The Public Square: March 12–15, 2012

A brief look at items of interest to Hollywood residents that are on upcoming agendas at City Council, City Council Committees, Neighborhood Councils, various City Boards and Commissions, and County Board of Supervisors. LA City Agendas can be found here and LA County Board agendas can be found here.

As always, the meeting times, locations, and agendas are subject to change, so be sure to check and confirm.

Monday, March 12:

• The City Council is on recess from Friday March 9th to Wednesday March 14th for the National League of Cities' Annual Congressional City Conference (in Washington, D.C.).
• Hollywood Studio District Neighborhood Council Board (6:30 PM)
  • Agenda (.pdf)
    • Meeting will be held at Santa Monica Boulevard Community Charter School (1022 North Van Ness Avenue).
  • Item 7 (Report)
    • Report by CD 13 on the Western Avenue Streetscape Project.

Tuesday, March 13:

• The City Council is on recess from Friday March 9th to Wednesday March 14th for the National League of Cities' Annual Congressional City Conference (in Washington, D.C.).
• County Board of Supervisors (9:30 AM)
  • No items of note.
• Mid City West Community Council Board (7:00 PM)
  • Agenda (.pdf)
    • Meeting will be held at the National Council of Jewish Women Building (543 North Fairfax Avenue) in the Auditorium.

Wednesday, March 14:

• The City Council is on recess from Friday March 9th to Wednesday March 14th for the National League of Cities' Annual Congressional City Conference (in Washington, D.C.).
• Greater Wilshire Neighborhood Council Board (7:00 PM)
  • Agenda
    • Meeting will be held at the Ebell of Los Angeles (4400 Wilshire Boulevard) in the Wilshire Ebell Theater.

Thursday, March 15:

• Community Redevelopment Agency of Los Angeles Board Meeting (9:30 AM)

• Item 2 (Consent Item)
  • Report (.pdf) recommending the rescission of 12 conditionally approved CRA/LA Projects, and their related agreements, contracts and loans, that were approved by the CRA/LA Board between June 29, 2011 and December 29, 2011. Per the report, the California State Supreme Court’s decision affirming that the State Legislature had the authority to abolish Redevelopment Agencies “effectively prohibits implementation of the previously approved CRA/LA projects”.
  • 2 of the 12 conditionally approved CRA/LA Projects that are recommended to have their approval rescinded are located in Hollywood:
    • A grant funding agreement with Youth Policy Institute to provide a conditional grant of up to $120,000 to pay for the provision of social and economic development services to residents in the Hollywood Redevelopment Project Area (Council File 11-1729).
    • A Tri-Party Memorandum of Understanding with the City of Los Angeles’ Bureau of Engineering and the Friends of the Hollywood Freeway Central Park for the preparation of a an Environmental Impact Report (EIR) and Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) for the Hollywood Freeway Central Park project and the transfer of up to $2 Million in Hollywood Tax Increment Funds to fund the preparation and processing of the EIR and EIS (Council File 11-2115 and Council File 11-2115-S1).

The Public Square: March 5–7, 2012

A brief look at items of interest to Hollywood residents that are on upcoming agendas at City Council, City Council Committees, Neighborhood Councils, various City Boards and Commissions, and County Board of Supervisors. LA City Agendas can be found here and LA County Board agendas can be found here.

As always, the meeting times, locations, and agendas are subject to change, so be sure to check and confirm.

Monday, March 5:

• Budget and Finance Council Committee (2:00 PM)
  • Item 2 (Council File 11-1702)
    • City Controller report on the Controller’s Blueprint for a Transition to Performance based Budgeting for the City of Los Angeles (.pdf).
    • From the report summary: “Across-the-board budget reductions made without
      reliable performance data linked to costs do not serve City decision-makers or the public well. A performance-based budgeting process would allow decision-makers to better understand the trade-offs of various budget options and, ultimately, to prioritize among policy proposals.”
• Rules, Elections, and Intergovernmental Elections Committee – Special Meeting (4:00 PM)
  • Item 1 (Council File 11-0187-S3)
    • Communication from the Los Angeles City Council Redistricting Commission
      relative to a Final Report and Map Recommendations (.pdf) on their proposed new City Council District Boundaries.

Tuesday, March 6:

• County Board of Supervisors (9:30 AM)
  • No items of note.
• City Council (10:00 AM)
  • Item 14 (Council File 12-0073)
    • Audits and Governmental Efficiency Committee report on a City Controller report (.pdf) relative to the Controller’s Audit of the City’s street furniture contract.
  • Item 15 (Council File 11-1658-S1)
    • Audits and Governmental Efficiency Committee report on a Bureau of Street Services report (.pdf) in response to the Controller’s Audit of the City’s street furniture contract.
• Rules, Elections, and Intergovernmental Elections Committee – Special Meeting (4:00 PM)
  • Item 1 (Council File 11-0187-S3)
    • Communication from the Los Angeles City Council Redistricting Commission
      relative to a Final Report and Map Recommendations (.pdf) on their proposed new City Council District Boundaries.

Wednesday, March 7:

• City Council (10:00 AM)
  • No items of note.
• Arts, Parks, Health and Aging Council Committee (2:00 PM)
  • Item 4 (Council File 12-0307)
    • Motion (.pdf) requesting various department to:
      1. Provide an overview of all of the City-owned equine areas and the work that has been done to maintain, improve, increase, and promote said areas. 
      2. Report on the progress of the policies adopted in the 2001 General Plan Conservation Element and details in regard to the equine areas in the City.
      3. Report with recommendations on how the City can better promote the City’s horse trails and equine areas through online and off-line publicity and promotion.
• Rules, Elections, and Intergovernmental Elections Committee – Special Meeting (4:00 PM)
  • Item 1 (Council File 11-0187-S3)
    • Communication from the Los Angeles City Council Redistricting Commission
      relative to a Final Report and Map Recommendations (.pdf) on their proposed new City Council District Boundaries.

Vine Street Towers Project (1601 North Vine Street) Appears Dead in the Water

Ron Kaye LA has a great post up recalling the controversy surrounding the City Council’s approval of the Vine Street Tower Project; the $1,100,000 settlement agreement between Molly's Burger, CRA/LA, and project developer Hal Katersky; and, Councilmember Eric Garcetti’s role in pushing the Vine Street Towers Project forward.

The project, as you may recall, proposed to construct a 8-story, 107,298 square foot, mixed-use commercial building, with ground floor retail and 194 parking spaces in a 5 level subterranean parking structure on CRA/LA owned property at 1601-1605 North Vine Street.

The most controversial part of the project was the proposed land deal. As part of the land deal the CRA/LA proposed to sell their property at 1601-1605 North Vine Street to the project developer, Hal Katersky, for $825,000, even though they had purchased it – from Hal Katersky – just a few years before for $5,450,000. Bad as that sounds the story gets worse: When the CRA/LA purchased the property from Hal Katersky in October 2006 their own appraisal pegged the value of the site at only $4,070,000, but the CRA/LA staff decided to ignore their appraisal and recommend instead that their Board pay $5,450,000.

Anyway, here’s Ron Kaye on the current status of the project (emphasis mine):

On Feb. 16, Chris Essel, CEO of the defunct agency, told the panel appointed by the governor to clean up LA’s redevelopment mess that 1601 N. Vine project was in serious trouble because “material changes” had occurred and the new developer was unable to meet the conditions of the CRA contract.

Specifically, the requirement for entertainment industry tenants was unattainable so the contract would have to be negated or renegotiated by the new redevelopment panel, the designated local agency headed by developer Nelson Rising.

The $4.6 million gift of taxpayer money promised to Katersky and his Pacifica Ventures was no longer on the table.

With the project all but dead, the land sits idle with the only winner of this dark comedy about City Hall corruption being Mrs. Kwok Yi, owner of Molly’s Burgers who managed to walk away with a $1.1 million payday from the CRA and Katersky to close her modest stand adjacent to the office project site.

Head over to Ron Kaye LA to read his entire story, which also includes a number of video clips from City Council meetings on the project. In the video clips you can watch Councilmember Eric Garcetti heap endless praise on the project, defend the terms of the CRA/LA’s deal, and exhort his fellow Councilmembers to approve it.

I’ll say this: Looking back on the project, it is amazing to think how much time, effort, and financial resources were wasted by the CRA/LA on the Vine Street Tower Project -- resources that clearly could have been better used elsewhere in Hollywood. It is projects like this that make me happy the CRA/LA was abolished. The terms of this deal just never made sense and CRA/LA staff had to have know that. Yet the CRA/LA (and Councilmember Eric Garcetti) continued to go through all these shenanigans try to justify the project. All this for a project that was, at the end of the day, supposed to just be a simple "Class A" commercial office building in Hollywood. Amazing.

The Public Square: February 27–29, 2012

A brief look at items of interest to Hollywood residents that are on upcoming agendas at City Council, City Council Committees, Neighborhood Councils, various City Boards and Commissions, and County Board of Supervisors. LA City Agendas can be found here and LA County Board agendas can be found here.

As always, the meeting times, locations, and agendas are subject to change, so be sure to check and confirm.

Monday, February 27:

• Central Hollywood Neighborhood Council Board Meeting (6:15 PM)
  • Agenda not yet available on the web. Search here or here for the Agenda.
    • Meeting is regularly scheduled to be held on the fourth Monday of each month at the Hollywood City Hall (6501 Fountain Avenue) in the Community Room.
• East Hollywood Neighborhood Council Community Forum & Board Meeting (6:30 PM)
  • Agenda (.pdf)
    • Meeting will be held at L.A. City College (855 North Vermont Avenue) in the Faculty & Staff Center.
  • Item 11D (Action Items)

    • Discussion and possible action regarding development and approval of alternative community zoning plan for East Hollywood, including a Pedestrian Oriented District  for Historic Route 66, to be presented to the LA City Council in lieu of the Hollywood Community Plan Update.

Tuesday, February 28:

• County Board of Supervisors (9:30 AM)  
  • No items of note.
• City Council (10:00 AM)
  • No items of note.
• Audits and Governmental Efficiency Committee (2:00 PM)
  • Item 1 (Council File 12-0073)
    • City Controller report (.pdf) relative to the Controller’s Audit of the City’s street furniture contract.
    • Viewpoints: As I previously noted here, the City Controller’s Audit (.pdf) of the City’s street furniture contract found that the City lost out on $23.1 million in revenue it should have earned “due to the methodology used to calculate annual fees paid to the City”. The Audit also found that the City’s “cumbersome” permit approval process (e.g. each City Council Office has “veto” power of the placement of street furniture) for the installation of street furniture caused installation delays, which contributed to City missing out on another $14.9 million in revenue it should have earned.
  • Item 2 (Council File 11-1658-S1)
    • Bureau of Street Services report (.pdf) in response to the Controller’s Audit of the City’s street furniture contract
• Planning and Land Use Management Council Committee (2:30 PM)
  • Item 1 (Council File 11-0086-S4)
    • City Planning report (.pdf) on policy options relative to the transfer and/or preservation of the land use powers held by the former CRA/LA. Per the report, the three identified options are:
      1. “Develop a limited transition ordinance, addressing Municipal Code references to redevelopment, and zoning code references to redevelopment to shift decision making authority from CRA/LA to the Director of Planning and the Planning Commission”.
      2. “In addition to #1, develop an ordinance to incorporate all Redevelopment Plan land use permit review authority for existing Redevelopment Plans, and shift authority for implementing land use review from CRA/LA to Director of Planning”.
      3. “In addition to #2, adopt transition ordinances for each Redevelopment Plan to fully integrate land use regulatory controls into the Department of City Planning's overlays, specific plans, and code regulations”.

Wednesday, February 29:

• City Council (10:00 AM)
  • Item 11 (Council File 12-0197)
    • Transportation Committee report on a LADOT report (.pdf) requesting authority to not enforce certain categories of parking laws in the Los Angeles Municipal Code.
    • Recommendation that (1) LADOT be authorized to “not enforce certain categories of parking laws in the LAMC when requested in writing by a Councilmember or the Mayor” and (2) LADOT be directed to “establish the administrative procedures to effectuate the policy…”.
    • Per the LADOT report (.pdf), “There are instances when the best interests of the public are served by allowing parking enforcement exceptions to existing municipal parking laws on a limited basis and in special circumstances” such as canceled street cleaning, designated City holidays, school events, and events involving elected officials.
• Los Angeles City Council Redistricting Commission (4:00 PM)
  • Item 4 (Discussion)
    • Commission discussion and possible approval on actions related to the Final Council District Boundary Map Recommendation and Report to the City Council.

Redistricting: Redistricting Commission to Vote on a Final City Council District Map

Tomorrow, Wednesday, February 22nd, the Los Angeles City Council Redistricting Commission is scheduled to meet to vote on a Final Map Recommendation to the City Council for the new City Council District boundaries. The meeting agenda and a Memo from the Redistricting Commission Staff can be found here (.pdf).

Last week the Commission met and approved a number of adjustments to the Commission’s Original Draft Map of City Council Districts. The Commission staff took that approved list of adjustments and developed the Adjusted Draft Map. The Adjusted Draft Map was released last Friday and can be found at the Commission's website.

Here’s how the Redistricting Commission Staff describes the Adjusted Draft Map, and the changes they made to it last week, in their Memo (see Item #3 on the Agenda) to the Commission:

“The Adjusted Draft Map cures historically divisive issues, as well as paying close attention to a new issue that has developed over the last 10 years, the formation of 95 Neighborhood Councils. In the Adjusted Draft Map, 69.5 percent (66) of Neighborhood Councils are kept whole, an increase of 24 Neighborhood Councils over the 2002 Council District lines, while dividing 27 Neighborhood Councils between two Council Districts and 2 Neighborhood Councils between three Council Districts. The proposed Map unites the Baldwin Hills and Leimert Park communities, a major issue of contention in 2001-02, that have been divided for at least forty years. The proposed Map also unites Downtown Los Angeles (also a major issue of contention in 2001-02), another neighborhood that has been divided for twenty years. Furthermore, the proposed Map unites the Koreatown community under one Council District, another major issue of contention in 2001-02 and a community that has been divided for at least forty years. Lastly, the proposed Map helps to cure the divide in Northeast Los Angeles by placing the communities in two Council Districts, an area of the City that has been split between three Council Districts for at least forty years.”

As an aside, I’d note that the Adjusted Draft Map does nothing to “cure the divide” in Hollywood, which has been split between multiple Council Districts – in some way, shape, or form – for at least 50 years. Of course, there are some in Hollywood (such as the Hollywood Chamber of Commerce) who seem to prefer it that way, but that is an issue for another day.

Following Wednesday’s meeting, Commission staff will make any last adjustments to the Adjusted Draft Map, develop the proposed Final Map, and put together the Commission's Final Map Recommendation report for the City Council. The Redistricting Commission will meet one last time, on Wednesday, February 29th, but no additional adjustments will be made to the Final Map at that meeting. The proposed Final Map will be submitted to the City Council no later than March 1, 2012.

Once the Final Map has been submitted to the City Council the Redistricting Commission’s role in the process will be complete. At that point, the City Council has the authority to amend and modify the Redistricting Commission's plan in whatever way they want. The City Council is required to adopt a redistricting plan no later than July 1, 2012.

The Public Square: February 20–22, 2012

A brief look at items of interest to Hollywood residents that are on upcoming agendas at City Council, City Council Committees, Neighborhood Councils, various City Boards and Commissions, and County Board of Supervisors. LA City Agendas can be found here and LA County Board agendas can be found here.

Meeting times, locations, and agendas are subject to change, so be sure to check and confirm.

Monday, February 20:

• City Offices are closed in observance of the President's Day Holiday.
• Hollywood United Neighborhood Council Board (6:30 PM)
  • Agenda
    • Meeting will be held at Seventh-day Adventist Church of Hollywood (1711 North Van Ness Avenue).
  • Item 7 (Discussion and Possible Action)
    • Update and possible position/letter regarding the City’s Redistricting process.

Tuesday, February 21:

• City Council (10:00 AM)
  • Item 2 (Council File 10-1504)
    • Ordinance relative to the reconfirmation of the Los Feliz Village Merchant-Based
      Business Improvement District and associated City Clerk report (.pdf).
• County Board of Supervisors (1:00 PM)
  • No items of note.
• Greater Griffith Park Neighborhood Council Board (7:00 PM)
  • Agenda (.pdf)
    • Meeting will be held at the Los Feliz Community Police Center (1965 North Hillhurst Avenue) in the second floor meeting room.

Wednesday, February 22:

• City Council (10:00 AM)
  • Item 11 (Council File 11-0600-S152)
    • Budget and Finance Committee report relative to the CAO's Third Financial Status Report (.pdf) for Fiscal Year 2011-2012. Per the CAO report, “the projected Citywide deficit [of $72.0 million] has been eliminated”. However, the report also notes that the projected budget gap for the next fiscal year, which starts July 1st, will be “between $150 million and $200 million”.
• Public Works Council Committee (2:00 PM)
  • Item 1 (Presentation)
    • Presentation from the Bureau of Engineering relative to the process for street vacations and temporary closures.
• Transportation Council Committee (2:00 PM)
  • Item 2 (Council File 12-0197)
    • LADOT report (.pdf) requesting authority to not enforce certain categories of parking laws in the Los Angeles Municipal Code.
    • Per the report, “There are instances when the best interests of the public are served by allowing parking enforcement exceptions to existing municipal parking laws on a limited basis and in special circumstances” such as canceled street cleaning, designated City holidays, school events, and events involving elected officials.
• Los Angeles City Council Redistricting Commission (4:00 PM)
  • Item 3 (Discussion)
    • Commission discussion and possible approval on actions related to the Final map of Council District boundaries.
• Bel-Air Beverly Crest Neighborhood Council Board Meeting (7:00 PM)
  • Agenda not yet available on the web. Check here for the Agenda.
    • Meeting is scheduled to be held at the Community Magnet School (located at 11301 Bellagio Road).

Redistricting: Redistricting Commission to Discuss Potential Adjustments to the Draft City Council District Map

Tomorrow, Wednesday, February 15th, the Los Angeles City Council Redistricting Commission is scheduled to meet to vote on potential adjustments to the Commission’s Draft map of City Council Districts in order to provide direction and recommendations for the Commission’s Final Map.

The Commission’s draft map, which was released just over three weeks ago, was subject to a fair amount of criticism (and some praise) from residents across the City; including a number of City Councilmembers. Over the last two weeks the Commission held seven public hearings across the City to gather input and comments on the Draft Map. During those public hearings the Commission acknowledged the Draft Map’s “imperfections” and noted that “many inadvertent things” happened when the Draft Map was put together.

At tomorrow’s meeting the Commission will consider at least 75 proposed adjustments  to the Draft Map (see Item #3 on tomorrow’s Agenda). The Commission will vote on each of these proposed adjustments (and possibly others, as suggested by Commission members) in order to develop a consensus list of final adjustments to the Draft Map.

A number of these potential adjustments involve making changes to the Draft Map’s proposed City Council boundary lines in the Hollywood area. These potential adjustments include:

• No. 10: Place the area of Los Feliz bounded by Western Avenue, Franklin Avenue, Normandie
  Avenue, and Los Feliz Boulevard (with the exception of the businesses on the north side of Hollywood Boulevard that are part of Thai Town) in Council District 4. This adjustment would mirror the current City Council District boundary line in this area.
• No. 11: Place the Hollywood Business District, as identified by the CRA/LA Hollywood project area (.pdf) boundaries, completely within Council District 13.
• No. 12: Move the Southeast portion of Silver Lake north of Sunset Boulevard back to Council District 13.
• No. 27: Unite Hollywood in Council District 4. At a minimum, move the boundary between Council District 13 and Council District 4 (which the draft map proposes be at Hollywood Boulevard) north to Franklin Avenue.
• No. 41: Unite the communities of Little Armenia and Los Feliz in one City Council District.
• No. 60: Revisit the creation of a 6th majority population Council District in the San Fernando
  Valley as the current configuration of 2 overlapping Valley/LA Basin Council Districts better
  protects and maintains communities of interest on both sides of the Santa Monica mountains.
• No. 75: Unite Hollywood in Council District 4.

Following tomorrow’s meeting, the Commission staff will use the list of final adjustments to develop the proposed Final Map. The Redistricting Commission will vote on the proposed Final Map on Wednesday, February 22nd, and submit that proposed Final Map to the City Council no later than March 1, 2012. Again, as I’ve noted before, the City Council is not required to adopt the plan developed by the Redistricting Commission and it has the authority to amend and modify the Redistricting Commission's plan as it seems fit.

The Public Square: February 13–15, 2012

A brief look at items of interest to Hollywood residents that are on upcoming agendas at City Council, City Council Committees, Neighborhood Councils, various City Boards and Commissions, and County Board of Supervisors. LA City Agendas can be found here and LA County Board agendas can be found here. Meeting times, locations, and agendas are subject to change, so be sure to check and confirm.

Monday, February 13:

• Budget and Finance Council Committee (2:00 PM)
  • Item 6 (Council File 11-0600-S152)
    • CAO's Third Financial Status Report (.pdf) for Fiscal Year 2011-2012.
    • Per the report, “the projected Citywide deficit [of $72.0 million] has been eliminated”. However, the report also notes that the projected budget gap for the next fiscal year, which starts July 1st, will be “between $150 million and $200 million”.
    • Viewpoints: The LA Times writes that “[e]very fiscal year since 2007-08, the city has projected at midyear that it would face a multimillion-dollar deficit and has taken steps to eliminate it. Santana expects the pattern to continue and said the city must find new ways to reduce costs and build up its reserves. The city has adopted severe measures to hold down costs, such as halting hiring for most city jobs.”
• Hollywood Studio District Neighborhood Council Board (6:30 PM)
  • Agenda (.pdf)
    • Meeting will be held at Santa Monica Boulevard Community Charter School (1022 North Van Ness Avenue).
  • Item 10.1 (PLUM Committee)
    • Discussion and possible action relative to a proposed conditional letter of support for Target Shopping Center project proposed for the corner of Sunset and Western (5520 Sunset Boulevard) in East Hollywood.

Tuesday, February 14:

• County Board of Supervisors (9:30 AM)
  • No items of note.
• City Council (10:00 AM)
  • Item 25 (Council File 12-0208)
    • Motion relative to approving the negotiated payment of $300K, from the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to the City, to pay for City resources need to facilitate the production of the 2012 Academy Awards (Oscars) at the Kodak Theatre.
    • Viewpoints: Why is the City subsidizing the production of the Academy Awards? The broadcast rights to the Academy Awards generates a significant amount of revenue for the Academy so it is inconceivable that Academy -- unlike a lot of Los Angeles’ special cultural events and festivals -- can’t afford to fully reimburse the City’s for its costs and expenses.
• Planning and Land Use Management Council Committee (2:30 PM)
  • Item 1 (Verbal Report)
    • Verbal report by City Planning and City Attorney, relative to the preparation of an
      ordinance that would transfer/preserve the land use powers held by the now dissolved CRA/LA.
• Mid City West Community Council Board (7:00 PM)
  • Agenda (.pdf)
    • Meeting will be held at the National Council of Jewish Women Building (543 North Fairfax Avenue) in the Auditorium.

Wednesday, February 15:

• City Council (10:00 AM)
  • Item 32 (Council File 12-0031)
    • Transportation Committee Report relative to instructing LADOT to (1) report with recommendations and actions necessary to permanently close Yucca Street to through vehicular traffic at Las Palmas, Cherokee, and Whitley Avenues with traffic diverters that prevent access for vehicles but allow bicycle and pedestrian movement, and (2) to designate Yucca Street as a bicycle friendly street.
• Los Angeles City Council Redistricting Commission (4:00 PM)
  • Item 3 (Discussion)
    • Commission discussion and possible approval on actions related to the Final map of Council District boundaries.
• Hollywood Hills West Neighborhood Council Board Meeting (6:30 PM)
  • Agenda (.pdf)
    • Meeting will be held at the Women's Club of Hollywood (1749 North La Brea Avenue).