Dear Friends:
Please read below for important updates in Council District 14, including efforts to expand the City’s recycling program; restore a 34-year-old Highland Park mural; install signs in Verdugo Village; historically survey Los Angeles and clean up the air and green up businesses in Boyle Heights and beyond.
* A Call to Increase Recycling for Businesses and Apartments
* Restoring the Iconic “History of Highland Park” Mural
* Historically Surveying L.A.’s Unchartered Neighborhoods
* Verdugo Village Signs Highlight Areas Rich Past
* Clean Up/Green Up Plan New Era of Environmental Justice
Expansion of City Recycling Program Sought
With 70 percent of the City of Los Angeles’ 3.5 million tons of trash that ends up in landfills and incinerators every year coming from commercial and multifamily properties, Councilmember Huizar joined a coalition of organizations and City leaders who called for the City to franchise recycling collection for businesses and large apartments.
Here is footage of Councilmember Huizar’s remarks.
Los Angeles needs to do more to create a more efficient, safer and better managed recycling service for commercial and apartment buildings. While great progress has been made, particularly over the past year, the current pace of progress is not fast enough to ensure that we will reach the Zero Waste goals we’ve set for our City by 2030. The City collects all trash from single family homes.Councilmember Huizar supports franchising recycling collection for commercial and multi-family units in the City to ensure that all Angelenos have the opportunity to recycle, that the trucks and work conditions used to process the recycling are safe, that rates are uniform and fair, and that we cut down on the amount of recyclable refuse that ends up in our landfills. A report by Don’t Waste L.A., a coalition of 30 organizations, outlines these and other recommendations.
Read the Los Angeles Times story here.
Read the Daily News story here.
Restoring Mural and Pride in Highland Park
On behalf of the Highland Park community, Councilmember Huizar successfully brokered an agreement to restore the 34-year-old “History of Highland Park” mural, a mammoth piece of work that stretches around two sides of the AT&T building on Avenue 56. The treasured community mural was painted in 1977 and had fallen into disarray over the ensuing decades as an anti-graffiti coating deteriorated and graffiti removal had to stop to protect the underlying mural.
Here is footage of Councilmember Huizar’s remarks.
AT&T, whose former company Pacific Bell first commissioned the work to be done by Barrio Planners in 1977, has agreed to fund the restoration, estimated at about $78,000. Social and Public Art Resource Center’s Judy Baca, one of the mural’s original artists, will be at the helm of the restoration.
Councilmember Huizar was joined by the artists, the Highland Park Heritage Trust, the Historic Highland Park Neighborhood Council and students from Yorkdale Elementary for the kickoff cleanup of the mural, which included a steam cleaning and biodegradable soap bubble bath.
The restoration will include new anti-graffiti coating using the latest industry advancements and should be completed in the next few months.
Enjoy the slideshow of the event.
Historic Survey L.A. Presentation in Boyle Heights
A historic walking tour and results of the Survey L.A. pilot project, one of the largest historical surveys ever conducted in the nation, were presented this month at the Puente Learning Center in Boyle Heights. Councilmember Huizar successfully lobbied for Boyle Heights, one of the city’s oldest suburbs, to be surveyed as the pilot community for the new citywide historic identification project. Previously, only 15 percent of Los Angeles has been historically surveyed.
Here is footage of Councilmember Huizar’s remarks.
More than 200 people attended the seminar and tour and learned that two areas (Boyle Avenue and Mt. Pleasant) and 33 individual buildings were identified as potentially historic during the survey. It was coupled with a walking tour of five sites on Boyle Avenue, including the “Max Factor home.” The house represents a microcosm of Boyle Heights’ diverse history, having seen homeowners of Jewish, Japanese and Latino descent through the years. Attendees participated directly in the survey through MyHistoricLA, suggesting places in Boyle Heights that are historically important to them. Special thanks to the Puente Learning Center; the Los Angeles Planning Department’s Office of Historic Resources; the Community Redevelopment Agency of Los Angeles; the Boyle Heights Historical Society; the Los Angeles Conservancy; the Getty Foundation; the Jewish Historical Society of Southern California; the Breed Street Shul; Keiro Senior Healthcare; the International Institute; ELACC; Hollenbeck Palms; the Alba Family; a crew of Cal Poly Pomona students and other volunteers.
Enjoy the slideshow of the event.
Signs are Great in Verdugo Village
Community members gathered recently with Councilmember Huizar to celebrate the culmination of a two-year plan to design and install dozens of Verdugo Village signs along a two-block stretch of Verdugo Road, just north of York Boulevard.
Councilmember Huizar worked with the Glassell Park Improvement Association (GPIA) to come up with the plan and agreed to provide funding for the Verdugo Village sign project, which has added five street signs, 18 pedestrian signs, and 250 decals for businesses and residents along the Verdugo Road corridor.
Here is footage of Councilmember Huizar’s remarks.
The uniquely designed signs feature an outline of the nearby mountains and Verdugo Village name, while others also include a brief history of the area, which dates back to 1784.
The Verdugo Village signs will help identify the local community while promoting local business. Special thanks to Helene Schpak, Jim Kiehl, GPIA President George Brauckman and Zazu Faure.
Enjoy the slideshow of the event.
Clean Up Green Up – A New Generation of Environmental Justice
Councilmember Huizar recently introduced legislation to create “green zones” and eliminate “toxic hot spots” in communities with more than their fair share of heavy industry, a long-time practice that has created health hazards that lead to increased episodes of cancer, asthma and other pollution-related illnesses.
Here is footage of Councilmember Huizar’s remarks.
Joining with community and environmental activists and City Council colleagues, Councilmember Huizar announced the legislation, known as “Clean Up/Green Up” at Breed Street Elementary School. The legislation will focus primarily on the communities of Boyle Heights, Pacoima and Wilmington, three areas that have been hard hit by industrial sites and uses. A new generation of Environmental Justice, the goal of the Clean Up Green Up campaign is to work with existing businesses to create incentives and standards that lead to greener, cleaner and more sustainable communities. The Clean Up Green Up legislation will also encourage new, green industries that bring green jobs, with the long-term goal of creating healthier communities.
Enjoy the slideshow of the event. Click here for the press release on Councilmember Huizar recent work on environmental justice.
Read the L.A. Times story here.
Read the EGP News story here.
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