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12/12/2017 Your April 2017 Neighborhoods First Newsletter - Mike Bonin - Council District 11 ABOUT MIKE COUNCIL STAFF NEWS ISSUES NEIGHBORHOODS MEDIA TAKE ACTION HOME » NEWS Your April 2017 Neighborhoods First Newsletter Sign Up For Updates Posted by David Graham-Caso 721.80sc on April 28, 2017 · Flag · Add your reaction April 2017 Welcome to the April issue of Mike Bonin's "Neighborhoods First Newsletter!” IN THIS ISSUE: Construction begins on Mar Vista’s Great Street, Mike fights for funding for a life-saving program to end traffic fatalities, and an effort launches Contact Our Ofce to protect people from dangerous oil and gas wells in our neighborhoods... but first, please read this month's Neighborhoods First Profile about a Pacific Palisades neighbor who is helping kids see a bright future ahead of them. Connect with Facebook You can find out more about Mike, meet your CD11 staff and see the latest Connect with Twitter videos and updates from the Westside on our website at www.11thdistrict.com. And remember to like Mike's Facebook page to see the latest news about your neighborhood. Councilmember Mike… 5,188 likes Liked You and 17 other friends like this Vision to Learn: Pacific Palisades’ Austin Beutner Is Helping Kids See Success Pacific Palisades neighbor Austin Beutner has served Los Angeles in a variety of capacities - as First Deputy Mayor, interim head of the Los Angeles Department Water and Power, and publisher and CEO of the Los Angeles Times. In 2012, however, Beutner founded Vision To Learn - an organization that serves Los Angeles in a different, more focused way. Vision To Learn is a non-profit organization that provides children in need with free eye exams and free glasses by bringing its mobile eye clinics to schools and to other neighborhood youth and community organizations. Since 2012, Vision To Learn has helped more than 48,000 school kids receive free eye exams and glasses, making it easier for kids to http://www.11thdistrict.com/your_april_2017_neighborhoods_first_newsletter 1/30 12/12/2017 Your April 2017 Neighborhoods First Newsletter - Mike Bonin - Council District 11 see the instruction they Tweets by @MikeBoninLA receive in school every day. Mike Bonin We asked Austin a few @MikeBoninLA questions about his work with Faith leaders gathered at City Hall to celebrate the Vision To Learn. start of Hanukkah with the lighting of the Menorah. I want to thank the Downtown Jewish Community Please tell us about the Center, Mayor Eric Garcetti, and City Attorney Mike for hosting a special celebration. Happy mission of Vision to Learn. Hanukkah! Vision To Learn provides free eye exams and glasses to kids in low-income communities. About one in five kids will naturally need glasses; but, unfortunately, in low-income communities 95% of kids who need glasses do not have them. What inspired you to found Vision to Learn? I am a first-generation American. My dad worked in a factory, my mom was a 1h school teacher and I went to public schools. A good public education gave me the Embed View on Twitter foundation for all that has come since in my life. When I learned so many kids were going to public schools lacking the glasses they needed to see the board, read a book or participate in class, I was shocked—this is Los Angeles, California, not Timbuktu in Mali. I decided this was a problem we needed to solve. What are you most proud of in Vision To Learn's five years of work? We started with one van in Los Angeles five years ago. VTL now serves kids in 176 cities from Honolulu to Baltimore, becoming the largest school-based program of its type in the nation. Kids’ grades improve when they get glasses and they have a better chance to succeed in school and in life. If we only helped one child, this would be worth doing; but we have helped hundreds of thousands. Vision to Learn has partnered with a lot of other groups and organizations over the years - why is it important to include sports teams or neighborhood groups in your efforts? Vision To Learn is a great example of how we can all work together for the benefit of the community. We have the support of many individuals, businesses, foundations, sports teams, elected officials and volunteers. The Clippers and Dodgers provide financial support and their players let kids know it’s cool to wear glasses. Organizations like the Rotary Club have provided thousands of man hours to help screen kids. And our most important partners are the classroom teachers and school nurses who work with us in schools to provide help to the kids. How can people get involved or support Vision To Learn's work? These simple ways—make a contribution ($100 covers the cost of an exam and glasses for one child), become a volunteer, or spread the word by sharing the story of Vision To Learn. Lots more at www.visiontolearn.org. http://www.11thdistrict.com/your_april_2017_neighborhoods_first_newsletter 2/30 12/12/2017 Your April 2017 Neighborhoods First Newsletter - Mike Bonin - Council District 11 Venice Japanese American Memorial Marker Installed in Venice Neighbors and visitors in Venice will see a new addition to the community, now that a nine and a half foot black granite obelisk has been installed at the northwest corner of Lincoln and Venice Boulevards. This new monument is a solemn reminder of an important and sad chapter of American history, when thousands of families of Japanese ancestry were assembled at the corner where the monument will stand for their forced relocation to Manzanar War Relocation Center during World War II. This monument is the product of years of hard work by the Venice Japanese American Memorial Monument Committee, which raised money and worked for years to get this powerful symbol installed. The installation of the monument comes at another important time in American history, and will serve as a prescient reminder that we must always be vigilant about standing up against bigotry, racism and intolerance. For more info visit www.venicejamm.org. Friends of Ballona Host Migration Celebration The Friends of Ballona Wetlands hosted a wonderful community event at Discovery Park in Playa Vista in April, celebrating the annual migration of birds that find homes in the Ballona Wetlands. The event featured a neighborhood brunch block party, family activities (including face painting, arts & crafts, a scavenger hunt, special guests, live music, and food trucks), “marsh mimosas” for adults, professionally guided bird tours and opportunities to meet and learn http://www.11thdistrict.com/your_april_2017_neighborhoods_first_newsletter 3/30 12/12/2017 Your April 2017 Neighborhoods First Newsletter - Mike Bonin - Council District 11 more about live birds of prey from the South Bay Wildlife Rehab! Thank you, Friends of Ballona for hosting this great chance for families on the Westside to learn more about the birds of Ballona! Ocean Charter Heal the Bay Beach Cleanup Students at Ocean Charter School in Del Rey pitched in to keep our beaches clean last month, as they participated in the Eighth Annual “Beach Clean-a-thon.” The event was a partnership between the school, the awesome environmental non- profit group Heal the Bay and Mike’s office (which provided buses to take students to the beach for the clean-up). Students raised money to support Heal the Bay’s mission of keeping the Santa Monica Bay clean, and they additionally canvassed the beach to pick up any litter or debris before it made its way into the bay. Thank you, Ocean Charter and Heal the Bay for working together to keep our beaches and bay clean, and for providing an opportunity for a new generation of students to take responsibility for our environment. Mar Vista Family Center Hosts Literacy Fair “From there to here, from here to there, funny things are everywhere..." That's one of the lines from "One Fish, Two Fish, Red Fish, Blue Fish" by Dr. Seuss -- which Mike got to read to some of the kids at Mar Vista Family Center in Del Rey on April 3, as part of the Center's 13th annual Literacy Fair. The Fair’s focus is to encourage families to read together and foster an appreciation for books. Thanks to the Del Rey Neighborhood Council, Playa Vista Optimists, National Charity League, Inc. Westside Chapter, and Loyola Marymount University for supporting the event! http://www.11thdistrict.com/your_april_2017_neighborhoods_first_newsletter 4/30 12/12/2017 Your April 2017 Neighborhoods First Newsletter - Mike Bonin - Council District 11 New Senior Lead Officer for West LA/Sawtelle Area The Los Angeles Police Department was proud to announce last month that Jim Lavenson will serve as the new permanent LAPD Senior Lead Officer for the WLA- Sawtelle area. Officer Lavenson was voted Officer of the Quarter by LAPD West L.A. Division Command for exemplary service to the community, and this is a very well-deserved promotion. Officer Lavenson can be reached at [email protected] or 310-444-0742. Great Streets Update: Pedestrian Signals, Bike Lanes and Bike Racks Added to Venice Boulevard April was an incredibly exciting month for the Great Streets project that is turning Venice Boulevard in Mar Vista into a “small town downtown” for the community. In the past month, City crews were coordinating major improvements to the stretch of roadway, and have been working to install new pedestrian crossings, new bike racks and preparing to add new bike lanes to the street. Making Venice Boulevard safer for people who walk and bike is a key part of the Great Streets Initiative, and the improvements being made will protect bicyclists, as well as connect the two sides of Venice, helping to make the street what Mar Vistans asked for throughout the Great Streets Initiative’s community input process.