Culver City Observer -

City Manager’s Office

• Downtown Culver City Holiday Tree Lighting Ceremony – On December 4 the holiday tree in downtown Culver City was illuminated for the holiday season. The Tree Lighting Ceremony was presented by the Downtown Business Association and the City of Culver City. Local businesses participated by giving out samples to the public, and several groups of students entertained the crowd as they sang holiday songs. Santa Claus made an appearance and was assisted by the Culver City Police Department. Councilmember Andrew Weissman (pictured below with his granddaughter Cambria) served as the event’s emcee and was joined by his colleagues on the City Council-Jeffrey Cooper and Jim B. Clarke. Also pictured below is Culver City Unified School District Board President Laura Chardiet and Downtown Business Association President Eric Sims. The festive holiday tree complements the new banners that were designed by Culver City Unified School District 5th Grade students.

• Donation of Paramedic Vehicle to Uruapan, Mexico - On May 12 the City Council authorized the donation of one of the City’s decommissioned paramedic vehicles to the Fire Department in Uruapan, Mexico, in coordination with the Culver City Sister City Committee. On Monday, December 8 the City will officially transfer the decommissioned 2003 Freightliner ambulance and miscellaneous medical equipment to the City of Uruapan!

(Photo Credit – Ryan Schultz)

• Cultural Affairs Foundation Board - The Cultural Affairs Foundation Board has organized a series of talks featuring Culver City-based design firms and architects. The first event, scheduled for January 25, 2015, will be hosted by SPF:architects. SPF:a Founder and Design Principal, Zoltan Pali, will be discussing the transformation of the Beverly Hills Post Office into the Wallis Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts. On February 23 Steven Ehrlich, Founding Partner of Ehrlich Architects, will guide visitors through his work on the transformation of the Culver Theater into the Kirk Douglas Theatre, one of the key projects contributing to the revitalization of Culver City’s downtown. A third event is planned for June 2015 with Kulapat Yantrasast of the design firm and think tank wHY. Thomas Aujero Small, writer and consultant to architects, will be the moderator for the series. Each event will include a reception. Proceeds from the series will support the enhancement of the Veterans Memorial Building’s Auditorium by replacing outdated technology with new stage lighting and film projection equipment. Additional details about each event will be posted in the coming weeks to the City’s website.

Community Development

• Café 70˚ – Building plans have been submitted for a 1,100 square foot tenant improvement at 3863 Overland Avenue.

• Robek’s – Building plans have been submitted for a 1,270 square foot tenant improvement at 3891 Overland Avenue.

• DJ City – A Building permit has been issued for a 2,326 square foot tenant improvement at 4041 Sepulveda Boulevard.

• Rita’s Ice Cream Shop – A Building permit has been issued for a new ice cream shop at 4114 Sepulveda Boulevard.

• Ziggy’s Salon – Building plans have been submitted for a tenant improvement at 4130 Sepulveda Boulevard.

• Hatchet Hall – Building plans have been submitted for a tenant improvement for a new restaurant at 12517 Washington Boulevard. Waterloo & City will close by the end of this year, making way for Brian Dunsmoor and Jonathan Strader's new restaurant, Hatchett Hall.

• 4130 Sepulveda Boulevard – Holy Cow, a barbeque restaurant, plans to open on April 1, 2015 at Culver Crossroads.

• West Washington Business Improvement District (BID) – The City held its second meeting with businesses along West Washington Boulevard from Inglewood to Beethoven last week to address the group’s safety concerns, planned intersection improvements, bicycle paths and pedestrian crosswalk improvements. Other discussion topics included district naming, social networking and marketing campaigns, creating an area map of businesses, special events and branding. The group agreed to circulate a petition requesting the City Council recognize and form the district.

• Downtown Business Improvement District – On November 10 the City Council approved the Downtown Business Improvement District (DBID) work plan and budget for 2015.

• Culver Village Business District – The Culver Village Business District held its 2014 Holiday Bash on Saturday December 7. This is their 2nd annual holiday event to encourage the public to visit Culver Village and experience the diversity of shops and restaurants in the Sepulveda Boulevard business corridor.

•

• Statewide Drill - On November 20 Culver City Community Emergency Response Team (CERT) and Culver City Amateur Radio Emergency Service (CCARES) members participated in a Statewide Hospital Drill at Southern California Hospital at Culver City (SCH). CCARES assisted the hospital with interagency coordination by facilitating the use of the hospital’s ham radio. CCARES members were able to communicate clearly with hospitals from throughout the entire region and the Medical Alert Center.

While LAX Amateur Radio Emergency Service (ARES) manages the regional ham radio participation, this is the fifth year CCARES members (cross registered as LAX ARES members) have participated with SCH. In addition to volunteering for the State’s hospital drill, CCARES has also taken responsibility of programing SCH’s ham radios when there are updates. The Culver City Fire Department applauds CERT, CCARES and SCH for their partnership and for another successful event.

Parks, Recreation and Community Services Department

• Veterans Memorial Building (VMB) – The VMB will be open on December 24 and December 31 for rentals this year. Rental information is available by visiting:

http://www.culvercity.org/Government/PRCS/Parks/VMC.aspx, by calling the Rental Office at 310-253-6625 or by sending an email to vmc.booking@culvercity.org.

Regular Rental Office hours are Tuesdays through Fridays from 11 am –to 6 pm. During the holidays, the Rental Office will be closed on December 25 and 26 and January 1 and 2.

• VMB Upgrades – New window shades have been installed in the Rotunda, Kaizuka, Uruapan, Yanji City and Iksan Rooms at the VMB and in Room 1 at the Teen Center. New recycling decals, provided by Public Works, have been affixed to containers in each room at VMB and common areas to encourage room users to recycle.

• VMB on Yelp – Yelp has included a listing for the Veterans Memorial Building, with multiple positive entries already posted. http://www.yelp.com/biz/veterans-memorial-building-park-culver-city.

• VMB Events – Jon Lindsay Productions presents Excalibur, NPC Bodybuilding, Figure, Physique and Bikini Championships at VMB on December 11 and 12. More information is available by visiting http://lindsayproductions.com/.

• Culver City Public Theater – Culver City Public Theater presents a free performance of It’s a Wonderful Life, the classic holiday story of George Bailey, an idealistic and compassionate resident of the little town of Bedford Falls. This shortened radio play version was adapted by Joe Landry and will be performed on December 14 at 3 pm in the Multipurpose Room at the VMB. More information is available by visiting http://www.ccpt.org.

• Culver City Senior Center Association Membership – Membership registration for the Culver City Senior Center Association will begin on Monday, December 15 from 9 am to 2 pm in the lobby. December registration dates are Monday, December 15 to Friday, December 19 only. Cash or check only and no bills over $20 will be accepted. 2015 Membership dues are $13, a Parking Pass is $4, and the fee for mailing the newsletter is $12. Fitness room membership is $125 per calendar year or $75 for 6 months. Please note: Dec. 15 to 19 are the only December dates registration will be available. Regular CCSCA membership registration will begin again in January 2015.

• The Senior Center Holiday Party – The Culver City Senior Center Holiday Party, recognizing CCSCA Member of the Year Mayra Romero, will be held on Friday, December 12 at 11:30 am. The event will also feature the installation of the 2015 CCSCA Board of Directors. Tickets are on sale at the Senior Center business desk for a discounted price of $1.

• Culver City Volunteers Needed – 100-plus volunteers will be needed for the 2015 Homeless Count on Wednesday, January 28 from 8 pm to midnight. The Culver City deployment site will be the Senior Center, located at Culver Boulevard and Overland Avenue. Culver City needs volunteers to conduct a count, which allows us to more accurately track the changes in homelessness and evaluate the success of local efforts. In addition, this information is used to help advocate, plan for, and secure resources to assist people to regain self-sufficiency. Volunteers will work in teams and will receive training in recording the count. Volunteers must be at least 18 years old. Visit http://www.theycountwillyou.org to sign up – be sure to select “West Los Angeles – SPA5” as your region.

• Senior Center Wednesday Work Project (WWP) – The Culver City Senior Center WWP volunteers processed thousands of handmade Thanksgiving cards for Volunteer Action for Aging. The thank-you said: “What an amazing group of volunteers you have at your Center. It was such a great event! We are so grateful for the work that all of your volunteers did. I so much enjoyed meeting the members of the WWP group. Please extend our heartfelt thanks to each and every person that took part in making our Thanksgiving Meal Delivery program a success.”

• Culver City After School Program (CCARP) – The CCARP students are preparing for a well-deserved winter break. Staff and students will celebrate the holidays with a party on Friday, December 19 just before their two-week local holiday. The holiday party will include music, holiday arts and crafts, and gift exchanges.

• Culver City Annual Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Celebration – The 10th Annual City of Culver City Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Celebration will be held on Saturday, January 17, 2015, at the Culver City Senior Center from 11 am to 4 pm. A film screening of “Freedom Summer” by Stanley Nelson will be shown at 2 pm. A panel discussion featuring well-known radio host Margaret Prescod of KPFK’s Sojourner Truth Show will be the moderator along with panelists Tom Hayden, Kokayi Kwa Jitahidi, Bobby Grace, Funmilola Fagbamila and retired Los Angeles Commissioner Robert Farrell. Founders Bilson Davis and Saundra Davis will be the emcees for the day.

Police Department

• Officer Robert Garrido shares Thanksgiving Meals- On Thanksgiving day, Officer Garrido took time to pass out a few hot Thanksgiving meals to people who were in need, spreading true spirit of Thanksgiving.

Public Works

• Tree Map LA – Culver City is excited to announce its participation with TreeMapLA (www.treemapla.org) to highlight the benefits that Culver City’s trees are providing to the community and to the entire LA area. Culver City is the first city to upload their tree inventory onto TreeMapLA, adding nearly 17,000 new trees and over $500,000 in economic benefits to the map.

TreeMapLA is a website and mobile app, designed as a community resource to inspire and engage citizens to learn more about and take personal responsibility for the urban forest and watersheds of greater Los Angeles. By entering simple information about the city’s trees and watershed solutions, users are able to learn about the environmental and economic value of our urban forest and watersheds (including energy conserved, stormwater filtered and air quality improved), and to interact with the city’s natural world in an exciting new way.

In addition to mapping trees, TreeMapLA allows users to map their Watershed Solutions, including rain gardens, rain barrels and cisterns, to learn the water that is conserved and the stormwater runoff that is reduced through the use of these water-saving solutions. TreeMapLA users can also log their stewardship activities, marking trees that need assistance with Alerts and marking trees that have been cared for with the Actions performed.

To participate on your own, simply create a login at http://www.treemapla.org or by downloading the free Apple or Android mobile app and map your own Trees and Watershed Solutions today!

• Construction Update

1. Southern California Edison will continue working to replace an underground vault on Overland Avenue, just east of Deshire Place.

2. Golden State Water Company will begin excavation to install a new water main on Le Bourget Avenue from Culver Boulevard to Farragut Drive, and on Revere Place from Farragut Drive to Ballona Creek.

3. Golden State Water Company will complete paving and install new traffic loops on Green Valley Circle at the intersection of Centinela Avenue.

4. Golden State Water Company will grind and pave the trench on Garfield Avenue and on Huntley Place.

5. AT&T will be installing pipe and pulling in new fiber optic cable on Slauson Avenue, west of Buckingham Parkway. This work will take place from December 9th and is expected to end on the December 10th.