Councilmember
Eric Garcetti |
A Word From Eric
From Hollywood to Echo Park, from Hi-Fi to Glassell Park, everyone in CD13 can think of a park where he or she can relax, kick around a soccer ball, or hold a picnic. The problem, however, is that the park we think of isn‘t always in our neighborhood. The standard for urban park space is a ration of 10 acres for every 1,000 people. But Los Angeles currently has 1.2 acres of open green space for every 1,000 people, and as recently as three years ago CD13 had a miserable 0.3 acres per 1,000 people. Moreover, according to the Trust for Public Land, nearly 75 percent of Angeleno children have no park within walking distance. A chance to remedy this distressing situation was one thing that initially drew me to run for public office. And I am proud to report that we are, indeed, doing something about this.
Opening Madison West park this summer. |
After coming into office, I set a goal to double the number of parks or community green spaces (like community gardens) in the Thirteenth Council District during my time in office. On the day I took office, June 19th, 2001, there were fifteen parks in CD13. I said then that, together, we would open fifteen new parks. (In the redistricting of 2002, our boundaries were reconfigured to only hold thirteen parks, but I have not lowered my goal.)
Early adopters of Meadowvale Park |
This summer, we opened parks number 11, 12 and 13 within two weeks of one another: Madison West Park in Virgil Village, Meadowvale Park in Elysian Valley and Lake Street Park in Historic Filipinotown. The three reflect the wide range of uses for green space: Madison West is a property near LACC just north of the Hollywood Freeway that had been a blighted and empty lot. Meadowvale is a quiet nook by the side of the Los Angeles River where bicyclists and pedestrians can rest and gaze on the river‘s lush bed where concrete was never poured and trees hold sway. Lake Street, built with voter-approved Proposition 40 money, features a skate park, basketball courts, a recreation center and a playground in addition to open, green hills. Showcasing the dire need of our communities for more green space, each had drawn buzzing activity even before the ribbon-cutting. While I thanked the many people who had worked to make the park happen, skaters caromed over the rails of the skate park. As cameras and neighbors gathered to commemorate the opening of Meadowvale, two women from the neighborhood, out on their morning stroll, sat down on the park benches, pleased with the addition.
Lake Street was quickly enjoyed. |
The number 13 is not the number 15, and the number 15 won‘t be where we declare victory either. It will be where we look at how far we‘ve been able to get in a city that‘s been built out, where schools, housing and green space all compete for the same scarce land. It will be when we reflect on just how far we‘ve come from the time when Frederick Law Olmstead, the designer of New York‘s Central Park, had his master plan for Los Angeles laughed out of town by the city fathers, to a time when voters lend unprecedented support to park-funding measures like the city‘s Proposition K and the state‘s Proposition 40. And it will be when we go out walking in our neighborhoods once more to look for the next empty lot that will become the next park.
Enjoy the holiday weekend,
Eric
UNTAG:
I have committed to you that I will reduce the graffiti in CD13 by 50% inside of two years. In order to do this meaningfully, I had to devise a benchmarking system. So, on a day in August, my staff fanned out across the 13.13 square miles of CD13 to drive every street and count every tag. (We met beforehand to standardize our rules for counting tags.)
The final count yielded a total of 20,763, or about 1500 per square mile. By comparison, San Jose, the city whose anti-graffiti successes inspired UNTAG, reached about 400 tags per square mile in its first count. So it‘s clear that there‘s a need for a program like UNTAG.
At the neighborhood level, the count broke down like this:...
| Atwater Village |
1106 |
| Glassell Park |
1141 |
| Elysian Valley |
1012 |
| Echo Park |
1368 |
| Temple/Beverly (Hi-Fi) |
5006 |
| Silver Lake |
1890 |
| East Hollywood |
7209 |
Turning those numbers around starts on each block of the city. If you‘d like to become an UNTAG block captain, you can sign up here. Contact Senior Community Organizer Shane Goldsmith at (323) 913-4693.
How-To Make a Street Services Request Online
This is actually a very simple service that you can take advantage of for a whole host of problems. Want to report a pothole? Get some illegal dumping cleaned up? Get your trees trimmed or have a sidewalk fixed? The Bureau of Street Services has an online request form, and constituents have reported that it works very well. The form, posted at http://www.lacity.org/BOSS/request.htm takes your name and number and offers 14 different options as well as a text box for more specific requests. As always, feel free to follow up with our field office at (323) 913-4693.
Ask Sally
I‘ve reported on the heroics of District Office Manager Sally Martinez in previous issues of the E-News and by now, many of you have seen her smiling face in my District Office on Sunset Boulevard. (Many of you have also found an ally in City Hall Office Manager Sally Castro, a veteran of four different CD13 office-holders who knows her way around every nook and cranny in city government.)
Recently, a woman walked into our field office with a big problem: she and her disabled son had been locked out of their apartment in eviction proceedings and had nowhere to go. Sally M. got social services on the phone and found a temporary placement for the family. The Department of Social Services is technically part of the County‘s jurisdiction, but one of my missions is to help constituents find what they need. "We don‘t do that here" helps nobody.
Another constituent came to us after a skirmish with the Department of Sanitation. It seems that a sanitation truck had broken this person‘s trash cans—and then refused to pick up her trash because the cans were broken. With a couple of calls to a supervisor at Sanitation, Sally M. got the resident new 90-gallon trash cans, bigger than the ones that had been wrecked.
So what do you need help with? Write in and Ask Sally—and the best questions (that they can answer) will be posted in this space in a future e-news. We‘ll draw on the vast reservoirs of city knowledge possessed by both of CD13‘s invaluable Sallys. Let us know if we can use your name for publication.
Sam and Helen flank caseworker Arsen Melikyan. |
Odds and ends: I‘d like to thank Helen Leung and Sam Siegal, college students who interned in my office two summers ago and came back to serve CD13 this summer as temporary council aides. (Helen was born and raised in Elysian Valley and attended John Marshall High School). They‘ve gone back to campus for their junior years, but they‘ve left CD13 notably richer. Among the thousands of tasks they accomplished, one you might enjoy is our newly robust Photo Gallery. Look through dozens of events and hundreds of pictures, now online. Another young CD13 associate is Wilson Garcia, a 16-year-old Silver Lake resident whom you can find helping CD13 out on weekends and after school. I met Wilson on my campaign. He continues to donate his time to the 13th district by helping my field staff with various projects including the development of UNTAG. ... I reported for the Hollywood Independent on the Democratic National Convention in August. You can read my reporter‘s-eye view of the convention here, here, here, here and here. Lastly, if you feel I haven‘t been giving you enough statistical information, these people may have what you‘re looking for. Plus, they‘re updating it perpetually.
West Nile Virus is no laughing matter, but don‘t panic: there are simple, reasonable measures you can take to reduce the likelihood of you or your family being exposed to this disease. Limit exposure to the virus by using insect repellent and wearing long sleeve shirts and pants. Additionally, clear standing water from your home, and ensure that your doors and windows are protected with tight and secure screens. For more detailed information, go to http://www.lacity.org/westnilevirus/, a great site set up by my colleague Greig Smith and Mayor Hahn. Additional information can be found at www.cdc.gov/ncidod/dvbid/westnile or by calling 877-968-2473 for a live operator.
An element of public safety that rarely gets enough attention is intervention and prevention. LA Bridges, one of the nation‘s premier gang prevention programs, held a graduation ceremony at the Henry Fonda Theater on Hollywood Boulevard this summer. I congratulate the young people who are making strong choices in difficult conditions every day.
Watch the road. |
Also keep road safety in mind. I want to thank Hollywood and Highland for donating space on their zipper screen to the watchtheroad.org public information campaign, which is trying to instill ten good driving habits in L.A. commuters. You can download the ad at www.watchtheroad.org. It‘s worth paying close attention to—there‘s more there than meets the eye at first. (Also, to those of you who have wondered how you can be watching the road when you‘re watching an ad on a zipper screen: fair question. The Department of Transportation regulates the speed at which zipper screens can operate, keeping them slow enough so as not to distract motorists.)
Senior Community Organizer Shane Goldsmith has been attending Chief Bratton‘s periodic CompStat meetings to get a statistical summary of crime trends in and around the district. She reports from the meeting of Northeast Division that Property crime is down 6% since April and that crime in total is down 15% in the last 16 weeks. For more information on CompStat meetings, contact Shane.
Budget
No matter what has come our way in the budget process, I have been consistently proud of our city‘s fiscal discipline. Wall Street has once again recognized this, awarding Los Angeles the highest credit rating of the five largest cities in the United States. This is at a time when other cities in California, struggling with local obligations, have been downgraded. As a nearly four-year member of the council‘s Budget and Finance committee, I am proud that we have been able to face the challenges thrown at us by the state and the economy.
Housing
The Inclusionary Zoning policy debate continues, with rich contributions from every angle. I especially want to call attention to the Hollywood Chamber of Commerce‘s analysis of how an inclusionary requirement might affect various local projects, and the Central City Association‘s provocative entry into the discussion with a report entitled the Fair Share Program. Neighborhood Councils have made great strides with the issue as well, and the Silver Lake and Glassell Park Neighborhood Councils have both produced well-thought-out contributions. All of these efforts will help us arrive at a policy that accomplishes my three goals: protect neighborhood character, encourage housing development, and create more affordable housing. I think we‘re close.
Economic Development
Announcing the Superstores Ordinance |
I am pleased to announce that the City Council has passed and the Mayor has signed the Superstores Ordinance. After a long process involving many public meetings and stacks of findings, the City has created an innovative, deliberative law that gives neighborhoods a voice in economic development and will spur more conversation about the kinds of development we want in our city and in our country. The law requires developers of stores larger than 100,000 square feet that include more than 10% non-taxable grocery—your basic Supercenter model—to produce an economic impact report. Stores like SuperWal-Mart or SuperTarget would need to demonstrate that the harm they do by displacing jobs and creating blight would be somehow ameliorated. Instead of barring the door, this ordinance raises the bar for development, and I commend my colleague Ed Reyes for introducing it with me, the progressive advocates like LAANE who pushed for the innovative impact-report requirement, and the many CD13 residents who wrote or called in with their support for our efforts.
Supporting good jobs in hotels |
The contract for 9,000 of Los Angeles‘ hotel workers has expired, and negotiations have come close to stalling. The hotel workers‘ union, UNITE HERE, fears that hotels may lock out their union workers soon—leading to the type of catastrophic standoff that we all lose from. With my colleague Martin Ludlow, I have held committee hearings on the low wages and poor working conditions in the industry, finding that more than 70% of area hotel workers fail to earn a self-sufficiency wage for Los Angeles. The City Council has called on the union and the hotels to come to an agreement that protects good jobs and allows workers a national voice.
The typical economic analysis overlooks one of any region‘s most important resources: its human capital. More than half of all Angelenos have low literacy skills that threaten their ability to secure a living-wage job and advance in our regional workforce. The Los Angeles Literacy Project was started to correct this oversight and strategically invest in building the skills of L.A.‘s workforce. The project is about to release its long-awaited study on the challenges that face workers in the region. The report will be posted on the website next week.
Open Space and the Environment
The multi-family recycling program previously described in these pages before will begin in late September. If you want to get your apartment building to start recycling, contact Michael Crossley at (213) 473-8160 or e-mail him at Mcrossley@san.lacity.org.
Here‘s a comprehensive list of farmer‘s markets in Los Angeles. We may be adding one to the list next year....
Neighborhood Empowerment
Eric commits to more affordable housing. |
I had the privilege of addressing the founding convention of One L.A., a group that brought 12,000 Angelenos to the Convention Center this summer in order to demand commitments from elected officials on affordable housing, reform of the school district, and other social justice issues to which I offered unequivocal support. One L.A. is related to the Industrial Areas Foundation, an organization founded by the late Saul Alinsky that has produced more than one generation of talented organizers: my District Director Ana Guerrero has her roots in the IAF.
Cable
Shooting Flavors of L.A. |
Please tune in to my new show, debuting next week on Channel 35, Flavors of L.A.! In it, I‘ll tour the 15th Council District with my friend Councilmember Janice Hahn. We‘ll try food from Papadakis Taverna and the Watts Coffee Shop, and you‘ll also discover Croatian and Mexican food from the communities of Watts, Wilmington and San Pedro. Showtimes and recipes can be found here.
Human Rights
Eric congratulates Permanent Partner advocates Sophie Fanelli and Doug Haxall |
City Council unanimously approved a measure I introduced, a resolution of support for the Permanent Partners Immigration Act making its way through Congress. PPIA, sponsored in Congress by Jerrold Nadler of New York, would apply the "family unification" immigration policy, which allows the immigrant spouses of citizens to achieve citizenship, to same-sex partnerships. No one should be denied immigration rights because their choice of partner isn‘t politically correct; keeping a family together, no matter what its composition, is a basic human right that must transcend borders.
Presenting a new traffic light |
Have you seen the new traffic signal on Glendale Boulevard at Madera Avenue yet? After several collisions, including the injury of a senior citizen in a wheelchair who was crossing the street and a 17-year old boy‘s nearly-fatal accident, I made the installation of this light a high priority. On August 2nd, I flipped the switch on the new light.
That‘s not the only improvement we‘re planning along Glendale Boulevard. With funds from the federal Economic Development Administration and an assist from the Mayor, the same intersection will get a left turn lane in 2005. We can also look forward to a tree planting along the Glendale Boulevard median and completion of the Chamber of Commerce‘s Atwater Village sign project, assisted by $65,000 in city funds that I‘ve earmarked.
And what could make the streets of Atwater Village nicer than the occasional stroll through a farmer‘s market? Working with SEE-LA, the organization behind CD13‘s prized Hollywood Farmer‘s Market, we will be circulating surveys in Atwater Village to determine where a farmer‘s market could succeed. We‘re looking at a launch date of May 2005. Get ready for cherry season!
I am also pleased to announce that Street Services will begin monthly street cleaning in the area between Silver Lake Blvd, Fletcher, Casitas and Glenhurst in Atwater Village for the next six months. Residents of this neighborhood have sought street cleaning in their area for some time now and had organized a petition drive to show support. The Department of Transportation will post temporary No Parking signs for the second Thursday and Friday of the month beginning in September. If you live in this area, be sure to move your car on street cleaning days.
As mentioned last month, I strongly encourage you to go to Friends of Atwater Village‘s "Revisiting the Red Car" event on Friday, September 10th, 2004 at 7:00 p.m. at the Los Angeles River Center & Gardens. Tickets are $45.00 per person, and the event includes the documentary film "This Was Pacific Electric" by Sky City Productions, light fare by Netty‘s, a no-host bar, a silent auction, and coffee and conversation with filmmakers and historians. You can even purchase tickets online! For more information call (323) 913-2999.
Congratulations to the new representatives on the Atwater Village Neighborhood Council. Christine Anthony and Gene Gilbert will represent North Atwater Village, Mary Lou Watkins will sit for the Central area, and Ken Osborn and Shannon Johnson have joined the board from the Southern area.
Glassell Park
The new left-turn lane from Fletcher onto San Fernando will make a world of difference for commuters, and especially for parents trying to drop off children at Washington Irving Middle School or Fletcher Elementary.
Come play on the new soccer fields at Glassell Park Recreation Center, where improvements have garnered us a net gain of two practice fields. You may even catch a glimpse of my Field Deputy Joe Bernardo; he still serves Historic Filipinotown, but the rest of the staff is trying to teach him how to dribble.
National Night Out started with a march of more than 400 people departing Glassell Park Elementary for Fire Station #50. Highlights of this night dedicated to public safety included the Firefighters‘ Footraces, in which a strapping rookie fireman was trounced by a veteran clearly some years his senior.
Elysian Valley
Scott Wilson of Tree People |
Along with EV residents including Linda Toliver and Gary Guidinger, representatives from North East Trees, and the L.A. River‘s own poet laureate Lewis MacAdams, I was pleased to open Meadowvale Park. The park faces the river and makes a nice stop for river-path bicyclists or neighborhood strollers. It‘s right at the end of Meadowvale Drive.
Neighborhood strollers will have a much easier time of Newell Street, recently outfitted with brand-new sidewalks. Queen and Ripple are also easier on your soles.
You‘ve heard of Take Your Daughter To Work Day? Well, Clean and Green organized Bring Your Parents To Work Day, and work they did. A Saturday full of student-parent labor at Alessandro Elementary yielded the murals visible from Riverside Drive.
Commuters will be pleased to see the first new city bus shelters at Riverside and Fletcher Drives. In total, 11 will be installed down Riverside Drive in the next few years.
Echo Park
The corner of Whitmore Place and Landa Street is looking a lot better. First, we installed a traffic signal, next, we cleaned up the bulky item dump that had collected there and put up NO DUMPING signs. Our Public Works Commissioner Cynthia Ruiz deserves a great big tip of the hat for helping out.
The "tropical gardens" overlooking Alessandro have been overgrown for years, and the lot is finally being cleared out. Fire risk is greatly reduced.
Check out the whimsical whales newly stenciled onto the retaining wall at Dwayne and Alessandro. Thanks to all who helped spiff that up!
The Glendale Corridor project continues, with progress on the traffic light on Glendale at Aaron Street. The standard (the light post that holds the signal) has been erected, and the signal will follow shortly.
And lastly, please join me at Echo Park‘s brand-new Edendale Library on September 13th at 10:30 a.m.! See the new mural depicting historic locations in Los Angeles and check out a few books, too. Double congratulations go out to Fontayne Holmes, the newly-named General Manager of the Library Department who has overseen the wave of architecturally progressive, community-friendly libraries throughout the city (including Edendale).
And don‘t forget the Art Crawl...
Historic Filipinotown
Friday night at 9 p.m., watch Belmont High take on Hollywood High on the gridiron! The football game will be televised by Channel 36, available to all Los Angeles cable subscribers. I, of course, will be rooting for the high school that calls CD13 home!
I had a blast at the 2nd Annual Historic Filipinotown Anniversary Celebration at the Filipino Christian Church on Union. I got to unveil the winner of Temple Street Banner Design Contest (shown last issue), and heard stories from Filipino attendees who grew up in this part of the town during the 1950s.
On Saturday, September 4th, the Hi-Fi Improvement Association will meet at 147 North Coronado. Contact Field Deputy Joseph Bernardo for more information.
Alistair finds a safe place to skate |
I was delighted to help cut the ribbon on Lake Street Park, a great addition to our rapidly growing "green-belt" of neighborhood parks in CD13. I was joined by dozens of community members including Boy Scouts who led the Pledge of Allegiance and 9-year-old Alistair Maskell, who wrote in a letter to me earlier this year, "I am concerned that there is no skate-board park in my neighborhood, because I love skateboarding." Alistair, Lake Street is the park for you—it‘s got a skate park, a recreation
center, a universally accessible playground, a basketball court and green space. It‘s the seventh above-ground skate park in the city of Los Angeles and I‘m proud to have it be the 13th new park that I‘ve opened up in the Thirteenth District.
I joined an L.A. Bridges II-led community clean-up on August 7th. Thanks to all who came out to make the neighborhood that much nicer.
Silver Lake
The election for new neighborhood council representatives will be held on September 18th. The Silver Lake Improvement Association has already held one candidates‘ forum, and the next is on September 7, hosted by the Committee to Save Silver Lake‘s Reservoirs and the Silver Lake Seniors at the Silver Lake Recreation Center.
Brush clearing on the Red Car property removed a frightening accumulation of fire-hazard material and made the historic Red Car trestles much more visible.
Repainted red curbs at Imogen and Bellevue should clear up some questions about where you can park.
The galleries of Silver Lake, Echo Park, and Los Feliz present a self-guided "Art Crawl 7" September 17 - 20. The galleries will be open from 6 to 10 p.m. on Friday, and noon to 6 p.m. on Saturday and Sunday.
Heads up: On October 8th, come to the groundbreaking for the Silver Lake Reservoir Improvement project at the corner of Tesla and Armstrong. I‘ll be joined by Tom LaBonge and Assemblymember Dario Frommer to kick off the construction of the path around the reservoir that you chose.
The Silver Lake DASH committee has been vigorously advocating for a DASH in Silver Lake, and has rounded up 800 signatures in support. To get involved, call Dorit Guerrero at (323) 666-2377 or e-mail silverlakedash@yahoo.com.
East Hollywood
On Saturday, Sept 11 from 8 a.m.- 12 p.m., Clean and Green, the Melrose Hill Neighborhood Association, and the Catalina-Kenmore Neighborhood Association will hold a tree planting celebration. Please join me at 4928 W. Melrose Hill for donuts and coffee. The plan is to fill in a minimum of 30 street trees in the Melrose Hill neighborhood, and to plant 3 California Live Oak Trees along the curved sound wall at the east end of Sierra Vista. We have great assistance from J.H. Mitchell Company, who agreed to donate all 33 root barriers, a donation of nearly $500 in value. Field Deputy Christina Ortega, whose community zeal has been compared by Melrose Hill residents to that of a young Tom LaBonge has more information.
Later in the month, on September 25th, the Catalina-Kenmore group will plant trees in their own neighborhood, between Beverly and 3rd Streets.
Come to a meeting at the Saban Research Center at Children‘s Hospital at 4661 Sunset Blvd on September 8th to discuss the formation of the area‘s Neighborhood Council. Special thanks go to Elson Trinidad for sticking with this effort all the way through. Contact Elson for more information at 323-717-6112.
Yolanda Aguilar is helping the El Centro Alliance sponsoring a Community Clean-Up in the Santa Monica and Gower area. Contact Christina for more information.
I was pleased to help Children‘s Hospital obtain passage of a $110 million bond issuance from the city‘s Industrial Development Authority. The bond, which Children‘s (not the city) must pay down, will go towards the construction of the hospital‘s new in-patient tower.
Hollywood
Friday night at 9 p.m. watch Hollywood High take on Belmont High on the gridiron! The football game will be televised by Channel 36, available to all Los Angeles cable subscribers. I, of course, will be rooting for the high school that calls CD13 its home.
Ready..wait...cross! |
The new crosswalk at Lexington and Cahuenga is a "smart" crosswalk, meaning it has sensors that detect the presence of pedestrians in the intersections and turns on the warning light for cars accordingly.
Halloween aftermath |
The Los Angeles City Council passed an ordinance prohibiting Halloween street-partiers from using "Silly String". Special thanks go to Kerry Morrison of the Hollywood Entertainment District, who documented the damage done to our streets and, via storm drains, our waterways. It might seem like a silly law, but silly string is a real problem on Halloween. Thus, we passed a limited, non-silly ordinance that will only apply on Halloween on Hollywood Boulevard, giving law enforcement a tool they need for one specific out-of-control occasion.
