Summer Solstice Hike on Monday, June 22nd
Join Tom's for his Annual Sister Cities Summer Solstice Hike to the top of Mount Hollywood in Griffith Park. Meet Tom at the Charlie Turner trail head (north end of the Griffith Observatory parking lot) at 6:00p. on Monday, June 22nd for the 1.5 mile gentle hike. We'll share a potluck, international dinner at the top. Email Jullian Harris-Calvin for more info.
Los Angeles' first Green-Roofed Fire Station
Councilmember LaBonge joined city fire and public works officials in breaking ground on a state-of-the-art fire station that will include a community room for neighbors and a green roof for Mother Nature.
"Good ol' Station 82, which has done a great job of protecting the Hollywood sign as well as the rest of Hollywood, is going to be great new Station 82," said Councilmember LaBonge. "We searched for a long time for the right location and this spot at Hollywood Boulevard and Van Ness Avenue is perfect."
The 32,000-square-foot firehouse will replace a 5,500 square-foot station on Bronson Avenue that had become inadequate to the needs of the community. The $30 million fire station is being funded through the Prop F General Obligation bond, approved by voters in November, 2000.
For more information and a rendering of the new building, click here.
Solar-Powered Brownstones Open in Hollywood
Lynne Jacobs, Director of California’s Department of Housing and Community Development; Dan Thompson, developer of The Gatsby Hollywood and Councilmember LaBonge cut the ribbon on green housing development.
Councilmember LaBonge helped cut the red ribbon on the greenest of green housing developments at Wilcox and Fountain avenues on Thursday as The Gatsby Hollywood opened the first 13 brownstones in a much-anticipated project.
The residential community is the first certified green, all solar home development in Los Angeles, with energy-efficiency features that exceed state requirements. The units, which are Craftsman in style, are outfitted with solar electrical systems, energy-efficient appliances, gray-water plumbing to irrigate the landscaping with re-usable water and other cutting-edge features.
Councilmember LaBonge thanked developer Dan Thompson, CEO of MasterCraft Homes Group, for also arranging for the preservation of a 1904 Craftsman building on the property as part of the project.
“This corner [Fountain and Wilcox] has been historic for a long time and I thank Dan and his team for turning it into a design that says ‘community’,” said LaBonge.
Director of California’s Department of Housing and Community Development, Lynne Jacobs, was also on hand for the opening event.
“California is leading the way in sustainable building and the Gatsby Hollywood exemplifies our state’s progress. We’re bringing sustainable building to the state level and I know I can refer doubting inspectors to The Gatsby Hollywood to prove how sustainable building works,” said Lynne Jacobs.
End Billboard Blight
On the day that the City Council is scheduled to consider a sweeping ordinance to regulate all signage and billboards in Los Angeles, Councilmembers Tom LaBonge and Bill Rosendahl joined billboard activists on the steps of City Hall to rally for stronger regulation than the measure proposes.
Probable Councilmember-Elect Paul Koretz, who is ahead in the vote count for the Fifth Council seat, joined the press conference in support of the motions as well.
“The beauty of Los Angeles is in its neighborhoods and neighborhoods are being overwhelmed by signs,” said Councilmember LaBonge. “If we are going to be serious about reducing the clutter of signs in this City, we must limit ‘sign districts’ to the downtown area, which has the appropriate scale for these images.”
"We need to protect the integrity of our neighborhoods and of our quality of life," Rosendahl said. "We must put and end to the visual blight that threatens the beauty of our City."
Anti-billboard activist Dennis Hathaway attended the press conference in support of the LaBonge motions, as did dozens of neighborhood council and community activists from throughout the city.
The City Council will consider a new comprehensive sign ordinance that governs all billboards and advertising signage in Los Angeles. While Councilmember LaBonge supports the ordinance, he feels it should be even more restrictive.
Three motions, introduced by Councilmember LaBonge and seconded by Mr. Rosendahl, would amend the comprehensive sign ordinance. Two of the motions address sign districts, or areas of the city where larger signs and supergraphics are permitted, and the third limits the brightness, hours of operation and frequency of message change on existing digital billboards.
The first motion restricts all new sign districts to the Downtown Center. The second requires that sign district applications that have been submitted but not yet approved by the City Council must be processed under the new ordinance, not “grandfathered in” under the old rules.
City Employee Memorial Unveiled
Councilmember LaBonge holds a microphone as an Ann Street Elementary School second grader leads the crowd in the Pledge of Allegiance.
Councilmember LaBonge served as master of ceremonies today at the Annual City Employee Memorial ceremony at the Department of Water and Power headquarters on Hill St. The ceremony culminated with the unveiling of a monument memorializing 218 Department of Water and Power workers who have died on the job since 1922.
"As we begin Memorial Day weekend, it is fitting that we honor the city employees and their families who made the ultimate sacrifice in service to the Ctiy of Los Angeles," said Councilmember Tom LaBonge. "It's also fitting that we moved the ceremony here from City Hall since the Department of Water and Power has lost more employees than any other department in the city."
The families of many of the lost DWP employees attended the moving ceremony, as did several hundred city employees.
"This monument is a testament to the extraordinarily dangerous work that DWP employees do every day of the week, and which most Los Angeles residents really know nothing about," said David Nahai, LADWP CEO and General Manager, adding: "When you look at this monument you will see that one side is completely full with 218 names, and the other side is blank. I believe we owe it to those whose names appear on one side to make sure that no name ever appears on the other side."
To see more photos from this event, click on the Photo Gallery link at the top of the page.
National Public Works Week
Councilmember LaBonge filled pot holes in Toluca Lake with a city crew on Thursday to mark National Public Works Week. The councilman was clearly delighted to pull on work gloves, a hard hat and safety vest to spread and compact hot asphalt in potholes on Forman Avenue.
"This takes me back to my days in Mayor Tom Bradley’s Youth Council, when I worked on a street clean-up crew in Hollywood," the councilmember said, referring to a summer job he held while in college. "Maintaining the infrastructure is one of the most important - and visible - jobs that the City does."
Municipal public works departments across the country were demonstrating their commitment to economic recovery by publicizing their work this week.
Restored Statues Unveiled at Zoo
(l-to-r) Greater Los Angeles Zoo Association (GLAZA) President Connie Morgan; Zoo board member Betty White; Amerman Family Foundation President John Amerman; Zoo Director John Lewis; Councilmember LaBonge and former Zoo Director Manuel Mollinedo at the unveiling of the newly restored Selig Zoo statues.
After migrating around Southern California for almost a century, four lion statues were unveiled in their permanent home today at the Los Angeles Zoo and Botanical Gardens. Councilmember LaBonge, zoo and foundation officials told the story of the statues that had originally graced the Lincoln Heights entrance to the Selig Zoo in the early 20th century.
"I'm very grateful to John and Jerry Amerman and the Amerman Family Foundation for providing the funds to restore these historic Los Angeles statues," said Councilmember LaBonge. "My mother grew up in Lincoln Heights and she went to the Selig zoo as a girl. There are people all over Los Angeles who will remember and be touched by these statues in a similar way."
Lost in the 1950s, the statues were rediscovered in 2000 and donated to the Zoo by Larry Davis. The concrete sculptures were restored through a generous gift to the Greater Los Angeles Zoo Association (GLAZA) from John and Jeri Amerman through the Amerman Family Foundation. The remaining statues (2 lions and 7 elephants) will eventually be displayed at the Los Angeles Zoo upon completion of their restoration (one elephant statue is not in the Zoo's possession).
In 1915 Selig, a successful movie producer, opened a movie studio that relied so heavily on the use of live animals that he established a zoo as well. Located in Lincoln Park and complete with more than 700 animals, the Selig Zoo grew to become home to the largest animal collection in the United States at the time.
Selig commissioned Carlo Romanelli, a sixth-generation sculptor from Florence, Italy, to create the life-sized concrete statutes of lions and elephants that adorned the Mission Revival style entrance gates of the Selig Zoo. When financial difficulties caused Selig to liquidate the zoo, the site continued operation as a zoological garden until at least 1942.
(To see a photo of the statues in their original location, click here.)
Councilmember receives Golden Spoke Award
Councilmember LaBonge received the Golden Spoke award this morning at the 6th Annual Blessing of the Bicycles at Good Samaritan Hospital near downtown. About 75 cyclists (and one tricyclist) gathered for the event, which culminated with Rev. Jerry Anderson sprinkling the bikers with holy water. Click here to see more photos from the event.
Good Samaritan CEO Andy Leeka, who rides his bike to work several times each week, presented the Councilmember with an award for his "contributions promoting bicycle ridership and community safety awareness."
Councilmember LaBonge leads summer evening bike tours through Los Angeles streets. The first ride in Tour LaBonge will be held on Wednesday, June 24th at 5:30 p.m. The location will be announced soon.
Rev. Anderson and Rabbi Ramin Sadeghi remembered those who have died in cycling accidents over the past year and prayed for the safety of all cyclists on city streets in the year to come.
Sections
Archives
- September 2010
- August 2010
- July 2010
- June 2010
- May 2010
- April 2010
- March 2010
- February 2010
- January 2010
- December 2009
- November 2009
- October 2009
- September 2009
- August 2009
- July 2009
- June 2009
- May 2009
- April 2009
- March 2009
- February 2009
- January 2009
- December 2008
- November 2008
- October 2008
- September 2008
- August 2008
- July 2008
- June 2008
- May 2008
- April 2008
- March 2008
- February 2008
- January 2008
- December 2007
- November 2007
- October 2007
- September 2007
- August 2007
