Eastwood Coalition Monthly Neighborhood Meeting – April 5^th, 2005 – 7:00 pm at the Hollywood-Adventist Church

Minutes

I. Welcome and Thanks to our volunteers who help make this event happen every month.

II. Monthly Crime Report by Senior Lead Officer Armen Sevdalian

A. A team of male blacks, one with gold upper front teeth, committing kidnap/robberies driving grey Ford Thunderbird (90’s model). They may be individuals from outside the city and the crimes are likely related to prostitution. An investigation is currently underway and suspects have been identified. No additional details can be disclosed at this time.

B. Warmer temps cause people to leave windows and doors open. Two incidents of “hot-prowl” burglaries (opportunity crimes in units with open entry) have occurred recently

C. No homicides YTD allowing detectives to work existing cases.

D. Violent felonies are down and arrest rate has gone up.

E. The Thai New Year celebration went very well on Sunday, 04/03.

F. Thursday April 7, near Wilcox and Hollywood station, Educate, Eradicate, and Enforce (EEE) Program is happening soon. Groups will be walking the neighborhood and passing out information on city services. Police will “chaperone” to offer some protection.

G. CPAB meeting Saturday the 9^th, 7:30 a.m. at Paramount. Call Art Holmes (213) 485-4310 to become a CPAB member. Only members can attend this event and cards/credentials are checked upon entry.

H. 04/24 - Armenian Genocide demonstration/march from Hobart/HWD through the neighborhood.

I. 4 surveillance cameras are currently operational along HWD Blvd. 1 month recording allows detectives to review information after crimes are reported.

J. Captain Downing is transferring to the South L.A. Division due to a promotion. A farewell party will be held April 7, 2005, 6pm to 8pm at Blue Palm Restaurant, Music Box at the Henry Fonda, 6126 Hollywood Boulevard (at Gower)

K. Inclusion of airport policing as an LAPD responsibility will require a force of 600 officers. Current airport officers may not be eligible to work for LAPD so additional hiring may be necessary and shifting resources may impact service in other areas in the short term.

L. Some neighborhood concerns regarding efficient use of city funds. May want to suggest to Council that surplus budget for Rampart settlements should be redirected to hire more officers, especially for our area.

III. The process by which L.A. reports statistics is being reviewed. This could provide more accurate statistics on Hollywood, and could help us as well as city officials get a clearer understanding of our neighborhood and our needs – Neighbors Walker Dearth from Hollywood Chamber of Commerce, and Jered Elmore from Hollywood Coordinating Council.

A. Walker Derth reported that general inquires about statistics particular to the Hollywood area are often unavailable or difficult to obtain.

B. AB 588 has been proposed to create a Hollywood statistical reporting district.

C. Data currently collected by the city can be organized in a separate category.

D. Housing, income, ethnicity, and other data would be valuable to businesses and residents.

E. The bill does not require reporting of sales tax or property tax data. It would be ideal but would cost $550K through State Board of Equalization. This bill will cost the state under $10K. It is more budget friendly in the current climate of tight budgets.

F. Another point is that Hollywood is a unique community with a distinct geographic and economic identity.

G. The members present voted that Eastwood will draft a letter of support for review by group at next meeting prior to submission (Moved-Dave Monks / 2^nd-Jered Elmore / Majority Approval).

IV. Fire Station 82 – The Negative Declaration report conducted by the Bureau of Engineering will be completed this Thursday, April 7^th, and available online at: http://eng.lacity.org/techdocs/emg/Environmental_Review_Documents.htm

The deadline for public comment is April 27^th. Our voices need to be heard!

Let’s organize to create a public comment letter from Eastwood.

A. EIR/Negative Declaration Report has been reopened for revision.

B. This is the second EIR/Neg. Dec. being done for this project at the Florentine Gardens location. Last time we made no public comment for lack of notice.

C. It was reported that any historical elements of the Florentine Gardens may have been removed already through a series of permitted minor restorations. There may be no substantive argument for saving the Florentine Gardens, at least prior to completion of eminent domain proceedings.

D. The members present voted to form a committee to draft a public comment letter of support for placement of FS #82 in FG location on behalf of EWC. (Motion – Dave / Rich McNaughten / Majority Approval)

E. Discussion: It was also reported that the Hollywood Presbyterian Curch has a youth ministry that meets at the FG on Sunday mornings. This fellowship had been meeting at QTopia, and started out with 4 attendees. It grew to over 800 and had to move to a larger locale, the FG. This youth ministry will be looking for an alternate venue before Florentine Gardens is demolished. They are already well aware of the proposed change.

F. Hollywood Heritage may pursue adaptive reuse or preservation of frontage of Florentine Gardens following eminent domain proceedings

V. Woonerfs, Parks, and Plazas – A report from neighbor Rich McNaughten on our Neighborhood and Environment Committee regarding the development of the proposed beautification for the future of our neighborhood.

A. In a residential neighborhood, Woonerfs are a viable alternative to regular streets where these streets are being used as thoroughfares.

B. We use this language in part because SNAP ordinances refer to Woonerfs, so it’s “code friendly”.

C. Neighborhood and Environment Committee will meet within next two weeks. Date/time TBD.

D. Robert Noodleman will be courted to give historical info on neighborhood (esp. HWD/Gmcy) that can be incorporated into future planning.

VI. Filming seems to be booming in our neighborhood – 5 shoots this week in our hood. With parking already a problem, how can we best work with the production companies when they invade our neighborhood?

A. Tabled for next meeting

VII. A call for more organic produce at our local grocery markets – Neighbor Dave Monks

A. Ralph’s may be a potential organic foods provider for our neighborhood. We should approach them to present and take comment at our next meeting.

B. Dave Monks – In San Francisco, Kroger (Ralph’s parent company) took over and operated an organic grocer with great success. They may be willing to incorporate similar organic foods the neighborhood wanted from Whole Foods as an alternative to their development. We should invite one of their managers to our next meeting to discuss this potential change.

VIII. Block-by-Block Updates.

A. Garfield – some bulky item dumping is taking place and homeless folks are frequenting the Bond lot. Neighborhood watch signs are not up yet.

B. Steven Carthy submitted a report for Taft.

IX. Council District Updates and Announcements. – None Offered

X. Public Comment – None Offered

XI. Adjournment.