ERNC Takes on Doggie Debate
MAY 6, 2003
by Bob Thorpe
The fur wasn't flying, but discussion of a proposed dog park brought out the most emotional responses at the May 6th meeting of the Eagle Rock Neighborhood Council, held at the Eagle Rock Library on Caspar Avenue from 6 to 8 in the evening. Ursula Brown, a Stakeholder and local Real Estate professional, brought pictures and made a presentation supporting the establishment of a dog park on the Southeast corner of the Eagle Rock Recreation Center at Figueroa Street and Eagle Vista Drive.
According to Ms. Brown, the idea of an off-leash park was first discussed in conjunction with the Eagle Rock Beautiful Cooperative, and she has been in contact with the City of Los Angeles Parks and Recreation commissioners regarding a dog park in the area. The response, she said, has been favorable, and she has been told that there is money available for such a project, but that the City wanted to make a decision to build the park or not within two weeks.
The only problem has been finding a location. The advantages of the proposed location, according to her, is the fact that the area is partially fenced, has water, includes mature trees, and is close to a crosswalk. It is similar in size to a dog park already in place in the Silverlake area. She expressed a desire to have the dog facility close to the park for reasons of safety.
Immediate response came from attendees who, although in favor of the idea of a dog park, were staunch supporters of the sports programs already in place at Eagle Rock Recreation Center, and who said that use of that location would take away an area where soccer is played. In addition, it was stated that almost 25 softball teams
(see MEETING page 11)
MEETING cont.
and flag football teams use the park, and that if money was available, it should be used to enhance the sports programs.
Ms. Brown stated that in her discussions with the commissioners, the money for a dog park was to be provided from funding separate from the budget for the Recreation Center. Preliminary talks had included mention of $80,000.00 which might be available, although Ms. Brown stated that she didn't think that much money would be needed to build a dog park. Other attendees asked what other locations had been considered, and Ms. Brown responded that she had talked to Southern California Edison about the use of their land (usually located under transmission towers) and while the company used to lease out such land for $1 per year to civic groups, the lease program is no longer available. She had also talked to CALTRANS, but found that the land available was typically under an interchange, without water, and had too steep a slope for a dog park.
Another attendee said he had talked to the Santa Monica Mountains Conservancy about the use of Richard Alatorre Park at the base of the Eagle Rock for a dog park. According to him, the area is flat, and the Conservancy is willing to give the park back to the City of Los Angeles if the City is willing to maintain the property. Public objections to that location included lack of sufficient parking, and the fact that Richard Alatore Park is not immediately adjacent to Eagle Rock Recreation Center.
Comments in favor of having a dog park included an opinion that it would be a draw for young families from Pasadena and Mount Washington to come to Eagle Rock, where local businesses could profit from increased traffic. Others objected to the dogs because odors might blow into the picnic areas, and because of fears that children in the park might be at risk. Ms. Brown pointed out that the adjacent picnic tables were on a different level. While most of the participants seemed in favor of having a dog park, there was resistance to changing the current use of Eagle Rock Recreation Center.
Only one woman – a dog owner – stated that she was vehemently opposed to the use of the proposed area as an off leash park. At the end of the discussion a motion was made to write a letter to the City Parks and Recreation Department asking that no decision be made on the allocation of funds until the Council could conduct further studies and have a public meeting on the issue. The motion was seconded and carried.
Everett Sarabia presented an update on the new DASH service proposed for Eagle Rock and Glassell Park. One advantage to the new service would be that it would provide transportation for students who are now walking from the Toland Way area to Washington Irving Middle School. With 3 busses in service, the loop would take 15 minutes rather than the 45 minute ride on the existing MTA bus routes. To attract rider ship and to promote the Eagle Rock and Glassell Park areas, the busses could be the trolley type currently in use on the Angel's Flight loop, instead of the standard DASH issue.
Other items discussed at the meeting included a presentation by Koko Panossian, a participant in a USC research project on Neighboorhood Councils. The project, funded by the National Science Foundation and the Irvine Foundation, will be a 5 year long study in which Council Members who volunteer will be surveyed in order to determine what works and what doesn't in Neighborhood Councils. A database will be established from the responses in an attempt to discover the best practices of the successful Councils.
 

Highland Park Yearly Car Show
The Custom Car Show is coming to Highland Park. It happens on Figueroa Street between Avenue 52 and 57 which will be closed all day, Sunday, June 29. Bombs, Lowriders, Lowrider Bikes, SUV's and imports are all welcome. Trophies will be awarded to many catagories. Club participation, furthest distance traveled, best mural, best interior, and use of gold and chrome will be recognized for sure. Overall winner will take home a cash prize, and spectators get in free.
Entrants should arrive no later than 6:00 am. All cars and bikes must pre-register to save $5. Call organizer Jesse Rosas at (323) 620-1298 for a registration form or if to get the details. The Show is sponsored by the Goodtimes car club, Vintage Tatoo and Budweiser Beer.
"Hoppers" will compete for prizes in the single pump and double pump category. If you have never seen a Hopper, don't miss this chance. All hoppers must have wire rims to compete and sign in by 10 a.m. There will also be "grudge" hopping where everything goes, meaning that there will be no restrictions on the equipment.
Everyone is welcome at the Highland Park Car Show, but attitudes, alcohol and weapons are not. Make sure you leave those at home and have fun.

 

Crime Report
A road rage event and local burglaries represent the crime picture from the middle of April to the end of May, 2003.
On Sunday night, June 1st, a couple in a black Mitsubishi disagreed with four young men in a silver ford probe about where the other should be driving. That sparked a road rage incident that sent four people to the hospital and at least one person to jail. The passenger in the black Mitsubishi is alleged to have exited his girlfriend's car, stabbing the driver of the silver probe. The assault turned into a high speed chase between the two cars that went eastbound on Yosemite Drive.
The chase abruptly ended when the driver of the Mitsubishi slowed to turn right on Townsend Avenue to go over Ave. 51. The Probe did not slow and crashed into the rear of the black sports car as it started to turn, making the female driver lose control and hit the curb. Waiting at the light across the intersection was an LAPD patrol who successfully took control of the situation before anyone else could get hurt. Four police cars, four ambulances, two fire trucks and the fire captain all responded to the scene, which was cleared by midnight.
Aggravated assaults continue in the Northeast area, as 15 were reported in the Eagle Rock Highland Park area, 7 of which were gang related. Figueroa is a relative hot spot for these crimes with shots being fired at four of the events there. Fifteen street, business or residential robberies occurred in the same area, with one near Mc Donald's on Figueroa done by 'miscellaneous' black gang members.
Burglaries are up, and they are centered mainly around the Figueroa and York Boulevard area. An exception was Monday, June 3rd, when two dirt bikes were stolen from the fenced yard of Cycle Depot on Colorado Boulevard. Two suspects described as 18 to 20 year old males cut the chain link fence with bolt cutters and rolled the motorcycles out the fence and up the street, probably into a waiting truck. The thefts occurred at about 8:30 in the evening, and in a rare twist, the closure of Topper's tavern, usually a magnet for crime when open, may have had something to do with it.
Topper's was closed last week by the new owners to start remodeling work. Well known Italian restaurant Casa Bianca, is closed on every Monday. That left the block between Townsend and Vincent Avenues virtually vacant. The thieves took advantage of those absences and made off with a yellow Suzuki and a blue Yamaha, both motocross bikes belonging not to customers of Cycle Depot, but two employees.
Once again Toyotas are the most popular car to steal, followed by Hondas and Fords. 36 cars were stolen in the Eagle Rock / Highland Park area.

 

Qui Bono? Who Benefits?
Pat Griffith
Over the past 4 years, the Arroyo Seco community has worked to create a neighborhood council, which is designed by the City Charter to promote local participation in city government. This work began hopefully and enthusiastically, but now is struggling to proceed over a deepening neighborhood feud.
By estimates, somewhere between $8,000 - $10,000 has been spent with the sole purpose of agitating neighbors to break up the certified Arroyo Seco Neighborhood Council – mass mailings, lawn signs, meetings. And for what reason?
The fear that captures some imaginations is that rampant development will be approved on privately-owned land. In our burgeoning urban landscape, holding onto open-space, preserving wildlife and not overbuilding our infrastructure – these are wonderful goals – goals virtually without opposition in our rural/urban mix area.
You would think that the "enemy" would be "Developers", or the Mayor's appointees to the East LA Area Planning Commission, the ones who actually approve development projects under their mantras "we need more housing" and "we need to make LA more business-friendly". But neither is mentioned in this campaign.
One picture portrayed in meetings and in the expensive mailings is that Outside Influences Who Don't Have Our Interests will be bussed in, all holding pre-marked ballots. The vision painted is of zombie-like minions, paid to register and vote by nasty, subversive developers. Or zombie-like church members, all in a campaign to take over the area.
The real target of this expensive campaign is democracy itself, which is required of neighborhood councils. The middle-class fear of low-income residents turning up and exercising their right to vote drums up significant turn-out. Several long pamphlets describe the burden of the Brown Act, as neighborhood councils are required to post their process and ensure that they inform everyone. Another pamphlet described that what is really needed is a private organization that can specifically limit participation. Democracy is the real problem that the organizers have with neighborhood councils. Fear of people they don't know, fear of other organizations such as churches - these are still useful tools in whipping up anger and resentment.
But what device has been used to try to break-up the Arroyo Seco Neighborhood Council? To separate off the small hillside communities of Montecito Heights, Monterey Hills and Hermon. The contradiction here is that these communities have many long-active and vocal small-growth and environmental activists and organizations. The efforts have been to break off exactly those who would facilitate the purported goals of the break-up movement. The net effect of the past two years campaign has been to drown the voice of slow-growth and environmentalist activists with this squabble. Those goals definitely have been harmed.
Who would benefit enough from undermining the voice of slow-growth and environmentalism to pay for the mass mailings? We only can surmise that the bulk of the funding comes from a couple of individuals. We do know, however, what harm has come from this.

 

Workers Comp Needs Fixing
By Jack Scott
There's no doubt about it: California's workers' compensation system is almost broken. The original intent of workers' compensation was that workers would receive appropriate care and compensation for their injuries. In return, employers received immunity from employee lawsuits and would pay the insurance costs to cover the benefits.
But California's employers are paying premiums that are among the highest in the nation while injured workers receive some of the lowest benefits in the country.
There's lots at stake: the breakdown of workers' compensation in our state affects businesses, cities, counties, school districts, hospitals, lawyers, insurers, unions, doctors and other health care providers, and workers.
We in the legislature must confront this problem to give businesses relief from these costs. I am pleased that there is bipartisan interest in enacting significant reforms this year. The reforms need to focus on finding ways to lower premium rates without sacrificing or reversing injured worker benefits.
One of my top priorities is to reduce and stabilize rates for employers and to reduce the complexity of the system. Here are a few of the bills that I am supporting to help fix the system:
· SB 176-(Johnson) Requires workers' compensation insurance rating organizations to notify an employer of inspections and reclassification of the employer for workers' compensation purposes.
· SB 223-(Margett) Requires greater use of generic drugs by individuals or entities that dispenses medicines and medical supplies to a worker. · SB 757-(Poochigian) Requires that injuries must be at least 50% work related, contains out-patient center costs by developing a fee schedules, and reviews the development of utilization guidelines for the system for out-patient care.
· SB 899-(Poochigian) Prohibits physicians from referring patients to outpatient surgery centers when they or a family member have a financial interest in such a referral.
Clearly, a great deal of work needs to be done to correct what has become a grossly inefficient and costly program. The good news is that both political parties are working toward finding common-sense reforms that harm neither employers nor employees. I hope that financial relief will occur in the months following this year's legislative session.
Senator Jack Scott (D-Altadena) represents the 21st Senate District that includes Pasadena, Burbank, Glendale, San Gabriel, Temple City and portions of Los Angeles.


JUNE IS GAY PRIDE MONTH
The Uptown Gay and Lesbian Alliance cordially invites all to attend their community-wide reception at the LAPD Historical Museum and Education Center located at 6045 York Boulevard in Highland Park on Friday June 20th, 5 :30 pm to 7:30 pm. Hors d'oeuvre and beverages will be served. There is no charge. Drop by and get acquainted. They'd like to meet you.


Eagle Vista Seniors
On Tuesday June 3, the Eagle Vista Seniors board will meet at 9:30 a.m. followed by the regular meeting at 10 o'clock. On June 10 a craft talk will be given by crafty Helen Jacobs. June 17 is BINGO, and Carlos Cruz will be the caller.
All members who can go are looking forward to the trip across the desert to Arizona and Nevada. They will visit Flagstaff, the Grand Canyon, Sedona, Laughlin and Oatman. The bus leaves the Eagle Vista recreation center at 7:00 am. and returns on Friday the 27th.
Of course the June 24th meeting is canceled because of the bus trip.
Senior members should make a note that final payment for the Alaskan cruise is due on June 20.