Garcetti Addresses Echo Park Chamber of Commerce

Eric Garcetti was the guest of the Echo Park Chamber of Commerce at their general meeting Thursday.  City Council President Garcetti quoted Ralph Waldo Emerson and spoke of his love and pride for the neighborhood he calls home.

Referring to his grandfather and noting photos he has of his grandmother at Echo Park Lake, Garcetti spoke of his inspiration by the residents, past and present, of Echo Park. 

“Each generation has an incredible vision for what the neighborhood is and can be,” he said.

Northeast Division Captain Bill Murphy, who noted that Echo Park “leads the city in crime reduction” with violent crimes greatly diminished, presented Garcetti and guests with a briefing.  Captain Murphy addressed the concerns of the chamber regarding graffiti removal, an issue Garcetti has fully supported and continues to make a priority.

But of particular interest to chamber members, the majority of whom are small business owners or involved in the business community, was ABC, specifically, alcoholic beverage licensing. 

Acknowledging that opening new establishments and adding alcoholic beverages to the menus of already operating business can aid in creating new jobs, Murphy also stated that there are two sides to the issue. 

“If a business goes south,” he explained, noting public nuisance and intoxication issues, “it is the police who will inherit it [the problem].”

While Murphy said he supports the licensing of Fix Coffee, he refuses to support licensing of establishments that would operate as liquor stores only.  He also noted that while the ABC licensing procedure is considered by many business owners as long, costly, and sometimes complicated, it is necessary as it is “hard to pull back a license once it is granted.”

Garcetti profiled a list of measures supports that will be present on the March 8 city ballot.  Particular interest was focused on Measure I, which addressees the DWP rate hike and what Garcetti referred to as the “dishonesty” of the DWP by creating an office of independent oversight of the service.  Garcetti noted that he believes that through conservation, water and electric bills can stay low despite rates going up. 

“Los Angeles uses the same amount of water we did 25 years ago, despite the population increase,” Garcetti explained.

Garcetti also asked the chamber and guests to help him plan out what the community can accomplish during his last 2 1/2 years as city council representative for the 13th district.  He noted increased beautification, public safety, and homeless projects as some of the issues he hoped the community would focus on.

Garcetti will host a neighborhood open house, or public city hall, for the Echo Park community on April 2.  Garcetti hopes to bring the neighborhood together in a day of interaction, brainstorming, and planning.  Garcetti would like the first half of the day devoted to the community “defining who we are,” with the second half for “identifying problems and finding solutions.”

Garcetti noted that a similar event held in Hollywood was quite successful and that he was looking forward to the Echo Park day.  “Let’s see what we can do together,” he said.

Upon opening the meeting to questions and comments, talk, however, shifted immediately to the issues surrounding Maria the Goose. 

Chamber of Commerce member Rhonda Reynolds noted that Maria’s plight has been of great concern to both the business community and Echo Park residents.  With the upcoming revitalization of the lake, no definite plans have been set forth by the city concerning the welfare and care of the animals – mostly geese and turtles – that will lose their home when the project begins. 

“Maria falls into a gray area,” Reynolds noted.  She commented that there was issue over whether Maria belonged to the city or not, as she is obviously a domesticated animal that had been abandoned, like a stray dog.

Echo Park resident Dominic Ehrler, perhaps best known for his many recent interviews and devotion to save Maria, said that Maria, popular not just with locals but worldwide thanks to notoriety and her appearance in an OK Go video, could be considered “a business asset.”

“She should have a little bit of protection,” Ehrler said.

Garcetti, while unable to announce any developments in the city’s responsibility toward the goose, did note that it was an issue he was both familiar and concerned with.

The next meeting of the Echo Park Chamber of Commerce is scheduled for Wednesday, March 16, 7 to 8:30 p.m at City Sip, 2150 W. Sunset Blvd.  For more information on Garcetti’s April 2 event and city ballot measures, visit his website.

EDITOR'S NOTE: Fix owner Marc Gallucci told Patch he has not yet formally applied for a beer and wine license.  He said he hopes to do so in the next few weeks.  He said obtaining the license is part of a plan to expand his food service.