City Coucilwoman caught styrofoam-handed

City Councilwoman Wendy Greuel was caught by KTLA's news crew with a take out lunch in hand full of plastic and styrofoam - just after L.A. City Council has discussed the issue of banning such materials in an effort to curb excess waste and promote eco-friendly products. She was like a deer caught in headlights, but like any savvy politician, she blamed it on the lack of resources in place to promote eco-friendly alternatives. Really? Ever heard of bringing lunch from home in Pyrex or tupperware, Ms. Greuel?

Faithful blog readers will remember some months back when I "caught" Greuel speeding away from a Valley neighborhood council meeting in an SUV gas guzzler. Public transportation? Eco-friendly alternatives? Until politicans put in action what they preach, why should anyone else follow suit?

There is a serious chasm between eco-friendly lifestyles and styrofoam, plastic, private cars and other self-promoting tools by which we have grown accustomed to as a culture of personal convenience. I hear lots of eco-talk, but when I go to Peet's Coffee or Coffee Bean, I still see people buying coffee with disposable cups, rather than bringing their own reusable cups or thermos. Are people just too cheap to spend the $19.95 on a designer coffee cup?

Once politicans, celebrity "do-gooders" (cough, cough) and others start bridging the hole between what is convenient for them and what is sound for the community, we can not reconcile eco-friendly actions into our lifestyles.

New city transportation plan could cut traffic, Greuel says

Article in this week's Sun - suncommunitynewspapers.com

New city transportation plan could cut traffic, Greuel says
BY NAZBANOO PAHLAVI

City Councilmember Wendy Greuel addressed the need for L.A.’s new transportation-focused strategic plan at the January 23 meeting of Neighborhood Council Valley Village held at Colfax Avenue Elementary School. The plan, unveiled in December, would set guidelines for transportation projects in Los Angeles over the next 20 years.

“We think it’s so critically important that we have a document that says, ‘here are our priorities,’” said Greuel, 2nd district representative and Chair of the City Council’s Transportation Committee.

A cohesive plan would benefit not only community members, she said, but also unite the City Council itself, whose 15 members each hold different views on the issue.

Greuel outlined the city’s three-phase approach to the strategic plan process, beginning with the initial stage of gathering community-wide feedback at neighborhood meetings and via the second council district’s website.

Phase two will require an assessment of current traffic conditions and future traffic needs – focusing on areas of job concentration and projections of growth. Phrase three will see through the strategic plan’s implementation.

Greuel discussed a list of objectives the city wants reflected in the plan, such as upholding environmental sustainability – a goal toward which city government has already started preliminary work with the Environmental Defense Fund. Other goals include safety and reliability, and quality of life issues in neighborhoods.

The reduction of traffic congestion on the flow of goods and services would also promote economic growth by encouraging major industries to do business in Los Angeles, she added.

The councilmember emphasized the creation of a “seamless” system – a goal that may prove difficult since it involves reorganizing a disharmonious public transportation system already firmly in place.

She admitted it’s even difficult for her to get to the Universal MTA stop from her home near Laurel Canyon and Moorpark, to take the subway downtown. The MTA unwisely limited parking at the Universal station in order to encourage all around public transportation use – a decision that did not take into account the lack of efficient connections.

Greuel stressed that all levels of government must contribute to finding a solution to traffic and transportation problems.

“[The city is] responsible for your roads and streets; we’re responsible for your DASH buses, commuter express, for your signalization, for your speed humps – those are the kinds of things that we have,” she said, noting that the city does not have control over the freeways or the MTA, but has “to coordinate and be part of a solution with those other levels of government.”

After the discussion, Greuel was asked to stay and swear in a newly elected board member, as well as listen to a group of discontented Morella Avenue homeowners opposed to new developments in their neighborhood.

Why I love neighborhood council meetings

A couple of nights ago, I braved the blistering rain that barraged the Valley to make it to a neighborhood council meeting I was scheduled to write about for the paper. I like driving in the rain. It's a challenge. The blurriness, the intensity of the wind shield wipers, and the necessity of being fully awake and aware, are all exciting to me. Of course there are a fair share of thoughtless drivers who speed accross puddles in the intersections, and bridges with staled rainwater, thereby covering my windshield with a temporary avalanche.

After some confusion over the location of the meeting, I finally made it to Colfax Elementary School - nothing fancy, and probably the perfect location for a run of the mill neighborhood council meeting. Of course, this wasn't Studio City, whose neighborhood council meetings are held at the CBS Radford Lot. This was the neighborhood council meeting for Valley Village - Studio City's "adjacent" neighbor further north of the boulevard. Of course, homes in Valley Village cost considerably less than homes in Studio City. And higher incomes make for higher.....egos....or more interesting personalities! Let me explain.

I attended Studio City's Neighborhood Council meeting last November for a news item in the Studio City Sun (the story is posted to the right). It was held in a room at the CBS Radford Studios - which felt like a city in itself filled with little streets and alleyways and what looked like condominiums. In fact, I even asked a security guard whether people actually lived in there. Dale Thrush, a representative for Councilwoman Wendy Greuel, attended that meeting to discuss the charette process for a stretch of Ventura in Studio City.

After speaking for a pre-designated amount of time, the board unleashed a hoard of questions and comments. At first, this attack made me uncomfortable, especially since it was all monitored to the minute by the board president, lest any one speaker took hostage of the time. I saw why Greuel herself was a no show. This board was fierce! And you know what? It made it for interesting community politics and interesting democratic participation. That's why I stayed around for over an hour and half, ate some pizza, grabbed a soda - over twice the length of time I stayed after the Valley Village meeting had finally started.

Wendy Greuel did attend the council meeting at Valley Village (I'm glad, since that was the only reason I wrestled the rain). And I could see why. The Valley Village board was much more polite than the Studio City crowd. They were much more apt to let someone finish talking before interrupting (although Greuel herself did talk over someone in the audience). And since Ms. Gruel herself does live in the Valley Village area (I believe), it seemed only fitting for her to be there.

But there were a lot of loose strings left over on the topic of public transportation, development, and especially on the issue of mansionization and a community of homeowners on Morella who are facing a troubling developer. Greuel gave her speech, the floor was opened briefly to a few innocuous comments, she replied with some innocuous and distracted answers, and that was it. Luckily, she was asked, very nicely, to stay around and listen to the Morella homeowners, but she failed to step up to the plate and take hold of the situation with any promised results. She referred the homeowners to stay in touch with one of her staffers, a gentleman who was acknowledged as the main liasion between her office and her consituents. Greuel actually seemed pretty eager to leave.

And that's exactly what I saw when I left the meeting about 5 minutes after Greuel did (although the meeting was still in process). Was that her I saw speeding off in a huge white SUV? If that was indeed her, I now understand a couple of the comments she made during the meeting.

For example, in making a case for public transportation and a more "seamless" system where people don't have to wait hours for bus connections, she mentioned that it takes 8 minutes to get from the west valley to the east valley, whereas a bus, filled with inconvenient connections, could take 40 minutes. Eight minutes? really? Now I know how she got that number. Ms. Greuel is a speeder! If that was indeed her, speeding off and taking a left turn on rain-soaked streets, then that all makes sense. I'm glad that by that time, the rain had ceded, otherwise, I'm sure she may have (unintentionally, I'm sure) splashed some water on an unsuspecting driver's windshield. Now if that was someone else and my eyes mislead me when I looked through her window, I apologize.

Maybe I'll see her at the next Studio City Council meeting. I don't think so. But this is definitely true - some of the best drama can be found at the local public elementary school (or CBS lot) where politicians show their true colors, homeowners get heated up over pizza, and community journalists try and find something interesting to write about it.