Hi Neighbor - Steve Little

Name: Steve Little

 About Me:

In 2010, Steve Little opened Steve Little Insurance Agency, Inc at 11654 West Pico Blvd.  He specializes in individual insurance coverages as well as insurance for business owners and commercial properties. Steve is also a board member for the West LA Chamber of Commerce, where he is actively involved in supporting the Chamber and the mission of the Chamber to help other business owners be successful with their businesses.

What do you like most about West LA? 

Steve enjoys the business community in West LA along with the growing momentum of community involvement. He feels encourage by the growing desire to make West LA a thriving and more engaged community. It will take time, but Steve feels that West LA can be a thriving community like Mar Vista one day.

 What would you like to see improved in West LA?  

Steve would like to see greater investment in infrastructure like our streets, sidewalks, and alleys. He would like to see more people take part in improving the community because the city can’t do it alone. That being said there also needs to be a streamlined process for businesses to be able to pitch in and help.

We’d like to continue to thank Steve Little for being a great partner and sponsoring our community clean ups every month. He truly is invested in West LA and helping to find solutions the issues that our residents and businesses face every day. Like a good neighbor, Steve Little is there!

Hi Neighbor - Adrienne Omansky

Adrienne Omansky has worked in the WLA area through Los Angeles  Unified School District for twenty years. Now retired I am the Director of the Stop Senior Scams ℠Acting Program.  I have lived in the West Los Angeles Area for 47 years. 

The Stop Senior Scams℠ Acting Program is an educational program that uses theater to educate older adults and the community about senior fraud.  It is comprised of 27 older adults ages 65-99 years old. The troupe has been in existence since 2009. Felicia Mahood Senior Center is our home base with rehearsals Monday and Wednesday. Council Districts 11 and 5 . LA. County  District  3, are very helpful in providing us with transportation to senior facilities, libraries, and other venues.   The troupe works closely with Senior Medicare Patrol, FTC, Los Angeles District Attorney's Office , Los Angeles City Council .  On March 6th, 2018 I will be testifying for the US Senate Sub Committee on Aging about Senior Fraud. 

What  I like most about W L.A is the diversity of the people, the weather, the support of our elected officials, the proximity to the Beaches, UCLA, Theater like the Geffen Playhouse, and other entertainment.   

I would like the traffic to improve, the Senior Center Updated, and a nice Coffee Shop for the seniors and others to go to.  I miss Dinahs Restaurant, LA Barbaras Pizza. 

West LA Organizing for Change

After over a decade of neglect at the West LA Civic Center and surrounding facilities, West LA residents are organizing to make a change.  Despite the prominence and allure of living on the westside, the city has failed to provide a basic service for the residents of West LA—safe, public spaces. 

The West LA Library and Felicia Mahood Senior Center continue to decay, leaving residents without a space to meet, learn, and share experiences.  Additionally, the West LA Civic Center, which connects the library, senior center, and municipal building, continues to be a dirty, unsafe, and an unusable space.  The City’s various departments have shown an unwillingness to confront these issues; absconding their responsibilities in hope that the problem will be bulldozed away by a future developer.

As communities come to terms with their changing landscapes and increased density, we need to remember there is an increased need to provide an escape from the concrete prisons. The Civic Center Revitalization is focused on creating solutions of how we can develop this under-utilized space in collaboration with the City of Los Angeles.  We have a growing list of over 700 online and in-person signatures. We will keep organizing, calling, and emailing until we see real change for this area! If you are tired of the disastrous state of the civic center and want to create a dynamic outdoor space for West LA, you can learn more at www.westlacommunitycoalition.org/civiccenter.

PRESS RELEASE

West LA Utility Box Artist Selection

Councilmember Mike Bonin, West Los Angeles-Sawtelle Neighborhood Council, and West LA Community Coalition are pleased to announce the artists selected for the West LA Utility Box Art Project. We received many submissions for only eleven boxes, so the decision was not easy.  Congratulations to the following artists: Peter Chan, Oscar Manuel Lopez, Keith Dugas, Lila Ash, Gloria Campbell-Verwys, Lila Saint-Denis, Arthur Fong, Jade Goegebuer, Ryanna Rowles, Brian O'Hara, and Noah Malloy!

We love public art, and are thrilled to have the "Utility Box Art Project" here in West LA as a way of adding more neighborhood character to local utility boxes with fresh, inspiring designs.  Stay tuned for additional updates at www.westlasawtelle.org and www.westlacommunitycoalition.org.  Thank you again to all the artists that submitted designs, and helping to beautify West LA.

Additional questions or to learn more about the Utility Box Art Project, please contact:
Eric Nakamura (West LA-Sawtelle Neighborhood Council) enakamura@wlanc.com
Greg Ericksen (West LA Community Coalition) gericksen80@gmail.com

PRESS RELEASE

Hi Neighbor - JaBari Brown

Name: JaBari Brown (West LA Community Coalition, Board Member and Secretary)

My name is JaBari Brown. I’ve lived in West Los Angeles after graduating from college.  I work in higher education administration and have served on various committees and project groups focusing on literacy, hunger/poverty alleviation, cancer research and alumni relations.

West LA is a great place to live. Almost everything one could ask for is within walking distance- good restaurants, movie theatres, farmer’s markets, public transportation and more.

I look forward to getting to know more of our neighbors. Working together is the only way we’ll be able to adequately address the issues that are facing West Los Angeles. Of particular importance to me are homelessness and traffic