City of Los Angeles Cultural Master Plan Community Meetings Are On
If you live in the City of LA, you should be aware that the Department of Cultural Affairs is a struggling organization that’s had it’s budget slashed time and time again and whose mission seems unattainable with the resources it has. I watched the department spin its wheels under Margie Reese’s too-long “leadership”, and since Olga Garay came on the scene as the new department head, I’ve been sitting with crossed fingers, hoping to see someone turn the lights back on in the department. Olga seems to have really returned a positive energy to the department, and to those of us who work with it, or observe it from the outside, we are all hoping that she has the tools and the staff to undertake a transformation of the department, and the City.
The most important action the department has undertaken since her arrival is the process to give the department, and the City as a whole, a direction, via a new DCA Cultural Master Plan. So if you live in any of the City’s 15 districts, or make use of the City cultural services that take place in any of them, the City needs your input. The first thing you can do is go here and take this two-page survey (I promise, no endless fields of radio buttons, asking this or that, it’s easy), it’s the least you can do, and it’s at the very least a momentary distraction from surfing the E-waves, looking for the latest crypto-fascist thing to come out of Sarah Palin’s mouth.
But if you’re like me, and you want to make sure they hear your whiny, little voice speak, there is a series of public meetings scheduled, one per district. As a resident of CD 15, I’m slightly miffed that the first notice I received of the meetings was this weekend, via mail, when the sole meeting in my district, CD 15, is being held this coming Thursday, October 23 @ Banning’s Landing at 6PM. So in other words, if you live in Pedro, Wilmington, Harbor City or Watts, this Thursday night is the one and only chance you may have to comment on this process.
As someone who lives in a Council District with a large number of DCA facilities (CD 15 has 5 of the 17 DCA facilities), all of which seem under/misused to me, I can’t begin to state how important it is for anyone in Los Angeles to get involved in this process, even if it’s only as a survey-filler-outer.
Technorati Tags: DCA, City of Los Angeles, Community Meetings, Los Angeles, Cultural Master PlanHere is the schedule of community meetings, which are taking place at the tail end of the project, prior to the draft report. This may be your last chance to give your advice, council, complaint or guidance to a project that’s going to hopefully turn this City’s failing cultural efforts around.
October 22nd, 2008 at
Marshall,
What is a DCA facility? What 5 do we have?
Nicholas
October 22nd, 2008 at
DCA facilities are buildings owned by the City and operated (theoretically…) by the Department of Cultural Affairs. The five in CD 15 are Watts Towers, The Warner Grand, The Performing Arts Firehouse, Banning’s Landing Community Center and the Croatian Cultural Center.
My concerns (in very, very short form) for each are:
Watts Towers - Underfunded major landmark. I don’t understand why the City hasn’t been able to really take advantage of the image of Watts Towers to develop a cultural identity for the City. At one point the Towers were damn near closed due to budget issues.
Performing Arts Firehouse - Not in operation. Right in the heart of one of Pedro’s most at-need neighborhoods, it has been dark for years, all because the City didn’t want to fund some improvements required to meet the Americans with Disabilities Act. Supposedly the Boys and Girls Club is going to start programming it.
Warner Grand - It’s a major cultural facility with no vision or mission other than to be rented by any Tom, Dick or Harry that comes along. It needs some kind of core programming and that programming needs funding. Doesn’t Pedro deserve something better than Bat Boy: The Musical?
Croatian Cultural Center - Basically off limits to the public, the City bought this building and gave it to a single ethnic group, whose board and staff seem to have no interest in engaging with the community at large or really doing anything. It’s dead space in the heart of downtown.
Banning’s Landing - An overpriced building whose awkward design makes it hard to use. I’ve never been there for anything other than a meeting.
October 23rd, 2008 at
Oh that’s cold picking on our little darling Batboy. But I hear you. Thank you for the informative rundown.