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116th Street School Visits City Hall
75 fifth grade students from the 116th Street School visited Los Angeles City Hall on Fri. January 13, 2017 for a tour and introduction to how local government works. The trip was coordinated by HGNNC Youth Representative Richard Lee. HGNNC District 8 Representative Larry Morrison helped with trip supervision. Councilmember Buscaino’s office arranged for the bus and the Councilmember introduced the students, including four of their student body leaders (all girls) at the beginning of the day’s City Council meeting.
Commission Approved LADWP Bill of Rights
LOS ANGELES (CNS) >> The Los Angeles Department of Water and Power’s Board of Commissioners on January 17, 2017 approved a “customer bill of rights” backed by Mayor Eric Garcetti and criticized by some leaders from neighborhood councils, but also moved to open up public comment and revisit the bill of rights in about 90 days.
The commissioners unanimously approved the provisions of the bill of rights, which includes assurances that call wait times will not exceed three minutes on average; bills that exceed three times the average historic use for the same billing period will automatically be reviewed before being sent out; and requests to start a new residential account will be processed within one business day.
Customers will receive rebates or credits if the guarantees are not met. For example, if the department takes longer than 10 days after a final inspection to process a new business service connection of 200 amps or less, that business will receive a $25 credit.
The motion to reconsider the bill of rights in 90 days came from Commissioner Jill Banks Barad, who said in particular she wanted the city’s neighborhood councils to have an opportunity to weigh in on the proposal. (Note: No easy way to comment on the proposal has been provided)
The bill of rights was detailed by Garcetti an hour before the LADWP commission’s meeting on Jan. 3 and was scheduled to be voted on at that session, but the vote was postponed to allow for public comment.
Some leaders of neighborhood councils were critical that the bill of rights was not given much public notice before being placed on the Board of Commissioners’ agenda.
Barad, who is also on the Sherman Oaks Neighborhood Council, said neighborhood councils only meet once a month and generally need one to three months notice “for proper community input.”
The bill of rights does not require the approval of the Los Angeles City Council and would become active if the commission reapproves it or makes any adjustments to it in 90 days, said Amanda Parsons, media relations manager for the LADWP.
Glenn Bailey, treasurer of the Los Angeles Neighborhood Council Coalition, complained on Jan. 3 that the initial bill of rights vote was scheduled without any public notice of its details.
Jack Humphreville, president of the DWP Advocacy Committee, which represents Los Angeles neighborhood councils in matters related to the department, questioned its impact and said that “it sounds good, but it is no big deal.”
When David Wright was confirmed by the council in September as the LADWP’s general manager, Garcetti said one of the first tasks he wanted him to undertake was developing and implementing a customer bill of rights.
The LADWP has been rocked publicly by a number of scandals in recent years, and the customer bill of rights directly addresses some of the problems that have emerged, including long telephone wait times and a glitchy billing system unveiled several years ago that wildly inflated some customers’ bills.
A Los Angeles County Superior Court judge granted preliminary approval in November to a class-action settlement expected to result in at least $67.5 million refunded to LADWP customers over the billing system.
At Garcetti’s news conference on Jan. 3, LADWP officials said average call wait times had been cut to under a minute over the last 10 months.
Wright said the department is ready to stand by the bill of rights, thanks to the increased personnel that have been hired over the last two years, including 300 customer service representatives and several hundred new billers.
HGN President Celebrates Women in Leadership with Mayor
Harbor Gateway North Neighborhood Council President Pamela Thornton was honored to celebrate women in leadership on Neighborhood Councils at the Getty House with Mayor Garcetti.
Buscaino speaking at HGNNC meeting
Councilmember Buscaino Addresses Harbor Gateway North
During our October 2016 meeting Councilmember Buscaino gave an update to our stakeholders.
He spoke about the new sidewalk repair program and how residents can speed up repairs by paying for half of the repair. More information about sidewalk repair is here. If you need to remove a city tree, it must be replaced with two trees from a specified list of approved trees.
He also addressed the homeless issue explaining that the homeless can sleep on sidewalks from 9pm to 6am and then must clear out. Vermont Villas has wrap around resources to go along with housing. He encouraged voting for measure HHH to build housing.
On the subject of traffic and speeding, Buscaino acknowledged a request for increased LAPD presence on 135th street. For 135th and Vermont, he mentioned that they are working with the City of Gardena which has indicated that they will install a left turn lane. Los Angeles is committed to VisionZero which makes safety the highest priority of our streets. Gardena Blvd is our unofficial Great Street with some new lighting.
His Public Works update includes: trimmed over 2,500 trees, added 8 new trash cans on Gardena Blvd, repaired the bus pad at Imperial and Avalon, issued 80 illegal dumping notices, and made over 41 illegal vending arrests. We have been working with a non profit to clean up illegal dumping areas. A skate park is in the works with the design phase about complete. Construction is planned first or second quarter of 2017.
He supports Neighborhood Councils being more involved at City Hall meetings and has advocated for NCs to have more time to speak at City Hall. Their approach recently changed so that when an NC has submitted a Community Impact Statement, then they may send a representative to speak up to five minutes at City Hall when that item is agendized.
We appreciate Councilmember Buscaino addressing our community. View the video.
person sweeping under a freeway
Harbor Gateway Takes the CleanStreets LA Challenge
Members of the Harbor Gateway North Neighborhood Neighborhood Council came together in partnership with the community to take on the #CleanStreetsLA challenge and clean up the neighborhood in October 2016.
Mayor Kicks Off Homeless Housing Bond HHH Campaign
Mayor Eric Garcetti, City Council members and representatives of labor, business and nonprofit groups officially launched a campaign Monday to convince Los Angeles voters to approve a $1.2 billion bond measure to pay for about 10,000 units of homeless housing over the next decade.
“I urge all Angelenos to vote for Measure HHH,” Garcetti said at a kick-off event at New Genesis, a 106-unit permanent supportive housing complex in downtown Los Angeles.
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Come by for Coffee with Joe!
15th District Councilmember Joe Buscaino will be present at the Harbor Gateway North Neighborhood Council booth during the Athens Blvd. Block Party on Sat. August 27 from 10 to 11 am. at 12300 S. Denver Avenue, between Athens Blvd. and 124th Street. Stop by for complimentary coffee and pastries and let him know what’s on your mind.
District 7 Clean Up Day along 116th Place and 118th Street – Saturday December 5
Thirty volunteers showed up for the first of a series of mini clean ups planned for the District 7 area of the Harbor Gateway North Neighborhood Council on Saturday December 5. District 7 Representative Janet Mitchell led the effort which included a number of the residents along 116th Place. This street north of the 105 Freeway has long been the site of repeated illegal dumpings along the freeway side of the street and also on the partially fenced-off Caltrans cul-de-sac at the west end of the block. The Bureau of Sanitation provided the dumpsters. Tools were provided by the Bureau of Street Services. Caltrans provided some volunteer workers of their own. The Harbor Gateway North Neighborhood Council brought the lunches and waters for the volunteers.
Harvest Health Fair at the 135th Street School on Saturday October 24
Members of the Harbor Gateway North’s Ad Hoc Election Committee staffed a booth on Saturday October 24 for the second annual Harvest Health Fair at the 135th Street School, 801 W. 135th Street. The Neighborhood Council helped to fund the refreshments for the over 600 attendees, who included students of the school and their parents along with those living nearby. A number of new stakeholders were signed up as part of preparation for the upcoming Board election in June 2016. Councilmember Joe Buscaino’s staff worked with the school’s principal Dr. Pablo Osorio and staff to invite a number of health providers, City of Los Angeles Departments, and entertainers to the event.