Mayor Villaraigosa
Unleashes The Tiger Team IV In Hollywood
Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa,
joined by Los Angeles City Council President
Eric Garcetti, Los Angeles City Councilmembers
Wendy Greuel and Tom LaBonge and LADOT Parking
Enforcement Chief Jimmy Price, announced this
week the deployment of the Tiger Team IV License
Plate Recognition (LPR) Unit, a special fourth
installment of the anti-gridlock traffic
enforcement team. The Tiger Team IV LPR Unit
traffic control officer team will patrol the
streets of Hollywood ticketing and towing
motorists who illegally park their vehicles
along Sunset Boulevard during the morning rush
hour times of 7 a.m. to 9 a.m. and the afternoon
rush hour times of 4 p.m. to 7 p.m. This Tiger
Team IV LPR Unit will deploy a total of five
traffic control officers and seven tow trucks
along a 4.2-mile stretch of Sunset Boulevard
from Vermont Avenue to Laurel Canyon Boulevard.
Motorists will face heavy fines for illegally
parking their vehicles along the Tiger Team IV
corridor. Peak hour citations will cost drivers
$70 and Anti-Gridlock parking citations will
cost $140. The towing fee will be $184 plus an
additional $33 storage fee once the vehicle has
been in the possession of the towing company for
more than one hour. The Tiger Team will patrol
the streets using new and technologically
enhanced vehicles that are equipped with license
plate recognition (LPR) camera technology. The
LPR technology will enable the officers to scan
license plates, locate stolen vehicles, identify
amber alerts and find scofflaws. Each vehicle
will be stocked with 10-inch monitors that
provide clear picture, video and wireless
transmission capabilities. With this new
technology, the traffic officers will be able to
check license plates five times faster than
traditional procedures. There will be a total of
eight LPR vehicles patrolling the streets, with
two specifically dedicated to the Tiger Team IV
corridor along Sunset Boulevard.
In June 2006, Mayor
Villaraigosa unleashed the Anti-Gridlock Tiger
Team I along Wilshire Boulevard. Since its
inception, Tiger Team I has cited over 28,000
motorists and towed close to 10,000 vehicles. In
April 2007, Mayor Villaraigosa unleashed the
Anti-Gridlock Tiger II along Ventura Boulevard
in the San Fernando Valley. Since Tiger Team II
has been in action, travel speeds along Ventura
Boulevard have increased by 5%. Last summer, the
Anti-Gridlock Tiger Team III was unleashed along
Crenshaw Boulevard in South Los Angeles. Since
the Tiger Team III has been on the prowl, over
1,800 vehicles have been cited and/or towed for
violating the anti-gridlock laws along Crenshaw
Boulevard.
Chamber
Testifies in Support of CRA 5-Year Plan
Chamber Vice
President of Public Policy Nicole Shahenian
represented the Chamber at last week’s hearing
by the Community Redevelopment Commission to
approve the Five-Year Plan for the Hollywood
Project Area. Shahenian praised the agency for
the work that it has done in Hollywood over the
last 21 years, and noted that the Hollywood
Chamber of Commerce played a major role in
bringing the CRA to Hollywood. The Chamber
urged the commission to adopt the plan but to
add a clause emphasizing the need to create jobs
and bring new office space to Hollywood in order
to maintain Hollywood as an important employment
center. The Chamber also asked that plans for
the proposed Vine Street parking garage be
called out in the plan.
KBKG reduces
taxes with Enterprise Zone Tax Credits
East Hollywood BID
Plans to Paint Light Poles
 The
Board of the East Hollywood Business Improvement
District held its quarterly meeting last week
and heard reports on its efforts to clean and
beautify the area. The BID is currently
researching the possibility of painting the 251
street light poles within the district a
standard color. The BID also made plans for a
joint mixer with the Hollywood Chamber on August
20th at Barndall Art Park for all
property owners within the district. Jeff
Zarrinnam of the Ramada Hollywood is President
of the BID, which is managed by the Chamber.
Talk to Marty:
Addiction
Counseling Services (213)500-8865
Hard Rock Cafe
Hosts May Mixer with “Mas Tequila!”
 On
Wednesday, May 28th the tradition of ‘Cinco de
Mayo’ celebrations carry on with a special
Business After Hours mixer hosted by Hard Rock
Cafe Hollywood. Themed “Mas Tequila”, Hard Rock
Cafe’s Sales Manager, Diana Elmore, is planning
a festive evening for Chamber members and their
guests by preparing delicious appetizers and
specialty cocktails with a “Latin flair”. The
evening will benefit The Ricardo Montalban
Foundation and a special Hard Rock Cafe
sponsored raffle will be held at the mixer and
all proceeds will be donated by HRC to the RM
Foundation. Mixer attendees will be given “VIP”
treatment in the private upstairs mezzanine
including a “swag bag” courtesy of our host. The
mixer will be held from 5:30 p.m. to 7:30p.m.
Cost to attend is $10 for members and $20 for
non-members which includes appetizers and two
beverages. Hard Rock Cafe Hollywood is located
in Universal CityWalk, 1000 Universal Center
Drive, #99. Non-validated self parking is $11
(enter into Curious George lot), and 2 hour
discounted valet parking is $5.00 with
validation. Please RSVP to Steven Shawver
(323)469-8311 x 13, steven@hollywoodchamber.net,
or visit
www.hollywoodchamber.net.
Reserve here
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I&A Dry Cleaners:
Call 323-953-9988
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Valuable Information
Presented at Chamber Enterprise Zone Breakfast
Enterprise Zone and Tax
consultant Nojan Boloorchi, President of Tax
Incentive Solutions, was joined by L.A.
Community Development Department Business
Development Manager Patricia Spinneberg at the
Chambers recent Enterprise Zone orientation
breakfast. Boloorchi and Spinneberg provided
attendees with important information about how
to take advantage of the tax savings afforded
with the Los Angeles Enterprise Zone. According
to the Los Angeles Community Development
Department, as many as 30,000 businesses in Los
Angeles are eligible for thousands of dollars in
tax savings within the Enterprise Zone. Among
numerous other tax saving opportunities,
businesses within the enterprise zone may save
as much at $37,000 for qualified new employees.
For more information about the enterprise zone,
please contact
bj@hollywoodchamber.net
Chamber Board Recommends
Position on State Ballot Measures
The Board of the
Hollywood Chamber voted last week to recommend
to its members that they oppose Proposition 98
and support Proposition 99 on the June 3rd
California election. Both measures deal with
the emotional subject of eminent domain.
Proposition 98 is the more severe of the two
measures and also includes the unrelated issue
of phasing out rent control in California.
Proposition 99 covers the issue which has been
of greatest concern to the public – prohibiting
government from using eminent domain to take a
single-family home (including condos) for the
purpose of transferring it to another private
party. The Chamber believes that there are
cases where eminent domain is justified for the
purpose of revitalizing communities and believes
a blanket restriction against all types of
eminent domain would be ill-advised.
Daughter of
Chamber Member Helps Earthquake Victims in China
 Nicholette
Kenny, daughter of Patricia Kenny of Iron
Mountain, raised $1,000 to help with aide for
the victims of the earthquake in China. The
ten-year old activist helped put together two
bake sales at The Little Red School House at
Highland Ave. where she attends. Last year,
Nicholette visited China with her parents and
150 others who participated in the “Mission to
China” trip organized by Hollywood Chamber of
Commerce. She was heart broken when she learned
of the devastation that had taken place. Like
many of us who traveled to China, this
earthquake hit close to home. The Hollywood
Chamber of Commerce commends Nicholette for her
extraordinary efforts to help those in need.
Chamber members who would like to contribute
may contact Nicholette’s mom, Patricia Kenny at
(323)806-6336 or email
Patricia.Kenny@ironmountain.com.
Chamber Co-Hosts
Infrastructure Symposium
The Hollywood
Chamber co-hosted a forum with the Urban Land
Institute last week at the Chamber conference
room on the subject of Infrastructure Investment
in the U.S. Attendees learned that the United
States is falling behind other advanced
economies in the world in investing in
infrastructure. The U.S. is spending only 40
percent of what is the annual requirement just
to maintain the country’s infrastructure,
falling $170-billion short yearly. There are
also unclear lines of responsibility in managing
infrastructure needs. For example, there are
108 separate programs that fund surface
transportation projects in the federal
government. The ULI is in the process of
visiting 30 cities around the nation to educate
key opinion leaders on the problem and to build
support for addressing what may become an
important competitive issue for the nation.
Free
business counseling at the Hollywood Chamber
Offered by the Service Corps of Retired
Executives (SCORE)
Richard Krelstein, a retired business
turn-around specialist
Consulting services will be available most
Fridays 9:30 - 11:30am
To schedule an
appointment, call Vivian at (323)469-8311.
Wireless Telephone Laws
Takes Effect July 1, 2008
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