Newsletter: The Media Messenger

Five Things in Five Months

Councilman Tom LaBonge asked the Hollywood Media District Executive Director, Mary Lou Dudas for a list of Five Things to do in Five Months. After thinking about this generous offer for about 5 minutes, she came up with the following requests:

1) Transportation: a). Develop a parking plan coordinating the services of the Department of Transportation, Bureau of Street Services and Media District to maximize shared street parking for the night and day users. b). Add MTA Dash service to the Media District. c). Install cross walk signals on Highland at Lexington and Santa Monica at Seward.
2) Expedite the implementation of the Gateway (Highland Avenue) project with the goal of December 2002 for completion.
3) Coordinate with the Media District, Department of Water & Power, Cal Trans, Pacific Bell, Community Redevelopment Agency and cable companies to underground utilities on Santa Monica Boulevard from La Brea Avenue to the 101 freeway. The goal would be to have a time line for implementation by November 2002.
4) Work with LAPD, Media District security, City Attorney and local Hollywood judges to reduce prostitution and drug dealing in the Media District.
5) Support and create a Media District Sign Overlay Zone to include supergraphics and creative signage for the Media District.

We will report on the progress of our list of Five Things in Five Months in future issues of the Media Messenger.
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Donation by Jacqueline Ackerman

We would like to thank Jacqueline Ackerman for kindly donating space on her property to store soil being used for the tree planting along Highland Avenue. Mrs. Ackerman's property is the wonderful Classic Gas Station on Highland Avenue.
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Sky High Success-3rd Annual stakeholder's event

The Hollywood Media District held its' 3rd Annual stakeholders meeting, June 6, 2002, on the roof of Iron Mountain Film and Sound. The turn out was a huge success. Both familiar and new faces were present.

The Hollywood Beautification Team, Langner Security Services, Advanced Tech Security, Doug Suisman, Keyser Marston & Associates and Kaku & Associations were all there to answer stakeholder's questions. Also on hand was our City Councilman Tom LaBonge, Leron Gubler, President and CEO Hollywood Chamber of Commerce, Susan Cline, Director of the Mayor's business team and many other elected representatives who are committed to the Media District.

Jeff Anthony, HMD President, gave an update as to the progress of the goals set by the stakeholders in 1999. Please call the HMD office if you would like a copy. The meeting was opened for public comment and Q &A. One of our property owners, Mr Shamilian, took the opportunity to express concern that he is not receiving information on HMD events or progress.

Please call Iron Mountain at 323-466-9287 and speak to Gabriel Segovia if you have anything that can be donated to Bancroft.

Thanks to that, we were reminded that in order to keep you informed it would be an immense help if you could call or e-mail us with new phone numbers, names, or preferred mailing addresses. On that same note, we do have our website, www.hmdbid.org up and running and would be more than happy to post your company logo or a link to your business. The website is a wonderful and free tool for the promotion of our district and of course your businesses.

Thanks to Jeff Anthony and Iron Mountain for generously donating this unique rooftop venue every year. Hats off to Pat, Lisa, Gabriel, Guy, Robert and the elevator crew for making this event so successful, Tim Mahoney, Hollywood Center Studios for donating chairs and sound system, Fred Anawalt, Anawalt Lumber, for the lush citrus trees to show stakeholders the proposed potted citrus trees throughout the campus area of our BID.

Last but not least a very special thank you to Betty, Denise and the crew from GRUB restaurant whose buffet was mouth watering and catered impeccably.
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Summer at the Medias District's Farmer's Market!

The Media District Farmers' Market was created not only for the residents surrounding the boundaries of the business improvement district but also for the employees of the Media District stakholders.

The Board of Directors decided to promote this haven of good food, organic produce and sunny picnic tables. For the next few weeks, every Friday will be dedicated to specific companies of the Media District with a special promotion that gives $5.00 in "Market Bucks" up to 100 employees. These Market Bucks are incentives to get the Media District employees to visit the market for lunch and shop for fresh fruits and vegetables for the weekend. So far Honda of Hollywood, Television Center and Highland Avenue businesses have participated. We have seen an overall increase in sales because of this promotion. On Friday, June 28th it will be "Kodak Day" at the Media District Farmer's Market. If you are interested in participating in this promotion, please contact the HMD office at: 323 460 4770.

PARKING: Diagonal parking on the east side of Cole Avenue, non-metered parking on the West side of Cahuenga and metered parking on the south side of Santa Monica.

WHERE: 1100 North Cole Avenue, next to the park.
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Trees on Highland Avenue

The installation of seventy trees is just about complete on Highland Avenue between Waring and Romaine. Hollywood Beautification Team ran into some difficulty after they made cuts on the sidewalk for the installation of trees. They discovered that the soil was clay sediment and would not sustain the root system of the trees about to be planted. All of the clay had to be removed by hand, a sump, drainage system installed and all of the soil was replaced. The majority of new trees are called Chinese Pistache, with an accent of Purple Leaf Plums and Tipu trees. This is the completion of Phase I of the Gateway for the Media District.
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Melrose Gateway Begins

Phase II of the Media District Gateway will begin next month. Again, our design and installation teams ran into underground utilities, overhead wires and curb cuts that changed the design concept.

The original concept included date palms from Melrose to Waring. Today's design is a wonderful mix of Palms and shade trees. The Media District's matching funds were approved for expenditure and once our design is finalized and approved we will begin installation. We have asked the Hollywood Beautification Team to let every business know where their trees will be located. If you have any concerns, please do not hesitate contacting the BID office at: 323 460 4770. The MTA and the Bureau of Street Services have executed a Letter of Agreement, which will allow the Media District to access the grant we received last year through the City of Los Angeles Call for Projects. The Media District is fulfilling it's mission of partnering with public agencies to accomplish its' goals.
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HMD Calendar

BUSINESS WATCH MEETING
When: Tuesday, July 9th, 2002
Time: 12.00pm (Noon)
Where: 6501 Fountain Avenue
Hollywood Community Room south of the Hollywood Police Station

HMD BOARD OF DIRECTORS MEETING
When: Thursday, September 26th, 2002
Time: 4pm
Where: Hollywood Center Studios
1040 N. Las Palmas
Call to R.S.V.P
323.460.4770

NOTE: THERE WILL NOT BE BOARD MEETINGS IN JULY OR AUGUST

Community Forum on Prostitution and the Courts

Come join this community-initiated open house to discuss the problem of prostitution in our neighborhoods. This is our opportunity to educate those that make daily decisions that impact our quality of life, learn about the legal process, exchange information and participate in a question and answer forum.

The Hollywood Court House Judges, LAPD, Council Member Tom LaBonge, and Council Member Eric Garcetti have been invited to participate in this important forum.

Prostitution is not a victimless crime. It impacts the quality of life for all of us working in the Hollywood area. How is our community affected? What is being done here and in other cities?

Please plan on attending this important meeting.
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Security Pilot Program Update

The Media District and Advanced Tech Security have participated in a series of meetings with the Hollywood Police Department's Captain Michael Downing, the Neighborhood Prosecuting Attorney, Bill Kysella, City Attorney, George Cardonas and Supervising City Attorney for Hollywood Court House, Julie San Juan. Our goal is to come up with a comprehensive plan for making sure that the arrests made by our off duty officers are "good" arrests and that they will be prosecuted by the City Attorney in the Hollywood Court. We wanted to set very clear parameters before deploying officers to make arrests regarding quality of life issues. The City Attorney has given us those parameters in writing. However, we are waiting for clarification on a couple of items before deployment begins. We expect to have off duty police officers on the street for the 3-month pilot program the 1st week of July. The Media District goal is to specifically address quality of life issues so that the Media District streets are safe for all pedestrians and motorists.
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Activities Report
Through March 31, 2002
(compiled by Langner Security Service)

Graffiti Paint Out Agreement

Your consent is necessary to obliterate graffiti at your site. The Hollywood Beautification Team, through the city, will assist in the acquisition of free paint for your property or paint out graffiti using your paint.

Please make sure that your business or property has a signed Agreement on file. For more information or an Agreement, please contact Devin at 323.460.4770.
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Questions or Comments

Feel free to contact the Hollywood Media District using the following contact information:

Hollywood Media District
1304 North Highland Avenue #200
Hollywood, CA 90028
Phone:  323.460.6322
Fax:  323.460.6488

Executive Director: Mary Lou Dudas
MDudas@pacbell.net

Hollywood Media District Field Office
6775 Santa Monica Blvd. #2A
Hollywood, CA 90038
Phone:  323.871.4150
Hours:  7am - 11pm, Mon-Sat

Security Supervisor: James Leonard

Hollywood Media District Property Owners
Association Board of Directors

Jeff Anthony, President - Iron Mountain Film and Sound
Tim Mahoney, Vice-President - Hollywood Center Studios
Eliza Thorne, Secretary - Seward Film Vaults
Don Robertson, Treasurer - Honda of Hollywood
Fred Anawalt - Anawalt Lumber Company
Carol Cassella - RenMar Studios
Morton Lakretz - The Crossroads
Michael Malick - Ramsey Shilling Real Estate
Jacques Massachi - Ori Service Center
Mitzi Mogul - Art Deco Society
Gene La Pietra - Arena Cafe
Brian Scane - The Paladin Group, Inc.
Fares Wehbe - Hollywood Little Red School

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