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TABLE OF CONTENTS
A Word from Eric
Homelessness
Urban Environment
Neighborhood Councils
Contact Us
The city's 225th birthday Celebration is coming September 4th. If you are interested in volunteering to help out with the celebration, please visit Los Angeles' Birthday Celebration Website!
Councilmember
Eric Garcetti |
A Word From Eric
As we approach the Council’s summer recess at the end of August, the pace of events and activities in the city has steadily quickened over the past several weeks. This summer has been a very exciting time during my tenure on the City Council, as we continue to address some of the most critical issues that face the city of Los Angeles.
The Palmoar Apartments include 27 units of affordable housing |
My colleagues and I voted to put a $1 billion Affordable Housing Bond on the ballot in November. As Los Angeles continues to grow and attract individuals from all over the globe, ensuring that new Angelenos have a place to set down their roots and grow is an integral part of making communities stronger and safer. Los Angeles’ booming economy has helped shrink the income gap; however, because so many of our residents are renters, a substantial amount of their monthly paycheck is going towards their leasing, they are unable to retain wealth through owning and paying off property. Only 12% of families in Los Angeles can afford the median priced home, and only 35% can afford the average monthly rent. If passed, the bond will provide permanent supportive housing for the homeless, afforable rental units, and will help first-time home buyers who would otherwise be excluded from the housing market to enter into it.
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Speaking with residents and police during National Night Out
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One of the key components of making Los Angeles a better place to live is making Los Angeles a safer place to live, and that is why on August 1st I joined the LAPD and other public safety officers at the various National Night Out festivities throughout the district. National Night Out is a yearly gathering of community members and local law enforcement groups held throughout the country, intended to raise awareness about crime and drug prevention programs, generate support for and encourage participation in local anticrime programs, and to strengthen police-community ties. It was a great night, as residents walked through the streets of their neighborhoods with police officers to demonstrate the strength of their communities. |
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Just a few days before, my staff and I celebrated the two year anniversary of the birth of Uniting Neighborhood To Abolish Graffiti (UNTAG) by driving the streets of D13 and counting every single tag in the district. I am pleased to announce that we have exceeded our two year goal of reducing graffiti by 50% in the district over the last two years, as our tallies revealed that we have reduced tagging by
55% from 20,763 tags in 2004 to 9,419 tags this year. Kudos to our block captains, the city paint out crews, and the officers of the Rampart, Hollywood, and Northeast Divisions – great work!
Announcing the success of UNTAG with Chief
William Bratton and the Board of Public Works
President Cynthia Ruiz
Continuing a tradition from our field office in Silver Lake, the new office in Hollywood hosted its first art opening, and our walls now proudly display pictures from the group Clowns Without Borders. Stop by the office and check it out!
Finally, I shot the third installment of “Flavors of LA” with Councilmember Zine as we explored the fine cuisine of the Third Council District. Watch for us on Channel 35 on August 24th at 10AM, and on August 14th and 28th at 11AM and 10PM.
Things are always coooking with Dennis Zine in the kitchen
HOMELESSNESS
Attending the opening of Gateways Housing - thank you
A Community of Friends!
On Thursday, July 27, Councilmembers Jan Perry and Bill Rosendahl joined me at the Los Angeles Gay and Lesbian Center in Hollywood to hear from a number of youth homeless services providers. Los Angeles has the biggest homeless population in the country, and too often our children are forced out onto the streets as a result of family turmoil or abuse. Making a better Los Angeles means having a place for every member of society to live and grow, and targeting our youth is an especially important component of eliminating homelessness.
Providing housing is one of the measures that is crucial to combating homelessness, and so I was honored to attend the opening of Gateways Housing, the new permanent supportive housing complex at the intersection of Hoover and London Street. Affordable housing developer A Community of Friends built and now operates the facility, which will be a great asset and perhaps a model for other areas on how the city can responsibly address it homeless problem.
URBAN ENVIRONMENT
Stroke! Rowing hard at the 2006 Lotus Festival
As I wrote here before, Echo Park Lake hosted the annual Lotus Festival in July. The weekend long celebration was a blast, as festival-goers sampled foods from a wide range of cultures, saw traditional dances and art shows, and, of course, participated in the Dragon Boat Races. The CD13 crew retained their city crown narrowly edging Councilmember Ed Reyes’ CD1 boat. Go team!
More and more enthusiasm seems to be surrounding the lake, as witnessed by the LA City Nerd special on the lake.
The revitalization of the lake is just one part of the broader movement that is leading us toward a greener Los Angeles and a truly sustainable urban environment. Recently, the Department of Water and Power announced the re-opening of their solar panel incentive program, which will pay DWP consumers nearly half the cost of installation should they decide to put solar panels on their roofs. This couldn’t have come at a better time, with the state experiencing the highest energy demand in recent weeks and many residents living without power for days at a time.
Solar panels are a great way for residents and businesses to help
make LA cleaner and greener.
One last note on LA trees - be sure to check out the Bureau of Street Services’s website, an amazing resource for information about trees and urban forests.
NEIGHBORHOOD COUNCILS
Proceedings begin at the first meeting of the Neighborhood Council Review Commission
The first meeting of the Neighborhood Council Review Commission was held at City Hall, as the commission prepared for its work to strengthen the city’s neighborhood councils. Reverend Altagracia Perez, was elected chair of the commission, and I know that her enthusiasm and leadership will propel the commission to do great things in the coming years.
The commission's meeting coincided with the inaugural elections of the Hollywood Studio District Neighborhood Council, a process that has been in the works for over two years. Neighborhood councils provide the best opportunity for us all to get involved in the civic undertakings of our community and our city and Hollywood now has a great advocate for the issues that affect the lives of those who live in one of the most famous areas in the world.
Congrats, Hollywood Studio District!
CONTACT US
Councilmember Eric Garcetti represents the Thirteenth Council District which includes all or part of the communities of Glassell Park, Atwater Village, Elysian Valley, Echo Park, Historic Filipinotown, Silver Lake, East Hollywood and Hollywood.
Councilmember Garcetti serves as President of the Los Angeles City Council. He chairs the Council's Rules and Elections Committee, is the Vice-Chair of the Energy and the Environment Committee,a nd sits on the Housing and Community Development Committee. He also sits on the Council's Ad Hoc Committee on Homelessness adn the Ad Hoc Committee on the Los Angeles River.
Councilmember Garcetti and his staff can be reached via e-mail at councilmember.garcetti@council.lacity.org or by mail or phone at City Hall, 200 N. Spring Street, Room 470, Los Angeles, CA 90012, (213) 473-7013 and 5500 Hollywood Boulevard, Los Angeles, CA 90028 (323) 957-4500
www.cd13.com
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