Advancing a Care-First Agenda 

• Alternative Crisis Response Models - In April, CD1 hosted a delegation from the Support Team Assisted Response (STAR) program in Denver, which deploys civilian-led emergency response teams to people experiencing distress related to mental health issues, poverty, homelessness, and substance abuse. This visit was part of our ongoing work to bring new models of crisis response systems to Los Angeles that integrate unarmed, trauma-informed teams that can provide the care and services that people need during these crises. 
• USC Street Medicine - Since August, a USC Street Medicine Team dedicated to CD1 has been serving unsheltered residents 5 days a week. They provide unhoused constituents with critical services, including treating acute and chronic health conditions, STD diagnosis and treatment, substance use disorder treatment, mental and behavior health care, medication management, lab work, and more. CD1 is the first council district in Los Angeles to deploy a dedicated, full-time Street Medicine team and we hope to continue to expand this program to meet the needs of our city. 
• MacArthur Park Overdose Prevention Strategy - We rolled out phase one of our MacArthur Park Overdose Prevention Strategy which includes:
  • a Public Health and Harm Reduction Working Group composed of service providers, community groups, and city and county partners to develop person-centered and trauma-informed strategies for reducing harm and preventing overdoses in and around the park. 
  • Coordinated outreach and engagement six days a week at the park, including street medicine, mental and behavior health services, and naloxone distribution.
  • Expanding the LEAD (Let Everyone Advance with Dignity) program to create additional outreach and case management support for people experiencing homelessness in and around the park.
  • Installation of four sharps kiosks around the park. 

Supporting Unhoused Neighbors in CD1

• Interim Housing - Before we took office, CD1's shelter beds were frequently vacant and unused. But now, thanks to the work of our Homelessness and Homelessness team, the interim housing and shelter beds we have in CD1 are operating at full capacity. This means that we are maximizing existing interim housing and that our outreach is successfully bringing people inside when resources are available.
• Northeast New Beginnings - Our newest interim housing site, Northeast New Beginnings, was completed in November. It is a first-of-its-kind interim housing site in Cypress Park that will offer fully integrated healthcare and social services onsite to support residents.  
• Mobile Laundry - In collaboration with Laundry Truck LA, we have been able to serve 2,658 unhoused individuals with laundry services and wash 4,025 loads of laundry.
• CD1 Path Outreach Team - Since January 2023, the CD1 PATH outreach team has connected with 277 individuals—creating over 2,700 service linkages, including connections to food, mental health services, case management, Naloxone distribution, and 39 interim and/or permanent housing placements. 
• In November, CD1 partnered with the Mayor's Office on an Inside Safe Operation that brought nearly 80 people experiencing unsheltered homelessness into interim housing.
• In response to Hurricane Hilary, we coordinated with  community partners to distribute tarps, bungees, batteries and flashlights, and other supplies and provided up-to-date information for unhoused residents in response to rain and transport unsheltered neighbors to pop-up emergency shelters in CD1.

Investing in Community 

• My team and I went up and down the district, and attended over 1,100 meetings, events, neighborhood councils, actions, clean-ups and more! 
• Our monthly food distributions served communities in Chinatown, Highland Park, Lincoln Heights, Pico-Union, and Westlake and we distributed thousands of bags of groceries to families. 
• Our Community Advocacy Team visits all buildings in our district that are tagged for the City’s Rent Escrow Account Program (REAP) and conducts outreach to tenants whose building falls into REAP to ensure they understand their rights and that the violations are actually cured. The team has assessed and closed 24 REAP cases in our district, which adds up to over 160 units that are now up to habitable living standards. 
• Our Community Advocacy Team also leads our Volunteer Corps in collecting data, conducting 311 walks, outreach and support for wildfire resiliency, and community sustainability efforts. Our CD1 California Climate Action Fellows have distributed over 2,000 free kitchen pails that help keep organic waste out of landfill and reduce greenhouse gas emissions. 
• We rolled out our Reconnecting MacArthur Park plan that will bring L.A.'s first major pedestrianized street to the park and lays the groundwork for a “One-Park” plan that converts 1.7 acres of heavily trafficked roadway into a high-quality park space that supports bicycle, pedestrian and transit infrastructure in one of LA’s most densely populated neighborhoods. 

Bringing City Services Back to CD1

• We rolled out safe street improvements all across the district, from new slow street zones and speed bumps at over a dozen CD1 schools, to street calming measures in Angelino Heights, to new pedestrian safety features along Figueroa. 
• We broke ground on a new playground at MacArthur Park that will contain swings, slides, a three-dimensional net climber structure, resilient rubber surfacing, benches and more.
• We worked with City partners to fix the sidewalks outside of Saint Thomas Church — a repair that parishioners requested nearly five years ago. 
• After being closed for three years due to COVID-19, we reopened the Lincoln Heights Senior Citizen Center for regular programming and events.
• We raised new U.S. and POW flags in the Highland Park Veterans Square, and supported the efforts to fix broken lights, and provide tree trimming services in the Square.
• After a resident reported that bridge lights over the 110 Freeway had been out for over six months, we worked with the Bureau of Street Lighting to replace the fixtures with new solar lights to resolve the frequent outages. 
• Closing 311 Requests - We’ve been working on the backlog of 311 reports that existed when we came into office. Thousands of requests have been addressed in the past year, and we’re also working closely with departments to address some of the frequent issues with the system that constituents raise. 

Legislative Wins

• Expanding Tenant Protections - Earlier this year, we worked to pass a package of expanded tenant protections that will support vulnerable tenants at a time when they need more help than ever, including universal just cause, protections for tenants with pets and new occupants, protections preventing eviction for owing less than one month’s fair market rent, and relocation assistance for tenants who receive a rent increase of 10% or more.
• Language Justice Plan - We passed a Language Justice Plan directing departments to produce recommendations to ensure that Council and committee meetings have translation services available along with language accessibility options for all agendas and similar written materials.  
• ULA Implementation - We partnered with Councilmember Raman to pass a motion focused implementation of Measure ULA, including plans for collecting revenue, additional capacity and resources needed, and an expenditure plan. 
• Mayfair Hotel - As the City rolled out plans to acquire the Mayfair Hotel for interim housing, we worked directly with the Westlake community and City partners to introduce amendments to ensure there were adequate resources for both future residents and neighborhood stakeholders, including requesting a $400,000 investment for clean teams to service the streets, a Street Light Improvement plan, programs to support the surrounding small business, and the creation of a community advisory board. 
• Reforming SCEP and REAP - We put forward motions to address gaps in two of the City's cornerstone programs for ensuring residents have safe and habitable living conditions, the Systematic Code Enforcement Program (SCEP) and the Rent Escrow Account Program (REAP). 
• DTLA Community Plan - We advocated for adjustments to the DTLA 2040 Community Plan that would expand affordable housing in Chinatown, and build out a plan with new, job-focused programming to support our garment and fashion industry workers.
• Making L.A. a Sanctuary City - Our motion to draft legislation permanently enshrining sanctuary policies into City law was passed in Council, a huge step forward in making Los Angeles a true Sanctuary City.

Glassell Park District Office:
3750 Verdugo Rd
Los Angeles, CA 90065

Office Hours:
T, W, Th: 9:00AM - 5:00PM
Phone: (323) 709-1800

City Hall Office:

200 N. Spring Street, Room 460
Los Angeles, CA 90012

Office Hours:
M-F 9:00AM - 5:00PM 

Website: cd1.lacity.gov
Phone: (213) 473-7001
Email: Councilmember.Hernandez@lacity.org

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