facing hydrogen fuel cars are price and practicality. The production costs to make one of these types of vehicles is currently at one million dollars. Also, finding a place to fill up remains an obstacle. There are only a handful of fueling stations in southern California which supply hydrogen fuel to these cars and, no, the Spallinos did not shell out a million bucks for the car. Instead, Honda gave them a special two-year lease. Five hundred dollars a month covers the car and insurance and, because hydrogen fuel is more expensive than gas, Honda gives the family a subsidy for fuel.

Jon Spallino>> From a day-to-day driving perspective, the only hurdle I see, and it's not a small one certainly, is the fueling infrastructure. That's the big hurdle.

Sam Louie>> But more are on the horizon.

Arnold Schwarzenegger>> "We will not just dream about the hydrogen highway. We will not just dream about the hydrogen fueling stations. We will not just dream about the hydrogen cars. We will build it."

Sam Louie>> A year and a half ago, Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger announced plans for a hydrogen highway proposal. The plan is to build one hundred hydrogen fueling stations in California similar to this one at LAX by 2010. The hype over hydrogen also caught the president's attention.

George Bush>> "Tonight I'm proposing $1.2 billion dollars in research funding so that America can lead the world in developing clean hydrogen-powered automobiles."

Sam Louie>> So why isn't America leading the world in hydrogen-powered cars? There are still some major shortcomings manufacturers have to overcome. First, the cost. A million dollars is a bit steep for most households. And then, there's the range of miles it gets.

Steve Ellis>> The fuel cell cars, when they first came out, had very limited range. The FCX, when we first introduced that, was one hundred ninety. This particular version is EPA-rated at a hundred ninety miles and that provides a reasonable range for people commuting in Los Angeles, but we know we have to get the mileage up to about two hundred fifty or three hundred miles for better customer acceptance.

Jon Spallino>> We've got to be aware of where the fuel gauge is all the time and we certainly have to do some planning to make sure that we're not going to run out.

Sam Louie>> But one of the things fuel cell cars have over gas-powered vehicles is fire safety. The University of Miami did a test. Hydrogen fuel was purposely leaked and ignited by a spark. In the hydrogen car, the flames shoot straight up and, in less than two minutes, they go out with virtually no damage to the vehicle.

Steve Ellis>> The fuel itself is not explosive per se. It is flammable just like gasoline. The good part is that it's lighter than air, so let's say if there ever was some small leak or something, it doesn't kind of pool onto the ground just kind of waiting to sit there and burn. It simply dissipates into the atmosphere.

Sam Louie>> But what hydrogen advocates are really excited about is the pollutants this car puts out. There are none. Zero. Nada. In fact, the only emission would be water dripping from the tailpipe.

Steve Ellis>> You and I could put a cup underneath the tailpipe and drink the water.

Sam Louie>> This has given the Spallino's youngest daughter, Anna, a real life science lesson.

Anna Spallino>> Because usually you'd see some other type of resource, but when you see water coming out of it, you know, that's different.

Sam Louie>> As for her dad, Jon admits that he still gets a kick out of the one million dollar price tag.

Jon Spallino>> Obviously, that can be a fun number to throw around in southern California where you're surrounded by Bentleys and Jaguars and Porsches and the like. You say to yourself, well, that's a nice car, but for what this costs, I could probably buy ten of those.

Sam Louie>> The goal by Honda is to make their fuel cell vehicle available to the general public in ten years. In the meantime, the Spallinos are gearing up for the future, a future that some say could drive down our dependence on oil and clear up our smoggy skies. I'm Sam Louie for Life and Times.

Val Zavala>> And that's our program. I'm Val Zavala. For everyone at Life and Times, thanks for watching. We'll see you next time.

Announcer>> 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.

And by a generous grant from Jim and Anne Rothenberg.

Sponsored in part by:


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