1950 DEC 20 CC MIN - 491
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• UAVIU t 1 1 L-h. UN. OFFICIAL COURT R[►ORT[R - MUTUAL 7789
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these kind of meetings in this country, we are not going to
have any interior conflicts, I don't think, among ourselves
We can always work these things out.
Thank you very kindly!
MAYOR SELBY: Thank you.
Does anyone else care to speak in favor of
the application?
MR. TOM JONES: I reside at 901 Hillcrest
Street. I am speaking in favor of the applicants. I have
been sworn.
I speak for all of the property owners within a
1000 -foot area referred to on Applicant's No. 4 from the
present and the proposed drill site.
I express the desire of all of the people, the
majority of the people - I beg your pardon - within a
2000 -foot radius of the proposed and present drill site.
I herewith present a petition to the Council
and would like to introduce it in evidence, of three
hundred names, showing the desire of the residents in the
other sections of the community. This petition, as you
will notice, is made street by street. The density of its
signatures we believe to be more important than its total
numbers.
MAYOR SELBY: Is there any objection, gentlemen?
1.
COUNCILMAN GORDON: I would like to have that
petition read, please.
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DAVID ETTLESON_ n....... a - e ------- ...._.._. ..
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1 MR. JONES: (Reading) "Petition to the Council
2 of the City of E1 Segundo: We, the undersigned, residents
3 of E1 Segundo, believe in the interests of national defense
4 and in the interest of community planning, that the resolu-
5 tion as recommended by the Planning Commissioners regulat-
6 ing the drilling for oil and placing the location of such
7 drilling west of the proposed Freeway and adjacent to the
3 Hyperion Sewer Farm, should be adopted by your Honorable
3 Body without delay."
COUNCILMAN GORDON: May I ask a further question?
Were those people who signed that petition informed as to
what the resolution by the El Segundo City Planning Board
consisted of?
MR. JONES: I will ask Mr. Gilbert. I did not
circulate the petition myself. It referred to the petition
that was up before the Council at this time, referred to as
such. I can only state it as such, Mr. Gordon. I cannot
vouch for its authenticity.
COUNCILMAN GORDON: I see. It refers to a
resolution, and I can understand that certain people would
not be informed as to the nature of the language of the
resolution.
MR. JONES* That I am not in a position to answer
•for you at all. I am sorry that I did not circulate the
petition personally. I know it was circulated in the direct
vicinity that the petitions were circulated in opposing it,
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and those petitions were circulated before this petition.
This petitiori� was circulated in the period between last
Friday morning and now. I mean, it seems like that entire
district was informed during that time. May I present it
as such on the face of it?
MAYOR SELBY: If there is no objection, it will
be received in evidence and I will ask the City Clerk to
give it a number.
CITY CLERK McCA.RTHY: It will be received in
evidence and marked as Applicant's Exhibit No. 6.
The petition above referred to was marked
as Applicant's Exhibit No. 6 and received in evidence ...
MR. JONES: Gentlemen of the Council, ladies
and gentlemen: I think we have created a tempest in a
teapot. A great many citizens are of the impression that
your body is tonight deciding on an over -all program of
r oil districts and granting multiple drilling permits. I
am sure that any citizen who has read Resolution No. 87
realizes that the resolution plainly states that their
recommendation is that the applicant be permitted to drill
1 one well and gives no permission or license, expressed or
2 implied, that he will be allowed to drill any other well
a or wells.
4 The property in the first 1000 feet are primari
5 concerned with the testing of their property for oil. The
6 majority of their property is undeveloped and they would
like to determine the best use of their land.
2 In the first place, the people in the 2000 -foot
3 area are interested in oil possibilities,and in any
4 revenue they might receive from their oil rights. Second-
s ly, they are interested in the general appearance of the
6 west side. In this 2000 -foot area, I am referring to
7 those people who have oil rights. Anyone who has sold his
a oil rights or who purchased only surface rights did so
s with the expectation that the owner of those rights would
10 attempt to recover on his investment, and in dividing the
11 surface and subsurface rights, the purchaser of the surface
12 admitted the rights of the owner of the subsurface and
13 should not interfere or prevent or attempt to legislate
14 against him, just as he expects the subsurface owner to
15 do the same for him.
is The residents referred to in the petition are
17 interested in the political, social and economic well -
is being of the community -at- large, and oil revenue would
is be secondary to this consideration. They are interested
20 in fair play, however, which is characteristics of most
21 Americans. If a man buys a parcel of land for the ex-
22 press purpose of recovering oil therefrom and such parcel
23 is known as oil land and referred to as such in the
24 community and especially by his neighbors, he should be
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25 allowed to realize on his investment.
26 The people in the 1000 -foot area and in the
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DAVID ETTLtSVrrv• UFF-c w... •- - -
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2000 -foot area and the community -at -large are all interested
in a national defense and the important part that oil is
now playing and will play in that national defense.
In the 1000 -foot area there are four houses
and twenty -six separate pieces of property. Should the same
area be transposed to other sections of the City, it would
be approximately 156 City lots. In this section, the most
immediately concerned, they are 100 per cent in favor of
granting this permit.
(Pause.) Do I hear any objections or exceptions
to that?
(No response.) I have contacted all of those
I people.
I In fact, if you take in the area bounded by
Imperial, Hillcrest and Palm, there are 39 percels or
s approximately 234(40 by 165) City lots. I have been able
7 to determine only one objector in that area, and his
s particular piece of property would compare 40 by 165 feet
s as one to 234 in the area, of course.
;O I would like to give you a picture of this area
:i to refresh your memory, if you have not been out there
:2 lately. I would like to introduce this in evidence, if
13 I may. This comprises the area of which I speak (introduc-
24 ing a photograph).
26 ... The photograph was distributed and examined
26 among the City Councilmen ...
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nAVln FTTI Ff[li N. nFVICIAL COURT R[PORTCR - MUTUAL 7789
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MAYOR SELBY: Is there any objection, gentlemen,
to accepting this in evidence? Hearing none, we will
accept it, and I will ask the Clerk to give it a number.
CITY CLERK McCARTHY: It will be marked as
Applicant's Exhibit No. 7 and received in evidence.
... Whereupon the photograph above referred to
was marked as Applicant's Exhibit No. 7 and received in
evidence ...
MR. JONES: In fact, gentlemen, in this picture
the objector's parcel is not included. The owners of every
square foot shown in this picture request that you grant
this permit. Most of these owners have held this property
for many, many years and have paid taxes for the support
of the City and received practically no service in return
except, as they thought, the protection of their oil rights.
Typical is this telegram which I received from
Chula Vista. It is very short. I will just read it and
then I would like to introduce it into evidence. It reads
as follows:
"Tom D. Jones,
901 Hillcrest St.,
E1 Segundo, Calif..
Tom Jones or To Whom It May Concern:
We, Chester and Grace Skinner, owners of Lot 7,
Tract 1685 E1 Segundo, do hereby state that we
have owned this lot for 30 years and was bought
solely for oil prospects. Having leased same
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twice. We consider it our constitutional rights
to again lease for the purpose of drilling. We
will cooperate 100 per cent with decision of
meeting and support any effort made in favor of
drilling.
CHESTER H. SKINNER"
MAYOR SELBY: Is there any objection to
accepting it in evidence, gentlemen? If not, the Clerk will
give it a number.
CITY CLERK McCARTHY: It will be marked as Applic-
ant's Exhibit No. 8 and received in evidence.
... Whereupon the telegram above referred to
was marked as Applicant's Exhibit No. 8 and received in
evidence ...
MR. JONES: The people in the 2000 -foot radius
are interested in the revenue from their oil rights. This
is assured for them in this resolution. I refer to the
part of the resolution which says that, "If this permit is
granted them they will not be granted another permit unless
they drill under the area of E1 Segundo," and it sets up
the provisions whereby the people in that area will parti-
cipate in any royalties therefrom.
I am not qualified to say how much they will
receive. Perhaps someone from the oil company can give you
that answer. I can say this, however: the Pauley Company
is ready, as you heard, and anxious to enter into leases'
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DAVID ETTLESON, OrrIC1AL COURT RKPORTER - MUTUAL 7799
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with the people from this area. To insure their intention,
they have made a condition of this permit that they will
drill their next well into these leases. This is the first
definite commitment that these people have ever had and
it could possibly be their last. By all the rules of fair
play, I do not see how we can deny them that chance now.
These people in the 2000 -foot area are also
interested in the general appearance of the west side. I
present this picture to you, to refresh your memory
(presenting a second large photograph).
MAYOR SELBY: Do you wish to present that as an
exhibit, Mr. Jones?
MR. JONES: Yes, please.
COUNCILMAN GORDON: May I ask you a question;
How far east of the proposed oil site -- that is, by naming
the street -- will 2000 feet be?
MR. JONES: I don't know whether your scale is on
this or not (referring to photograph). However, for your
information, I know what you want to know, Mr. Gordon. It
will take in east of Hillcrest and it will take in south
of Palm, 2000 feet. The 1000 feet will not take in east of
Hillcrest and will not take in south of Palm.
COUNCILMAN GORDON: Well, 2000 feet is approxi-
mately a half mile, not quite.
MR. JONES: Yes, sir.
COUNCILMAN GORDON: Wouldn't that take it pas'
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DAVID ETTLESON. OFFICIAL COURT REPORT..
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- that is, east of Virginia Street?
MR. JONES: I can't tell you that, Mr. Gordon.
That was determined from the City plot map, which we used,
and was determined on a sliding scale and the exact boundar-
ies, I don't know. I mentioned 2000 feet,and what streets
exactly it takes in, I don't know, I can't say here.
COUNCILMAN GORDON: I think the people at this
hearing would be interested in that.
MEMBER OF AUDIENCE: Are you suggesting that you
represent all of the people in the 2000 -foot area?
MR. JONES: I don't suggest that I represent
all of the people in the 2000 -foot area. I am reading some
of my remarks from script so that I will not and cannot be
misquoted. The court reporter is recording what I say. If
I stated that I represent everybody in a 2000 -foot area, I
made an error in what I read from my script, because my
opening remarks were as follows:
"I speak for all property owners in a 1000- foot--
radius of the proposed well. Secondly, I express the
desire of the majority of owners in a 2000 -foot radius."
Each time, as you notice, when I expressed the
desire of those people, I stated it as such, what their
desires Would be and I said their desires were in the oil
rights underneath their ground and in the appearance of the
western section of our city.
Does that explain my position, Mr. Gordon?
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COUNCILMAN GORDON: Thank you, Mr. Jones.
MAYOR SELBY: May I go back for just a minute.
Mr. Kenny simply asked Mr. Gordon if they had determined
the 2000 -foot radius, and Mr. Gordon told him approximately
Loma Vista Street.
MR. JONES: With your kind permission, Mr. Mayor,
I will proceed.
Ladies and gentlemen of the audience: A picture
I just presented in evidence, you will notice, is a very
distressing sight. The picture I now propose to place into
evidence has been transposed, the same picture, showing
you what can be accomplished and what would be accomplished
-- and I'm sorry you did not allow the condition of the
dump to be introduced, because in this picture I have
erased the dump because the people in the 2000 -foot area
are interested in the appearance of our west side. I do
believe that appearance has something to do with the con-
sideration in this, not only the drilling of a well and oil
royalties, but also the appearance of a section that might
depreciate our homes.
This picture, being transposed, shows what the
area would then look like if we eliminated the dump,
eliminated the garbage ramp, eliminated the derrick,
eliminated those unsightly things that are now presently
setting there. I draw your attention to that fact because
with the granting of this permit, the applicant is required
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