THE

MITCH
PLAN
L.A.s District 13 Is there a more exciting, diverse, or just-plain awesome neighborhood
in the entire United States? Its hard for us not to feel special pride about it.
Mitch does.
And hes been teaming with us for a decade to make District 13 a better place to live and
work.
From negotiating with high-level City officials to ensuring City services to cleaning up
parks, hes been in the trenches with ushearing our needs and fighting to get us the
City services we deserve.
Mitch believes we can bring District 13 to the next level by focusing on neighborhoods,
public safety, and business.
Heres Mitchs planin his own words.

www.mitchforcitycouncil.org

NEIGHBORHOODS:

OUR QUALITY OF LIFE

Children & Schools

City Government has a completely different governing structure than the Los Angeles
Unified School District. Sometimes it seems as though the two governing bodies are on
different planets. Likewise, theres no formal relationship with the charter schools that
operate either. And yet, schools are a vital resource in the 13th Council District. We as a
community have a vested interest in the wellbeing of our school system.
Over the years Ive worked very closely with schools in this District. And as
Councilmember, Ill formalize a relationship with my counterpart on the LAUSD Board and
meet on a regularly-scheduled basis to discuss matters of mutual concern. Ill also have
an education deputy on staff to liaison with schools, parents, and children on issues of
education, health, and school safety. I will have a deputy on staff that will work with the
education community and on childrens issues for the District.
I have served on the Board of the not-for-profit arts organization, the Santa Cecilia
Orchestra, for several years. We provide a classical music program in several Northeast
Los Angeles public schools in underserved communitiesto teach children and their
families the beauty and magic of this kind of music. Ill advocate very strongly for arts
and sports programs in all of our schools and work on creating additional joint-use
programs at our schools in the 13th City Council District. I want all of our athletic fields
made available on weekends and after school for neighborhood kids. Thats how it was
when I was growing up in the public school system, and our young people deserve the
same privilege as I had.
School Safety
Although the City of Los Angeles and the Los Angeles Unified School District are
separate entities with different jurisdictions, theres a whole lot the City can do to make
our neighborhood schools safer.
At every public and private school, where possible Ill install traffic-safety measures on
public rights of way. These will include speed humps, speed-feedback devices, all-waystop intersections with ladder crosswalks, turn restrictions where necessary, and any
other traffic safety measures that are needed.
Ill also advocate strongly for direct partnerships between LAUSD school police, school
faculty, and the LAPD for patrols, crime suppression, emergency response, traffic safety,
and school-safety plans.

Mitch OFarrell for L.A. City Council 13 | www.mitchforcitycouncil.org

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Each year in Los Angeles, an average of nearly 80 people are struck and killed by motor
vehicles. This is a tragic, unacceptable statistic. Guarding the areas around our schools
will at least help reduce this number. Moving forward, its important that, as we continue
reducing crime, we have more motorcycle officers cracking down on reckless driving.

Seniors
Each of us deserves a quality of life that offers dignity and an availability of services
that keep us engaged and active well into our mature years. I created the Glassell Park
Community/Senior Center and negotiated for another senior center in Echo Park as
part of a new school that was built. As Councilmember, Ill make sure the Echo Park
Senior Center becomes a reality. Ill also ensure that the citys senior programming is not
forgotten and will be a tireless advocate for seniors, as Ive always been while on staff for
Councilmember Eric Garcetti.
Additional senior centers are needed in the 13th District and I will work to create them
by partnering with private companies as I did in Glassell Park, or with educational
institutions as I did in Echo Park. We need to go after all the grant funding possible to
identify additional sources of funding for senior programs, senior services, and creating
new senior centers. Ill have a deputy on staff that will liaison with all agencies and
groups benefiting seniors in the 13th District.

Transportation
Los Angeles is known for its car cultureand its gridlock.
The Los Angeles Department of Transportation has control over our DASH lines and
County Metro has jurisdiction over our subway and bus lines. Its never been more
important to solve our budget deficit crisis so we, as a City, can create additional
neighborhood-serving DASH lines. They are a great, low-cost form of public transit
that helps ease traffic congestion. A comprehensive evaluation was completed 9 years
ago that identified up to 30 additional DASH routes. Sadly, none of them were created
because year after year, the City budget crisis got worse.
Every world-class city has a robust public transit system. We have a start with the Red,
Blue, and Gold lines, but long-term we must do much more. I want to play an active
role in helping create a world-class system of public transit. It will take a long-term
commitment, consensus building, vision, and leadership. The Mayor appoints three
members to the County Metro Board. I will insist on being one of those appointees so I
can play an active role in fulfilling this visionfor the District, the City, and the County.
Mitch OFarrell for L.A. City Council 13 | www.mitchforcitycouncil.org

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Walking & Biking

We need to encourage more of both, and Ive worked extensively on these issues in
the 13th District.
I created bike trails and implemented streetscape designs that make walking safer
and more enjoyable for pedestrians, and Ill do much more as Councilmember. I will
work with the bicycle community and our neighborhoods on implementing the bicycle
master plan across the District and the city. Theres much more we can do now, with
existing limited resources, such as creating Sharrow lanes. That basically means
placing a bicycle icon image on the street pavement so motorized vehicles and bicycle
riders know to share the street.

Arts & Culture

Los Angeles is the entertainment capital of the world. We have some of the countrys
best arts organizations, the Walt Disney Concert Hall, opera, dance companies,
museums, and one of the most vibrant art scenes in the world.
And yet, our Cultural Affairs Department is perpetually underfunded and understaffed.
The 1% arts fee the city assesses for new development projects has been in place
for some time. This fee is a good, dependable source of income for helping some of
our struggling nonprofit arts organizations across the City. Its time to introduce an
increase in this fee. Im suggesting we develop a fee structure that increases slightly
depending on the cost of the development project. For example, a development
project that costs up to $5 million could maintain the 1% arts fee. That fee could go
up incrementally for projects costing more than $5 millionperhaps increasing 1/10
of 1% for every $1 million increase in cost of the development project. The fee could
be capped at no more than 2% no matter the cost of any development project. This
means that if AEG builds the new $1 billion dollar NFL stadium and Convention Center
project, the arts will receive $20 million as opposed to $10 million. This will be one
significant step forward to creating more art for Los Angelessomething we should be
known for.
We can and should have great public sculptures, world-class visuals, and
performance-art experiences for Angelenos across the City on an ongoing basis.

Mitch OFarrell for L.A. City Council 13 | www.mitchforcitycouncil.org

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Affordable Housing
The need for affordable housing in Los Angeles continues to far exceed the supply.
In my first 30 days in Office, Ill meet with for-profit, nonprofit, and subsidized-housing
experts, community leaders, and City officials to outline an ordinance ensuring an
affordable-housing component to all new multi-family housing developments in L.A.
Well take into consideration federal guidelines, and industry standards adopted in other
municipalities, in relation to: the threshold of median-income levels, number of units built
that trigger the requirement, and the required percentage of affordable units that are
made available for rent or purchase.
In my first 60 days in Office, well finalize the draft proposal and Ill bring it to my
colleagues on the City Council.
In my first 90 days in Office, Ill have introduced an ordinance thats being vetted through
the legislative process on the way to becoming law in the City of Los Angeles.

Los Angeles River/Environmental

From 2002 to 2012 I worked on Policy and Improvements at the Los Angeles River. The
ad hoc Committee on the L.A. River must continue, and I would like to chair it.
Ill lead the way in continuing implementing improvements outlined in the Los Angeles
River Revitalization Master Plan.
I led the way to receiving $3 million in funding for a new multi-modal bridge across the
River, connecting Silver Lake with Atwater Village at Red Car Park. Construction should
begin next year. Ill make sure this bridge gets built on-time and on-budget, providing a
safe crossing alternative for Marshall High School kids and community members who
currently have to walk across the noisy, dangerous Hyperion Bridge.
While on staff with Councilmember Eric Garcetti, I set in motion the plan to create a
Tax Increment Financing District (TIF) for capital improvements at the River. A study is
currently under way in the Community Development Department to evaluate this plan.
Ill see that its adopted and becomes a long term revenue source for the revitalization
at the River. Its time we work on keeping some of our increased tax revenues here,
working for us.

Mitch OFarrell for L.A. City Council 13 | www.mitchforcitycouncil.org

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Ill have an environmental deputy on staff that will reconvene the River Management &
Maintenance Taskforce at the River. This is the taskforce I started in 2005 and facilitated
until I left the office in 2012. The work we did resulted in making the River safer, cleaner,
and more inviting to people. We stopped gang crime and narcotics sales, and we made
sure homeless encampments didnt return, saving lives during the rainy season. The
Taskforce unfortunately disbanded when I left the office.
Ill work aggressively with my colleague in the 1st Council District, and City/County
leadership, to construct the ambitious multimillion-dollar demonstration project
at Taylor Yard/Rio de Los Angeles. This visionary project will modify the channel for
environmental and recreational purposes for the first time since it was built in the
1930sand it will set the tone for all future work at the River.
Feed in Tariff Program at LADWP
We must exceed the current goal of 300 megawatts and the 2016 goal of 600
megawatts. Thats still only 6% renewable energy at most, with the City continuing to
outsource our pollution by purchasing energy from out-of-state, coal-burning plants.
Thats not right. The State goal is 1200-megawatt power by 2020. That gets us to about
20%.
We as a City are ready. Renewable-industry entrepreneurs are ready. However Los
Angeles is not on track to meet the 2020 goal, and the LADWP must do more. Ill
do everything in my power to push LADWP much harder on this initiative, including
legislative directives, if thats what it takes.
I want to help Los Angeles become a leader on the environment. We have more
sunshine than almost any other state. We can place photovoltaic panels on most
rooftops. The technology has improved by leaps and bounds. Ill make sure Im seated
on the Energy and Environment Committee so I can lead on this initiative.
Water Sustainability
I will lead the way in creating a water-retention and sustainability master plan for the
City of Los Angeles.
We must capture water during the rainy season, rather than sending almost 100% of
it into the ocean. Our master plan will identify locations for creating water-retention
basins, enacting policies that divert rainwater from gutters into cisterns, rather than
sending water from rooftops directly to the storm-drain system (as is currently required
by the L.A. Department of Building and Safety). The master plan will also utilize our
Mitch OFarrell for L.A. City Council 13 | www.mitchforcitycouncil.org

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NEIGHBORHOODS:

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well-known watershed hydrology system for environmentally-sound initiatives that

will benefit all of our communities. This will also provide a fact-based approach to
sustainability well into the futureand create jobs. We need this visionary plan now
more than ever.
Our Last-remaining Hillsides, Open Spaces, & Wildlife Corridors
Los Angeles has the unique distinction of having a vast urban wildlife community. The
Los Angeles ecosystem once teemed with every type of wildlife found in the state,
including grizzly bearsand even today, the occasional mountain lion can be seen in
Griffith Park.
We still have a loose network of rustic canyon and hillside corridors that accommodate
predator and prey. We need to amend the hillside ordinance to require conservation
easements wherever wildlife can be documented. Theres no reason we cant continue
a healthy coexistence with our urban wildlife, and city policy must reflect this.

Neighborhoods, Community Involvement,

& Delivery of Services
I came up through volunteering in my community of Glassell Park to make it cleaner,
safer, and more livable.
At times I felt like I was in the wilderness, and that my City wasnt responsive to my
communitys needs. I was a founder of our Neighborhood Council, and I became
the leader of our Improvement Association. When I began working on behalf of Eric
Garcetti in 2002, I made a commitment to demonstrate that city government could be
responsive to the needs of the community. Every project I ever worked on and every
success I ever delivered was due to community involvement and volunteerism from
stakeholders in the 13th District.
I have a background in customer service and bring that perspective to constituent
service. My philosophy in this race and as Councilmember is that well do great
things to move this District forwardtogether. Expertise is in the community, and not
necessarily at City Hall.
Ill form a Design Review Committee made up of volunteers and design experts from
across the District who will advise me on all large-scale development-project proposals.

Mitch OFarrell for L.A. City Council 13 | www.mitchforcitycouncil.org

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Its my experience that new development projects always turn out better with direct
community input. Theres nothing that affects the way we feel in an urban area more
than our built environment. If were to become a world-class city, our architecture and
our public spaces must have a look and feel that inspire us where we live and work.
As Councilmember, Ill always bring the neighborhood perspective to decision-making
at City Hall. Thats exactly what this District and this City need at this time. Its my
responsibility to report to the community on a regular basis and Ill continue doing that
with the help of a deeply-engaged staff that cares about public service as much as I do.
Anyone who volunteers their valuable time to make their neighborhood betterwhether
its on a Neighborhood Council, a Chamber of Commerce, a Neighborhood Watch
group, an Improvement Association, or even unaffiliatedis a treasured asset to our
community.

Mitch OFarrell for L.A. City Council 13 | www.mitchforcitycouncil.org

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public
safety

Crime
The LAPD is the finest force in the nation. I am firm on keeping our City safe, and I will
not support any reduction in public-safety services under any circumstance.
We had 10 years in a row of crime reduction while I was on Eric Garcettis staff. Ill make
sure we dont let the progress we have made slip away. Without adequate public safety,
our quality of life is greatly diminished, and I dont want to see a return to the Wild West,
high-crime days of the 1980s and 90s.
And once we solve our budget deficit crisis, Ill champion the continued hiring of more
police officers.

Fire Protection
The Los Angeles Fire Department resource-reduction plan was uneven: it resulted in
7 fire stations absorbing most of 25% of all reductions in the City-wide, 106-station
system. These reductions were put in place in 2011 and especially compromised our
high-fire-danger, hillside neighborhoods from El Sereno all the way to Silver Lake.
Fire Station 20 in Echo Park was among the hardest hit, leaving the hillside communities
of Echo Park and Silver Lake especially vulnerable and reliant on outside crewsones
not familiar with our streets, travelling greater distances to fight fires and respond
to emergencies. This has put additional stress on our firefighters and has put our
neighborhoods in the 13th District at greater risk for reduced response times.
Ill make sure these services are restored with a reduction plan thats more equitably
distributed across the Citywhile working hard to get back to the full deployment and
resources we had before the plan was recklessly imposed.
Again, solving our chronic City budget crisis is essential to making sure this can
happen.

Housing Our Homeless

We must build supportive housing with wrap-around services on site that include
mental-health and substance-abuse counseling, as well as job training. We need tens of
thousands of units to house our population in the City alone.

Mitch OFarrell for L.A. City Council 13 | www.mitchforcitycouncil.org

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public
safety

A high percentage of our homeless are veterans of foreign wars, and that number will
climb. It is a national disgrace and we must act.
There are hundreds of boarded-up, empty buildings across this City, as well as
surface lots that have been fallow for decades. These are opportunity sites that we
need to evaluate. We need to develop a plan to house our homeless and provide
them services, and put it into action.
Ill work closely with Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority, the Mayor, the
County, the Veterans Administration, and the State on taking real action to reuse
existing structures to house our homeless, and build new housing where it makes
sense to. For the better part of the last 30 years weve had some successes in
housing our homelessbut only marginal. We need a sound, comprehensive
response that involves every level of government, the nonprofit sector, and homeless
advocates who have experience in the trenches and understand the issues at a deep
level.

Gang Intervention

While volunteering in my community, Glassell Park, I got involved with public safety
by working with the LAPD and gang-intervention specialists.
When I began serving the public on behalf of Eric Garcetti in 2002, I cultivated these
relationships further and helped the Councilmember reduce gang crime across the
13th City Council District.
Crime fell every year for ten years.
This happened for several reasons, including our constant efforts to get people out of
gangs while also preventing young people from joining them in the first place.
But we must do more. As Councilmember, I wont be satisfied until we achieve a
sustainable budget for gang-reduction effortsalong with a verification system that
proves this work makes a difference.
Nothing is more important than making our neighborhoods safer. And investing in the
lives of young peoplewho sometimes feel they have no alternative to gang life
creates a public-safety foundation for the future. Everyone matters in our society.

Mitch OFarrell for L.A. City Council 13 | www.mitchforcitycouncil.org

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business

Its time the City started doing some heavy lifting to radically reform the way City Hall
deals with our small-business communityfrom the time an application is made to
the granting of the Certificate of Occupancy.
In my first 30 days in Office, Ill convene a roundtable discussion with small-business
operators from across the 13th District, business leaders, City officials, and General
Managers from City Planning, Building & Safety, Department of Transportation,
County Health, LAFD, Office of Finance, Community Leaders, and our Chambers of
Commerce, to create an outline proposal for business reform.
In my first 60 days in Office, Ill produce a proposal for reform and introduce a
package of small-business reform measures to my colleagues on the City Council.
In my first 90 days in Office, Im committed to making sure the process is underway
for small-business reform to become a reality in Los Angeles. And Ill lead the way in
ensuring our business-reform proposals are adopted and become standard operating
procedure for all City departments.
Once this heavy lifting is done to create real, tangible, effective business reform, Ill
lead the way on a reduction of our gross-receipts taxbut reform must come first.

Runaway Production: Our Entertainment Industry

The Los Angeles entertainment industry has been losing jobsto other states
that provide tax incentives and to other countries that make location filming less
expensive.

Hollywood is known the world over as the film capital of the worldyet weve been
bleeding jobs for years.
We must act nowat the local level, doing everything we canto put a stop to this.
This is our world-famous branda signature industry that employs over a half-million
people countywide and brings millions of tourists here every year.
As your Councilmember, I will tirelessly push Sacramento lawmakers to extend
and increase our state subsidy. Equally important, I want to establish a structure
within City Hall that relentlessly promotes, advocates for, stabilizes, and grows this
industryin the 13th District, the City, and the County.

Mitch OFarrell for L.A. City Council 13 | www.mitchforcitycouncil.org

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business

Im calling for the creation of an ad hoc committee on the L.A. City Council to
address this issue in a long-term, sustained way.
Can such committees bring real change? Absolutely.
Weve made them work before. In 2002, the City created the ad hoc committee
on the Los Angeles River. Over a decade, it brought tens of millions of dollars
of investment to the River. How? By harnessing the power and resources of the
community, the political establishment, major donors, the environmental community,
and grant writers. Together, we brought a visionand positive change. The future of
the River has never been brighter.
We can do the same for the entertainment industryand we must act now. We
must harness the power of the creative class, entertainment-industry leaders and
employees, government officials, the California Film Commission, film and television
studios, and production companiesso we can speak with one, powerful voice
to find real solutions to local issues while fighting to protect this vitally important
industry. Ill lead the way in making this happen.
L.A.s entertainment-industry crisis isnt going to magically disappear. This is one area
where City government can helpand we will.

Mitch OFarrell for L.A. City Council 13 | www.mitchforcitycouncil.org

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more

City Budget Deficit

A key component to solving the Citys structural budget deficit is small-business
reform. When we cut the red tape to help businesses open, expand, and improve
faster, we reduce unemployment and grow our tax revenue. Given there are 322,000
small businesses in this city, the potential for growing our economyonce true
reform is in placeis enormous.
But we need to do much more. Theres still more fat to trim.
We need to finally eliminate the Board of Public Works Commission (BPW). This
will save about $2 million annually. The five Commissioners each are paid $130,000
a year. Their work is duplicative and can be done by one General Manager and a
volunteer commission, and other duties can be transferred to General Services. The
BPW is an old-fashioned patronage system and oftentimes, members are appointed
because they worked on (or donated to) a political campaign, or are relatives of an
elected official. This is wasteful and unethical. Also, elected officials in the City of Los
Angeles are paid too much. Ill put forth a proposal to reduce the pay of all elected
officials in the city of Los Angeles.
In my first 30 days in Office, Ill work with the City Administrative Office to explore
the elimination of the Board of Public Works and a pay reduction for elected officials
in the City of Los Angeles. This will likely require charter reform and a vote of the
people, but I believe its time has come.
In the next fiscal year (2014/2015) and beyond, the City Council will have its hands
full. Unless the -cent sales tax is approved, well remain about $216 million in debt.
But Mayor Villaraigosa and the City Council have added up to another $100 million in
debt because of deferred overtime that was approved a few years ago. Add to that
the growing percentage of pension costs, and we may be looking at around $300
million in debt in the next fiscal year alone.
Several candidates for public officefrom the Mayor to City Councilare running
on eliminating the gross-receipts tax, too. This is clearly a campaign slogan divorced
from fiscal reality. This tax generates $439 million annually. City leadership has kicked
the can down the road and theres nowhere else it can go. We must not compromise
the Citys ability to deliver its core servicesincluding police, fire, street resurfacing,
and tree-trimming, and keeping our public facilities open and staffed.

Mitch OFarrell for L.A. City Council 13 | www.mitchforcitycouncil.org

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more

While very serious, the outlook isnt all doom and gloom. For example, the State
budget outlook is very good for the first time in over a decade, and the economy is
slowly recovering. Well likely have increasing revenues related to that, but well still
need to make tough decisions.
Ill work with the Mayor and my colleagues on the City Council to pass a city budget
in fiscal year 2014/2015 that is balanced, and this very well may include additional
pension reform and an increase in healthcare contributions from City employees.
The alternative could be bankruptcy, and that would be devastating to the City, our
economy, and all City workers. In a bankruptcy scenario, all City contracts and pension
obligations would be suspended and renegotiated by a judge. Ill make sure that does
not happen.

Animal Welfare
Within my first 90 days as a new Councilmember, I will work to make sure the City
becomes truly no-kill, with an aggressive approach to spay-neuter programs, leading
the way for the City to adopt the 12-step, spay-neuter taskforce recommendations
from 2009. This 16-member panel was made up of animal-welfare experts from across
the City and beyond. This group produced a thoughtful, 230-page book of sensible,
inexpensive proposals to make the City more humane, but the initiatives were never
adopted.
Ill lead the way on mandatory micro-chipping of all animals at point of sale or adoption.
Ill then organize citywide micro-chipping events, bringing together the animal-welfare
community and Los Angeles Animal Services (LAAS), focusing on the Citys most
disadvantaged animal keepers and economically-challenged communities.
Ill make sure animal abusers are prosecuted, and Ill take a hard line whenever any
animal abuse occurs anywhere in the City.
Ill help form a Friends of LAAS nonprofit to augment the vital work and services the
City provides. Its what I did at the Los Angeles River, and the River Corporation is
successfully raising money and working on projects there.
As Los Angeles City Councilmember, Ill work closely withand report tothe animal
welfare community on a regular basis to enact policies that make Los Angeles more
humane, and Ill lead the way on an enlightened approach to the care and wellbeing of
our domestic-animal and wildlife community.
Mitch OFarrell for L.A. City Council 13 | www.mitchforcitycouncil.org

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more

I support legalizing beekeeping in the City of Los Angeles with very stringent, proven
guidelines that work in urban areas such as New York. We must do our part to slow
Colony Collapse Disorder thats harming our environment and endangering the health
of everyone.

Mitch OFarrell for L.A. City Council 13 | www.mitchforcitycouncil.org

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