Small businesses can face many challenges. In LA, the city tax exemption can be most welcome. In this video, Monika Knight of the LA Office of Finance explains more.
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Local Infrastructure and Environmental Progress
Great efforts and much work is being undertaken in LA in the fight for climate change. Simultaneously however, for over 30 years, some of the energy being used on a daily basis in houses is coming from a place where coal is burned in a furnace at the bottom of Intermountain’s 710-foot smokestack. Between one-fifth and one-third of the city of LA’s electricity comes from there.
However, in 2025, there are plans to shut down the plant that creates very dirty fossil fuel. In the meantime, LA has other plans to assemble a natural gas-fired power plant in its stead. Gas burns cleaner than coal but does trap heat in the atmosphere and leaks methane from pipelines.
The ultimate goal for LA is to import solar and wind power from the area too and construct a compressed air energy storage facility for renewable energy. Given that two bills were passed last year in an attempt to reduce/eliminate emissions from buildings while offering incentives for moving to renewable electric infrastructure, this is definitely a step in the right direction.
The Californian Building Industry Association (CBIA) also recently found that “natural gas is seen as cheaper and more energy-efficient, whereas electricity is seen as safer and more often viewed as a clean energy source.”
Los Angeles River
There have been issues for a while now at the San Fernando Valley, Los Angeles River. As such, there has been a call by city officials on creating a change in how the area is monitored. The situation is so bad that, according to co-founder of LA River Walkers and Watchers, Evelyn Aleman:
“Our community members are afraid to use the bike path, also afraid to use local businesses because the crime we are seeing is spilling into local communities affecting everyone,”
As such, Bob Blumenfield who is a member of the LA City council recently proposed a motion for a pilot program that would render one organization to be in charge of patrolling the area. He believes that putting the Mountains Recreation and Conservation Authority in this position is “the perfect entity [for the job given that] they are a park agency.” He went on to explain:
“They know about water quality, park issues and interest in creating vibrant parks and the rangers unlike most other rangers are peace officers.”
The hope is that the motion will be heard by the end of 2019 by the city council and that if approved, a few months later it will be implemented.
LA: The Housing Crisis
For years Los Angeles has faced a crisis of an inordinate amount of homeless individuals. Many solutions have been proposed and executed over the years but still the problem remains. Here we take a look at some of the latest news on this subject.
In 2018 21,631 homeless individuals were housed. The amount of tax dollars used on this (millions) was 23 percent more than in the year before. Still, this accounted for a doubling of the amount of individuals housed in 2014.
The question therefore remains though, why are there still so many people living on the streets, in vehicles and shelters of LA? In 2018 the homeless figure increased 12 percent, rendering 59,000 LA county individuals homeless.
A new proposal by the LA City Council has just been voted in which could make matters a whole lot worse. A prohibition against sleeping in vehicles in many parts of LA is to be put in place. The rules make it clear that individuals will not be allowed to spend the night in their cars on residential streets or make their vehicles their homes “within a block of a park, school, preschool or day care facility.”
This ruling has angered many local activists who argued at the City Hall that such a measure was “counterproductive” to the 9,500+ individuals currently making their homes in this way.
2019 LA CFA Society Portfolio Conference
In this video – produced by Oaktree Capital – CEO of the global alternative investment management firm, Jay Wintrob engages in a “fireside chat” with Jane Wells, Special Correspondent at CNBC. Discussions took place in conjunction with this year’s Portfolio conference of the LA CFA Society, that is each year aimed at LA’s investment community and the industry at large.
3L Capital Investments
Last month an announcement was made by 3L Capital (an equity investment company) concerning the $217 million equity fund it had raised in order to continue its investments into local firms seeking growth. The firm – based in Westwood – will be putting the monies raised toward companies looking for a Series B/later investments.
Investments in the past have been made in Wheels Lab Inc. – an e-bike operator in West Holywood; The Young Turks, a Carthay LA neighborhood online talkshow and Culver City retailer SnackNation.
3L was founded roughly two years ago by Shawn Colo, former chief executive for Demand Media; Kerry Kellogg; and Dave Leyrer, founder of Boulevard Capital Management. Its previous investments include West Hollywood-based e-bike operator Wheels Labs Inc.; Carthay-based online talk show The Young Turks; and SnackNation, a Culver City-based snack retailer.
STEM Jobs: What’s New in LA
Technology hubs throughout the West Coast are in the lead nationwide with job opportunities in the STEM industry. With an 8.2 percent increase in LA between 2014 and 2018, this makes it the city that has encountered the fastest growth in this industry.
STEM preparation is starting young in California, and in some places is focusing on women. A new mobile STEM center has been rolled out by the Girl Scouts Heart of Central California (GSHCC) in an attempt to involve those Girl Scouts living in urban and rural areas who are not able to get to Sacramento and Modesto STEM centers. GSHCC is available to 17,500 members and over 9,000 volunteers in 18 Northern Californian counties. The idea is, according to manager of the STEM initiative Girl Scouts, Beth Peters, to “serve all the girls in our 18 counties.”
City Council Funding
There have been a few approvals for councils for funding to facilitate, aid and enhance certain neighborhoods in LA. In this article, we take a look at two of the recent ones.
Last week, a committee meeting of the Los Angeles City Council approved the framework of a policy that will administer the monies and application of the districts that are financed by the residents. With this, community projects in needy neighborhoods will get the much-needed funds for such programs. Supervising this will be the EIFDs (Enhanced Infrastructure Financing Districts).
What is most welcome about the funding is that according to the office of the Chief Legislative Analyst, an increase in residents’ property taxes will not occur. instead, a slice of the annual property tax hike will into a board (three Mayor-appointed council members; two council-appointed members of the public) governed independent fund.
In other news, Skid Row will be getting a large amount of money for extra services. $2.7 million has been earmarked for homeless services in the area following the finding of the 16 percent increase in population there. That money will be put toward: storage center upgrades (for homeless to store belongings), two additional teams of outreach workers, water fountains and attended restrooms.
Skid Row is the address of the most amount of homeless people in LA. While money is directed there a lot (the city received $85 million in emergency funding from the state in 2018), the problems there run deep.
Leading US Tech Hubs have LA Addresses
Employment opportunities are growing in the west coast more than any other part of the nation in the science, tech, engineering and math (STEM) industries. According to statistics from CBRE there was a 8.2 percent increase in this industry in LA – fastest of any US metropolitan area.
Furthermore, in the 2018 fiscal year, Los Angeles County received nearly $1.1 billion in funding from the National Institutes of Health. This is the largest amount of all California counties. As such, growth in the number of employment opportunities in laboratory services and research industry has reached 11 percent. 90,000 people have gotten jobs in the sector in 2018.
There are also many tech companies that offer amazing employee benefits in the LA region as detailed in this recent article.
Transportation Enhancements?
LA – like many large metropolitan cities – is often on the lookout for enhancements in traffic/infrastructure issues. Here we look at some of the latest possible advancements in this area, specifically at Bird, DASH and the Metro.
A seated design has been created for users of Bird Rides Inc. Passengers now have the option of sitting, standing and bringing along a friend. Known as the Bird Cruiser this new shared e-bike will be tested in a few places later this summer. It has a padded seat, pedal-assist/peg cruising options, hydraulic brakes, a 52V battery, LCD display and custom motor to handle inclines.
As Travis VanderZanden explained:
“To further accelerate progress on our mission to make cities more livable, we are providing additional environmentally friendly micro-mobility alternatives —including Bird Cruiser. Designed and engineered in California, Bird Cruiser is an inclusive electric-powered option that is approachable, easy-to-ride and comfortable on rough roads.”
To improve transportation matters for students in the region, Mayor Eric Garcetti recently announced his intention to offer unlimited DASH (downtown bus service) for free to community college students. Starting in the fall as a one-year pilot program, it is hoped this will become permanent and increase student use of buses by 10 percent. Funded by the Low Carbon Transit Operations Program (LCTOP) the idea is to reduce greenhouse gas emissions while enhancing transportation.
The Metro is making progress on an extension for the Purple Line. Once completed it will mark the establishment of a four-mile subway between Beverly Hills and Koreatown. To mark the progress completed on this to date, officials gathered at LA’s La Brea Tar Pits Museum and Park to celebrate with a fun family event.