May 06, 2021

By Danny J. Bakewell, Jr.

Executive Editor

 

As Los Angeles begins to recover from the devastation of the pandemic, Mayor Eric Garcetti took time out of his very busy schedule to sit down with the Los Angeles Sentinel to directly address those issues which are impacting the lives of African Americans, communities of color, and those most severely affected by COVID-19.

To say that the past 15 months have been a roller coaster ride for Mayor Garcetti and his office would be an understatement.  For the mayor of California’s largest and most populated city, every decision is picked apart, criticized, and no matter what decision he makes, there surely will be someone or some group that will disagree with that decision. 

But Garcetti has weathered this storm as he has done so many times before by staying focused and following his commitment to make the decisions he believes are in the best interest of all of Los Angeles, and not just attempting to subdue the loudest naysayers in the room. 

As Los Angeles begins to re-open and we return back to some level of “normalcy,” the mayor finds himself rising in popularity throughout the city.  A recent poll shows Mayor Garcetti’s approval ratings are hovering somewhere between 65% and 69%, primarily due to his guidance of Los Angeles through a horrific pandemic.

BASIC INCOME PROGRAM

While Garcetti’s approval ratings are high, he continues working to envision an even better L.A.   He recently launched a guaranteed basic income program which will provide some of Los Angeles’s most underserved and economically disadvantaged neighborhoods and families with a guaranteed income for at least the next 12 months. 

While other cities, including Compton and Stockton, have launched similar programs, it is the Los Angeles program launch that will serve as the bench mark for all programs to follow throughout the nation.  Los Angeles is by far the largest city to launch a program of this nature and obviously will also have the largest budget.  The mayor believes that launching the Basic Income Program will have a dramatic effect on the lives of its participants. “This launch will be the biggest program launch in America.  3,000 households and 10,000 Angelenos will get a $1,000 basic income.”

He says the idea, which comes right from Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.’s vision that the poor in America should receive a guaranteed basic income, will empower and inspire communities.

“You will see graduation rates go up, salaries and wages will go up.  You’re going to see housing stability be better and were going to see that small investments have big payoffs,” stated Mayor Garcetti. 

REPARATIONS FOR AFRICAN AMERICANS

The mayor, along with the other African American Councilmembers, such as Curren Price, Marqueece Harris-Dawson, and Mark Ridley Thomas, is looking to form a commission to study reparations for African Americans in Los Angeles.  “We are looking at how we can inspire the national conversation around HR-40 that Congresswoman Lee in Texas has called for a national commission.” The mayor says this is not a new conversation for him.  He originally had a discussion with Congressman John Conyers of Detroit about this concept and has supported this idea for over 15 years.  But now the conversation is beginning to get traction. 

He is leading a group of mayors from around the country who are willing to get behind this idea of reparations and pilot a program that will demonstrate to national leadership what happens if we were to give Black Americans the financial resources, the educational guarantees, bring an end to housing discrimination, and address everything that has piled on Black people for centuries. 

 

He says through this initiative, “We can begin correcting racial injustice and not just play around the edges but actually do something lasting that would put Black Americans on equal footing with non-Black Americans.

VACCINATIONS

Recovering from the COVID Pandemic is the largest issue that has ever faced this state, the nation, and in fact the world.  But the mayor has taken great steps in navigating the vaccination into arms.  The city has taken the administering of vaccinations out of the hands of FEMA and is now partnering with local organizations like the Brotherhood Crusade to ensure that those who want the vaccine can receive the vaccine.  “Early on, you had the eager volunteers who would go to Dodger Stadium or folks who had cars, people who can get the vaccine.  But there are also people who don’t drive in L.A. or who don’t have laptops, or who just simply don’t trust the vaccine.”  

 

To address these issues, the mayor implemented a local program he refers to as the 4 – T’s (Truth, Trust, Technology and Transportation): 

1) Speak the truth.  Let the people know exactly what’s going on; 2) Work with trusted partners such as Brotherhood Crusade; 3) Use technology where people are; if people don’t have computers, contact them and set up appoints on the phone; 4) Transportation.  Make it easy for people to get to the appointments which is why the city has partnered with Uber and LYFT, as well as established mobile clinics to take away any reason for not having access to the vaccine. 

Using and implementing Garcetti’s 4-T strategy, which Dr. Fauci says has helped Los Angeles to be identified as one of the strongest equity programs in the country, the mayor says, “Using the 4-T strategy has allowed us not to just brag about our numbers overall, but we can brag about our numbers in Leimert Park, we can brag about them in Boyle Heights, we can brag about them in Pacoima, we can brag about them in communities that are always the last and need to be the first because they have been the hardest hit.”   

 

“The city’s mobile clinics have delivered the vaccine to about 90% people of color.  We have been able to go where they live, into the communities they call home and that is what has made us most effective.  If we don’t do that, we won’t get past covid across the entire city,” Garcetti said. 

 

BUSINESS

The city has led a huge effort to pump city dollars into community businesses like Dulan’s Soulfood Kitchen and Harold and Belle’s, who operated senior feed and meal delivery programs delivering much needed meals to seniors during the pandemic.  But the mayor says that business recovery is going to be a huge part of making the African American business community whole.  “Black businesses have been so disproportionately affected by the pandemic.”  But the mayor also says that the pandemic has shed light on unfair and unequal financial and business practices which operated long before COVID-19.  “COVID finally shed a light on justice on race and economic opportunity in America.  Many of us already saw that division, we saw that inequality, but now, all of America could feel it.  You could see it by who was dying, by which businesses were closing down, by who was losing their jobs. So, to me, this justice budget we established in the city was all about putting these dollars we got from the federal government and those dollars we found in our own budget in the hands of Black and Brown Communities and Black and Brown businesses.”

 

The mayor is happy to discuss how he has not only been able to support Los Angeles existing businesses through the LA Cares program, but also wants to focus some attention on the $3 million they have put towards youth jobs and youth programs.  The mayor says, “Remember, today’s youth workers are tomorrow’s entrepreneurs.”  Garcetti is proud of the fact that he and his administration have found ways to support so many local businesses at every level.  From administering loans and grant programs to local Black and Brown businesses to amending zoning ordinances to make outside dining available to businesses who previously did not or could not operate outdoors.  The mayor clearly has demonstrated a commitment to assisting our local businesses to stay afloat and/or start a new business venture as we put COVID in the rear-view mirror.  “We are in the midst of experiencing a renaissance of Black and Brown-owned businesses in this city and this is our moment to do it,” says Mayor Garcetti.

HOMELESSNESS AND AFFORDABLE HOUSING

The homelessness or unhoused problem here in Los Angeles has reached unimaginable levels, but the mayor sees the recent ruling by the courts and the judge’s orders to clean up Skid Row as more of a positive than he views as a negative.    The judge’s ruling reinforced the biggest commitment in the City of Los Angeles history to fight homelessness.  We have allocated over $1 billion to address this issue.  I welcome the initiative and embrace the need to urgently house people, as we have done over this past year.  But I meant what I said when the judge made the ruling, “Stay out of our way.  Anything that helps us accelerate, I’m all for, but anything that slows us down, is not wanted. Stay out of the way,” he said.  The mayor says Los Angeles has about 5000 new units of housing in the pipeline for 2021 and over 3000 beds of shelter that did not exist a few years ago, and this, along with our $1 Billion dollar commitment, demonstrates we are and intend to remain committed to addressing this crisis.  “It’s not the City of Los Angeles that is not doing its part; can the State and the fed match us?    We know how to do this work now.  We have doubled the amount of people we have taken off the street each year for the past five years.  But we have to stop people from becoming homeless,” stated Garcetti.  This was the mayor’s message to his friend and then candidate, Joe Biden and now President Joe Biden.  But he says it is also the message he is taking to the governor and to the State Legislature to take the state’s $50 billion dollar surplus and put at least 1/3 of that to permanent solutions for homelessness now.

 

The mayor explained that he is leading a 12 big city mayors committee in California.  This committee has requested for $4 billion a year from the State which is four times more than they have spent in the past several years.  The president of the senate and the speaker of the house have already endorsed the program and now needs Governor Newsom to sign off.  The mayor says that this legislation will pump $20 Billion new dollars into resolving the homeless crisis over the next five years, which will help the State to match the local monies that will help Los Angeles to be off to the races in addressing the homeless crisis that is plaguing our state.

The cost of housing in general is also a huge challenge especially for those here in Los Angeles.  The mayor believes that unfortunately, the cost of housing here in Los Angeles and throughout the state has gone way beyond the middle-class price range, let alone the working class.  But the mayor knows that homeownership is the basic goal of the “American Dream.”  Not only has Garcetti worked with the Proposition HHH Supportive Housing Loan Program to bring forward about 11,000 new homes, but he is also working with the city to amend zoning ordinances to allow for more units as long as some of these units are built and priced to be affordable. 

The mayor is also a big proponent for the building of ADU’s which allows current homeowners to build additional units on their existing property to create a rental unit and help Los Angeles achieve a sense of affordability.  The mayor says that not only must you look at what you are building inside of the city, but to look closely at how areas are zoned to make the building of new units easier, more affordable, and more accessible to everyone.

JUSTICE REFORM

The mayor acknowledges that “George Floyd and so many others have lost their lives at the hands of our law enforcement officers.  This points out how far we still have to go,” he said.  Garcetti also believes that we have to stop throwing so much on to the shoulders of our police department and assume that we are going to receive the outcomes we want. 

‘If something doesn’t need a gun, don’t send a gun.”  Garcetti says look at how effective our gang reduction youth development ambassador’s program has been.  These are former gang members working with youth in our communities who have reduced crime an additional 40% beyond what officers have been able to do on their own.  Today, if someone is going through a mental health crisis, the mayor says we no longer need to send police or fire departments to address a non-violent situation, because we now have a 24-hour mental health response team who can actually help that person through their duress.  He points out that we have to co-own public safety. 

If the community thinks just reforming the police department is going to solve the problem, then we are abdicating our collective responsibility. 

We are being affective because we are using this method for homeless outreach, suicide prevention, domestic violence, as well as sexual assault.  So now, Los Angeles has civilians who can roll out and address these issues and make the community safer by enhancing our intervention by adding 80 peace ambassadors in the streets of L.A.   “It’s not just the responsibility of the police department, it’s the responsibility of all of us.”

Garcetti feels one bad shooting is one too many; it’s time to daylight those police officer’s disciplinary hearings.  Los Angeles currently has a police chief who wants to fire bad police officers, but that decision often gets overruled by a civilian board with no clear reasons for the decision.  “This law has got to change,” Mayor Garcetti says.

Mayor Eric Garcetti and his administration have about 18 months remaining before he is termed out.  He feels that he has accomplished a lot during his tenure. 

 

But he also believes that he can do so much more.  He envisions a better city for Los Angeles and he remains committed to the promise of inclusion and equity for all Angelenos.  Garcetti believes that is what a leader does.

April 29, 2021

By Cora Jackson-Fossett

Contributing Writer

 

Children in L.A. County’s foster care system have a passionate booster in Charity Chandler-Cole.  As the new chief executive officer of CASA of Los Angeles, she is fully committed to being a champion for youth and recruiting others to join the cause.

CASAs, Court Appointed Special Advocates, provide guidance and support to children who have entered the juvenile dependency system due to abuse or neglect by their parents.  Chandler-Cole, who is the organization’s first African American CEO, brings a powerful combination of senior management expertise and lived experience to the nonprofit agency.

“I really had a lot of hands-on experience. I was a nonprofit executive with the AIDS Healthcare Foundation where I oversaw a $35 million budget,” she explained about her previous position as national director of AHF’s Contracts Administration Department. “Most importantly, my experience comes from being a former foster youth in L.A. County and bringing a lot of advocacy around child welfare for the last 10 years.”

 

Chandler-Cole’s background includes creating Transformative Management Solutions (TMS), a consultancy she founded that is focused on aiding nonprofit, public and political organizations in implementing social, educational and racial justice as well as child welfare initiatives; serving as chair of the Anti-Recidivism Coalition (ARC), a group focused on empowering formerly and currently incarcerated people; and being vice chair of Fostering Change Network, a global consulting body dedicated to improving child welfare policy.

She was also a member of the Juvenile Justice Standing Committee, which was created by the Board of State and Community Corrections to address concerns impacting adolescent offenders; as well as served on the Prop 47 Executive Steering Committee, which she described as “guiding the process for awarding the majority of the state’s Proposition 47 savings to help rehabilitate and provide resources to those coming out of prison.”

In addition, Chandler-Cole was elected president of the Black Los Angeles Young Democrats, a political action committee that trains young African American leaders in advocacy and activism “to strengthen our influence in politics and policies that affect our lives,” she said.

Also, she received a Masters in Public Administration from Cal State University Northridge, a Bachelor’s in Communication Studies from Loyola Marymount University, and is currently finishing a Doctorate in Educational Leadership for Social Justice at Loyola Marymount University. She is a mother to four children, and relative caregiver to her nephew.

Critical to her success – both past and future - is her “heart for young people” along with her belief that building awareness about CASAs will help foster children and communities as a whole. 

However, key to raising the agency’s profile is persuading more people of color to volunteer with the organization, noted Chandler-Cole.

“We need more Black and Brown CASAs out there, so if we have a little Black kid that’s in the child welfare system, he can be partnered with a Black male or Black female, someone who looks like him and comes from his community and he can say, ‘Wow, I can actually grow up and be like this person.

They’re just not my advocate in court, they’re also my mentor, my friend, my big sister or brother and they look like me.’

“In order to be a CASA, your heart really has to drive this for you.  And being a CASA isn’t for everyone,” she admitted. “It’s for someone that sees the benefit in helping our children and the social responsibility of helping our children and leading from their heart in serving our children. It’s an opportunity to make an impact on someone’s life.”

And positively impacting a child’s life does not take loads of time, said the new CEO. CASAs donate an average of 10-to-20 hours a month through activities such as regular visits with the child, interacting with foster parents and teachers, and accompanying youth to court hearings and appointments.  Other actions, like online reports and phone calls, can be completed from a CASA’s home.

Also, becoming a CASA is a relatively simple process. After interviews and a background check, volunteers complete 40 hours of training where they learn about cultural sensitivity, child development, psychotropic mood changing drugs and other information that may affect a child.  

“Everyone has the opportunity to spend hours upon hours to help our youth, but the reality is we rely on volunteers to commit their personal time to helping transform a life.

We’re very intentional how our CASAs interact with our youth, making sure that those interactions are impactful and meaningful, so that the short amount of time they spend with the youth is memorable and actually helps change their lives in the process,” Chandler-Cole said.

“But for the people that step up to be CASAs, it’s just as rewarding for them as it is for our youth, so it’s worth it for both parties.”

To build the ranks of CASAs, Chandler-Cole’s aims to encourage more older adults to donate time in the volunteer role and seek partnerships with other youth-oriented nonprofits, such as Big Brothers and Big Sisters, to share resources and programs. 

“We have amazing folks at home that are over 60, 65 and 70, that want to get involved.

 

 

 

Perhaps they are not always mobile or may be health compromised in different ways, [but we want] to reach out to them to allow them to be active and engaged,” insisted Chandler-Cole, who added that the pandemic has expanded the opportunity to virtually connect with people, which helps advance communication and relationships between individuals.

Expressing optimism about the future in her new position, Chandler-Cole shared, “Having been in the system and seeing the dire outcomes for so many children who feel they have no voice and no one who cares for them, I was drawn to CASA/LA, [which] provides a direct way to change outcomes that so often seem automated in an overburdened system.

“A CASA volunteer sends a distinct message, letting everyone that interacts with that child know that they have someone looking out for them.

 

These children are not alone, and they will not be discarded,” she said. “CASA/LA has the opportunity to upend the status quo of our Child Welfare System and serve as a transformative force in drastically changing the experience of youth in foster care.”

To learn more or volunteer as a mentor, visit casala.org.

April 29, 2021

LAWT News Service

 

Chad Smith, the David C. Bohnett Chief Executive Officer Chair of the Los Angeles Philharmonic Association, announced today the appointment of Renae Williams Niles as Chief Content and Engagement Officer. In this newly created position, she will provide strategic guidance and articulation of the LA Phil’s organizational goals and policy, overseeing all programming (classical, non-classical and humanities) across Walt Disney Concert Hall, the Hollywood Bowl, The Ford and the Judith and Thomas L. Beckmen YOLA Center, and for LA Phil residencies and tours. She will also be responsible for YOLA (Youth Orchestra Los Angeles) and learning programs and initiatives; communications, public relations, marketing and sales; and will guide further integration of the LA Phil’s diversity, equity and inclusion goals. Reporting to the Chief Executive Officer, she will assume her position full-time beginning June 7.

Chad Smith said, “I have long admired Renae and her work. From the foundational and defining programming she launched during her time at The Music Center to her participation in the establishment of the Glorya Kaufman School of Dance at USC, her creativity, collaborative spirit and deep connection to our artforms have made her one of the most respected arts leaders in the country. When the increasing complexity of our work and the institution’s ambitions for the future made it evident that we would benefit from creating the position of Chief Content and Engagement Officer, Renae was the person I immediately thought of, and I am thrilled that she has agreed to take this on. I know all of our artists, collaborators and partners, and the communities we serve, will join me in warmly welcoming Renae to the LA Phil.”

Renae Williams Niles said, “I am both overjoyed and humbled by the trust the LA Phil has placed in me. For quite some time I have found the LA Phil’s programming to be innovative and the educational programs to be incredibly impactful. It is my hope our collective work will ensure programs and experiences that are unifying and inspiring.”

Williams Niles joins the LA Phil from the Culver City Education Foundation, where she is the Executive Director. She has worked in the arts and nonprofit sectors for more than 25 years, serving in many capacities, including as Company Manager for the Lula Washington Dance Theatre, Director of Grant Programs for the Los Angeles County Arts Commission, Vice President of Programming for The Music Center and the first Chief Operating Officer/Associate Dean of Administration for the University of Southern California Glorya Kaufman School of Dance, where she co-led the diversity and inclusion commitment.

Williams Niles has served as adjunct faculty for Claremont Graduate University’s Arts Management Program and has been a Los Angeles Institute for the Humanities Fellow since 2014. She served on the Western Arts Alliance board for 13 years, on the board of trustees for Dance/USA and as a three-year advisor for the New England Foundation for the Arts’ National Dance Project. She is currently Board Chair of the Association of Performing Arts Professionals, the national membership organization for the professional performing arts field.

A University of Southern California alumna, she also completed an executive education program with the USC Marshall School of Business, holds a certificate in Diversity and Inclusion from Cornell University and was a participant in the inaugural 2020 USC Racial Equity Leadership Academy. In 2017 she received the Western Arts Alliance Service to the Field Award and in 2021 was honored as an Unsung Hero from the State of California Legislature Black Caucus.