February 4, 2011
City Manager’s Office
• Appropriations Update - Senate Appropriations Committee Chairman Inouye announced that the Appropriations Committee will implement a 2-year moratorium on Congressionally-directed spending that will apply to Fiscal Year 2011 and Fiscal Year 2012 appropriations bills. Senator Boxer has announced that she will be holding off on accepting appropriations requests for FY 2012 until the Senate Appropriations Committee provides further guidance on the definition of an “earmark.” These statements come after House and Senate Republicans agreed not to seek earmarks for the two years of the 112th Congress. Staff will continue to work closely with our advocate in Washington, DC to pursue funding opportunities through the Administration’s budget.
Community Development Department
• Homeless Services/2011 Homeless Count - On January 27th, the Housing Division worked in collaboration with the Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority (LAHSA) to conduct an enumeration of the Culver City homeless population. The Homeless Count is conducted every two years throughout Los Angeles County. With the Senior Center serving as the deployment center, 35 volunteers walked and drove all nine Culver City census tracts and discovered 89 homeless persons, cars, recreational vehicles (RVs), campers and encampments.
• Comprehensive Housing Strategy/Globe - The deadline to submit a proposal for the development of the Agency-owned site located on Globe Avenue was January 20th. Two proposals were submitted and are under review. Each bidder will be required to give an oral presentation of their proposed project.
• Music in the Chambers - Staff continues planning for the February 11th performance, presented by the Culver City Redevelopment Agency and the Los Angeles Philharmonic Association, featuring the Los Angeles Philharmonic’s principal oboist Ariana Ghez and principal violist Carrie Dennis. They will be accompanied by pianist Bernadene Blaha who will perform on a Steinway concert grand piano. The Steinway Piano Gallery is a sponsor of the Music in the Chambers program. The concert is fully booked. A live webcast will be available via www.culvercity.organd a live cablecast will be available for Time Warner subscribers on Channel 35 and Verizon Fios customers on Channel 36.
• Speak Easy - Planning is ongoing for the March presentation of Speak Easy, featuring spoken word and live jazz, at the Culver Events Center. Partners include PEN Center USA and the Jazz Bakery which has identified a performer for the event.
• ARTWALK Culver City - The 6th annual event will occur on June 4th. Staff has been preparing for the annual ARTWALK gallery meeting.
• Performing Arts Grants - Staff offered marketing support to the Culver City Symphony Orchestra’s performance on January 29th at Veterans Memorial Auditorium.
• Sang Yoon (Father's Office) – Mr. Yoon publically debuts his second restaurant concept, Lukshon, in the Helms Bakery this week. Highlights of the Southeast Asian eatery include an open kitchen, teak paneled dining room, white enamel ceiling panels and a bar that features a wine cabinet and wine-on-tap system set into a concrete wall.
• Tilden Terrace - The Preliminary Review Committee meeting for this proposed Agency assisted project met on February 3rd.
Fire Department
• New World, Record Management System (RMS) - The New World RMS was recently launched, and fire personnel have begun to utilize the system. Currently personnel are conducting “dual” entries (old system/new system) for all emergency responses. This will ensure that all data is captured while the new system is being launched and tested. Fire Department personnel continue to work with members of our Information Technology Department, Police Department, along with representatives from New World to ensure the system is working correctly. Once the new system is up and fully functional, personnel will no longer have to conduct dual entries. Staff anticipates that the new system will be fully functional by mid-February.
• Safe Haven Program – The Department’s Nurse Educator recently completed continuing education for all fire personnel on the Safe Haven Program. This is a State program, adopted by the County of Los Angeles, that allows newborn babies (less than 72 hours old) to be dropped off at any of the three fire stations in Culver City without fear of prosecution. Although this is not a widely utilized program, it is very important that our program remains current and that all personnel are familiar with the proper processes and procedures.
Parks, Recreation & Community Services Council Update
• Recreation Classes – The winter 2011 session for Recreation Classes will continue through the month of February. Most of the 6-week classes will wrap up the week of February 14th. Enrollment for most classes increased from the fall 2010 session. The number of subscribers to the PRCS Dept email update list has increased as well, possibly aided by the notification post card for the electronic Culver City Living brochure. Post cards were mailed prior to the Fall 2010 session and additional cards and flyers have been made available at customer counters. The next edition of the Culver City Living for Spring 2011 is expected to go online the week of February 21st.
• Sports – The inaugural season for both Adult Basketball and Adult Softball, under separate independent contractors, continues through the month of February. It has been a smooth transition with few, if any, customer complaints. Issues arising from field leveling work done by Major League Softball at Syd Kronenthal Park are being resolved this month, and staff doesn’t anticipate any further issues. Adult Basketball is filled to capacity and running smoothly with a few minor schedule adjustments due to the CCUSD work furlough schedule which affects the gym’s availability. Promotion for the upcoming Spring 2011 season will begin at the end of this month.
Police Department
• New Personnel - The Police Department is pleased to announce the swearing in of four new police officers. These officers include lateral transfers from other law enforcement agencies and two who recently graduated from the LA County Sherriff’s academy. The department welcomes Officers Steven Vannoy, Victor Garcia, Ivan Hernandez and James Hawkins. With the four additional officers that brings the number of sworn personnel to 105.
Public Works Department
• Toilet Exchange – A free toilet exchange program will occur on February 26th from 10 am to 1 pm. At this event, Culver City and nearby area residents can turn their old, pre-1992 toilets in for new water efficient ones. To participate, residents must prequalify. To pre-qualify or find out more information about this program, call (866) 861-0784 or go online to www.waterprograms.com. This event is sponsored by the City of El Segundo, California American Water, West Basin Municipal Water District, West Basin Director Ed Little, Metropolitan Water District and Golden State Water Company.
• College Boulevard Opening – West Los Angeles College has announced that College Boulevard is now open, just in time for the start of the Spring 2011 semester, which begins February 7th. This new road should improve access to the College. Public Works will monitor traffic closely to determine whether a cut through traffic problem is developing.
• Exposition Light Rail Project -There will be a temporary traffic diversion of westbound National Boulevard lanes for street reconstruction activities. The traffic diversion will be in-place continuously from 8 am, February 7th through to 8 pm, February 28th. The actual work will be done during the City’s standard work hours:
1. Fridays from 8 am to 8 pm
2. Saturdays from 9 am to 7 pm
3. Sundays from 10 am to 7 pm
Traffic Impacts:
- National Boulevard will remain open to through traffic for the duration of this construction activity but will be reduced to one lane of traffic in each direction.
- Directional signage and electronic message boards will be used to safely direct drivers through the construction zones in order to minimize the disruption to traffic.
- Local access will be maintained for all residents and businesses.
Notice (hardcopy and electronic) were provided to the standard notification area and mailing lists, electronically on January 31st and by hardcopy on February 1st. In order to provide additional notice, changeable message signage were placed advising of the planned closure on February 2nd.
• dog park Update - PXP has completed work on two abandoned wells at the dog park, and the work has been approved by the State Department of Oil and Gas. Restoration work at the dog park is now underway. The projected completion date is March 1st. The irrigation lines that were ruptured while re-abandoning the well and new replacement irrigation lines going to the tree have been installed. Grading of the dog park should begin today. Valley Crest, the contractor that originally built the dog park, has been hired by PXP to perform the restoration work. City staff is carefully overseeing the work at the dog park to ensure that the Park is restored to the condition it was in prior to the commencement of oil well work.
Transportation
• Culver CityBus Line by Line Analysis - Culver City’s Transportation Department is required by the Federal Transit Administration to perform a Line-by-Line Analysis (LLA) of all its transit routes at least once every three years. This analysis provides data to evaluate the performance and productivity of the entire system. One component of the LLA is the distribution of an onboard ridership survey. At this time the City’s consultant, in conjunction with staff, has determined that temporary surveyors will be distributing surveys onboard all Culver City buses during the week of March 6th. If make-up surveys are needed they will be distributed onboard during the week of March 13th.
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