LINCOLN HEIGHTS ACTION COALITION SAYS NO ALCOHOL NEXT TO OUR SCHOOLS!”

LINCOLN HEIGHTS ACTION COALITION

“NO ALCOHOL NEXT TO OUR SCHOOLS!”

PRESS RELEASE

February 28, 2008

Contact: Father Mario Torres, (323) 221-3179

Hugo Pacheco, (323) 528-7605

MEDIA NOTE: Father Torres and residents available for interviews today and tomorrow

RESIDENTS OUTRAGED AT CITY DECISION TO CONTINUE TO BYPASS CITY ORDINANCES AND ALLOW SALE OF ALCOHOL NEXT TO SCHOOLS

LOS ANGELES – After eight hours of pleas from hundreds of concerned Lincoln Heights residents yesterday, the East Los Angeles Planning Commission voted 2-1 to deny the community’s appeal against a video arcade and the sale of beer and wine at the Las Villas development, which will be immediately next to three schools and near a Buddhist Temple. The overflow crowd asked the commission to uphold a pre-existing city ordinance prohibiting the sale of alcohol 500 feet from a school or religious institution. Two of three commissioners decided to support Councilman Ed Reyes and the developers and deny the community’s appeal.

“We walked in full of hope that the Commission would enforce the law, even though the Councilman had by-passed it,” explained concerned parent, Robert Vega. “Hundreds of people took the time to make their voices heard. They waited patiently past midnight just to be ignored. We simply don’t understand how the City can get away with breaking the laws established to protect our kids!”

“This is an absolute injustice!” exclaimed appellant and concerned resident, Hugo Pacheco. “We thought the system was set up to serve the people, but it’s obvious to us that the City is only interested in helping developers despite what the community may want.”

Father Mario Torres, Pastor at Sacred Heart Church, explained that the community will continue their fight to keep alcohol away from schools. They have requested a meeting with Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa and will make an appeal to the State.

“The Mayor has made our children’s education a top priority,” said Father Torres. “The students at Lincoln High School already have to deal with gangs, crime and truancy problems, now they want to put a video arcade and sell alcohol right next door. We hope that Mayor Villaraigosa will help our community protect our kids and keep alcohol away from our schools.”

The proposed Las Villas Entertainment Center, at 3319-25 North Broadway, will be immediately next to three schools:

• Little Flower Missionary School for pre-school children - immediately behind;

• Gates Street Elementary School - directly in front;

• and Lincoln High School - directly across.

The development is also near:

• Gates Street Early Education Center;

• Kwan Ying Vietnamese Buddhist Temple;

• and The American Vietnam Chinese Friendship Association, which averages over 350 children who attend Chinese classes on both Saturdays and Sundays. Almost 4,000 children attend classes near the proposed development.

CD 14 Watch said...Even the Neighborhood Council Land Use Groups know that there are many restrictions to many types of business around a school. For example no dirty books in book stores or newspaper vending machines, or no alcohol within 500 feet of schools or churches, etc. These are ABC rules, not just City of LA rules. File a complaint with ABC. Its easy, its online and anonymous.


(Please email this thread to others.)

Looks Like Garcetti Is Running For Mayor With His "Garcetti Leadership Academy"

Leader Eric Garshady pictured on left

Who is arrogant enough to call it "Garcetti Leadership Academies" in their own press release unless they are running for mayor? Why did you have to inject your name into it? Wouldn't "L.A. Leadership Acadmemy" or a some other name that doesn't make it about you have been better? After all Eric, you're no leader? How can you have a Leadership Academy? It should be called the "Garcetti Cover Your Ass Academy".

GARCETTI ANNOUNCES PUBLIC SAFETY EVENTS IN GLASSELL PARK
Month-long series of community events follows gang-related shootout

On the heels of a gang-related shootout on Drew Street, Los Angeles City Council President Eric Garcetti announced that he will host a series of events to listen to community concerns and engage local residents in efforts to make their neighborhood safer.

My top priority is making sure that our neighborhoods are safe places where families can thrive. We need to empower residents to work with each other and the police to stop the gang violence in Northeast L.A. These community events will give local families an opportunity to share their ideas for making their neighborhood safer and to learn about what they can do to help, said Garshady.

The month-long series of community public safety events will include a Public Safety Summit with Garshady, Los Angeles Police Chief William Bratton, and other city officials. Participants in the Summit will have the opportunity to express their concerns, share ideas, and hear an update on current public safety efforts.

Garshady will also host a Leadership Academy focused on public safety issues in the community. Workshops will be held by representatives of the L.A. Bridges gang prevention program, Human Relations Commission, local schools, and the City Attorney's Office. Participants will learn how to organize a successful neighborhood watch, participate in Garshady's anti-graffiti program, Uniting Neighborhoods to Abolish Graffiti (UNTAG), and become effective partners with LAPD Senior Lead
Officers. The Garshady Leadership Academies are held regularly and have
trained more than 1,000 local residents to be effective advocates for their community.

For Garshady, this series of events follows seven years of working to improve public safety in this part of the Glassell Park neighborhood. His efforts have included leading efforts to establish a neighborhood watch, coordinating neighborhood clean-ups, organizing door-to-door outreach events to inform local residents of anti-gang programs and other public safety resources available to them and their family members, and hosting community resource fairs to educate local residents on the city resources and community services available to them. Although violent crime is down significantly in the area, last Thursday's tragic events demonstrated the need for this comprehensive response.

Matt Dowd Wants To Know, "Which Voters Gave You The Power To Align Los Angeles With Hillary Clinton

OPEN MESSAGE TO MAYOR VILLARAIGOSA
by Matt Dowd's Press Office

Hey Antonio....which voters of Los Angeles, when you became Mayor, gave you the power to align Los Angeles with Hillary Clinton???

You're the mayor of a major City, claiming to be in fiscal emergency, and yet you're never here, you're parading around the countryside, aligning yourself with Hillary, but what happens when her ship goes down???

You take us all down with you!!

See, we want federal money from the administration that wins, but because you're so completely and sickeningly partisan through this whole campaign, the perception is that YOU (and Los Angeles) are promoting Hillary. and if John McCain wins office, he'll remember you and what you're doing.

We never gave you the mandate to be a Hillary drone. you better pray like hell that Hillary wins, or you'll be run out of town, the day you get back.

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