City Council's Parks committee has a new chair

Councilman Paul Krekorian will be the new chair of the City Council's reformulated "Arts, Parks and Neighborhoods" committee when City Council returns from recess in September.

Tom LaBonge ruled the previous incarnation of the parks committee - lovingly nicknamed the Arts, Parks and Old Farts committee by those doomed to frequent it -  for nearly a decade. During the LaBonge era, parks and recreation in Los Angeles have become almost extinct.

Here's hoping that Krekorian will bring fresh energy and positive ideas for healthy parks to City Council, while keeping billboard forests from becoming LA's 21st century version of "open space".

[KPCC] Battle over billboards in City parks

[KPCC] The battle heats up over billboards in Los Angeles city parks

Aug. 23, 2011 | Katherine Butler

Image:  KCET

Welcome to the battle over billboards in Los Angeles city parks.

Could our city parks really be filled with dazzling billboards and distracting advertisements crowding park benches, picnic tables, and fence space? A law exists against using public space for signage. However, citing cutbacks, the Parks and Recreation (corr: Recreation and Parks) Commission is looking into ways for corporations to “donate” money in exchange for advertising space in the city parks. In fact, some have accused the city of actually selling public space to advertisers.

Last year, the city almost allowed super graphics from Warner Brothers 3-D movie “Yogi Bear” to populate “fences, shelters, picnic tables, trash cans, light standards, walkways, and other structures in Holmby Park, Pan Pacific Rec Center, and Lake Balboa Park.” After a public outcry, the plan was delayed and ultimately canned after the movie's premiere date passed.

The opposition to such ads has quickly grown. KCET launched an in-depth investigation of billboards in public spaces. (See their report here.) Meanwhile, the nonprofit Friends of Griffith Park has stepped up to the plate as the voice of public concern.

Recently, we spoke with Bernadette Soter, a founding board member of Friends of Griffith Park and current vice president of outreach for the organization. She answered the questions below.

There was a hearing on August 9th where the Planning and Land Use Management Committee (PLUM) of the L.A. City Council heard plans for a proposed new sign ordinance containing a provision for “comprehensive sign programs.” What happened at this hearing?

"LA City Council is moving ahead with revisions to the existing sign ordinance, but whether or not those revisions will permit commercial signing in parks and city-owned spaces remains to be seen. The proposals have been advanced outside of public view. The public is now learning of them and is beginning to speak out."

Why exactly is Friends of Griffith Park opposed to the idea? Is it an aesthetic reason?

"If successful, this radical re-writing of our sign laws will not only alter the purpose of our parks, it will expose the people who use them — especially kids — to commercial exploitation. The children who play in our parks should not be offered up as marketing targets. Parks are retreats from our urban milieu and the relentless drumbeat of commerce. They are also a core city service and do not exist to generate revenue. Not to mention, there is language general enough to allow digital signage."

Read the rest of this important article at KPCC's website.

SW Museum supporters sue... finally.

Kewl.

Southwest Museum supporters sue city, fearing site's extinction
August 3, 2011 | 3:27 pm

Years of wrangling over whether the Autry National Center has a right to shed a costly and inconvenient subsidiary, the Southwest Museum, has spilled, perhaps inevitably, into the courts.

Southwest backers are asking a Los Angeles Superior Court judge to overturn two recent decisions by Los Angeles city officials allowing the Autry to undertake what it has characterized as a routine gallery renovation at its Griffith Park museum. Opponents say the remodeling would be the first step in an irreversible sequence that would end the Southwest’s nearly hundred-year run in Mount Washington as the home of a prized collection of Native American artifacts. ...

Read the rest at the LA Times.