Cedillo’s ‘Listening Tour’ to Debut at Mt. Washington Elementary—Not on Figueroa St.

Councilmember Gil Cedillo, who represents Mount Washington and parts of Highland Park in District 1 of the City Council, has changed the venue of his July 30 Mt. Washington Town Hall meeting from Figueroa Street to Mount Washington Elementary School.

Aimed at generating a “friendly conversation about the issues that matter” to Mount Washington residents, the town hall is the first stop in Cedillo’s so-called 2013 Listening Tour of Council District 1, one of the largest of the 15 districts in the Los Angeles City Council, encompassing 14 neighborhoods, from Pico-Union and Chinatown to Echo Park and Glassell Park.

Cedillo's office had announced last week that it would hold the Mt. Washington Town Hall on 4580 N. Figueroa St. The change of venue from the bustling environs of Figueroa to the secluded school on the hill (one of the finest in the Los Angeles Unified School District) follows a suggestion after the Monday staff meeting at Cedillo’s office “that staff look at venues that community groups are already familiar with,” Fredy Ceja, Cedillo’s communications deputy told Highland Park-Mount Washington Patch in an e-mail Wednesday.  

“In the case of Mt. Washington, the Homeowner Alliance usually meets at the Carlin Smith Center and the Mt. Washington Association meets at the Elementary,” Ceja wrote, adding: “Both groups agreed the Elementary would be a better venue than the Highland Park venue.”

According to Mount Washington Association President Pilar Buelna, it was she who impressed on Cedillo that a town hall for Mount Washington residents ought to be held at Mt. Washington Elementary, where city council-related community meetings have usually been held in the past.

"She did suggest it, in order to have a better turn out," Ceja confirmed, adding: "But everyone agreed that the Elementary would be a better location."

Cedillo’s Mt. Washington Town Hall is scheduled for Tuesday, July 30, from 7 p.m. to 8 p.m., in the Multipurpose Room (MPR) of Mount Washington Elementary School, 3981 San Rafael Ave., (323) 225-8320.