Feb. Archives

February 2003

Board Approves Yaroslavsky Motion To Protect Seniors, Others From Losing Homes in “Tax Delinquency” Sales – On Tuesday, February 18, responding to a Los Angeles Times account of a senior citizen who lost his fully paid-off home in a delinquent-tax sale, the Board of Supervisors approved Yaroslavsky’s motion calling on the Treasurer-Tax Collector to report back with suggested policy and procedural reforms to better protect property owning seniors and others with special needs from tax-defaults and potential loss of their homes or other property.

zy_transit.tif (380790 bytes)

Valley Transitway Groundbreaking – Supervisor Zev Yaroslavsky (fourth from left) applauds the delivery of lumber to begin construction on the Sepulveda Basin Bridge over the Los Angeles River, the first phase of the long-awaited East-West Metro Rapid Transitway Project across the San Fernando Valley. When completed in Spring 2005, the $329.5 million 14-mile transitway - which includes a guided busway, bikeway and landscaping - will link the North Hollywood Metro Rail station with Warner Center, serving the communities of Van Nuys, Sherman Oaks, Encino, Tarzana and Woodland Hills. Yaroslavsky was an early champion of the project, modeled after similar dedicated busways he studied during a visit to Curitiba, Brazil. Yaroslavsky noted that transit planners call the busway “a subway on rubber tires” because of its unique design, which separates low-emission, high-capacity, high-speed buses from other traffic. Among those joining Yaroslavsky for the groundbreaking event, from the left, are Assemblymember Fran Pavley; Caltrans District 7 Director Douglas Failing; Councilmember Hal Bernson; California Secretary of Business, Transportation and Housing Maria Contreras-Sweet; Councilmembers Dennis Zine and Tom LaBonge; and Metropolitan Transportation Authority CEO Roger Snoble. (1/17/03)

Yaroslavsky Calls Federal Health Funding Assistance “A Modest Step, Not a Long-Term Solution” – On Friday, February 7, U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services Tommy Thompson announced a $150 million funding package for the County of Los Angeles health system, while California Gov. Gray Davis committed an additional $100 million of state funding for the County’s health programs. In a statement Supervisor Yaroslavsky released in response to the federal aid package, he noted that despite voter approval in November 2002 of County Measure B – a parcel-tax measure expected to yield an additional $168 million annually for the County health system – much work remains to be done to close projected funding shortfalls and restructure County health programs as the current federal Medicaid Waiver agreement draws close to its expiration date in 2005.

zy_mayor.tif (229704 bytes)

Santa Monica Boulevard Groundbreaking – Supervisor Zev Yaroslavsky (second from right) is joined (from the left) by Mayor James Hahn; Yaroslavsky Chief Deputy Alisa Katz; and Councilmember Jack Weiss to break ground for the Santa Monica Boulevard Transit Parkway Project. The Transit Parkway will unify and improve the long-neglected two-mile stretch of “big” and “little” Santa Monica Boulevard (Route 2) between the western border of Beverly Hills and the San Diego Freeway, improving the traffic flow and adding amenities such as pedestrian walkways, planted medians and other landscaping. (1/31/03)

Board Votes to Close Rancho Los Amigos Hospital – On Tuesday, January 28, after a day-long public hearing comprising testimony from more than 70 witnesses including patients, physicians and medical staff, the Board of Supervisors voted to begin the process of closing or privatizing Rancho Los Amigos National Rehabilitation Center in Downey. The County of Los Angeles Department of Health Services estimated savings of some $59 million from the action, if completed by the end of the current fiscal year. As part of the same Board action, Supervisor Zev Yaroslavsky asked County health and finance officials to work with any private-sector foundations or other interested parties to seek funding to operate Rancho Los Amigos while reconfiguring it to become a financially self-sufficient privately-run nonprofit rehabilitation facility. Click waiver summary and approval letter for additional information from the federal Department of Health and Human Services on the waiver funding issues. To read more about this option for Rancho’s continuing operation, click BlueConsultingReport, Gill-Basano Report. To participate in the California Community Foundation’s effort to help Rancho become privately self-sustaining, click Calfund Rancho project.

Walt Disney Concert Hall Beam Signing – Supervisor Zev Yaroslavsky prepares to sign a steel beam at the Walt Disney Concert Hall, a show of pride and symbolic tribute to the hundreds of construction workers who also signed beams during the last several years the Hall has been under construction. Slated to open for the Fall 2003 concert season as the newest and most spectacular addition to the Music Center of Los Angeles County, the state-of-the-art concert facility project was launched in 1987 with a generous financial commitment eventually topping $100 million from Walt’s widow, Lillian Disney, and their daughters Sharon and Diane. Los Angeles-based architect Frank Gehry designed the unique facility, which will boast a 2,265-seat main hall and a smaller 266-seat venue along with two outdoor amphitheatres, an art gallery, café, and extensive gardens and ornamental landscaping. (2/4/03)

zy_disney.tif (237948 bytes)

Yaroslavsky Announces Nominees for new Valley Transit Sector Governance Council to Replace Interim Valley Transit Zone – Supervisor Zev Yaroslavsky, in his capacity as Chair of the Interim Joint Powers Authority for the San Fernando Valley Transit Zone, recently announced the Authority’s nominations for the new Valley Transit Sector Governance Council, which will replace the Transit Zone as the local planning body for Valley transit needs. Click transit sector nominees for more details.

Yaroslavsky Address American Society of Public Administrators on County Health Crisis – On Friday, January 17, 2003, Supervisor Zev Yaroslavsky was a key participant in “Los Angeles County: Health Care in Crisis,” a day-long policy seminar at UCLA sponsored by the Los Angeles chapter of the American Society of Public Administrators. Yaroslavsky spoke about the County’s budget problems; his sponsorship of Measure B, the parcel-tax increase approved overwhelmingly by County voters in November 2002 to fund trauma care, emergency services and bioterrorism preparedness; and ongoing County efforts to secure additional federal funding to maintain and where possible expand County health services to the medically indigent. Other speakers included a variety of past and current public officials, and experts in the field of health, finance, philanthropy and public policy.

zy_meyer.tif (186684 bytes)

Yaroslavsky Welcomes British Ambassador – Supervisor Zev Yaroslavsky (right) presents a gift of welcome to Sir Christopher Meyer, British Ambassador to the United States, during a recent stop in Los Angeles. Sir Christopher has been posted to Washington since 1997, and previously served as Britain’s ambassador to Germany, and as government spokesman and press secretary to former British Prime Minister John Major. During his visit, Sir Christopher was the featured speaker at a luncheon program sponsored by USC’s Pacific Council and the Council on Foreign Relations, offering his assessment of the US/UK diplomatic approach on the Iraq and North Korea issues, and on the division among America’s other European allies over the questions. (2/14/03)

Yaroslavsky Announces Third District Public Works Projects:

West Valley Culverts – On February 4, 2003, the Board approved a $1.08 million contract with Huntington Beach-based Sancon Engineering II for a project to line existing culverts in the vicinities of Westlake Village, Malibu Lake, Monte Nido, and Big Rock with high-density polyethylene, polyvinyl chloride, or thermosetting processes. Yaroslavsky said that lining the culverts will extend their useful life, and that the project is part of the County’s ongoing program for roadway drainage facility maintenance. Click release for more information.

Yaroslavsky Announces February Commission Appointments (+ designates reappointments)

02/18/03 Jerome W. Lubin, Los Angeles County Mental Health Commission

02/18/03 Betty L. Nordwind+, Child Support Advisory Board

02/04/03 Stephanie Carter+, Community Advisory Committee (Sunshine Canyon Landfill)

02/04/03 Helen A. Kleinberg+, Commission for Children and Families;

02/04/03 Patricia Ann MacNeil+, Los Angeles County West Vector Control District