NEWS UPDATES

BOYLE HEIGHTS

COUNCILMEMBER HUIZAR ENHANCES THE BOYLE HEIGHTS TECH CENTER
Councilmember Huizar has partnered with Time Warner Cable to install a new movie studio in the Boyle Heights Youth Technology Center. Time Warner Cable will be installing state-of-the-art equipment in the Tech Center and will also have staff members provide hands-on-training opportunities to local youth. Opened in 2006, the Boyle Heights Tech Center offers programs and services ranging from technology courses to employment preparedness trainings.

COUNCILMEMBER HUIZAR LAUNCHES NEW SCHOOL SAFETY PROGRAM
On November 5, Councilmember Huizar joined Mayor Villaraigosa, LAUSD Board President Mónica Garcia, and families from Ramona Gardens in launching the “Walking School Bus Program,” a new safety program that aims to create safe passages for children as they go to and from school.  The Walking School Bus Program is a nationally recognized school safety model that enlists parent volunteers to walk children to and from school along a planned route and timetable.  Councilmember Huizar and his colleagues walked a group of students from their homes to nearby Murchison Elementary School, and praised parents for becoming directly involved in school safety. 

COUNCILMEMBER HUIZAR DECLARES THAT “ART HEALS”
Councilmember Huizar has secured the funding for the “Art Heals” mural project in Ramona Gardens.  To be designed by local artist Raul Gonzalez, the mural will create positive and promising images of hope for residents of Ramona Gardens.  Over 70 community members participated in a recent discussion of the project, and gave overwhelming approval.  Clean and Green, a program of the Los Angeles Conservation Corps, will be coordinating the program, thus providing at-risk youth with paid employment and the opportunity to participate in an urban beautification project. 

COUNCILMEMBER HUIZAR LEADS OPPOSITION TO VERNON POWER PLANT
Councilmember Huizar led over two hundred community members from Boyle Heights and Huntington Park in a protest against a proposed 943-megawatt power plant in the City of Vernon.  Community groups such as the Coalition Against the Vernon Power Plant, Communities for a Better Environment, and the Boyle Heights Residents Homeowners Association participated in the march, which included a mock funeral procession symbolizing the likely increase in community deaths due to harmful emissions from the plant.  Councilmember Huizar also introduced a motion calling for the City Council to authorize the City Attorney to intervene in the City of Vernon’s certification process with the State for the new power plant.
 
COUNCILMEMBER HUIZAR SUPPORTS RAMONA GARDENS RESIDENT ADVISORY COUNCIL
Councilmember Huizar secured ten computers for the Ramona Gardens Resident Advisory Council to support their work in organizing and empowering the residents of Ramona Gardens.  The Resident Advisory Council (RAC) is a nonprofit organization formed by community members to serve as a liaison between the Housing Authority of the City of Los Angeles and residents.  RAC members requested the computers to help them organize and publicize community events. 

EL SERENO

DOWNTOWN

COUNCILMEMBER HUIZAR CELEBRATES THE HOLIDAYS AT GLADYS PARK
Councilmember Huizar joined over 60 children at Gladys Park in Skid Row for the first day of recreational activities. Councilmember Huizar has worked diligently with the Los Angeles Police Department, the Department of Recreation and Parks and community organizations, including Para Los Niños and SRO Housing Corporation, to fund and develop a high quality children's recreation program once-a-week for almost three hours. During the children's park hour visits from a fully equipped recreational van arrives full of sports equipment, arts and crafts materials, and games. Councilmember Huizar and the Los Angeles Fire Department also hosted recently a holiday toy giveaway for the children.

COUNCILMEMBER HUIZAR KICKS OFF PROGRAMMING AT GLADYS PARK
On November 26, Councilmember Huizar launched an innovative recreational program at Gladys Park to serve children living in Skid Row, including students at 8th Street Elementary School.  Gladys Park, located at the corner of 6th St. and Gladys St. in downtown Los Angeles, has lacked recreational programming.  Councilmember Huizar worked diligently to garner support from the Los Angeles Police Department, the Department of Recreation and Parks and community organizations, including Para Los Niños and SRO Housing Corporation, to fund and develop a high quality recreation program once-a-week for almost three hours with visits from a fully equipped recreational van full of sports equipment, arts and crafts materials, and games.
 
COUNCILMEMBER HUIZAR OFFERS REWARD FOR MURDER OF LOCAL MERCHANT
Councilmember Huizar joined the Los Angeles Police Department to announce a $75,000 reward for information leading to the arrest, apprehension, and conviction of a man responsible for killing Ebrahim Torbati, a local merchant in the Fashion District.  Mr. Torbati was shot and killed during a robbery of Rug City, Inc., located at 840 S. Santee Street, on October 23, 2007.  Mr. Torbati, an Iranian Jewish immigrant, was 71 years old.  The Los Angeles Police Department describes the suspect as a thin African-American male between 20 and 25 years of age.  Anyone with information is encouraged to contact Detective Doug Pierce at (213) 972-1254. 

COUNCILMEMBER HUIZAR BRINGS STREET LIGHTS TO CENTRAL CITY EAST
On November 28, Councilmember Huizar won City Council approval to allocate $320,000 from the Safer Cities Initiative to the Bureau of Street Lighting for street lighting improvements in Central City East.  Launched in 2006, the Downtown Safer Cities Initiative has focused on street cleaning, nuisance abatement, and targeted crime reduction.  Councilmember Huizar’s motion appropriates dollars within the initiative to the Bureau of Street Lighting to install 100 new mounted lighting fixtures in pedestrian areas of Central City East.  The Bureau of Street Lighting is currently finalizing the design for the fixtures. 

NORTHEAST

COUNCILMEMBER HUIZAR GIVES YOSEMITE TENNIS COURTS A FACE LIFT
On November 26, Councilmember Huizar broke ground on much-anticipated improvements to the Yosemite Recreation Center Tennis Courts.  For more than 20 years the tennis courts have been used by thousands of Eagle Rock High School students, residents, and local youth without being refurbished. As a member of the Council’s Budget and Finance Committee, Councilmember Huizar secured Proposition 40 funds for the project. Slated for completion in three months, planned improvements will include leveling and refurbishing the old tennis courts, adding new poles, nets, and enhancing accessibility for the disabled.

CITYWIDE

COUNCILMEMBER HUIZAR HOSTS MAYOR OF MEXICO CITY
Councilmember Huizar hosted a breakfast to recognize the visit of Mexico City's Head of State, Marcelo Ebrard Casaubon. The occasion also celebrated the recommitment signing of a sister cities agreement between the City of Los Angeles and Mexico City. Community and business leaders from throughout the Southern California region attended and celebrated the cultural and economic ties between the two cities. As Mayor for the world's second largest city, Ebrard Casaubon started his second day in Los Angeles at Placita Olvera, the birthplace of the City.

COUNCILMEMBER HUIZAR TAKES TOUGH STAND AGAINST COPPER WIRE THEFT
Councilmember Huizar joined Councilmembers Tom LaBonge and Janice Hahn at a press conference calling for the formation of a task force to combat the increasing number of copper wire theft from City street lights. Councilmember Huizar says that vandalism at one time was mostly limited to graffiti on walls, but these days we can add to the list thieves ripping out copper wire from city lights. While the City's Bureau of Street Lighting experienced small amounts of wire theft in the past, due to the rising cost of copper, the amount of theft has vastly increased in the last few months. It is estimated that more that $300,000 worth of copper wiring has been stolen this year costing the city approximately $1,000,000 to replace it.

COUNCILMEMBER HUIZAR LEADS EFFORT TO PREVENT OVER-CONCENTRATION OF RESIDENTIAL CARE FACILITIES
On December 19, Councilmember Huizar secured unanimous approval of a resolution to sponsor State legislation to prevent over-concentration of residential care facilities serving six and fewer people in neighborhoods. Current state law considers 6-person care facilities a family use, not required to seek local permits. State law which requires a minimum 300-foot separation for some types of facilities is not currently applied across the board. To preserve the residential character the facilities seek to offer to clients, and which residents also enjoy, Councilmember Huizar is proposing the uniform and equal application of the 300-foot distance separation requirement to all 6-person residential care facilities. He recently championed the same resolution on behalf of the City of Los Angeles to the League of California Cities, which voted to endorse the proposal by a tremendous margin. The City of Los Angeles will sponsor legislation to effect this change in the next legislative session.

COUNCILMEMBER HUIZAR CALLS FOR INCREASED SCHOOL AND COMMUNITY COORDINATION
Councilmember Huizar and the City Council approved a motion to initiate joint-use ventures in 15 high-priority schools throughout the City of Los Angeles. The Department of Recreation and Parks, the Los Angeles Unified School District, and People for Parks will be working together to identify pilot sites and opportunities for joint use that will create open space and keep schools open for community use. The City legislation also calls for the creation of a Joint Use Master Agreement between the City of Los Angeles and the Los Angeles Unified School District that will ease barriers to joint use.

COUNCILMEMBER HUIZAR SUPPORTS REFORM IN LAFD
During a special joint meeting between the Audits & Governmental Efficiency and Public Safety Committees on November 19, Councilmember Huizar called on the Los Angeles Fire Department to submit a detailed plan for the creation of a Professional Standards Division by January.  The Los Angeles Fire Department has been rocked by a spate of lawsuits and allegations of a hostile work environment for females and minorities.  Fire Chief Douglas Barry, the Board of Fire Commissioners, and the Personnel Department have developed a proposed structure for a Professional Standards Division that would include an Equal Employment Opportunity unit, enhanced human relations training, an automated complaint and disciplinary system, and a civilian Inspector General.  Councilmember Huizar urged the Fire Department to submit a detailed plan in time for consideration for the upcoming City budget. 

COUNCILMEMBER HUIZAR EXAMINES ETHICS RULES
Councilmember Huizar recently introduced a Council motion directing the City Ethics Commission to conduct a review of the City’s lobbying laws and policies with regard to former employees’ ability to lobby the City.  The report will include a comparison with similar policies at other governmental agencies.  Councilmember Huizar, the chair of the Audits & Governmental Efficiency Committee, has championed greater transparency and tighter ethics rules in City Hall, and authored Charter Amendment L, which aligned Los Angeles Unified School District Board of Education elections policies and practices with that of the City.  The Ethics Commission will submit its report to the Audits & Governmental Efficiency and Rules & Government Committees in 60 days. 

COUNCILMEMBER HUIZAR ANNOUNCES LAUNCH OF “0 GRAMS ARTIFICIAL TRANS FAT” PROGRAM
On November 15, Councilmember Huizar, County Supervisor Yvonne Braithwaite Burke, Dr. Jonathan Fielding of LA County Department of Public Health, the California Restaurants’ Association, and public health advocates launched the County of Los Angeles’ new Artificial Trans Fat Reduction Program, a voluntary program that commits participating restaurants to eliminate artificial trans fats from their menus.  Participating restaurants will receive a decal that can be displayed on the premises and their menus.  Councilmember Huizar introduced a motion in December 2006 asking for an analysis of how to eliminate trans fats, which health advocates agree increase the risk of coronary heart disease and high cholesterol, from City restaurants.  He was instrumental in brokering a groundbreaking agreement with the Los Angeles chapter of the California Restaurants Association to gradually phase out trans fats from Los Angeles County restaurants over 18 months.