Councilman Andrews At His 6th district "Town Hall": "You Guys Can Ask For More Policemen, We're Gonna Ask For More Taxes"

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Councilman Andrews At His 6th district "Town Hall": "You Guys Can Ask For More Policemen, We're Gonna Ask For More Taxes."

No crime stat details presented on shootings; residents told to form "Community Watches"

Meeting attendees include Josie Villaseñor, Wrigley resident and partner in an Anaheim St. business, who tells LBREPORT.com she plans to seek 6th dist. Council seat

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(Oct. 28, 2015, 6:27 a.m) -- A crowd of over fifty people overflowed a small community room at LB's Mark Twain Library (Anaheim St/Walnut Ave.) for an Oct. 27, 6 p.m. public meeting that 6th dist. Councilman Dee Andrews' office had announced would be a [release text] "Town Hall meeting [that] will focus on public safety" where guest speakers would include LBPD West Division Commander Robert Smith and a representative of Homeless Services and LBPD "will be reporting crime updates and giving tips on crime prevention."

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In opening remarks, Councilman Andrews acknowledged "an increase in crime as we all know [and] homeless in our areas." He urged compassion for the homeless, acknowledged their presence in MacArthur Park, went on to say that "crime is increasing all over the world, but you know what, I don't think we can just blame this on a certain group of individuals because of the fact we're all just human beings."

Councilman Andrews urged people to continue calling LBPD to report crime, said people should "take pictures" and "get you a big old dog...not a little old bitty poodle" and said LBPD is doing the best that they can "with the amount of policemen that we have."

Councilman Andrews then stated: "You guys can ask for more policemen, we're gonna ask for more taxes. You willing to pay it? We can fill the whole city up with policemen, but you know, you guys have to be your own eyes and ears of your community."

Following a presentation by a city staffer on homeless issues, LBPD West Division Commander Smith told attendees that he was "battling" [his verb] historically low crime rates from 2014 and is seeing what he called "challenges" in 2015:

Commander Smith: You read about them, they print them in the paper and online, so we've had increases and challenges of crimes against persons, both in shootings and robberies, theft crimes, we're having challenges with auto burglary...[and] auto theft. Any one of you can get online and look for the official crime stats that we report to the federal government...and look at the actual numbers, so I'm not going to get into all the numbers tonight.

[Editor's note: LBPD crime stats don't list shootings. LBPD (consistent with federal bureaucratic reporting rules) includes shootings among "aggravated assaults" (which include non-shooting crimes). LBPD routinely informs Council offices of significant events, including shootings as they occur. LBREPORT.com reports shootings as we independently learn about them and confirm each incident with LBPD. LBREPORT.com recently reported that the 6th district when added to the adjacent 1st district (both are in West Division) has had more shootings per capita in the past roughly 30 days than Chicago.]

Audience questions followed. One man said a homeless person was sleeping on his stairway; the homeless staffer said the city aims to link the homeless with services. A woman urged more park programs for youth; she was told they're funded for 2016.

One man said [paraphrase] crime is very bad and a plan is needed to deal with it; Councilman Andrews advised him to form a Community Watch.

A woman who said she lives within visible distance of MacArthur Park said she can regularly see homeless persons in the park, feels the homeless "kind of get a pass" and while she feels compassion for them, many appear to be prostitutes, pimps and drug users and can be seen across the length of the park. She voiced concern for the safety of children who come to the adjacent library, and said a homeless woman (seemingly on drugs) recently tried to attack three children who ran away. Commander Smith acknowledged that LBPD has received a number of calls and concerns re MacArthur Park, said trees, shrubs and lighting can sometimes be modified to reduce the environment for crime and he's currently awaiting recommendations re MacArthur Park and the issue is on his radar. Commander Smith noted that homelessnes is not a crime, and the city homeless staffer denied giving homeless a "pass" and said criminal activity isn't allowable behavior and is a police matter.

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A woman cited shootings in the area and said the area needs better lighting; a 6th district office staffer replied that city officials will shortly be announcing new Light Emitting Diode (LED) streetlights that will be brighter.

The library closed at 7 p.m. and as the room emptied, LBREPORT.com overheard a woman quietly voice dissatisfaction to another meeting attendee. She said the event wasn't a real Town Hall, didn't provide crime details, didn't seriously address peoples' concerns...and that she plans to run for the 6th district Council seat in April.

That got our attention.

Josie Villaseñor, a 34 year old Wrigley resident who's a partner in an Anaheim St.business, told LBREPORT.com she "will definitely" be filing paperwork to seek the 6th district Council seat. Ms. Villaseñor said that from her experience, Councilman Andrews has done a poor job of representing the Wrigley area, and she plans to devote meaningful attention to Wrigley and work with other 6th dist. areas including Cambodia Town and Anaheim St to focus on public safety. LBREPORT.com will have separate coverage shortly.

LBREPORT.com is also aware that at least one other candidate is preparing to file paperwork to seek the 6th district Council seat and is expected to make a public announcement on the matter in the coming weeks.

To date, no one (except incumbent Andrews) has filed paperwork to seek the 6th district Council seat in April 2016. To win a third term, Andrews (who's held the office since May 2007) will have to wage a write-in campaign in April under LB's term limits bypass procedure; if he's among the top two finishers (with less than 50%) in April, he can proceed to a June runoff listed on the ballot; if any contender gets 50%+1 of votes cast in April, they win outright.

The 6th district Councilmember, like all Councilmembers, has a co-equal vote on citywide budget priorities, spending actions, land use development approvals and policies citywide.

Developing. Further to follow on LBREPORT.com