Serving the San Fernando Valley communities of Canoga Park,

Reseda, Tarzana, Winnetka, and Woodland Hills.

Year One Report

July 2014

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From the Desk of

Councilmember Bob Blumenfield

I love the San Fernando Valley. It's where my wife and I are raising our children, where my

parents are enjoying their golden years and home to the best people I know. It is an honor to

serve and a privilege to represent the Valley on the Los Angeles City Council.

The work I’ve done this year, and will continue to do, has been in support of a guiding vision for

our City. In short, the future City of Los Angeles is a premier, modern city offering concierge

level constituent service; a green city with low crime, great jobs and economic opportunity,

where a great education is accessible; a place with easy mobility and connectivity; and a great

quality of life for all.

Pathways to Vision:

To achieve that vision I have adopted six specific pathways to get us there. In the pages ahead I

outline some of the work I’ve already undertaken to move us along those pathways. They are:

I. Bring our fiscal house into order.

II. Learn to seize opportunities to create jobs and economic opportunity.

III. Get serious about building out our infrastructure.

IV. Think differently to be more modern.

V. Leverage our City’s global prominence to lead by example.

VI. And above all else, listen, engage and deliver.

It’s how I govern, and it’s how we achieve that vision. The Valley has never been a place for small

dreams: we have been the incubator of our nation’s military dominance in the skies, the factory

for the films, music and art that are our nation’s most popular export, and served as America’s

suburb—a place where people come to claim their slice of the American dream.

Together we will continue writing the next great chapter for the San Fernando Valley and the

entire City of Los Angeles. Thank you for the opportunity to serve.

Sign up for my e-newsletter at blumenfield.lacity.org

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I. Restoring Fiscal Balance: When I was sworn in as a freshman legislator in the State Assembly in December 2008, the State faced a looming fiscal emergency and a deficit of $40 billion.

As then Chairman of the Assembly Budget Committee, I seized the challenge of retaining core services while making tough decisions. It was painful, but it worked. The budget we passed in 2013 shortly before I was sworn in to the City Council was the third consecutive balanced budget passed on-time, a feat not seen since the mid 1980’s. As a result, a state that was once written off as “broken” is thriving and our budget is seeing a surplus in the billions.

As your Councilmember I’ve been appointed to serve on the Council’s Budget and Finance Committee where we face many of the same budget challenges I faced in Sacramento—and where I have been working to build on the work I started in the Assembly: bringing our fiscal house in order in a manner that is truly reflective of our values.” —Councilmember Bob Blumenfield

A new budget: With a new Mayor and a new City Council, the 2014-15 budget serves as a statement of priorities for Los Angeles.

That budget includes more money for fire and other critical services while increasing both the reserve and budget stabilization funds to insure the City’s fiscal health.

The new budget puts the City on a pathway to structural balance, de-spite the many challenges it still fac-es.

While it is not a growth year, this transitional budget represents a chance to reassess, refocus and re-double the City’s efforts to be more efficient and employ measurable metrics to judge performance.

Transparency: In a budget survey distributed prior to April’s budget deliberations, Blu-

menfield asked Angelenos to voice their opinions and priorities for the City’s budget.

With hundreds of responses received, despite a diversity of ideas, a clear consensus emerged: Los Angeles needs to remain fo-cused on growing and improving the City’s physical and environ-mental infrastructure to make LA a safe, clean, green and friend-ly place for people and busi-nesses while ensuring our long-term, fiscal sustainability.

During hearings, Blumen-field expressed concern over un-funded police overtime, fire de-partment recruitment, protecting domestic violence shelters, and the delivery of direct services in our neighborhoods. And throughout the budget process, Blu-menfield focused on ensuring that the budget reflected input received from the community—whether it’s adding a class of firefighters, more

funding for tree trimming and sidewalk repair, or finding an innovative approach to restruc-turing the Bureau of Sanitation’s lifeline program that resulted in a $700,000 savings over two years.

DWP Ratepayer Fair-ness: This year, the City engaged in the most transparent labor negotia-tions in history as the City renego-tiated its contract with Department of Water and Power employees.

As Vice-Chair of the City’s Energy

and Environment Committee and a member of the Budget and Finance Committee, Blumenfield played a key role in special joint-committee hearings on the contract, and in get-ting ratepayers the best deal possi-ble—a deal with no raises for 3 years and a new pension tier that will cre-ate huge savings for ratepayers.

$7.2 billion budget

$22 million increase in

funding for LAFD.

More neighborhood

prosecutors

Doubled sidewalk

repair to $20 million

Approved plans to

phase out the City’s

gross receipts tax

Budget Quick Takes:

A member of both the Budget & Finance and Energy & Environment committees, Blumenfield participates in a joint committee hearing, on August 16, 2013.

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Warner Center 2035: Opening the door to visionary projects that truly reflect the com-munity’s hopes, values and priorities, Blumenfield set the course for investment as the Los Angeles City Council gave its final approval to the Warner Center 2035 Specific Plan.

The Warner Center 2035 plan was the result of 8 years of collabora-tion between the City and local stakeholders, and represents an exciting opportunity for economic development and job creation in the West Valley.

In taking it over the finish line, Blumenfield ensured that the plan would be the cleanest and greenest in the City.

Warner Center is already becoming a magnet for new, green jobs—some 40,000 of them.

It is a transit oriented plan, that embraces the LA River, with 30 million square feet of new non-residential space, and some 32 million square feet of new residential space.

The plan will help make the West Valley a world class destination for investment.

West Valley is Open for Business: In May, Blumenfield and Mayor Eric Garcetti toured Blumenfield’s West Valley council district, highlighting opportunities to spur job creation and economic development, and showcasing successes, including:

Warner Center, where they met with local busi-ness leaders, flanked by the $350 million Village at Westfield Topanga project and the 47-acre Rocketdyne property.

Reseda, where former CRA areas and a thriving small-business community are creating a magnet for investment along historic Sherman Way.

The Tarzana Village Walk, where a neighborhood united to form a Business Improvement District along one of the City’s most important commercial corridors.

Blumenfield and Garcetti also stopped along the LA River, a tremendous recreation and economic resource for the Valley.

“As my administration continues to create jobs and boost economic development across the city, I applaud Councilmember Blumen-field's commitment to improving the economy and quality of life in the West Valley and all of Los Angeles," said Mayor Eric Garcetti.

Great Streets: Following intense lobbying on behalf of Sherman Way by Blumenfield and community leaders, Mayor Garcetti announced that a stretch of Sher-

man Way in Reseda would be included in the Great Streets initia-tive.

The Great Streets initiative is designed to make streets more pedestrian friendly and attract new investment to our communities and improves interdepartmental coopera-tion between LADOT, Engineering, Planning, Cultural Affairs, Public Works, and Street Services.

In May, as Blumenfield and Garcetti toured West Valley economic devel-opment opportunities and successes, Blumenfield highlighted Sherman Way as among the most promising commercial corridors in the Valley.

“I applaud Councilmember

Blumenfield's commitment

to improving the economy

and quality of life in the

West Valley and all of Los

Angeles,"

-Mayor Eric Garcetti

II. Seizing Economic Opportunities

Blumenfield poses with City officials and community members following unanimous Council passage of the Warner Center 2035 specific plan, on October 23, 2013.

Blumenfield and Mayor Eric Garcetti during their tour of West Valley neighborhoods to highlight economic development and job creation opportunities, on May 19, 2014.

With nearly 1.8 million residents, mighty freeways, industrial, commercial and residential neighborhoods, the Valley is a regional economic force unto itself.

In the past year, we have worked to accentuate and enhance that economic might to maximize economic oppor-tunity and job creation, and send a strong message across Los Angeles and throughout California that the West Valley is open for business and job creation.” —Councilmember Bob Blumenfield

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III. Investing in Infrastructure: There are few issues that are set to impact the future of Los Angeles more than our commitment over the next decades to invest in our infrastructure.

Whether it’s our sidewalks, our roads, freeways and bridges, or our virtual highways and byways, first class infra-structure is the key to a healthy economy.” —Councilmember Bob Blumenfield

50/50 Sidewalk Repair: In response to the urgent need for innovative solutions to address Los Angeles’ crumbling sidewalk infra-structure, Blumenfield has proposed the introduction of a cost-sharing program for commercial property owners interested in repairing their own sidewalks.

The Bureau of Street Services esti-mates that some 4,620 miles of Los Angeles sidewalks are in a state of disrepair.

A cost-free permit would allow busi-ness owners with the will and the means to repair sidewalks to do so, and would allow the City to do more

under current budgetary con-straints.

Vanowen St. Bridge Reopens after 3 years: Blumenfield pushed for and suc-ceeded in reopening the Van-owen Street Bridge. The bridge had been closed or under con-struction for three long years, and needed his leadership at City Hall to finally get it done.

The north side of the bridge was closed on December 22, 2010 after a large hole was discovered on the north side of

Trees Trimmed: 498

59,550 Small Asphalt

Repairs

4,958 Signs Removed

89,830 sq. ft. of Weed

Abatement

CD 3 By the Numbers:

Ensuring Public Safety: Providing peace of mind to resi-dents and businesses is essential and an often overlooked tool for promoting economic development.

In the past year, Blumenfield and his staff have worked closely with LAPD to achieve significant reduc-tions in property crime throughout the District’s LAPD areas, West Valley and Topanga.

At West Valley Area:

Residential and commercial burglaries are down 18.1% year to date, a decrease of 77 burglary victims compared to last year.

Overall property crime is down 7.1% year to date. That is a decrease of 118 victims com-pared to last year.

Thefts are down 10.8% year to date, a decrease of 58 victims compared to last year.

Burglaries from vehicles are down 2.8% year to date, a decrease of 14 victims from last year.

West Valley Area is reporting the 2nd lowest total crime num-bers year to date in the entire San Fernando Valley and the lowest total crime numbers for divisions west of the 405 Free-way.

At Topanga Area:

Residential and commercial burglaries are down 26.1% year to date, a decrease of 118 burgla-ry victims compared to last year.

Overall Property Crime is down 14.1%, a decrease of 305 victims compared to last year.

Of particular note is the major decline in burglaries from motor vehicles in the retail heavy Topanga Area, where incidents are down 28.1% from this time in 2013—with 172 fewer Valley residents falling victim in 2014 than in 2013.

Last December, in advance of the busy holiday shopping season, Blumenfield and LAPD held a press conference in the heart of Warner Center’s busy shopping district urging shoppers to “Lock it, Hide

it, Keep it,” to prevent becoming a victim of theft.

Blumenfield has also promoted emergency preparedness and prepa-ration as the VPREP Task Force he

started in the Assembly has expand-ed into the Emergency Prepared-ness Community Action Team. The Emergency Preparedness BobCAT works to ensure that Valley communities are ready to respond in the event of a disaster in order to quickly return to normal and get the local economy moving again.

Topanga Area has seen a 28.1% decrease in theft from motor vehicles. Blumenfield is pictured with representatives from LAPD Topanga Area Station to urge residents to “Lock it, Hide it, Keep it,” on December 2, 2013.

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the bridge deck due to heavy rain and erosion.

Project improvements created a safer and more attractive bridge and in-cluded A) replacing and widening the existing bridge by approximately 11 feet on the south side and 14 feet on the north; B) widening the road-way approaches to match the new bridge width; C) replacing the exist-ing barrier rails with architectural barrier railings; D) installing new street lighting on the bridge and new traffic signals at the intersection of Mason Avenue and Vanowen Street.

Virtual Infrastructure and Connectivity: Just as Los Angeles’ highways and byways needs to be in suitable condi-tion to allow for free flow of com-merce, in a digital age, so too do the City’s virtual ones.

That’s why Blumenfield believes that in order to remain competitive in the information age, Los Angeles needs to be a leader in digital infrastruc-ture investment.

When Blumenfield announced his initiative to dramatically increase availability of super high-speed and wireless broadband with a free com-ponent, he encountered the skepti-

cism that accompanies a visionary plan of that scale. But over the course of the past twelve months, he has demonstrated a practical benefit to students, businesses, tourism and City services, among others.

Increasing access to super-high speed broadband and wireless inter-net across the City, through what is now called the Los Angeles Com-munity Broadband Network, will pay dividends in closing the digital divide while enhancing Los Angeles’ global competitiveness in business and tourism.

A request for Information has al-ready been released as a precursor to a soon to be released Request for Proposal (RFP). This public-private partnership envisioned by Blumen-field is, for a proposal as large and transformative as this one, moving at a fast pace.

Additionally, Blumenfield has been championing efforts to ensure that Los Angeles leads the way in provid-ing quality constituent service as the City prepares version 2.0 of the suc-cessful MyLA311 mobile app.

Board of Public Works President Kevin James joins Councilmember Bob Blumenfield in removing the sign that had alerted drivers and pedestrians to bridge construction since 2011. “We in the community who rely on this bridge at times feel like this sign we are removing: beat up, battered and worn,” said Blumenfield before removing the sign. “It’s been here a long time—too long!” On March 20, 2014.

IV. Think Differently to Create a Modern City

Whether it’s leading cities in an embrace of the open-data movement, or taking common sense steps to in-crease environmental sustainability while improving our bottom line, in order for Los Angeles to become a

truly modern City we must continue to think outside the box to find innovative solutions to complex problems.

It’s a principle I’ve been committed to since my days in the Assembly, where I was the author of more than 50 State laws including programs to expand access to recycling for our City’s many renters, incentivize electric vehi-cles and encourage the use of e-textbooks in our classroom, and more. As Chair of the City’s Innovation, Technol-ogy and General Services Committee, I have spent much of the last year building upon that work here in the City of Los Angeles.” —Councilmember Bob Blumenfield

Innovative Pavers: Moving beyond outdated concrete, Blumenfield has been driving a change toward the use of environ-mentally friendly sidewalk paving materials.

“Concrete is about as cutting edge as the wheel,” said

Blumenfield upon introducing the measure in February. “It doesn’t hold up to tree roots; it doesn’t allow for groundwater recharge. If we’re serious about greening the Valley and beyond, we should be looking towards a more sustainable and cost effective mix of paving materials as we tackle our City’s unique infra-structure challenges.”

The Bureau of Street Services (BSS) has experimented in the past with alternative sidewalk materials includ-ing rubber panels, recycled mixed plastic materials, poured rubber ma-terials and porous concrete. Decom-posed granite is another option, though it has not been studied by BSS.

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#LAriver: The Los Angeles River forms in Canoga Park at the confluence of Bell Creek and the Arroyo Calabasas, and as an Assemblymember, Blu-menfield was among the most vocal advocates of the River as a critical recreation and economic re-source.

As a Councilmember, Blumenfield has continued to deliver on that vi-sion.

In October, Blumenfield travelled to Washington, D.C. to lobby the White House and congressional leaders on behalf of Alternative 20, a proposal to restore 719 acres of river habitat in Los Angeles. The Ar-my Corps of Engineers announced

in May that it would be pursuing Al-ternative 20.

Taking swift action before an im-portant end-of-the-year deadline, Blumenfield secured City Council approval to allow the Trust for Pub-lic Land, in partnership with the City, to move forward on the Aliso Creek Confluence project. Con-struction is expected to begin soon on this project to bring critically needed open space to Reseda along the banks of the Los Angeles River.

Open Data: As Chair of the City’s Innovation, Technology and General Services Committee, Blumenfield has made finding ways to make government work better and smarter through the harnessing of big data a top priority.

In January, Blumenfield was joined by Los Angeles City Controller Ron Galperin for a training session on ControlPanelLA—the City’s new open data website.

More than 100 turned out for the session, which provided residents and local business owners a how-to on accessing the City’s trove of fi-nancial data.

ControlPanelLA not only reveals the City's revenues and spending, but also makes them accessible, searcha-ble and downloadable by the public. By opening up previously proprietary data sets, the City has put itself on the forefront of the open data move-ment nationwide.

Technology Recy-cling: As Microsoft announced that it would no longer support Windows XP, the City of Los Angeles was faced with a surplus of some 8,000 computers.

Rather than send them off to land-fills, Blumenfield and Council Pres-ident Herb Wesson created a digital inclusion program to divert City computers the City no longer needs to non-profit organizations, which can refurbish the equipment for dis-semination to organizations serving disadvantaged communities, low and moderate income families, and work source centers.

Seeking Solutions Across California: In June, Blumenfield travelled to Northern California to meet with some of the world’s brightest minds in technology.

In meetings at the Bay Area head-quarters of Cisco and Google, Blu-menfield discussed how the City of Los Angeles can increase its efforts to utilize cutting edge technology to be more transparent, efficient and effective.

Blumenfield, Councilmember Mitch O’Farrell and City Engineer Carol Armstrong cross the Capitol rotunda in the midst of a day spent lobbying congressional leaders on behalf of Alternative 20, a proposal to restore 719 acres of river habitat in Los Angeles, on October 29, 2013.

Councilmember Blumenfield participates in a demonstration of Google Glass at the Googleplex, on June 5, 2014.

Blumenfield and Mayor Eric Garcetti snap a quick selfie at the future site of the Aliso Creek Confluence Park along the LA River in Reseda, on May 19, 2014.

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Promoting Biparti-san Solutions: The Los Angeles City Council, a non-partisan legislative body, has avoided much of the grid-lock that has plagued Sacra-mento and Washington over the past few years.

As the Congress failed to avoid a shutdown of the feder-al government last year, Blu-menfield led his colleagues in sending a message to Washington, urging the House of Representatives to put a stop to partisan brink-manship and end the govern-ment shutdown.

The City was budgeted to re-ceive some $457 million in federal funds in 2013. At stake were critical services to seniors and the disabled, community develop-ment, COPS hiring, and more.

Strengthening Interna-tional Ties: In March, Councilmember Blumen-field joined California Governor Jer-ry Brown as he signed a Memoran-dum of Understanding (MOU) with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, to strengthen trade, research, and economic develop-ment ties between California and the State of Israel, with an empha-sis on water conservation, alternative energy, and other cutting edge sec-tors.

The MOU evolved out of a similar proposal by then-Assemblymember Blumenfield in 2009—an effort which touched off years of collabo-ration between Blumenfield, the Consul General of the State of Israel, the Governor and others.

Safe and Sustainable Energy: A longtime leader on environmental issues, Councilmember Blumenfield has sought a sustainable and safe mix of energy for Los Angeles.

As an Assemblymember, Blumen-field championed a series of bills to increase the use of renewable energy by colleges, government, homeown-ers and businesses.

As a member of the Los Angeles City Council, Blumenfield has con-tinued this work, exploring ways to increase the number of electric vehicle chargers at City-owned properties and writing strict new green building practices into the Warner Center 2035 Specific Plan.

He has also helped lead the fight against dangerous hydraulic frac-turing, or fracking, supporting a series of bills in Sacramento, and se-

conding a Council action sup-porting some of the nation’s toughest anti-fracking laws.

Safeguarding Against a Nuclear Iran: In an unprecedented example of cooperation between levels of government, Councilmember Bob Blumenfield was joined in February by City Attorney Mike Feuer and Congressman Eliot Engel (D-NY), the top ranking Democrat on the House Foreign Affairs Com-mittee, as the City of Los An-geles took historic steps for a municipality in the ongoing fight against the Iranian regime’s pursuit of nuclear weapons.

Led by Blumenfield, the Council threw its support behind his meas-ure, coauthored by then Assembly-member Feuer, that makes Los An-geles the first City to be in full com-pliance with the Iran Contracting Act of 2010, which bars persons en-gaged in investment activities in Iran’s petroleum, natural gas, or nu-clear industries from bidding on or renewing contracts with the state and local governments.

“With an economy that ranks among those of major industrialized nations, home to one of the busiest ports in the world, Los Angeles plays an active and direct role in ensuring the crucial sanctions designed to pre-vent Iran from obtaining nuclear weapons capabilities are as robust as possible,” said Blumenfield

Rep. Engel congratulated Los Ange-les and California on leading the nation in doing its part to prevent a nuclear-capable Iran. Noting that

V. Leading by Example

As an elected official, I feel a strong responsibility to lead the charge for social justice, fairness and dialogue. I believe that an essential part of my job is to educate and enlighten.

As a City, we must leverage our size and influence to lead California and the nation. The moral arc of the universe is long, and indeed it bends towards justice, but as the largest City in California, and the second largest City in the United States, we can help make it bend more rapidly and decisively.” —Councilmember Bob Blumenfield

Blumenfield joins Brown, Netanyahu, at the signing of a historic MOU between California and the State of Israel, , on March 5, 2014. That MOU grew out of Blumenfield’s 2009 efforts.

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sanctions have “played a major role in bringing Iran back to the negotiat-ing table. We must continue to work with our partners here in Los Ange-les and around to country to keep the pressure on Iran until it verifiably abandons its efforts to develop nu-clear weapons.”

Celebrating Diversity in Los Angeles: Los Angeles is among the world’s most diverse Cities.

With 25 Sister Cities around the globe, and some of America’s largest expatriate communities, Los Angeles is a true melting pot of culture, faith and food.

As a member of the Los Angeles City Council, Blumenfield has em-braced and promoted that diversi-ty, seconding a resolution to estab-lish Muslim Heritage Month in Los Angeles, welcoming Prop 8. plaintiffs to City Hall, honoring Of-ficer Isela Parra for Latina Heritage Month, partipating in the Council’s annual Nowruz celebration during the Persian New Year and hosting the first ever Council celebration in honor of Israeli Independence Day, or Yom Ha’atzmaut.

Israel-LA Innovation Taskforce: Building upon the Israel-California MOU, Blumenfield secured City Council support for the establish-ment of a taskforce to facilitate the exchange of ideas and innovation between Israeli companies, edu-cation communities and non-profits and their counterparts in the City of Los Angeles.

The Los Angeles/Eilat Innovation and Cooperation Taskforce builds on the 55 year-old Sister City rela-tionship with Eilat, and is designed to promote collaboration and ad-vancement in technology investment, business development and research opportunities in clean technology, water resources, solar energy and environmental technologies through-out Los Angeles and the State of Is-rael.

Blumenfield is joined by Rep. Eliot L. Engel (D-NY), the top Democrat on the House Foreign Affairs Committee, City Attorney Mike Feuer, and community leaders as Los Angeles takes historic steps for a municipality in the ongoing effort to prevent Iran from obtaining nuclear weapons, on February 21, 2014.

VI. Engaging, Listening, Delivering

I often say that we’re stronger when we work together to achieve our shared goals. To that end, I believe that true leadership comes from listening and engaging the community, and then delivering.

As your Councilmember, I pride myself on providing constituent service that was not just efficient and effective, but truly a first-class, concierge level experience.

That the same top-flight service you received through my Assembly office is available through my Council office. The issues may be different but our commitment to serve is stronger than ever. Call my office anytime with any issues or concerns. We’re here to help.” —Councilmember Bob Blumenfield

Community Input for New Open Space: Blumenfield conducted an extensive outreach effort to determine the future of the former Fire Station 84 site at the corner of Canoga Avenue and Costanso Street.

Hundreds of people gave feedback, both from mailed and online surveys as well as in person. Dozens of com-munity volunteers joined the Coun-cilmember and staff for a series of neighborhood canvasses that in-volved door knocking and tabling at a local grocery store.

There was overwhelming support to convert the property into a small park or “parklet”.

Following this important community decision, Blumenfield hosted a de-sign charrette. This meeting allowed the community to work collabora-tively with the City to mold and shape the plans for the future park and to hear and address issues and concerns.

Blumenfield requested a full Envi-ronmental Impact Report (EIR) to ensure that concerns are mitigated to the fullest extent possible and most importantly that the resulting project is a safe place for kids to play.

In June, Blumenfield announced a competition to name the future park. Submissions will be accepted throughout the Summer.

West Valley Commu-nity Bike Ride: Over 100 community members, bicycle activists and others joined Councilmember Blumenfield for the first West Valley Community Bike Ride in January. It was great to tour West Valley neighborhoods and Blumenfield kicks off a community canvas at the former

Fire Station 84, on November 14, 2013.

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highlight bike infrastructure in the San Fernando Valley.

The 8 mile loop course, starting at Blumenfield’s Reseda office, took riders of all ages through iconic Val-ley locations such as the farm at Pierce College and down Sherman Way. The ride gave the opportunity to explore some of the Valley’s exist-ing bicycle infrastructure, includ-ing bike lanes on Wilbur and De So-to as well as the Orange Line Bike Path, and highlighted the need to make further investments in the City’s bicycle infrastructure.

Neighborhood Council Installations

Councilmember Blumenfield leads the West Valley Community Bike Ride , on January 26, 2014.

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Bringing City Hall to You: Bringing City Hall to the West Valley is among Blumenfield’s top priorities as Councilmember. Throughout his first year in office, Blumenfield has hosted events designed to bring City leaders to West Valley neigh-borhoods to engage directly with communities.

Blumenfield hosted City Con-troller Ron Galperin for a demonstration of ControlPanel-LA, the City’s open data plat-form.

DWP General Manager Mar-cie Edwards accepted an invita-tion from Councilmember Blu-menfield to address community concerns at a DWP Town Hall in the West Valley.

Councilmember Blumenfield brought the Los Angeles Police Commission and Chief Char-lie Beck to the West Valley for a special community meeting.

Community Action Teams: At his Community Swearing-In last July, Councilmember Blumenfield committed himself to the principle of collaborative leadership, announc-ing the creation of six volunteer led, issue focused Community Action Teams, BobCATs for short.

Each Community Action Team has a specific issue focus, including:

Business and Economic Devel-opment

Neighborhood Beautification

Seniors

Veterans

Domestic Violence

Emergency Preparedness

In the months since, Community Action Teams, under the leadership of volunteer co-Chairs, have met to address Community concerns, even proposing legislation that has begun to work through the committee pro-cess.

Neighborhood Beauti-fication Truck: In line with his commitment to clean safe neighborhoods, Councilmember Blumenfield secured an old Depart-ment of Sanitation truck and re-dedicated it for the exclusive use of beautifying West Valley communi-ties.

Although officially dedicated in June, working with the Neighborhood Beautification BobCAT, Blumenfield and his team have been taking it on test runs, picking up bulky items and even helping one constituent shore up a hillside ahead of a recent storm.

Bus Transportation: To assist nonprofits, schools, and senior organizations in his district, Blumenfield sets aside a limited amount of funds each year to pro-vide special bus transportation to events or outings. He does this to encourage groups that might other-wise have access issues to take ad-vantage of educational, cultural, and recreational opportunities in the area.

For example, an elementary class might take a field trip to a local mu-seum, or a senior citizens group may want to attend a musical perfor-mance. Hundreds of constituents have benefitted from this program.

Sidewalk Office Hours: In addition to taking meetings and hosting walk-in visits from constitu-ents at his office, Blumenfield makes a special effort to reach out directly in neighborhoods via "Sidewalk Of-fice Hours."

He began this outreach program while in the Assembly and for more than five years has regularly conduct-ed sidewalk office hours with con-stituents.

Whether residents need help with City services, have a question on pol-icy or legislation, or just want to say “hello,” Sidewalk Office Hours are another example of Blumenfield’s commitment to serving the commu-nity.

In the midst of a recent busy workday, Councilmember Blumenfield and his staff took to the streets of Canoga Park to clear bulky-items off of busy roadways. After collecting items including a shopping cart, vanity shelf, tire and more, Team Blumenfield hauled the items to the West Valley Sanitation Yard. Field representative Safi Lodin summed it up best when he remarked, “All in all, it was a good day.” On May 22, 2014.

Councilmember Blumenfield provided bus transportation for seniors at St. Mel Catholic Church in Woodland Hills to see a dinner theater production of "Because It's Christmas" at the Candlelight Pavilion in Claremont, CA,

Back cover photo taken during the ribbon cutting of the new playground at the Tarzana Recreation Center, on February 6, 2014. The playground was built with special funds provided by Council District 3.

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Canoga Park ● Reseda

Tarzana ● Winnetka

Woodland Hills

200 N. Spring Street, Room 415

Los Angeles, CA 90012

Phone: (213) 473-7003

City Hall Office

19040 Vanowen Street

Reseda, CA 91335

Phone: (818) 774-4330

District Office

Blumenfield.LAcity.org

BobBlumenfield

BobBlumenfieldSFV

“There is no higher honor than to serve.

Contact me for help with any city service or issue.”