Hollywood United Neighborhood Council

Hollywood United Neighborhood Council Board Meeting
Minutes for September 19, 2005
6:30 - 8:30 PM
Community Room
First Presbyterian Church of Hollywood

Agenda Item 1-Roll Call & Approval of minutes

Roll Call: Robert Abrahamian-late, Jordan Birnbaum-present, Russell Brown-absent, Maurece Chesse-present, Ann DeBello-absent & excused (with a med team on Gulf Coast), Andrew Ettinger-present, Joel Fisher-present, Norma Foster-present, Viktoria Gaw-present, Andrew Glazier---present, Scott Larson-present, Susan Polifronio-present, Hilary Royce---late, bringing Captain Sanchez to meeting, David Schlessinger---absent & excused, Gary Slossberg---present, Charles Suhayda-present, Susan Swan-present.

Minutes of the meeting were reviewed. Motion: To approve by Susan Polifronio. Second : Charles Suhayda. Vote: 13---Yes, 0---No.

Agenda Item 2---LAPD Senior Lead Officers Report: Hollywood Crime Statistics

1) Officer Mike Shea : Burglary Theft from Vehicle (BTFV) is a problem; biggest problem in the city. One reason why crime is low on Hollywood Blvd this month is because we're using recruits from the Police Academy to conduct foot patrols. Foot beats give high police visibility.

Cameras on Hollywood Blvd are manned by one officer and are used for operations like narcotics. The BID is discussing the addition of 4 more cameras to the 5 that are already in use. There are signs posted in areas where cameras are used; two signs at every intersection where cameras are used from LaBrea to Gower. There will be added camera locations at: Yucca/Cahuenga, Hollywood/El Centro, Schrader/Selma, and Hollywood LaBrea.

Street characters are becoming a problem. They take photos with tourists, then chase them down for money. The City Attorney states that they're not street vendors. Some of these characters prey on tourists; they have committed assaults, including sexual assaults. The LAPD plan is to meet with the City Attorney to develop rules governing street characters. Then there will be a meeting between LAPD and street characters at Hollywood/Highland. Then a Task Force will conduct undercover operations to enforce the rules.

Questions:

Q: What will be going on for Halloween?

Ans: We will have PSA's on silly string. Other measures will also be in play.

Officer Bill Sollie : We worked with our area this summer and held 2 events to distribute fliers on BTFV. As a result BTFV is down in our area (Hollywood Hills). There was a good arrest made on Cahuenga Terrace of a "hot prowler." He was in the home when the residents were present. One burglary arrest like this can be linked to 15-20 burglaries.

Officer Sollie recommends that we have a fire inspector attend a HUNC Board meeting to talk about fire safety. In the Hollywood Hills there are numerous homeless camps. A mounted detail of LAPD will move people out of the area.

Questions :

Q : We're having mail stolen at Gower & Carmen. Also is there a problem at the halfway house on Beachwood? Groups of young people are going up and down Gower making noise at night.

Ans : The halfway house has a curfew. But we'll be doing a night shift soon in that area. On the issue of mail theft, recommend keeping mail for a mail box drop and not using home pick-up.

Q : There are moonlighting crews doing videos between 10:30 PM and Midnight on Gower.

Ans : We'll look into that.

Officer Armen Sevdalian : Highest crime category for us is BTFV. We had 2 serious crimes on 8/28/05: (1) Attempted murder-a man tried to stab his ex-girlfriend to death. He was taken into custody near USC; (2) A gang related shooting that resulted in 3 White Fence members being hit. Another gang (MC) committed the drive-by shooting. Tagging of property by gangs continues as a major problem. 18 th Street, White Fence, MC are all tagging in our area.

Agenda Item 3-Public Comment

1) Rory Fitzpatrick : (1) Griffith Park Master Plan -The working group has met three times. Councilmember LaBonge supports the urban wilderness concept. The opening of the Griffith Park Observatory will impact HUNC. A consulting firm has been hired to study traffic patterns and look at the concept of timed entry to the Observatory (i.e. Make a reservation). It is estimated that the Observatory will attract 17,000 people/day, while the capacity at the Observatory is 10,000 people/day. There will be a need for shuttle buses and off-site parking. Parking at the Observatory will be for disabled people and shuttle buses only. (2) Traffic Mobility Action Committee -We'd like to reactivate this committee. We would meet regularly with representatives from 3 NC's---Greater Griffith Park, HUNC, and Hollywood Hills West. This committee would help us with one of the biggest challenges for the Hollywood/Wilshire DOT-prioritizing the large number of requests (800-900) coming to DOT. Only 20% of the requests come from city council members. In CD 4 there was action on 419 requests beginning on January 1, 2005. The components of a Traffic Study: Engineering---Speed---Volume. For example: Speed Bump Criteria (warrants)-a) Verify there is a problem, b) Volume of traffic, c) Engineering-look at the grade; if > 6% then can't have speed bump. We need to do the study then go through the petition process.

(3) Reservoir -The northern portion of road around the reservoir is open. The southern portion had 3 slides and we're looking for additional dollars to fix this.

Presentation to Past-President of HUNC-Joel Fisher : HUNC President, Susan Polifronio presented a gavel to Joel Fisher in appreciation for his service to HUNC both in the organizing/founding phases and for his tenure as HUNC President.

Agenda Item 5-Committee Reports

(1) Vice President-No report

(2) Recording Secretary-No report

(3) Treasurer-Will bring another budget to the October meeting

(4) Communications Secretary-No Report

(5) Past President-Brief report on the LANC Congress.

(6) President---Susan Polifronio-Presented the Motion: That HUNC approve its participation in the Collaborative Learning Project with the University of Southern California. Second: Joel Fisher. Vote: 12---Yes, 0-No, 1-Abstain.

Discussion: Jim McQuiston-They tried to use the USC project in the southern area (San Pedro) and there was some discontent because of limited participation. Bill Rozendahl-Why aren't NC's doing more outreach to get more people involved? Norma Foster---The whole USC study is so internal that it doesn't help NC's.

Agenda Item 5A-Education & Youth Committee

Andrew Glazier reported that on October 6 th there would be a welcoming party for the new principal at Cheremoya Elementary School. He is requesting $200 from HUNC for food and outreach expenses for this event. Parents of the students will also be attending this event. Motion: To approve HUNC's support of the event with $200. Second: Susan Polifronio. Amendment to motion : by Jordan Birnbaum to support party on whatever date it is held. Vote: 13---Yes, 0-No.

Gary Slossberg reported on the Mayor's Day of Service on October 8 th . Volunteers from the community and HUNC would be working at Cheremoya and Grant Elementary Schools. Volunteers should arrive at 8 AM for clean-up and school improvement projects. Activities will include: (1) basic clean-up, (2) Mural project at Cheremoya (Viktoria Gaw is coordinator), (3) Gardening at Cheremoya.

Motion: By Susan Polifronio -- Approve the use of $500 of HUNC funds for Outreach for the Mayor's Day of Service Event. Second: Jordan Birnbaum. Vote: 13-Yes, 0-No.

Business Committee: Jordan Birnbaum and Andrew Glazier will draft guidelines for this committee.

Public Safety and Transportation: This is a good time to conduct a Town Hall Meeting on natural disasters, like earthquakes. There can also be a presentation on the question of Terrorism and Anti-terroism measures by Capt. Sanchez and SLO Mike Shea. M. Chesse recommended another roster for CERT Training.

Neighborhood & Environment: Requesting timed entry and exit from Observatory in Griffith Park. The bus ticket would indicate the time of your departure. Regarding the Griffith Park Master Plan, there is a new vision for an urban wilderness park. We are re-drafting the proposal. No N&E meeting this month.

PLUM: No new report.

Events/Arts/Culture: Hilary Royce and Jordan Birnbaum met on Saturday. They are looking for corporate sponsorships for events and conducting publicity for events.

Social Service & Faith-Based: No new report.

Historic Preservation & Zoning: No report. See handout.

CPAB: No new report. Next meeting is on Tues. 9/27/05.

Agenda Item 5C-Booth at Hollywood Business Exposition 2005

Joel Fisher spoke on the need for HUNC to have a booth at the Hollywood Business Exposition on September 22, 2005. The purpose would be for outreach to the business community by HUNC. The cost is $300. Motion: By Joel Fisher that HUNC have a booth at the Hollywood Business Exposition and that that $300 be allocated to rent the booth. Second: Susan Swan. Vote: 14---Yes, 0---No.

Booth at the Fire Fighters Fair

Motion: By Susan Polifronio that HUNC purchase a booth at the Fire Fighters Fair (October 1) for the purpose of outreach and that $200 be allocated for the required fee for the booth. Second: Jordan Birnbaum. Vote: 14---Yes, 0---No.

Old Business:

Andrew Ettinger reported on the DWP MOU. He presented a 4-page handout that included a cover letter from the City of Los Angeles City Administrator and the Chief Legislative Analyst. Included in this material was a proposal to hire an independent contractor to review the revenue requirements of the Department of Water and Power. Andy also submitted his own 1-page analysis of the proposal. A Motion: By Andy Ettinger that we accept the proposed plan to deal with the DWP issue that was submitted by the City Administrator and the Chief Legislative Analyst of the city of Los Angeles. Second: Susan Polifronio. Vote: 14---Yes, 0---No.

Informational Announcement:

Viktoria Gaw attended a meeting on development of the Cornfields site near downtown Los Angeles. City officials present at the meeting included: the mayor, Councilmembers-- LaBonge, Garcetti, Greul, etc. Discussion centered around the revitalization of the Los Angeles River. Comparisons were made to the San Antonio, TX river front area. There will be 15 meetings with communities along the river to discuss the proposed revitalization and gain community input.

LAPD Hollywood Division Captain Ron Sanchez joined the HUNC Board Meeting at 8:15 PM. He was introduced, spoke briefly, and stayed for the remainder of the meeting. He talked with Board members and was part of a group photo taken after the Board Meeting.

Adjourn: Meeting adjourned at 8:30 PM.