State of the Neighborhood Hosted by Downtown Neighborhood Council

Ysabel Jurado, CD14 City Council Member

  Ysabel Jurado, CD14 LA City Council Member, speaking at the State of the Neighborhood hosted by the Downtown Los Angeles Neighborhood Council (DLANC), noted that downtown is “not as vibrant as it used to be.” She asked the audience to “share with me your vision of the future.” With a $1 billion deficit in the LA budget due to the wildfires, Jurado said we need to form partnerships and “think outside the box.” She is currently on a listening tour in neighborhoods in her district. She was in South Park on March 24. See related article in this newsletter.

The State of the Neighborhood event also included reports from key city departments including the City Attorney, Sanitation, Empower LA, and the LA Fire Department.   

Hydee Feldstein Soto, LA City Attorney

The keynote speaker was City Attorney Hydee Feldstein Soto, elected in 2022, and who oversees a team of 1,000 legal workers. As the legal counsel for the city – the Mayor, City Council, and City boards and departments; she oversees misdemeanors – not felonies. She is not the District Attorney. Her office works on workers’ rights, tenants’ rights, homeless outreach, domestic violence and sex abuse, retail theft, and fire crimes to name a few.

She highlighted some of the work of the City Attorney’s office including cases brought to trial on price gouging during the recent LA wildfires. Her office brought charges against 24 people related to the graffiti on Oceanwide. City Attorney work included human trafficking and sex crimes and rescuing minors and sending 2,000 “Dear John” letters to owners of cars photographed picking up sex workers. Hydee emphasized that her office is part of a larger team including LAPD.

The list of the work by the City Attorney’s office was extensive and involves many of the “quality of life” crimes that plague our neighborhoods. Those in attendance from South Park were impressed with her /her team’s work, prosecution efforts, organization of teams, and depth of legal knowledge. More about Hydee can be found at https://cityattorney.lacity.gov/about#Hydee.

LA Sanitation Lori Garcia presented recent updates to the sanitation system. LA has the largest storm water system in the US. Of interest to South Park residents, a sewer line from 1890 running through parts of the downtown area is slated for a major upgrade which begins this month and will be paused during the Olympics. Details will be shared in the May newsletter.

Mike Boutee, Community Resilience Officer for the Central Division of the LA Fire Department, shared information on their department’s work of responding to 1500 emergencies a day with 600 transports to medical facilities.  The Central Bureau includes downtown LA with 22 fire stations and 645 personnel with services from fire to medical, physician assistant, fast response, and CERT (community emergency response team).

Mike fielded several questions related to drug and mental health issues. Mostly the questions were related to what a resident should do when seeing such issues on the street. Several were unsure if it warranted a 911 call. Mike’s response was if it seems an emergency, then call 911. If you believe the person is in danger or could put others in danger, call 911. He said it is their job to determine if the person needs assistance.

Thanks to the Downtown Los Angeles Neighborhood Council for providing residents an opportunity to learn more about city government. One South Park resident commented that the information provided a big picture look at what these particular city departments are in charge of and what they are doing. “All have a huge job working for the betterment for millions of people. We sometimes lose sight of the scope of their work.”

By Debra Shrout