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NORTHWEST SAN PEDRO NEIGHBORHOOD COUNCILMEETING MINUTESNovember 18, 2002 at 6:30 PM, Peck ParkBoard Members in Attendance Joyce Fisher Julia Parker James Smith Laura Hansen-Lara Shari Hill William Upchurch Ray Patricio Shannon Day David L. Rivera Diana Nave Emily Rochte Guillermo Villagran Michael Nizetich Craig Byrnes Board Members Absent Steve Druskovich John Greenwood (excused)
ITEMS OF DISCUSSION AND RESULTING ACTION1. Meeting called to order and roll call taken. (Craig Byrnes, vice-president, chaired the meeting) 2. Minutes of October 14 approved. 3. Officers’ Reports a. President/Vice-President – i. Peck Park – John Greenwood has sent letters to the General Manager and Gat Laum, head of the Pacific region, informing them of the Board’s approval of the master plan (with the exception of perimeter fencing and adding animals). ii. Closing of trauma services at Harbor UCLA – John Greenwood wrote letters (expressing the board’s point of view of not closing down the services) to all members of the Board of Supervisors, Senators Feinstein and Boxer, Congress members Harmon and Rohrabacher, State Senators Debra Bowen and Betty Karnette and Assemblyman Alan Lowenthal. Mr. Greenwood was told that the passage of Proposition B was one part of keeping the center open, but not enough by itself. iii. Thanks to Shannon Day and her committee for co-sponsoring a forum on secession the week before the election. About 60 people attended it. iv. Thanks to Shari Hill and for the support and assistance from Councilwoman Hahn’s Office, the Port, and Beacon House, for a successful clean-up effort on November 2 at North Gaffey. b. Secretary – The NWSPNC now has an official address and mailbox at 638 S. Beacon Street, #688, San Pedro 90731, located in San Pedro City Hall. The secretary will pick up the mail weekly. Marisa Trutanich of Councilwoman Hahn’s Office made the arrangement for the mailbox and presented the key to the secretary at this meeting. c. Treasurer – Current balance is $1,122.57. Funds for neighborhood councils passed unanimously in the City Council. Still unknown when the money will be received. Expected to take a couple of more months. 4. Urban Land Institute Jim Cross, of PCAC, stated that the Urban Land Institute conducted an intensive one week study, which included interviewing 120 people and reading past studies, focusing on how to improve/upgrade the Ports O’ Call (promenade) and downtown San Pedro area. The study cost approximately $120,000: 1/3 was paid by the Community Redevelopment Agency (CRA), 1/3 by the Port of Los Angeles, and 1/3 by the San Pedro Chamber of Commerce The Urban Land Institute’s report will be distributed at the end of the year. Each neighborhood council will get a copy. Some of the recommendations contained in the report are: Mid-to-upper range housing development instead of office space, the promenade and park areas. The Urban Land Institute wants to show the community real progress in the next two years in regards to developing the area. No business will be moved during this time. Bill Stein from the Port of Los Angeles stated that the Harbor Commission has approved the Waterfront Promenade plan in concept (based on the draft report) and that design work is already in process for the area from the Cruise Center to Fire Station 112. Security measures are very important since 9/11 and are being factored into the plans, since the main emphasis of the promenade is to bring the public closer to the waterfront. The Port of LA has the only Port dedicated police force in the nation. We need to change the image of San Pedro so people know it is a safe town. Mr. Stein expects the Port to receive the final version of ULI’s report sometime in January. At present, the Port does not have a position on the entire plan. Port has agreed to give funds to the Convention Center and Visitors Bureau, in hopes of helping to get tourists on the cruise lines and into San Pedro. 5. Bureau of Sanitation Chimney Project (speaker: Charles Hart) – Mr. Hart is a stakeholder who is interested in redesigning the (non-functional) Bureau of Sanitation Chimney, which currently says “San Pedro” and can be seen from the Harbor Freeway. Mr. Hart submitted a sketch of his design and asked the Board to take on the project. It is the policy of the board that before they put their resources into a project, there has to be evidence of sufficient community support. Mr. Hart stated that he did not have the time to pursue his project nor did he know of anyone else who did. The board recognized that there would be considerable research to determine if the chimney was structurally capable of renovations, if funds could be obtained, and if the community supported the recommended design. As Mr. Hart was not willing to participate in his project and there was no other community support presented, the board referred the matter to the Issues Committee for possible future consideration. 6. Neighborhood Participation Project (speaker: Mark Elliott from USC) –This project has been active for five years and is affiliated with USC. Its purpose is to look at certified neighborhood councils and measure their effectiveness. Mr. Elliott asked if he could administer a survey to each board member to help identify best practices. Mr. Elliott stated the research information would be published eventually but that confidentiality would be maintained. No action was required of the board at this time, as the survey would not be administered until the spring. 7. Outreach a. The Outreach Committee is considering sending out a newsletter to stakeholders when sufficient City funds are released to the neighborhood councils. Outreach co-chair, Guillermo Villagran, asked board members to consider what content they would like to see in the newsletter and to bring some ideas to the next board meeting in December. b. As an outreach effort, Gullermo Villagran contacted the candidates who ran, but were not elected, in the last board election. Mr. Villagran wanted to encourage these stakeholders to come to the board meetings and participate in the committees. c. Board Member Emily Rochte is continuing to work on developing a database from meeting sign-in sheets, to expand notification of meetings. d. The NWSPNC Web Designer, Lee Uran, was introduced to the board. Mr. Uran’s services for creating and maintaining the web site for the period of August, 2002 to August 2003 is $500. Mr. Uran has been most patient in waiting for his payment. Thanks to the generosity of Councilwoman Hahn in providing the NWSPNC with $1,000, the board has able to compensate Mr. Uran for his services. MOTION: Guillermo Villagran made the motion to pay Mr. Uran the $500; second by Laura Hansen-Lara. Motion passed unanimously. i. In addition to Mr. Uran’s fees, the board previously paid $20 to list the web site names (NWSANPEDRO.ORG and NORTHWESTSANPEDRO.ORG) and $99 for hosting fees ii. All items to be placed in the NWSPNC web site are to be sent to the secretary, who will forward them to Lee Uran. The web site will only be used to notify the public of NWSPNC events, minutes, meeting agendas, committee reports and other council related information, and community events and information. 8. Issues Committee a. John S. Gibson litter clean up - The NWSPNC asked Bill Stein, Port liaison to the NWSPNC, if the Port would clean up the litter along the Port property on John S. Gibson, from Channel to Figueroa. Mr. Stein said there are far more demands for work than the Port has the manpower to handle, but that he would look into the matter. b. North Gaffey clean up - Diana Nave talked about the NWSPNC clean up project along Gaffey from Westmont to 5 pt. Much of the litter was in front of the businesses on that street, the bakery and the landscape company. MOTION: Motion by Diana Nave for the Board to send letters to these vendors asking that they maintain their own property; second by Bill Upchurch. Motion passed unanimously. c. Condition of property at 1032 Elberon – It was determined, with the help of Councilwoman Hahn’s Office, that there was an elderly resident on this property and that it was not being maintained. There is a lot of trash and debris, including an abandoned refrigerator. At hearing this, Captain Smith from the LAPD, Harbor Division, immediately made a call to have the refrigerator attended to, as it is a safety risk. Marisa Trutanich of Councilwoman Hahn’s office stated that the Neighborhood Prosecutor was looking into the situation, as well as the Fire Department. Board Member Ray Patricio presented pictures of the property to the board. d. Beautification of North Gaffey – MOTION: Diana Nave made the motion for the board to send a letter to the Bureau of Street Services to request that they submit the property on North Gaffey as eligible for a grant from MTA, to identify appropriate matching funds, and develop a master plan; second by Shannon Day. Motion passed unanimously. e. Neighborhood priorities: i. Leland Park (North Gaffey portion) – removal of tree stumps, re-planting plan, hiring of a youth organization to keep liter picked up. ii. Peck Park – new restroom facilities, clean up Canyon, promotion of nature trails, safety fencing by ball fields, drainage problems, safety vehicle barriers, brush clean up iii. Field of Dreams – restroom facilities f. Next Meeting is December 3, 7 p.m., 1911 N. Gaffey, Suite A, Worldport Business Center. 9. Report from LAPD, Captain Smith a. Homicides are increasing (33 this year, compared to 17 last year). The gang squad is at full strength. Aggravated assaults have increased by 7%, 8% increase in crime overall. b. New Police Station will be build at the same location as the current station. Officers will be moved into trailers while construction is going on. Project will take a couple of years to complete. A wall will be built behind the building to protect the officers from attacks from the Harbor Freeway. 10. Budget/Finance – Bill Upchurch, chair, will put a budget together for the Council, with input from everyone as to needs and wants. There is still no news when City funds will be available. 11. Election – The board has a vacant seat representing education. According to the bylaws, the board appoints the election committee. Acting President, Craig Brynes, asked for volunteers for the election committee. David Rivera, Mike Nizitich, and Shannon Day volunteered. MOTION: Motion by Diana Nave to accept volunteers; second by Guillermo Villagran. Motion approved unanimously. 12. Public Commentary a. Mike Wheeler, NWSPNC rep to PCAC, stated that it was noteworthy that the China Shipping project has stopped pending environmental review. b. Les Woodson, co-founder of the NWSPNC, announced “Merry Tuba Christmas” , December 14, 3 p.m., a Chamber of Commerce holiday festival. 13. Future meeting – Board agreed on the next set of board meetings – to continue meeting the second Monday of each month at Peck Park, 6:30 p.m. Next meeting scheduled for January 6th. MINUTES PREPARED BY: MINUTES APPROVED BY: DATE: _______________________ ________________________ ____________ Shari Hill, Secretary John Greenwood, President
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