Neighborhood Preparedness Ambassador Program workshops

Emergency preparedness is everyone’s responsibility, and it could save your life or the life of a friend of family member.

The City of Los Angeles is hosting a Neighborhood Preparedness Ambassador Program to train residents to make sure our neighborhoods is as prepared as possible for any natural disaster. The training is also designed so that participants will be able to teach these procedures to their Neighborhood Councils or other organizations.

The workshops will be held on two consecutive Saturdays -- April 18 and April 25 -- from 8:30 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. at the Olympic Community Police Station located at 1130 Vermont Avenue. Participants are asked to attend both sessions.

Classes are free, but space is limited. For additional information or to RSVP, contact Mona Curry at the Emergency Management Department at 213-473-9921 or by emailing mona.curry@lacity.org.

Camping opportunities for inner city youth

The City's Department of Recreation and Parks will provide hundreds of inner city youth with an opportunity to experience overnight campaign this spring through its Wonderful Outdoor World (WOW) program. I'm excited that the Hollywood Recreation Center will be one of the WOW sites this year.

The Hollywood Rec Center WOW program will be April 3-4, 2009. Campers will learn about basic camping skills such as tent set-up, basic first aid and fire safety; caring for our environment; our ecosystem; and astronomy. All campers receive a sleeping bag, journal, and t-shirt. The cost is $5 per camper.

For more information, click here.

2009 Pioneer Woman: Hyepin Im

This morning each Los Angeles City Councilmember recognized an outstanding woman leader as part of our Pioneer Woman awards, and I had the pleasure of honoring Hyepin Im.

Hyepin founded and serves as the President of Korean Churches for Community Development (KCCD), which has organized more than 4,000 Korean American churches around the country to do economic development work. KCCD also reaches out directly to families through innovative initiatives including a Homeownership Initiative that has educated more than 4,000 potential homebuyers, a national database and research study on Korean American Churches, a financial literacy program, and a program for at-risk Asian American youth that is funded by a $5 million grant from the U.S. Department of Labor.

Hyepin was recently confirmed by the U.S. Senate as a Presidential appointee to the Board of the Corporation for National and Community Service, the federal government’s largest funder of service and volunteerism. Her leadership was integral to the success of KCCD’s two conferences with the White House that brought together Asian American leaders to learn about faith-based economic development.

Hyepin is an outstanding example of the entrepreneurial spirit of a pioneer woman. Her work in our communities not only benefits families today, but is laying the foundation for a better quality of life for future generations.

GlenFeliz/Valleybrink/Dover Intersection Improvement Project underway in Atwater Village

Construction has begun on the GlenFeliz/Valleybrink/Dover Intersection Improvement Project, which will make the 5-way intersection safer for drivers and pedestrians. City crews are pouring concrete to extend the curb and to bring the sidewalks into ADA compliance. The crosswalks will also be restriped so that they are more visible to drivers and the area will also be beautified with plants. Once the project is completed, volunteers with the City's Adopt-A-Median program will maintain the landscaping.

Composting workshop this Saturday!

As a city, we produce an astounding 6,652 tons of waste per day. To help make Los Angeles a more sustainable community and to help close more city landfills, the Department of Public Works has begun hosting monthly workshops to teach how we each can help cut back on waste through backyard composting.

The next workshop is this Saturday, March 28, from 10:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m. at the Griffith Park Composting Education Facility located at 5400 Griffith Park Drive. For a schedule of other workshops and compost bin sales, please visit the Department of Public Works website.

Can the Ugly Betty experience help us keep jobs in LA?

This morning, the City Council will vote on a package of incentives to keep filming in Los Angeles. The incentives are part of a report that I requested after Ugly Betty moved its production from our city to New York.

The incentives include assistance with identifying parking and with reducing parking costs, the installation of utility nodes in frequently used locations to eliminate the need for on-site generators, and taking action to implement a business tax break for productions.

The report also included an analysis by the Los Angeles Economic Development Corporation (LAEDC) that quantified what we've always known to be true -- runaway production means fewer jobs for Angelenos and hurts our economy. LAEDC's study concluded a one-hour television program generates more than 180 direct jobs and supports 540 indirect jobs as well as generates $2.2 million in state income taxes and $880,000 in state sales taxes.

The entertainment industry is a key economic driver for Los Angeles, and we need to do what we can to keep production where it belongs – in the entertainment capital of the world.

You can read a full copy of the report here.

UPDATE: The City Council unanimously adopted the incentives today.

Housing Rights Workshop tomorrow!

If you have questions about fair housing, evictions, security deposits, rent increases, or repairs, join us tomorrow (Wednesday, March 25) for a housing rights workshop. The workshop will be held from 6:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. at Belmont High School located at 1575 W. 2nd Street.

For more information or to RSVP, please contact Aida Alvarado at 323-957-4500.

Teaching for America (and Los Angeles)

Today I participated in a program sponsored by Teach for America that brings government and business leaders into the classroom to experience what it is like to be a teacher in our public schools.

I taught two great science classes at Virgil Middle School. We talked about our environment and human impact on our planet. The students had thoughtful questions -- many about the possible cuts to public school budgets that could result in larger class sizes and the loss of good teachers. Their intelligence and interest in doing their part to improve our community made me even more hopeful for our city's future.

New Kaiser Hospital facility coming to Hollywood

On Friday night I attended the grand opening of Kaiser Hospital's newest facility in East Hollywood. The nearly 800,000 square foot hospital will offer primary care, specialty care, health classes, and other services. The new building features advanced technology, clinical resources, and physicians representing a a range of specialties. There is also plenty of green space, including a play area for pediatric patients.

This new facility -- which officially opens next Tuesday -- is a part of the Los Angeles Medical Center, which is the largest Kaiser Permanente facility in the United States. Overall, this complex features a hospital, mental health center, and 11 medical office buildings with over 5,400 employees, 1,000+ registered nurses, 652 physicians, and a revenue base of $1 billion.

Kaiser has not only played an important role in keeping our community healthy by treating its members, it has also provided financial contributions to local organizations that work in our neighborhoods. A few examples include the Hollywood Sunset Free Clinic, LACER Afterschool Program, Hollywood Police Activities League, Hollywood Community Housing Corporation, and the Los Angeles Youth Network. Kaiser was also a major sponsor of the At the Park After Dark programs in Hollywood last year.

Thank you, Clean and Green!

It can get kind of messy at the public staircase at the intersection of Council and Lake Shore Terrace (next to Glendale Blvd.) in Echo Park. When the Echo Park Chamber of Commerce told our office that the situation had gotten particularly bad, we called on Los Angeles's very own Clean and Green program to help. Within 24 hours, Clean and Green youth workers had cleaned it up. Thank you, Clean and Green!