LOS ANGELES
DOWNTOWN
NEWS Volume 41, Number 5
A Taper Winner
January 30, 2012
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% 40OLD S
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W W W. D O W N T O W N N E W S . C O M
The Battle for Downtown
INSIDE
New Maps Would Put Most of Central City in Huizar’s District, Perry Plans to Fight Urban Scrawl on the LATC’s troubles.
4
Low-income housing after the CRA.
7
A site gets a tenant after 22 years.
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photo by Gary Leonard
At a press conference Thursday at the events venue Vibiana, Councilwoman Jan Perry vigorously opposed redistricting maps that would take most of Downtown out of the Ninth District. Councilman José Huizar thinks the maps are fair and represent current demographics.
by Ryan VaillancouRt staff wRiteR
T
he panel in charge of redrawing the boundaries of the city’s 15 council districts has proposed drastically altering the dividing lines in Downtown Los Angeles. The move sets the stage for a potentially vicious political tug of war between City Council members
Some big Downtown food news.
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Jan Perry and José Huizar. The draft maps, which were revealed on Wednesday, Jan. 25, give most of Downtown to Huizar’s 14th District. The Ninth District, which for decades has covered most of Downtown and has been helmed by Perry since 2001, would cede all of the land north of Olympic Boulevard — the Financial District, Historic Core, Little Tokyo, the
Civic Center, the Arts District and Skid Row — to the 14th District. The Ninth would retain L.A. Live, the Los Angeles Convention Center, South Park and most of the Fashion District. The city’s Redistricting Commission is slated to weigh public opinion on the plan before finalizing the maps on March 1. see Maps, page 10
For Downtown Women, a Healthy Future Targeted $8 Million Medical Services Facility Delivers Consolidated Options
The church of data opens at REDCAT.
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by XandeR daVies
W
18 CALENDAR LISTINGS 21 MAP 22 CLASSIFIEDS
hen officials at the California Hospital Medical Center opened the $8.1 million Los Angeles Center for Women’s Health this month, a host of politicians and local business leaders turned out to celebrate a facility that aims to be the future of women’s health in Downtown. The eye to what lies ahead, however, belied what has already occurred: The Jan. 20 debut marked the culmination of a project that was first discussed nearly a decade ago. It all began, recalled Kirsten Hopper, the senior director of the facility, back in 2003 when
Katherine Loker, the heiress of the Starkist Tuna fortune, and Cliff Hoffman, president of the CHMC Foundation, began discussing the need for a health center for women in Downtown Los Angeles. Loker and her family already had a strong bond with the hospital. She and her late husband, philanthropist Donald Loker, were longtime contributors to the institution — the Loker Medical Arts Pavilion on the building’s ground floor, constructed in 2009, is named for her, while the cancer center at CHMC is named for Donald Loker. Still, Loker and Hoffman felt that working
women in the Central City needed a medical center where information could be consolidated and patients could have all their needs met in a single visit. “They wanted everything in one place,” said Hopper, “[a facility] that caters to working women and offers flexible appointment schedules.” Loker donated $5 million in seed money. About $1.5 million went to establishing a neonatal intensive care unit at the hospital, and the rest was the base of a fundraising campaign. Ultimately the $8.1 million for the new facility was secured, with see Health Center, page 12
Whole Woman Care... Whole hearted-ly!
www.lacwh.org
www.facebook.com/lacwh HEART_DWNTN_10.25x1.5.indd 1
You are unique. So is your heart. This February, get heart smart. Come see the specialists at the Los Angeles Center for Women’s Health and learn more about our comprehensive Cardiac Health Program.
Call us for a Cardiac Risk Assessment
(213) 742.6400
It’s happening downtown.
1/25/12 2:59 PM