February 2022-NEWS and Zoom Meetings of Interest 

  • Homeless Shelter on Melrose and Alta Vista?

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

  • Melrose Wednesday Walks are BACK!

  • MidCity West NC - Continuing the pattern of mixed messages.
  • Melrose BID Crime Meeting  
  • Mid-City West Board Meetings dates and times
  • C-PAB. Community Police Advisory Board meeting 

 

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.

Homeless Shelter / Interim Housing Facility on Melrose?

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 Will Be Starting Again on February 16th!

 

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 short walk down Waring beginning at Spaulding to Gardner or maybe down to Pointsettia Pl where there is a traffic light at Melrose, cross Melrose to Clinton, turn right and head back to Spaulding and then circle back to where we started. 

 

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 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.

Mid-City West Neighborhood Council - Continues the pattern of sending mixed messages.

 

Here are just a few comments and ideas coming from various members of the MCWNC board over the past few weeks: 

 

"Our Council is business friendly and we care if businesses survive and thrive on La Brea" - but if we the stakeholders don't support a 2 hour expansion of "Bus only lane" service on La Brea that over 35 businesses said would greatly hurt them, WE are "fear mongering".

 

"The NC is only an advisory board, we don't make policy" - But a recent item #8 on the Planning and Land Use committee agenda seems to say something different:  "Language from the Motion: THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED THAT the Mid City West Neighborhood Council supports the Safe Streets For All ballot initiative. We ask that the Los Angeles City Council create an ordinance that automatically implements the Mobility Plan2035 when repaving streets, using the exact language as written in the initiative."

Guess what?  It's not even a ballot initiative yet and a few members of the Mid City West NC are seeking their board's approval in asking City Council to do this?  Are they now writing legislation?  This agenda item had board members so conflicted that it actually got tabled (put off to a future date).

 

"Lets all try to work together to improve our neighborhood" - but if they don't agree with your public comments or they conflict with the aspirational goals of the NC, your comment may have fallen on deaf ears.

 

This is all really crazy to try and follow.  But if you care about what's going on in our neighborhood, it's another reason to attend a Mid-City West NC meeting.  More people are making their voices and concerns heard when it's time for public comments and it is beginning to make a difference.  I'm happy to say that I am seeing that several board members are now paying close attention to public comments.  Now it's YOUR turn.

 

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 Feb 8 at 6:30 - General Board

Tuesday Feb 15 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 Feb 16 at 7:00 - Transportation

Thursday Feb 17 at 5:30 - Outreach & Civic Engagement

Tuesday Feb 22 at 6:30 - Social & Racial Equity

Monday Feb 28 at 6:00 - Arts and Recreation

Thursday Mar 3 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. 

 

WE ARE STILL WAITING FOR THE MCW COUNCIL TO ACT ON THIS: 

Writing a "No Confidence" letter regarding DA Gascon is something we're waiting to hear back on. None of the board seem to think this is a priority!

HOWEVER - The RECALL GASCON drive is underway.  We now have petitions to sign.  Email us for details if you'd like to add your name to a petition.

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 Feb 17 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
Follow Us
Follow on X (Twitter)

If you would like to help us with the newsletter, write an article

or comment on our newsletters,

LET US KNOW!  This is a community effort!

Our Website