Wilshire Center Team News and Activities

Last quarter, the security team assisted the City in getting over 540 bulky items picked up, made 17 calls/reports to the City for street repairs, and assisted in getting 231 graffiti tags cleaned up. The team responded to 46 calls for assists to the LAPD and others. They issued 46 illegal vendor warnings and assisted 4 homeless individuals. 392 illegal signs were removed. The team addressed the subject of 12 drinking in public individuals and 22 belligerent transients.

The Bicycle Patrol received a commendation from the Police Department. One of the bicycle officers recognized a man from a wanted poster and alerted the police, who apprehended him. That man, who has been wanted since 2007 for office break-ins along Wilshire Blvd., has been implicated in 30 burglaries just from March 2011 to the present. LAPD Senior Lead Officer Stoecklein applauded this collaboration between the Business Improvement District and the Police Department.

The Olympic Division is the second safest division in the city (measured in per capita serious crime). It is also the fourth safest division in the city (measured in incidents). Senior Lead Officer Stoecklein attributes that to the Police Department’s partnership with the community, especially the Wilshire Center BID and its Bicycle Patrol. The LAPD’s website has a number of crime prevention tips at: lapdonline.org/crime_prevention

Last quarter, the sidewalk maintenance team collected 2044 bags of trash (47,012 lbs), and removed 177 graffiti tags on sidewalk pots, poles, and news racks. The crew is out every Monday and Thursday sweeping the sidewalks, picking up trash, clearing gutters and painting out graffiti from street poles and flower planters. The team empties 59 trash cans throughout the District due to the City’s reduced efforts which had led to an overflowing of the cans.

With its contract from the city, the KYCC is available for graffiti removal. To report graffiti, please call the Center at (213) 365-7400 or call the City at 311.

The landscape crew for the District’s Wilshire streetscape continues to maintain all 15 medians and about 160 flower pots along Wilshire Blvd. The work consists of removal of trash, trimming of plants, watering of plants, and repairing broken sprinklers.

One of the best places to keep informed of Wilshire Center District’s activities is on Facebook; become a friend of the Wilshire Center District at facebook.com/wilshirecenter

Community Events

A Community Cleanup Event which coincided with Korean American Day (1/7/12) attracted about 1000 people at Seoul International Park. This event was organized by UDLA, CRA/LA, WCBID, & WCKNC. Volunteers cleaned 8th Street between Normandie Ave. and Western Ave., 7th Street, 6th Street, 3rd Street and Wilshire Blvd. between Normandie Ave. and Vermont Ave. Thanks to their efforts hundreds of bags of trash were cleared from the District.

On Thursday, April 12th, 2012 (the March 8th event has been moved to April 12th) the Wilshire Center BID will host a "Night Out for Safer Neighborhoods" event at the RFK Memorial Park at 3400 Wilshire Blvd. The goal of this event will be for neighbors to get to know each other better and to join with our elected officials, community leaders and the officers of the LAPD Olympic Police Division to empower the citizens and to regain control of our communities.

The next meeting of the Wilshire Center Business Watch will take place on Thursday, March 15th 2012, 12:00 noon at the Archdiocesan Catholic Center, 3424 Wilshire Blvd., El Camino Real Conference Room (5th floor). A complimentary light lunch will be provided.

WC Cool District

The LA County Bicycle Coalition is encouraging support for the 4th Street Neighborhood Greenway, already designated by the City as a Bike-Friendly Street. A Neighborhood Greenway is a residential street with low volumes of auto traffic and low speeds where pedestrians and people riding bikes are given priority while safely sharing the road with local traffic. The goals are to reduce cut-through auto traffic, provide safer bicycling and pedestrian connections and enable crossing at busy streets. Not only will the 4th St. Greenway help increase pedestrian and bike travel in our district, it is also in line with the “Cool District” plan to encourage vibrant retail and community life while simultaneously reducing carbon emissions and congestion. Thanks to 4th Street - together with other designated “Bike-Friendly Streets” New Hampshire Ave and Oxford Ave, and bike lanes on 7th St; Wilshire Center is becoming increasingly accessible to local residents and surrounding community members to patronize district businesses by bicycle. For more information, please visit: www.la-bike.org

The 6th Annual LABC Sustainability Summit, Local Energy and Global Markets will be hosted in partnership with the Los Angeles Business Council, the Getty and Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa. The 2012 Sustainability Summit will take place in the LEED Gold Harold M. Williams Auditorium at the Getty on Wednesday, April 27th from 7:30 am - 2:00 pm. For more info go to www.labusinesscouncil.org.

Other Community News

The City Council boundaries are under discussion this spring by the City Council Redistricting Commission. There is a draft of a proposed redistricting plan which was issued by the Redistricting Commission last month. There will be three more weeks of public meetings to discuss the plan. According to the plan as now drafted, Councilman Wesson’s district will be extended to 3rd Street, and Councilman LaBonge will not be in the BID area at all. For more info go to www.redistricting2011.lacity.org.

The Wilshire Center BID was able to successfully work with the Bureau of Street Services to identify, document and report the damaged decorative crosswalks along Wilshire Blvd. between Western and Vermont. The repairs were done by a contractor under the supervision of BSS. The crosswalks were installed to beautify the area in 1997 as part of the Wilshire Boulevard Streetscape Project and are some of the only interlocking brick pavers in the city. They were damaged by repair crews who needed to tunnel underground in order to install and repair water and power lines on Wilshire Blvd. at Western Ave. and at Oxford Ave.

A new owner purchased the Wilshire Hotel, located at the corner of Wilshire Blvd. and Normandie Ave., in August 2011. It resolved all of the previous owner’s issues with respect to back taxes and union relations. Consequently, the service union has called off its boycott, and people are welcome again to the hotel’s restaurant, guest rooms, and banquet halls. The hotel will be updating its look this Summer.

The J.h Snyder Co Vermont project at the NW corner of Wilshire and Vermont continues to move forward. They have successfully closed both the construction and mezzanine loans on December 22nd of last year, and continue to remain in compliance with the Owner Participation Agreement (“OPA”) in place, which is a current and Enforceable Obligation of the Community Redevelopment Agency. As part of the OPA, they have agreed to form a community advisory board for purposes of providing input into the design of the public open space component of the development project.

PLEASE CALL 311 IF YOU SEE BULKY ITEMS AND GRAFFITI – TOGETHER WE WILL MAKE OUR COMMUNITY A BETTER PLACE

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To all residential tenants: please make arrangements to have your bulky items removed for free from the curbside, by calling 1-800-773-2489, from Monday through Friday, between 7:30 a.m. and 4:45 p.m., at least one day before the regular collection day. Bulky items are collected on the day of the regular trash collection day. For more information and on-line service go to www.lacitysan.org.

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