In last week’s newsletter, I introduced you to my staff – the people who will join me in the day-to-day work of representing you and ensuring that you receive excellent constituent services from your Council Office. As residents and business owners in the 5th Council District, I believe you deserve representation at City Hall that is helpful and responsive. That is my commitment to you. You can find everyone’s email address at the bottom of this newsletter.

I want to take a moment to highlight a few of those staff and explain the work of our homelessness engagement team, the first of its kind for Council District 5. Matthew Tenchavez, Perla Urza, and Loren Jackson have been on the ground every day to connect services, find housing, and identify short and long term solutions for unhoused residents living in the district.

This past weekend, I joined Matthew and my Deputy Chief of Staff Fernando Morales in their work at an encampment at Sixth and Fairfax.

I’ve mentioned before that I do not believe that moving people from block to block is an effective way to solve our homelessness crisis. We need credible offers of housing to get people off the streets, and that requires instilling trust that we will deliver on our promises. Matthew, Perla, and Loren have been spending time getting to know our unhoused community so that when it comes time to offer housing, we have the relationships in place to be successful.

This process will take time, which is why part of their work is also to schedule sanitation services to reduce public health hazards and minimize the impact of encampments on surrounding neighborhoods. In advance of sanitation operations, the team will visit the encampment to make sure that folks are aware in advance, and then provide day-of monitoring and support to ensure it is successful.

At the end of the day, we all want what is best for our neighborhoods. We want our children to be able to walk to school safely and we want our neighbors to be able to live with dignity and with a roof over their heads. Thank you for your partnership while we do this hard work.

Motor Avenue Farmers Market
Last Sunday, I had the pleasure of joining the Palms Neighborhood Council at the Motor Avenue Farmers Market. They have done tremendous work to foster a vibrant, thriving, and walkable community. I am excited to work together to bring more support and resources from the City of L.A.!

Levy Family Early Childhood Center
This year marks the 10th anniversary of the Levy Family Early Childhood Center at Sephardic Temple Tifereth Israel! My team honored the Center with a certificate recognizing its achievements in educating and encouraging children to become creative, enthusiastic, and independent learners.

Scattergood “Green Hydrogen” Plant
Last week I provided an update on an ordinance to allow LADWP to move forward with the RFP and environmental review process for their proposed “green hydrogen” project in Playa del Rey. The ordinance passed out of Council this week alongside my amended motion to strengthen oversight and safeguards for the project.

As I mentioned, the project has a number of vulnerabilities that concern me. During the hearings for the ordinance, LADWP was unable to provide assurances that the project would not negatively impact local air quality and scarce water resources, that the transportation and storage of hydrogen could be done safely, or that the technology will be ready in time for the plant to open later this decade.

While I was hesitant to vote to approve the ordinance, I believe that my amended motion will provide the City Council with significant recourse should any of these concerns cause issues down the line. Watch my remarks on the floor of the City Council below:

Earthquake Retrofit Programs Status Report Motion (LADBS)
In light of the tragic earthquake in Turkey and Syria this week, I introduced a motion requesting an update from the Department of Building and Safety on the progress of the City’s seismic retrofit programs. While the Department of Building and Safety posts regular updates on the numbers of soft-story retrofits, additional details would help guide policy makers and provide information for the public. With this information in hand, I believe that we may want to consider accelerating this work to help protect our residents from the kind of devastation we have recently witnessed.  

Short Term Rental Enforcement
Two years ago, the City passed legislation to regulate short term rentals (STRs) in LA. Unfortunately, the law is not being fully enforced, with one study finding that half of STRs in the City of L.A. are illegal. Earlier this week, Councilmember Raman and I sent a letter urging City Departments to prioritize this issue and report back on what resources are needed to ensure the law is being fully implemented.

The consequences of insufficient enforcement are significant. Public safety is impacted. In January, three people were killed and four wounded outside of a short-term rental in Benedict Canyon. Short-term rentals also have destabilizing effects in communities by removing units from the long-term rental housing market –  especially rent stabilized units –  facilitating unauthorized commercial activities, and creating quality-of-life concerns for neighbors.

I hope to provide an update in the coming weeks on our progress. In the meantime, you can report an illegal short term rentals by contacting my office at councilmember.yaroslavsky@lacity.org.

Gary Gero, Chief of Staff: gary.gero@lacity.org
Andrew DeBlock, Senior Advisor: andrew.deblock@lacity.org
Fernando Morales, Deputy Chief of Staff for District Operations: fernando.morales@lacity.org
Kristen Torres Pawling, Deputy Chief of Staff for Policy and Planning: kristen.pawling@lacity.org
Rebecca Rasmussen, Legislative Director: rebecca.a.rasmussen@lacity.org
Leo Daube, Communications Director: leo.daube@lacity.org
Zachary Warma, Housing and Homelessness Policy Director: zachary.warma@lacity.org
George Hakopiants, Deputy District Director: george.hakopiants@lacity.org
Senior Planning Deputy: Dylan Sittig at dylan.sittig@lacity.org
Maria Aguiniga, Office Operations Manager: maria.aguiniga@lacity.org
Allen Zipper, Director of Community Engagement: allen.zipper@lacity.org
Matthew Tenchavez, Director of Homelessness Strategies : matthew.tenchavez@lacity.org
Jenelle Henderson, Executive Assistant/Scheduler: jenelle.henderson@lacity.org
Jarrett Thompson, Senior Field Deputy/Transportation Deputy: jarrett.thompson@lacity.org
Michelle Flores, Field Deputy: michelle.flores@lacity.org
Patricia Macias, Field Deputy: patricia.macias@lacity.org
Vanessa Saldana, Field Deputy: vanessa.saldana@lacity.org
Jocelyn Tabata, Council Aide: jocelyn.tabata@lacity.org
Loren Jackson, Homeless Liaison: loren.jackson@lacity.org
Perla Urza, Homeless Liaison: perla.urza@lacity.org

High Gas Bill?
Gas bills across California have been abnormally high over the past several months, with some customers reporting a 2x or 3x increase over their normal bill. This can be especially difficult for low income and fixed income residents. Here are a list of resources to help provide some relief:

GAS ASSISTANCE FUND
SoCalGas has set up a fund for income-qualified customers struggling with their gas bill. Eligible applicants can receive up to $100 per household.

WAYS TO SAVE
You may be able to find ways in your own home to reduce your overall consumption of natural gas. Here is a tool to help analyze your household energy use and discover customized energy-efficiency recommendations:

BILL TRACKER ALERTS
Set up custom alerts so that you can be notified if your gas usage is abnormally high.

LEVEL PAY PLAN
It can be hard to budget for your natural gas bill when your use changes depending on the season. SoCalGas will let you pay a flat rate every month so you can better plan for increased use in the winter.

SoCalGas also encourages individuals who are experiencing hardship to explore the many bill payment or assistance programs options it offers at www.socalgas.com/save-money-and-energy/assistance-programs or to call 1-800-427-2200

Sepulveda Transit Corridor
Metro is planning a future rail project to connect the Valley and the Westside and wants to know where you think stations should be. Take a look at the options here and share your thoughts using this questionnaire. Look here to find out more about the project and stay informed.

LA County's Economic Opportunity Grant Program
Calling all microbusinesses!

LA County's Economic Opportunity Grant program will award more than $54 million in grants to small & micro businesses, and nonprofits impacted by the pandemic. Microbusinesses can apply for grants of $2,500 starting today!  Applicants can visit grants.lacounty.gov to apply or to access multilingual application support.

MySafe:LA Los Angeles Fire Safe Council
The “MySafe:LA Los Angeles County Fire Safe Council” will conduct a virtual meeting on wildfire preparedness on February 16, 2023 from 7:00 PM to 8:30PM. The meeting will cover what the recent storms mean for Southern California, how they will impact fire season, and how to stay prepared. The meeting is free to join, and could help you get discounts on insurance.

Join the meeting by joining their zoom
https://us06web.zoom.us/j/89484294921
Meeting ID: 894 8429 4921

Wilshire Blvd
Due to Purple Line construction, Wilshire Blvd. will be closed from Fairfax Ave to Crescent Heights Blvd. on February 10 – February 13, February 17 – February 20, and February 24 – February 27.

Wilshire Blvd. will remain in a two-lane configuration in both directions between Highland Ave. and Cloverdale Ave. The left turn pockets from Wilshire Blvd. onto La Brea Ave. in both directions will also be closed.

Lorenzo Dr from Cresta Dr to Motor Ave
New concrete panels are being installed along Lorenzo Dr from Cresta Dr to Motor Ave. Single lanes may be closed at times to remove and replace new concrete panels along the street. Temporary no parking signs may be posted so repairs can be made.

If you have any need pertaining to the City of Los Angeles, please do not hesitate to reach out:

City Hall Office
200 N. Spring Street, Suite 440
Los Angeles, CA 90012
(213) 473-7005

General Inquiries: Councilmember.Yaroslavsky@lacity.org

All my best,