THE EAGLE ROCK ASSOCIATION
The Best Investment You Can Make in Your Neighborhood
February 19, 2004
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Now more than ever, please support your residents association --
more than 1,000 members strong, and growing every day!
Please encourage interested friends and neighbors to send their
email addresses
to us at e.letter@TERA90041.org so we
can keep them informed, too.
This week:
Walgreens Action Alert! (item #1)
School Board Member Tokofsky Weighs in on Safety(Item
#2)
Emergency Preparedness Class in Jeopardy(Item
#8)
Table of Contents:
1. PRESIDENT'S MESSAGE -- WALGREENS UPDATE: A CALL TO ACTION
2. THE LAUSD'S DAVID TOKOFSKY ON SAFETY
3. KICK OUT THE JAMS: YOUNG PEOPLE'S POETRY WORKSHOP -- EVERY THURSDAY
4. COMING TO A POLLING PLACE NEAR YOU
5. GROWING WITH GHOSTS: INTERNS STILL NEEDED
6. EAGLE ROCK'S TEEN CENTER SHOWS OFF THEIR FACELIFT -- FEBRUARY
20
7. BUSH AND THE POST-9/11 WORLD COME INTO FOCUS AT OXY -- FEBRUARY
27-29
8. FREE EMERGENCY RESPONSE TEAM CLASSE IN DANGER OF CANCELLATION!
REGISTER NOW
9. MAGIC AND MYSTERY AT THE EAGLE ROCK LIBRARY -- MARCH 6, 18
10. WE'VE GOT MAIL
11. THE LAST WORD -- F. SCOTT FITZGERALD
1. PRESIDENT'S MESSAGE -- WALGREENS UPDATE: A CALL TO ACTION
TERA continues to be vigilant regarding the Walgreens development,
especially regarding the pending focus group meeting on the design for the
Walgreens site.
According to Michael Cathey, Eagle Rock deputy to Councilmember Villaraigosa,
the reason that the next design focus group meeting, originally scheduled for
mid-February, has not yet been scheduled is that Rich Development has not yet
come back with the new architectural drawings for the building facades and
parking amenities such as trees and paving. Rich Development told the
Councilman that their architect is no longer there and so it will take some
time for the new drawings to be completed. I also asked Michael about the
future of the "Brick's" building on Eagle Rock Boulevard, and he was
told that Rich Development will refurbish it and use it as another storefront space.
Councilmember Villaraigosa has been essential in advocating for the best
designs for Eagle Rock. But we need to know what this development is
going to look like, and whether it will be an asset to Eagle Rock, or another
cookie-cutter Walgreen's design (unlike the Walgreens on Wilshire Boulevard or
their adaptive reuse of historic structures throughout the nation, which
Walgreens says they cannot replicate in Eagle Rock). Rich Development's
excuses are unacceptable.
If you agree, please send the following letter
(or any variation you choose) to Councilmember Villaraigosa's e-mail address at
villaraigosa@council.lacity.org:
Dear Councilman Villaraigosa --
Thank you for creating the focus group, at the request of TERA and other
groups, to ensure that the design of the buildings on the Walgreens site
supports our efforts to create an architecturally compelling,
pedestrian-oriented commercial district. However, I am frustrated with
the lack of responsiveness of Rich Development and Walgreens regarding these
designs.
TERA has worked for years to ensure that the Colorado Boulevard frontage would
be especially fitting to Eagle Rock's character. Our commercial frontages
are extremely important to our overall appearance and property values.
Please ensure that these new plans are completed quickly, and that a new focus
group meeting is scheduled as soon as possible, to allow enough opportunity for
further community input. Thank you for your leadership in moving the
community input process with all due haste.
Sincerely,
YOUR NAME HERE
It is essential that Rich Development be reminded of the high level of interest
in this project, and what is at stake if the development is not befitting our
unique community. I hope you will join me in expressing your
concerns about Rich Development's delay in their new design. Thank you
all for your time and action!
-- Hilary Norton Orozco, TERA President
2. THE LAUSD'S DAVID TOKOFSKY ON SAFETY
In the wake of the recent shooting incident near Eagle Rock High School, we
received the following message from our district's LAUSD Board member, David
Tokofsky:
The recent shooting near Eagle Rock High School reminds us all that we must be
vigilant and support each other in keeping our neighborhoods safe. These
days no community is immune from gun and gang violence. I quickly learned
this in October when a stray bullet from a gang shooting came through my office
window at LAUSD District headquarters.
The following are phone numbers that you might put to use. Remember
though, your first call is always to ³911² in a true emergency.
If you have any questions about the incident in Yosemite Park or any other
safety concerns, please contact any of the following LAUSD resources:
Sergeant Randy Glymph supervises the
Eagle Rock area of District E and may be reached at (213) 742-8248.
The Los Angeles Unified School District
Police Departmentıs Watch Commanderıs number is (213) 625-6631.
In local District Eıs Roberto Martinez is
the Administrator of Operations. His direct line is (323) 932-2266.
As always, you may reach me at my Board office at 213-241-6383.
Thank you for helping to keep our kids and our community safe.
-- David Tokofsky, LAUSD Board Member
3. KICK OUT THE JAMS: YOUNG PEOPLE'S POETRY WORKSHOP -- EVERY THURSDAY
Eagle Rock's own weekly poetry workshop at Center for the
Arts, Eagle Rock, 2225 Colorado Boulevard, continues this Thursday at 4:00
p.m., and will meet at that same time every Thursday through the end of March.
Led by local poet and Ditrict 14 Artist in Residence Lisa Marie
Sandoval, the workshop teaches young people, aged 14-24, how to write,
polish, practice, and perform their spoken word poetry. The workshop will
culminate in a Poetry Jam to be held on Saturday, March 27, from 6:00
p.m. to 8:00 p.m. The event, entitled "Life Through My
Eyes," will feature workshop participants presenting their spoken word
creations before a communitywide audience. Refreshments will be served.
There is no cost for the workshops or the Poetry Jam.
Young people interested in the workshop are welcome to drop in at any session,
as are their parents.
For more information, please call (323) 226-1617.
4. COMING TO A POLLING PLACE NEAR YOU
From Eagle Rock Neighborhood Council President Dalila Soleto comes news of
the upcoming Neighborhood Council elections:
"It's election time again in Eagle Rock! The Eagle Rock Neighborhood
Council will be filling the seats of directors who were elected for a one-year
term. The following is a list of the open positions:
Youth
Faith-Based Organizations
Business
Civic Organizations
Sub-District 2
Sub-District 5
Sub-District 7
Sub-District 8
"The election will be held on Saturday, March 27, 2004. Please
look for more information in the upcoming weeks.
"If you are interested in running for one of the seats mentioned above,
please contact Bill Markis, Election Committee Chair, at
District8@EagleRockCouncil.org or me at President@EagleRockCouncil.org.
We can also be reached by phone at (323) 257-6381."
-- Dalila Sotelo, President, The Eagle Rock Neighborhood Council
5. GROWING WITH GHOSTS: INTERNS STILL NEEDED
The Center for the Arts, Eagle Rock, sends word that there are still plenty of
fascinating intern opportunities associated with their upcoming production of
playwright Ken Rohtıs "Growing With Ghosts":
Come work on the theater event of the year! The Center for the Arts,
Eagle Rock is pleased to sponsor Ken Rohtıs theater/dance/art extravaganza,
"Growing With Ghosts," a grand scale assemblage that takes place in a
historical setting and utilizes various art genres. The internships
are a great opportunity to learn from a unique creative team. Adelphia
Communications will be documenting the making of this extraordinary production.
The Center promises to make "Growing With Ghosts" a great learning
experience for all involved.
Here are the positions that need to be filled:
Assistant to Ken Roht: February 15th through April 2nd
Assistant to John Ballinger: Sound technician. This job will begin
March 22. The intern must be available to run the show beginning at
7p.m., April 2, 3, 4, 9, 10, 11, 16, 17, 18, 23, 24 and 25th.
Assistant to the Dramaturge: Michael Silverblatt will act as dramaturge
for this production. This job will begin on February 16th and end April
2nd. Driver's license and car is required for this position.
Assistant Stage Manager: Internship will begin on February 16th through April
25th.
Assistant Costumers: Opportunity to work with professional costume
designer, Audrey Fisher. Ability to sew is preferred.
Lighting Technicians: Due to the scope of this project, two lighting
technicians will be needed.
Artists and Set Builders Needed: Artists and Set Builders needed to Build 7
installations. Keith Mitchell, the set designer, is the best. Work
will begin March 15th.
For more information call the Center for the Arts, Eagle Rock, 323.226.1617, or
email us at centerartseaglerock@hotmail.com.
6. EAGLE ROCK'S TEEN CENTER SHOWS OFF THEIR FACELIFT -- FEBRUARY 20
The ROCK Teen Center's director Donna Robey-Sullivan tells us the Center's
about to celebrate its third anniversary with a party and open house, and
you're invited. Here are the details:
Friday,
February 20
6:00 p.m. - 9:00 p.m.
1597 Yosemite Drive
(two blocks east of Eagle Rock High School)
On Friday, February 20th, Eagle Rock's Reach Our Community Kids (ROCK) Teen
Center will have an Open House to celebrate its third year of
providing free after-school recreation, tutoring and computer services to
teenagers in Northeast Los Angeles.
The Open House will also highlight the recent efforts of local volunteers and
private donors to renovate the facility. A grant of $12,500 dollars from the
H.N. and Frances C. Berger Foundation was awarded to the ROCK last September.
The funds were used to install new flooring, to soundproof the tutoring
room and improve the outside lighting and to install security equipment.
Construction workers from the Eagle Rock community volunteered three
weeks of their time over the winter holidays to complete the remodel.
³After-school programs like ROCK are particularly vital in light of the tight
budget crunch that California is now facing,² said Cathy Miller, volunteer
board member of ROCK. ³This Open House serves as a testimony of what can be
accomplished when a community and local churches come together.²
Parents of local teens as well as the general public are invited to stop by on Friday,
February 20th, from 6:00 to 9:00 pm, to see the ROCKıs new look, and to
learn about our youth programs and computer technology center. The ROCK
Center's Executive Director, Donna Robey-Sullivan and staff will also be
present to share teen success stories and how their own lives have been
impacted by helping kids.
ROCK is a faith-based non-profit that in 2001 opened its after school
program in a building donated by benefactor Vince Grater. In
2003, over 250 young people visited the ROCK Teen Center, 70 of whom
participated in the ROCK Teen Bank incentive program. The Teen
Bank allows participants to earn points toward merchandise for hours spent
taking part in homework coaching, youth leadership council, college
mentoring and computer challenges. Supported mostly through
private donations and contributions from churches and other local
organizations, the Teen Center is open to all young people aged 12-18.
The Center is open Monday through Thursday from 3:00 to 6:00 p.m. and
from 3:00 p.m. to 5:30 on Fridays.
For more information, please call (323) 257-6102, or visit
http://www.rockids.org.
7. BUSH AND THE POST-9/11 WORLD COME INTO FOCUS AT OXY -- FEBRUARY
27-29
Ivo Daalder, senior fellow in foreign policy studies at the Brookings
Institution, and Max Boot, military historian and weekly columnist on
foreign affairs for the Los Angeles Times, will be two of the featured
panelists at the Occidental College Global Affairs Conference titled "A
New Calculus: Bush and the Post-9/11 World." The conference will be
held February 27-29 at Occidental College. Opening and closing plenaries
will be held in Thorne Hall and are free and open to the public.
Occidental College is located at 1600 Campus Drive in Eagle Rock.
During the opening plenary, scheduled from 7:30 to 9:00 p.m. on Friday,
Feb. 27, Daalder and Boot will take part in a conversation titled
"Bush and the Post-9/11 World: Two Perspectives." The discussion will
be moderated by Dr. Jane Jaquette, Bertha Harton Orr, Professor
in the Liberal Arts at Occidental. The closing plenary,
titled "A New Foreign Policy for a New Era?" is scheduled for 10:00
to 11:30 a.m Sunday, Feb. 29. The panel will include Daalder, Boot, and Michael
Hirsh, former Newsweek foreign editor and chief diplomatic correspondent.
The moderator will be Dr. Abraham F. Lowenthal, founding president
of the Pacific Council on International Policy, professor of international
relations at the University of Southern California and vice president of the
Council on Foreign Relations.
The event is being sponsored by Occidental's Office of Global Affairs and
Department of Diplomacy and World Affairs, with funding from the Compton
Foundation of Northern California. Students from 13 top
colleges and universities, including Brown, Pomona and Tufts, will take part in
the seminar.
Occidental College is located at 1600 Campus Drive in Eagle Rock.
8. FREE EMERGENCY RESPONSE TEAM CLASS IN DANGER OF CANCELLATION!
REGISTER NOW
Here's an announcement from Eagle Rock Neighborhood Council Safety Director
Marlene Schmidt, who tells us that the great Emergency Preparedness Class
scheduled to begin March 1st in Eagle Rock is in danger of cancellation.
" If I don't have 25 registrants by the time it starts next
week," says Marlene, "it will be cancelled, I'm sorry to say."
Learn how to protect your loved ones, your family, your
neighborhood and your community in the event of an emergency at Eagle Rock's
absolutely free Community Emergency Response Team (CERT) classes.
The L.A. Fire Dept.' s Community Emergency Response Team (CERT) training
classes in disaster preparedness will start on Monday evening, March 1st at the
Eagle Rock High School Cafeteria, from 7 PM to 9:30 PM. The school
is located at 1750 Yosemite Drive.
These classes are FREE and open to the public. Pre-Registration is
required by February 23rd. This series of eight weekly classes consists
of emergency and disaster preparedness in cases of earthquakes, fires,
floods, accidents, terrorism and other related hazardous incidents.
Medical operations, including CPR, search and rescue and fire mitigation
are included. For further information and pre-registration,
please telephone Marlene Schmidt, at (323) 257-3333 or e-mail at
marlesch4cert@yahoo.com.
9. MAGIC AND MYSTERY AT THE EAGLE ROCK LIBRARY -- MARCH 6,
18
The Eagle Rock Branch Library will be hosting two events of
interest to families with children during the month of March. On
Saturday, March 6 at 2:00 p.m., a "Mystery Guest" will help us
celebrate "Reading Across America" by sharing wonderful tales
of Dr. Seuss.
Then, on March 18, Tony Daniels, Master Magician, returns to the library
to present his own "Magical Tales." That's
Thursday, March 18, at 3:30 p.m.
For more information, call Kent Brinkmeyer at the Eagle Rock Branch Library
(323) 258-8079.
-- Mary Wynton, Eagle Rock Library, Children's Librarian
10. WE'VE GOT MAIL
"I feel a little detached from TERA lately. The e-letter is chock
full of announcements about local events. But the constant activism around
local issues has been missing. It seems this change has occurred since Joanne
Turner stepped down as president, but I can't be sure. In any case, other than
planning events like the home tour, what are WE working on as a community? I
worry that TERA may overemphasize promoting local businesses--a worthy
project--but what about other issues important to homeowners and residents? Was
the Shopping Bag our final issue? I miss Joanne's urgent calls for emails and
letters; but now I have no idea about what the board's goals are?"
-- Lynn Sacco, Cunard Street, TERA member
Thanks for sharing your thoughts with us, Lynn. In reply, we turn the
floor over to TERA President Hilary Norton Orozco:
"Thank you very much for your letter. Joanne Turner's presidency of
TERA was definitely marked by the high amount of community activity surrounding
Walgreens, the Shopping Bag demolition, and other TERA efforts. But I can
assure you that the community activism in TERA is alive and well. In
fact, encouraging and supporting the investment of new business is incredibly
important to extending the high profile of Eagle Rock. The fact that
high-end businesses are moving in raises the appearance and reputation of our
community, as well as our property values.
"But there are other important TERA projects going on that I have
highlighted in many of my Presidents messages and will provide further updates
on as we move forward: creation of an Eagle Rock community garden;
improving the landscaping of the 134 Freeway exit at Colorado Boulevard;
creation of a Historic Preservation Overlay Zone (HPOZ); fighting for good
residential and commercial development in Eagle Rock; addressing problem
properties; creating a billboard management program to address visual
blight. We are an incredibly active, all-volunteer organization
that continues to make Eagle Rock a better place to live.
"As for calls for e-mails and letters, I have included one today on a very
important issue, but will save such urgent requests to maximize their
effectiveness. I look forward to your continued activism and thank you
for being a passionate member of our community -- the best part of living in
Eagle Rock."
-- Hilary Norton Orozco, TERA President
* * *
"My name is Jessica Wethington McLean and I am the Eagle Rock Neighborhood
Council Sub-District 2 Director. I need your help on an important
community issue!
"I am writing to request written statements to Von's from stakeholders
throughout the Eagle Rock area regarding the myriad of ongoing problems
associated with the vacant buildings on the northern portion of the Figueroa/
La Loma Vonıs parcel (some of which was discussed recently in the e.letter).
"Here's a little background: As Sub-District 2 Director, I have been
in regular contact with Vonıs corporate offices and their outside property
management company regarding the source of blight this parcel has become on our
community.
"Problems have included illegal junk sales, dumping, littering, loitering
abandoned shopping carts, etc. Each time I address things with Von's, it
gets better for a little while, but dumped items soon remain on the property
for weeks at a time, litter collects again, shopping carts are left on La Loma
and never retrieved, among other things. In fact at a community clean-up
last spring, stakeholders joined with me and removed almost a ton (literally)
of trash from the vacant lot. Within a month, it was as if we'd never
been there -- and that's the problem. Our community deserves better.
"I will be meeting with Von's corporate management and their contracted
property management company in March and I plan to present all of your letters
and insist that they make good on their promises to keep this lot maintained
regularly-- once and for all.
"If things are not drastically improved (and maintained) after this
meeting, I will involve Building and Safety, our City Councilman, the ERNC Land
Use & Planning Committee and anyone else I need to in order to finally get
this source of blight cleaned up in our community. Enough is enough.
"I'm just one volunteer representing my part of the community.
In order to have the desired impact, I need to show Von's that the
ENTIRE community is concerned about this issue - that it's not just one or two
people who care -- and that's where you come in.
"So how can you help? Please take part in a good ol' letter writing
campaign. Write your comments 'Dear Von's' and email your letter to me by
March 1st so that I may present them all at one time at the meeting. This
could be a great family project - a letter from Mom & Dad and another from
the kids. Any and all comments are welcomed and encouraged.
"If you need food for thought, just take a look at the carts filled with
debris along La Loma Road between Vons and Sav-On. Walk around the
perimeter and notice the litter stuffed inside bushes and sticking to fences.
Then consider how nice this parcel could be - even vacant as it is - if
they'd only be responsible about their property.
"Please email your letters to me by March 1 to:
ERNC_District2@earthlink.net
"If you have questions, please feel free to contact me directly by email
or phone (323) 256-6221.
"Thank you in advance for your participation and support."
-- Jessica Wethington McLean, Director, District 2, Eagle Rock
Neighborhood Council
Thanks for keeping us informed of your ongoing efforts to solve the
challenges of litter and disrepair that plague the perimeter of Von's property
on Colorado Boulevard. The TERA board has already drafted a letter
to Von's on this issue that asks Vons to
"...cease allowing illegal junk sales on its
property, (and to) take active steps to prohibit dumping, littering, loitering,
and carry out the removal of existing litter and abandoned shopping carts from
the site."
We strongly encourage all TERA members and other e.letter subscribers to
support Jessica's worthy campaign with letters of your own.
And, as always, we welcome your comments, complaints and/or compliments on the
e.letter or any topic of interest to greater Eagle Rock. Please address
your message to e.letter@TERA90041.org,
and include your full name, along with your city, neighborhood or professional
affiliation. Opinions expressed in the e.letter's "We've Got
Mail" section do not necessarily reflect the views of The Eagle Rock
Association (TERA), the e.letter editor, or The Eagle Rock Association Board of
Directors, who reserve the right to publish letters or other materials
submitted to the e.letter at their sole discretion. Letters or other
material chosen for publication may be edited for style, clarity and brevity.
Please let us know if you do not wish to have your comments appear
in the e.letter.
11. THE LAST WORD -- F. SCOTT FITZGERALD
"Action is character."
--F. Scott Fitzgerald (1896-1940)
Distributed weekly via email and as a regular feature on
various internet newsgroups, the TERA e.letter is read by well over 2000
readers with an interest in Eagle Rock and Northeast Los Angeles. Please
encourage interested friends to send their full name and email address to us at
e.letter@TERA90041.org so we can keep
them informed, too.
If you have changed your email address or would like to be removed from this
list, send us an email to e.letter@TERA90041.org
with the word(s) "remove" or "address change" in the
subject box, as appropriate.
If you have a press release, letter of comment, question or other notice that
you feel might be of interest to the Eagle Rock community, send it to e.letter@TERA90041.org. Your
announcement -- in the form of an email text message, (no attachments, please)
-- must be in our hands by noon on Monday to be considered for inclusion in
that week's issue.
TERA -- The Eagle Rock Association -- YOUR COMMUNITY IN ACTION -- http://www.TERA90041.org --
P. O. Box 41453, Eagle Rock, CA 90041 -- (323) 259-TERA -- a 501(c)(3)
nonprofit public benefit corporation
The TERA e.letter
A publication of The Eagle Rock Association (TERA)
Vince Waldron, editor
e.letter@TERA90041.org