Michetti recalled Trump being "charming" and said residents "fell over themselves" for him and what he would do for the town. City officials organized a business leaders' breakfast to introduce him to the community, Clark said.
Three years later, Trump's namesake golf course opened with an LPGA tournament where world-class golfers oohed and ahhed at the view of the vast ocean and the 45,000-square-foot clubhouse decked out with a giant, elaborate crest on one wall.
But Trump soon started ruffling feathers, suing the school district over the lease of a piece of land it owned in the golf course and planting a row of tall ficus trees to block from view homes he deemed unsightly.
"The law does not require the city or any regulators to allow him to have whatever he may wake up one morning and want," said Councilman Douglas Stern, who has long pitted himself against Trump.
Residents responded with rolling eyes and smirks when Trump repeatedly tried to have the adjacent Ocean Trails Drive renamed Trump National Drive. Perhaps it should be called "Ego Aisle" or "Narcissism Lane," some residents quipped in protest.
The central issue in the suit is a series of geological studies and reviews the city required of Trump's company to build on the landslide-prone site. Clark and Stern said the city had an obligation to ensure that everything on the golf course was built to city codes, to ensure public safety. Stuart Miller, Trump's attorney, said the city was unfairly holding him to higher standards and more stringent regulations.
Trump accused the city of trying to prolong his projects to extract fees from him, when, as he sees it, the town should be grateful for his developments.
"I took a piece of land that was lying fallow, tied up in courts for years and created the No. 1 course in California," he said.
Trump is confident he remains popular among Palos Verdeans -- he said he had conducted a private poll of residents in the area and found he had an 88% approval rating.
Trump declined to give details about the poll, saying he is planning to use it in litigation.
At least one resident said he sided with Trump.
"He has rehabilitated that property to an outstanding venue and really a credit to the community," said 78-year-old Ken DeLong, a part-time telecommunications consultant who is retired. "It is a world-class addition to our community."
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victoria.kim@latimes.com
