CULTURE & EVENTS COMMITTEE

ACTION REQUIRED: 1.Revise and reconsider sending letter of support for LA Zoo to Mayor Hahn & City Council 2. Discuss committee mission statement, goals and budget


MINUTES: Chairperson Scott Crawford opened the meeting at 6:05 pm sharp. Again, David Reames from the Citizens’ Campaign for Conservation and Humane Reformation of Zoos was present, along with Michael Dee of the LA Zoo, GGPNC Board Member Kara Knack of the Friends of the Observatory, GGPNC Board Member Bernadette Soter, and Joy Jansen of Coldwell Banker and Edendale Grill. Minutes of the previous meeting were read. David Reames made a correction regarding his noted affiliation in the minutes. It had been recorded that he was representing the zoo, however, he actually represents the Citizens’ Campaign for Conservation and Humane Reformation of Zoos. The correction was noted and should be changed accordingly.
    The next item of business was to reconsider sending a letter of support for David’s organization to the City Council (Reames had previously spoken at the GGPNC meeting in March and had asked the council to adopt and send a letter of support regarding his cause to Mayor James Hahn and the Los Angeles City Council). The committee then had the opportunity to hear from Michael Dee, General Curator of the LA Zoo. Dee agreed with many of the points made by the Citizens’ campaign, but warned against eradicating breeding programs. While this added information helped tremendously, the rest of the committee members still felt that more information and education would be necessary before such a detailed and point-driven letter would be appropriate. The committee concluded that it would feel more comfortable discussing many of the policies listed in the petition with whoever is chosen to be the new Zoo Director. In the meantime, the committee decided to revise the original letter the GGPNC had reviewed and sent back from it’s April meeting (see attached letter) and present it at the upcoming May meeting of the GGPNC.
With this concluded, the committee moved on to discussing it’s mission statement and goals. A few suggestions were made and it was ultimately agreed that the committee would think about it further and come to a decision at the next meeting. One of the proposed mission statements read: “The cultural committee advocates for and fosters the arts, culture, and education embodied in a variety of public and private institutions, museums, theaters, and festivals, as well as individual artists within our neighborhood”. The goals and budget were also tabled until the next meeting.
Knack and Soter then brought up the need for more outreach involvement before the next meeting, and emphasized the importance of community involvement. Crawford thanked all for coming and reminded them that the next Cultural Committee meeting would be held at Eric Garcetti’s office on Wednesday, June 4th, 2003, at 6:00 p.m.

  

May 21, 2003

Mayor James Hahn and the City Council,

    Recognizing the importance of conservation, animal welfare, and the concerns of the citizens of Los Angeles, the Greater Griffith Park Neighborhood Council asks that Mayor James Hahn and City Council make a commitment to hiring a humane and conservation minded zoo director for the Los Angeles Zoo.
    Some of the priorities the GGPNC feels are most important include supporting ecosystem restoration projects such as the California Condor Program, and sanctuary programs. The GGPNC also recognize the need to support the zoo’s employees, volunteers, and education programs. The GGPNC respectfully submits this letter for your review and ask that your attention be placed directly to these matters and concerns.
Thank you.

MINUTES: Meeting began at 5:00 pm sharp. Chairperson Scott Crawford began by leading the table in introductions. Sara Cannon was present, representing Barnsdall Park and Hollyhock House, along with Kerry Slattery of Skylight Books, David Reames Citizens’ Campaign for Conservation and Humane Reformation of Zoos., Joy Jansen of Coldwell Banker and Edendale Grill, and Jacqueline Kerr, GGPNC Board Member.
 
  Sara Cannon led a discussion on the continuing renovations in Barnsdall Park and their need for support, financial and otherwise. The park is to tentatively open May 15th, with the first showing of the house to be June 4th (also tentatively). Official tours of the Hollyhock House and Barnsdall Park will hopefully begin on June 4th as well. Hollyhock is finishing phase 1 of retrofitting. Phase 2 will be rehabilitation. Cannon went into more detail regarding the amount of labor and expertise that is needed in this process. Cannon also reiterated the need for arts and architecture in our local education, and stressed the importance of keeping such programs available to the children of LA. Cannon urged the committee members to make this case known to Mayor Hahn and push this project to the forefront of the city’s mind.
 
   David Reames of the Los Angeles Zoo also asked for support from the committee regarding the hiring of a new Zoo Director. Reames had previously spoken at the GGPNC meeting in March and had asked the council to adopt and send a letter of support regarding his cause to Mayor James Hahn and the Los Angeles City Council. Reames presented several options and forms of the letter, including a long form petition, as well as a short paragraph form. The council agreed to send a letter and left the Cultural Committee in charge of writing and approving said letter. Reames was there to give his input and all committee members gave their ideas as to how it should be worded. The committee finally agreed on a combination of the short paragraph and long petition versions (see attachment 1) and thanked David for his attendance.

    Crawford then asked members when a good time to hold the next meeting would be and discussed what topics would need to be discussed at that time. It was decided that the committee should meet again at Garcetti’s office on Wednesday, May 7th from 6-7:30pm and that the committee’s mission statement would be decided at that time. Crawford closed the meeting by thanking all in attendance and reminding them that The Los Feliz Street Fair is June 8th.