LA Parks Are In Crisis: Act Now To Help Fund Them!

Dear Silver Lake friends and neighbors –
In our last newsletter, we told you that because of budget shortfalls the Silver Lake Rec Center will be closed on Sundays, until further notice. But that's just the tip of the jungle gym - LA Parks as a whole are in crisis. Los Angeles ranks 90th in the nation for park services, when just five years ago we ranked 49th. The reason? The city has starved its parks of funding for decades.

The numbers are stark:

LA spends $92 per person on parks. Comparable cities spend $283.
The parks department has lost more than a quarter of its staff since 2008.
Over $2 billion in repairs have been put off indefinitely.
1.5 million Angelenos — 1 in 3 — can't reach a park within a 10-minute walk.

So what's the fix?

The City Charter Reform Commission just recommended a change in the distribution of property tax revenue that would double the amount dedicated to parks. This November, LA voters could get a chance to approve that change, but the City Council has to approve putting it on the ballot first.

That's where you come in. Take Action Now.

Call or email your City Councilmember and tell them to support the parks funding increase.

"Yes" votes by our Silver Lake Councilmembers Nithya Raman (CD4) and Hugo Soto-Martinez (CD13) are essential to reach the ten votes needed to make this change happen.

Click here for a link to email Councilmember Raman.

Click here for a link to email Councilmember Soto-Martinez.

Or call 213-473-7004 for CD4, or 213-473-7013 for CD13.
Here's a phone script.

Not sure which council district you live in?
https://neighborhoodinfo.lacity.gov

ACT LOCALLY / THINK GLOBALLY….

There are now four ways that you can support our work for the community:

NATIVE GARDEN WORKDAYS

Our expanding native gardens have enhanced the reservoir environment and exposed visitors to the virtues and beauty of landscaping with native plants. Regular monthly volunteer days and related tasks have enabled the Armstrong, Meadow, and Tesla Pocket Park Native Gardens to prosper, and annual planting days are scheduled in these gardens and along the Ivanhoe Walking Path, on West Silver Lake Drive.

SOCIAL MEDIA

If you’d like to contribute to our social media outreach with posts, photographs, and/or graphics, we’d love to hear from you. Tag us in your Instagram posts @silverlakeresconservancy

DONATE

SLRC is an all-volunteer non-profit organization, so your tax-deductible contributions will be put to good use, directly at the Reservoirs. Besides buying new plants and trees, we also engage in community outreach activities and special maintenance projects that the various agencies can’t always manage (tree care, for example). Donate directly here, at the button below, or contact us directly to discuss sponsoring a bench through our Benchmark Program.

MERCHANDISE

Designed by (local artist Eric Junker!), SLRC T-shirts (and more!) are now available for sale online and locally @ Lake Boutique, and we sometimes sell them at volunteer days and local events too. Proceeds help fund our annual planting days, wildflower seeds, tools, and other projects.

DONATE

OUR COMMUNITY PARTNERS

Silver Lake Reservoirs Conservancy would like to acknowledge the following businesses and foundations for their past and ongoing support of our work. Special thanks to these generous and community-minded partners!