DTLA RA Hosts Resident Town Hall with Mayor Bass on Downtown Public Safety, Economic Recovery

         Following up on the public safety and economic recovery survey and letter to Mayor Karen Bass and Council Member Ysabel Jurado, the DTLA RA (Downtown Los Angeles Residents Association) hosted an online resident town hall meeting with Mayor Bass on October 15. With 250 downtown residents registering to participate in the townhall meeting, Mayor Bass answered questions posed by DTLA RA and residents.

The town hall meeting is available on YouTube -  watch the full town hall here.

         DTLA RA lists the following commitments made by the Mayor.

1.    Neighborhood Walk Through: Complete a neighborhood walk through with DTLA residents to learn more about resident’s perspectives and needs.

2.    Foot Beats and Bike Patrols: Work with LAPD’s chief and captain to re-allocate resources this year to provide LAPD foot beat and bike patrols in DTLA, a request that 77% of residents who took the survey supported. 

3.    Mental Health Facilities: Bring more mental health facilities to support people downtown living with acute mental health issues on the streets.

4.    Co-Design Mental Health Interventions: Provide feedback to the Mayor on what the downtown community needs to address street-level mental health crises.

5.    Advocate Together on Addiction Resources for Downtown: Join forces to advocate to get substance abuse resources, including at the state and county level, to mitigate open-air drug use: advocate together for residential drug treatment resources.

6.    Pass a Metro Motion Focused on 7th and Metro and Pershing Stations: Submit a motion at Metro to address public safety at 7th and Metro and Pershing Square stations, and other downtown stops and stations with higher levels of crime.

7.    Schedule a Meeting with Metro Police Department so residents can meet with the new chief and talk about Metro public safety in Downtown. 

8.    Work with Residents on DTLA Economic Recovery Plan to make downtown safe and clean to help downtown businesses thrive. 

9.    Convene a Downtown Roundtable Meeting on downtown economic recovery that includes residents, State Assembly members, and City Council leaders.

10. Receive Resident Feedback on Mayor’s Executive Order Cutting Red Tape: Work with the Mayor on city red tape by elevating small business issues, and review the Mayor’s Executive Order to see what is and isn’t working. 

11. Keep Meeting with Residents: Convene ongoing meetings with the mayor’s team and residents to ensure these next steps happen.

As DTLA RA stated, this is a first step. Talk is easy and cheap; solutions to downtown’s problems are not. SPNA (South Park Neighborhood Association) supports and will continue to work with DTLA RA and all downtown neighborhoods to revitalize downtown to a coveted place to live, work, and play, while highlighting the best of this major cosmopolitan oasis.

By Debra Shrout