EPISODE 112 – COUNCIL MEMBER SOTO-MARTINEZ NOTES UPCOMING TOWN HALLS IN ECHO PARK

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Hugo Soto-Martinez joins the podcast for the third time and for the first as the official Council Member for CD-13. We discuss the new council member’s plan for the district, his office’s strategy on combating homelessness, his office’s coordination with Mayor Bass’ Safer Inside initiative and L.A. County to bring unhoused people indoors, and the possible implementation of conserving mentally unstable residents without housing through California’s new CARE Act.

We also discuss the council member’s outreach to small businesses in CD-13 as they recover from losses suffered over the pandemic, including businesses in the Frogtown neighborhood; and we touch on plans for partnerships between the council member’s office and current service-providers in the district, as well as the mechanics of L.A. City Hall, including where much of L.A.’s policy is actually developed: L.A.’s committee meetings. Last but not least, we ask the council member regarding when new field representatives for CD-13 will be announced, as well as on updates for none other than the fence still surrounding Echo Park lake.

Don’t forget to leave a voicemail at our new hotline for L.A. weather! Tell us how you’re liking this ☔️ weather (or not liking it) and which side of the city (or county) you’re calling from:

J.T.’s VOICEMAIL: (213) 458-5042

For more of these cuentos and then some, please follow J.T. the L.A. Storyteller on Apple or Spotify, then rate and review us!

And if you’d like to tune into the show from elsewhere, please see our RSS feed here: https://jimbotimes.com/category/podcast/feed/

J.T.

JT SPEAKS WITH COUNCIL MEMBER SOTO-MARTINEZ THIS THURSDAY + OUR NEW VOICEMAIL FEATURE

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First things first, we shout out Robert Chlala for the opportunity to speak with his class at Cal State University Long Beach’s Sociology department this past week. If you’d like to book yours truly for a speaking engagement in your classroom or community, you can make an inquiry through info@jimbotimes.com.

Secondly, we note the significance of Dianne Feinstein’s retirement, including because Congressional Representative for the [historic] 28th district–now the 30th district due to California’s population loss–Adam Schiff has now declared his candidacy to become the next Senator for California.

Next up, we note that our interview with Council Member Soto-Martinez (@HugoForCD13) is back on through IG LIVE (@jimbotimes) this Thursday, February 23rd at 7 PM.

We also note that our team at Making a Neighborhood is reaching our first full year of publication! If you’re interested in joining us to celebrate the milestone, you need to RSVP through Eventbrite.

Finally, yours truly introduces a new VOICEMAIL feature for the podcast to discuss none other than L.A. weather! Leave a voicemail at (213) 458-5042 with your thoughts on the skies above over the last week or so and also tell us which side of the city (or county) you’re calling from. I look forward to hearing your anecdotes.

For more of these updates and then some, please follow J.T. the L.A. Storyteller on Apple or Spotify, then rate and review us!

And if you’d like to tune into the show from elsewhere, please see our RSS feed here: https://jimbotimes.com/category/podcast/feed/

J.T.

COUNCIL MEMBER SUGGESTS ECHO PARK LAKE FENCE SHOULD BE DOWN BY LATE MARCH

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Firstly, we shout out the city of L.A.’s brand-new Charlotta Bass day, which took place this February 14th, 2023. We also recognize that USC has officially rolled out a new Charlotta Bass Journalism & Justice Lab at its Annenberg school. Learn more about Charlotta Bass here.

Secondly, we shout out Mike Bonin’s What’s Next, Los Angeles? podcast. The former council member is interviewing candidates for the upcoming election to fill CD-6, or the southern half of the San Fernando Valley’s seat at L.A. City Council.

We also note that Council Member Soto-Martinez spoke with Kate Cagle of Spectrum news recently, during which he suggested that the fence surrounding Echo Park lake should be taken down around late March before it’s two-year anniversary after being placed there by former representative for the area Mitch O’Farrell. Soto-Martinez states that this is because the park’s maintenance is not solely on him and his office to take care of, but on L.A.’s Parks and Recreation department as well. He and his team are also working with local service-providers to support unhoused people who may look to reside at the park upon the fence’s being taken down, according to the report.

Finally, we share some thoughts on a recent discussion at L.A. City Hall over a new redistricting process, including competing proposals between the city and state Senator Maria Elena Durazo’s office. Our photo for this episode is provided by Associated Press photojournalists Damian Dovarganes and Marcio Sanchez.

For more of these updates and then some, please follow J.T. the L.A. Storyteller on Apple or Spotify, then rate and review us!

And if you’d like to tune into the show from elsewhere, please see our RSS feed here: https://jimbotimes.com/category/podcast/feed/

J.T.

TURKEY-SYRIA EARTHQUAKE LEADS TO UNPRECEDENTED SEARCH AND RESCUE EFFORT, INCLUDING FROM L.A. COUNTY AND ARMENIA

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The French newspaper Le Monde notes that the United Nation’s World Health Organization [WHO] is calling the Turkey-Syria earthquakes, which hit the two nations last Monday, February 6th, the worst natural disaster in Europe in over a century. In turn, this has led to the largest humanitarian aid mission in UN history, with search and rescue teams from across the world, including from L.A. County.

The L.A. Times also notes that “As seismic engineers study the earthquakes in Turkey and Syria that killed more than 35,000 [according to the most recent estimates…] it’s becoming clear that a significant cause of the destruction involved a building design common in California and other parts of the U.S.”

Finally, in some uplifting news for Los Cuentos listeners, Namak Newsletter states that “For the first time in more than 30 years, a border passage opened on February 11 between Armenia and Turkey to let Armenian vehicles deliver humanitarian aid to Turkey following the devastating earthquake.”

For more of these updates and then some, please follow J.T. the L.A. Storyteller on Apple or Spotify, then rate and review us!

And if you’d like to tune into the show from elsewhere, please see our RSS feed here: https://jimbotimes.com/category/podcast/feed/

J.T.