Issue 67
OCTOBER/NOVEMBER
2019
and so much more.....
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M
RAUL ALARCON CLIC KIDS
ark your calendar for Tuesday March 3, 2020 when CD10 voters will be able to start a clean slate and elect a new City Hall representative and a new County Supervisor. Unlike the last 3 elections this one should prove to be an exciting nailbiter. So far 12 candidates have thrown their hats in the ring with some serious competition brewing. Council President Wesson who has represented CD 10 for the last 12 years is termed out and during these 12 years the makeup of CD-10 has expanded to include a wider diversity of interests and residents itching for real change. Previously CD10 Council representation changed hands over the years within a small group of insiders, but that is about to potentially change with some viable new voices and new voters. We will also be voting for a new County Supervisor, a job Wesson is hoping to get. See our article on page 7 about this. Prior to The Neighborhood News, information about candidates was hard to come by so we have always felt a responsiblity to be a useful source to our readers and make sure we get the info they need to make an informed decision. We begin our coverage with this issue and continue over the next two issues. Stay tuned!
Current CD 10 Candidates (candidates who have reported donations to date in bold)- Megan Abboud, Jace Dawson, Dallas Fowler, G. Juan Johnson, Lily Larson, Channing Martinez, Mark Ridley-Thomas, Melvin Snell, Jason Underhill, Aura Vasquez, Andrea Wade-Catena, Grace Yoo. Current Count Supervisor District 2 Candidates who have reported donations to date, Chan "Jake" Jeong. Holly Mitchell, Jan Perry, Herb Wesson, So sit back, enjoy a delicious sandwich at Open Face Food Shop on Adams Blvd. along with a hot cupa Joe and enjoy your little stroll around your community.
CHELSEE LOWE OPEN FACED FOOD SHOP
JACK HUMPHREVILLE WESSONS RUN
CONTENTS
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Homeless Voting. Vote Centers not Polling Centers
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Council President Herb Wesson's Run for Supervisor.
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Restaurant Row: Open Face Food Shop.
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Recipe: Lene's Danish Almond Cake.
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Neighborhood Council Leadership.
13 FAA/NextGen Lawsuit Update. 14 Pico Great Streets Update. Pet Pause. 15 CLIC Kids Stand UP for Environment 16 Seen on the Scene. Cover Design D. V. Lawrence. Photo credits found in articles.
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shelters and report back to the Board in 90 days with updates."
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YES, THE HOMELESS CAN VOTE
W
D.V. LAWRENCE
hile delivering the previous issue of The Neighborhood News, a homeless man came up to me and asked if I was the editor. He had recognized me and my delivery sidekick, Foxie, from our picture. I smiled and proudly nodded yes. He told me that although he's been homeless for years, he never misses an issue. We got into a friendly discussion that eventually led to the issue of homeless voting. He said he would like to vote but didn't know if he could or how. I told him he had just given me a great idea for an article and I asked him to keep an eye out for this issue. With a little Googling I found that, yes indeed, homeless people can vote. The Courts have ruled that a homeless person may register to vote in all 50 states and they just had to identify a street corner or a park as their residence, in lieu of a traditional home address. The federal voter registration form and many state forms provide a space for this purpose. It is recommended that homeless registrants list a shelter address as their voting address so they can receive voter-related mail. In fact, on September 17, the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors instructed their staff to "conduct additional outreach to service providers, consider shelters or nearby facilities as vote centers, establish pop-up vote centers near services, continue voter registration efforts at homeless
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The Santa Monica Daily Press reported that “According to the County, 2,100 voters have listed their address as a cross-street, suggesting they are homeless. While voters that list a shelter or those that use their most recent address might also be homeless, the report says that with 58,936 people identified as homeless during the last count, the numbers show a need for more outreach efforts. Beginning with the March 3 Presidential Primary election, the county will implement the Voting Solutions for All People (VSAP) initiative. The new VSAP model includes establishing vote centers throughout the County to serve all voters over an 11 day voting period,” said county staff. “This will allow voters to vote at any voting location in the County — regardless of where they live or work. Additionally, eligible residents will be able to register to vote or update their voter registration at any vote center up to and including on Election Day.'" The Supervisors will be evaluating if homeless shelters or other service providers can become vote centers in March. "The County’s obligation to enfranchise as many voters as possible extends to residents regardless of their housing stability," said the staff report. YOU CAN REGISTER TO VOTE AT ANY LIBRARY OR FEDERAL POST OFFICE. YOU WILL NEED ID - SOCIAL SECURITY # or STATE ID or BIRTH CERTIFICATE
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LA County To Replace Traditional Voting Polls With Vote Centers
n the 2020 March election, Los Angeles County will transition from traditional polling places to vote centers, which will increase the availability and accessibility of voting opportunities for LA-area voters. The bad news? According to laist.com, "the 4,000 polling locations across LA County will be cut by about 75 per cent" and replaced with vote centers. The good news? Unlike traditional polls, voters will be able to register same-day at vote centers, and they will be able to cast their ballot at any location in LA County over an 11-day period. No more one-day voting. If you misplace your ballot or forgot to register to vote, workers at the centers can assist you. You will also be able to drop off your mail-in ballots at many locations around the county. Check your sample ballot for Voting Centers near you or go to lavote.net.
IS WESSON UP TO SPEED FOR HIS FIRST SERIOUS LOS ANGELES ELECTION RACE? D.V. LAWRENCE
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n 2004 when Council President Herb Wesson was termed out of his seat in the California State Assembly, his timing could not have been better. In 2005 Council District 10 lost their City Hall representative when Martin Ludlow resigned. Without any serious contenders, Wesson easily slipped into his new job with 90% of the vote. After completing the rest of Ludlow's term, he won a full term in 2007 with 80% of the vote and handily won re-election in 2011 and 2015. Only one problem...he never faced any serious opposition. It is almost impossible to unseat an incumbent candidate and those who chose to try, did not have the money nor the experience to mount any serious opposition. The only exception was lawyer and community activist Grace Yoo (running for the position again in the next election). She spent a third of the money on the 2015 campaign that Wesson spent and got half the votes he got. That year also saw the number of votes for him fall from the previous election. His bid to run for County Supervisor in the March 2020 election will be a different kind of race for him. Although to date he has raised the combined contributions of all the other candidates, he is up against some formidable opposition -"two experienced African-American women have emerged as candidates, impacting Wesson’s polling numbers in this traditionally black district. Both former Los Angeles City Councilwoman Jan Perry and State Senator Holly Mitchell are very qualified, have name recognition, and have a cadre of loyal supporters," according to CITYWATCH.COM CITYWATCH has kindly given permission to reprint their article identifying some of the reasons why Council Continued on Pg. 18
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OCT/NOV 2019
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OPEN FACE FOOD SHOP Another Gem in West Adams Boulevard's Restaurant Row
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CHELSEE LOWE
t’s early evening on a Monday, and chef Lene Houck is in her West Adams kitchen, making homemade croutons. The croutons will accompany a cauliflower soup — a dish for an upcoming catering event.
In 2003, Lene and her husband Mark started a catering company, Food by Lene, but by 2013 they had outgrown
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their Venice kitchen. A hunt for more room brought them to 5577 West Adams Boulevard, on the corner of Marvin Avenue and West Adams Blvd. Serving food to the public wasn't originally part of the plan, but as the saying goes: "The squeaky wheel gets the grease" and in this case, the squeaky wheel was the plea of locals. “Our neighbors would see us coming in with our farmers’ market haul — the Harry’s Berries, the gorgeous greens,” said Mark. “And they’d ask, 'Oh wow, are you guys gonna open a restaurant?'
With an established business supporting them and audible interest from the community, Lene and Mark did just what their neighbors asked. Beginning in August of last
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year, they launched Open Face Food Shop and offered a Danish-inspired menu right from the original window off Lene’s kitchen. It’s a casual affair: order at the window and eat on a stool at the sidewalk bar. But the low-key setting really allows the fresh, delicious food to shine. Lene grew up in the countryside of Denmark, where you only ate what you grew or raised — "the original farm-to-table,” she told me with a laugh. They harvested their own produce, got chickens and eggs from her Aunt Lily, and bought a whole pig every six months from her uncle, which they’d usually turn into sausage. “We always cooked,” she said. “We preserved, we pickled. We had large freezers, because nothing grew in the winter. And nothing went to waste. We try to do that here, too.” Her talent in the kitchen shone brightly even as a teenager, when she helped in a family friend’s restaurant and cooked for parties and gatherings. Lene moved to the United States years later and eventually found herself cooking again, this time in New York City restaurants. She and Mark met there, and when they fled East Coast winters for sunny So Cal, they landed in the food world once more. Whenever Lene cooked for an event, more work came her way. Then came Food by Lene, a now successful catering business.
OPEN FACE FOOD SHOP
LENE'S DANISH ALMOND CAKES Makes 12
INGREDIENTS Dry ingredients: 2 cups flour - 2 cups sugar - 12 tsp baking powder - 1/4 tsp baking soda - 1 tsp salt Wet ingredients: 6 oz melted butter - 2 eggs - 1 cup buttermilk ½ tsp almond extract - 1 tsp vanilla extract 1 cup toasted sliced almonds - Grease muffin tin with butter or use paper liners. - Place half of the toasted almonds in each muffin tin. - Sift dry ingredients together. - Whisk wet ingredients and fold into dry. - Divide batter into pans and sprinkle almonds on top. - Bake 20-25 min at 425º, until toothpick comes out clean. At the restaurant we like cardamom poached apricots but I also like serving the almond cakes with berries and lemon curd.
Lucky for us, we don’t have to throw a party to try Lene’s recipes. At Open Face Food Shop, you’ll get the best taste of Danish dining with one of Lene’s sandwich boxes, where you can sample two different sandwiches.
What is greater than God, more evil than the devil, the poor have it, the rich need it, and if you eat it, you'll die?
“This is a good introduction to the way we eat back home. You have at least two or three [small] sandwiches — normally a fish and a vegetarian, or a fish and a meat — rather than just one traditional sandwich.” She says Box #1 and Box #2 are the most “classic,” and each box costs $12.75. In the first, you’ll sample a housecured gravlax (salmon) sandwich with mustard dill sauce, paired with an herb-chicken salad sandwich, mixed with fennel, celery, fried capers, apple and lemon zest. Box #2 is a house-smoked Icelandic cod sandwich Continued on Pg.20
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OCT/NOV 2019
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Effective Neighborhood Council Leadership What Does It Look Like? How To Achieve It. From Issue # 7 Aug 2009 Interview with Scott McNeely
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by D.V. LAWRENCE
s editor and ad salesperson of The Neighborhood News I have been interacting with four different Neighborhood Councils for over ten years. I have watched Council members and leaders come and go. Depending on the leadership, some Councils have proven more effective than others in fulfilling the mandate to actively engage with and represent the needs of their communities. I came across this interview I did in 2009 with Scott McNeely, President of the Pico Neighborhood Council. He conducted one of the most effective and proactive Councils in the city at the time. His interactive website was mentioned in D.O.N.E.’s best practices and became a model for the redo of their own website. Thoughtful, articulate and visionary, Scott was an inspired leader with passionate ideas about community service and the responsibilities community leaders bring to their positions. He not only talks the talk, he walks the walk. I sat down with him in the summer of 2009 at CJ’s, the local restaurant on Pico and Carmona, to discuss his experience and insight as a member and leader of one of the most effective and engaging Councils in the city at that time. How did you get involved? I wanted to see how the area was developing and I ran across the info about Neighborhood Councils on the internet. I went to a few meetings and there were people yelling and screaming at each other, calling each other names and having tantrums and getting caught up in minutiae. They lacked objectivity and focus. They didn’t understand how to relegate work to Committees. Instead they spent their time deciding how to order stationery in a group of 30 people! They weren’t getting anything done ,so the $50,000 (recently changed to $45,000) which was being allocated to them from the city for their community wasn’t getting used. No outreach or spending of the funds. I sat in the peanut
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gallery for two years with Claudia Bayard, watched every meeting, and it was very dysfunctional. So when there was an opportunity to get on board I was tapped by Consuelo Gomez from one of the neighborhood block clubs and she promised me she would recruit some other capable people. I got elected and became co-chair with Janelle Brown. What were some of the first issues you had to address? The prior board was constantly changing their by-laws to suit different political agendas rather than shape the by-laws to further the goals they needed to accomplish. We had to ask ourselves, “What is the focus of our organization?” We hired a mediator to come to the group for a couple of sessions to try to articulate what the group wanted to accomplish, and he mediated between all the personalities. We got some good direction, came up with a mission statement, and from that point on worked on what we could do to accomplish that mission. What were some of those missions? One of our missions was to empower neighborhood block clubs. We had 11 in our area and only two were highly functional. The other ones were loosely organized with no by-laws and no regular activity. We decided to pay to create their websites as a way of empowering them. It allowed us to get information to them automatically and frequently, with a minimum of update for them. We also had to identify the commitment level of the people involved with the Council. If the group was going to accomplish anything, then we had to have performance standards, otherwise it’s meaningless. People would come and say, “What a great idea.” walk away and two months later nothing is accomplished. We had a hell of a time trying to get performance clauses passed in the new bylaws compelling Council participants to perform to certain standards. Now you have to belong to three Committees and attend 3 or 4 events per year, otherwise you are off the Board. I imagine you got pushback for those changes? Oh yea. Some people didn’t want to do it. How were you able to get it passed? There were a couple of us in the group who were regularly starting to accomplish things. At that time their largest project cost maybe $500 and yet we had $163,000 sitting in our checking account. Whatever money received from the city that isn’t spent one year, is rolled over to the next. So you can see the group wasn’t doing a lot of projects and they weren’t used to doing high-impact community projects. They didn’t have relationships with churches, fire and police departments. It didn’t help when I couldn’t Continued on Pg. 18
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L.A. LAWSUIT AGAINST THE FAA - UPDATE D.V. LAWRENCE
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n our last issue we reported on two major activities in the fight against the FAA’s flawed NextGen program. After months of failed attempts to negotiate with the FAA to address the noise and pollution assault on Los Angeles residents suffering under the new NextGen flight path, the City attorney filed a lawsuit against the FAA. The scheduling of the lawsuit is below. Culver City asked to be joined into the lawsuit and was granted permission by the courts.
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We also reported that activists with Quiet Skies LA created an UP Higher and OUT Further alternative flight path that Mayor Garcetti supported and, along with Los Angeles World Airports, provided technical experts to vet for viability. The map has been submitted and accepted by the City Attorney's office for inclusion if and when alternative paths are being considered. The current briefing schedule (subject to change): FAA was to have filed the administrative record by October 4, 2019. L.A.’s opening brief is due November 8, 2019. Culver City’s brief is due November 22, 2019. FAA’s answering brief is due December 23, 2019. L.A.’s optional reply brief is due 28 days after service of FAA's brief. Culver City’s optional reply brief is due 42 days after service of FAA's brief. The matter was currently set for mediation on October 1, 2019, so this schedule probably will change. It depends on how productive the mediation sessions are. Moreover, the government often asks for extensions of time on filing its brief. With the FAA's brief due two days before Christmas, I would imagine that they will ask that date to be pushed to sometime in January, if the mediation does not push the entire matter into 2020. You also have to allow about 3 - 6 months (at least) for the case to be scheduled for oral argument. After that it could be anywhere from 2 months to a year before the Court issues its decision.
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OCT/NOV 2019
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PICO GREAT STREETS UPDATE
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f you've been to our Great Street in the last few weeks, you've probably noticed a big change there's a new traffic light at Pico and Burnside! This intersection, located right by Holy Spirit Church and two elementary schools (Saturn and Holy Spirit), is a vital crossing for neighborhood families. The traffic light replaces a dangerous crosswalk with an outdated signal that few cars paid attention to. Upgrading safety at this intersection has been one of our highest priorities for Destination: Pico. In our outreach, we constantly heard about how afraid people were to cross at Burnside to get to school, church, or work, or to visit the local businesses. The Burnside signal is more like a crosswalk on steroids. In response to the community's concerns, the city has designed the new traffic light to be extremely pedestrian-friendly: • Pressing the pedestrian walk button makes the light change after a few seconds. This is a unique feature the city included especially for our community. • Pedestrians get a several second head start, where the walk signal comes on before the light turns green, so pedestrians can start crossing first. • Burnside will get purple curb extensions like the other intersections nearby. • And if you've driven on Pico, you've probably noticed that the light stays green pretty much all the time, unless a
The other big safety upgrade coming soon is the new crosswalk at Masselin. It will have permanent (not painted) curb extensions landscaped with beautiful, drought tolerant, California-native plants. The crosswalk will have a pedestrian-activated signal that will give a red light to cars on Pico. The new crosswalk comes with one big bummer: the big tree in the median on Pico by Masselin will have to be removed. The city tried to come up with a design that avoided this loss, but it was impossible. We are devastated about losing the tree, and we are currently working with the city on a plan to replace it with several others.
TIPS FOR BRINGING HOME A NEW DOG
T
whatagooddogla.com
here's nothing quite like the excitement of bringing a new dog into the family. Care is taken to choose the right one, or a rescued stray has taken a special place in your heart. You have images of cuddling, hanging out, going for car rides and the dog lying at your feet at an outdoor cafe. At first the new dog might be shy, but as he gains confidence a personality begins to emerge... and the problems begin. Barking at the door or squirrels seen through the window, pulling on the leash, lunging and barking at dogs on walks, jumping up on visitors and generally not listening to anything you have to say. "NO!" becomes your primary form of communication and falling in love with the dog is mixed with feelings of "what have I gotten myself into!' Spouses are starting to say "me or the dog" and you wonder if anything can get through to this dog. Along with training, there are some things you can do when you first bring the dog home that can minimize the inevitable issues that arrive with a new dog or dogs..
pedestrian or car on Burnside needs to cross. So you can think of the new traffic light as more of a crosswalk on steroids - it only turns red when people need to cross, and it gives them extra help when they do.
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SAFETY The #1 thing a dog needs from a human pack is to feel safe. All animals, including humans, need to feel safe. A new dog doesn't know you or your plans or what you want or Continued on Pg.20
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CLIC KIDS JOIN NATIONAL CLIMATE STRIKE
Bay, share her thoughts on the global crisis and what we can do to take action. The fourth grade classes also participated in a neighborhood clean-up to prevent more trash from going into the ocean via our sewer system.
RAUL ALARCON. Principal of CLIC
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n Friday, September 20th, students at City Language Immersion Charter, also known as CLIC, participated in Climate Strike activities at their school on Venice Blvd. The teachers and students
were inspired by Greta Thunberg and the international movement to take action against the climate crisis. The students discussed the crisis in classrooms, created posters and prepared for an all school climate crisis assembly and march. During the assembly, the students shared information, sang songs, and listened to Shelley Luce, the CEO of Heal the
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OCT/NOV 2019
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Little Ethiopia Annual Street Festival
YAADCORE
DP ORGANIZER COUNCILPRES DEL. VINYL'S RICK ROSS HERB WESSON MIKE ROSS ADRIAN MILLER
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PHOTO: MAXWELL BENSON
Wellington Square Sunday Farmers Market kids reading the Neighborhood News because one of their favorite neighborhood friends, Papa Cristo, was on the cover!
PHOTO: CAMERON FOSTER
BBOY TATA
PHOTO: CAMERON FOSTER
LILA IKE'
PHOTO: MAXWELL BENSON
ANNUAL DELICIOUS PIZZA SUMMERBLOCK PARTY ON WEST ADAMS BLVD.
PHOTO'S BY D.V. LAWRENCE
Western Heights "Keep It Clean" Neighborhood Super Hero Krishna McCain, taking out the trash on the Gramercy Overpass.
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WEST ADAMS 19th ANNUAL JAZZ AND MUSIC FESTIVAL PHOTOS BY D.V. LAWRENCE
WEST ADAMS HERITAGE ASSOCIATION'S 2019 ANNUAL LIVING HISTORY TOUR IN THE ANGELUS ROSEDALE CEMETERY PHOTOS BY SUZANNE COOPER
PHOTO BY GAVIN GLYNN
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OCT/NOV 2019
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with whom he was having an extra marital affair.
WESSON Cont. from Pg. 7
Originally printed April1, 2019 Reprinted here with permission from Citywatch.com
Wesson to Drop Out of Supervisor’s Race? JACK HUMPHREVILLE LA WATCHDOG--When Los Angeles City Council President Herb Wesson announced in December that he was entering the race to succeed termed out County Supervisor Mark Ridley-Thomas, he was considered to be the “instant front runner” because of his name recognition, political connections, and ability to raise campaign funds, especially from real estate developers and public sector unions. But since that time, his polling numbers dropped precipitously. This has caused Wesson to seriously consider dropping out of the race, a position supported by his family given his age (67), his health, and skeletons in the closet. Underlying this downtrend is the pay-to-play corruption scandal involving Los Angeles City Hall that has occurred under Wesson’s watch. In November, the FBI raided the home and offices of Jose Huizar, a close ally of Wesson. And then in January, The Times disclosed that Wesson’s chief of staff and others were the subject of a search warrant “seeking information on bribery, extortion, and other possible crimes.” Wesson has also been identified as a witness in the on going investigation. At the same time, two experienced African-American women have emerged as candidates, impacting Wesson’s polling numbers in this traditionally black district. Both former Los Angeles City Councilwomen Jan Perry and State Senator Holly Mitchell are very qualified, have name recognition, and have a cadre of loyal supporters. Wesson is also having issues with the Latino community who outnumber African-American residents in Supervisor District Two. According to sources, Supervisor Hilda Solis has refused to endorse Wesson because she believes that a Latino would better represent and serve the community. This is also true for other local Latino politicians, including Secretary of State Alex Padilla, Insurance Commissioner Ricardo Lara, and members of the State Assembly, the State Senate, and the Los Angeles City Council. Wesson has not earned the endorsement of the four women Supervisors who want an all women County Board of Supervisors. They are concerned that his back room, arm twisting power politics will be disruptive. They also have issues with his overly favorable treatment of Councilman Jose Huizar when he was sued by his former chief of staff
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Despite his full court press, Wesson was unable to obtain the endorsement of Mark Ridley-Thomas because of the significant push back from supporters of Perry and Mitchell. Furthermore, the four women Supervisors delivered an ultimatum to MRT not to endorse Wesson. Wesson’s family is also concerned about his age and health as he has had several scares in the recent years. There are also issues about nepotism and the inappropriate use of City services as well as the family’s finances, including outstanding credit card debt, threatened foreclosures, the non-payment of bills, and other financial issues that are rumored to be festering. Maybe it is time for Herb to hang up his cleats in November of 2020, serve as a high paid consultant to the real estate industry and public sector unions, enjoy his bourbon on the rocks (Pappy Van Winkle being his favorite), and enjoy his grandchildren. (Jack Humphreville writes LA Watchdog for CityWatch. He is the President of the DWP Advocacy Committee and is the Budget and DWP representative for the Greater Wilshire Neighborhood Council. He is a Neighborhood Council Budget Advocate. He can be reached at: lajack@ gmail.com.)
NEIGHBORHOOD COUNCILS Cont. from Pg.12
get phone calls returned to me from Council District 10’s (CD10) office or anyone. I think it was because of the bad reputation of the group that preceded me. It took about a year and a half to get that stuff smoothed over. So you outreached into already established social networks and invited them into the process. It takes more than going to meetings. You have to form relationships in the community. Now we have all these Neighborhood Councils but, how cohesive are they? Are they connected to each other? That is one of the difficulties. The city wanted to make Pico and Olympic one-way streets going opposite ways, effectively creating little freeways. None of the Councils who represented communities affected by this were coming together to fight a common fight. So I reached out to several other Neighborhood Councils from here to the beach and organized a response. I didn’t wear my hat as a Council member but as an activist. I made the point that if we wanted it, okay. But if we didn’t, we needed to act on it. I
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pulled together about 30 people in a hot room on a Sunday and started a movement to defeat this thing. We didn’t feel the impacted communities would benefit. So we organized, got active and in May of last year we won the lawsuit which compelled the city to provide an environmental impact report in order to proceed with their plan. We are open to the idea; we just want a process we can all agree on. How long have you been President of your Council? This is my third year, but I’ll be termed out in January. Time for fresh blood. We had some pushback on term limits. But we have term limits for officers, life caps for being on the Board, performance clauses and we have a floating quorum actually based on the number of filled board positions rather than a hard number. We even have a requirement to have a declared alternate who must come and cast your vote if you can’t show up because we don’t do proxy. We have extreme financial transparency. I did a small financial analysis when Claudia and I started to get involved. Out of the 92 Councils at the time (I think we have 89 now) we were 91 as far as our performance was concerned. I gauged performance by how much money was put back into the community versus how much we took in. It’s a crude but useful tool. Since then, using that model to look at what we put back into the community, we are now in the top ten. What would you say some of the pitfalls are that Neighborhood Councils fall into? I would say the infighting, lack of clear goals with a vision codified in the by-laws and unclear processes to meet those goals. Some of them dilute their abilities through exhaustive processes of approval. I watched some of this in other Councils and know they won’t get anything done for three months. Sometimes you have to go to the Executive Council for approval, and if they approve, it goes to a committee then has to come back to the Executive Council and then over to the Board. Let the Committees do the work, then the Board's function is to ask some exploratory questions that may not have been addressed in Committee and say aye or nay to the Committee’s recommendation. But the bouncing back and forth just slows the process down, people get exhausted and that’s when you start creating a distance between the community and the Council. Anything else? The Councils also need to do proactive surveying of the community. What does the community need? Why do we wait for the community to come to us? I don’t see enough of that happening. How is the relationship between the Neighborhood
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Council and City Council? It’s ebb and flow. The NCs want to give more input and City Council would probably disagree that they need it. What kind of input are you referring to? Development seems to be the hot button issue more so now than ever because of the real estate boom we are experiencing. Whether or not a strip mall goes in. I think the community wants more of a voice in the process. Traditionally they haven’t had one. It seems like the original function of NCs was to be a voice to City Hall from the communities. Is City Hall paying attention? For the easy stuff, but they tend to not want to be bothered with big button issues like development. I’m sure it’s uncomfortable for them because of the legwork and manpower involved. Why deal with the NCs when they can make those decisions in their sleep. I imagine one problem is that a City Council representative comes into a community with ideas and plans that may not coincide with what the larger community really wants. It can come across as paternalistic. We are having that experience now with the Tree Well project (the metal cages placed around new street trees along Washington Blvd, covered in Eye On Wesson on the TNN website). The community doesn’t want them but for some reason we are getting them. Any outreach CD10 did was after they made the decision to install them. One is left with the feeling that some of the outreach is for show not for function. Some of it has been great, but others have been questionable. Since this relationship between the NCs and the Council Office is fairly new, the Office is not used to what the relationship could or should be. They are used to seeing the community as their territory. I think this perception that City Council representatives are ruling little kingdoms is being challenged because communities are getting more involved and educated. Asking pesky questions and expecting answers. I think it's making a difference. We get calls now from the Council Office where we didn’t get them before, and I think that’s great. Now I know about things sooner than 20 hours before they are getting voted on in Committee at City Hall. Are there efforts to get all the Councils together? They have a get-together every year, but I didn’t go to the last one. My impression in the first one was that it was an opportunity for Villaraigosa to dictate which direction he wanted things to go. It wasn’t to gather input and create a symbiotic relationship. So I had better things to do the next year.
Continued on Pg.21
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OPEN FACE Cont. from Pg.14
with or email potato info@whatagooddogla.com and dill crème fraîche, next to a sirloin sandwich with blue cheese, arugula, date and pickled onion. For items that sound a bit more familiar, look over the “Danish-ish” section of the shop’s menu, where you’ll find Lene’s take on a meatball hero, as well as an open-faced burger. In order to serve excellent quality food for their catering clients, Mark and Lene spend hours each week at nearby farmers’ markets, gathering the best produce from California growers. Open Face Food Shop customers get to enjoy their best finds, too. Most recently Lene was selling open-face toasts with delicious house-roasted heirloom tomatoes, applewood-smoked Danish feta, asparagus and greens — a late-summer treasure on a plate. “We are privileged that we have access to all of this. And we’ve made a conscious choice to price things so that we fit with the neighborhood. This is about taking care of the community.” Mark and Lene are pleased with the local reaction to their shop. Many customers come back and struggle to order something different than their usual which they enjoyed so much. “It’s a real compliment to see the same faces and to have gained people’s trust,” Mark said. “That’s not lost on us.” The co-owners are aware that their truncated hours might make visiting a challenge for some West Adams residents. To ease that, they plan to open earlier and serve breakfast dishes in the near future. Sunday service is also in the works. “Right now, we have a lot of customers who work in the neighborhood. And we love that, but we opened our window to serve those who live here, too.” No matter the changes and challenges on the horizon, Lene and Mark have every intention of sticking around and becoming a fixture in the neighborhood. “We’re in this for the long haul. We’re not going anywhere.” 5577 West Adams Blvd, 855-676-3223, www.openfacefoodshop.com Open Tuesday to Friday, 11am to 4pm, and Saturdays 10 am to 3 pm. ANSWER TO RIDDLE - NOTHING
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PET PAUSE Cont. from Pg. 14
what you are thinking or even saying. What can we do to help the dog begin to feel safe? Two things...routine and knowing who is leading the pack. Routine creates safety. Dogs become anxious and hyper-alert when they don’t understand what you are thinking or saying and they don't know what to expect. Routines let them know. Saying and doing the same things at the same time day to day creates a routine. Little things from how you greet your dog in the morning to big things like when the food goes down and walks happen, when smells come from the kitchen, when the TV is usually turned on...all help to create a sense of safety in the dog. The more routine you can place in the day of the dog, the better. They may not know what you are thinking, but they know what to expect. Leadership Dogs are by nature pack animals and want to be a member of your pack. The more integrated the dog is in the family, the easier it is to develop an appropriate leadership relationship with the dog. Dogs isolated in yards become needy and overexcited when you come out in the yard and bored when left alone for hours and hours. Backyard dogs also cannot create an appropriate leader/follower relationship. A leader has a primary job - protect the pack by telling the followers what to do in a crisis. Dogs need to know who the leader is. It's going to be either you or them, and honestly they don’t care. If you aren’t acting like a leader the dog will take on the job. He has to. The life of the pack members could depend on it. If there is a crisis, who takes charge, who does the dog listen to? Does he take care of it or does he look to you for direction? Establishing leadership creates a sense of safety for a dog and that hyper-alert attitude will calm down. This is why a good trainer is also training the human client to be an effective leader. To find out more about What A Good Dog! LA obedience and leadership training classes go to www.whatagooddogla.com and check out our 5 Star Yelp reviews, great testimonials and rates. If you want to contact immediately – 323-734-9119 (No Text) Cell: 323.578.3901
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NEIGHBORHOOD COUNCIL Cont. from Pg. 19
Is there anything you want to put out there as we come to a close? I think it’s important for Neighborhood Council leadership to meet on a regular basis. I have not met most of the leadership in Council District 10 and that worries me. Coming together is how we empower our communities to deal with CD 10 issues. We need to be sharing experiences and resources.
The Neighborhood News Community Distribution Sites WEST WASHINGTON BLVD. BLU ELEFANT COFFEE Washington and Harvard 2 FOR 1 PIZZA S.W. corner of Western PAMORE PIZZA S.E. corner of Western ANGELINA PIZZA N.W. corner of Western LIQUOR STORE corner of Gramercy W. of Arlington SURFAS corner of 3rd Ave. West of Arlington COPY CENTER 3313 W. Washington Blvd (& 3rd) NATRILIART 3426 W. Washington Blvd. and 5th WASHINGTON IRVING LIBRARY 4117 W. Washington (e. of Crenshaw) WELLINGTON SQ. FARMERS MRKT (Sunday 9-1, just west of Crenshaw) EBONY REPERTORY THEATRE 4718 W. Washington (e. of Rimpau) LA LIQUOR Washington and West View FISH MARKET Washington and Rimpau CHEF D' CREOLE KITCHEN 4641 W. Washington VENICE TACOS LOCOS corner of Harvard ALIBI COFFEE COMPANY 2268 Venice Blvd. e. of Western WORLD HARVEST FOOD BANK Venice and Arlington RALPHS Midtown Shopping OLYMPIC BETHEL CHURCH 5750 W Olympic Blvd. (w. of Hauser) SOTO KITCHEN (Olympic/La Brea) N.E. corner LIQUOR STORE (Olympic/La Brea) N.E. corner PICO PAPA CRISTO (Normandie and Pico) DE BANG CAFE (Pico/Westchester) PASTA SISTERS (Pico/Arlington) GRAIN CAFE (Pico one blk east of Crenshaw. mall on south side) LIQUOR STORE (Pico one blk east of Crenshaw. mall on south side) TOM'S BURGERS (Pico/West Blvd) OKI DOG (Pico/Mullen, across from Leows) RALPHS Midtown Mall on Pico/San Vicente WE JAMMIN (Pico/Redondo) SKY TACO (Pico/Dunsmuir) PINKY ROSE BOUTIQUE (5730 W. Pico east of Hauser) ALFREDO PIZZA (Pico/Hauser) CHOCOLAT CAFE (Pico/Hauser) CJ’s RESTAURANT 5501 W. Pico (Carmona, e. of Hauser) STEVIES KING CRAB (5545 Pico)
POWER PLANT (5671 Pico/Spaulding) CHARLIES FISH (Next to Power Plant) OLSONS SWEDISH DELI (Across from Power Plant) PAPER OR PLASTIC 5772 W. Pico (Ogden/e. of Fairfax) VONS (Pico/Fairfax) ADAMS ORANGE SUSHI 1/2 blk e. of Normandy in corner mall FAME BUILDING S. E. corner of Adams and Western SUPER 98 CENT MARKET S. W. corner of Adams/Western PIZZA MOON S. W. corner of Adams/Western LOS ANAYAS 4651 W. Adams and West Blvd. HONEY BEES 4715 W. Adams FISH MARKET n. side of Adams at Rimpau ALTA 5359 Adams/Burnside VEES CAFÉ 5418 W Adams Blvd (w. of La Brea) DELICIOUS PIZZA 5419 W. Adams REAL COLLECTIVE Across from Delicious Pizza WILLIAM GRANT STILL 2520 W. View St. e. of La Brea JEFFERSON LOUISIANA FRIED Jefferson and Arlington s.w. corner JEFFERSON LIBRARY 2211 W. Jefferson Blvd. BALDWIN LIBRARY 2906 S. La Brea south of Jefferson CHEF JOSETTE 3022 S. Cochran and Jefferson HIGHLY LIKELY 4310 W. Jefferson Blvd. LIBRARIES WASHINGTON IRVING LIBRARY 4117 W. Washington (e. of Crenshaw) BALDWIN HILLS BRANCH LIBRARY 2906 S. La Brea (South of Adams) MEMORIAL BRANCH LIBRARY 4625 W. Olympic. (East of Rimpau) JEFFERSON LIBRARY 2211 W. Jefferson Blvd. (w. of Arlington) POLICE DIVISIONS WILSHIRE DIVISION 4861 W. Venice (e. of La Brea) OLYMPIC DIVISION (Vermont/11th, S. of Olympic)
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OCT/NOV 2019
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