Thousands of organizations across the country are preparing to lead Americans in the nation's largest day of service, the annual Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. National Day of Service. The day itself is always held on the third Monday of each year (around Dr. King's birthday), so this year it falls on January 21, though many related volunteer efforts will occur over the entire three-day weekend of January 19-21.      

Civil Rights March on Washington, D.C. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. speaking. (Photo credit: 08/28/1963 ARC Identifier 542069 / Local Identifier 306-SSM-4D(107)16) 

The Corporation for National and Community Service, (CNCS) the federal agency that leads MLK Day of Service, said Americans will come together in all 50 states to deliver meals, refurbish schools and community centers, collect food and clothing, signup mentors, promote nonviolence, support veterans and military families, and much more.

The 2013 commemoration of the King Holiday coincides with the 57th Presidential Inauguration, which will include a National Day of Service, continuing a tradition set four years ago when President-elect Obama and his family joined in the MLK National Day of Service the day before the official swearing in.

“Service is a core American value in both good times and moments of great challenge,” said Wendy Spencer, CEO of CNCS. “As we stand on the precipice of a new chapter for America, we will witness always the citizenship and service in action in communities across our great nation. I am convinced that, as Americans work alongside each other, the spirit of unity will inspire many of them to continue to volunteer throughout the year.”

CNCS is urging Americans to visit Serve.gov/MLKday to find volunteer opportunities in their community and make MLK Day a “day on, not a day off.”

In 1994, Congress passed legislation encouraging the King Federal Holiday to be observed as a national day of service and charged CNCS with leading this national effort.

Six organizations received MLK Day of Service grants – Campus Compact, Cesar Chavez Foundation, HOPE worldwide, Points of Light, Service for Peace, and Youth Service America. These organizations will lead service activities on the day, supporting hundreds of projects nationwide.

Sample project selections are included below. More information, including details about local service opportunities, is available at serve.gov/mlkday.

• In Sacramento, California volunteers with Service for Peace will recruit volunteers to care for young trees, remove invasive species, clean graffiti, and more in a local park.

• Volunteers in Boston, Massachusetts will engage in service throughout the city at projects organized byBoston Cares in partnership with the City of Boston and the Massachusetts Service Alliance.

• In Bethesda, Maryland, volunteers will assemble emergency meals for Meals on Wheels and create blankets for the Montgomery Hospice at a volunteer fair organized by Youth Service America.

• In Minneapolis, Minnesota volunteers with College Possible will support children's activities and building beautification for the organization People Serving People, which serves homeless children and their families and provides new opportunities for healthy, stable family life.

• In Columbia, Missouri, AmeriCorps VISTA members will join the Missouri River Communities Networkalong with the Missouri River Bluffs Association, the Columbia Center for Urban Agriculture, and Centro Latino at a local food drive.

• More than 300 volunteers in New Jersey will join AmeriCorps members, Jersey Cares, Bergen County Voluntary Organizations Active in Disaster (VOAD) and other local government, nonprofit, and faith-based organizations in Atlantic, Monmouth, and Ocean counties in mucking and gutting homes flooded during Hurricane Sandy.

• In New York City, AmeriCorps members will lead volunteers in an effort to “muck out” 30-50 homes flooded during Hurricane Sandy in the Rockaways and South Brooklyn.

• 65 AmeriCorps members hailing from 20 states and serving with Rebuilding Together will repair homes for veteran and senior citizen homeowners in need in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma.

• In Durham, North Carolina more than 1,000 volunteers will participate in a project of Campus Compact,Duke University, Durham Technical Community College, Duke University Chapel, and Duke Community Service Center for a “Million Meals” event, packaging meals to be sent around the world to those in need.

• In Portland, Oregon, volunteers with Hands On Portland will restore the Mitchell Creek Area with Portland Parks and Recreation.

• 100,000 volunteers are expected to participate in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania's Greater Philadelphia King Day of Service including 4,000 at a project sponsored by Girard College.

• In Austin, Texas, in coordination with the Urban Roots project, the Cesar Chavez Foundation will host a day of service on their farm. Volunteers will prepare the ground for planting and plant onions and leeks. Volunteers will also learn about the food system, hunger in Central Texas, and the work of Dr. King in relation to food.

• Volunteers with the Utah Food Bank, Youth City, and Catholic Community Services, in collaboration with the Salt Lake City Mayor's Office will make deliveries of donated food items to Salt Lake City, Utah nonprofits.

• In Seattle, Washington hundreds of volunteers will conduct fire-safety outreach to at-risk neighborhoods as part of a project sponsored by HOPE worldwide.

• In Washington, D.C., volunteers will assemble 100,000 care kits for deployed U.S. service members, wounded warriors, and veterans. The project is sponsored by the Corporation for National and Community Service, Points of Light, and Target, in partnership with Operation Gratitude, the Community Blueprint,Serve DC, HandsOn Greater DC Cares, Volunteer Fairfax, and The George Washington University.

The Corporation for National and Community Service is a federal agency that engages more than four million Americans in service through its AmeriCorps, Senior Corps, Social Innovation Fund, and other programs, and leads the President's national call to service initiative, United We Serve. For more information, visit NationalService.gov.

This past November 6th was a day of democracy in action for this nation, because that was when the presidential election was held – but it also threatened to be a day of democracy in inaction, because so many voters were stuck for hours waiting on lines simply to be able to vote. There were reports of citizens desperately eager to participate electorally but having to wait for six or seven hours or more. For some people, this barrier or disincentive to voting would mean a day’s lost wages or cause other burdens making it close to impossible to vote.

U.S. Senator Barbara Boxer of California believes such conditions are not to be tolerated. That’s why she has introduced a bill called the Line Act to set minimum federal standards at polling places throughout the country, in order to ensure that nobody has to wait in line for more than an hour, maximum, when voting in a federal election. Her legislation would further require that places that experienced long lines during the November 6, 2012 election implement remedial plans to fix their problems before the next federal election. Such problems have included malfunctioning electronic poll books and voting machines and/or a lack of sufficient staff and resources necessary to avoid outlandish and painful waits.

Senator Boxer’s bill was introduced late in the 2012 Congressional session and may be reintroduced as early as the first day for the new Congress that convenes in January, 2013. Councilmember Koretz has already introduced a City Council resolution calling for City of Los Angeles support of the Line Act.

In the wake of the recent horrific shooting massacre at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut, Senator Diane Feinstein of California announced that she will be introducing a bill in the U.S. Senate, in January 2013, to place a ban on assault weapons.

In turn, Los Angeles City Councilmember Paul Koretz stated that in January 2013, he will present a Los Angeles City Council Resolution providing the City of Los Angeles’ full support for Feinstein’s looming legislation. He said that “these frighteningly deadly mass shooting sprees seem to be increasingly frequent – and are made far easier to accomplish by the presence of assault weapons. Sanity, safety and care for our fellow human beings dictate that we support and adopt legislation to ban such weaponry.”

Senator Feinstein was a key leader in gaining such a federal ban in 1994, but that ban expired in 2004 and was never reinstituted. In August of 2012, Koretz introduced a City of L.A. Resolution, seconded by Councilmember Joe Buscaino, in support of federal legislation reauthorizing “the federal assault weapons ban to reduce the availability of assault weapons in the United States and abroad.” That Resolution was unanimously approved by the Council and signed by the Mayor, thereby making support of a ban part of the City’s Federal Legislative Program for 2011-2012. Koretz’ forthcoming Resolution supporting Feinstein’s 2013 bill will give City backing to a new ban, as part of L.A.’s Federal Legislative Program for next year.

Senator Feinstein said her bill will “ban the sale, the transfer, the importation, and the possession. Not retroactively, but prospectively. It will do the same for big clips, drums or strips of more than 10 bullets.”

Councilmember Koretz has been an activist on gun violence issues since he was a teenager, and authored one of the first assault weapons bans as a Councilmember in West Hollywood in 1989. Regarding the tragic calamity in Newtown, in which 27 lives were stolen including those of 20 young children, Koretz said, “We’ve cried in sorrow. We’ve sent our earnest thoughts and prayers. Now, our nation must also act. We need to lessen this scourge of violence, by expanding our mental health services and figuring out how better to identify at-risk individuals, but also by removing tools of violence from the reach of the dangerous and unstable and eliminating the presence of mass killing machinery.”

Whatever one’s view on nuclear power, everyone can agree that it is critical that nuclear plants be operated with the safest equipment possible.  And it is the job of the federal Nuclear Regulatory Commission to ensure plant safety.

The problems with Southern California Edison’s San Onofre nuclear power plant are well known.  Edison has announced that it is ready to restart the plant and is seeking NRC approval to do so.  Many southland communities and environmental organizations disagree that San Onofre is sufficiently safe to be restarted.

It is the NRC’s job to sort through these conflicting claims, and it is imperative that NRC’s process for doing so be both transparent and thorough.  Councilmember Koretz has argued the NRC’s best process for weighing conflicting scientific evidence is through a formal license amendment process rather than some truncated more informal process (even one allowing some kind of public input).  It may be somewhat more arduous for the utility to go through the more formal process, but it seems a small price to pay for ensuring public safety.

Councilmember Koretz authored a resolution in City Council urging the City to formally request the NRC to require a license amendment process.  Councilmember Koretz’s resolution is pending in the Council’s Energy and Environment Committee.  Pending the Committee’s consideration of this issue, the Council passed a resolution urging the NRC to delay making any decision on the process it would require until the City has the chance to make its views known early in 2013.

Whatever one’s view on nuclear power, everyone can agree that it is critical that nuclear plants be operated with the safest equipment possible.  And it is the job of the federal Nuclear Regulatory Commission to ensure plant safety.

The problems with Southern California Edison’s San Onofre nuclear power plant are well known.  Edison has announced that it is ready to restart the plant and is seeking NRC approval to do so.  Many southland communities and environmental organizations disagree that San Onofre is sufficiently safe to be restarted.

It is the NRC’s job to sort through these conflicting claims, and it is imperative that NRC’s process for doing so be both transparent and thorough.  Councilmember Koretz has argued the NRC’s best process for weighing conflicting scientific evidence is through a formal license amendment process rather than some truncated more informal process (even one allowing some kind of public input).  It may be somewhat more arduous for the utility to go through the more formal process, but it seems a small price to pay for ensuring public safety.

Councilmember Koretz authored a resolution in City Council urging the City to formally request the NRC to require a license amendment process.  Councilmember Koretz’s resolution is pending in the Council’s Energy and Environment Committee.  Pending the Committee’s consideration of this issue, the Council passed a resolution urging the NRC to delay making any decision on the process it would require until the City has the chance to make its views known early in 2013.

Sara Tepper of Encino: a wonderful humanitarian

Councilmember Koretz was delighted to honor Encino resident Sara Tepper during a City Council meeting, after having read about her in the Encino Patch.

Sara, a person of heart, knew that many, many people who were suffering due to Hurricane Sandy, so she did something to lessen the suffering.

As her Bat Mitzvah project, she created 'Jackets for Jersey' (www.jacketsforjersey.com) in order to help New Jersey residents who were desperate for warm clothing due to the dreadful storm that struck the East Coast with deadly enormity.

Helped by her mother and father, Michelle and Rob Tepper, and a friend, Skylar Steinman, and Skylar's mother, Sheryl, Sara was able to get such lightly used warm clothing donated by friends and relatives, with the community pitching in at drop-off collection points at Encino Charter Elementary, Millikan Middle School, Portola Middle School and Lanai Road Elementary School.  Not just jackets but many kinds of clothes and other essential items were collected, later to be delivered to bring dry warmth, help and smiles.

Many others deserve a salute for this effort -- here are just a few:  Topanga Elementary's Vice President of Student Council, Strider Ellis; Wish Sotheby's International Realty in Sherman Oaks; Russell's Moving and Storage; and Gary The Box Pro.

What a great Bat Mitzvah project and source of countless mitzvoth!  Sara, and all others who have done a good and generous deed, we salute you! 

Councilmember Paul Koretz is pleased to invite you to his first Westside Community Leaders Educating and Assisting Neighborhoods (C.L.E.A.N.) Training.

A similar such event, held in the Valley, was a great success.

The C.L.E.A.N. Team is designed to help stakeholders and residents with the identification and documentation of common quality of life problems in their communities such as, illegal signs, illegal dumping, trash can violations and other illegal uses of the Public Right of Way. The training is conducted by an Officer for the Department of Public Works, Bureau of Street Services, Street Investigation and Enforcement Division.

The training will occur on Thursday, January 24, 2013 at Cheviot Hills Park from 6:30pm - 9:00pm.

More information to come in January. Please RSVP to Joan Pelico at 310-289-0353 or by email at joan.pelico@lacity.org

Dear friends,
 
I hope you are enjoying a lovely holiday season, shared with great delight with friends, family and community.
 
As 2012 comes to a close, we have much to ruminate on, for we (as a city, state, nation and world) have faced and continue to face significant and too often heartbreaking challenges, yet we are also gifted with much that is sweet to experience, such as the generosity of others and the meaningfulness of people joining together to help out.
 
Please, always feel free to offer your ideas, views and energy for the sake of this city and a better future.  I truly welcome your participation and your leadership.
 
Happy holidays, and have the best of years in 2013!
 
Sincerely,

Paul Koretz 

Parking is a crucial quality of life concern everywhere in Los Angeles – but perhaps especially in areas where businesses with valet parking serve many customers who arrive by car.

A good, reliable, safe and trustworthy valet service may make life easier for business patrons, thereby making a business such as a restaurant a far more attractive destination for visitors – but there’s still the question of the impact of all those parked cars on the surrounding neighborhood.  Obviously, a responsible business and valet service will be diligent in arranging parking practices and places that do not burden a surrounding neighborhood, but bad valet programs have too often abused the local neighbors with noise, reckless driving and the occupying of spaces needed by local residents.

That’s why a December 5th City Council vote, unanimously approving an ordinance establishing a valet parking operator permit program, represents a giant step forward in protecting neighborhoods from such transgressions.

Now, a police permit application process will require every valet company to be licensed and insured, and that they follow the rules. The valet companies will need to list all their employees and verify their licenses and insurance, and will have to inform the city where they are parking their cars.  Also, these valet operators will have to prove that they have paid all their business and parking taxes, dramatically improving the city’s ability to collect what is due.

Also, to protect the consumer, every valet stand will have to have a posted sign showing maximum rates and the direct phone number to the Police Commission for anyone who feels there has been mistreatment or overcharging.

This ordinance is a success story because it structures rules within the city so that valets can better park vehicles without disrupting neighborhoods.  There will be tighter management, more accountability, and an improved quality of life.