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February 2017
Welcome to the February issue of Mike Bonin's "Neighborhoods First Newsletter!”
IN THIS ISSUE : Mike saves a cherished local park in Westchester, advances his
work to get more cops in our neighborhoods, and celebrates progress in his effort
to improvement traffic on Sunset Boulevard... b u t f i r s t , please read this month's
Neighborhoods First Profile about a CD11 resident who helped grow one of the Contact Our Office
most influential and impressive environmental organizations in Los Angeles.
You can find out more about Mike , meet your CD11 staff and see the latest Connect with Facebook
videos and updates from the Westside on our website at www.11thdistrict.com .
And remember to like Mike's Facebook page see the latest news about your
neighborhood. Connect with Twitter
Councilmember Mike…
5,232 likes
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Venice-resident Andy Lipkis. Mike has artificial turf soccer field, gym floor, basketball
hoop, new scoreboard, jogging track, gym
been proud to partner with TreePeople
stations, & Charnock median. Awesome guys!
on a series of eco-friendly policy
initiatives, including measures to
protect neighborhood trees as
sidewalks are being rebuilt, and
groundbreaking legislation that will
improve how the design of our streets
helps capture rainwater. TreePeople's
roots are deep in CD11, and in addition 7h
Embed View on Twitter
to Andy living in Venice, the organization's Chairman, Ira Ziering is a resident of
Pacific Palisades.
We asked Andy some questions about the group and how you can get more
involved.
You recently moved into a new role with TreePeople - what will you be
working on now? What does your move mean for the future work of the
organization?
We have momentum! We've hired a brilliant community and environmental
leader who was also born in Los Angeles, Cindy Montanez, to be the CEO of
TreePeople. She's picked up the reins, and is deepening and accelerating the
work of engaging people and leaders in all communities across and beyond the
city, so they participate in greening the city into an urban forest to protect their
families, homes, schools, streets, and neighborhoods from the rapidly increasing
threats of extreme heat, flooding, water shortages and pollution.
What can people on the Westside do to get more involved in making sure LA
has a large enough tree canopy, healthy soil and clean local water?
We are all Tree-People: Trees provide us with our air, food and water, but our city
trees can no longer survive, grow and thrive without people to plant, care for and
protect them. TreePeople is the same: we rely on ordinary people to fund our
work, as volunteers to help plant, care for and nurture trees in public spaces, like
street parkways, schools and parks, AND at their own homes.
We have videos, instructions on our web site and at workshops on how to capture
and conserve water, plant and care for trees and nurture soil. And now,
TreePeople is leading a major research effort with LA County Public Health
Department, the UCLA-Fielding School of Public Health, Yale School of Forestry,
University of Miami and Climate Resolve to determine the right trees, sizes,
species and most important: percentage of canopy cover needed to lower LA's
peak temperatures to save lives during extreme heat storms. We're preparing for
a major increase in planting and care. And we also need people to support City,
County and State programs that will provide funds and resources for these
greening and water efforts.
What are you most proud of in your years working with TreePeople?
That's a hard one because there is so much we've done and so much more to do.
Right now, I'd say it was the last 25 years' effort to show that it is feasible
(technically, socially, financially and practically) to make LA equitably safe,
sustainable, healthy, fun and climate resilient, by adapting our land and water
infrastructure systems to operate like and mimic a forest watershed. That can
cost-effectively and locally supply us with half the water we need, protection
from flooding, pollution and severe heat, while saving energy and water and
creating tens of thousands of local jobs (in urban watershed management). I'm
proud because our local agencies are now piloting these changes and we can see a
tipping point within reach where this will become a major part of our new water
supply and protection system. Those are a lot of words...but you can see the new
pilot system in action watching the videos here (or by Googling: LAStormcatcher
- The Greater LA Water Collaborative) and watching the short videos.
(*A previous version of this profile incorrectly identified Andy as TreePeople's Chairman. He is the President of the
Great news for families in Westchester - Carl E Nielsen Youth Park is here to stay!
This beloved neighborhood park, which has been the home field of
the Westchester Little League , Westchester Del Rey Softball Little
League , Westchester AYSO and other great community organizations since 1984
was in jeopardy of being closed because the lease allowing the Westchester Playa
del Rey Youth Foundation to operate the park was scheduled to expire early this
year. Instead of allowing the park to close, however, Mike and his team worked
hard to make sure that this important community resource will remain an open
and a welcome place for kids and their families to enjoy.
Find out more in the letter Mike shared with neighbors earlier this
month: http://www.11thdistrict.com/nielsen_park_here_to_stay .
Last year, Mike was very excited to announce that thanks to funding from an
active transportation grant, we are drastically improving the infrastructure in
the neighborhood near the Expo/Bundy Metro Expo Line stop to make it easier
and safer to walk to and from the station.
City crews have been hard at work in recent months, and have completed nine
curb extension and 18 curb ramps to date. The Bureau of Street Lighting has also
been out on Pico Blvd and Olympic Blvd laying conduits and pouring foundations
for new pedestrians lighting.
Once completed later this year, the project will include 24 new curb extensions,
58 Americans with Disabilities Act-compliant access ramps, 77 bike racks, 188
trees, and a new landscaped median, all of which will make it easier and safer to
walk in West LA!
Venice Japanese Memorial Monument Breaks Ground
“Those who do not know history are doomed to repeat it,” and Mike was pleased
to see progress toward the installation of a monument commemorating the 75th
anniversary of the forced internment of Japanese Americans During World War
II.
General Services Construction Forces began site prep work on the foundation in
advance of the monument's installation. The black granite obelisk is currently
being engraved and will be dedicated later this spring at the northwest corner of
Lincoln and Venice Boulevards, where many Japanese-Americans were forced to
board buses to internment camps during one of the most shameful chapters of
American history..
Mike was glad to spend a couple of hours on February 12 holding "pop-up office
hours" at the Pacific Palisades Farmers Market. These open office hours held in
public spaces are a great way for Mike to meet with constituents and for him to
implement his Access 11 program to bring City Hall closer to our neighborhoods.
Residents had questions about police deployment, sidewalk repair, and solar
energy.
Read more about what neighbors are saying about the agreement in this recent
letter to the editor of the Brentwood
News: http://westsidetoday.com/2017/02/22/response-to-lauren-coles-
brentwood-school-editorial/ .
Mike hosted Mayor Eric Garcetti , neighbors and community leaders in Mar Vista
on February 13 to celebrate the start of construction of new signalized pedestrian
crossings for Venice Boulevard - one element of the Great Streets initiative Mike
and the Mayor launched to make “downtown Mar Vista” a safe and welcoming
place for the community to enjoy.
Two years ago, Mike asked engineers from the Los Angeles Department of
Transportation to visit the intersection of Culver Boulevard and Slauson Avenue
to evaluate the need for a traffic signal, which members of the community had
requested through Mike’s office. They immediately authorized the installation of
a signal after watching pedestrians cross four lanes of fast-moving traffic on
Culver Boulevard, but hadn’t been able to install a new signal because there was
not adequate funding for the project. Last year, however, Mike solved that
problem by insisting a developer of a nearby project fund this signal. In order to
expedite the installation, Mike arranged a unique public-private partnership in
which city engineers will start signal design now and be reimbursed by the
developer later. Construction on this critical safety improvement for Del Rey is
anticipated to begin later this year.
Mike Joins Westchester Rotary Club for Makeover of Safe Places for Youth
Building in Venice
Mike had a great time on February 20, working alongside Rotary Club of
Westchester on their "Extreme Makeover" of Safe Place for Youth (S.P.Y) , a
nonprofit that provides services and opportunities for homeless youth on the
westside. Rotary Club of Playa Venice Sunrise joined the all-hands-on-deck
project as well. Mike is incredibly proud and thankful to have so many service-
oriented constituents committed to improving their community on the Westside.
Mike Allocates Funding for Series of Playa del Rey Safety Improvement
Projects
In 2015, Mike launched the Safe Streets for Playa del Rey traffic safety initiative
to slow speeds, reduce cut-through traffic, and improve pedestrian safety
throughout the community. Through three neighborhood workshops and
surveys, Mike worked with Playa del Rey neighbors to identify a series of short,
medium, and long-term safety improvements that would achieve the goals of the
initiative. Mike has secured funding for several of those improvements,
including:
Now that funding has been secured, Mike will work with the Department of
Transportation to schedule installation of these important safety projects as soon
as possible.
Mike Joins Santa Monica Canyon Civic Association at Monthly Meeting
Mike joined the Santa Monica Canyon Civic Association, which represents
homeowners in the Santa Monica Canyon area of Pacific Palisades, at the
organization’s regular monthly board meeting on February 21. Mike was happy to
chat with the group about the progress he is making to get more cops in our
neighborhoods, as well as his work to reduce the impact of noisy jets flying over
the neighborhoods that is being caused by new FAA landing guidelines for the
local airport. Joining local organizations like the SMCCA is part of Mike’s work to
“bring City Hall to the Westside” - so neighbors don’t need to trek downtown to
meet face-to-face with their local representative.
Mike’s top priority for Brentwood is reducing the intolerable traffic gridlock on
Sunset Boulevard, and the Sunset Traffic Improvement Initiative Mike launched
last year has been making steady progress toward finding and implementing
creative solutions to the area’s traffic woes.
Over the past several months, Mike’s office has been actively working with
Caltrans and LADOT to redesign the Sunset/405 intersection to add additional
access lanes on eastbound Sunset to both the I-405 North and I-405 South. Mike is
scheduled to help LADOT employees re-stripe the freeway access lanes in March,
and we expect the improvement to yield immediate results.
Mike has secured funding for two important pedestrian safety projects in Venice:
Flashing beacons at the crosswalk on Rose Avenue at 5th Avenue and a
“pedestrian scramble crosswalk” on Washington at Pacific. Flashing beacons on
Rose will help make pedestrians more visible to drivers when crossing the street.
A scramble crosswalk on Washington, like the one at Pacific and Windward, will
stop all vehicular traffic while pedestrians are crossing and allow pedestrians to
cross diagonally. Both of these improvement projects will make it safer and
easier for people to get around Venice safely - without a car.
While most of Council District 11 sits to the west of the 405, there is a community
to the east of the freeway that Mike is helping brand itself - Ladera. Last month,
Mike was proud to ask the Department of Transportation to create and post signs
officially designating the Ladera community. The signs are the product of the
work of community advocates like Treva Miller, who has rightly argued that the
signs will help residents not only feel pride in their neighborhoods, but they will
also help people know who to call to request services and assistance with
neighborhood improvement projects.
The LMU Playa Vista Campus will house graduate programs for LMU School of
Film and Television, (ranked No. 6 in USA Today’s national film school rankings).
LMU will also offer spaces for academic and creative activities and events,
placing students and faculty members in the heart of L.A.’s tech innovation and
creativity hub.
Neighbors in Westchester contacted Mike’s office last month with concerns about
the construction of an illegal boarding house on 78th Street. Mike’s staff reacted
quickly, getting the construction halted and getting the City’s Building and
Safety Department to hold the developers of the project accountable.
Public art helps give communities identity and character, and West LA is about to
be the latest community on the Westside to see utility boxes converted into
community art! Mike announced approval of 11 utility box art murals in West LA
last month, and he is now partnering with the West LA Sawtelle Neighborhood
Council (WLASNC) Outreach Committee to engage the community and local
artists to ask for design ideas. The art murals will be placed on LADOT traffic
signal control boxes and will each feature the community's name. Artists whose
designs are selected will receive a $400 stipend for their artwork. For more
information about how you can submit a design, please contact Mike's West LA-
area deputy Len Nguyen at len.nguyen@lacity.org 310-575-8461 or the WLASNC
Outreach Chair Greg Ericksen at gericksen@wlanc.com .
Mike was pleased to meet with the Westdale Homeowners Association in Mar
Vista on February 1 during their annual meeting. Thank you to the group for
great questions and an opportunity to talk about Mike’s "Back to Basic Car" plan
to get more police officers patrolling our neighborhoods.
It was also a special honor for Mike to present proclamations celebrating two
unsung heroes who help him put neighborhoods first in Mar Vista - Marjorie
Templeton and Ina Lee. Thank you to Marjorie and Ina for your exceptional
contributions to your community!
Mike has been working to keep our neighborhoods clean, and part of that effort
has included adding new trash cans to community streets so people had
convenient opportunities to put trash in cans instead of dropping it on the street.
Last month, Mike helped install new trash cans in the Washington Square area of
Venice, and this month, Mike was very pleased to see a crew from the Bureau of
Sanitation add new trash cans along Culver Boulevard in Del Rey. The new trash
cans in Del Rey will help keep the neighborhood clean - especially along the
beloved bike and walking path that runs along Culver Boulevard.
For each of the last six years, the Pacific Palisades community has looked
forward to the annual Spelling Bee hosted by the Palisadian Post. Mike loves
attending this great community event, which helps make Pacific Palisades feel
like a Mayberry-esque small town, and which encourages young people to learn
important and often overlooked lessons about spelling.
Mike is a strong supporter of local Rotary Clubs, and he recently allowed the
Rotary Club of Playa Venice Sunrise to auction off a lunch with him at one of
downtown Playa del Rey’s best restaurants - Cantalini's Salerno Beach
Restaurant. Mike met with Erin Olf, Brady Connell and friends for a fantastic
lunch, where they discussed how great restaurants like Cantalini’s help make
neighborhood hubs like downtown Playa del Rey a tremendous asset to a
neighborhood.
The Chinese Language School of Southern California (CLSSC) celebrated the Year
of the Rooster at a New Year Carnival last month, and Mike was very happy to join
neighbors at this great community celebration!
This year is the school's 50th anniversary and Mike presented a proclamation to
mark the occasion.
Mike Joins Ballona Creek Renaissance for Community Cleanup of the Creek
LED traffic lights are brighter, more energy efficient and safer than outdated
older lights, and City employees were hard at work in Westchester in February,
upgrading most of the lights along Manchester Boulevard. Thank you to the
Department of Transportation employees who are making this small, but
important community safety improvement.
CERT is designed to equip citizens with basic training to effectively serve as first-
responders to disaster or emergency situations. Taught by highly experienced LA
City Firefighters, CERT training includes earthquake preparedness, light
firefighting, triage, first aid, light search and rescue, disaster psychology and
team organization.
The City of Los Angeles Bureau of Street Services was working hard to make
important improvements to neighborhoods on the Westside in February,
including the construction of a new gutter and curb at Berryman and Braddock
in Del Rey.
The improved curb and gutter will reduce flooding in the area when it rains and
will make it safer for neighborhood residents. Thank you to the city employees
who help improve our neighborhoods every day!
After being discontinued for several years due to budget cuts during the
recession, Mike has successfully resurrected the speed hump program in Los
Angeles! The application to apply for speed humps opens later today (Tuesday,
February 28) at 12:00 noon. To find out more and to apply to get speed humps in
your neighborhoods, please visit: http://ladot.lacity.org/what-we-
do/operations/neighborhood-services/residential-street-speeding . The
application will be open for 45 days or when LADOT receives 30 applications in
Council District 11, whichever comes first.
The program has only a bare bones budget so far, with enough funds for two sets
of humps per council district per year. But Mike and Mayor Garcetti are working
on a plan to augment and expand the program now that it has been restored.
Every year, the Jewish Federation of Greater Los Angeles hosts “Super Sunday” - a
day when neighbors come together to support the work of the Jewish Federation -
a 106 year old organization that raises and disburses approximately $46 million
in philanthropic funds every year.
Mike was happy to join the Federation to support their mission of social service,
Jewish continuity, and community engagement programs, and he spent a few
hours on Sunday, February 12 to help volunteers reach out to neighbors to raise
money for the Jewish Federation’s work.
With tens of thousands of people living on our streets, Mike and his colleagues
have made addressing homelessness and finding housing and shelter for as
many people as possible as quickly as possible an urgent priority. Last November,
voters approved Proposition HHH, which authorizes $1.2 billion for permanent
supportive housing throughout Los Angeles. Many, if not most, of those units will
take years to come online, and Mike’s legislation was introduced to focus city
resources as housing is built on efforts that can be taken quickly and in the
meantime to house people.
http://www.11thdistrict.com/shared_housing_legislation .
Last year, Mike partnered with Supervisor Sheila Kuehl and the St. Joseph Center
in Venice to launch a County-City-Community partnership (known as a “C3”) to
bring services directly to people living on the streets of Venice. The C3 model was
selected for this work because it has been incredibly successful in other areas
where it has been used, and five months into the Venice C3’s work, the outreach
is again yielding results.
To date, nearly 200 people have been engaged by C3 outreach workers and 85
people have been helped or provided services in some way. Thirty-five people
have been moved off the streets and into interim housing, and 11 have been
assigned to permanent housing.
Tickets and citations often lock homeless people in a vicious cycle of poverty,
where they often end up owing more than they could ever pay. On February 14,
the City Council unanimously approved a pilot program Mike requested that
allows homeless people to work off parking tickets with community service, or by
enrolling in services that will help them get off the street.
This smart, targeted and compassionate approach to getting people off the street
will help break a sad cycle of homelessness and poverty, and will help get
homeless people the help they need.
Last year, Mike and his colleagues on the Metro Board of Directors instructed that
Metro develop and adopt a Transit Homeless Action Plan, which focuses on how
to proactively and helpfully engage with homeless people who are sleeping on
trains or buses. The Plan, which Mike heard in a report to the System Safety,
Security and Operations Committee Mike chairs, is scheduled for implementation
in Spring 2017 and will focus on the following four areas:
Research: Conduct surveys, convene internal and external stakeholders,
analyze data and review information to better understand homeless in Metro’s
transit system.
Manchester Square is the neighborhood just east of LAX where for years, Los
Angeles World Airports (LAWA) has been working to acquire residential
properties as part of it's noise compatibility program. Unfortunately, over the
years, the homeless population in the Southern California region has grown, and
a population of more than 250 individuals experiencing homelessness have set
up encampments in the parkways adjacent to LAWA property, and parked their
cars and recreational vehicles on public streets located in Manchester Square.
Last year, Mike partnered with Mayor Garcetti, Supervisor Ridley-Thomas, LAWA,
LAHSA and homeless service agencies like People Assisting the Homeless (PATH)
to create the Manchester Square Task Force and make sure there was direct
outreach to the people there and that people were connected with services and
housing placements before construction begins for the Consolidated Rental Car
Facility that is planned for the area as part of the LAX Modernization program.
Last month, Mike took further action to help homeless people in Manchester
Square, authoring legislation that calls on Los Angeles World Airports and Los
Angeles Homeless Services Authority report to the City Council on plans and
potential funding streams to dramatically expand the outreach being conducted
by the existing Task Force Mike put in place, and to include ways for LAWA to
help ensure people living on the street are housed before construction can begin
on the new rental car facility.
Each year, the City operates emergency Winter Shelters to give refuge to
homeless people who would otherwise be on the street during colder, wetter and
thus more dangerous winter months. This year, with record rain storms
continuing to hammer Los Angeles, the City Council has taken action to keep the
existing emergency shelters open for 24-hours during storms, and to extend the
operation of the shelters through March 31 - weeks later than they have been
open in past years.
You can find out more about the Winter Shelter program
here: https://www.lahsa.org/ces/winter-shelter/occupancy-dashboard .
Did you know what the leading cause of death is for children in Los Angeles
County? Traffic collisions.
More people die in the City of Los Angeles each year from traffic collisions than
gang-related homicides. 260 people died on our roads last year. Every 40 hours,
an Angeleno loses her or his life in a traffic collision. High injury areas fall
disproportionately in communities with people of color or people of low incomes.
It is a travesty.
At the committee meeting, Mike thanked LADOT, LAPD and the Los Angeles Vision
Zero Alliance for all their tremendous effort. We need to work extra hard to make
this plan a reality.
Metro Station Naming Policy Reversed After Mike and Supervisior Sheila
Kuehl Raise Objections
Last year, Mike joined Supervisor Sheila Kuehl in objecting to a new Metro policy
that would allow for the naming rights for Metro stations to be sold to
corporations. In his objections, Mike spoke out against the commercialization of
public resources and questioned whether the policy was in the best interest of the
public that Metro serves.
Though the policy was approved over Mike and Supervisor Kuehl’s objections, in a
surprising turn of events, Metro staff announced this month that the decision
was being reversed and that naming rights to Metro stations would not be sold to
corporate interests.
Metro is partnering with the City of Los Angeles to expand bike share into Venice
in Summer 2017, making it easier and more convenient to get around the
Westside without a car. Bike share is a form of public transit in which bicycles
are available for check out 24/7 for short, point-to-point transportation trips.
Pick up a bike at the station nearest you and drop it off at the station closest to
your destination.
LAX is quickly becoming the world-class airport that Angelenos demand and
deserve. This month, Los Angeles World Airports is breaking ground on the
construction of the new Midfield Satellite Concourse at LAX.
The new $1.6 billion concourse addition to the Tom Bradley International
Terminal (TBIT) will feature 12 aircraft gates, including two for new large Group
VI aircraft, such as the Airbus A380 or the Boeing 747-8. The new concourse will
be constructed west of TBIT and will be accessed either by bus or by a 1,000-foot-
long pedestrian tunnel from TBIT. The tunnel will originate at a new gateway
facility connected to TBIT near Gate 148, and will have moving walkways to move
passengers through the tunnel.
The international demand for the development of the new midfield satellite
concourse is a testament to the strength of the local economy, and this new, state
of the art concourse will create more than 1200 construction jobs.
Mike is especially excited that the Midfield Satellite Concourse will incorporate a
number of sustainability features, such as using passive daylight lighting for the
interior spaces, water saving plumbing fixtures and a cool roof that reduces heat
absorption. These eco-friendly features will go a long way to minimizing the
environmental impact of this needed new facility, and will further LAWA's
commitment to making LAX a world class airport that is also a first-class
neighbor.
Santa Monica Airport Announcement Raises Questions About Safety and
Timing for Airport Closure
Mike joined neighbors from Mar Vista, Venice and West LA to repeat our call for
the closure of Santa Monica Airport on February 4.
While Mike was initially excited by the promising recent headlines about an
agreement to eventually end airport operations at SMO, the devil is in the details
and Mike shares neighbors concerns that this agreement does not accomplish
what is needed to protect the health and safety of his constituents in the
neighborhoods near the airport.
As far as Mike can tell from the details he has seen, there is no agreement to
actually close the airport in 2029 - just an agreement to keep the airport open
until then. The agreement may limit larger jets from using the airport by
shortening the runway, but Mike finds no assurances that that the shorter
runways will achieve the vital 1,000 foot buffer zone from homes. The continued
operation of this airport for at least 12 years will continue to pollute
neighborhoods with harmful jet fuel emissions, and Mike remains concerned that
Santa Monica Airport will continue to force undue burdens and impacts of
continued operations on Los Angeles neighborhoods.
Neighbors in Mar Vista, Venice and West LA suffer the air pollution and safety
risks this airport imposes on their communities, and that is unacceptable. Mike
continues to stand with these neighborhoods to call for a much faster timeline to
shut this nuisance airport down for good.
Thank you Martin Rubin and Concerned Residents Against Airport Pollution for
organizing the rally to raise awareness of the perils of the continued operation of
Santa Monica Airport.
Mike was glad to support a plan to overhaul the development process by voting to
create an ordinance to mandate that Community Plans, which inform what kind
of growth communities want or don't want in their neighborhoods, are updated
every six years. Currently, 29 of our 35 plans are 15 years old or older! As our
population grows and our affordable crisis worsens, updated, current and
binding community plans are essential so we can plan our city appropriately,
provide sufficient housing, and respect neighborhood character.
Mike was glad to co-author this proposal with Councilmembers Jose Huizar, David
E. Ryu, Mitch O'Farrell, Gilbert Cedillo, Bob Blumenfield, and Paul Krekorian.
Kudos to Councilmember Huizar for great leadership and for driving this process
forward. We have much to do to fix our planning system, but this is a big and
necessary step.
Find Out More About the City Council's Work to Put Neighborhoods First
More Cops in Our Neighborhoods - Back to Basic Car Plan Approved by Public
Safety Committee
We need more cops in our neighborhoods, and Mike is working hard with his
colleagues Joe Buscaino and Mitchell Englander to make sure we get them.
On February 21, after a long and detailed conversation about how LAPD officers
are deployed in Los Angeles, the Council's Public Safety Committee unanimously
approved the "Back to Basic Car" plan for LAPD redeployment Mike authored to
get more cops in our neighborhoods.
People deserve to feel safe in their neighborhoods and Mike believes that
returning the LAPD's focus to having more uniformed officers patrolling our
streets and participating in our communities will help reduce crime and make
our neighborhoods better places to live, work and enjoy. Additionally, it is
important to note that every significant push for reform of LAPD -- the
Christopher Commission, or in the wake of the Rampart scandal, said more
neighborhood policing (as opposed to crime suppression strategies) were key to
improving community-police relations. Mike’s plan is focused on making sure
there are more cops in neighborhoods, working with neighbors and building
relationship that keep our communities safe
You can find out more about Mike’s "Back to Basic Car" plan
at http://www.11thdistrict.com/support_back_to_basic_car .
Great news! The Los Angeles Unified School District Board of Directors has
unanimously approved a resolution supporting Mike’s push for clean money
elections in LA!
The resolution, which was submitted by Board President Steve Zimmer to the
board, formally endorses Mike’s legislation, which would create a system of
publicly-financed elections in Los Angeles, giving every grassroots candidate a
way to compete with entrenched interests, and helping to rid local politics of the
influence of campaign donations.
Last month, Mike was able to bring these two goals together through a
partnership with Venice-based TallyGo . TallyGo is a cutting-edge navigation app
that receives more than 20 million traffic readings from loop detectors per day
in LA County alone. Along with real-time accident feed from CHP, Metro and DOT,
the app analyzes data and knows at every single minute what congestion is like
on all major roads. This provides a complete real-time picture of LA traffic which
is then provided to users through turn-by-turn navigation instructions.
Over the next 90 days, the Los Angeles FD will be testing TallyGo on iPad devices
at fire stations throughout the City - including Fire Station 62 in Mar Vista.
Firefighters and paramedics will put the app through its paces and provide
feedback to TallyGo in order to better optimize this app for use as they respond to
fires and emergency medical situations. The goal is to provide firefighters and
paramedics with the fastest available route to an emergency, which will reduce
response times and save lives.
Mike Calls on Red Cross to Assist Detainees at LAX During Chaos at Airport
On February 7, the council committee that oversees LAX heard the harrowing
testimony of Sara Yarjani, a 35 year-old grad student from San Diego, who was
detained for 23 hours at LAX in January, held in unacceptable conditions, and
then deported to Iran. Mike has asked Los Angeles World Airports and the ACLU
to investigate whether the Red Cross can be summoned to investigate if this
activity continues.
When Sara returned to US from Europe last month, she was held by Customs and
Border Protection, denied access to her phone, taken to a detention room, told to
put her hands on the wall and searched by two female agents. She was held in a
confined and crowded spaces, denied a shawl or a blanket to keep warm in a cold
room, denied food for long stretches of time, allowed infrequent bathroom visits,
and coerced into signing papers accepting her "voluntary" expulsion from the
United States. She was escorted by armed guards to a plane deporting her from
United States, and when she shared news with the guards that she had heard that
a court had issued an order preventing her expulsion, her escorts said "Wowza"
and placed her on a plane to Iran. Her fellow detainees included people suffering
from cancer and other ailments who were denied access to their medicine,
women with infants who had no access to baby food, refugee husbands and wives
separated from each other, and fragile and ailing seniors who spoke no English.
None of them had access to lawyers.
Her testimony was horrifying and her experience shameful. Mike was glad to
have been among the thousands of people who stood outside Customs demanding
her release and the release of the other detainees. According to the ACLU, under
international humanitarian law, these kinds of situations could qualify as
arbitrary detentions, potentially putting them under the purview of the Red
Cross. Mike is glad to report that he have heard from both the airport and the Red
Cross that the two agencies are in contact.
Voters will head to the polls on Tuesday, March 7 to decide the fate of a number of
important ballot measures, including initiatives regarding development,
marijuana and homelessness, as well as candidate contests including races for
both citywide and local offices.
Make sure you know where your polling place is and download your sample ballot
at: http://lavote.net/home/voting-elections/current-elections/find-my-election-
information .
Local small businesses provide more than jobs for people on the Westside - they
are part of what make neighborhoods great. Each week, Mike chooses a local Mom
and Pop business to feature on social media in his " Small Business Spotlight ."
Check out The Ramen Joint at 6220 W 87th St in Westchester or look at the menu
online at http://www.theramenjoint.com/ .
Cabbage Patch offers great, farm-fresh fare and it is a place "where people can
enjoy high quality, homestyle cooking at an affordable price and in a timely
manner."
I appreciate that Cabbage Patch uses of all natural, organic, and locally sourced
products whenever possible, including humanely raised, hormone and antibiotic
free meat, and fed vegetarian feeds. The poultry served is all natural without
hormones or steroids, and the salmon is farmed-raised using sustainable
methods.
Check out Cabbage Patch at 12531 Beatrice St in Playa Vista, or visit their website
at www.cabbagepatchla.com to find out more.
Eco-Pet, Ladera
This pet grooming business is a favorite of four-legged friends (and the people
who love them) in the Westchester and Ladera areas, and customers who wrote to
nominate Eco-Pet raved about the organic and natural products that Eco-Pet
uses. Many of Eco-Pet's customers have been coming back for years because of
the great service owner Terry and her employees offer.
Check out Eco-Pet at 6955 La Tijera Blvd. or call 310-645-8892 to find out more.
Do you have a favorite business you want to nominate to be featured in Mike's
Small Business Spotlight? You can make a nomination for the “Small Business
Spotlight” at this link .
Welcome Lupita!
Lupita will be serving as a Constituent Advocate out of Mike’s West LA office, and
will help neighbors with service requests. Welcome to the team, Lupita!
Omar Pulido, who has served as Mike’s LAX-Community Liaison since 2015
announced last month that he would be leaving Mike’s office to accept a position
at a consulting firm. Omar has been an exceptional representative working on
behalf of the neighborhoods near the airport, and he was instrumental in getting
the agreement approved that will allow LAX to modernize without moving the
north runways closer to homes in Westchester.
Omar will be replaced by Geoff Thompson, who until recently was working with
Mike as CD11’s interim Transportation Policy Director. Geoff has a broad range of
policy experience, and in addition to helping guide Mike’s Transportation Policy
work in the last few months, Geoff also helped author and design the City’s
Comprehensive Homeless Strategy report when Geoff worked with the City
Administrative Officer’s office.
Find out about just some of the events happening in your neighborhood in the
next month!
Westchester Del Rey Little League Softball and Baseball Opening Day
3/4/2017; 10am Softball - 3pm Baseball
Carl Nielsen Park, 6000 Will Rogers St., 90045
Election Day in LA
3/7/2017; 7am - 8pm
Find your polling place here: http://lavote.net/home/voting-
elections/current-elections/find-my-election-information
Sender One LAX Climbing, Yoga, Fitness, and Sender City Grand Opening
3/18/2017; All Day
11220 Hindry Ave, Los Angeles 90045
Domestic Violence and Intimate Partner Violence have no place in Los Angeles,
and the city recently launched a campaign focused on raising awareness of this
crucial public health and safety crisis. If you or someone you know is being
intimidated or inflicted with physical violence, sexual violence, stalking, and
psychological aggression (including coercive acts) by a current or former
intimate partner, there is help available.
Please visit http://nodvla.org to find out more about domestic violence and the
resources that are available to help people in need.
MIKE BONIN -
T AK E AC T I ON MEDIA NEIG HB ORH OODS ISS UES N EW S C OUN CIL STA FF A BOU T MIK E
COUNCIL DISTRICT 11
BRENTWOOD | DEL REY | MAR VISTA | PACIFIC PALISADES | PLAYA DEL REY | PLAYA VISTA | VENICE | WEST LA | WESTCHESTER
As a covered entity under Title II of the Americans with Disabilities Act, the City of Los Angeles does not
discriminate on the basis of disability and, upon request, will provide reasonable accommodation to ensure
equal access to its programs, services and activities.
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