April 2022-NEWS and Zoom Meetings of Interest 

Community involvement is at the heart of what we are trying to do.  With that said, check out the news and dates for meetings that may be of interest to you below.

  • Neighborhood Blood Drive ~ We NEED everyone to donate!

  • Homeless Shelter on Melrose and Alta Vista?

  • City of L.A. Youth Council - Opportunity to get involved!

  • Melrose Wednesday Walks are BACK!

  • Temporary Road Diverters Coming to Willoughby (and more are coming to Rosewood Ave too!)
  • Melrose BID Crime Meeting  
  • Mid-City West Board Meetings dates and times
  • C-PAB. Community Police Advisory Board meeting 

 

Neighborhood Blood Drive ~ Sign up today and we'll see you on the 10th (next Sunday)!

Donated blood is desperately needed and this is why Melrose Village Neighborhood Alliance is supporting this event. This is such a great opportunity to help your neighbors and do something worthwhile that may just help to save a life!  Cedars Sinai is in very short supply of blood right now.  Click on the image below and make your appointment to give blood.  Or Call Stephanie at (626) 261-9842 to schedule a time.

Homeless Shelter / Interim Housing Facility on Melrose?

Since our last issue, there have been no updates from Councilmember Koretz's office in regards to the occupany permit or status of this project.  The building at the corner of Alta Vista Blvd and Melrose Ave is the former Villa Stanley East which was an assisted living care facility.  There is a current proposal to reopen this building for temporary interim housing for the homeless.  Nothing has been approved yet but permits, leases and licensing plans are all in the works for the property at 7253 Melrose Ave.  Our admins have requested a meeting with those involved with the process in order to find out more about this.  We would like know what the qualifications will be for living at the facility, who is in charge of safety, what services are they going to be offering and what controls are there to insure that our neighborhood doesn't have to endure any added risks or fears.  We will report back on this when we have some answers!

L.A City Youth Councils!  

Get your young adults involved!

"The mission of the LA City Youth Council is to speak truth to power, identify bold solutions, and turn ideas into action to transform our communities in positive, lasting ways."

 

We feel this is the perfect opportunity for young adults, age 16 to 25, to engage in how our community is shaped for the future.  It is our hope to identify candidates who are pragmatic thinkers looking for an outlet to express their views and concerns about our neighborhood and our City.

 

More information from the Youth Council site:

 

"The Opportunity

 

The Olivia Mitchell LA City Youth Council is accepting applications for it's first citywide cohort. This council seats 30 empowered youth from across the City who serve a one-year term. During their term, members learn about the inner working of local government, drive special community projects and civic events, and make policy and budget recommendations to elected and civic leaders of the City to improve the well-being, safety and achievement of young Angelenos."

MELROSE VILLAGE Wednesday Walks 

 

Would you like to meet some of your neighbors? Maybe you want to get off the couch and improve your cardiovascular health.  Maybe you would just like to feel safe with a group walking our neighborhood.  We'd like to make this happen! Typically we are joined by a member of the LAPD and Jill Kline from Councilmember Koretz's office who are there to meet the community, answer questions and talk about what concerns us.

 

Regardless if you want to walk 1 block or 1 mile, it's up to you.  We want to make this an enjoyable and no stress walk so we will start with a walk down Waring beginning at Spaulding and head in a different direction each week. 

 

The route is planned on Tuesday and you can email us for details.  You can join in at any location on the route that is nearest to you or meet at Spaulding and Waring at our start time of 6:30 p.m.  Anyone is welcome to join the fun and feel free to bring your dogs, children, parents, opinions and concerns. If the group wants to walk further, we can extend this in any direction after we circle back to the starting point.

 

(As with any type of exercise, consult your physician before to make sure this is the right thing for you to be doing.)

 

Last year, we even made the CBS local news!  The video link is below.

Temporary Road Diverters Coming to Willoughby (and more are coming to Rosewood too)

There are many mixed emotions regarding this story from the LA-DOT. If you feel strongly about this project and it's effects on how it will drive traffic to Waring Ave and other surrounding streets, read on...

Information from the LADOT: 

About the Project 

The cities of West Hollywood and Los Angeles are creating safer, more walkable streets as part of the Willoughby Ave, Kings Rd, and Vista/Gardner Street Design Project. This project aims to enhance these streets to be more comfortable and inviting for people walking and biking of all ages and abilities. For more information on the project and contract, please see the City Council Staff Report.

Starting in April 2022, the cities will be testing improvement strategies along Willoughby, using temporary installations - a traffic diverter, mini-roundabout, and corner curb extensions, which will be in place for up to 4 months, as the community evaluates the improvements.

Join us for our upcoming Virtual Community Workshops:

June 7th: 5:30pm-7pm or

June 11th: 9:30am- 11am

Meeting Links Coming Soon

We all feel that something needs to be done in order to reduce the traffic speeds in our neighborhood.  Is this the right plan?  Trying to sell me on the idea in the video that accompanies the plan is insulting & infuriating! To think you're going to narrow Willoughby any more than it already is and be able to do the other suggestions in that video too just tells me this plan really isn't realistic in it's idea or goals.  How do you slow down a street that already has a stop sign on almost every block? How do you narrow a street that already has difficulty accommodating 2 cars passing each other in opposite directions? Where to you add more trees on a block that already has a fully mature tree canopy?  Have any of these people EVER walked on Willoughby?  This really seems more like a massive waste of our taxpayer dollars.  The video appears to be made for a more generic city wide use and in no way, shape or form does it take into account the challenges of our neighborhood. Willoughby Ave, being 2 blocks north of Melrose Ave and 2 blocks south of Santa Monica Blvd might benefit from traffic diverters if the idea is to make cars crawl down it in single file while also removing parking in an area already strained for street parking,  But what about the cost to the rest of our neighborhood? Do we just click our heels and wish really really hard that all the traffic just goes away? I just have to wonder if anyone took into account some of the probable unexpected consequences of this. You just need to look a few miles away, to Mar Vista, to see what kind of neighborhood disaster is looming due to plans like this, followed by the inevitable failure due to many other factors that are being ignored. 

 

It should also be mentioned, if you didn't already guess, that our Neighborhood Council is in full support of this plan and the plan for Rosewood too.  I for one, would like to see a Neighborhood Council that actually listens to the neighborhood instead of their own "aspirational goals and ideals"...wouldn't you?  Once again, it's time for our neighbors to show up and say something about this...BEFORE it takes effect and not afterwards.  Keep you eyes out for the dates and times for public comment and input as these plans develop. 

 

These are my thoughts & opinions only. 

Shelby Blecker

Mid City West Neighborhood Council & Melrose BID Meetings:

Click on any of the meeting dates below to be taken to the general MCW calendar. Please double check the dates and times with MCW since it seems that they are having issues with their web site and calendar updates. The agendas are supposed to be posted within 3 days of the meetings.  If you would like to listen in, just follow the link on the site to the zoom meeting.  There is no 'sign up' required but this is a chance for you to MAKE YOUR OPINIONS HEARD!

 

Tuesday April 12 at 6:30 - General Board

Tuesday April 19 at 7:00  - Public Safety & Well Being - Our Zone 2 rep, Nasim Kablan, is on this committee and hopes to use this committee to improve our Melrose neighborhood. Email: nkablan@midcitywest.org,

Wednesday April 20 at 7:00 - Transportation

Thursday April 21 at 5:30 - Outreach & Civic Engagement

Tuesday April 26 at 6:30 - Social & Racial Equity

Monday April 25 at 6:00 - Arts and Recreation

Thursday April 7 at 6:30 - PLUC (Planning and Land Use)

 

Agendas, Minutes & Meeting Recordings for all the above meetings are now on a new tab on the MCW Website. 

 

Melrose BID Crime Prevention Meeting

This meeting is usually held on the 1st Tuesday of the month at 4 p.m.

You need to email kim@urbanlegendpr.com to get on the list and receive the zoom link details.  The next meeting is July 13th due to the July 4th holiday. 

This is an opportunity to speak directly to the people who help shape Melrose Ave.Get on the list!

We have brought this up before, but feel it's worth mentioning again...

 

What brought you to sign up for our newsletters?  We want to believe it is because you wish to learn what's going on and to participate in advocating for a safer and cleaner neighborhood. Most of you who receive this email live in Zone 2 or are affected by what happens on Melrose.  This newsletter contains links to the meetings to sign up for the Melrose BID Crime meeting, most of the Mid City West Neighborhood Council meetings and the LAPD C-PAB meeting.  

 

Here's the important part:  Neither the Melrose Bid or the MCWNC meetings have neighbors, referred to as 'stakeholders', attend very often.  Most of the sub-committees for MCWNC have NO 'stakeholders' attend.  So what happens when elected representatives get no input from those they are voted to represent?  They go off and turn their attention to their own pet projects instead of advocating for the people and the neighborhoods they serve!

 

So PLEASE get involved!  If you find a meeting topic in the list above that you are interested in and if you can attend just ONE meeting to make a comment or offer support to someone making comment, it will make a difference!  Tell them you are part of The Melrose Village Neighborhood Alliance!

 

C-PAB (Community - Police Advisory Board)

Thursday Apr 21 at 7:00 p.m.

This is a great place to listen to your police officers discussing issues with the community advisory board.  You may even be given the chance to raise your hand and speak on an issue.

 
Click Here to Register
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