TNN ISSUE #14 Oct2010

October - November 2010Issue 14LEADERS, ACTIVISTS AND COMMUNITY GROUPS

CECIL FERGERSON ACTIVIST FOR AFRICAN AMERICAN ART

VARNETTE P. HONEYWOOD 1950 - 2010

SEEN ON THE SCENE LITTLE ETHIOPIA FESTIVALGREEK FESTIVALWAHA CEMETERY TOURCHARMETTE BONPUA SAFESKATE PARK

AND SO SO MUCH MORE!!

Serving Your Community Since 2008

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content 4 Seen On The Scene

7 Leaders & Activists - D.V. Lawrence 8 Midtown Crossing Update - Carla Pineda 9 Democratic Voter Outreach - D.V. Lawrence

10 Country Club’s Little Green Giants & HPOZ - D.V. Lawrence Harvard Heights/Sugar Hill/West Adams Summer Blow Out - Steve Wallis

11 Featured Resident: Cecil Fergerson - Renee Montgomery

12 In Memory Of: Varnette P. Honeywood - Renee Montgomery Art In The Corridor: Leo Politi - Renee Montgomery

13 Featured Teen: Luis Del Cid - Renee Montgomery

15 Restaurant Review: Pips Pizza, Pasta, Salad - D.V. Lawrence

16 Featured Resident: John Kurtz - John Kurtz

17 Jefferson Park Update - John H Arnold

18 Neighborhood Council Reports, MINC, UNNC, P.I.C.O. - Carla Pineda, Rachael Johnson

22 Changes At Our Library - DeLois Jac

24 CRA Midcity Development Report - Carla Pineda

Publisher/Executive EditorDianne V. Lawrence

Associate Editor/Proofreader Renee Montgomery

Staff WritersDianne V. Lawrence, Renee Montgomery,

Carla Pineda, Rachael JohnsonContributing Writers

Steve Wallis, John H. Arnold,John Kurtz, DeLois Jac

Layout & Design/Executive Ad SalesDianne V. Lawrence

TO ADVERTISE OR SUBMIT IDEASContact us at: 323.871.8580

[email protected]

w w w.thene ighborhoodne wson l ine .ne t span ish/kore an op t ionsOCT/NOV 2010

Welcome to the beginning of our 3rd year! 15,000 copies this issue and growing! Our community was crazy with

events this summer. Seen On the Scene focuses on the Little Ethiopia Festival on Fairfax to our west and the Greek Festi-val at St. Sophia’s Cathedral on Normandie to our east. We saw the opening of the Charmette Bonpua SafeSkate Park at Rancho Cienega and WAHA had its annual Cemetery History Tour at the Angelus Rosedale Cemetery on Washington and Normandie. We also welcome the Little Ethiopia community to the TNN family. Check out their ad on the back cover. A great neighbor-hood place to park, stroll and eat. As more and more people take the opportunity to directly influ-ence their communities, neighborhood groups are emerging as an essential tool for community empowerment. The Neighborhood News is starting a new column called Leaders and Activists. We ask local community residents with a history of serving their community, questions about their experience working in these groups and we present their views to you. On Page 7, I share the thoughts that led to this column. I also want to thank Teresa Ryhnes from the P.I.C.O. Neighborhood Council for planting the seed of the idea for the column. We also welcome a new, classy, local hangout, PIPS Pizza, Salad and Pasta, on La Brea just above Pico. Check out our review on Page 15. So sit back, enjoy a cuppa joe at one of our local restaurants and get to know your neighborhood!

Back: Carla Pineda, Rachael JohnsonFront: D. V. Lawrence, Renee MontgomeryHaving dinner at “Muriel’ Of Course”. Dianne’s outfit from “Pinky Rose” on Pico

TNN STAFF

Shout out to the Men and Women of the Mesa

Porch Sitting Club!

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Litttle Ethiopia 9th AnnualCultural Street Feston Fairfax south of Olympic

September 12

L.A. GREEK FEST Saint Sophia Cathedral

Pico and NormandieSeptember 10 - 12

Grand Opening of The Charmette Bonpua Safe Skate Parkat Rancho Cienega Sports Complex

Ms. Bonpua was Councilman Wesson’s Chief of Staff. She died unexpectedly last

year. This park is dedicated to her.

Councilman Herb Wesson and skateboard legend Rob Dyrdek flanked by Planet Ma-ple’s William Lamar on the left and Steve

Vasquez on the right

Rob Dyrdek, the Bonpua family, Coun-cilman Wesson and Councilman Paul Korentz cut the ribbon to the park.

West Adams Heritage Assoc.FANtastic Living Herstory Tour!

Mitzi March Mogul asClara Baldwin Stocker

At Angelus Rosedale CemeteryWashington and Normandie

Marianne Muellerleileas Caroline Severance

Wendy Calhoun asNellie Lutcher

Maahra Hill asGeorgia A.Hill Robinson

Sharlene Chou asAnna May Wong

Leah Miller as Minnie Roswell Langstadter

for more pics and info go to our website www.theneighborhoodnewsonline.netClick on: “Historic Stories in West Adams”

WAHA Photo’s by Jeff ValdezPhoto’s: D.V. Lawrence

Photo’s: D.V. Lawrence

Park Photo’s by Jeff Shaw

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for more pics and info go to our website www.theneighborhoodnewsonline.netClick on: “Historic Stories in West Adams”


In my outreach to the Mid-City and West Adams neighborhoods,

I have encountered a healthy variety of vibrant neighborhood block clubs, associations and assorted Neighbor-hood Councils. These groups are led by the natural leaders in their com-munities and supported by residents who have the time and interest to get involved in local issues. Residents par-ticipate for different reasons. Some love to socialize with their neighbors or are upset about something or simply seek support for a neighborhood proj-ect. Some like to feel a part of the com-munity, while others have discovered the importance of contributing. The leaders step forward, (usually because everyone else steps back) and the group is suffused with good intentions.

Yet things can get messy. Leaders can become entrenched and reluctant to pass the baton. The group can be used to pursue personal agendas at the ex-pense of the larger community. Some residents can be favored while obstacles are placed before those less favored. Groups can also become self-serving, keeping the larger community at bay while making unilateral decisions about what is best for everyone. Personali-ties can prevail over principles, while challenges to the status quo or voices

of opposition become marginalized or forced out altogether. Communication with the community the group serves can become controlled or minimal. In other words...politics as usual.

I have also sat in on extremely well run meetings where a strong understanding of Roberts Rules prevail and leaders bring a respectable level of objectivity to the table, preferring to see themselves as facilitators. Timers are considered a necessary tool to help keep the meeting moving forward. I have found that ef-fective groups are best guided by a few simple concepts: transparency, inclu-siveness and accountability. All ques-tions are entertained and sincerely con-sidered and every resident attending is considered important.

A debt of gratitude is owed to all those residents who take the time to get in-volved in making their community a better place. We have all witnessed enormous improvement in our neigh-borhoods as a result. But how can these community groups grow to become as objective, even-handed, transparent, accountable and inclusive as possible?

To address some of these concerns and encourage greater participation TNN is introducing the new column,

“Leaders and Activists”. TNN will submit questions to local residents with a history of community service and present their views and opinions to you. Our primary purpose is to pro-vide opportunities for a wide range of groups and residents to connect, learn about, inform and engage each other. Our hope is that this column will gen-erate discussion, provoke ideas and strengthen our community.

Question: What are some of the chal-lenges you have run into in your group work? Do you have a suggested solu-tion?

Myrna Anderson Allen,. A United Neigh-borhoods Neighborhood Council board mem-ber, Myrna has been a community activist for as long as she can remember starting on the West Side in the 60’s. She’s been attending local com-munity meetings since 2003.Challenge and Solution:As late as 2007 many United Neighbor-hoods Neighborhood Association (UNNC) committees were struggling to increase committee representation and many com-munities remained under represented even at well run effective meetings. The great news is in 2010 the UNNC faced a con-tested election that stimulated an outreach program resulting in a voter turnout that ranked them in the top 10 out of 90 Los Angeles NCs. I am thrilled to see that this reinvigorated outreach remains a top UNNC priority. We are utilizing posters, media advertisements, standardized print materials and sign up sheets for all events and introducing twitter for various public event notifications. New tech savvy empowerment tools are continu-ing and expanding under the guidance of UNNC returning board member Norman Gilman. In addition to working on upgrad-ing the web site, the UNNC purchased a 3G/4G wireless hotspot from Sprint allow-ing internet access at all meeting places. This allows access to Google street views, overhead satellite views and other web in-formation to be viewed or projected for dis-cussions of land use and blight issues and all other committee needs. Having the abil-ity to check facts, context, and background information allows more accurate thought-ful deliberation of issues.

Neighborhood Councils, Block Clubs and AssociationsConcerns, Ideas, Opinions, Thoughts and Solutions from

Community Leaders and ActivistsDianne V. Lawrence

Continued on Page 21

Olympic Park Neighborhood Council OPNC

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MINC Planning and Land Use committee’s Bruce Durbin met with the CIM Group, the developer

building Mid-Town Crossing at Pico and San Vicente. The mixed-use project, featuring a new Lowe’s Center, is on schedule and drilling is expected to begin very soon. Holding back progress is a 72” sewer main and an ancient covert that must be worked around. The building depart-ment does not know what this large box is but CIM decided to build around it. If it chooses to remove it there would be a 10 year delay in order to fulfill proper procedures. Lowe’s is expected to open between late 2011 and early 2012.

Midtown Crossing Update

MidTown Crossing September 2010

Carla Pineda

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OCT/NOV 2010


Volunteer for the Democratic Party!

Midterm elections (Nov. 2) tend to have low voter turnout so the Cal-

ifornia Democratic Party has set up an office in the Western Heights commu-nity at 2240 W. Washington Bvld. just east of Western.

Dianne V. Lawrence

Volunteers will walk precincts and distrib-ute the applications for a “vote by mail” ballot, to identified Democrats . They can also work phone banks to call democratic voters who may be interested in having the ballot application sent to them. Benefit to you? Volunteer work counts for com-munity service hours, looks great on college applications and resumes, can earn college credits and you will receive letters of recommendation for jobs.To Volunteer or request a “vote by mail application” contact: Brendan Gassaway 310.570.7184, [email protected] California State Assemblymember

Mike Davis Visits Volunteer Office

Organizers Brendan Gassaway & Rani Wood flank Assemblywoman Karen Bass

Need a Mail-In Ballot?


Country Club Park’sLittle Green Giants

& HPOZ

Felippe, Gabriella, Diego and Matteo Marques hosted the first get together of “The Little Green Gi-

ants” a parent and child organization in Country Club dedicated to helping the environment. Their activities will include raising awareness of neighborhood environ-mental issues, providing an opportunity for kids and par-ents to meet and get to know one another, educating around issues like litter, recycling, water and energy efficiency, sustainability and more. They will also organize supervised neighborhood litter clean up and tree and flowering events. They have begun making plans for Earth Day next April 22nd and organizing speakers. They met September 14th to discuss healthy food. Efforts to bring the Historic Planning Overlay Zone (HPOZ) to Country Club are well under way. The Cultur-al Heritage Commission endorsed the effort and the City Planning Department is showing its support by allowing CCP, Wilshire Park and Windsor Village to be jointly ad-minstered under one preservation plan and Board. (Thanks to Tom Smith and the CCP Chronicle for this information)

Harvard Heights, Sugar HillWest Adams Heights

Summer Blow Out

After re-living with attendees the events of the day, delicious details of the food, great conver-

sations with friends and neighbors, and hilarious asides all week, it’s certainly time I acknowledged the people who made the 2010 Harvard Heights/West Adams Heights-Sugar Hill Block Party possible.

Steve Wallis

First, big congratulations go out to Bethany Ulrich and Julia McAlee for planning, organizing, and staging this great event. Over 400 people attended this year’s block party, far surpassing our wildest expectations. We had face painters, clowns, sketch comedy, a 1925 retro-rod, fire engines, a kids’ jumper, a video tent, an art mural, a spiritual advisor, great bands, and terrific food. There were so many attractions and things to do that kids and adults alike stayed well past the event’s official 6:00 PM end time.

A HUGE Thank You goes out to El Salsabor Res-taurant, Papa Christo’s, Pronto Pizza, and Tana Ethiopian Restaurant. Please remember them next time you go out to eat. The food was deeelicious and the line lasted for two and a half HOURS and we fed ev-eryone only because of the generosity of these wonder-ful restaurants. Eat in the community!!

Dianne V. Lawrence

Photo: D. V. Lawrence

Summer Community Party


Selecting the most distinguished subject for our Fea-tured Resident column is sometimes controversial.

But if you’ve been named a “Living Cultural Treasure” and you have a street sign commemorating you, as is the case with Mid-City’s Cecil Fergerson, TNN would

say that pretty much qualifies you for “fea-tured” status.Fergerson grew up in South Central, attend-ing Compton Commu-nity College. In 1948 he went to work as a custodian at the old Los Angeles County Muse-um at Exposition Park, moving to Los Ange-les County Museum of Art (LACMA) in 1965

when the new museum was established. From early on Cecil showed his dedication to local African-American art by moonlighting, arranging black art shows on his own in playgrounds, churches and other art organizations. While at LACMA he co-organized the Black Arts Council, credited with bringing the first muse-um exhibition of African-American art to LACMA. During this period he also initiated an arts program for the Watts Summer Festival, and became Curator of Art Education Consulting Services in 1976 and of the William Grant Still Arts Center in 1978. At LACMA he was promoted through the ranks, until retiring in 1985 in a curatorial po-sition in the museum’s Modern and Contemporary Art department. That would seem like a long, distinguished career. But it was just the beginning. With more time on his hands, Cecil went on to become a mover-and-shaker in the local Black art world in earnest. He continued to organize exhibitions in such respected ven-ues as the California Museum of African-American Art, lecture, collect Black art and serve as its go-to champion. In 1989 he was appointed Director of the Watts Art Tower Center and of the art gallery at Southwest College. Al-ways a vocal proponent, he spoke out about the sale of an important art collection by the Golden State Mutual Life In-surance Company at Adams and Western Blvds., and about

Cecil FergersonBRINGING AFRICAN-AMERICAN ART

FRONT AND CENTERRenee Montgomery

the portrayal of Black men in a Hammer Museum show. In 1998 L.A. City acknowledged Cecil’s contribution by naming him “Living Cultural Treasure” His list of other awards is too long to publish here. Since Cecil’s early de-fense of Black art in L.A., this movement has become an area for serious academic study. Last year UCLA recorded an oral history with Cecil, acknowledging his wealth of knowledge.

Photo: Renee Montgomery


West Adams resident and artist Vernette Honey-wood passed away on September 12th after a two

year battle with cancer. Honeywood’s artwork came to the attention of middle America when it was featured on The Cosby Show decorating the Huxtable’s living room,

after Bill Cosby and his wife discovered her art in Los Ange-les. With a BA from Spelman College and MA in Education and teaching credential from USC in 1974, Honeywood went on to direct community out-reach programs at USC in the late 1970s. She formed a com-pany Black Lifestyles with her sister to distribute images of her bold and upbeat art on post-ers and notepads. She also il-Photo by Bobby Holland

Varnette P. Honeywood

lustrated Cosby’s popular “Little Bill” series of children books. Honeywood is remembered for her high quality art depicting positive black themes of family and communi-ty. She was also known for her generous heart and spirit.

1950 - 2010Renee Montgomery

Leo Politi was an Italian im-

migrant, residing in Pico-Union, who be-came a famous chil-dren’s book author and illustrator. Politi celebrated the diversity of Los Angeles in over 20 books from 1930 to 1978, including popular picture books depicting the children of Chinatown, Little Tokyo, and Olivera

Leo Politi Treasure At The Washington Irving Library

Renee Montgomery

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“Cooking With Gabby”is looking for 20 Kids, 8 - 12 yrs old, to participate in a FREE 4 week program designed to encourage healthy

lifestyle choices. Starts October 16. Contact 323-325-1177 to participate.

www.kidseat4life.org


When 13-year old Gabriella Axelrad was killed in a freak

car accident in 1999, her grieving parents established the Gabriella Axelrad Education Foundation to honor her love for dance. This chari-table foundation sponsors the “ev-erybody dance!” program in West-lake District, offering ballet, tap and jazz lessons to low income children.

Luis Del Cid of Jefferson Park is a current ‘everybody dance!’ phenom. A student with the program since 2008, Luis has emerged as ‘hot property,’

being recruited by professional ballet academies. He was awarded scholar-ships to summer programs at the Kirov Academy and Alvin Ailey schools in 2008 and 09. Now, Luis, a high school sophomore, has been offered a schol-arship to study dance full-time at the Milton Rock School of Ballet, ranked the #1 ballet school in competition, and a springboard to a dance career. “Luis has an incredible talent for dance and choreography that is rare,” comments “everybody dance!” instructor Vera Ninkovic, a for-mer dancer with the Basel Ballet. “Luis belongs at The Rock School, which has launched male students into positions at the New York City Bal-let and San Francisco Ballet among others. You hear so much about L.A. schools being broken. Here’s a suc-cess story, thanks to the vision of the Axelrad family and Luis’ dedication,” The middle son of a hardworking single mom from Guatemala, Luis says “Because of ‘everybody dance!’ I now know more about myself and am more comfortable in my own skin. It has been a place where we can all go for help, not only in dance, but in life, school, work and friendship.”

Luis Del CidJefferson Park Teen Recruited For Professional Ballet School

Renee Montgomery

Street. In 1950 he won the presti-gious Caldecott picture book award for “Song of the Swallows” about the birds of San Juan Capistrano. Recently the Getty Trust reissued four of Politi’s out-of-print children’s titles, acknowledging Politi as a cultural icon of Los Angeles. Politi was also immor-talized in a stunning illustrated biogra-phy for adults in 2004. Politi walked the streets of L.A. and was a great supporter of children and libraries. An elementary school is named after him in Koreatown and he completed murals for different spots around town. Our local branch li-

Leo Politi TreasureWebsite: www.everybodydance.netPhone: 213 365-2491 or -0065Email: [email protected]

brary is fortunate to have an original Politi drawing dedicated to it. In-scribed “To the boys and girls of the Washington Irving library with love Leo Politi 1977,” it depicts the daugh-ter of former librarian Gladys Cole. Check it out next time you’re in the li-brary, hanging framed on the west wall.

LEO POLITI CONTINUED....


Mid-City and West Adams cuisine hoppers, looking for a cool place to bring a hot date, will be delighted to dis-

cover Pip’s Pizza, Pasta, Salads, Restaurant (& Wine Bar) located just north of the gas station at Pico and La Brea. Originally called Anna Maria’s Italian Restaurant, the loca-tion served as a popular local spot for many years before being sold as a Karaoke joint.

Derek Pipkin, a suc-cessful jazz event or-ganizer who grew up in the area, decided to revive and restore this faded gem to its for-mer popularity and he is well on his way. I invited a local friend to meet me for dinner and our friendly chat-

ter turned to appreciative wow’s as we opened the unassuming front door and stepped into the beautifully appointed interior. Derek greeted us and walked us past the long bar, into the softly lit, main dining room where tables, covered in white linen were surrounded by comfortable upholstered chairs. We were escorted out to the gorgeous, tree covered, landscaped patio with soothing water fountains distracting from the traffic zooming by. Duly im-pressed, I made a note to come back and enjoy a Sunday brunch in this charming environment. We settled in as a gracious waiter explained the specials and left us with crunchy crusted home-baked bread and a bowl of olive oil and garlic. I ordered the veg-etable soup to start. It arrived with plentiful and fresh, perfectly cooked vegetables in a tasty broth. It was slightly oversalted but that is easily corrected. Next came the Salmon Alfredo pas-ta. The alfredo sauce was delicious, perfectly creamy, noodles al dente with large, flaky, generous salmon pieces. My friend ordered salmon laid on top of a salad filled with a variety of leaves, feta, vegetables and a great seasoned house dressing. It earned repeated exclamations of approval and “ucommonly good!”. I ran into several locals including Johnny and Theresa Green, owners of the Eureka Cafe. Theresa ordered the house specialty Pesto Pizza and had great praise for the thin crust, balanced combination of pesto, garlic and tomatoes and an inventive addition of sliced almonds. They also ordered the Creole Pasta with shrimp larger then most restaurants serve. Derek looks forward to creating a very “Cheers” type local gathering hole and has begun movie night and jazz evenings.(see ad in front of magazine) The prices satisfy a range of pock-etbooks and you can come in jeans and T’s or dress up; hang out at the bar or stay for food. Everyone is welcome. see top of next column for info

PIPSPizza, Pasta, Salad Restaurant & Wine Bar

Dianne V. LawrenceMovies, Jazz, Classy Bar, Great Food, Local Hang

PIPS323.954.74771356 S. La Brea, just north of Pico, eastsideTuesday through Sunday5:00 pm - 12 amwww.pizzapastasalads.com


To see more colored pictures of this house and other historical houses in our community go to

www.theneighborhoodnewsonline.net and click on Historical West Adams Architecture under Real Estate

In 1908 private developer George E. Van Guysling purchased undevel-oped land which he subdivided and turned into Gramercy Park. It was

bordered by the gated enclave of Berkeley Square on the north and the el-egant mansions of West Adams Boulevard on the south. This house, built in 1910 and currently owned by John Kurtz (whose birthday falls on the same date as the listing of the original building permit) was one of the first built by Van Guysling in Gramercy Park. The architect is listed as William F. Blaikie and

The John Kurtz ResidenceJohn Kurtz

the estimated original cost of the house was $6,000. Although considered an Arts and Crafts Transi-tional house it bears Vic-torian design elements, such as a rotunda, leaded glass and window sur-round moldings. It also contains elements of the then modern, Arts and Crafts style, such as the

stained redwood clapboard siding, post and beam constructed front porch, second-floor sleeping porches and curved dragon uplifts on the gabled roof and dormers. The horizontality of the house design, more typical of Arts and Crafts style, distinguishes it from the more vertical Victorian styles.The first homeowners listed in the city directory at this address were Dr. John Harpster, his wife Mary (although being a woman, she was not listed in the directory) and their son Milton. The house changed hands 6 times before 1919, when the Frances family bought the house, moved in and lived there until about 1950. By 1970, after many physical changes, it had become a rooming house and was listed in the city records as having 10 bedrooms for rent. A major restoration from 1988 thru 1989 returned the house to a single family home and to its original appearance. The City of Los Angeles listed the house as an Historic-Cultural Monument for the City of Los Angeles #601 in 1994.


Recently the proposed Jefferson Park HPOZ (Historic Preservation Overlay Zone) got a few steps closer to be-coming a reality. Following a number of high-profile losses of historic structures in late 2009 and early 2010, concerned residents and preservation activists stepped up their efforts to secure an interim control ordinance (ICO) from the city. This measure would temporarily limit construction activity in the neighborhood until the implementation of the HPOZ. An ICO would be used solely to protect historic structures from changes that would diminish their historic character. In July, with the help of Herb Wesson’s Council District 10 field office, neighbors successfully obtained city drafted HPOZ-related documents which had been lost or mothballed due to the recent fiscal crisis, allowing wealthier neighbor-hoods to jump ahead of Jefferson Park and become HPOZs. Armed with this public information, CD10 and HPOZ advo-cates got Jefferson Park onto the agenda of the City Council’s Planning and Land Use Committee meeting in August. The Planning Department indicated that it will finally start work, after a year’s delay, on certifying the neighbor-hood’s professionally prepared historic resources survey, which documents the historic status of every building in the HPOZ area. To help with this effort, a team of Jefferson Park volunteers walked the streets of the neighborhood to verify the information in the survey and confirm any chang-es that have occurred since the survey was finished in 2009. The HPOZ seems unlikely to be put in place for at least an-other year. The city contends that there are not enough funds or staff to provide administration for a new HPOZ. Howev-er, the nearby University Park HPOZ board stepped up to the plate in early September and passed a motion that states its support for the proposed Jefferson Park HPOZ and its

Jefferson Park is widely known to have one of the best collections of early 20th century Craftsman bun-

galows in the country. The district is bound by Adams, Western, Jefferson, Arlington, Exposition and 7th Avenue.

willingness to share in the Jefferson Park administration if necessary. This idea is being floated to the Planning De-partment and Office of Historic Resources, which admin-isters the HPOZ program. Neighbors are hoping that this, or some other creative solution, will get the HPOZ finalized sooner than what the city’s capabilities currently allow.

Jefferson Park’s HPOZ A Community’s Struggle to Become An

Historic Preservation Overlay ZoneJohn H. Arnold


MINCMid-City Neighborhood Council

Dividing a $45,000 budget can be a difficult task when planning for

a year of expenses. Luckily the budget DONE required immediately is provision-al and can be amended at a later date.The board split the money into three prima-ry branches: operations ($2,600), outreach ($26,900) and community improvements ($15,500). The big ticket items include funding for a music camp ($10,000), monuments ($7,500) and signage ($5,000). New Committees: When discussing the status of existing committees and whether any new ones were desired, concerns about the budget committee were raised. Some members wondered if the Department of Neighborhood Empowerment (DONE) rules required budget committee members to be voted in every fiscal year. Dessie Reese also posed that President Allan Dicastro may be breaking DONE rules by also chairing the budget committee which might provide one person with too much power. No conclusions were reached by a seemingly confused board, which decided to look into these concerns with DONE.Edgar Arroyo volunteered to chair an out-reach committee, which had been dormant through lack of leadership. Other suggest-ed committee ideas included groups to ad-dress the creation of a MINC website as well as green, youth and historical issues.New Sponsorship Program: In a move to help stakeholders move projects through the appropriate city hoops – and to delegate the duties said to be shared by few on the board – Allan DiCastro proposed creating a new sponsorship pro-gram. This unanimously-approved initia-tive will require a MINC board member to guide stakeholders, whose projects have been approved, through the process. While the goal is to help, all members agreed the focus will be on providing di-rection, not hand-holding the stakeholder.MINC Logo Redesign: There is a current effort to redesign the MINC logo which inspired a heated discussion. Lorraine Genovese, chair of the design

committee, reported the words “Mid Town” had been added to potential con-siderations. Several members disagreed with this idea, saying these words failed to identify the area. Those in favor said the new retail development at Pico and San Vicente is called Mid-Town which already identifies the area as such. The design committee is also interested in placing banners and welcome signs at the entry points of the area to diffuse the stark contrast between Mid City and surround-ing neighborhoods, such as Culver City.Garage Sales: There was concern ex-pressed about the frequency of some garage sales at the same address and the scale of and disturbance caused by them. Residents are not allowed more than 5 sales a year so stakeholders should keep a log of the address and date and contact ei-ther your local lead officer or the housing department if there is a problem. The sales that seemed to annoy many board mem-bers were clandestine sales under freeway bridges and on street curbs. These are best handled by contacting 311 or the police de-partment because they violate many laws.Blight: MINC is compiling lists to ad-dress blight in the region. One of these lists will highlight properties with excess vegetation. This will be submitted to the department of building and safety.

Carla Pineda

“Thank you all for your service,” said Councilman Herb Wesson who present-ed service certificates to board members of the PICO Neighborhood Council. “You became such a force that it got the attention of the mayor.” Wesson made an early appearance at the council’s general board meeting, and took photographs with the members, but did not stay for questions. Challenge to Member Appointment: Sub-sandwiches, pasta salad and other re-freshments sweetened the occasion, but a motion presented after the approval of the minutes, injected a bitter note into the pro-ceedings. A PNC stakeholder, preferring to remain anonymous, wrote a letter dis-approving of the appointment of Melissa Patrick who currently holds the boards’ Non-Profit representation seat. The writer

challenged Patrick’s qualifications under the 2006 Bylaws over the issue of whether or not she was actually an employee of a religious or service organization within the Neighborhood Council area, which would disqualify her from Non-profit rep-resentation. The motion was to deny the challenge of this letter. Ms. Patrick argued that she was qualified for the position and could provide the necessary paperwork but seemed more upset over a lack of notifica-tion regarding the challenge, which didn’t allow her to respond before the issue was exposed to DONE. Although Board mem-bers said their lack of a corresponding sec-retary was to blame, Ms Patrick countered that it was a matter of respect. Ultimately, the board voted to deny the challenge by the stakeholder due to a technicality; the 30 days since Ms. Patricks election and within which challenges to appoint-ments must be made, had passed. They moved on to old business after someone expressed appreciation for Ms.Patrick’s willingness to step up, donate her time and participate.Financed Project Left Undone: The board shifted focus to an issue that was heavily pegged during last months general board meeting. An investment in a com-munity improvement project called the Saturn School Garden, had carved an estimated $9000 out of the budget, but the Saturn School was still without a garden. Board member Lloyd Robinson voiced his discontent, “I am becoming increas-ingly uncomfortable with money floating around in a contractor’s account.” After lengthy discussion, a redundancy of com-ments, and several stopped and started motions, the board directed its Treasurer, Ron, to contact DONE for a statement regarding what their options were around the vagueness of the unsettled funds and project. The board decided to get a promissory note from the contractor and move forward with the project to avoid the risk of losing the funds altogether.New Vons at Pico and Fairfax: Vons executives were present at the meeting to garner support from the Council and the public for its scrape and rebuild project of the existing Vons. Ground will break on the new Vons - in late 2011 and the proj-ect will be completed by Fall of 2012.

P.I.C.OPICO Neighborhood Council

Rachael Johnson



Gavin Glynn: member of the UNNC Zoning Committee - 2002-Present. Founder and char-ter member of West Adams Avenues; Quality of Life Committee to propose projects to Council District 10 office 2006-2010. Challenge: People who want to lead often lack experience and those who have expe-rience don’t tend to run for volunteer of-fices.Solution: The city, not just DONE, needs to offer leadership training and create a web-site that allows access to accurate info about city laws and procedures for stake-holder’s questions. I suggest meetings be videotaped for legal documentation and to allow verification that proper procedures were followed. I also believe NC Agendas should be stakeholder driven, leaving zero power to the NC leadership. This would avoid the accomodation of the expressed opinions of the few.

Hattie Babb: West Adams Neighborhood Council Board Member and previous Chair.Challenge: I have found it is very diffi-

cult to get board members and community groups to connect with each other. There is not enough outreach into the community to get a feel for how they want their NC monies spent or how they want their com-munity to be affected, with Board members often making decisions based on their own personal agenda’s. Some members do not know their neighbors nor do their neigh-bors know them. This election year I was able to get one board member that did not represent just the black community and I believe we need more members like him. Because all seats were not filled during our June 26, 2010 election, I was also able to offer another non- black resident the oppor-tunity to participate. Solution: I think it’s important to under-stand that our goal/mission is to EMPOW-ER others. To build a strong community of volunteers to help the communities they live, work, worship and play in. I believe without community involvement neigh-borhood councils will not last. For neigh-borhood councils who do not have a large turnout they can print out Public Partici-pation Manual, Investing in Portland’s Future PDC (Portland Development Com-mission) July 1, 2007 PDC Public Affairs

LEADERS AND ACTIVISTSContinued from Page 7

Teresa Rhynes is an Executive member of P.I.C.O. Neighborhood Council and is a Lead-ership facilitator for Organizational Improve-ment and Customer Service for five Southern California VA agencies.Challenge: A challenge in some groups is the lack of a clearly articulated vision. Thus they usually lose focus and can’t stay on track with the vision, mission or goal. There can also be no big”I’s” and lil “U’s” with too much micro-management and no empowerment. People need to feel valued. Poor leadership that fosters trust issues within the organization is another issue. This usually indicates a breakdown in communication somewhere in the pro-cess. You also cannot formulate effective solutions without accountability, someone has to be accountable for the task at hand.Solution: Confident trustworthy leaders. Effective leadership empowers, provides opportunities, shares information and re-sources, fosters collaboration, and is for-ward thinking(visionary).

Jo Shaeffer: Member of Mid-City Neighbor-hood Council (MINC) formation committee and ten year Board member, Challenge: It’s always difficult, when dealing with the “community”, be it your block, neighborhood, or city area, to stay relevant and attuned to the needs and de-sires of the people who make up that entity, especially when your role is to represent. Often we are stuck in the past with a defi-nition of our neighborhood that no longer exists. New neighbors move in who want to change the status quo. You wonder why they chose “your” neighborhood to live in if it needs so much change. And who, after all, speaks for the “community”? As these organizations form and grow and age there is a real danger that new voices or opposing voices get beaten back, belittled, drowned out. Group representatives get entrenched. “We know what’s best for you” - a frequent political mantra. Solution: Constant evaluation. Annual surveys: are we working on the issues that matter to you? Has our presence made this neighborhood better? Do you feel you have a voice in this organization? And not just annually but building a constant dialogue with our neighbors and self-valuation as to our effectiveness.

Department from the DONE site. I think that if Board members were to READ this article and take up some of the suggestions, it would be very helpful to their growth.

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Our libraries are no longer open on Mondays, mak-ing Tuesdays one of the busiest days of the week at

local Jefferson branch. With the recent wave of economic cutbacks, our local libraries have seen a 30% reduction in staff through early retirement and layoffs, and a 20% reduc-tion in service hours. Hardest hit were the children’s library

The Affect of Budget Cuts On ThisValuable Community Resource

services – less read-ing and arts and crafts programs. While staff has been reduced, the amount of people uti-lizing the library has not, so John Frank, Senior Librarian at Jefferson, is grateful to volunteers and also credits the very dedi-

cated staff who go above and beyond duty to keep daily op-erations running smoothly. Our libraries represent a mere 2% of the city budget and we get a great deal of value in return. Aside from books, magazines, movies, documentaries on DVD and mu-sic CDs, Jefferson offers computer literacy classes twice a week. For many looking for jobs, financial aid, health and social services, access to library computers is not just a convenience, but an absolute necessity. With the return of the school season students come back to the li-braries to study, research and do homework after school. In 1998 we got vocal with our mayor and city council members, turned out at the voting booth and overwhelmingly passed the library bond initiative to refurbish and build new libraries. We may very well have to get vocal again, this time to insure that once it is economically feasible, our libraries are restored to full operating schedules and staffing levels.

DeLois Jac

Jefferson LIbrary Photo: DeLois Jac

Changes At Our Libraries


The United Neighborhoods Neighborhood Council’s plan-ning and zoning committee is where the action was dur-

ing August and September. Jefferson Park HPOZ: There was a lengthy discussion about Jefferson Park’s effort to get an Historic Preservation Overlay Zone (HPOZ), which would prohibit any renovations that are not in keeping with historic architectural criteria. We have featured this update on page……Cell Phone Towers: The board’s Sept. 2 meeting also included

United Neighborhoods Neighborhood Association UNNC

Carla Pineda

Picfair Street Fair Oct. 9: William Hall made a pre-sentation for the Picfair Village Street Fair on Airdrome be-tween Pickford and 18th starting at 1 pm and going to 7. By-Laws Snafu: A vote on accepting amended bylaws brought back a few sour faces when the board voted to extend the meeting an extra fifteen minutes. Confusion over whether or not the previ-oulsy approved by-laws had to be re-approved by the new board. Members speaking out of turn, caused frustration all round and had Board member Teresa Rhynes reminding everyone they needed to raise their hands and be recognized by President Clau-dia Bayard before speaking. It is unclear how the bylaws will be amended in the future, but the process will likely be a talking

PICO NC report continued from Pg. 18

discussion of two proposed cell phone provider facilities. One at 1845 S. Van Ness, which the board opposed on grounds that a historic structure would be demolished and replaced with a rep-lica that doubles as a cell phone tower. The second site is Holy Name of Jesus Church at 1955 W. Jefferson Blvd. This pro-posal was opposed because the square-like devices that would be attached to the church’s prominent steeple would deface the appearance of this church tower, which already houses anten-nas for another cell phone provider. President Stevie Stern asked the board to include the church in discussions before de-nying the proposal, as the church might desire this contract to improve its economic standing.Washington Square Development: The Public Hearing initially scheduled for Aug. 25 was rescheduled for Oct. 20 but as of press time the community was informed by CD10 that the meeting had been put on hold (not can-celled).

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The Community Redevelopment Agency of Los Angeles (CRA/LA) is a public agency that focuses on creating eco-

nomic growth and revitalizing the 32 communities designated as redevelopment project areas by the City Council. One of those areas is the Mid-City region, which encompasses several corridors from Western to Fairfax avenues and from Pico to Martin Luther King Jr. boulevards. At its Aug. 24 Mid-City Recovery Redevelopment Project Area Committee meeting, CRA/LA provided updates on six projects that are in the works.

District Square, (a site at Crenshaw and Rodeo) Project Man-ager Michelle Banks-Ordone, said the project is fully entitled. The City Council directed CRA to remove a 2 percent fee that was assessed to the developer for administrative costs of processing a site specific tax increment for 20 years. The project is due to break ground in winter of this year. The developers are still relocating tenants but Ralph’s grocery store will remain the anchor tenant.The Vision Plan Green Infrastructure Program: will add trees and provide street upgrades along Crenshaw Boule-vard. It has received $14.7 million in Proposition 1C funds and is in the process of requesting proposals for design contracts. Metro Light Rail: CRA/LA is working with the Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority (Metro), the City Planning Department and the state department of transportation (Caltrans) to address conflicts between the program and Metro’s light rail lines in the project area. The agencies have decided to leave gaps in the plan, which has an estimated completion date of 2015, and Metro will finish those particular sections as it wraps up the Expo and Crenshaw light rail line construction.Mixed-use development at Jefferson Boulevard and 5th Avenue is on schedule. The CRA/LA will invest about $1 mil-lion in Global Housing’s $14 million project that will create 40 residential units for extremely-low and very-low income families. Midtown Crossing: As described in the MINC report on Pg....., activity will increase at CIM Group’s Midtown Crossing in October. The addition of 150,000 square feet of space above the Lowe’s store caused a need for new draw-ings. Changes have also affected the proposed community art, an issue the developer will take back to the area’s residents.

CIM’s leases remain unknown except for anchor tenant Lowe’s.The Rosa Park Villas at 2507 S. Bronson Ave project is ramping up for its Oct. 18 ribbon cutting ceremony. The ceremony marks the opening of a four-story building that will offer 60 afford-able units to senior citizens. Rosa Parks herself blessed the site.Baldwin Hills Crenshaw Plaza: An expansion is in store for Wal-Mart at the Baldwin Hills Crenshaw Plaza as part of owner Capri Capital Partners’ $30 million “transformation.” An environ-mental impact report is in the works for the ambitious renovation that will add new retail, housing, a hotel, office and green space to

CRA/LA MID-CITY AREA REPORTOur Community is Growing.

Here’s What’s Coming Up

CRA’s Angela C. Ovalie and Yonah Hong

Answer to the Riddle: Ghoul-aid

Carla Pineda

BUSINESS LOCATION MAP

TNN ISSUE #14 Oct2010

Documents

Transcript of TNN ISSUE #14 Oct2010