Crisis in East Hollywood

Maybe it's the weather, I don't know. Just sitting here at my dining room table, I'm drenched in sweat in two minutes. Two days ago, I had a 102 fever. Three days ago, a film crew of about 25 people had taken over my house to film a movie about Soviet-era Budhapest.
Last night, we had a meeting of the East Hollywood Neighborhood Council. After begging and pleading for a month, we finally managed to secure a space at LA City College. That got me thinking: what is it about East Hollywood and the lack of public space? I suppose it's like this all over LA. Los Angeles is so beautiful, so rich, in its private spaces -- but what is there for the general public? In East Hollywood we have Barnsdall Park -- and it's one of the most magnificent spots in the entire City -- but it's not very inviting. I lived in the neighborhood for five years before I knew what it was. I thought it was a cemetery. I've heard that from other people as well.
As far as parks go, that's all we've got. There's a dirt lot down by the 101 freeway where kids sometimes kick around a soccer ball, and one of the local schools has agreed to share it's playground with the neighborhood kids. But as far as any real open space -- the kind people in other cities all over America simple take for granted -- we have none.
None!
I'm sorry if that makes me angry, but I can barely type that without wanting to go down to City Hall and grab a councilman by the collar. Last night, we got a visit from a representative of our new State Senator. Prior to becoming a Senator, he was a member of the State Assembly. And after that, no doubt, he'll rotate into the City Council, or the Board of Commissioners, or some other elected position.
It's a game of musical chairs, and no one seems to have any time for the people who actually live here.
I had a busy weekend, so I didn't get a chance to read this story in the LA Weekly till today. It starts out:
The skinny, redheaded teenager looks skittish as he approaches a 21-year-old homeless youth we will call Ricky. The pale boy is looking for weed, and passes Ricky $14. This illegal scene unfolds at the corner of Hollywood Boulevard and Western Avenue at the entrance to a busy subway station, and under the watchful eyes of a motley crew of homeless youth.
Right across the street is Los Angeles City Council President Eric Garcetti's Hollywood field office. If he and his staff were to peer out, they could easily see what a failed enterprise the city's mangled regulation of medical marijuana has been.
For almost a year now, I have been trying to get the vacant office space that sits above this notorious subway stop to be used as an office for the East Hollywood Neighborhood Council. It's currently a CRA project -- and some half-a-million dollars have been allocated to turn into a facility for the Bicycle Kitchen. But the Bicycle Kitchen hasn't done anything about it for years -- so it sits vacant, except for the drug dealers.
When I ask about the possibility of using it for the Neighborhood Council; when I tell the people in charge that we could staff the facility with retirees; when I tell them that it will create a presence on the street, a place where people in the neighborhood can bring their concerns -- the answer I get from everyone is always the same: It can't be done.
I'm going down to City Hall tomorrow. I'm going to fill out a speaker card and bang on the podium. I'm sick of being nice.
Maybe it's the heat. I don't know.