Van Nuys and the Valley – Page 35

May 11, 2015: Nury Martinez and LAPD Chief Charlie Beck

April 28, 2015Posted in Van Nuys and the ValleyTagged Charlie Beck, Crime, LAPD, May 11, Nury Martinez, Safety, Van Nuys and the Valley1 Comment

The Election is Over

April 27, 2015Posted in Van Nuys and the ValleyTagged "Councilwoman Nury Martinez", City Council District #6, Garbage, Van Nuys and the Valley3 Comments

On March 3, 2015 Incumbent Nury Martinez won re-election as the Councilwoman for the 6th District in Los Angeles. She beat her challenger Cindy Montanez.

In the months leading up to the election, Ms. Martinez’s office answered every small request I sent them.

They got the streets at Victory and Columbus, repainted with the “Do Not Enter” marks on the asphalt.

They put out patrols and arrested prostitutes.

They picked up discarded couches and debris.

They even got the curb painted in front of one house to get rid of gang tags.

Every request I made was answered with exquisite formality, sometimes with an email and a phone call.

There was again that tireless optimism in the air, that this time, finally this time, Van Nuys would cease being the dumping ground of governmental neglect and indifference.

But the election is over. The blight has returned.

The helicopters circle overhead unceasingly. Every day, every week, there are new acts of violence: a woman is stabbed to death in an alley, an LAPD officer barricades herself inside her house, a man stands on a balcony on Sherman Way pointing a gun at children below.

And garbage and debris pile up in parking lots, along curbs, while every request to “311” or Nury Martinez is ignored. There are shopping carts full of garbage in the Wendy’s parking lot at Erwin and Sepulveda, and there are many sofas and chairs dropped along the median and the sidewalks north of Sepulveda on Victory.

These are the small illegalities hanging like a noose around the neck of Van Nuys.

And when someone abuses a handicap parking placard, or breaks into your home, or throws a loud party and drops beer cans on your lawn, maybe it doesn’t rise to the level of the war in Syria. But it still sucks. And there is nobody who seems in control in Van Nuys.

Why run a city like this?

Speaking at the Van Nuys Planning Summit

April 18, 2015Posted in Van Nuys and the ValleyTagged "Andrew B. Hurvitz", "Here in Van Nuys", "Van Nuys Community Council", Event, Links, Planning, Speakers, VanNuys4 Comments

On March 26, 2015, I was invited to address the opening of a new Van Nuys Planning Summit held at the Marvin Braude Center. The event was created and sponsored by Quirino De La Cuesta and the Van Nuys Community Council.

Here I am in the beginning of the tape, delivering remarks.

Yesterday was CicLAvia

March 23, 2015Posted in Transportation, Van Nuys and the ValleyTagged ciclavia, LosAngeles, SanFernandoValley, wafflesdeliegeLeave a comment

Yesterday, Sunday, March 22nd, was CicLAvia in the San Fernando Valley.

Lankershim Boulevard, from Chandler to Ventura, and Ventura to Coldwater Canyon, was closed to cars.

I rode from my house near Sepulveda and Victory to the starting line at North Hollywood Station.

It was foggy.

Mayor Eric Garcetti: articulate, young and progressive, spoke before the opening.

It was a perfect San Francisco day to ride bikes in Los Angeles.

Cool, overcast, gentle.

And the sometimes indifferent people were seemingly transformed into better ones.

A cop saw me inflating my bike tire before the race and said, “Let me walk you down to where they have a bike repair station.”

Shopkeepers along the route waved and handed out chapstick, water, and energy bars.

In Studio City, I stopped and ate a Belgian waffle at Waffles DeLiege food truck.

Fortified and energized I turned around and rode the route back to the starting point in North Hollywood. And continued down Chandler. Making my way home, under trees and cloudy skies, along deserted streets .