My Endorsements: Garcetti, Amerian

Today is election day in the City of Los Angeles, and like any active informed citizen, I'm gonna vote at my local polling place, which is Lexington Primary Center.

So here's who and what I'm voting for, heck it's my blog:

City Council, District 13: Eric Garcetti

Running for his third and final term, Garcetti is the deserving choice for re-election. As an organizer/activist in my community, not just here in East Hollywood, but also in nearby Historic Filipinotown, among many reasons, he's one of the few public officials anywhere who understands the issues of this City's ethnic communities. Plus, his staff is some of the coolest people around, and hey, the dude is on Facebook.

I won't say anything negative about the character of Garcetti's opponent, who happens to be a friend of mine and is my colleague on the East Hollywood Neighborhood Council governing board. Gary Slossberg has been a hard-working and responsible board member and treasurer/corresponding treasurer. However, despite his knowledge of the issues in the Hollywood and East Hollywood areas, I don't feel he knows very much about the other 2/3rds of the 13th district, neighborhoods that have very different issues.

Here's what some people from the East Hollywood community, both of whom I know, have worked with and respect, have to say about Garcetti:








City Attorney: Michael Amerian

In one of the more hotly-contested races are five candidates vying to succeed Rocky Delgadillo, two of which happen to have the same name. Michael Amerian, the only candidate with actual experience in the City Attorney's office has been nice enough to outreach to me and my community by attending one of the EHNC's meetings and the recent East Hollywood ArtCycle. I haven't heard from any of the other four, so Amerian gets my vote.

Measure B: COIN TOSS!

One of the most controversial measured in this ballot has to do with the use of solar energy in the City. Both sides support solar energy in L.A.; one side says it'll bring more jobs and economic development in a time when people need it and the other side says the plan is poorly drafted and without proper community input. I have very good and respected friends on both sides of the issue and still none of them have made a clear argument for me on why I should vote their way. So I will bring a quarter to the polling booth, flip it (heads yes, tails no) and vote accordingly.

Kaiser's On A Roll

This week, the new 7-story wing of Kaiser Permanente Los Angeles Medical Center on Sunset Blvd opens, the first major step of the hospital's modernization project. This weekend, I noticed the building will have colored lighting effects illuminating parts of the facade, which shift in color a la the LAX light towers.

The new building is designed to be built as a replacement for the existing Kaiser facilities, which will move in. Long term plans for the hospital have the other buildings towards Edgemont St be demolished and replaced with new structures. Exciting but also a little saddening for me personally, since this is the very place where I was born (the 2nd floor maternity ward, to be exact...), and where my mom worked for 25 years.

According to Ellen Zaman, who heads community affairs of neighboring Children's Hospital LA, to commemorate the opening of the new Kaiser wing, the three major medical centers of East Hollywood, which also includes Hollywood Presbyterian Medical Center, are trying to get the City of L.A. to designate either an area or an intersection with signage to recognize the hospital presence in the area, but a name hasn't been decided yet.

I've heard the hospitals jokingly referred to in the past as "Bedpan Alley." But I guess myself being the "Hijo de E-Ho" (So I guess that's a title of royalty now?), having been one of the people to come up with the "Hel-Mel" name for Heliotrope and Melrose, has thrown this suggestion for the med center zone:

"Healthcare Square"

East Hollywood ArtCycle!

Today was the big day for East Hollywood ArtCycle, our community's version of an art walk/artcrawl. It was something that was born in the fall of 2008 at the EHNC Arts & Culture committee meetings, and it's the brainchild of the co-chairs of the committee -- Jennifer Moran, an artist, and Enci Box, a cyclist. After months of planning, organizing, outreach and a $2500 budget from the EHNC, it finally happened.

But a simple artwalk on two wheels it was not. It was helluva lot more than that. It was a street festival at Hel-Mel, it was a concert, at least four candidates in this coming Tuesday's municipal election showed up to represent, and there was even a (n illegal) fireworks display!

Much of the people came from elsewhere, but nothing wrong about that - part of the reason this was organized was to highlight East Hollywood. I did see the neighborhood Latino and Armenian kids and families either curious join in or extended the party to their front yards by putting up lights and blasting their own music.

I got to lead one of the four hourly bike rides through the neighborhood from Hel-Mel to art studios in the Cahuenga Library area to Sunset Junction - which is technically Silver Lake, but it's still East Hollywood Adjacent, to La Luz de Jesus gallery on Hollywood and a couple of private studios in Thai Town. My ride, which had over 20 people, left Hel-Mel at around 3 p.m.

Of course, myself being the "Hijo de E-Ho," I wanted to show off some of the 'hood...so I gave them the Director's Cut. The 1/5-hour ride turned into a 2-hour ride, not only stopping at the designated galleries and studios, but pointing out things like the histories of the Ukrainian Cultural Center, LACC, Thai Town, Little Armenia, and even Keifer Sutherland's secret lair (shhhh!), the lighting yard-cum-park to be and the "EAST HOLLYWOOD" advertising kiosk at Hollywood and Sunset.

The event attracted several hundred people. Not bad, eh?

It was a true community event. I got to re-connect with familiar faces in the community. I got to
connect with new people involved in the EHNC. I even met, for the first time, a neighbor of mine who lived in East Hollywood about as long as I have, and he even rocked his own Y-Que "East Hollywood" t-shirt. One of my friends turned up just because he read my Facebook status on ArtCycle!

Personally speaking, I'm real tickled. This is the first major event of the EHNC that I didn't have to directly plan and organize, and I'm actually happy about that - it's about damn time! Most of all it's gotten the "East Hollywood" name out there, as the event posters have attested, and it would leave no doubt to the visitors as to where and what E-Ho is. Kudos to Jen, Enci, everyone who helped out and look forward to ArtCycle 2010!

My New Laptop, Sorta!

Just got a new keyboard delivered at work today - no, not a music keyboard, nor a computer keyboard. But it's a Freedom Universal2 Keyboard, a foldable keyboard that works with cellphones and PDAs via Bluetooth. It's also got a little retractable stand for my phone - which is really more like a micro laptop computer, since it's got way more computing power than the 386 I used to rock when I was in college.

I got this just for my Blackberry Bold - so I can maximize my time, especially writing and blogging while during my Australia trip. This way, I don't have to haul around a big laptop -- and be afraid of it getting lost or stolen -- nor do I have to search for an Internet cafe. Closer to home, I also might want to do some writing while commuting on the Metro to or from work.

So far, it works great, Bluetooth was a slight enigma at first but it works smoothly now. My only complaint is that the right-hand "SHIFT" key is waaay too small, and I'm having trouble typing out capitalized characters. I got it for just under $100 including shipping from BlackBerrySource.com.

WE'RE #1!!!!

This week Forbes magazine unveiled its list of America's Worst Intersections [sic], the last word being a misnomer, since once reading the article, you learn they're talking about highway/freeway/expressway interchanges and exits and not a place where two surface streets cross, unless the Forbes folks live in a region where an "intersection" means something else - kind of like how those Midwesterners call carbonated soft drinks "pop."

Anyway, I was pleased/displeased/amused to learn that not only is Los Angeles ranked #1 in traffic congestion (w00t!) but the worst bottleneck is in East Hollywood -- namely the Vermont on/off-ramp of the Hollywood Freeway (101). Ain't that a dandy.

This, folks, is a cause for celebration.

Of course, I try to avoid this as much as possible. I'm speeding about 55 mph in a subway train 60 feet below the street to and from work every day, and in a car I'm wise enough to use Beverly or Temple as a reasonable alternate route.

Ash Wednesday @ The Cathedral

Went to the Cathedral of Our Lady of the Angels right after work on Wednesday to get some black stuff put on my forehead. Also took some pics from the plaza, which also included the towering "space coaster" or "robot statue" thingy from the "Central Los Angeles New High School #9," the moon and an airline contrail lit by the setting sun:

Small Businesses Don't Have To Suck

While biking home from my campaign volunteer activities and CD shopping at Amoeba, I passed by this humble little vacuum store on Fountain and Hobart that had n array of upright vacuum cleaners lines up inside the shop, outside the door and right at the curb.

Seeing that I've long procrastinated buying a couple of small attachments that got lost from my Hoover upright vacuum cleaner, I wondered if this store would have them in stock.

I asked the man at the counter and he told me he didn't think he had them but found a compatible part, much bigger than the one I looked for, yet still able to fit the Hoover vacuum hose.

Then looking down at one of the used Hoover models I pointed out that the attachments looked exactly like those attachments, and the proprietor, whose name was Sabatino, told me he'd be willing to sell them to me. The price was $4 each - making the purchase $8. I produced a five and three singles from my wallet right away.

He told me his business was only around for a couple months, having relocated from Sunset and Tamarind (near the Arby's)...and that my $8 was the first sale he ever made.

I was kind of floored. I don't know how many of you reading this (if at all :)) are in need of a used vacuum cleaner or repairs to your existing one, but if you do, this store can give you what you need. It saved me from an online purchase that would charge me more in shipping than it would for the item itself! So come check out Sunset Vacuum Shop & Service on 5324 Fountain Ave (at Hobart). I just love it when everything you need is pretty much nearby.

I also did some neighborhood council outreach, telling him about what we do and gave him my card, offering to help him out with any city-related issue he'd see in the neighborhood.

Yeah, there's a joke somewhere that says that no matter how well you do in the vacuum cleaner business, it's always going to suck...But sometimes it doesn't have to!