Updates from your Council District representatives

Mitch O’Farrell / CD13

Submitted by Mitch O’Farrell

I’m excited to bring you the first of many updates here on the EPIAn Way as your Councilmember of the 13th District. I’m looking forward to working with you and making great things happen in Echo Park.

My staff and I have been hard at work since I took office last summer. In a few weeks, we’ll break ground on a major streetscape improvement on Sunset Boulevard, from Rosemont to Everett Street. The project will repair sidewalks, increase ADA accessibility, plant dozens of new trees, add benches and other street furniture, and generally improve the look and overall walkability of Echo Park.

Over on Logan Street, many of you have probably visited our amazing Echo Park Farmers’ Market. I’m excited to announce that on April 4th, the market will be expanding and we’ll be closing half of a block of Logan Street to accommodate the expansion. This will open the market up to Sunset Boulevard and bring a new vibrancy to the heart of the community.

In between my regular updates here, please visit my home on the web at http://cd13.com where you will find news and information about the great 13th District.

Gil Cedillo / CD1

Submitted by Field Deputy Melinda Ramos-Alatorre

The First District is looking forward to what lies ahead in 2014. We are prioritizing our goals under our P.E.A.C.E. Program. “PEACE” is our acronym for Public Safety, Economic Development, Arts & Culture, Clean Communities, and the Environment. This will serve as the framework for our goals in 2014.

We have already kicked off our “clean communities” portion through the “Keep it Clean” campaign. CD1 has a dedicated team from the Bureau of Sanitation for our neighborhoods. They are focused around bulky item and trash pick up. With our team, we have already cleaned up over 200 alleys and over 500 tons of trash throughout CD1. Banners with the phone number to call for bulky item pick up are popping all over the district, as well as “Big Belly” trash bins, which actually send a signal to Sanitation when they are ready to be picked up. This program, however, cannot be successful without a full community. Let all of your neighbors know to call in and schedule their pick up before leaving their sofas on the street. You can call 1 (800) 773-2489 for bulky item pick up.

The First District is also one of three Council Districts to allow murals in single-family residences. Lifting the ban on murals is a huge victory for the arts community. The new ordinance allows for murals on commercial properties and multi-unit apartments. If you are interested in starting a mural project in your neighborhood, do not hesitate to contact Melinda Ramos-Alatorre, Field Deputy for Angelino Heights and Elysian Park, at (323) 550-1538.