Green L.A. is Hiring: Living Streets Project Coordinator

Green L.A. Transportation Work Group’s Living Streets Campaign is hiring! The following is a 2-year position funded by a grant from the Centers for Disease Control to the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health. It’s part of the county’s RENEW (Renew Environments for Nutrition, Exercise, and Wellness) initiative – which includes reducing obesity – by doing things like building places where people will walk and bike every day.

The project coordinator will work with the Community Redevelopment Agency, city, Metro, community groups, and residents to create complete streets projects in Boyle Heights. Applications due Friday May 7th! Full job announcement text below – or nicely formated pdf here.

Mariachis in Boyle Heights' Mariachi Plaza - photo from East L.A. Community Corporation website

JOB OPPORTUNITY

Title: Boyle Heights Living Streets Initiative

Job Description: Green LA Coalition (GLA) is seeking qualified candidates for the position of Project Coordinator for the Boyle Heights Living Streets Initiative. This position is funded throughthe Los Angeles County Department of Public Health’s RENEW grant program and is expected to
run through March 2012.

Boyle Heights Living Streets Initiative: The Boyle Heights Living Streets Initiative will increase people’s ability to safely and pleasantly
cycle and walk in Boyle Heights by implementing 3 prototype Living Streets near the Mariachi Plaza and Soto Gold Line stations. Currently, City of Los Angeles’ standard street improvement projects do not give any special consideration to cyclists and pedestrians. This Initiative will take advantage
of the opportunity afforded by approximately $25 million allocated through various grants and funding programs to design and install street improvements near these Gold Line stations according to Living Streets principles. GLA is partnering with the Community Redevelopment Agency of Los Angeles (CRA/LA) to lay the groundwork for 3 prototype Living Streets designed with strong community participation. This Initiative will additionally develop a Blueprint document and pass necessary policies so that Living Streets can be replicated throughout the city. An inter-agency task force and community stakeholder task force will be created. For more information on Living Streets see http://livingstreetsla.wordpress.com/
The Coordinator will work in collaboration with the Community Redevelopment Agency of Los Angeles, Green LA Transportation Work Group and the Los Angeles County Bicycle Coalition.

Ideal candidates will have a background in urban planning or design, civil engineering, public policy, or architecture/landscape architecture, experience in implementing public improvements, especially in the city of Los Angeles, experience in conducting outreach and community meetings in an area of cultural and demographic diversity, and familiarity with Boyle Heights. The position will be part of a broader policy picture aiming to improve the health/wellness and mobility for the City of Los Angeles.

Office Location: 1916 E. First Street, Los Angeles, CA 90033

Duties and Responsibilities:
• Develop and pass policies to support the adoption and practice of Living Streets tenets in Boyle Heights and in Los Angeles in general
• Coordinate several existing and funded street improvement programs in Boyle Heights, with the goal of maximizing Living Streets qualities
• Enhance the level of community input in the street improvement programs by working with existing community groups as appropriate and/or forming a new organization for community stakeholders.
• Improve the community’s understanding of the Living Streets paradigm and related health, planning, and transportation issues
• Assist in conducting community meetings leading to conceptual plans for the 3 prototype streets.
• Coordinate the input of appropriate Los Angeles city departments to implement Living Streets tenets in the Boyle heights street improvement programs through participation in existing city
committees and/or forming a city working group for that purpose.
• Create a Living Streets Blueprint/how to guide for each prototype to document the various challenges and institutional barriers associated with implementing Living Streets and to highlight strategies to overcome such challenges and the solutions that were developed.
• Manage and administer the Boyle Heights Living Streets program reporting and evaluation.

Minimum Requirements:
• Graduation from an accredited 4-year college or university with a degree in Planning, Urban Design, Public Policy, Civil Engineering, Landscape Architecture or other related fields or equivalent experience.
• At least 2 years experience in community outreach, policy advocacy and/or planning and implementing public improvements programs in a large urban jurisdiction, and a total of 5 years professional work experience.
Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities:
• Flexible collaborator with leadership skills who values transparency
• Ability to effectively work with diverse interest groups to find consensus and move innovative ideas forward
• Out of the box, creative thinker
• Strong understanding and comprehension of the Complete Streets/Living Streets concepts
• Experience planning and implementing public improvements projects such as street improvements, recreational facilities, or public infrastructure. Experience with the City of Los Angeles is a plus.
• Excellent organizational skills. Strong attention to detail.
• Strong verbal and written communication skills.
• Proficient in Excel, PowerPoint, and Word
• Ability to establish priorities, work independently, and proceed with objectives without supervision.
• Strong ability to present and convey policy recommendations to a government policy making body such as: a City Council, Planning Commission, Transportation and Parking Commission.
• Strong ability to present and convey policy recommendations to the public who reside in a low income community of color.
• Willing to work on other tasks as it relates to the goals and objectives of this project.

Special Requirements:
• Passionate, articulate and well versed about creating livable urban places
• Willing to work evenings and weekends as required.
• Conversational Spanish language skills highly desired.
• Familiarity with Boyle Heights or similar communities highly desired.

All qualified applicants shall receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, national origin, ethnic group identification, ancestry, sex, age, condition of physical or mental handicap, or sexual orientation, in accordance with requirements of federal and State laws.

Salary Range: $60,000 to $65,000 annually with benefits, depending on experience/background.

Interested candidates please send cover letter and resume to:
Green LA Coalition
1000 North Alameda Street, Suite 240
Los Angeles, CA 90012
ATTN: Stephanie Taylor, Interim Managing Director
staylor [at] greenlacoalition.org

By: Friday, May 7, 2010

For More Information contact:
Stephanie Taylor, Interim Managing Director
staylor [at] greenlacoalition.org

Los Angeles Complete Streets Slide Show Presentation

What a Future Complete Street might look like for Sixth Street near Alvarado

Jen Petersen and Ryan Snyder presented this “Complete Streets Get Traction in the City of Angels” slide show at this week’s Green L.A. Transportation Work Group meeting.

Complete Streets: GLATWG Mayoral Ask

This morning, Green L.A. Coalition had a meeting with Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa.  Here’s the mayoral ask from the Transportation Work Group:

The City of Los Angeles has prioritized car traffic over other modes. This over-dependence on automobiles has resulted in many problems locally — from congestion, to smog, to obesity, to a rash of recent collisions resulting in pedestrian fatalities — and globally — from resource wars, to global warming. Continuing our imbalanced reliance on cars hurts Los Angeles economically, environmentally, and erodes our quality of life.

While there are some notable smaller-scale initiatives, mostly from the City Planning Department, the culture of LADOT continues to approach streets as if the only users are cars. There is a new paradigm emerging nationally for “Complete Streets” — streets that are shared by pedestrians, cyclists, transit, and cars.

Green L.A. Ask:

We urge the Mayor to move Los Angeles into the era of Complete Streets. There are four arenas where Mayoral action is necessary to make this vision a reality:

1. Adopt a Complete Streets policy, including reworking existing street standards.

2. Ensure that future city budgets reflect the city’s commitment to accommodating pedestrians, bicyclists, and transit riders, by dedicating more funds specifically for such modes. This includes dedicating local return funds from Measure R for pedestrians, bicyclists, and transit services.

3. Use the Mayor’s leadership at Metro to emphasize Complete Streets regionally, including incorporating a Complete Streets policy in Metro’s Call for Projects, where pedestrian and bicycle projects need to be given more funding.

4. Direct deputy mayors for environment, transportation, and economic development to work together and meet with us on a regular basis to make Los Angeles streets livable, vibrant, environmentally-friendly and efficient for all.

The mayor responded affirmatively, though not necessarily committing to specifics.  He cited his leadership on Measure R,  pledged to keep Metro fares low, and stated his interest in a “more serious bicycle program.”  The mayor concluded with a call to the assembled environmental and environmental justice communities to “stand up more” so that our agenda can move forward and not get bogged down by the “retrenched group of folks who weigh in against everything we do.”

Environmental Deputy Mayor David Freeman followed.  Freeman was generally very good – refreshingly straightforward and emphasizing “actions that end up in results.”  He placed a lot of importance on climate change which he considers the most important issue facing us today.  He was generally supportive of bikes, but his interest, though, was more in getting cleaner/renewable energy and ultimately getting L.A.’s fleet of cars to be powered by renewable energy.

(For more information on GLATWG Complete Streets campaign, see older posts here, here, and here.)

Green LA Coalition Announcement – Moving, Changes

Here’s the latest from Green L.A. Coalition’s directors. Congratulations to Stephanie Taylor, Green L.A.’s new Interim Managing Director! (links added by Joe Linton)

May 11, 2009

Dear Colleague,

We’re pleased to share some exciting news regarding the GREEN LA Coalition.

First, we’re moving. After four years of existence, GREEN LA has matured to stand on its own two feet. On June 1, GREEN LA will leave the Liberty Hill Foundation and become a project of Community Partners.  Also, our offices will be at the California Endowment building in downtown Los Angeles. At this new location GREEN LA will be able to better serve our constituent organizations – and be closer to LA City Hall.

Second, as you may already know, Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa chose GREEN LA’s founding director, Jonathan Parfrey, to serve on the Board of Water and Power Commissioners. This prestigious appointment, a five-year term, is however subject to significant restrictions in how Jonathan is permitted to advocate on environmental matters at City Hall.

On April1, Jonathan transitioned from serving as director of the GREEN LA Coalition to become director of a new program, the GREEN LA Institute – where he will exclusively work on educational and networking services for LA’s environmental community. Please stay posted for upcoming workshops, trainings and tours organized by the GREEN LA Institute.

Also, as of April 1, Stephanie Taylor began serving as Interim Managing Director of the GREEN LA Coalition. Stephanie brings years of organizing experience, not just as GREEN LA’s workgroup coordinator, but also with the Verde Coalition, LA Neighborhood Land Trust, Central City Neighborhood Partners and Coalition LA.

The GREEN LA Coalition is especially grateful to Michele Prichard and Liberty Hill for its critical role in nurturing GREEN LA by providing fundraising, administrative and programmatic support during our founding years. Liberty Hill will continue its support with Michele’s service on the Steering Committee.  Michele will also continue to staff the Cumulative Impacts Work Group.

Last, we wish to thank the Steering Committee for their guidance in this smooth transition and their leadership in ensuring the next phase of GREEN LA builds on our success and propels our work even further.  We also are grateful to you for your on-going faith in our work.

Surely, we live in trying times. Yet, our issues – protecting the environment, environmental justice and green jobs – are seen as the salvation of the economy and the planet.

We look forward to our continued work together in coalition and as organizational partners to win meaningful change in Los Angeles.

Sincerely,

Stephanie Taylor, Managing Interim Director, GREEN LA Coalition
Jane Paul, Green Economy Coordinator, GREEN LA Coalition
Shalimar Zabanal, Program Associate, GREEN LA Coalition
Jonathan Parfrey, Director, GREEN LA Institute