Spring/Summer Issue
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Issue 57 THE ACTION ISSUE Spring/Summer 2019 Annual Meeting April 27 Details on pg. 14 Overview # 57 Spring/Summer 2019 Page 1 President’s Message Shirley Mims to the Lyric Avenue street repair, Franklin Avenue Median The photo on the cover speaks volumes to a call for maintenance and Norman Harriton Community Garden. action, the theme for this edition of the Overview. FHRA is very active in cleaning up the 14 public stairways in Special thanks to Melinda Taylor, the original landscaping the Franklin Hills and encourages neighbors to adopt a designer of the Franklin Avenue median. She has paid stairway near them. In November, a call to action brought for her maintenance crew to shape the plants and spruce many neighbors together to clean up the upper and up the median. And, boy does it look beautiful! Have you middle Prospect stairs and also the upper Radio Walk noticed how much better it looks? stairs. FHRA will be out there again soon on another stairway. Thanks to the City’s Sanitation department, the irrigation of the Shakespeare Bridge Garden was replaced. They Taking action and being involved is so important to also installed a new retaining wall to hold up the slope. our community. Persistence is often necessary to see Thanks are also due to the Bureau of Engineering for projects through. The renovation of the Shakespeare their new design. Check the franklinhills.org website for Bridge Garden, now over fifteen years old, took over updates on the unveiling of the commemorative plaque three years before we saw results. The Franklin Avenue sometime in May or June. Median got going after six years of thought, planning and making it happen. The Hoover Walk Mural went from As you read through this edition of the Overview, I conception to completion over a seven year span. The hope you stop and consider those moments when you Myra underpass murals were worked on over a decade decided to get involved or wanted to be. It’s never too of cooperation with community, King Middle School, city late. Join now. We have continuing projects in which you agencies and volunteers. can participate. If you are interested in getting involved, please contact us at fhra@franklinhills.org. Results take time. Caring neighbors such as you make it happen. We appreciate your support and In the meantime, I hope you are able to join us for the encouragement. With your help, the FHRA has FHRA annual meeting on April 27 at LILA for further accomplished many projects over the last year from updates in our community. More information can be stairway clean ups, Overview publication and distribution found on page 14. In This Issue: Harriton Garden, 4 Construction at King, 10 Curb Your Wheels, 16 Under Shakespeare Bridge, 5 Tree Removal, 12 Community Contacts, 17 What Involvement Brings, 6 Concrete or Asphalt, 13 Action on Accidents, 18 Cat Contest Winners, 8 Annual Meeting, 14 CPR Classes, 20 Graffiti Cleanup, 9 Marshall Construction, 15 Community Apps, 22 Page 2 The Overview is a semi-annual CONTRIBUTING WRITERS BOARD OF DIRECTORS publication created and distributed Chris Boutelle by volunteer residents, neighbors, Shirley Mims, President and Acting Treasurer friends and supporters of the Franklin Mike Hain Hills Residents Association, a Chris Boutelle, Chairman and VP non-profit 501(c)(3) organization Sarah Krausse Elizabeth Richardson, Secretary and Rick LaRocca www.FranklinHills.org Membership Charley Mims FHRA@franklinhills.org Steven Myers, Communications 323-908-6078 voicemail/fax Shirley Mims Charley Mims Eric Frase Carole Nese Editors - Shirley Mims, Elizabeth Carole Nese Alix Soubiran Richardson Elizabeth Richardson Alison Wallace Melinda Taylor Layout - Bailey Jones Yvonne Troxclair Cover Image - Kyle Petrozza Yvonne Troxclair Ad Sales - Chris Boutelle ads@franklinhills.org 323-309-3434 The Mission:The FHRA promotes a sense of community by bringing neighbors together to help create a safe and vibrant neighborhood for all! Overview # 57 Spring/Summer 2019 Page 3 Harriton Prime for Spring Wattles Farm. We got to tour their beautiful 4.2 acre grounds, stand beneath one of the many lovely shady alcoves members have built for visiting, and for walking through their historic century-old avocado grove. We realize what a privilege it is to have green space in the middle of a big city like Los Angeles, and are learning from Wattles Farm about their process of working to protect and preserve these ecological treasures for future generations. Years later, so many gardeners will get to enjoy these spots thanks to the people before them taking action and making these gardens a reality. Many thanks to Toby Leaman, president of Wattles Farm, who gave us a tour and told us stories of our own garden’s founder, Norm Harriton. Norm began gardening himself with a plot at Wattles, and modeled our bylaws after theirs. As we look to the year ahead, we keep in mind gratitude to the people that came before us who took action to create these green spaces for health and connection. What a privilege it is to be a part of them, and maintain them for future generations. Plots covered in straw mulch in preparation for Spring. “To plant a garden is to believe in tomorrow.” - Audrey Photo by Sarah Krausse. Hepburn If you are interested in participating in the Franklin Hills Community Garden’s activities, check out Sarah Krausse our Facebook page (https://www.facebook.com/ FranklinHillsCommunityGarden) for more information Looking back on 2018, we are grateful for what a good on our public events. We have a wait list, but would year it has been for the garden. We welcomed several love to welcome more Franklin Hills neighbors to our new members, and plots have been looking very loved community. If you are interested in gardening a plot, and cared for lately. The recent generous rains have please email us at garden@franklinhills.org. given all the plants an extra burst of vibrant green color. Recent straw and alfalfa hay bale purchases now cover many plots in crunchy mulch bedding, working to keep moisture in the soil, prevent weeds, and slowly break down to organically add nutrients and water-retention abilities to the earth. Our compost tumbler sits in a corner of the garden, quietly digesting the byproducts of our members’ daily lives: coffee grounds, eggshells, broccoli stalks, and garden trimmings. The contents have gotten dark and loamy, and soon will smell sweetly similar to the forest floor. It is almost time to dig out its contents and add it back to the soil. A complete cycle. One of our highlights this past year was building a relationship with our neighboring community garden, Page 4 Partnership and Persistence Pay Off Rick LaRocca I was recently asked to write about my experience bringing attention to an area under the Shakespeare Bridge. It’s a great little spot that was recently the focus of an effort on behalf of the FHRA to beautify the little garden under the bridge. Over my last 20 years living in Los Feliz I’d never been down our street until we were lucky enough to buy our home there in 2012. Since then we’ve become very fond of our little arroyo. We’ve had our share of issues over the years with people tagging the bridge, drinking, drugs and, more recently homeless camping under there. This past summer I noticed that a section of the chain link fence under the west side of the bridge had been cut. People were dragging down trash, furniture, rugs, and bikes among other things from Franklin Ave. I Fencing that was cut where people were dragging down trash contacted Shirley Mims at FHRA and she reached out to and furniture under the west side of the Shakespeare Bridge. Councilman Ryu’s office and city services to see if they Photo by Rachel Fox. could initiate a cleanup and get the fence repaired to prevent things from getting worse. Senior Lead Officer Lenny Davis was made aware of the situation and more incidents like the fires in the Sepulveda Pass and volunteered to inspect the site where he found evidence elsewhere that did so much damage. He suggested of open fire and other items that indicated the area was finding funding through the city council and gave us being occupied. samples of existing signs. Shirley was instrumental in shepherding the process of securing funding for the The process started in early August 2018 and after the purchase and installation of the signage. city had done their due diligence the site was cleaned up three to four weeks later, but the fence remained The whole process took about six months. It was a open. In the ensuing months, there were several site long effort and at times had me teetering on the brink. visits by the Bureau of Engineering (BOE) and a face In the end, I did learn that things can get done in our to face meeting with Councilman Ryu’s Field Deputy, neighborhood with some determination. Seeking out the Rachel Fox, to inspect the fence. Rachel was great and help of neighbors who care about our community is key forwarded info to the BOE that we had found on the and engaging with our representatives and city services Navigate LA website which helped avoid a full-blown together does make a difference, you just need to stick survey which seemed excessive given the extent of the with it. problem. LAFD Fire Zone Map: lafd.org/fire-prevention/brush/fire- In October, the 4-foot section of fencing was finally zone/fire-zone-map repaired. During this process, I discovered that whole sections of our neighborhood are in the Very High Fire Bureau of Engineering, Dept.