Last quarter, the sidewalk maintenance team collected 3,047 bags of trash (70,081 lbs.), dispensed approximately 4,000 doggie bags, picked up 5 bulk items, and removed 181 graffiti tags on sidewalk pots, poles, and news racks. The crew is out every Monday and Thursday sweeping the sidewalks, picking up trash, clearing gutters and painting out graffiti from street poles, news racks, and flower planters. The team empties 59 trash cans throughout the District due to the City's reduced efforts which had led to an overflowing of the cans.

The landscape crew for the District's Wilshire streetscape continues to maintain all 15 medians and about 160 flower pots along Wilshire Blvd. The work consists of removal of trash, trimming of plants, watering of plants, repairing the sprinkler system, and replacing damaged plants.

Last quarter, the security team assisted the City in getting over 470 bulky items picked up, made 9 calls to the City for street services, assisted in getting 351 graffiti tags cleaned up; 18 potholes and 27 street lights were reported and fixed. The team responded to 99 calls for assists to the LAPD and others. They issued 30 illegal vendor warnings and assisted 56 homeless individuals; 535 illegal signs were removed. The team addressed the subject of 12 individuals drinking in public and 44 belligerent transients. The team captain attended 6 LAPD crime control meetings and attended the Wilshire Center Business Watch meetings.

All city reports, including the annual and quarterly reports, have been sent to City Clerk's office. The management team worked closely with the Clerk's office last quarter to get City Council approval. Council approved the BID budget and program for 2015 on January 7th. BID staff is currently working with the Clerk and DWP to secure a $5,000 grant.

We have confirmed with Street Services that Normandie between 3rd and Wilshire is proposed for resurfacing for this fiscal year. This project should begin once the DWP utility hold is lifted. Wilshire between Normandie and St Andrews Pl is currently on hold as part of the Purple Line Ecxtension project. The section between Hoover to Vermont is proposed for resurfacing for a future fiscal year program and Street Services is currently creating a project for the section between Vermont and Normandie so it may also be considered for a future program.

Public Works has stated that they have no funds or staff for tree trimming or sidewalk work improvements. The City Council has asked the City Clerk's office to come up with a plan to encourage more BIDs throughout the City of Los Angeles.

The next Business Watch meeting is Thursday, March 26, 2015 at 12:00 noon, at the Archdiocesan Catholic Center, located at 3424 Wilshire Blvd. in Los Angeles, La Purisima Conference Room (5th floor). An issue that was noted at the last Business Watch meeting was that there has been an increase in stealing bicycles off of buses. It is recommended that people securing bicycles use a cable to lock the wheels together. That will stop the thieves from riding the bicycles after they get them off the buses.

People requesting city services (pothole repair, pickup of bulky items, graffiti removal, etc.) can call 311 or access the free smart phone application, MyLA311. With MyLA311 people can take a picture of the problem and send it with the application. The phone's global positioning system (G.P.S.) can determine the location of the problem. However, since that system may be slightly off, those submitting these requests can type in the actual address and override the one from the G.P.S. Another direction from the L.A.P.D.: There is a difference between requests for "bulky item pickup" and "illegal dumping." "Bulky item pickup" will be part of regular pickup; however, when the person reports "illegal dumping," that triggers a police investigation and takes longer to pick up the item.

New Neighborhood Prosecutor

Wilshire Center/Koreatown's new neighborhood prosecutor Steve Houchin was at the WCBID Board Meeting on Thursday, January 22nd. Based out of the L.A.P.D. Olympic Division, Houchin oversees some 13 areas including local neighborhoods.

"The great thing about this position is it depends on the relationship I form with the community," Houchin said. In the coming weeks he plans to meet with homeowner groups and business owners, educators, parents and Neighborhood Council groups.

Under City Attorney Mike Feuer, the neighborhood prosecutor program tripled when he named Houchin as the 21st prosecutor in the program. Houchin will be dealing with an array of crimes, from graffiti and vandalism to prostitution and everything in between at the Olympic Station.

Most of his time will be spent in the field, at homeowner meetings, talking to business owners and at City Hall. Some cases may take him to the city Building and Safety or other departments, and he will be spending some time in court. Ending gun violence, unlawful medical marijuana dispensaries and illegal dumping are also on his agenda. He will be the face of the justice system in Koreatown.

The goal is to tackle quality-of-life problems and to transform the neighborhoods with problem solving, from creating safe pathways to schools to thriving businesses.

As part of that goal Houchin will also be working closely with the City Attoney's Office on the new Neighborhood Justice Program (NJP). NJP is a pre-filing diversion program. This means for people who commit certain misdemeanors but are ready to take responsibility for their actions, NJP is a way to avoid having to go to court, of being convicted or pleading guilty, and having a criminal record. Instead, participants in NJP appear before a panel of community members, discuss the causes and effect of their behavior, including the harm to the victim(s) and the community, and seek an equitable way to repair the harm caused to all stakeholders.

NJP is an opportunity for:

• Community Members to take an active role in how their community responds to the commission of minor crimes.
• Business and Home Owners to have a voice in a process that respects their role as victims of property crime.
• Individuals With No Criminal Record to take responsibility for their part in a minor crime and to avoid criminal court.

For more infomation on the NJP please contact Jose A. Egurbide at (213) 978-4096 or jose.egurbide@lacity.org.

Steve Houchin can be reached at steve.houchin@lacity.org.

PLEASE CALL 311 FOR BULKY ITEMS PICKUP AND GRAFFITI REMOVAL, TOGETHER WE WILL MAKE OUR COMMUNITY A BETTER PLACE.

ATTENTION ALL PROPERTY OWNERS & MANAGERS: The Los Angeles Better Buildings Challenge (LABBC) is an innovative utility-funded initiative to support property owners and managers in executing cost-effective building performance upgrades to achieve 20 percent energy and water savings by 2020. The LABBC serves as an unbiased guide to help you take advantage of all available resources and incentives, and maximize the ROI of your energy and water efficiency upgrades. FOR MORE INFO VISIT http://la-bbc.com/

For more info about what the Wilshire Center BID is up to please visit us at facebook.com/wilshirecenter.

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Video highlighting much of the work that the Wilshire Center Business Improvement District does on a daily basis was presented at the last Annual Membership Meeting.

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