Plata Neighborhood Concerns

[mikek...@aol.com]

Hello Ryan, Officer Stewart and Plata Neighborhood Watch Group:

I would like to pursue a dialogue about the impact that we continue to experience as a result of both city neglect and the compounding decisions that are creating unanticipated changes for the neighborhood and hope that we can address concerns before they get out of hand.

Specifically, there are two items that I’d like to bring up:

1.    Tenancy under the 101 Freeway & Neighborhood Security:

At one time, it seemed that the city was more vigilant about curbing tenancy under the freeway, but it appears that during the last year or so, there has been an apparent permanence to this situation. This neighborhood has become accustomed to overlooking the rummaging through our garbage, use of our outdoor spigots, suspicious transactions on the streets and trespassing onto our properties. I feel particularly vulnerable being right at the corner and do not have the benefit of having vested property owners living on surrounding properties. Most of you know that someone forced entry into my home a few months back, and this morning, I received word from my across the street neighbor that someone who has a presence under the freeway was seen preparing to access my property once again. When the individual realized they were being watched, he took off running. While it’s frustrating that this non-English speaking neighbor did not call anyone,  I struggle with whether it would have been reasonable for him to do so, particularly after the 2-3 hour wait for an officer that I had experienced when reporting the last incident. These activities have made me increasingly anxious about leaving my home during the day. I believe that a wise next step for myself would be to invest in additional security measures, such as a surveillance or alarm system. Anyone who receives this email with recommendations, PLEASE forward them to me. As a Neighborhood Watch, it would be a good idea to figure out what measures we can take to empower and engage our neighbors to become more involved. I also think it would be helpful to know from Ryan Carpio if the city has any long term plans for addressing the problems associated with the vagrancy that exists under the 101 freeway at Hoover street. The Cal Trans clean up a couple of weeks ago had its short term success, but anyone who passes through there now will notice that the tents and lawn chairs are back and the garbage is starting accumulate once again.

 

2.    Camino Nuevo Soccer Field, Parking and Traffic Safety

We recently experienced the opening of the soccer field at Temple and Hoover, which has greatly improved the end of the block, but what was promoted as a soccer field for the students at Camino Nuevo appears to be a host for various other outside events. The result is a daily use of the field for various soccer events that continue up until 11pm in the evening. Busier events have cars lined up and down Hoover and sometimes along Plata. I have had my driveway blocked and have experienced cars parking in the no parking zone in front of the property across the street from me. Cars looking for parking are slowing while other cars that expect a right of way on Hoover are swerving and speeding past vehicles. It seems that with these new activities, the additional foot traffic, as well as the anticipated uses on the Gateways properties it might be justified to have further consideration for a traffic review at this part of Hoover street.

An additional point about the Camino Nuevo field is that the larger events draw street vendors, and while there are garbage cans on the field, there are no receptacles on the street, which undoubtedly contributes to the accumulation under the freeway.

Obviously, my own security issue is of primary importance to me, and hopefully Ryan can respond about the freeway issue. I wanted to also share these observations with others that may have their own experiences or recommendations.

 

Thank you

Michael Kellis

[Jake Kaplan]

i live a few blocks up the hill...and i agree with Michael...the amount of people living under the freeway is out of control!

[Joe Malone]

All,

I recently sent out an email about some suspicious activity on Plata St, and in light of Mike's very valid issuesI think it might be time for us to get together again for another meeting. I would like to put a list of issues together, similar to what Mike has listed below, for Officer Stewart so that everything is aggregated and he can look into things beforehand.

Please send any concerns via email and I will put them all into one document and we can start to try to address everyone's concerns.



Joe

On Wed, Aug 11, 2010 at 3:31 PM, <mikek...@aol.com> wrote:

[Faisal Alserri]

Mike, all,

 

I agree there does seem to be more activity under the freeway.  It's also disturbing that this continues even after we have all met and discussed this months ago.  Has anyone from the City / County / Caltrans responded to us?  Please let me know how I can help. If you feel that getting the Silver Lake Neighborhood Council to pass a motion in support of keeping the area clear of vagrancy and lit fires at night I will introduce one at the next meeting in September.

 

Faisal

[Brett Morana]

Hi Mike, Joe, and the rest of the Plata Neighborhood-watch Group…

 

Mike, I am very sorry to hear about the other person spotted at your property.  Would you like to have the meeting again at our Wellness Center?  When were you thinking of having the meeting?  I am at the Satellite until September 3^rd then back on Sept. 22^nd.  The meeting can still be arranged at the Wellness Center even without me here, but I am concerned about the issues also.  Let me know what you think.

 

Brett D. Morana, Psy.D.

Program Director

Gateways Satellite

437 North Hoover Street

Los Angeles, California 90004

(323) 644-2030 ext. 210

A Gateways Hospital and Mental Health Center Program

bmo...@gatewayshospital.org

 

"The information contained in this electronic message is privileged and confidential. If you are not the intended recipient, you are hereby notified that any disclosure, copying, distribution, or taking any action in reliance on the content of this information is strictly prohibited."

"If you have received this copy in error, immediately notify the sender by e-mail and delete the information from your system." (W&I Code, Section, 5328, 45 CFR 160 & 164)

---

From: plata-neighb...@googlegroups.com [mailto:plata-neighb...@googlegroups.com] On Behalf Of mikek...@aol.com
Sent: Wednesday, August 11, 2010 3:31 PM
To: Ryan....@lacity.org; plata-neighb...@googlegroups.com
Subject: Plata Neighborhood Concerns

Hello Ryan, Officer Stewart and Plata Neighborhood Watch Group:

I would like to pursue a dialogue about the impact that we continue to experience as a result of both city neglect and the compounding decisions that are creating unanticipated changes for the neighborhood and hope that we can address concerns before they get out of hand.

Specifically, there are two items that I’d like to bring up:

Tenancy under the 101 Freeway & Neighborhood Security:

At one time, it seemed that the city was more vigilant about curbing tenancy under the freeway, but it appears that during the last year or so, there has been an apparent permanence to this situation. This neighborhood has become accustomed to overlooking the rummaging through our garbage, use of our outdoor spigots, suspicious transactions on the streets and trespassing onto our properties. I feel particularly vulnerable being right at the corner and do not have the benefit of having vested property owners living on surrounding properties. Most of you know that someone forced entry into my home a few months back, and this morning, I received word from my across the street neighbor that someone who has a presence under the freeway was seen preparing to access my property once again. When the individual realized they were being watched, he took off running. While it’s frustrating that this non-English speaking neighbor did not call anyone,  I struggle with whether it would have been reasonable for him to do so, particularly after the 2-3 hour wait for an officer that I had experienced when reporting the last incident. These activities have made me increasingly anxious about leaving my home during the day. I believe that a wise next step for myself would be to invest in additional security measures, such as a surveillance or alarm system. Anyone who receives this email with recommendations, PLEASE forward them to me. As a Neighborhood Watch, it would be a good idea to figure out what measures we can take to empower and engage our neighbors to become more involved. I also think it would be helpful to know from Ryan Carpio if the city has any long term plans for addressing the problems associated with the vagrancy that exists under the 101 freeway at Hoover street. The Cal Trans clean up a couple of weeks ago had its short term success, but anyone who passes through there now will notice that the tents and lawn chairs are back and the garbage is starting accumulate once again.

 

Camino Nuevo Soccer Field, Parking and Traffic Safety

[Joe Malone]

All,

I wanted to propose August 26th as a meeting day. If we can have the meeting at the Wellness Center that would be great. I think 6pm would be a good time.

Everyone please let me know if this time and date will fit with your schedules.

Brett, please let me know if the space will be available.



Joe

[Brett Morana]

Joe,

Can we do Wednesday, August 25^th instead of Thursday the 26^th?

 

Brett D. Morana, Psy.D.

Program Director

Gateways Satellite

437 North Hoover Street

Los Angeles, California 90004

(323) 644-2030 ext. 210

A Gateways Hospital and Mental Health Center Program

bmo...@gatewayshospital.org

 

"The information contained in this electronic message is privileged and confidential. If you are not the intended recipient, you are hereby notified that any disclosure, copying, distribution, or taking any action in reliance on the content of this information is strictly prohibited."

"If you have received this copy in error, immediately notify the sender by e-mail and delete the information from your system." (W&I Code, Section, 5328, 45 CFR 160 & 164)

[mikek...@aol.com]

Brett:
Thank you for your interest and concern.
In regards to the meeting, either August 25th or 26th will work for me. 6p is cutting it close. 6:30p would be better.

[Brett Morana]

Mike,

I will make arrangements with the Wellness Center for Wednesday, August 25^th at  6:30 (anytime on that day is fine with me). 

Brett

[Joe Malone]

Ok.

Lets plan on August 25th at the Wellness Center at 6PM.

Hopefully everyone can make this work with their schedules.

[JUSTIN STEWART]

Hello Mike, sorry about the issues that you are experiencing. I was off work for two weeks due to an unexpected illness. Also all the Senior Lead Officers here at Rampart have been assisting Detectives with case backlogs. Not to make excuses, but we have been pulled from our Senior Lead Officer duties, but recently completed what was asked of us by our Supervisors. Some suggestions about home security.....Costco has security cameras that are fairly cheap which can be monitored from any computer. If you do purchase cameras, it might be a good idea/ deterrent to place some signs warning individuals that your property is protected by close circuit surveillance cameras. I also recommend sensor lighting for the outside of your home. Check all locking devices in your home and make sure they are in good working order. These are just some suggestions and I hope that I have assisted you.

 

For parking issues, I know that I have given out sheets with various city contact numbers. You would need to contact the Department of Transportation in regards to the parking issues. Or go on-line to the Los Angeles DOT parking complaint website and make a complaint through the website.

 

I sent out an e-mail today (8/13/10) to a Vincent Moreno from Cal-Trans, in regards to the transient encampments under the 101 freeway and Hoover St along with the 101 freeway and Virgil Av. He helped out a fellow Senior Lead Officer with the same issues in his area and I hope he can do the same for me.

 

I will be going on vacation from 8/14/10 through 9/13/10 if you should have any issues or concerns, you can call my partner Officer Matt Zeigler (213) 793-0771 or contact him via e-mail at 34208.lapd.lacity.org. For any upcoming meetings you can contact my Supervisor at (213) 500-2819 or e-mail him at 30678.lapd.lacity.org and he will assign someone to attend the meeting.

 

Take care,

Officer Justin Stewart

>>> <mikek...@aol.com> 8/11/2010 3:31 PM >>>

Hello Ryan, Officer Stewart and Plata Neighborhood Watch Group:

I would like to pursue a dialogue about the impact that we continue to experience as a result of both city neglect and the compounding decisions that are creating unanticipated changes for the neighborhood and hope that we can address concerns before they get out of hand.

Specifically, there are two items that I’d like to bring up:

<!--[if !supportLists]-->1.    <!--[endif]-->Tenancy under the 101 Freeway & Neighborhood Security:

At one time, it seemed that the city was more vigilant about curbing tenancy under the freeway, but it appears that during the last year or so, there has been an apparent permanence to this situation. This neighborhood has become accustomed to overlooking the rummaging through our garbage, use of our outdoor spigots, suspicious transactions on the streets and trespassing onto our properties. I feel particularly vulnerable being right at the corner and do not have the benefit of having vested property owners living on surrounding properties. Most of you know that someone forced entry into my home a few months back, and this morning, I received word from my across the street neighbor that someone who has a presence under the freeway was seen preparing to access my property once again. When the individual realized they were being watched, he took off running. While it’s frustrating that this non-English speaking neighbor did not call anyone,  I struggle with whether it would have been reasonable for him to do so, particularly after the 2-3 hour wait for an officer that I had experienced when reporting the last incident. These activities have made me increasingly anxious about leaving my home during the day. I believe that a wise next step for myself would be to invest in additional security measures, such as a surveillance or alarm system. Anyone who receives this email with recommendations, PLEASE forward them to me. As a Neighborhood Watch, it would be a good idea to figure out what measures we can take to empower and engage our neighbors to become more involved. I also think it would be helpful to know from Ryan Carpio if the city has any long term plans for addressing the problems associated with the vagrancy that exists under the 101 freeway at Hoover street. The Cal Trans clean up a couple of weeks ago had its short term success, but anyone who passes through there now will notice that the tents and lawn chairs are back and the garbage is starting accumulate once again.

<!--[if !supportLists]-->2.    <!--[endif]-->Camino Nuevo Soccer Field, Parking and Traffic Safety

[May Amoranto]

This is good idea having getting together and any of this date August 25th or 26th is ok for me.

thank you.