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July 2008
Transportation News
Orange Line Ridership Spikes as Gas Prices Climb
Supervisor Zev Yaroslavsky hailed the record-setting June 2008 Metro Orange Line
ridership figures as further evidence that as gas prices climb, more
and more Valley commuters are voting with their feet and leaving the
driving to Metro’s hugely popular Orange Line busway. Pictured here
with Yaroslavsky at a July 8, 2008 press conference announcing the
results is Richard Hunt, General Manager of Metro’s San Fernando Valley
Sector. The numbers speak for themselves:
Boardings -Preliminary Ridership Figures for June 2008:
- Average Weekday: 26,596 (an 8.7% monthly increase since May 2008, and a 4.4% year-over-year increase from 25,475 in June 2007)
- Average Saturday: 15,629 (an 11% monthly increase since May 2008, and a 7.6% year-over-year increase from 14,523 in June 2007)
- Average Sunday: 11,710 (a 4.9% monthly increase since May 2008, and a 3.4% year-over-year increase from 11,320 in June 2007)
- Total Boardings: 679,578 (a 4% increase of 26,703 from the previous monthly high of 652,875 in June 2007)
Yaroslavsky
noted that total monthly, weekday and Saturday boardings set new
records, and even Sunday boardings posted their second highest tally.
All in all, Orange Line ridership is up nearly 60% since its first full
month of operation in November 2005, and within its first year of
operation surpassed its ridership projections for the year 2020, 15
years ahead of schedule! See the Los Angeles Times’ Bottleneck Blog
for transit reporter Steve Hymon’s subway chat with Supervisor
Yaroslavsky. The previous week, the Daily News also caught wind of Yaroslavsky riding the rails.
California
Transportation Foundation Honors Santa Monica Boulevard Improvements
with 2008 Tranny Award as "Roadway Project of the Year"
On June 4, 2008, the non-profit California Transportation Foundation recognized the Santa Monica Boulevard Transit Parkway Project as “Roadway Project of the Year” at the group’s Annual Tranny Awards
Luncheon in Sacramento. Completed in January 2007, the project involves
the reconstruction and reconfiguration of a 2.5-mile stretch of Santa
Monica Boulevard between the San Diego Freeway on the west and the
Beverly Hills city limit on the east.
What had been a
notoriously unattractive and inefficient divided roadway known to
locals as “big” and “little” Santa Monica has been landscaped,
beautified and unified into a six-lane boulevard, with three eastbound
and three westbound traffic lanes. The project also includes
neighborhood access roads north and south of the main road, as well as
a new street lighting and traffic signal system, a landscaped median,
bicycle lanes and bus priority features.
In Topanga
Public Library Service in Topanga Opens a New Chapter
Breaking
ground for the new Topanga Public Library are, left to right: Adriane
Allan, Friends of the Topanga Library; Supervisor Zev Yaroslavsky;
Margaret Todd, County Librarian; Laura Zucker, Executive Director for
the Los Angeles County Arts Commission; and Liam Joyce, Principal of
Topanga Elementary School. (7/2/08)
Currently
relying on services from the County’s Las Virgenes Bookmobile, Topanga
residents have long sought a permanent public library for their
community. The $12.6 million Topanga Public Library project will
comprise a new 11,000 sq. ft. library and parking at 122 North Topanga
Canyon Boulevard. Amenities will include state-of-the-art technology,
reading areas, community meeting room and learning center, a group
study room and teen center, public computer terminals with Internet
access and an opening day collection of 42,000 books and other library
materials. The building will be decorated with several beautiful and
distinctive civic art commissions (artist renditions viewable in the
side bar) and the project is tentatively scheduled for completion in
late spring/early summer of 2009.
On the Westside
Board Awards Homeless Services Grant to
Santa Monica Agencies
On July 8, 2008, the Board of Supervisors approved Supervisor Yaroslavsky’s recommendation for a $1.071 million grant award
to a pair of Santa Monica-based homeless service agencies to serve
chronically homeless individuals on the City of Santa Monica’s
Chronically Homeless Service Registry. The demonstration project is
designed to move 70 of the city's most vulnerable chronically homeless
individuals into permanent supportive housing. The grant includes
$600,000 to Ocean Park Community Center
(OPCC, Inc.), for a new "OPCC Safety Net" two-year pilot project to
assist and house 40 of the homeless individuals, and another $471,000
to Step Up on Second to assist 30 more individuals in an effort modeled on a successful County Department of Mental Health program.
Grand Opening for Renovated Malibu Pier
From the
left (in dark suit, behind Yaroslavsky’s right shoulder): Jefferson
Wagner, Malibu Councilmember and pier project investor; Ruth Coleman,
Director of the California State Parks; Andy Stern, Malibu
Councilmember; Alexander Leff, pier project investor; and Pam Conley
Ulich, Mayor of Malibu (in straw hat). (6/29/08)
Supervisor Zev Yaroslavsky joins Malibu community leaders and local residents to celebrate the grand opening of the renovated Malibu Pier.
The pier had been badly damaged and closed for repairs for more than a
decade after a series of severe storms. With Yaroslavsky’s support, the
County of Los Angeles contributed $2.9 million toward the pier’s
renovation.
The historic structure, originally built in 1905
as a private shipping wharf and dock, first opened to the public for
recreation and tourism in 1934. During World War II, it served as a
U.S. Coast Guard lookout. After the war, it became a favorite hangout
for locals and visitors and a popular TV and movie filming location.
The State of California purchased the Malibu Pier for the state parks
system in 1980. For full details on the Pier’s storied history, current
amenities and plans for the future, see the State Parks Department’s
dedicated web page at Malibu Sportfishing.
In the Valley
Erasing an Old Tattoo to Begin a New Life
Supervisor Zev Yaroslavsky watches as a technician with the Providence Tattoo Removal Program
lasers off a gang-related tattoo from a client eager to erase a visible
and unwanted sign of an anti-social past and committed to changing his
life for the better. Yaroslavsky dropped by to help celebrate the
community service program's 10th anniversary of operation. With the
help and participation of Providence-Holy Cross Hospital, the program
was founded in 1998 by Sister June Wilkerson, a Dominican nun and
former high school teacher. The program is based at the Valley
Community Clinic in North Hollywood. For full details, see program hours and location. (6/18/08)
At the County
Same-Sex Marriages Legalized in California
At 5:01 p.m. on Monday, June 16, 2008, the California Supreme Court's historic May 15, 2008 decision
legalizing same-sex marriage became effective. Supervisor Yaroslavsky's
office had worked closely with the Registrar-Recorder during that month
to ensure smooth and orderly implementation of the Court's ruling, and
as a result, same-sex marriage licenses were readily available to the
general public along with traditional licenses when the County
Registrar-Recorder's offices opened for business at 8:00 a.m. on
Tuesday, June 17, 2008. For full details, visit the
Registrar-Recorder/County Clerk's newly redesigned web page for marriage licenses.
San Fernando Valley Marriage Update:
The Registrar-Recorder/County Clerk Office in the Van Nuys Civic Center
will be closed for remodeling until September 30, 2008; however, due to
the numbers of couples seeking marriage services, a temporary office
has been opened for this purpose only in the Van Nuys Courthouse, 14400
Erwin Street Mall, 2nd Floor, Van Nuys. Couples must submit on-line marriage license applications
in order to utilize this service. The Office will be open Monday
through Friday, 9:30 am - 4:00 pm, with same-day license availability
until 3:00 p.m. Civil ceremonies will be performed on Fridays by
appointment only. Please call (800) 201-8999 to schedule an appointment.
Kirk and Anne Douglas Honored for Playground Program
On
June 24, 2008, Supervisor Zev Yaroslavsky and his colleagues honored
film legend Kirk Douglas and his wife Anne with the County's Lifetime
Achievement Award for Community Service, recognizing their generous
support of the philanthropic effort they initiated to build or renovate
hundreds of public school playgrounds in Los Angeles. On May 28, 2008,
the non-profit Anne and Kirk Douglas Playground Award met its goal of
establishing a safe and inspiring playground environment at 400 local
schools. The Board also praised the Douglas family's support for the Kirk Douglas Theatre in Culver City, the newest and most intimate venue in the Center Theatre Group's family of theaters along with the Mark Taper Forum and Ahmanson Theatre.
In the Arts
Board of Supervisors Approves
$4.5 Million Grant Package for County Arts Organizations
On July 1, 2008, the Board of Supervisors approved a package of arts grant recommendations
from the County Arts Commission to fund 155 new projects and complete
second-year funding for 159 more projects undertaken by local arts
organizations in the field of visual and performing arts. Projects
include education programs, free public concerts and performances,
newly commissioned works, technology upgrades and arts administration.
See the Arts Commission press release for more details; a complete list of grantees may be found online on the Arts Commission’s web site, here. To learn more about how you and your arts organization may apply for grant funding, visit the Arts Commission’s grant application page.
Calling All Artists
The Los Angeles County Arts Commission is calling all artists
to answer the County's Request For Qualifications to create civic art
projects in two County buildings. The County is seeking an artist to
fabricate an artwork in glass for the Board's Executive Office Customer
Service Center in the Kenneth Hahn Hall of Administration, and seeking
another artist to create artwork for the entry lobby and courtyard
areas of a new mental health urgent care center to be built on the
campus of the County's Olive View Medical Center in Sylmar. Artists,
bookmark this page and check back periodically for more civic art project funding opportunities as they arise. Visit Civic Art to learn more.
Commission Appointments
(+ denotes reappointment):
6/17 - Teresa DeCrescenzo, M.S.W.+,LAC Children's Planning Council,
Janice Kamenir-Reznik, Esq., LAC Citizens' Economy and Efficiency Commission
Thank
you for reading our newsletter. If you would like to send a comment or
a message to Supervisor Yaroslavsky, please send your message to
zev@bos.lacounty.gov or just simply click here .
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