Chris Spitz for PPCC
At-large Representative
The voice of Palisades residents, property owners and businesses on the PPCC Board!
Experienced. Dedicated. Tenacious defender of the community.
Vote for Chris for PPCC At-large Representative @ www.pacpalicc.org
Online voting begins on August 21 and ends on September 4, 2026. Tell your neighbors -- and don't forget to vote!
About Chris
Chris had been fortunate to live with her husband Jeff in the beautiful Via Bluffs neighborhood of the Palisades for 35 years – until the devastating Palisades Fire destroyed their home and those of thousands of other Palisadians, changing all our lives forever. Today, Jeff and Chris are rebuilding their home, are eager to return, and fully intend to move in when construction is complete in the Spring of 2027!
Community
On January 7, 2025, the day after the Fire, Chris (then Pacific Palisades Community Council / PPCC At-large Rep) and Sue Kohl (then PPCC President, who also lost her home) somehow managed to rally amidst the unimaginable sorrow and decided that PPCC must go on to support the community. Within a few days, Chris was sending out PPCC Mailchimp bulletins from a hotel room, with info about the community’s status and resources, signing off “Palisades Strong!” Almost two years and 200+ bulletins later, she is still sending out messages with the PPCC sign-off, Palisades Strong!
Chris’ dedication and devotion to PPCC and the community is undeniable. She has served in almost every council position for over a decade, including President (2 years), Vice-President (2 years), Secretary (4 years) and At-large Rep (the past 4 years). In addition to analyzing and alerting the council to legislative and other policy matters – and drafting countless PPCC position letters to City, County, State and Federal officials – she has managed almost all PPCC’s administrative operations, including the website, email, correspondence, bulletins and agendas.
Quite simply, for many years Chris has been the engine that keeps PPCC running.
Chris has also served on myriad PPCC committees and in other leadership roles, including chairing the important Land Use Committee (current Chair), the Bylaws, Awards and Elections Committees, and serving on past and current Executive Committees. After the Fire, she was appointed to the Palisades Community Recovery Coordination Council (CRCC) and became a co-lead of the Advocacy Advisory Task Force (ATF), which conducts important advocacy efforts related to legislation and other measures supported by PPCC. See pali411.org.
In those roles, she is working hard to advocate for Pacific Palisades and to support and promote the community’s goals for recovery of the Palisades we all know and love.
In addition, for the last 6 years, Chris has been the elected Vice-Chair of the Westside Regional Alliance of Councils (WRAC) – an important coalition of all 14 neighborhood and community councils on the Westside of Los Angeles, on which she represents PPCC and where she has formed long-standing working relationships with other community leaders to advance the interests of the Palisades community.
A retired business litigation attorney (and grad of UCLA and Loyola University Law School, New Orleans), Chris has used her skills to tackle many serious issues facing the Palisades, including planning & zoning matters, dense or unsafe development, legislation involving housing & policy, wildfire safety, emergency evacuation, public safety, homelessness and protection of our parks and beaches.
She was proud to receive Citizen of the Year honors in 2021, awarded for her sustained effort in 2020 to oppose and eventually defeat the then disastrous Mike Bonin proposal to place homeless housing on the Will Rogers State Beach parking lot. Her almost 30 letters and statements on behalf of PPCC, reflecting hundreds of hours of research and analysis, can be found at Homeless Beach Housing.
More recently, Chris has written scores of PPCC position letters and statements after the Fire, which can be seen at 2026 Positions/Letters and 2025 Fire Position/Letters (almost all documents drafted by Chris).
Chris also strongly supports the work of our LAPD and LAFD officers as well as the important efforts of the Pacific Palisades Task Force on Homelessness (PPTFH), which under her leadership began as a PPCC committee and became one of the most respected and successful organizations tackling this critical issue in Los Angeles – an ongoing issue that requires continued vigilance, especially after the Fire, as we face increased crime, looting, illegal house squatting and continued evidence of campfires in our hillside and bluff areas.
Personal
Chris grew up in Gardena (near El Segundo) in the South Bay, where her parents bought a home in the 1950s for $4,000, after first looking to buy in the Palisades – too pricey for them, with houses at the time costing twice as much (according to family lore)! When Chris and Jeff were finally able to buy their home in Pacific Palisades 40 years later, her mother was amazed; she loved visiting the community, joining in family activities, and even attending a PPCC meeting or two. Best of all for Chris’ mom – having a picture taken with her favorite sports icon Steve Kerr (then Parade Grand Marshall) at a VIP Luncheon on July 4th, and riding in the fabulous Parade in a PPCC trolley! Like all Palisadians, the Spitz family treasures the 4th of July as the “best day of the year in the Palisades!” A shout out to PAPA for never failing to provide this beloved tradition for all of us.
When she’s not engaged in community service, Chris can be found playing with her rescue kitty (a black Manx named “Augie”), reading (especially histories), cooking (she makes a mean gumbo), and enjoying restaurants and music (classical and jazz are favorites). Last but not least, Chris and Jeff’s adult daughter Hannah, an accomplished artist, experienced a wonderful Palisades childhood, attending Palisades Elementary School and then the Archer School for Girls, dancing and performing at Fancy Feet, and playing soccer for many years with AYSO Region 69 and on club & school teams. Chris was privileged to be able to volunteer during school years in numerous capacities at Hannah’s schools and in her many activities.
Chris has been blessed to live and raise a family in our wonderful Pacific Palisades.She wishes to continue her work on PPCC to restore and preserve the character of this incredible community.
ONGOING ISSUES FOR THE PALISADES COMMUNITY
The top line issue: obtaining financing for a recovery that returns residents, restores the community, preserves its character, builds long term resilience and protects public safety!
It is inexcusable that the City of Los Angeles has failed, despite multiple requests from PPCC, to implement an evacuation plan for Pacific Palisades – a community that is entirely within the Very High Fire Hazard Severity Zone. During the Palisades Fire, residents were shockingly forced to flee advancing flames, abandon cars and evacuate on foot due to congestion and complete lack of any planning. Adequate and effective evacuation routes must be established without delay.
PPCC must continue to support legislative/regulatory and other efforts to aid in the return of previously existing multifamily developments that were destroyed or damaged in the Fire, including condos, town homes, apartments and mobile home parks; to assist homeowners with mortgage forbearance or other financial relief; to prevent unfair insurance cancellations or policy refusals; and to ensure that adequate fire, flood and earthquake insurance will be available to all Palisadians.
The Palisades desperately needs more security measures, including: an LAPD substation; more police officers regularly assigned to the community; the beach detail restored to its previous level (at least 4 officers, or even more added during the summer months); and Park Rangers assigned to patrol our City parks at least on a regular nighttime basis, including the Recreation Center, Potrero Canyon and all bluffs park areas.
Funding must be obtained for all vital projects supported by PPCC (those referenced in the Palisades Long Term Recovery Plan and otherwise recommended by the CRCC, the ATFs and/or the PPCC Infrastructure & Land Use Committees), including for undergrounding of all utility poles and telecom equipment; for emergency protective measures; for much-needed evacuation planning and implementation; for bluff and slope stabilization; for remediation of hazards such as flash flooding and debris flows; for environmental testing; for repair of damaged streets and roads; for fire prevention measures such as brush clearance and home hardening; for rebuilding and fully restocking our beloved library; and for crime prevention and enforcement.
Creative solutions must be found to encourage businesses and commercial property owners to return to our Village – a critical step in our recovery – utilizing appropriate land use solutions or otherwise, while discouraging very large density bonus projects that would change community character and place public safety at risk, at least until adequate evacuation plans are in place.
An effective executive manager or “czar,” to oversee and implement all projects and to manage the funds needed for our recovery, should be identified and appointed, as funding allows, as soon as possible – whether in connection with a recovery district, an “authority,” or other feasible administrative mechanism established for the Palisades’ recovery. The recommendations of PPCC’s newly-formed CRCC Recovery Financing ATF should be seriously considered and community input will be paramount.