Everybody...LET'S MAMBO!!!

Love this song, have always loved it since the days of Dr. Demento on KMET. Tweedle-dee!

The Food Desert situation

This is a video from LAANE about two women swapping neighborhoods for a day to find out about each other's access to healthy and fresh foods. One woman is from the Boyle Heights neighborhood of East Los Angeles, the other is from Santa Monica. Guess who has access to the better fruits and vegetables, including organics? Of course, the lady who normally lives in Santa Monica. In the barrio environment of Boyle Heights, fruits and veggies are hard to find, poor quality and expensive. And in Santa Monica, they are plentiful, they are accessible, and if you spend a little more you can get organics.

Where are we here in Panorama City? We aren't a food desert, that's for sure. We have a lovely Food 4 Less, and right behind it is El Super. Food 4 Less has a lot of the standard groceries we rely on day-to-day, plus a good meat department that has proven to be reliable over the decades. El Super is best for a really amazing produce department, plus one of the best bakeries in town. We also have Latino and Filipino specialty markets: Vallarta, El Pueblo, Seafood City and Island Pacific. However: we don't really have a place to get organic groceries. You can find organics occasionally at Food 4 Less, and even occasionally at the 99 Cent Only store (we've got one on the Panorama City side of Woodman) but no place that's consistent. We also have the empty hulk of the old Valley Food Warehouse which closed years and years ago, and is still vacant.

We need either a Trader Joe's or a Fresh and Easy to move in to the old Valley Food Warehouse space and give our neighborhood access to good quality food at low prices. Why should Granada Hills and Sherman Oaks have all the fun?

And another thing: we do have a whole lot of fast food places, two family restaurants (IHOP and Coco's) and a Hometown Buffet, but no really good sit down restaurants. People have nostalgia for places like the Red Barn and Phil Ahn's Moongate around here. We really don't have their like anywhere around here anymore. There is room for a nice restaurant people can take visiting family to and feel good about. I would think a high-end Mexican restaurant, something equal to El Cholo or Ciudad, probably could work here. Hello Hot Tamales...visit us here in Panorama City and we'll make you feel at home.

We are lucky here. We've still got a good food infrastructure here. But we could improve things. And people in less blessed areas need some major help. LAANC is suggesting City Council action on this. I don't know how helpful that would be. But something must be done to get fresh food to less privileged neighborhoods. We can pay now, by investing in these underserved areas, or pay later in the form of more expenditures on health care and disability.

We're not dead yet...

Stick a fork in DONE, but the only way to get rid of Neighborhood Councils is by changing the City Charter. Very interesting article on a possible way forward.

Busy gal has been busy...

OK, the election is over, we're waiting for the results which are probably going to take until next Monday, and it's pretty clear I will be back on the board in some capacity or another.

However, I want to say something about the election which was thrown together by the LA City Clerk. It was badly done, I almost had to be a write-in candidate if it weren't for the fact that I had the time at that point to stay on the office of the City Clerk's butts and deal with the minutiae they wanted me to produce for them. I got on the ballot, but the last little bit of proof had to be digitally photographed and emailed to them at 4:59 pm, with the deadline of 5pm a minute away.

The City of Burbank conducts all its elections by mail now, and so does the whole state of Oregon. Why can't we conduct the next batch of Neighborhood Council elections 100% by mail next time? Wouldn't that be cheaper than trying to run polling places by LA City rules? Maybe that would free up some money for OUTREACH, something that there was NO funding for this time. Basically individual Neighborhood Councils had to do outreach out of pocket.

Neighborhood Councils are mandated by the current City Charter. They can be starved for funds, as I suspect the City Council will try to do with the next budget. But they can't be killed clean. We're here, get used to us. Making the next set of elections an election by mail makes sense. This is something to fight for, because this time around the system sucked.

Here's what I meant about a Solar Roof...

This is an aerial view of the Target store at Osborne and Laurel Canyon in Pacoima. What's those dark patches on the roof? Why, they're SOLAR PANELS!!! Yes, SOLAR PANELS. Note that the roof isn't COVERED with them...there are a few installed here and there. And those are enough to run the store OFF THE GRID on sunny days.

Now go back and look at the aerial view of Panorama City a couple of posts down. Notice a lot of beige roofs? With nothing on them but stucco? Imagine them peppered with dark patches. And bringing in energy. And saving everyone from more pollution-belching power plants in our future. This might mean we can use what we have for longer, and not look at expanding capacity or buying energy from other places where they even use COAL to run power plants. Ugh!

See, this is what I mean by advocating what we WANT for our neighborhood and not just saying what we DON'T WANT. Think about it.

Does our City Councilman actually LIVE in our district?

Apparently it's an open question...

http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-alarcon15-2010jan15,0,1432531.story

Hat, meet ring

OK, in the interest of full disclosure, I'm getting ready to run again.

My new status as a full-fledged member of the PCNC board, where until recently I was Alternate #1, came rather serendipitously: the at-large board member I replaced had seemingly dropped off the face of the earth and hadn't attended meetings or asked to be excused from meetings due to hardship. We have rules in our by-laws which do not allow either two unexcused absences in a row or three in a given 6 month period. So the person I replaced was removed under these rules.

I will actually be running for renter representative in the Center-East region of Panorama City, the same spot on the board I ran for two years ago. I missed by only a couple of votes last time, and my competition for the seat has moved to another region of the Neighborhood Council area. I figure if I communicate a little better this time I might have a better time winning hearts and minds and votes. I also was a wee bit distracted at that point: I had just completed my Bachelor's in Psychology at Woodbury University, during the last year of which I was also caregiver for my husband, who has since died of multiple myeloma, a blood cancer.

The reasons why I am running are many. My most important reason is to provide a progressive counterbalancing voice on the board in a branch of LA City government that has mostly been a conservative, "NIMBY," (not in my back yard) and even reactionary branch. Panorama City Neighborhood Council has actually led in a different direction: the biggest example being our attempts to bring service providers together to better serve the significant portion of our community which is struggling with gangs and their attendant social menace through two annual "Gang Summits." I see this as an attempt within our Neighborhood Council to define our mission not only by striving to prevent what we don't want within our community, but to help shape what we DO want within our community. I am foursquare on the side of continuing with this, to inspire positive change within our community.

I want to see it expanded further, actually. Not every youth in Panorama City is struggling with whether or not to follow a family tradition and join a gang. Some are just struggling to finish high school, and possibly go on to higher education. Or maybe just to find work after graduation. As you probably notice every day, Van Nuys Boulevard is punctuated on both sides with empty storefronts; vacant lots; a derelict high-rise that has been condemned since the Northridge Earthquake of 1994 and is now basically a 13-story pigeon coop; and catercorner to each other on Roscoe, a vacant lot where a Black Angus Steak House once stood, and the old Montgomery Ward property. This is a community where hope is in short supply and jobs in even shorter supply.

The role of a Neighborhood Council in revitalizing our community is, unfortunately, a limited one. However, if we can bring together government, law enforcement and non-governmental organizations to move gang policy in our neighborhood forward, perhaps we can do more to move employment and economic development forward by bringing all of these elements plus people in the business community together to have a "Jobs And Redevelopment Summit." Maybe we can't make the change, but we can make the need for change ring loud and clear in the ears of those who might be able to help move us forward towards more jobs and smart, vibrant, green economic development.

We also suffer a bad rap in local media, foremost from the Los Angeles Daily News, the San Fernando Valley's Paper of Record since the turn of the last century. Horror stories about 'The Witch's Hat,' shock-horror-filth tales of rampant gang violence and delinquency have been fodder for the worst kind of Yellow Journalism. The Daily News has been the worst, but the LA Times, the LA Weekly, and our local TV news has continued to parrot the portrayal of this community as a slum. To quote a Living Colour song that has been sort of an internal anthem for me in my involvement with the formation of this Neighborhood Council and after formation, "I call this place my home, you call this place a slum."


Living Colour -- "Open Letter To A Landlord"

The best way to push back against this portrayal is to show the local media, in vivid, newsworthy media opportunities, that we are not a crime ridden, frightening place. On the contrary, we are a colorful, diverse community that has roots in Mexico, Central America, South America, Africa, Asia, Oceania, Europe, in other States of the USA, and in the Provinces of Canada. We have no annual celebration to attract positive media attention: why not start one? A Fiesta Panorama, a sort of block party for the entirety of Panorama City, would be great. We have restaurants to show off. We have culture. We have public, private and charter K-12 institutions of learning. We have preschools. We have trade schools. There continues to be talk of a satellite campus of Los Angeles Valley College being established here. We have so much to offer, that we need to stop apologizing for our community and start crowing about our community. Like the song goes, "You've got to fight for your neighborhood." In a town where appearances often are as or more important than substance, we need to raise our profile as a community.

These are but two things I'm interested in, moving forward.

More of my platform:

* I am against proliferation of uncontrolled medical cannabis dispensaries on the one hand, but for the continued availability of medical cannabis for those who need it. I have seen, through the struggles of my late husband, that when faced with life threatening and painful symptoms of a disease like the blood cancer multiple myeloma, cannabis is good medicine. We need a framework that will allow the exemplary dispensaries to continue operation to make that medicine available, but which will also screen out the bad actors and keep dispensaries away from preschools and K-12 schools.

* I am for smart growth of business and residences, and for bringing more and better transit options nearby so that people can leave their cars and the pollution they create behind in favor of green public transit. We have existing hubs like Van Nuys Metrolink/Amtrak Station, and the Van Nuys Corridor which links to the Orange Line and further to the rest of the Metro Rail system. We can become advocates of building on this foundation.

* I'm for encouraging industry to put their bare roofs to work with solar power generation. You need only look at a Google Earth satellite image of Panorama City to see the potential lying fallow just above our heads. The Target store in Pacoima has a completely solar roof. During the Summer they make enough electricity to run the store off the grid for hours at a time. Why can't we do that at Panorama Mall, at El Super, at Food 4 Less, and The Plant?



All those bright spots you see in this picture are ROOFS. They don't call The Plant a "Big Box Mall" for nothing. At the top of this satellite image is part of Panorama Mall. And there are countless industrial buildings within our Neighborhood Council boundaries.

* I am also for attracting creative media companies to set down roots here in Panorama City. There are industrial and commercial buildings currently vacant here. There is also a perennial need to find space for shooting movies. Why not bring the two together? We have everything Hollywood, Burbank and Glendale has, plus we have what they don't have: Enterprise Zone classification. Converting massive industrial buildings to sound stages, equipment rental stores and post-production houses would give a shot in the arm to Panorama City's economy and bring in a new, upscale type of stakeholder that could uplift the community.

We need to also open our community wide to location shooting. The building that now houses the "Kings Of Credit" furniture store was a primary location for the movie "Stealing Harvard." The Panorama Mall has been a movie and TV shooting location on several occasions. We have great residential neighborhoods. With other communities becoming "location hostile" we have a possibility of bringing business here to benefit all of us.

Space prevents me from going on, but these are a few elements of what I want to see in my neighborhood. If your vision dovetails with mine, keep me on the Board as Center-East's renter board member. Help me fight for our neighborhood.

Local delis get props...

Apparently Jewish delis are hurting Back East. However, they are thriving here on the Left Coast. An article in the New York Times actually gives props to two Southland delis: Langer's, just east of McArthur Park in Downtown, and the San Fernando Valley's own Brent's.

As a red-blooded Valley girl who was raised Jewish, with family hailing from New York and Chicago, I have grown to appreciate a good Deli. Alas and alack we have none in Panorama City anymore...the Deli that was in the strip mall on the Panorama side of Woodman is long gone, and that had been on the decline for a while before they packed it up. However, good ones are not far away. I agree about Brent's, but I really love Weilers on Nordhoff at Balboa in Northridge, and Art's on Ventura Blvd. in Studio City is still totally happening.

I am less fond of Jerry's Famous and Solleys, which is really the same deli under a different name. They serve rather nondescript generic Deli food at really crummy prices. However, the place has a bit of history...all through Andy Kaufman's comedy career he worked at Jerry's in Studio City. He never quit his day job because in his view you never know when your career will be over in Hollywood, and he felt it kept him grounded. One could debate that, however, he only quit after he started getting sick from cancer.

Anyway, it would be nice if someone took the plunge and opened a deli up here again. Perhaps just a stall in the Panorama Mall food court? I'd like a place where I could walk and get a turkey pastrami Reuben on rye with cole slaw on the side. Then again, we have delis here, they are just Latino and Filipino. Rincon Taurino has the feel of a deli but serves Barbacoa con Consume rather than Chicken Soup, and Toto's and Pinoy Pinay have Filipino soul food rather than Jewish soul food on sale here. Heck, we could use a Soul Food restaurant here too...oh well...

Villaraigosa's begging bowl: shame on you, Jackson family and AEG...

This is what Mayor Anthony Villaraigosa is reduced to. Basically grovelling on the streets of cyberspace with a begging bowl.

It is good that we had a trouble-free Funeral Of The Century (tm), with not even a single drunk-in-public arrest, let alone a violent crime arrest. But that was accomplished by deploying a small army of LAPD: 3,000 cops on foot, in squad cars and on horseback. This kind of response costs lots and lots and lots of money. The peaceful nature of the gathering means the costs are merely staggering but not crippling...closer to the $2 Million lowball figure than the $4 Million "holy cow it's a riot" figure.

So now Villaraigosa is reduced to begging for help from Jackson's huge fan base to defray costs. Never mind that AEG is going to recoup its costs with sales of merch that would have been sold at the 50 "This Is It!" concerts in London, UK. Never mind that the video of the funeral was recorded in HD and will probably be released in Blu-Ray and DVD. There is even talk of a live show ala the Elvis Live! touring show, using video from the recorded dress rehearsals at Staples Center to stand in for Michael Jackson, which would make AEG tons and tons of money. And don't cry too much for the Jackson clan: Jackson's albums are selling strong again, and will likely dominate the charts the next time Billboard puts them up. In short, lots of people are going to make lots of money from Michael Jackson kicking off this mortal coil.

So why shouldn't LA City be reimbursed for this? This isn't cold, this is justice. We ponied up the law enforcement, now AEG and the Jackson Family need to pony up the dough. The alternative is just plain insulting to the city that Jackson lived in from childhood. And it will mean that LA schools and LA basic human services will suffer further deep cuts as a result. Since much was made about Michael Jackson the humanitarian during his funeral, I would think that he would be upset that the circumstances of his death would be a cause for Angelenos to suffer. Do the right thing. Cough up the bucks. Thankyoudrivethrough.

Eating good, Mexican style, in our neighborhood.

Panorama City has an embarrassment of riches with regard to Mexican food. Don't just go to El Torito or Acapulco or another chain to celebrate El Cinco de Mayo, try some local grub.

1.)Rincon Taurino, Nordhoff Av. and Van Nuys Blvd, and also Van Nuys Blvd. right next to the Ice Rink.
These are the same people. And like Stater Bros. used to say, it's their meat that made them famous. I don't eat beef anymore but I remember that their Carne Asada is especially succulent, marinated for 24 hours in a secret marinade that includes Mexican beer. Their Pork Al Pastor has just the right amount of snappy spicing and is lean and lovely. However, their Pork Carnitas is my favorite...rendered beautifully lean by having all the fat fried out of it. The interior of the meat is juicy, the outside appealingly chewy and caramelized. They'll make any meat as tacos, burritos, tortas, (Mexican submarine sandwiches) huaraches, (Slipper-shaped fried thick tostadas) tostadas or even quesadillas. If you want to maintain the fiction you're eating healthy, you can get fresh juices, "aguas frescas" (fruit ade) and "bionicos" (fruit cocktails) with your meal. Awesome.

2.)El Gordo taco truck, usually parks on the corner of Van Nuys and Parthenia. (North jog) This takes guts. The El Gordo truck usually parks a block away from Rincon Taurino, and they give them a run for their money. They are most loved for their Al Pastor but I like their grilled chicken. When you buy tacos from them they will throw in a little round totopo (fried mini tortilla) topped with freshly made frijoles de olla. (beans fresh from the pot) They also are very generous with fixins too: they allow you to take home fresh guacamole, pickled onions and carrots, cilantro, onion and two kinds of salsas.

3.) Vallarta, (the taco restaurant) Woodman and Chase, right next to the car wash. This is so you do not confuse Vallarta with the Vallarta Supermarket at Woodman and Osborne. The same people who own the supermarket chain own the restaurant. Like El Gordo, they have plenty of fixins for your tacos, burritos etc...in fact, they have a bar with not only salsas but guacamole, pickled carrots; sauteed onions, scallions and chiles kept in a heater; pickled Jalapenos, and even a sort of Mexican cole slaw that has lots of heat.

They specialize in seafood there. Shrimp or fish in your tacos or burrito or whatever doesn't cost any more than less luxurious toppings like chicken or beef or pork carnitas. They also do Mexican seafood cocktails, seafood soups and seafood plates. The prices are extremely reasonable.

4.) Dos Arbolitos, Nordhoff and Woodley. The "Mexican" combination plate is actually a California invention...tacos, enchiladas and whatnot on a huge plate with rice and beans and other goodies and served with endless bowls of tortilla chips and salsa. This is what most people think of when they think of "eating Mexican." It's restaurants in Los Angeles like El Cholo, which opened in 1927, The Original Spanish Kitchen, which opened in the 1940s and closed under mysterious circumstances in 1961, and the original Encino El Torito, which opened in 1954, that made the rules for popular Mexican restaurants to follow.

Dos Arbolitos is an institution in the North San Fernando Valley, and for good reason. They have elevated the Cali-Mex combo plate into high culinary art. If they were on the Westside they would be pulling in $20 or $25 per entree like places like Ciudad does. But they're in humble North Hills, the next town to the west of Panorama City, and so they are quite reasonable.

In 1999 they closed down because the shopping center their original location was in got torn down. Despair set in as locals jonesed for their favorite neighborhood Mexican restaurant. However, a year later they opened up in their current location, and there was much rejoicing. (Yay!)

They make the standards, but try some of their more creative entrees like Pollo con Mole enchiladas and Pollo Alcaparrado which is Spanish-inflected (yes, Spanish, not Mexican!) chicken sauteed with capers and onions and served in a tangy, complex sauce.

The original chef there died a few years ago, but his protege has inherited his mantle and his secret book of recipes. His cuisine reigns supreme.

There's other good places nearby like Pescado Mojado, but these are my favorites.