The next monthly meeting of the East Hollywood Neighborhood Council will be on Monday, April 21 at 6:30 p.m.
at the Hollyview Apartments' 3rd Floor Community Room, 5411 Hollywood Blvd, between Western and Serrano (pictured above).
We will also have a presentation by the Los Angeles Deparment of City Planning, reports from Alejandra Marroquin of Council President Eric Garcetti's CD13 office, as well as our LAPD Senior Lead Officers, plus our committee reports and a meeting of the EHNC's Governing Board. Community stakeholders will also have the chance to make announcements on upcoming events or voice their opinions on important issues in the neighborhood. This part of the meeting has now been moved towards the beginning, so community members with important issues or annoucements do not have to wait until the end of the meeting.
Visit our EHNC Monthly Meeting Website to download the agenda (available April 15) and for more information on the meeting.
Hollywood Freeway Central Park Meeting, April 12
Members of the Hollywood community interested in learning more about the proposed 24-acre park slated to be built over a section of the Hollywood Freeway are encouraged to attend the second community-wide meeting for the Hollywood Freeway Central Park, Saturday, April 12th from 9:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. at Joseph LeConte Middle School's Auditorium, 1316 N. Bronson Ave (at Fountain). Breakfast and lunch will be served.
The park is planned to stretch from Santa Monica Blvd to Bronson Ave via a man-made "cap" built over the freeway, which runs below ground level along that section.
To attend, please RSVP with Aida Alvarado, Council District 13 at 323.957.4500 or aida.alvardo@lacity.org.
Celebrate Thai New Year, April 13
On Sunday, April 13, Hollywood Blvd. will be closed as East Hollywood's Thai Town celebrates Songkran, or Thai New Year, with an all-day festival, the 5th Annual Thai New Year Songkran Festival 2008.
The festival will be larger than ever this year, stretching from Western Ave. to Normandie. The event also features a 5k benefit run, a parade along Hollywood Blvd to the festival site from Barnsdall Park, Muay Thai boxing and marial arts demonstrations, community information kiosks, the L.A. Curry Festival and of course an immense selection of Thai food booths. Thousands of people from all overSouthern California will join in the festivities.
The East Hollywood Neighborhood Council will have its outreach booth there to promote its activities and hear community concerns. So stop on by this Sunday!
Businesses in Little Armenia will close their doors on Thursday, April 24 in observance of the 93rd anniversary of the 1915 Armenian Genocide, where 1.5 million Armenians were killed at the hands of the Turkish Ottoman Empire over eight years in the early 20th century.
Over 50,000 members of the local Armenian American community are also expected to participate in a 1.5-mile noontime march along Hollywood and Sunset boulevards that day to raise public awareness of the Genocide, which to this day the Turkish government has refused to acknowledge.
Help Clean Up Our Community, April 26!
Join the EHNC as we help make our streets a little bit tidier in our first Spring Clean-Up activity on Saturday, April 26.
Meet at the Hollywood Youth and Family Center, 607 N. Vermont Ave. where tools will be provided by Hollywood Beautification Team and Clean & Green. A free BBQ lunch courtesy of the EHNC and the Youth and Family Center will be served to all volunteers following the cleanup.
Over 40 community volunteers joined the EHNC and TreePeople in a tree planting event on March 22 as nine new trees were planted along Edgemont Street between Fountain Avenue and Sunset Boulevard.
The activity was initiated and organized by neighborhood resident Cassandra Pruett who coordinated with TreePeople and the neighborhood council, the latter of which sponsored the treeplanting expenses for its first-ever tree planting activity. Members of the EHNC's Governing Board and Planning & Beautification and Outreach commitees also helped with the volunteer effort. The event, which concluded with a free Thai food lunch (also sponsored by the EHNC) at the nearby Kairos Los Angeles Church for all volunteers, was also covered in an article by the Hollywood Independent newspaper.
In this age of worsening traffic, rising gasoline prices and heightened eco-awareness, bicycling, in addition to being a recreational activity, has become an increasingly popular mode of transportation in Los Angeles. The EHNC is proud to be at the forefront of making this city an easier and safer place to ride a bicycle.
At its March meeting, the EHNC Governing Board unanimously voted to endorse the Cyclist's Bill of Rights - the first-ever neighborhood council (and governmental body)in the City of Los Angeles to do so (Click on the YouTube video above to watch the EHNC's vote). The Bill - a grassroots-conceived document penned by a local bicycle activists group called The Bike Writers' Collective, was created to promote increased safety and awareness of bicyclists on the road, particularly their right to use the streets as detailed by the California Vehicle Code.
In addition. the EHNC also voted unanimously to endorse several recommendations to the Los Angeles City Bicycle Master Plan, which include bike lanes, more bicycle parking facilities and a community meeting in East Hollywood for local bike riders to provide their input to the Bicycle Master Plan. The organizers of the plan had been criticized recently for doing poor outreach for its community input meetings.
East Hollywood is best known as the home of the bike-friendly "Hel-Mel" corner at Heliotrope Drive and Melrose Ave., which features the Bicycle Kitchen and the Orange 20 Bikes shop. Hundreds of cyclists from across the city visit the corner every week.
The EHNC's presentation, entitled, "East Hollywood on the Move," was shown in the form of a 5-minute video which outlined the comminity's transportation and planning issues, needs and solutions. The video also won praise from the local Internet blogging community, having been featured on sites like LAist.com, MetroRiderLA, and Streetsblog Los Angeles. Click on the YouTube video above to watch the presentation.
Happy Birthday, EHNC!
On April 19, 2007 the East Hollywood Neighborhood Council was certified by the Los Angeles City Board of Neighborhood Commissioners at a public hearing at Los Angeles City College. After a long five-year formation process of reaching out to its community, and a lot of hard work, the EHNC finally became the 89th official neighborhood council in the city. Click on the YouTube video above to watch highlights of our Certification Hearing.
In the span of just one year, the EHNC has already become recognized in the city as a unique and forward-thinking neighborhood council through its creative and innovative methods of engaging and empoweing its community -- "bringing neighborhood councils into the 21st century," as some have said.
The EHNC thanks all in our community as well as our citywide neighbors, City staff and public officials who have helped us get to where we are today -- and who will see us through in serving our community tomorrow.
Committee Calendar
The work of our neighborhood council is done by our committees, who discuss relevant issues and submit them for Governing Board approval at our monthly meetings. Committee meetings are public and open to al, and membership to the committees (with the exception of the Executive Committee) is open to all Governing Board members and community stakeholders alike. Contact the following committee co-chairs for more information.
Mon 4/14: Executive Committee
Hollywood Youth & Family Center, 607 N. Vermont Ave.
7 p.m.
Contact: Elson Trinidad - ehnc@easthollywood.net
Mon 5/5: Planning & BeautificationCommittee
Hollywood Youth & Family Center, 607 N. Vermont Ave.
7 p.m.
Contact: Alfredo A. Hernandez - raven@easthollywood.net
Tue 5/6: OutreachCommittee
Thai Health & Information Services Inc., 1654 N. Harvard Blvd.
7 p.m.
Contact: JR Woodward - jr@easthollywood.net
TBA: Youth & Education Committee
Committee currently formaing; Location and time TBA
Contact: John P. Harris - j_harris@easthollywood.net
TBA: Public Safety Committee
Committee currently formaing; Location and time TBA
Contact: Sam Lanni - sam@easthollywood.net
TBA: Budget & Finance Committee
Committee currently formaing; Location and time TBA
Contact: Gary Slossberg - district1@easthollywood.net
Manny Lares from the Eminent Domain Coalition will talk about Proposition 98 in the upcoming June ballot and discuss how it will affect renter tenants in our communities.
We will also have reports from Alejandra Marroquin of Council President Eric Garcetti's CD13 office, as well as our LAPD Senior Lead Officers, plus our Planning & Beautification and Outreach committee reports and a meeting of the EHNC's Governing Board. Community stakeholders will also have the chance to make announcements on upcoming events or voice their opinions on important issues in the neighborhood. This part of the meeting has now been moved towards the beginning, so community members with important issues or annoucements do not have to wait until the end of the meeting.
This month the Governing Board will vote on the renewal of the LA City College Sunday Swap Meet license, the official community designation of East Hollywood, the Los Angeles Regional Bicylce Master Plan recommendations, endorsement of the Cyclist's Bill of Rights and other matters.
Hollywood Community To Discuss Solutions at Parking, Planning and Transportation Town Hall, March 13
The Hollywood Coalition of Neighborhood Councils, made up of the EHNC and the other five neighborhood councils in the Hollywood area, is organizing a Parking, Planning and Transportation Town Hall meeting on Thursday, March 13 from 6:00 to 8:30 p.m. at the Mears Center, at the First Presbyterian Church of Hollywood, 1760 N. Gower St. (at Carlos Ave.). Food and refreshments will be provided. Spanish translation services available.
Free parking is available on the church's lot on Carlos and Labaig avenues, and the Mears Center is located one block north of the 180, 181, and 217 Metro bus lines on Hollywood Blvd.and is also a four block walk northeast of the Metro Red Line Hollywood/Vine station.
The Parking, Planning and Transportation Town Hall is organized by the Hollywood Coalition of Neighborhood Councils, which is comprised of the Central Hollywood, East Hollywood, Greater Griffith Park, Hollywood Hills West, Hollywood Studio District and Hollywood United neighborhood councils, whose combined boundaries encompass an area stretching from Laurel Canyon Blvd on the west to the Los Angeles River on the east and from Griffith Park on the north to Melrose Ave. on the south. For more information, please visit www.hollywoodcoalition.com.
EHNC Governing Board To Retreat, March 15
The EHNC's Governing Board will have their first-ever retreat on Saturday, March 15 from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. at the Hollyhock House in Barnsdall Park to plan its overall vision and function and engage in team-building exercises.
Though the event is meant for Governing Board members, because the EHNC Governing Board is comprised of publicly-elected individuals, we are required by state law to hold it as an open public meeting.
Guests from the community are welcome to attend, however there is extremely limited space in the Hollyhock House. It is recommended that community members planning to attend do so with the intent of learning more about the neighborhood council's specific functions, duties and responsibilities.
Plant A Tree With The EHNC, March 22!
Join the EHNC, TreePeople and neighborhood resident Cassandra Pruett as we plant over 20 new trees along Edgemont Street between Fountain Avenue and Sunset Boulevard on Saturday, March 22 for the EHNC's first-ever tree planting event.
The meeting place will be in front of Kairos Los Angeles Church on 4903 Fountain Avenue (corner Edgemont) where there will be volunteer sign-ups and a brief tree-planting instruction course by TreePeople staff.
All volunteers will be treated to a free Thai and Armenian cuisine lunch following the tree planting, plus a live entertainment program.
Our Outreach Committee will have its next meet meeting on Tuesday, April 1 at Dvin Restaurant, 5125 W. Sunset Blvd. at 7 p.m. to discuss publicity strategy, events and activities in the coming months, including a community festival in July and an outreach booth at the Thai New Year Festival on April 13.
For more information please contact the EHNC's Planning & Beautification Committee.co-chairs JR Woodward or Israel Stepanian.
The EHNC's Planning and Beautification Committee's next meeting will be on Monday, April 7, 7 p.m. at the Hollywood Youth and Family Center, 607 N. Vermont Ave (between Melrose and Clinton).
The EHNC's Planning & Beautification Committee is the functioning body of the neighborhood council that deals with planning/land use management, beautification, environmental and multi-modal transportation issues. Anyone who has an interest in those topics are welcome to attend.
For more information please contact the EHNC's Planning & Beautification Committee.co-chairs Gunnar Hand or Alfredo A. Hernandez.
The EHNC has new committees forming! Our Public Safety Committee will deal with issues regarding crime/LAPD, fire safety/LAFD, disaster preparedness and overall safety concerns in our community. If you are interested in joining this committee, please contact Public Safery Committee co-chair Sam Lanni.
We are also looking for interested community stakeholders to join our Youth and Education Committee, which will deal with needs and concerns regarding our community's LAUSD and private schools, youth activities as well as LA City College and other adult education resources. If you are interested in joining or learning more about this committee, please contact Youth & Education Committee co-chair John Harris.
Each of the EHNC's committees perform the important task of dealing directly with releevant concerns in the community and recommend items for the Governing Board to vote on at our meetings.
Annette Orozco from Enterprise Community Partners will show you how you can "Go Green" and save energy via the East Hollywood Energy Conservation & Safety Grant, which assists qualifying low-income households by installing free earthquake safety and energy saving retrofits in their homes.
We will also have reports from Alejandra Marroquin of Council President Eric Garcetti's CD13 office, as well as our LAPD Senior Lead Officers, plus our Planning & Beautification and Outreach committee reports and a meeting of the EHNC's Governing Board. Community stakeholders will also have the chance to make announcements on upcoming events or voice their opinions on important issues in the neighborhood. This part of the meeting has now been moved towards the beginning, so community members with important issues or annoucements do not have to wait until the end of the meeting.
Though the EHNC normally meets on the third Monday of each month, this month's meeting was moved to the fourth Monday due to the President's Day Holiday on February 18.
EHNC Funds, Approves Edgemont Tree Planting Project
The EHNC's Governing Board funded and approved a tree-planting project organized by local resident Cassandra Pruett which would plant over 20 trees along Edgemont Street between Fountain Avenue and Sunset Boulevard. The funding of about $200 in tree fertilizer and planting materials, would go to cover the cost provided by the oprganization TreePeople.
The Edgemont Street tree planting day is scheduled for Saturday, March 22. To volunteer, contact Cassandra Pruett at 7.cassandra@gmail.com
At its January meeting, the EHNC screened a 15-minute video showing highlights of its events and activities in 2007, from the Certification Hearing in April to its December meeting. Relive the moments by watching the EHNC YouTube clips above, and for those of you who haven't attended our meetings or participated in our activities, this will give you a better idea of who your neighborhood council is and what we do. Feel free to forward the links to your neighbors - Enjoy!
Outreach Committee To Meet February 21, March 4
Our Outreach Committee will have a special meeting on Thursday, February 21at the Hollywood Youth and Family Center, 607 N. Vermont Avenue at 7 p.m. to discuss publicity strategy, events and activities in the coming months, including a mixer, a community cleanup day and festival and an outreach booth at the Thai New Year Festival in April.
The EHNC Outreach Committee will go back to its normal meeting schedule on Tuesday, March 4 (the first Tuesday of the month) at 6:30 p.m. at Dvin Restaurant, 5125 Sunset Blvd (at Normandie).
For more information please contact the EHNC's Planning & Beautification Committee.co-chairs JR Woodward or Israel Stepanian.
Planning & Beautification Committee In Full Swing
The EHNC's Planning & Beautification Committee has been in full swinglately, recently having added three more members and drafted its Governance Structure, Development Standards and Guiding Principals, as well as several projects to be brought to the EHNC's Governing Board, from street trees on Vemont to a Virgil Ave. condo to a new Hollywood area Fire Station. The Committee also plans to host a community workshop put on by the Southern California Association of Governments (SCAG) on Compass Blueprint.
The EHNC's Planning and Beautification Committee's next meeting will be on Monday, March 3 at the Hollywood Youth and Family Center, 607 N. Vermont Ave (between Melrose and Clinton).
The EHNC's Planning & Beautification Committee is the functioning body of the neighborhood council that deals with planning/land use management, beautification, environmental and multi-modal transportation issues. Anyone who has an interest in those topics are welcome to attend.
For more information please contact the EHNC's Planning & Beautification Committee.co-chairs Gunnar Hand or Alfredo A. Hernandez.
January 2008
EHNC's Next Meeting, Monday Jan. 28
The next monthly meeting of the East Hollywood Neighborhood Council will be on Monday, January 28 at 6:30 p.m.
at the Saban Research Institute Auditorium at Children's Hospital Los Angeles, 4650 Sunset Blvd, at Vermont (pictured above).
A video presentation of the EHNC's highlights in 2007 will be screened via the Saban Auditorium's state-of-the-art audio-visual system.
We will also have reports from from Helen Leung of Council President Eric Garcetti's CD13 office, as well as our LAPD Senior Lead Officers, plus our Planning & Beautification and Outreach committee reports and a meeting of the EHNC's Governing Board. Community stakeholders will also have the chance to make announcements on upcoming events or voice their opinions on important issues in the neighborhood.
Though the EHNC normally meets on the third Monday of each month, this month's meeting was moved to the fourth Monday due to the Martin Luther King Jr. Holiday on January 21.
The EHNC's Governing Board voted 13-1-1 to recommend the preservation of writer Charles Bukowski's former East Hollywood residence on 5124 De Longpre Avenue as a Cultural Landmark at its December 17 meeting.
The late writer lived at the bungalow, currently vacant and intended to be demolished by its current owner, from the mid-1960s to the mid-1970s and was known to have produced most of his popular works while living there. EHNC's Governing Board members cited various reasons to support the preservation, from preserving Hollywood's bungalow court architecture to proposing ideas to make the site a community museum or library.
The Los Angeles City Council will vote whether to preserve it in an upcoming meeting.
Planning & Beautification Committee To Meet January 12
The first meeting of the EHNC's Planning & Beautification Committee will convene at 10 a.m. on Saturday, January 12 at the Hollywood Youth and Family Center, 607 N. Vermont Ave (between Melrose and Clinton).
The committee will discuss two tree-planting projects in the community as well as the committee's membership and structure.
The EHNC's Planning & Beautification Committee is the functioning body of the neighborhood council that deals with planning/land use management, beautification, environmental and multi-modal transportation issues. Anyone who has an interest in those topics are welcome to attend.
For more information please contact the EHNC's Planning & Beautification Committee.co-chairs Gunnar Hand or Alfredo A. Hernandez.
Outreach Committee To Meet January 15
The first formal meeting of the EHNC's Outreach Committee will be at 6:30 p.m. on Tuesday, January 15 at the Hollywood Youth and Family Center, 607 N. Vermont Ave (between Melrose and Clinton).
The EHNC's Outreach Committee is the functioning body of the neighborhood council that deals with promoting, publicizing and marketing the EHNC to its diverse community stakeholders and planning and participating in events which promote involvement and awareness of the EHNC in our community. Anyone who has an interest in the EHNC's outreach functions and activities is welcome to attend.
The meeting's agenda will be available for download soon at the bottom section of our EHNC Meetings website.
For more information please contact the EHNC's Planning & Beautification Committee.co-chairs JR Woodward or Israel Stepanian.
Want Better Parks, More Parks In Your Community? Let The City Know!
The City of Los Angeles Department of Recreation and Parks is currently conducting Citywide Community Needs Assessment workshops in order to improve and expand our city's 15,000 acres of parkland.
The workshops are taking place through February in each city council district. The session for Council District 13 will be on Saturday, January 19 from 12:00 – 2:00 p.m. at the Glassell Park Recreation Center, 3650 Verdugo Rd (near Eagle Rock Blvd) in Glassell Park
If you would like to see more parks in East Hollywood, in Council District 13 or anywhere else in the City, please attend and make sure your voice gets heard!
Free ESL, Citizenship, Basic Skills and Vocational Classes from LACC
Are you looking for, or know someone who would like to take ESL/English Literacy, Citizenship, Civics, Computer Skills or Vocational Education classes? Los Angeles City College's new Workforce Readiness Academy is offering them free to the community!
The classes take place weekdays from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. at the Hollywood Youth and Family Center, 607 N. Vermont Ave, just two blocks south of the LACC campus.
For more information or to register, please call Nelines at 323.953.4000 ext. 2230.
Post-Holiday Thanks!
The EHNC would like to thank those who attended our meeting last month at the Hollywood Youth and Family Center and donated toys for the HYFC's annual Holiday Toy Giveaway on December 21. Lines formed around the block as some 450 families received toys and reading books, donated by the EHNC, L. A. Bridges' Aztecs Rising and FilAmARTS. No one left empty-handed. Volunteers from the City of Los Angeles and Los Angeles City College were on hand to help distribute the toys and goodies.
Neighborhood News & Events
