September
2004
MTA
Votes to Launch Phase One of Exposition Line – On
September 23, 2004, the MTA Board approved a $241
million funding plan for the construction of the 9.6-mile first
phase of the Exposition Boulevard light rail line. The line will
run at-grade along the Exposition Boulevard railroad right-of-way
from downtown to Venice/Robertson, while the second phase will run
all the way to the City of Santa Monica. The transit line will provide
a total of eleven stations on the initial segment from downtown to
Robertson. Combined with other state and local financing, this action
will fully fund this portion of the project, estimated at some $489
million, advancing the scheduled opening date from 2013 to 2010.
Click Metro
Rail Mid-City/Exposition Light Rail Transit Project for additional
details.
Hollywood Affordable Housing Project Wins Board Approval – On
September 21, 2004, the Board of Supervisors approved final
action to proceed with Supervisor Zev Yaroslavsky’s proposal to develop
an affordable housing project at Santa Monica Boulevard and Alexandria Avenue
in Hollywood on the site of a former County Public Social Services office.
Under the plan, the roughly 19,000 sq. ft. vacant building will be sold as
surplus to the Hollywood Community Housing Corporation (HCHC), a non-profit
organization that constructs and manages affordable housing developments in
the Hollywood area, which intends to redevelop the property for retail use
and nearly 29,000 sq. ft. of affordable rental housing units.
County Moves
Forward on Plan to Stabilize Operations at Martin Luther King, Jr.
Medical Center, Appoint Outside Management “Turnaround” Team – On
September 21, 2004, the Board of Supervisors authorized the Department
of Health Services to move forward on its MLK/Drew
rescue plan and schedule a public Beilenson hearing to consider
the community impact of suspending operations at the hospital’s
trauma center in order to relieve pressure on the emergency room and
other vital hospital services and retain the hospital’s accreditation
and eligibility for state, federal and private health insurers’ funding
reimbursement.
Board
Adopts New County Seal – On September 14, 2004, the
Board of Supervisors voted to adopt a proposed
new County seal, updating the existing 1957 design to remove
a cross, replace a trio of oil derricks with an image of Mission
San Gabriel, and to alter a central icon of Pomona, the Roman goddess
of fruit, to become a Native American woman representing the indigenous
Gabrielino people who inhabited the area prior to the arrival of
Spanish settlers. Click Seal
- Los Angeles County for a detailed description of the new design
and its symbolic significance.
|
|
| Van Nuys Child
Care Center Groundbreaking - Supervisor Zev Yaroslavsky is joined
by Arlene Rhine (left), Director of the Child Development Center
at Cal State Northridge, and Councilmember Wendy Greuel to break
ground for a new child care facility at the Van Nuys Civic Center,
intended to serve public employees and their children at the
federal, state, County and city agencies whose offices are located
there. The center will comprise a roughly 7,200 sq. ft. building
with a fenced 6,300 sq. ft. play yard. Amenities will include
accessible storage area for children's belongings, an isolation
area for sick children, offices, a staff lounge, and kitchen.
Officials expect to complete the $3 million dollar project by
August 2005. (9/10/04) |
|
|
| Supervisor
Zev Yaroslavsky (center) joins Bobby Areias (left) and Executive
Director “Blinky” Rodriguez from Communities in Schools,
a community-based nonprofit anti-gang agency serving at-risk
youth, at the groundbreaking for a new job training center in
Pacoima on the site of a former Los Angeles County Fire Department
warehouse. Yaroslavsky said that officials expect the $150,000
renovated center to open for business in April 2005. Agency officials
hope to serve hundreds of teens and at-risk youth at the 5,600-square-foot
center. Yaroslavsky noted that the job-training center exemplifies
a multi-pronged approach to the problem of gang violence. UCLA
will provide tutors and mentors for the participants, and efforts
are underway with Southern California Laborers Apprenticeship
and several corporations to help place candidates who have successfully
completed the training programs. (9/29/04) |
|
|
| Supervisor
Zev Yaroslavsky autographs a steel girder for a ceremonial “beam-signing” to
mark a major construction milestone in the new County-USC Medical
Center project. Replacing the old structure built in 1938, the
1.5 million-square foot updated hospital complex will offer the
latest advanced technological capabilities in the seven-story
outpatient building, eight-story inpatient tower, five-story
diagnostic and treatment building, and central energy plant.
The replacement Medical Center will provide more intensive-care
beds, and state-of-the-art improvements like faster and more
efficient elevators to link the hospital’s rooftop helipad
and emergency room. (9/15/04) |
Yaroslavsky
Announces Commission Appointments (+ designates reappointments)
9/14 -
Rosemary Dagit+, Los Angeles County Beach Commission
9/7 -
Carol Oughton Biondi+ and Helen A. Kleinberg+, Commission for Children
and Families
Clare Bronowski+, Los Angeles County Beach Commission
Shirin A. Chase+, Probation Commission
Hilda Cohen+, Los Angeles County Law Enforcement Public Safety Facilities Corporation
Bernard S. Weintraub+, Los Angeles County Commission on Aging
Elliott Zachary Seff+, Assessment Appeals Board |
