ArroyoFest Bulletin #7 – August 18, 2002

Greetings,

The effort to close the oldest freeway in the West for a community event that will bring together the neighborhoods and communities of the Arroyo Seco has taken a new turn in recent weeks. Due to unforeseen delays in getting insurance for the ArroyoFest event (related to 9/11 - see below), the steering committee has decided to move the date for ArroyoFest from October 6th, 2002. The new date for the event is June 15, 2003. The volunteers and staff working on the event made every effort to meet the deadlines for the permits and official paperwork necessary to pull the event off in October. But with deadlines looming, the steering committee felt it was wise to give ourselves more time to finish the planning and permitting process. There was a concern that a mad rush to get through the process would leave important details unaddressed and take away from the event. While recognizing that ArroyoFest's first year will not be perfect, we want to make sure it is successful so that we will have the opportunity to make ArroyoFest a regular event. The cities and agencies we're working with have reacted positively to the decision to move the date and we're looking forward to working with them in the months ahead to finish up the permit process as quickly as possible.

Here's the news:

June 15, 2003 - Spend Father's Day on the Freeway!

Turning challenges into opportunities, the committee has decided to move ArroyoFest from October 6th to June 15th. The new date allows additional time for planning, community outreach, fundraising and working with the media to make sure to get the larger ArroyoFest message of livable communities gets out to the public. The committee decided on June 15th to push it further out of the rainy season. The event will now occur one month after the L.A. River Bike Ride and Museums of the Arroyo Day in mid-May and just before most public schools let out for the summer. The opportunity to engage local schools in Arroyo-related projects for the entire year leading up to ArroyoFest was seen as a definite plus.

The difficulty in pulling off the event in October had to do primarily with the changing insurance market for special events after 9/11. There are now far fewer companies willing to insure special events due to the threat of terrorism. The company from whom we had gotten an initial quote from this spring actually went out of business as a result of 9/11 claims. The companies that do insure special events are also now requiring very detailed information. By mid-July we were still about a month away from having all of this information ready. We were told that it could take an additional month for companies to review our application. With fewer insurers in the market, they are being flooded with applications and the review process has slowed down considerably. Having the insurance in hand is necessary to recieve a permit from Caltrans to close the freeway, which has it's own month-long review process. In the midst of event planning and logistics, it became clear that making an October 6th event was cutting it close -- too close in fact for a first year event. The decision to move the date came in mid-July. Since then we have been scouring community calendars and talking to the various cities about the best time to hold the ArroyoFest. Considering the factors described above the committee decided on June 15th last week. We're very pleased to now be able to put together a new timeline and workplan that will ensure the success of the event.

ArroyoFest Continues to Get Sponsorship Commitments

ArroyoFest continues to receive strong support from agencies who see the connection between the event and the broader agenda of creating livable communities. So far ArroyoFest has received verbal or written commitments from the Metropolitan Transit Authority, Los Angeles Department of Water and Power, Pasadena Water and Power, Air Quality Management District, Metropolitan Water District of Southern California and the L.A. County Sanitation Districts, Los Angeles Department of Cultural Affairs. We look forward to working with these agencies in the months ahead to making ArroyoFest a successful educational event.

Planning Begins for Arroyo Teacher Training

Building on past workshops, UEPI and the ArroyoFest Steering Committee has begun to work with Carmela Gomes (Nightingale Middle School) and Janice Rodriguez (Burbank Middle School) to organize 1 1/2 day training in-service for teachers in the Arroyo Seco area. The goals of the training are to help teachers re-discover the Arroyo and build community. The training will deal with the three theme areas of ArroyoFest: transportation, environment/watershed and history/arsts/culture, as they relate to the immediate area. Most of the training will be held at the Southwest Museum and will include time for participating teachers to talk with each other about the projects they can do with their classrooms and which can be featured at ArroyoFest and on the Internet. Participating teachers will receive a 100-200 page resource guide on the Arroyo that they can use to integrate the community into their teaching.

Arroyo Residents Gather to Discuss Quality of Life Concerns

On July 24th, forty Arroyo residents gathered in the South Pasadena Library Community to receive an update on ArroyoFest. Several also signed up to become "Friends of ArroyoFest" (see below) and discussed the issues that affect the quality of life in their neighborhoods. The discussion groups were mixed so that people from different parts of the Arroyo could get to know one another and the successes and challenges of each area. Parks, historic architecture and the efforts of the many community groups working the area were all cited as positives. Residents expressed a need for connecting open spaces, more effective public transportation, more bike paths and making communities safer. Let me know if you'd like to see what residents had to say and will e-mail you people's responses.

Sign-up to Become a Friend of ArroyoFest!

In order to take advantage of the enthusiasm that the ArroyoFest event has generated, we have organized a new initiative called "Friends of ArroyoFest." Shutting down a freeway is a big job and requires the talents and skills of a wide range of people. Signing up to become a Friend of ArroyoFest will help us put your knowledge, talents and energy to use to make the event a grand success. We already have over 30 people that signed up to help --- but we need many, many more.

If you'd like to become a Friend of ArroyoFest, you just have to reply to this e-mail and cut and paste the categories you want to help with into your response. When volunteer opportunities come up in these areas, we'll contact you to ask for your help. Pretty simple. Here are the categories:

1. Volunteer on the day of the event (June 15, 2003)

OUTREACH

2. Give information to schools/colleges
3. Give information to small businesses
4. Be a neighborhood contact
5. Handout information at events
6. Help us find artists and performers
7. Post e-mails to list serves/websites

FUNDRAISING/SPONSORSHIP

8. Help us identify corporate contacts
9. Help us secure in-kind donations
10. Help us approach small businesses and community groups

OTHER

11. Research and Planning
12. Graphic Design
13. Media/ Writing
14. Write a Letter of Support
15. Translation
16. Web Design/Maintenance

Help Needed to Research Parking Opportunities

Along the lines of the Friends of the ArroyoFest, the first thing we need help with is figuring out exactly how much parking is available at different staging areas for the event. This involves counting the available parking spaces in the blocks located around these areas. If you have a few hours free and would like to spend them in the local community, let me know and I'll explain how this works. We're trying to collect all the parking information by Wednesday, August 28th to take into a meeting that evening. Get out your walking shoes!

Announcement: Arroyo Seco Watershed Restoration Feasibility Study -- Presentation and Community Meeting

North East Trees and the Arroyo Seco Foundation will be presenting their completed study reviewing opportunities to restore the Arroyo Seco stream from Angeles National Forest to the Los Angeles River: Wednesday, August 21, 6:30 p.m. reception, 7:00 p.m program. Location: California Institute of Technology, 1200 East California Blvd. Pasadena. Program is in Ramo Auditorium, Baxter Lecture Hall, Bldg. #77.

The City of Pasadena has also extended the comment period for the Arroyo Seco Draft Environmental Impact Report until September 16, 2002. This report outlines the impacts of the city's master plan for it's section of the Arroyo. You don't need to be a resident of the city to send comments in about the report or what you'd like to see in the Arroyo. Comments of individuals and organizations concerned about aspects of the EIR should be submitted to: Joshua Hart, Planning and Development Department City of Pasadena, Hale Building, 175 North Garfield Avenue, Pasadena, CA 91109-7215, voice: (626) 744-6725, fax: (626) 396-7711, email: joshuahart@ci.pasadena.ca.us

Thank you to everyone for your continued support of the ArroyoFest project.