Off to Beirut!

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As you might remember, last August I traveled to Yerevan, Armenia to finalize the Sister City Agreement between the two largest Armenian cities in the world. After traveling throughout Armenia, taking in the captivating scenery, historic landmarks, and delicious cuisine, I made my way to Beirut with the hope that Los Angeles could also become a Sister City with this diverse, robust metropolis at the heart of Lebanon. Now, nearly 10 months later, I am headed back to Beirut with my colleague, Lebanese-American Councilmember Dennis Zine, Sister City Agreement in hand.

A bustling city of over 1.5 million residents, Beirut serves as a model of diversity. Arabs, Palestinians, Kurds, and Armenians live side-by-side and converse in languages ranging from French and English to Arabic and Armenian. Councilmember Zine and I will be meeting with Lebanese Prime Minister Fouad Seniora, Minister of Interiro Ahmand Fatfat, and many other official, religious, and social leaders as we work to broaden our ties with Beirut and Lebanon in general.

The Sister City program continues to open dialogue between cities and between cultures. It provides student and professional exchange opportunities and strengthens international ties. The dynamic relationship between Beirut and Los Angeles will continue to flourish. You can track our progress on the Los Angeles-Beirut Sister City website, providing updates on news, events, and opportunities associated with the Sister City Agreement.

Altagracia Perez, Presidential Appointee

Altagracia Perez

It gives me great pleasure to announce the appointment of Reverend Altagracia Perez to the Neighborhood Council Review Commission (.pdf). The Commission will review and make recommendations as to how the city can better improve its neighborhood councils.

Altagracia has been an invaluabe asset to Los Angeles. In the congregations she has served, she's built bridges between her African-American and Latino congregants. She's fought for justice in Inglewood, where her parish is, working with the Coalition for a Better Inglewood to rally support to defeat an initaitive placed on the ballot by Wal-Mart in 2004. She has worked extensively in urban ministry and youth work, and fought for workers' dignity and justice in the workplace through Clergy and Laity United for Economic Justice (CLUE).

Her work in the community gives her the ideal background to work on the Commission. Neighborhood councils are vital in the city’s efforts to reinvigorate Los Angeles, and as we move forward, the Reverend’s energy and enthusiasm will help to bolster support for existing councils and imbue local residents with a sense of pride and participation in the city’s renaissance.

Clean Money in Mar Vista

On Monday, Councilmember Bill Rosendahl and I hosted the second in a series of Town Halls geared towards educating communities and garnering support for a clean money campaign, which would provide for public financing of the city’s elections. As I've written before in this space, clean money would take special-interest contributors out of the election process, level the playing field for new candidates, empower voters and encourage greater voter turnout, and provide a sensible approach to elections that is popular in other states and around the world. The city currently has a partial public financing system; last November I joined Councilmembers Rosendahl and Greuel in asking the Chief Legislative Analyst (CLA) to develop a proposal that would expand the scope of the program. Earlier this month, the Council received the CLA's report showing how we can realize a clean money program.
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With the report in hand, Councilmember Rosendahl and I visited Walgrove Elementary School in Council District 11 to speak with residents about the clean money initiative. We were met with great enthusiasm as we answered questions and received feedback from the community, addressing concerns and explaining what comes next. As we move towards a ballot initiative in 2007, we will be working with city departments, neighborhood councils, and community members to identify funding sources and lay out the details of the program. We will continue to hold Town Hall meetings to gather more community feedback and answer questions. Look for one in your neighborhood soon!

Our efforts coincide with a broader movement throughout California towards the establishment of a statewide clean money campaign program. The California Campaign for Clean Money is coordinating the effort to spread awareness about the issue and provide individuals from all walks of life with the opportunity to get involved in changing the nature of our democracy. They are currently in the proccess of forming a grass-roots working group that will be essential in their campaign; if you want to join, please visit their website at http://www.caclean.org/. Together we can make California a place where the model of American democracy is an everyday reality.

"You're thinking, L.A. has a river?"

Emile Turner hosts a short video tour of the Los Angeles River at the Glendale Narrows, featuring CD13 resident and great river friend Joe Linton giving river-adjacent restaurant recommendations. And at blogging.la, Sean Bonner bikes and likes El Rio de Nuestra Señora la Reina de Los Angeles de Porciuncula.

River video via Curbed LA

Guest blogger Mitch: Areas of opportunity on the Los Angeles River

Taylor Yard

I asked District Director for Constituent Service Mitch O'Farrell to blog about his participation in the public meeting on the future of the Los Angeles River held over the weekend.

Turnout was good for Saturday's River Workshop at the Goodwill Worksource Center in Lincoln Heights. The work station tables were crowded despite the fact Mexico was playing Argentina in the World Cup in a match that started at noon! By far the most action was at the "Taylor Yards" table. This site has been chosen as one of the 5 opportunity sites to be studied closely for the upcoming Master Plan. The Taylor Yard site, now expanded to include Elysian Valley and Fletcher Drive from San Fernando Road to Rowena, is one of the most important pieces of real estate in Northeast Los Angeles. It is surrounded by 3 communities within the 13th Council District; Elysian Valley, Atwater Village, and Glassell Park. CD13 residents from those communities as well as Silver Lake, and Echo Park all participated in the workshop.

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In addition to my service to the district, I'm a longtime resident of Glassell Park and Northeast Los Angeles. I want to make sure building blocks are put in place that lead to habitat restoration, management and maintenance of the river environment, and pedestrian and bicycle improvements along the river at Taylor Yard and beyond. If you go out to Fletcher Drive as it crosses the River, you will see that the walking environment is hostile coming from either direction. To get to Taylor Yard From Riverside Drive, one has to walk by narrow sidewalks in front of "Girls, Girls, Girls", the adult entertainment venue. From the other direction, you either have to walk across an on-ramp to the Glendale (2) North Freeway or enter next to the DWP switching station, then head underneath the Fletcher Drive bridge where there is no pathway. Access points to the River should be the first order of business for the Master Plan.

We also need to take a hard look at quality of life along the river for people, flora and fauna. Also, businesses that have been operating along its banks need to feel secure that their concerns are being addressed. While some uses have been found to be incompatible with the river environment, we should keep in mind that many light manufacturing and other industrial uses can co-exist as they always have, albeit with a few new standards. Businesses along the River don't have to be at the expense of residents, workers, or river enthusiasts in order to thrive. It's all about continuing the transformation from a degraded, abused waterway into a revitalized, thriving natural resource that was here long before any of us were!

For comments and all other information regarding the Ad hoc River Committee, the Los Angeles River Master Plan, CD13's River Management & Maintenance task force, or River Walks, please feel free to contact me any time.

For more on the LA River Areas of Opportunity, see Steve Hymon's report in the Los Angeles Timesfrom this weekend.

Photograph by sjareb, found on flickr.

Lotus Festival Luncheon

Lotus Festival Luncheon

Are you ready for the Lotus Festival? On July 8-9, 2006, the largest Asian Pacific Islander festival in all of Los Angeles takes place on the sunny shores of Echo Park Lake, with the lake's incomparable lotus flowers in proud bloom.

Every year, the festival offers entertainment, food, and crafts that celebrate the people and cultures of Asia and the Pacific Islands. A pageant of authentic dances, music, costumes, and food from this year’s featured culture, the Philippines, highlights the event. For the Filipino-American community, 2006 is also a very special year: it marks the 100-year anniversary of large-scale Filipino migration to the United States, which began in the early twentieth century as Hawaiian agricultural interests searched abroad for plantation labor.

The Lotus Festival also includes the annual dragon boat races, in which local non-profits and government officials take with their staffs to the high seas in fierce competition. This year we're being joined by a motley seafaring gang impressed by blogging.la. Of course, I wish all challengers good luck; you'll need it against the CD13 boat, rulers of the lake for four years in a row.

New York Times visits Hollywood

In the New York Times' Escape section, writer Cindy Price provides 36 hours of Hollywood nightlife, brunching, dining, dancing, and even horseback riding. It's a great visit, with stops at such CD13 landmarks and new spots as Los Bros Hooper's Skooby's Hot Dogs, picnicking at Cinespia in the Hollywood Forever cemetery, Thai Elvis at Palms, and George Abou-Daoud's Bowery.

One complaint: Ms. Price repeats the cliche that "nobody walks in L.A."* As you'll see when I follow up Wednesday's post about today's Great Hollywood Walkabout with a report from the field (short version: it was awesome, much thanks to CD13 Planning Director Alison Becker for turning out more than 100 urbanists, neighbors, architects and planners), Los Angeles is a city that is heavily walked, and our challenge is to make that experience easier and more rewarding.

*To the author's credit, she followed up the cliche with "...so ride a horse."

Splash Bash

Splash Bash

Speaking of neighborhood councils, the Hollywood councils are really doing a terrific job of building an involved and empowered community. I attended the Splash Bash at Hollywood and Highland and was pretty amazed at the outreach work that went into the event. My staff set up a table outside where they could meet hundreds of constituents and hand out information. Special thanks also to Shaul Kuba of CIM, who arranged to hold the event at Hollywood and Highland.

Sneak preview

Zine tosses dough

The next episode of Flavors of L.A. is going to be a lot of fun.

Ten Things Neighborhood Councils Can Do for Los Angeles

Congress of Neighborhoods

I had originally thought to address the Congress of Neighborhood Councils with a speech about ten things the city could do to improve the neighborhood council system. But as the meeting unfolded, I quickly became aware that I was in a room full of people who didn't want my assistance—they wanted to lead. So I turned my speech on its head: here are the ten challenges I presented to the city's growing neighborhood council movement. Neighborhood council leaders, I think you're up to the tasks.

1. Build power through knowledge. Bring the Government 101 curriculum to your community and teach your constituents how City Hall works. Start a Neighborhood Leadership Institute and bring some of the city wide curriculum we have developed (Planning 101, Planning 102, Planning 103, Housing 101, etc.) to your neck of the woods. These graduates will help your neighborhood have a more powerful voice throughout the city.
   
2. Use a blog to communicate with your constituents. Every community has people who serve as information hubs, who follow new development projects and who know the local goings-on. Recruit them as bloggers for your neighborhood council. People get involved and stay engaged when they can find regularly-updated information about the community. In Echo Park, where I live, the revitalized Echo Park Net is a great example.
   
3. Welcome new residents to your neighborhood and get them involved. Welcome-packs are a great way to introduce new residents to your neighborhood. Work with all of the local realtors in your neighborhood council area to put together critical information and useful tips, including how to access city services, a guide to local businesses, and your council’s Neighborhood Emergency Operations Plan (see number 9 below).
   
4. Empower young people in your community. If you do not already have a youth representative on your neighborhood council, get one! Adopt a local school and work with the social studies or leadership teachers to help identify or elect a student representative on your council.
   
5. House Los Angeles. The housing crisis in Los Angeles is the worst in almost sixty years. Less than 10% of Angelenos can qualify for a mortgage on the average-priced home in Los Angeles. Consider endorsing the principles of a $1 billion housing bond for the ballot in Fall 2006. Visit www.homesforlafamilies.org for more information.
   
6. Clean up your neighborhood. Bring UNTAG (Uniting Neighbors To Abolish Graffiti) to your neighborhood. This initiative reduced graffiti by 62% in a single year in CD13 and can work in your neighborhood, too. We recently expanded this program to go citywide, and all we are waiting for is you. Visit http://www.lacity.org/council/cd13/untag.htm for more information.
   
7. Clean up your city. Los Angeles has the country’s dirtiest air and water. We consume disproportionate amounts of resources and contribute to global warming. Assess your own neighborhood by measuring your environmental footprint at http://www.myfootprint.org and see what you can do to reduce your footprint. Work with the Bureau of Sanitation to see if your neighborhood might be ripe for a project to clean your neighborhood’s water through Proposition O. You can clean the water and beautify your neighborhood at the same time.
   
8. Clean up your government. Join the Clean Money Campaign to take special interest money out of politics. By implementing a full public financing system for municipal elections, Los Angeles can join other states and cities around the country that are returning democracy back to our communities. For more information, visit www.calclean.org.
   
9. Prepare for emergencies. Prepare a Neighborhood Emergency Operations Plan. Neighborhood Councils will be on the front lines of responding to any emergency situations in the city or in their communities. Work with the Emergency Operations Department and DONE to develop a 21st-century phone tree to help communicate with your constituents during an emergency. Be prepared!
   
10. Make policy. Help get final passage of the proposal to trigger the opening of council files when a critical number of neighborhood councils weigh in on policy proposals. This will help open a new chapter in neighborhood empowerment and build on many of the policy successes initiated by neighborhood councils, from cable policy to water rates.