Interview with Blair Beston on downtown LA issues

All the wayward wind is a restless wind A restless wind that yearns to wander Good morning and welcome to Downtown Crossroads. This is Ed Rosenthal, your moderator, and we're really honored to have Blair Beston here today. She is the director of the Historic Downtown Business Improvement District, which won. Most popularly, downtown two years running. And we're into the stretch of our deep context series. We're trying to tie in situations downtown with global issues. So we started off with our primary context, which was Sandy Richards of the Christian left. The next show we had Jan Perry, who talked about how Los Angeles can grow. Then we had two, members of the Hispanic political community, Anna Kubis and Tony Contero in a conversation here about the emerging ascendancy of Latinos in California and Los Angeles politics. And now we want to ask Blair Beston about our own local context right here in the historic area of downtown Los Angeles. Now, luckily, we're also going to be able to ask her what it's like for a working woman with an infant to live and work in downtown Los Angeles. Now we went over this in an earlier program and Jan Perry talked about this too, that like a lot of U.S. municipalities, LA City gave up on street security and maintenance responsibilities. So, the Federal Federal Audit Service listened to the That's an interesting question. I came to Los Angeles, I think, like a lot of people do, for the entertainment industry and worked very hard and found that it was difficult to get gratification for your work. So I think I realized soon enough that I guess it wasn't enough of a passion for me. Like a lot of people, you know, perhaps you have multi-career opportunities in a lifetime. And it was coming downtown and getting involved in real estate that I realized my real passion was architecture and community development. So what was your first project in downtown LA? I started off with Core. I worked on the Santa Fe Lofts, which was a project that took a couple years. They started me off actually in property management in the Molino Lofts. And I soon realized that that property management wasn't necessarily what I wanted to focus on. They contacted me back a couple months later and said, you know, would you like to take on this position in project management on this project? And I, you know, it sounded really exciting. I had done my own properties before. I knew a little bit about construction. It was a wonderful time to work with Core because it was a fledgling then. I mean, they were just building their infrastructure. And it was still... It was still a small company. So they were able to take chances. They put me down there on 6th and Main. I'll never forget Tyson Sales driving me down there to look at the property. And at that time, the street was filled with a lot of issues, a lot of people using drugs and prostitution. And I think he was gauging, wanted to gauge my reaction to that. And all I could do was look up at the building and say, oh my God, that's the most beautiful building. I can't wait, you know. Yeah, that's... Now, I just want our listeners to realize, is that Santa Fe Lofts just sold for quite a large amount of money at what investors might call a 4% cap rate. And Core was really successful with that project. They were also the pioneers down here in Eastern Columbia, another project that Tyson Sales shepherded through. Core is also interesting because of their partnerships. They have partnerships with large institutional firms like Lubert Adler, and they also work closely with individual wealthy Middle Easterners, often combined in the same project. And we'll talk a little bit more about ownership elements downtown. But you seem to be a developer, and you actually worked with me as a broker. Did you ever think you'd be running a business improvement district? The short answer to that is no. But it made sense. I had development experience, construction, you know, project management, sales, property management. The list goes on. It all fit into that job. Because to do that job well, I think it helps to have all of those resources. You really understand who you're serving and what they have to deal with on a daily basis. And can you explain to us how the BID works, these BIDs? Business Improvement Districts in California. How are they funded? So... And how do they get to survive? They voluntarily assess themselves, an additional tax. Usually the people that spearhead this are community-minded. They recognize that the city cannot handle what needs to be done to keep the streets clean and safe. You know, LAPD has limited resources as far as personnel, and a trash can can't get picked up once a day, and that be sufficient. They need to be picked up multiple times a day. The streets need power washing and, you know, response to graffiti in a timely manner. It's the broken windows theory. It keeps crime down to have the neighborhood look as if it's being cared for. So these property owners voluntarily assess themselves. It's a petition of 51%, and then it goes to ballot. And if more than 50% of the people who are in the community are in the community, it's a big deal. And if more ballots vote yes than no, then the bid moves forward. And there's a team of people like myself who come in and make sure that we keep the neighborhood running smoothly. Now, recently in our area, and I believe this is a trend nationwide, larger institutional owners bought property. Now, did their votes come in? Did any of them come in in favor of continuing the BID? They did. What's some of their names? Essex. Essex, that's a large real estate trust. And the people who took over the Santa Fe lofts actually are buying up a lot of real estate in downtown, so they cannot... Well, I wouldn't call him institutional. No, that's true. Maddie Sadoff. But he is someone to be recognized like a Steve Needleman in terms of having a great deal of real estate. And their votes do mean a lot because it means that they're going to be paying an enormous amount. And they're going to be paying a lot of money towards the services. So they really have to believe in it. And I think that those types of institutions believe that it's a partnership in order to keep their real estate doing well, leasing up. They need us. So how did that feel for you to win two years in a row best BID in downtown? And what is the situation of BIDs vis-a-vis each other? In a support and competitive role? Wow. I think the competition is no doubt there. It keeps us on our toes. It keeps us working harder. And there's no doubt in my mind that we deserved that award. We have a very small budget and we have a large portion of the issues. We're adjacent to Skid Row. We pick up more trash. We pick up more trash. We pick up more trash than the larger BIDs in all of the larger block amounts that they have. We have a smaller block amount, but we pick up more trash than they do. So the fact that we're able to utilize our resources so well, I think is a testament to why we won that award. And that was based on readership. And that's 3,500 people I think voted. Wonderful. Recently in the Toy District, the BID was voted out of existence. That was actually a few years ago now. Right. Now, how did that impact our area, if at all, when there is no business improvement district in the area bordering your BID to the north and the east? It causes problems on the perimeter for sure. Like what? Spillover effect. You know, trash and crime accumulates there. So people tend to feel unsafe if they just have to cross. Okay. Okay. So people tend to feel unsafe if they just have to cross the border. Say, I walk home via Los Angeles Street. You know, I live in the fashion district. So not having those resources there, I think you just find that, you know, crime moves in and then filters. It'll sort of test the boundaries a little bit. So we have some of our bigger issues down on those edges. But I think that any time a BID is dissolved in that way, for example, it happened in the Arts District as well, it serves as a great example. I think that's a great example of what it's like without a bid. As soon as people start to question what we do when it's not there, people recognize it. I'll bet. What does that say about the ownership in the toy area? Mr. Farkandapur was the leader in sabotaging the toy district BID. But on the other hand, he has a beautiful project. And people are moving in. And it's kind of exciting. He's got a great mix of residential and retail, a little park in the middle of it that he made. What does that say about the need to reach out to these owners? No, you can reach out as much as you want. There are developers and there are property owners and there are community developers. And I look at those as three separate categories. There are always going to be developers that are willing to invest more in their community. And recognize that the community helps bolster them as they help bolster the community. You can't always... It's a hard lesson to learn. I don't know if it's really affected his business in the toy district or not. It's worth asking him. So Isaac Shomoff seems to be one of those developers that's community-oriented, doesn't he? Yes, absolutely. He's an amazing partner. He has such vision and continues to invest beyond just the bid. I mean, he invests in the sidewalks and really wants to create a community. It's an amazing, amazing partner. So how did you manage to get elected head of this BID? I was involved. It was really a chaotic situation. There were different political moves against the councilmen and there were different factions, if I'm not mistaken, within the BID itself pushing for different parties. Can you tell us about the composition of the BID in our area so that listeners would understand what's unique about it? Well, it's, you know, a lot of property owners that have been there for a long time. To answer the first part of your question, I think based on who I am, most people who know me have been downtown for a decade, know that I'm willing to work across the table with, the person who's seated there. I'm not as into the drama. I'd rather push things forward. I'm passionate that way. And I think that's what it takes in the growth that we're seeing in downtown. And that growth was very infectious. So I like to think that they saw in me a person who not only had the qualifications to handle the job, but also had the passion and quite frankly, the respect. I mean, I respect those property owners. I, they may have inherited the property. That's fine. But they're the current owners. They're the ones pushing the money forward for me to use to help make their community better. So I'm, there's a mutual respect there. I think that that is what works. As far as the dynamics go, you know, they got a lot of flack. People said things to me like, God, it must be like herding cats. It's again, I go back to the respect thing. That's fine. You can, you don't have to work with them. So you can qualify it however you want. I do. I'm going to look at it from an optimistic point of view. How do we work at their pace? How do I listen to their concerns? Some of them are really valid. And I think they're passionate people by nature. So once that was broken down and we were able to work together, I think we were able to, I think we achieved some really great things. Well, that sounds wonderful. I wonder if we could just talk for a minute about another really important member of the downtown community and your relationship to them before we get back to talking about our area. You're held in very high regard downtown by the police department. How did you develop that special relationship with law enforcement? Hmm. So when I told you the story about Tyson driving me downtown the first time to the building was at 6th and Main, which was a very different place back then. And I was up there in the office, which was then the two West. It faced it. It was a big, beautiful loft. And I would look out my window at the parking lot and the street and see what was happening there. And I thought, how much per square foot did he say he wanted to get for these lofts? It's like, that's a lot of money. That is never gonna happen. So I called the cops. And I was like everybody else. You know, I didn't like the LAPD based on what I saw on television. And then based on my interaction with them, they seemed cold. You know, they wore their aviator glasses and wouldn't even crack a smile or even return a hello if you were on the street or, you know, in a 7-Eleven or whatever. You know, I just thought they were, you know, jerks. And what I came to realize, I called this senior lead officer, which is designated for each particular area. They're a community liaison. He wasn't, he responded to my call. He actually came to the building to meet with me. Do you remember his name? Chris Warner, who's now a sergeant. And he just basically said, I'm not even your senior lead, but I wanted to meet you and let you know that, you know, we're here for you and come to these meetings. And meet who, you know, your people are and we'll see what happens. And I started to go to police meetings and realized after a number of months that these people, these Central Division cops are different, what they have to deal with every day. So they're in the field. They can't hide in a car. So I had a lot of respect for them. I found them. I found them. I found them. I found them. I found them. I found them. I found them. I found them. The best cops had the best personality and the friendliest, and it had an attitude really of customer service. So did this lead to a position for you on a volunteer board? The CPAP. What was that? Community Police. It's a board basically that's established for the community to have an interaction with the police on a regular monthly basis. We put on help with the National Night Out, which is a big event, which is actually this coming Tuesday in Little Tokyo. Tokyo. What's that? The National Night Out is basically each community across Los Angeles has an evening where there's whatever that neighborhood envisions. So it can be music. It can be booths. It can be, you know, we've had karate demonstrations, and they're going to come out with a dragon, you know, in Little Tokyo. Sometimes there's a police bike ride, you know, where you get to roll through Code 3, and it's pretty great. I mean, it's a good event. It's from 6 to 9, and it'll be on First Street this year. For all listeners to know, Little Tokyo is an area in downtown. One of the most successful development plans has taken place in Little Tokyo with senior housing, wonderful new apartment buildings, low-income housing, and incredible retail. And we will have people here. We will have people here visiting us from that area of downtown sooner or later. So what else, what developed out of your relationship with the police? I stayed involved with them, and it actually grew as a result of this job because we're, we, I use that word partnership a lot. And, you know, I look at the Bratton administration as the golden years. I mean, it was a really great, I'm sure that a lot of people would contest that. But. I think he really understood what it meant to serve the community. And coming from that perspective helped the overall perception of the police on the whole. Especially, I think, for downtowners who are much more interactive with police. You know, we have foot beats. We need foot beats. He's the one that pushed that policy of the broken window, right? Right. Fix every window. It's true. It's, we've experienced this renaissance because a large part it's due to the police and the cleaning up of the neighborhood, the cleaning up that property owners do. But then also, and a good relationship with the police responding to crime where I think before they kind of threw up their hands because people ignored downtown in terms of law enforcement. It was looked at as a lost cause and a place to where you could. You know, you could kind of push everybody that was a problem and then turn your back. And it became a place where there's now a spotlight on it. So. So how does it feel to be recognized by the police, by some in your area, and then not by others elsewhere? I'm thinking of the demonstration we went to together. Yeah. This was put on by Occupy LA. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. I was over in the financial district, which is not part of our BID. At the Bank of America Plaza, both of us went over to this demonstration. And we were prevented by the police from even getting close and tricked into moving further down the block. And then told by another officer, oh, you can't come in here. Then when we tried to reenter in the same place we came from, we were thrown out. Now, you know, we're definitely not the business reps of Al Qaeda. I mean, what do you think about that demonstration and the way we were handled there concerning Occupy LA? Well, I would say that definitely from where we were standing, it appeared a little contentious. I mean, I felt like I did want to go in and see what this was all about. It's exciting when you see people impassioned by something that they believe in. And it felt from the outside that they weren't necessarily in a heated moment and that there was going to be violence. So I wanted to see what that was all about. And I think that you did too. I mean, we both talked about it and it was like, let's leave the office early and head down there. When they didn't let us go in, I definitely felt... You know, probably what a lot of people felt when they were prevented from demonstrating. And I only rationalize in my brain that they were attempting to prevent something from escalating to a point of no return where it would be violent and damaging to people and property. The other part of me, you know, felt like I was prevented from doing an American type thing, which is to participate in a demonstration. Right. Right. And it felt like a demonstration. Those demonstrations back a long time ago did affect change. And I still feel like I wish the Occupy movement would be refocused to what the core principles were, which was, you know, we're mad as hell and we're not going to take it anymore. And have real investigation done, push for real change, not this sort of drummed up, I feel like some of it is just for drama's sake now. What would you like to see Occupy LA do? Lobby, and I know it's expensive, but lobby like the other big people do. I think that it's important that the small folks out there have a voice, and I think that that's been lost. And at the root of what they want, I think is to have a voice and to say, look, you have to rethink your principles and your tactics because you're hurting people. And we're needed. I mean, the small voice is needed. I think lobbying and I think going towards legislation is where the focus needs to be. How about mass political action? I mean, if that means effective political action, I think it... I think... I think violence, I'm sure over the years people argue that it has its... it had its effects. We'll never know if that was the reason people responded or if people responded because finally enough people were paying attention to say this change needs to happen. I'm thinking in terms of civil rights. Right. But nobody wants anybody to get hurt, especially innocent people. Well, let's go back to that award you won. What was that? I know you traveled to Sacramento to receive it. How did that come about that you received an award from... The California Peace Officers Association. Yeah, what was that? So across the state, actually, different law enforcement agencies from sheriffs to other police departments submit, you know, some don't submit candidates, but a lot submit candidates that they feel are community members that have gone above and beyond for the sake of the department and the police department. And so I think that's a big part of it. And I think that's a big part of it. And I think that's a big part of it. And I think that's a big part of it. And I think that's a big part of it. I had the relationship and a couple people at Central submitted me and I guess it's... I had no idea when I received this letter in the mail, I thought it was a solicitation. I thought they were asking me to donate money to some kind of board or something and I almost threw it away. And I, you know, the captain emailed me and said, so did you get anything in the mail? Like, did you understand what you... And I went, oh my God, I had no idea. So we actually went up to, it was Monterey, California. And it was a really great ceremony. I was extremely honored. Oh, I'm sure. Can you tell us some of your favorite projects you're involved with now with the BID? My favorite was the farmer's market. Oh yeah, tell us about that. That's fantastic. That was, you know, there's so many farmer's markets now in downtown, but most of them are during the day and they're during the week when there's a critical mass of people working down here. And I totally get it. We did not have anything for residents. And the thought being, well, what about the residents who work outside downtown and then come home? There's nothing for them. There's routes, but it's a far walk. A lot of people in my district are in affordable housing and permanent supportive housing. They don't have cars. And a lot of them won't be. They won't be able to walk that far. So, and we don't really have an infrastructure of public transportation that makes sense yet. We're working on it. That's something else we can talk about. But so creating this to me was really important for everybody in my district and beyond. I mean, we're hoping to reach out to residents as far away as South Park if they can make it down there using forms of public transportation or bikes. Or, you know, I've, I ran into a couple yesterday with their kid on a razor that walked. I mean, I was like, oh, I'm going to be able to walk all the way from South Park to come to the farmer's market. I went through three or four farmer's market associations who would have a really great phone conversation. And then I'd hang up thinking they were going to come down and visit. And it was the fourth one that actually came down. And I gave one of my incredibly impassioned tours, which took three hours. And I think I talked the guy's ear off. I thought he might not come back, but he ended up thinking it was a pretty exciting challenge. So we, I think we became the first, also to offer EBT for the, for the residents down here. And now they have access to healthy food right outside their doorstep. We intentionally picked Fifth Street between Spring and Broadway. It's kind of the epicenter of our district. It's sometimes a challenging spot. It's also a spot that's very close to a lot of the affordable housing around there. Well, that's interesting. I should say it's every Sunday from nine to two. And please call in. I mean, this is your opportunity to call in Skid Row Studios at 800-893-9562 and ask Blair any questions you might have about the historic BID or any complaints you have. You know, getting to the different communities in our area, do you see any emerging conflicts between those different participants in, the historic downtown of Los Angeles? Can you clarify what you mean as far as? Well, some might argue that, uh, gentrification, which is taking place in our district, really replaces an existing population and forces them out. That's a global issue worldwide. When I went to London, there was a hysterically funny tour on the ferry that I took from London, to Greenwich. And the guy was a working class Englishman protesting that he couldn't afford any apartment anywhere near London, that none of his friends could. And you had to be a millionaire to live there. And it's, that's kind of a worldwide phenomenon now where existing communities are forced out of housing and neighborhoods. Now, of course, I don't think that's true about our area. No. No. Especially if I have a commission involved, but. Look, it's definitely. What about our area? I think gentrification is a word that activists use to further their cause that is uniquely not applicable to, I will not doubt that it happened in Manhattan and other areas. It is not applicable to downtown Los Angeles because. Why is that? A couple of things. The adaptive reuse ordinance, which repurposed housing for residential that was not residential. Before. Right. The empty buildings. Right. You. So then you had with ironically, you're one of your last guests, Jan Perry helped ensure the preservation of affordable housing in downtown with the residential hotel ordinance, which, you know, kept a lot of those units. And you have developers like Skid Row Housing Trust, which are a community partner, which are building more units right in the heart of my district. So, you have all of those factors working to densify downtown, which should have happened decades ago and didn't for many reasons. Now we have, I think, an incredibly beautiful opportunity with what's happening to preserve housing for people and bring in more housing for others. Look, one of the things I disliked about Los Angeles, which made, made me want to move away was the urban sprawl. Right. And, you know, I live, I come from Louisville, Kentucky, where you get in your car for 20 minutes to get anywhere. It's very spread out. I hate being in a car. I could think of no worse place to be than, you know, a place like that. And yet I come to Los Angeles and that's exactly what it is. When I came downtown, I fell in love with the idea of creating and building a really dense community where there's everything. So now what you have in downtown Los Angeles is urban consolidation. I mean, this is an opportunity. And what's interesting is, you know, that that old adage, if you build it, they will come. Well, we kind of have the opposite effect. They came and now we got to build it. So it's all about building an infrastructure. Now we need better public transportation local. I think a lot of people are hoping that the streetcar is going to be that the connector between all of the city. Right. All of the different neighborhoods. But we need even more. We need bus systems that work within a very clean, concise way in downtown. I just, I hope that that is what continues. Okay. So you don't see really any conflict between, um, like more middle class people moving into the area and its impact on existing communities of homeless and low income, housing users. Well, the, the one issue I, well, I, there's so many things to talk about with that. Yeah, let's talk about that. So, so there's a lot of single occupancy, but there's not the, the, explain to our audience about that. The SROs. Yeah. What is that? It's they're small units. They're designed for one occupant. To me, what that says is if you are poor and receiving this kind of housing, you don't have, have, have, have relationships. You don't have children. You have to pay guest fees. So it becomes what is considered affordable, becomes a very expensive place to live. If you have a significant other that you'd like to come over and spend the night. So the vision has to be for, I think if we're going to focus on building more housing for affordable housing, it needs to be families. But I even think that's the case for market rate. The design, if you pencil it as a performer, it works better to have smaller units. It's just the way it is. Right. So we have to find a way to incentivize developers to think of families when they think about it, because kids are good for everybody. It's just good to have them in the neighborhood. Um, we, you know, I'm sure you're strongly influenced by having an infant now. Yes. How old is Duke? He's four, four months old. Yeah. So I totally surprised. I thought of myself as, you know, somebody who was going to just enjoy the urban lifestyle and that meant going out. Um, I guess where there are bars, eventually there will be babies. So we need to kind of, we need to kind of think about that, uh, in terms of design. But, um, we kind of featured you on this show as working woman with an infant running a business downtown. What's that like? Um, Wow. You're just finding out, I know. How has it changed your experience? Well, you know, I started in the very beginning having the same thoughts I think most mothers do and most parents do, which is, oh, we got to think about the year or two plan where I got to get out of here and have a yard and think about the school district and all of that. I mean, I've bought into the same, you know, junk thinking. And it is only now recently that my husband Marcus and I have started really thinking about how wonderful the opportunities are in downtown and what a great environment it would be to raise a child because it is so diverse. And because, you know, we do have a lot of amenities down here and the ability to have your baby come visit you at the office. I mean, I feel like one of the luckiest people in the world. I don't, my commute is a 15 minute walk and I get to run into people I know all along the way coming and going to work and throughout the day. And if I need to feed him, he can come to the office. It's a pretty brilliant plan. I pretty much thought you might bring him and we have the first breastfeeding on a radio show downtown, but I guess. It might be a little distracting. I guess that was a little tough. So. Some people believe the substantial amount of people, of middle income women, young women, 50% of them love downtown and they're ready to move just right in to Spring Street and Main Street. And there's another 50% that really are afraid. They're afraid of being accosted by whatever, that half a percent of the homeless community that does that. Some investors are concerned about that, as well. What's your reaction to my question? It's a, it's an issue. How should it be handled? I think the issue is that there's a concentration of services here and that is not the best urban planning. I think that each community benefits from having services in their own community because they can't turn a blind eye. I mean, you know, there should be homeless people, being provided services, foreign housing in Brentwood. I mean, it's just, it should be everywhere. And, you know, people feel like it's, it's sort of nimbyism to say they should be broken up. Fine. I'll be politically incorrect and say they should be broken up. We don't need all the missions in downtown. It's not healthy for the people who are living in Skid Row, who are living in the housing there. And it's not healthy for the people who are homeless themselves. Well, we pointed out in our. First show that this is a city governed by so many layers of jurisdictions. And the, the LA County has a lot to say about this. Gloria Molina tried to advocate for a program of shelters in all, all over LA County. And she got voted down. The board of supervisors turned it down because of the very nimbyism you're talking about. It has to be muscled. No, it's not going to be a popular decision. It has to be muscled. Somebody has to take it on and convince all of the politicians that it has, they all have to work together to come up with a solution. When you, and I've participated in Skid Row cleanups. I mean, I've, I've gone down there and picked up trash and clothing items that were abandoned and seen some of the most horrific conditions, sanitation. There are no ash ash ash ash ash ash ash ash ash ash ash ash ash ash ash ash ash ash ash ash ash ash ash ash ash ash ash ash ash ash ash ash ash ash ash ash ash ash ash ash ash ash ash ash ash ash ash ash ash ash ash ash ash ash ash ash ash ash ash ash ash ash ash ash ash ash ash ash ash ash ash ash ash ash ash ash ash enough that we have turned over this environment and said, this is the best we can do. It's not the best we can do. And yeah, it's going to be difficult and expensive, but so is everything. So is everything worthwhile. I mean, I don't mean to be cliche, but it's true. That's true. It is going to be expensive. I mean, I'm a supporter of Skid Row Housing Trust and the project they built by Hope in Venice was $300,000 a unit. And I can just hear, you know, different, whatever, Schnurrow landlords or conservative brokers telling me, what the hell, $300,000 to house one of these guys because they provide services on site. Oh, that services are... Do you think our... Priority should be such that we should be willing to spend somehow $300,000 a unit to take care of a homeless person that has special emotional problems or... I mean, it's absolutely our responsibility as humans. Yes. Does it all need to happen in the same location? Not necessarily. I think, like I said, every community can benefit from having this housing. I think some of the worst things that happened in San Francisco was when people, like you said, couldn't afford to live there anymore. It created this have and have nots environment. You lost art, you lost community, you lost... Some of the problems that we face in my district are also some of the things that are really interesting and great about it. So... You seem to be saying... So... So... So... So... So... So... So... So... So... So... So... So... So... So... So... So... So... So... So... So... So... So... You seem to be saying you like the mix of communities, but you think it should be everywhere. But we're... It's breaking our back. It's like one of those giant backpacks when people go hiking. Right. I always watch them and think, God, do you really need all that stuff? Like, I can't travel like that. A little backpack would be good. So we really need to think urban planning long-term, instead of these little... little piecemeal legislations that come down the path. You know, I know that a lot of people have lived here a long time and there is a community in Skid Row. I mean, it's ironic that they're talking about families wanting to move here and be here as if they don't exist. They go outside and walk the streets of, you know, San Pedro and there's kids everywhere, you know. I mean, there's already infrastructure here. So we already need schools and healthcare clinics and options. It is expensive, to answer your question, to build that housing. So the money is going to have to be subsidized. I mean, this is not going to be a let the market decide kind of thing. Well, I happen to agree with you. At the time of the county shutdown of the Gloria Molina plan, I wrote my poem, The Homeless Are Here to Stay. The council said it today. The county said it yesterday. The homeless are here to stay. Not in all districts. No way. Only downtown, they say. Sleeping on sidewalks? That's okay. Anywhere in the city. Any day. The council said it today. So I agree with you that nearly all of the city's Ba Ba Ba Ba Ba Ba Ba Ba Ba Ba Ba Ba Ba Ba Ba Ba Ba Ba Ba Ba Ba Ba Ba Ba Ba Ba Ba Ba Ba Ba Ba Ba Ba Ba Ba Ba Ba Ba Ba Ba Ba Ba Ba Ba Ba Ba Ba Ba Ba Ba Ba Ba Ba Ba Ba Ba Ba Ba Ba Ba Ba Ba Ba Ba Ba Ba Ba Ba Ba Ba Ba Ba Ba Ba Ba Ba Ba Ba Ba Ba Ba Ba Ba Ba Ba Ba Ba Ba Ba Ba Ba Ba Ba Ba Ba Ba Ba Ba Ba Ba Ba Ba Ba Ba Ba Ba Ba Ba Ba Ba Ba Ba Ba Ba Ba Ba Ba Ba Ba Ba Ba Ba Ba Ba Ba Ba Ba Ba Ba Ba Ba Ba Ba Ba Ba Ba Ba Ba Ba Ba Ba Ba Ba Ba Ba Ba Ba Ba Ba Ba Ba Ba Ba Ba Ba Ba Ba Ba Ba Ba Ba Ba Ba Ba Ba Ba Ba Ba Ba Ba Ba Ba Ba Ba Ba Ba Ba Ba Ba Ba Ba Ba Ba Ba Ba Ba Ba Ba Ba Ba Ba Ba Ba Ba Ba Ba Ba Ba Ba Ba Ba Ba Ba Ba Ba Ba Ba Ba Ba Ba Ba Ba Ba Ba Ba Ba Ba Ba Ba Ba Ba be really disappointed about that direction because they're used to us people don't like change but it's inevitable and resistance is futile i i forget who said that but um you know maybe some of these conservative republicans haven't heard that expression maybe a lot of people haven't heard that expression but we can't continue to exist like this some somebody somewhere down the road i think will take this on because like i said i just go back to the word shame it's shameful it's embarrassing that we are the dumping ground not just for the nation but internationally and how do you mean by that that we're the dumping ground internationally people who are interviewed on skid row i've run into them myself and talked to them they literally have just gotten off of a bus from somewhere else because they were told that this is the place to come where they can be taken care of the irony in that is at some point there will not be enough services to handle the density of people that are here and also you're creating an environment where if i'm an entrepreneurial drug dealer i'm going to go where the largest population of addicts are so you're creating a perfect it's a perfect storm it's the perfect place for them and when you decentralize suddenly they have to rethink their business plan nothing would make me happier okay well it's it's great to have a guest like you that feels so strongly about these issues do you think that larger institutions bear responsibility for some of the things that happen downtown i'm thinking of the right aid on fifth and broadway do landlords and large retail chains have some responsibility to take action when something is taking place near their premises or inside their premises that threatens the larger society and the larger society and the larger community i'll say this when property owners and institutions like that do care you don't have the problems so when they do take a very aggressive stance you don't have those issues can you give us an example of that downtown i think of the methodology when we were doing construction on the santa fe lofts we had people coming into the building and you know riding up the elevator and smoking crack on the roof and all kinds of things and we switched security companies and we had two roving guards on the perimeter of the property basically interacting with people in the immediate area not necessarily in a confrontational manner but just hi i'm here who are you can i help you it created an environment where it was not comfortable for people to come and conduct criminal activity anymore and i think that's the kind of effort that can be taken by a tenant by a landlord to discourage that the bid certainly we do that to the extent that we can but we have an entire district to serve so we can't consistently focus on one area and only one area and one problem that's when we work with the police you know on a task force but yeah it's disappointing to me when larger institutions come in and don't have pride of of ownership but you know you know i just went by a guy by fifth and broadway it looked like i could get a prescription out of him faster than out of my primary care doctor the guy there was so many pills in this guy's hand i didn't know what to think what does that say about uh right aid or other retail chains down the road i think that there may be nothing i just think it says that they're not necessarily taking an active role in what's happening as a result of their pharmacy and it's you know it's a convenience that's that's there's been a gang that's had fifth street for a very long time and that takes a long time to break up you know time um efforts by the community if right aid would be a partner that would be amazing i i just don't i don't see them having that sort of pride on that level okay well can you tell us anything else that you what it's like to be a working mom downtown and how that's changed the way you proceed and what you're looking out for or have you become aware of more services that are needed downtown once you had the baby what did you did it change your primary affiliation what's well it used to be you know the artists were kind of the underground people in downtown and now it's the parents and the pregnant women i've never seen so many pregnant women in downtown until i myself was pregnant and you realize that wow there's a good population of people and i think they said something like i don't know between 15 and 18 it feels higher of what is it of what it feels higher it feels higher it feels higher families of people with children under the age of 18 in downtown Los Angeles. Wow, that's incredible. Yeah, I mean, it's exciting. It's another opportunity to, it's an evolution. So we had to build a community where we had more than just, you know, a ghost town at night. Now we've built this 24-hour community. Now we have to think about a community of growth and children and nurturing and a nurturing community where we have schools and after-school programs. And, you know, this is also another opportunity to engage Skid Row and the children there because if a charter school, as it's moving forward in the fall, their children will be participants. So this is another opportunity to sort of bridge a gap. I think it's just, it's, now I can come from, when I had a dog down here, and people complained about the dog issues, I could speak from a position of understanding because I had one. Now I can do the same thing with families. I understand what their needs are. Are people abusing the new park on Spring Street with their dogs? I understand it was shut recently. It was shut recently because Rec and Parks doesn't necessarily, I think, have the resources to tend to it as regularly as we would like. It was shut down for a weekend. I think by now. I think by now. I think by accident, not for any reason. What people don't know is that there are no laws against having dogs in a city park. That is a good thing and a bad thing. It's a good thing if the community polices itself. But if people are irresponsible, it's, I really get frustrated when people say to me, well, a homeless guy poops outside my door every day, so who cares if my dog does it in the middle of the sidewalk? I have a problem with that for obvious reasons. It's not so obvious. What's the problem? Well, you can't legislate one without the other. I mean, they both need to be controlled. Crap has no business anywhere other than in designated areas. So, you know, it's up to, that's something that the bid is really, we're looking to address is educating dog owners about where it's polite to let your dog go to the bathroom and not. And, you know, the middle of a plot of grass in Springfield, Spring Street, it's so rare that we get green space in downtown LA that it should be treasured and it should be used for everybody. If it's a toilet for dogs, that's all it will ever be. Rather than a plot of grass where, you know, I think Ari Simon out of my office wrote this brilliant flyer and it said, you know, this plot of grass is a place to have a picnic, do some yoga, debate politics. You know, all of these wonderful. uses for it. But if you let your dog, you know, poop and pee there, all it'll ever be is a toilet. And that's the truth. Same with the police station. So. Almost smacks of the attitude, the old attitude towards the area. Well, it's just a toilet. Exactly. It's, it's just, it's now people have a sense of entitlement. And I think what we need to get back to is a sense of community. And I feel like, God, I've overused that word so much today, but it's so important. That's what makes. Especially our area of downtown so great is that it's a, it's a true community with community issues. A lot of us know each other. Everybody has a, there's a collective consciousness there that hopefully is going to push us towards achieving the good goals and mitigating the problems that we have. Fantastic. I think you're involved in the creation of a new organization downtown. That might attack some of these problems. Can you share anything about that with us? The, so there was something called the historic downtown merchants association. Right. Is now going to be called the historic downtown building and merchants association that will basically be an organization of people who just represents the small business owners and whichever property owners want to buy in. Um, you know, the bid can only go so far. We were, we're the boots on the ground doing the actual, uh, services, but in terms of representing and coming up with policy changes, it, we, there needs to be another organization to handle that. So I'm helping them get their feet off the ground and, you know, have meetings and sort of build the organization. It's a great. Tool for people to communicate with each other, to network, to build their business, but also to attack some of the issues that prop, you know, are problems for them. Can you tell us who's behind that organization and the primary current, our current chairman is, uh, Rob Gaudio from pussy and pooch. And he's rob at pussy and pooch.com. If anybody wants to reach out to him to join the organization, if you're in the historic core area. Okay. Well, can you tell us anything more about your relationship with the organization? Yeah. So I'm a part of the police or your special new relationship with your son. Wow. One is work and one is, you know, heart, but I guess heart is in my work as well. Um, wow. I, I'm, I'm excited to bring in a little soul into this world that, that I get to be a part of. I think I'm, I feel like one of the luckiest people on the planet. I, to get to do what I do every day. Now I have a son. So I get that whole other joyous thing that I'm so excited about. I feel like it's a club that I've never been a part of and never really had any concern for. Finally, you know, they're, uh, I'm a part of it now. Okay. Well, thanks so much. I mean, our first working mom in our final context session for downtown Blair Beston, and you'll be able to get her interview along with all the others in our library on, uh, iTunes. All the podcasts are available there and please subscribe so you can catch up on our series. Thanks, Ed. And next week, I believe we'll take a break from these political types and have, you know, one of our most famous poets here, Mike, the poet, to give us a slightly different perspective on downtown. Thanks so much, Blair. Thanks, Ed. Thanks, Pierre. Thanks Pierre. The wind is a restless wind.