One of my top priorities has been expanding community access to open spaces and improving recreational facilities in the West Valley. On Thursday I joined Department of Recreation and Parks staff and community leaders for a ribbon cutting for the latest improvements at Winnetka Recreation Center. Hearing requests from the Winnetka Neighborhood Council to make the park more family friendly with amenities, I jumped into action and got the funding necessary for the park improvements. The $450K+ project includes a new basketball court, fitness equipment, walking path, landscaping, and water fountains. Watch a recap of the ribbon cutting here.
However, before the upgrades were installed, it was my hope to get our unhoused neighbors living at the park into housing. My team and I did months of outreach and were able to get many people into interim housing in my cabin communities or shared housing. And, we worked with LA Sanitation to get the area cleaned up. This was no easy task as a lot of resources had to be coordinated, but as you will see, major progress was made and will continue to be made at Winnetka Park. The area is now also a 41.18 location where encampments are not permitted. Additional upcoming amenities to the park include shaded security cameras for the safety of all park visitors and additional shading.
Also coming down the pipeline in Woodland Hills are the upgrades for Serrania Park including playground equipment with shade structures, a garden sensory wall, 5300 sq feet of Spectraturf, and restrooms. Thank you to the Department of Recreation of Parks for working together to make our communities better.
As always, I will continue to do everything I can to improve our West Valley community. If you have any questions or suggestions, please feel free to contact me at [email protected] or 818-774-4330.
Councilmember Blumenfield’s Operation Safe Streets, which aims to curb speeding/street racing in the West Valley, continues to deliver results. In addition to the Street Racing Task Force that has issued hundreds of tickets so far, more speed humps and other mitigation efforts have been installed throughout the district. Recently Blumenfield joined City crews as more humps were constructed in Canoga Park and he spoke with some neighbors about how speeding has impacted their neighborhood. Many more improvements to come and take a look at the speed hump installation here.
If you’d like to learn more about how to get more speeding mitigation tools for your street, send us an email at [email protected].
Recently the Los Angeles City Council adopted prohibitions on the sale of flavored tobacco, including menthol. These products are marketed to be attractive to kids, and menthol cigarettes disproportionately harm the health of African Americans.
To distinguish the cultural tradition of hookah, and not hurt the small businesses that sell flavored “shisha” for hookah, the Council’s adopted ordinance includes a ‘grandfather clause’ that allows shisha tobacco being used at current hookah lounges to continue. However, regulations such as not allowing people under 21 to enter such an establishment have been implemented.
As of Wednesday, the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power (LADWP) moved to Phase 3 of its emergency water conservation plan – requiring all LADWP customers to cut the number of outdoor watering days from three to two. LADWP is urging customers to stay vigilant with their water conservation as the State of California and the region are facing a severe water shortage. Learn more about your watering days here.
Blumenfield encourages residents and businesses to take advantage of several LADWP programs offering rebates and incentive programs that encourage water use efficiency. Incentives include a $400 high-efficiency clothes washer rebate, a $3-per-square-foot turf replacement rebate for residential and commercial customers, and technical assistance program incentive of up to $2 million for commercial customers to perform customized water saving improvements at their facilities. Visit www.ladwp.com/save for more information.
Councilmember Blumenfield was the guest speaker at Columbus Middle School's College and Career Day. Blumenfield shared his career path and encouraged students to get involved in public service.
Councilmember Blumenfield joined San Fernando Valley Moms Demand Action, Students Demand Action SFV, and community leaders at the Honor With Action Rally at Warner Ranch Park. We must not be numb to senseless gun violence and must use our collective voices until our federal leaders implement common sense gun control measures.
The new AMC at Westfield Topanga & The Village is now open! It's truly state-of-the-art with incredible service for movie lovers. Councilmember Blumenfield joined friends like Diana with the West Valley Warner Center Chamber of Commerce to celebrate this level of reinvestment in Warner Center and the West Valley.
This week's photo from the Los Angeles Public Library's archives is from the Valley Times taken on September 5, 1960 of 91 year old Canoga Park resident, John Roberts, registering to vote for the first time. It's vital that each and every voter sends in their ballot and votes to make sure their voices are heard. For more info on the upcoming June 7th primary election, please visit lavote.gov.