GEPENC Greater Echo Park Elysian Neighborhood Council GREATER PO Box 261039 ECHO PARK ELYSIAW Los Angeles, CA 90026 NEIGHBORHOOD 213-413-0372 „ , n COUNCIL njlnsi 1o 6 Date:.a- ^ Submitted in Committee Council File No: June 1,2007 item No. H ____ Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA), Adam K. lsq Deputy: At it’s May 22,2007 Regular Board of Governors meeting the Greater Echo Park Elysian Neighborhood Council (GEPENC) voted, by consensus to support the efforts of the Los Angeles Dodgers to restore bus service into Dodger Stadium and to further request the City of Los Angeles to provide permanent DASH or Bus service into Elysian Park as well as seasonal service into Dodger Stadium. The GEPENC requested the Dodgers form a ‘Tublic Transit Task Force” after it’s April 2007 meeting regarding the controversial re-opening of the Scott Avenue gates for egress from Dodger Stadium. This request was forwarded to Council President Eric Garcetti to formally request the Dodgers immediately convene this taskforce. The Dodgers complied and shortly thereafter Committee meetings were scheduled and the first order of business was to encourage the City of LA to restore public transit to Dodger Stadium. The GEPENC hopes to continue in it’s leadership role as a proponent of improving access to public transportation for not only residents of the Greater Echo Park Area, but to all areas of the City. By increasing available transportation options to our city parks and venues such as Dodger Stadium, we can help reduce the reliance on the automobile and improve quality of life citywide. Thank you for your consideration, Christine Peters Chair, Parks and Public Works Com. GEPENC Cc: LADOT Council President Eric Garcetti Council member Ed P. Reyes C0MM UN/fp 2812Newell.St:,.LosAngeles, CA 90039 tel: r .. :2' fax:323-666-9256 February 27, 2008 ■f/3 Committee The Honorable Wendy Gruel Submitted in Chan- Council File No:_ Transportation Committee lu Item No.: n 1 Los Angeles City Council Spring Street Deputy: Adam RJLML Los Angeles, CA 90012 Dear Ms. Gruel: I am writing this letter on behalf of the volunteer and the families of Elysian Valley United. Elysian Valley United is the only non-profit organization serving this small, low income community that lies in the shadows of Elysian Park and Dodger Stadium. Since 2000, Elysian Valley United has operated the Elysian Valley United Community Services Center that provides education, enrichment, after school, counseling and advocacy services free of charge to community residents. Although we are a completely volunteer organization, we are able to serve over 200 neighborhood families each year. Elysian Valley United stands with the Dodgers and in solidarity with our neighbors in Echo Park to support the efforts to bring public transit services to Dodger Stadium. Approximately 50% of Elysian Valley families are completely or partially transit dependent. More than 80% of the students who attend the two local elementary schools receive free or reduced price lunches because they are living in poverty. For these families, the simple act of going to the store or to the doctor can take over three hours to go less than five miles. The lack of adequate public transportation defines their lives. Elysian Valley is also a Los Angeles Dodgers neighborhood. Children grow up with the great pride of living in the shadow of the stadium where Jeff Kent hits, Russell Martin catches, and Brad Penny pitches. Each Spring even the smallest kids are decked out in Dodger Blue. In school they learn of the important roles that Jackie Robinson and later Fernando Valenzuela played in bringing disparate parts of our community together through our love of America’s pastime. Sadly, class lessons or school visits are the closest many of our kids get to a Dodger’s game even though they live less than a mile from the stadium. They watch the cars lined up on Riverside Drive, but they have never been to the stadium. The same is true for poor kids in Echo Park and Chinatown. It is not because tickets are cost prohibitive. Upper reserve seats at the stadium still cost less than a night at the movies. Transit dependent families cannot take their kids to Dodger Stadium because they have no way to get there. The motion before you is the first step towards alleviating this inequity. It is the first step in creating access for those most affected by the Dodger traffic to actually reap the benefits of being part of the Dodger community. We recognize the first phase of providing public transit access will not include Elysian Valley. We have long advocated for DASH service and are currently awaiting services to be initiated in the neighborhood. At that point we will advocate for game day extension of the new line. At Elysian Valley United, however, we understand that access and equity extend beyond the boundaries of our community. I have lived in Echo Park for over 15 years and I know that poor families throughout that community will partake in Dodger baseball if they can get to the stadium. It is time we make that happen. Transportation is one of the dividing lines between the haves and the have-nots in our city. So is access to the entertainment that defines Los Angeles to the outside world. With this public transportation extension proposal we can make one dent in that inequity. There could be no better way to celebrate the Dodgers 50th Anniversary in Los Angeles than to honor the social history of the organization by integrating transit dependent families into the throngs of the Dodger faithful. We build community in many ways, big and small. Anyone who has been to Dodger Stadium knows that this is one of those few venues where Los Angeles really comes together. Today you have the opportunity to extend this community to those most often disenfranchised. Elysian Valley United urges you to honor the history of the dodgers and Los Angeles by adapting this proposal. Family Services Director Elysian Valley United.