Congratulations to Deputy City Attorney (DCA) Susan Strick for receiving the Susan Bursk Founder's Awardfrom the South Robertson (SoRo) Neighborhoods Council.The Susan Bursk Founder's Award is presented to an individual in recognition of his or her dedication and service to the South Robertson Neighborhoods Community.
DCA Strick was presented with this award on Sunday, June 7, at the 12th Annual SoRo Community Festival.
The goal of the SoRo Community Festival is to build bridges between neighbors, local businesses and public service organizations and to celebrate the cultural diversity of the community.
We congratulate Susan for being honored for her service to the community.
A little over three years ago, the City Attorney's Office partnered with Jewish Vocational Service to createFirst Chance, a program designed to provide at-risk youth with educational opportunities, job skills training, mentoring, and assistance with employment placement.
As a part of its mission, each year First Chance has facilitated community access to local employment opportunities through the Northeast Area Job Fair.
Now in its third year, the Northeast Area Job Fair focused on securing employers able to provide training and employment opportunities to youth, and individuals with little work experience.
On May 30, motivated job seekers mingled with employers at Rio de Los AngelesState Park. Among the twenty-five employers and training agencies in attendance were: Apple One, Target, Vons, LAUSD, California Highway Patrol, Southwest Carpenter Training Fund, and El Super, a new supermarket soon to open in Highland Park.
Information about juvenile record sealing and expungement was provided on-site courtesy of attorneys from Public Counsel and The Alliance for Children's Rights.
To prepare area residents, the City Attorney's Office also scheduled four work readiness workshops over the month of May, where counselors from Jewish Vocational Service offered their advice about being a successful job applicant.
The Northeast Area Job Fair and related work readiness workshops were planned in partnership with Jewish Vocational Service, the Office of Mayor Antonio R. Villaraigosa, Councilmember Ed. P. Reyes, Councilmember Tom LaBonge, Council President Eric Garcetti, Councilmember Jose Huizar, and with the support of The Historic Highland Park Neighborhood Council and the Greater Cypress Park Neighborhood Council.
Our thanks to these partners and everyone who worked so hard to make this event a success.
Two weeks ago, Loyola Marymount University (LMU) hosted a Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD)/ Los Angeles Fire Department (LAFD)/ Emergency Medical Services (EMS) Appreciation Luncheon at LMU’s CollinsCenter.
This luncheon recognized emergency personnel who support the LMU and Westchester community.
Special recognition was given to members of LAPD’s Pacific Division, LAFD Station 67 and the Los Angeles City Attorney’s Office.
The first photo is Claudia with a plaque presented by David W. Burcham, the Executive Vice President and Provost of Loyola Marymount University.The second photo is Claudia with Mark Grant, Special Assistant to Councilman Rosendahl.
Last night, community leaders gathered in Los Angeles’ MacArthur Park neighborhood for Tamales de la Paz (Peace), an event designed to underscore the neighborhood’s deep commitment to peace.
Tamales de la Paz (Peace) also serves to further the existing Rediscover MacArthur Park Campaign which is dedicated to revitalizing the neighborhood and surrounding areas through community partnerships that provide local health, safety, business, festive, educational, recreational, and social service activities.
The campaign has played a key role in transforming the community from a crime-filled "point of destination" into a thriving business and social/cultural "point of destination." The event also highlighted past and future community reinvestment activities.
Certificates of Appreciation were presented by Councilmember Ed P. Reyes to various organizations for helping reverse decades of disinvestment into neighborhood reinvestment within the MacArthur Park/Westlake District.
Sandi “Mama” Romero of Mama’s Hot Tamales, on behalf of the Rediscover MacArthur Park Alliance, presented awards to the “10 Top Hot Tamales of Los Angeles” - 10 community builders whose efforts have had a significant impact on the MacArthur Park neighborhood. Councilmember Ed P. Reyes and Police Chief William J. Bratton were among the award recipients.
A special note of recognition to Arturo Martinez, Deputy City Attorney here in the City Attorney’s Office, who received a “10 Top Hot Tamales” award for his work in the City Attorney’s Safe Neighborhoods Division focused on the MacArthur Park neighborhood.
The event closed with participants dining on a gigantic, 12 foot long “peace tamale” created by Mama’s Hot Tamales.
Last week, the City Attorney’s Office Valley Bureau sponsored an Apartment Owners and Managers Forum at the SepulvedaRecreationalCenter.Other sponsors of the event included Councilman Richard Alarcon’s Office (CD 7) and the LAPD’s Mission Area.
The event was a great success with close to 80 members of the community in attendance.
The City Attorney believes that each neighborhood has its own rhythm, its own sources of pride and its own concerns; which is why our attorneys go out into the community to engage in a dialogue with local residents.
The primary goal of the Office of the City Attorney is to make the neighborhoods of Los Angeles safer – to improve the quality of life for the City’s residents at home, at work and at play.The list of topics discussed at this particular forum included: crime, bulky items and sanitation, the City’s nuisance abatement efforts, eviction, housing inspection, the Neighborhood Prosecutor Program, graffiti, gangs, narcotics and other issues of concern to the Valley community.
There was very positive feedback from both the presenters and participants. One of the requests was that we have a follow-up to the presentation.The Los Angeles Police Department has agreed to host the forum in July.
If you would like to be informed of the when and where of the next forum, please email us at Gloria.Prado@lacity.org
The City Attorney's Office Child Abuse Policy Division, partnered with the Office of Councilmember José Huizar, the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC), Prevent Child Abuse America, ICAN, Los Angeles Community Child Abuse Councils, I-SAFE, First 5 LA, Jarritos Kids and Los Angeles Universal Preschool to introduce the first “Kids Day at City Hall” event in Los Angeles. The event was last Wednesday, April 22.
More than 200 students from Los Angeles area middle schools as well as from First 5 LA and LA Universal Preschools participated in the event on the City Hall lawn. Activities included fingerprinting of each child, safety awareness games, a visit from the Los Angeles Fire Department and McGruff the Crime Dog.
Representatives from iSafe demonstrated the safe use of the Internet and First 5 had activities to teach the children healthy eating habits. Students were able to explore the Safe City exhibit and were treated to lunch and games throughout the day.
On Saturday, April 18, 2009, the "Don't Dump on LA" illegal dumping prevention campaign, spearheaded by the South LA Neighborhood Prosecutor Program (Acting ASDCA Sonja Dawson and CRS Irene Del Campo), held their most successful community clean up day to date.
The purpose of the community clean up day is to promote education and awareness of the legal consequences of illegal dumping, to instill community pride in their community, and to foster collaborative relationships among governmental and non-governmental agencies engaged in this effort.
The Los Angeles Department of Sanitation reports that the nearly 200 volunteers cleaned a total of 13.53 tons of trash and Lot Cleaning removed a total of 146 cubic yards of trash and debris.
Our special thanks to the 99th Street Elementary School and Principal Sherrie Williams for this important community program to use the school grounds as a staging area.
