Newsletter: The Media Messenger

The Writing's No Longer On The Wall

The Hollywood Beautification Team, the clean team for the Media District, has been making significant improvements to the neighborhood. Graffiti and trash removal efforts have had a noticeable impact.

Per the Graffiti Paint Out Agreement (see page 4), HBT cleaned up 33 instances of defaced property the week of July 22-28. City signs accounted for 8 instances; also affected were 2 traffic control boxes, 1 tree, 5 metal poles, 6 granite poles, 6 wood poles, 2 payphones, 1 bus stop, and 1 newspaper box. A total of 1208 square feet was repainted. The following week, July 29-Aug. 5, there were 28 instances; 460 square feet of graffiti painted out.

Over 332 bags of trash were collected from the Media District the week of July 22-28. The following week, HBT collected 296 bags of trash.

Along Santa Monica Blvd., bus stops were cleaned by pressure washing on July 26. The stops were located at Vine, Cahuenga, Wilcox and Highland.
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Web Site is a Hit

The Media District's website, www.hmdbid.org, has been receiving plenty of traffic lately. In the month of June, 2335 hits were recorded. There was an average of 77 visitors per day to the site.

The average visitor session length was a little over three minutes, and over 25% of visitors came back after their first visit.

Brokers are advised to contact the webmaster Rod Cha via e-mail to rcha@cimarrongroup.com for updating your website listings.

All stakeholders are encouraged to use this valuable marketing tool. If you have any questions or suggestions, please call Devin at 323-460-4770.
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Parking Spaces Doubled

As some of you may have noticed, Cole Avenue has been re-striped to convert parallel parking spaces into new, diagonal spaces on the East side of the street. The change has doubled the amount of street parking available between Melrose and Fountain on Cole.

Ana Ramirez of the Television Center, said "My initial reaction was that anything that helps increase parking is a great idea."

Ramirez stated that she had heard some concerns, such as visibility issues while exiting the TVC parking lot onto Cole.

"I'm optimistic. It's more of a plus right now," Ramirez said.

This initiative shows your BID at work. Our parking study results indicated that there is a parking shortage of 1,000 cars per day in the HMD.
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5 Things in 5 Months

In June, five goals were set by Mary Lou Dudas, Hollywood Media District Executive Director, after being asked by Councilman Tom LaBonge. Much headway has been made with these requests; the following is an update.

1. Transportation - Mrs. Dudas met with Brian Gallagher, District Engineer from the Department of Transportation, and petitions are now out to property owners. The petitions are to make southbound, one-way streets out of McCadden (from Fountain to Romaine) and Hudson (Santa Monica to Romaine) to create diagonal parking on one side of those streets. This would double the number of street parking spaces. According to DOT, any street at least 40' wide is a candidate for diagonal parking, so if you have a suggestion for a street to be converted, please contact the HMD office.
Additionally, the BID has requested the Bureau of Street Services to suspend street cleaning throughout the BID boundaries and remove the signs from all BID streets where businesses are losing 6 hours of daytime parking per week. HBT would then clean those streets on the weekends.

2. Highland Gateway - The goal of a December 2002 completion of this initiative is on target.

3. Underground Utilities - A meeting is scheduled this month with all participating agencies to discuss undergrounding utilities.

4. Prostitution & Drug Dealing - HMD is actively participating in the CPAB (Community Police Advisory Board) subcommittee on Prostitution. Also, see the Mark Your Calendar section for an upcoming meeting on Prostitution and the courts.

5. Media District Sign Overlay - There has been no word yet on this initiative.
Look forward to continuing updates on our 5 Things in 5 Months.
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Security Pilot Program to begin Operation Soon

Since April, HMD has teamed up with Advanced Tech Security on a program designed to make our streets safer. Because of the shortage of officers in the Hollywood Police Division, off-duty officers will be deployed by Advanced Tech Security to make arrests if necessary. Langner Security will continue providing foot and bike patrol 6 days per week, 7am-11pm.

The program was originally planned for a 3-month pilot program beginning in June, but unforeseen circumstances prevented the original training sessions. All officers are now fully trained and the program will be implemented September 1, if not sooner.

Dan Hoffman, retired LAPD officer, will be supervising the off-duty officers. Hoffman served a long stint at Hollywood Vice during his active career.
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Thank You, CFI

The Hollywood Media District would like to thank Larry Curtis and Consolidated Film Industries for donating office space. Our new home on the CFI lot is a great place for us, and the generous donation saves us money that we can put to use for improvements within the district. Our mailing address, phone, fax and e-mail remailn the same.
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Strecker joins HMD as Executive Assistant

There is a new member to the HMD team, Devin Strecker. A graduate of Fort Hays State University, Strecker moved to LA two years ago from Kansas, where he was born and raised. He worked at DuTEL Telecommunications in North Hollywood before replacing Lauren Larsen as the HMD executive assistant.

Strecker's office hours are Monday through Friday, 9am to 5pm. You can reach him at 323-460-4770 or e-mail to devin77@pacbell.net.
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HMD Calendar

HMD Board of Directors Meeting
When: Thursday, September 19th
Time: 4:00 pm
Where: Hollywood Center Studios
1040 N. Las Palmas

Community Forum: Prostitution and the Courts
When: Thursday, September 17th, 2002
Time: 6:30 pm
Where: Hollywood Community Room
6501 Fountain Avenue

Media District Farmers' Market

GRAFFITI PAINT OUT AGREEMENT

Your consent is necessary to obliterate graffiti at your site. The Hollywood Beautification Team, through the city, will assist in the acquisition of free paint for your property or paint out graffiti using your paint.
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Activities Report
Through July 27, 2002
(compiled by Langner Security Service)

Questions or Comments

Feel free to contact the Hollywood Media District using the following contact information:

Hollywood Media District
1304 North Highland Avenue #200
Hollywood, CA 90028
Phone:  323.460.6322
Fax:  323.460.6488

Executive Director: Mary Lou Dudas
MDudas@pacbell.net

Assistant: Devin Strecker
Devin77@pacbell.net

Hollywood Media District Field Office
6775 Santa Monica Blvd. #2A
Hollywood, CA 90038
Phone:  323.871.4150
Hours:  7am - 11pm, Mon-Sat

Security Supervisor: James Leonard

Hollywood Media District Property Owners
Association Board of Directors

Jeff Anthony, President - Iron Mountain Film and Sound
Tim Mahoney, Vice-President - Hollywood Center Studios
Eliza Thorne, Secretary - Seward Film Vaults
Don Robertson, Treasurer - Honda of Hollywood
Fred Anawalt - Anawalt Lumber Company
Carol Cassella - RenMar Studios
Morton Lakretz - The Crossroads
Michael Malick - Ramsey Shilling Real Estate
Jacques Massachi - Ori Service Center
Mitzi Mogul - Art Deco Society
Gene La Pietra - Arena Cafe
Brian Scane - The Paladin Group, Inc.
Fares Wehbe - Hollywood Little Red School

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