City Council Meeting Summary, April 8, 2024

Published on April 12, 2024

Photo of City Council with CCUSD members proclaiming April as Autism Awareness Month 2024

City Council Approves Funding for Independence Day Drone Show, Expands MLK Jr. Celebration Committee, Introduces New Homeless Services Partnership

City Council Approves Funding for Car Show, 4th of July Drone Show, Juneteenth, and Other Events

The City Council approved funding for several upcoming Culver City events, including a total of $49,000 to the Culver City Exchange Club for its 20th Annual Car Show on May 11th in Downtown Culver City. Organizers said there are currently 500 cars registered. They expect crowds of upwards of 15,000 people to attend the event.

With the absence of a fireworks show this year due to costs, City funding was approved for the Downtown Culver City Business Association for a Independence Day Drone Show for $30,000 on Friday, July 5th. Additional funding will go toward the Share Our Strength’s Taste of the Nation event on May 4th for $5,000. It will take place in Media Park and will feature dozens of the LA-area’s top tastemakers and chefs from across the country who share their talents and passion to end childhood hunger in America. Attendance is estimated at approximately 1,000 participants throughout the day.

Finally, the City Council approved funding for a Juneteeth Celebration for approximately $20,000. While the Martin Luther King Jr. Celebration Committee was expanded to include the Juneteenth Celebration, the Committee will not be formed in time to produce an event this year, so the City Council agreed to consider a City-staff produced event for June 2024. In keeping with the celebrations over the last two years, it is anticipated that this year’s event will include speakers, performers, and vendors. The event will be a free, family friendly event. A specific date is to be determined.

Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Celebration Committee Expanded

The City Council unanimously approved the expansion of the work of the Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Celebration Committee, which was formed earlier this year, to include organization of a Juneteenth Celebration. The City Council also approved amended committee bylaws. The Committee will now be comprised of nine people instead of seven. While the term limits remain the same, the Committee will now meet year-round. The budget of the MLK Jr. Celebration Event will remain $5,000 and is part of the City’s budget.

City Introduces New Street Medicine Partnership

Tevis Barnes, Director of Housing and Human Services, announced the City’s collaboration with Healthcare in Action (HIA), a non-profit mobile medical group dedicated to delivering essential healthcare services to older adults and vulnerable individuals experiencing homelessness. Through this partnership, Culver City aims to address the healthcare needs of its unhoused residents by implementing a groundbreaking "street medicine" model. HIA specializes in offering full-scope general medical services, addiction treatment, psychiatric care, and case management directly to unhoused individuals using mobile medical vans.

The HIA street medicine teams operate during standard weekday business hours and provide 24/7 access to on-call clinicians. To date, it has served more than 5,000 patients. In Culver City, the HIA mobile homeless healthcare team will offer weekly services at various locations with high concentrations of unhoused individuals.

Staff Provides Homelessness Emergency Update

The City Council received another update from Tevis Barnes on Culver City’s homelessness emergency. Barnes provided a snapshot of the care the City offers to the unhoused population in Culver City. Currently the permanent supportive housing located at Project Homekey has 34 residents and seven emotional support animals. On the interim housing side of Project Homekey, 14 residents occupy rooms. Barnes said she expects the interim housing portion to reach capacity by the end of April. At the Wellness Village, formerly known as Safe Sleep, there are 21 guests. The Motel Master Leasing currently has 29 people residing at the location. The snapshot also included an update of the Mobile Crisis Team that officially launched at the beginning of March. In its approximate first month in operation, the team helped provide placement for six unhoused individuals and responded to 123 calls for service.

Racial Equity for Los Angeles Presentation

Dr. D'Artagnan Scorza, Executive Director of Racial Equity for Los Angeles County, provided a presentation to the City Council. Scorza highlighted work being done for the Year Two State of Black Los Angeles Report, an online interactive report comprised of several in-depth sections centered on the outcomes and lived experiences of Black people in Los Angeles County across a host of metrics. It assesses how Black residents are doing on 36 indicators, all within the domains of health, housing, income and employment, education, and safety and justice. Scorza noted the second year's report will expand its focus including capturing more complete data on veterans, maternal morbidity, rent burden, and the needs of youth. The themes from Year Two's report are "Era of Regression", belonging, and quality of life. You can read the full official inaugural report by Los Angeles County Anti-Racism, Diversity, and Inclusion (ARDI) Initiative online at the LA County's website.

Culver City Proclaims April as Autism Awareness Month, Celebrates Arbor Day

The City Council began Monday’s meeting with a proclamation designating April as Autism Awareness Month. The month celebrates the 5.4 million adults and the 1 in 36 children who have been diagnosed with autism, a common and complex developmental condition, present from early childhood and affecting one’s ability to interact, communicate, and progress. The theme for this year encourages everyone to pledge to “Act Fearlessly for Change” by supporting and advocating for the autism community.

About 5,000 U.S. teens with autism will become adults in the next 10 years and statistics show that 77% will be unemployed or under-employed, despite having the desire and capabilities to work. Those with autism often have extraordinary cognitive abilities, including logic, pattern recognition, precision, sustained concentration, and an ability to intuitively spot errors; many also have pronounced interest in information technology, physics, mathematics, and technology. Their talents and potential are often misunderstood or overlooked which can lead many individuals to face unnecessary obstacles including barriers in education, bullying, and obtaining employment.

Culver City is fortunate to be home for many agencies who go above and beyond this year’s pledge to “Act Fearlessly for Change”, including Los Angeles Speech and Language Therapy Center, Inc. and Jazz Hands for Autism. Both are 501c(3) organizations dedicated to ending the disparities people with autism face and by making sure that those with autism and those who support them have the resources and tools they need to communicate, grow, work, and achieve greater independence. The City encourages the community to learn more about autism, the importance of creating a more understanding and inclusive world, and to take the pledge to Act Fearlessly For Change, so that those with autism can reach their full potential.

In a second proclamation during the evening, City Council proclaimed April 26th as Arbor Day 2024. The City of Culver City has received Tree City USA recognition since 2017 from the Arbor Day Foundation in partnership with the USDA Forest Service and National Association of State Foresters. The City is one of 3,600 recognized communities from all 50 states. Through its Urban Forest Master Plan, Culver City has expressed its commitment to fostering a robust and resilient urban forest today and in the future, so that our community will continue to enjoy the important environmental and social benefits.

Trees moderate the temperature, clean the air, produce life-giving oxygen, reduce the erosion of our precious topsoil, and provide habitat for wildlife. Trees in our City increase property values, enhance the economic vitality of business areas, cut heating and cooling costs, and beautify our community. Trees, wherever they are planted, are a source of joy and spiritual renewal and a hope for the future. The City of Culver City will also celebrate Arbor Day at its 2nd Annual Enviro-Fest on May 4th.

Finally, the City Council honored Francisca Castillo, Recreation and Community Services Manager, for her work on the Gender Equity Initiative for the City of Los Angeles. The City of Los Angeles previously entered into an initiative to ensure that all community members in the City, whether male or female, had access to sports facility to proper training, resources, equipment, and the entire Parks and Recreation department. Historically, women are the under-represented gender when it comes to sports. The Department of Parks and Recreation for the City of Los Angeles took this on, adopting change as a core value, to ensure that women and girls had equal access just like their male counterparts. Francisca was a change agent to ensure that there are proper resources for women and girls in 100 communities throughout the Greater Los Angeles Area.

LAX Overflights Update

Regarding Closed Session Item CS-2 in the matter of City of Los Angeles v. Dickson, etc., et al. (Culver City, Petitioner-Intervenor), Case No. 19-71581, the City Council unanimously voted to file an appeal or otherwise initiate litigation challenging the adequacy of the Federal Aviation Authority’s (“FAA”) final environmental review and categorical exclusion/record of decision document (collectively, “Final Environmental Review”) for amendments to various arrival routes at LAX. You can read more about the community engagement on the FAA's website. This Final Environmental Review is the result of the FAA’s reevaluation of the environmental impacts of the North Downwind Arrivals pursuant to the Court’s Order in this litigation against the FAA filed by the City of Los Angeles, in which Culver City intervened.

Additional Council Decisions 

Additional items approved by the City Council include:

Additional information about each of the topics heard at the City Council meeting can be found in the staff reports and backup attachments for the items, which are posted along with the agenda to the City’s website. The video of the City Council meeting will be made available on the City’s website for viewing.

The City Council’s next meeting is scheduled for Monday, April 29th.

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