About
Frank Gruber
Frank
Gruber, who writes "What I Say," the new column for The
Lookout, was born in Norristown, Pennsylvania, home of Mike Piazza
and Tommy Lasorda. Unlike Lasorda and Piazza, however, Gruber has
never played or managed for the Dodgers although, as he points out,
the Dodgers never asked him to play.
In
1978, after graduating from the University of Chicago and Harvard
Law School, Gruber moved to southern California, settling first in
Venice, and then moving to Santa Monica in 1983.
Professionally,
his primary endeavor has been to practice entertainment law. He also
calls himself a movie producer, although thus far despite strenuous
efforts he has produced only one film.
Gruber
involved himself in the early '90's in the Santa Monica political
scene as a citizen participant in the development of the Civic Center
Specific Plan. He was a member of the board of the Ocean Park Community
Organization and treasurer of "Citizens for the New Civic Center,"
the citizens group that defended the Civic Center Specific Plan when
it was the subject of an initiative election.
In
1994, City Council appointed Gruber to the Housing Commission and
then, in 1995, to the Planning Commission.
Due
to a complete misunderstanding, in 1999 the City Council chose not
to appoint Gruber to a customary second four-year term on the Planning
Commission, proof that in Santa Monica, an able and ambitious citizen,
if he really plays his cards right, can go from unknown volunteer
to political pariah in only six years.
According
to sources who have found themselves seated next to Gruber at dinners
and other events, Gruber is not bitter about having been dropped from
the Planning Commission. His only regret about his Planning Commission
years is that when he was a member, "Our Times" failed to
include the commission, or any of its members, on its list of Santa
Monica's most powerful people. Gruber often reminds people that "Our
Times" is no longer being published.
In
1999 the School Board appointed Gruber to the Prop. X Oversight Committee
and he was also a member of the Steering Committee of Community for
Excellent Public Schools, a citizens group that formed during the
1999-2000 schools budget crisis. He resigned from both of these commitments
to join The Lookout.
Gruber
resides in the Ocean Park neighborhood of Santa Monica with his wife,
a professor at USC, and their son.
Gruber
has dedicated "What I Say" to Ray Charles.
