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| Affiliation | Democratic |
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| Name | Jan C. Perry |
| Address | 515 South Figueroa
Los Angeles, California , United States |
| Email | None |
| Website | None |
| Born |
June 08, 1955
(68 years)
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| Contributor | Summer Intern |
| Last Modifed | David
Jan 24, 2023 11:15am |
| Tags |
Judaism -
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| Info | As Councilwoman of the Ninth District, Jan Perry understands the unique needs of her diverse constituency. Among her priorities in her four-year term is greater access to basic city services, expansion of after-school programs for kids, increasing green space in urban communities, and encouraging and fostering economic growth in all parts of the district. To this end, she has successfully responded to public works issues throughout the Ninth District, repairing sidewalks and streets; trimming trees; and cleaning alleys, lots, and neighborhoods. Perry continues to work with the community to develop more community gardens, increase public safety in parks, and to achieve environmental justice for all.
In the last year, Perry developed, introduced, and passed council motions designed to support her goals. In December of 2002, a motion authored by Perry passed unanimously, resulting in smoke-free zones around picnic and play areas in all city parks. Additionally, she took the lead in developing nutritional guidelines for all Recreation and Parks programs for children in order to improve children�s health and teach healthier eating habits. Perry continued her work by spearheading efforts to start the Central Avenue Farmers� Market in early 2003. The market is the first of its kind in this highly urban portion of the city and successfully brings fresh produce, baked goods, and artisans to the Southern portion of the Ninth District.
Perry also has taken the lead in planning issues throughout her community, working with communities to rediscover their historic and cultural roots. The result has been an increase in community pride and a resurgence of neighborhood names. Perry funded the design and creation of historical signs delineating neighborhoods throughout the Ninth District. And, this year, she responded to community leaders and introduced a motion that would officially change �South-Central� Los Angeles to �South Los Angeles� in a move to foster community pride and actively remove the stigma that is associated with this labeling.
Perry currently chairs the Environmental Quality and Waste Management Committee; is vice-chair of the Conventions, Tourism, Entertainment Industry and Business Enterprise Committee; is a member of the Public Works Committee, Ad-Hoc River Committee, and Ad-Hoc Stadium Committee. She also represents the City of Los Angeles as a board member of the South Coast Air Quality Management District (AQMD) and is a board member of the California Film Commission.
Environmental Justice
Perry is committed to increasing green space and the clean-up of brown fields in the Ninth District. During her time in office, she has successfully �greened� eight parks, reducing blighted property on these essential community gathering places. She also worked with Nike and the US Soccer Foundation to bring a state-of-the-art soccer field made of recycled materials to South Los Angeles, resulting in a environmentally-friendly place to play for the thousands of children who call the Ninth District and surrounding districts their home. Additionally, she took the lead in transforming a DWP pipe-yard into a beautiful park in the heart of South Los Angeles, converting yet another blighted area into an environmentally-friendly gathering place.
Perry continues to work with Environmental Affairs and other environmental agencies to develop innovative solutions to the Brownfields issue. She is in the process of designing two visionary wetland projects in her district that will take existing Brownfields and reintroduce them as a center for wildlife and environmental renewal. The wetlands also help to control polluted storm water run-off as they include state-of-the art water treatment facilities that will treat run-off in the wet season and contaminated groundwater during the dry season, creating a proper ecological and water-quality balance.
Perry takes pride in her involvement in �Cool Schools� and �Trees for a Green LA�, two LADWP programs of great environmental value to the city. Additionally, she understands the importance of these programs when it comes to protecting the public from harmful particulate contaminates and the importance of reducing emissions from both industry and exhaust producing vehicles. To this end, Perry supports replacing public fleets with alternative fuel vehicles like hybrid and electric running cars. She also is continually working with developers to get them involved in the LEEDS certificate program in order make buildings environmentally-friendly.
Homelessness
The Ninth District encompasses Central City East, which faces the unique and challenging problems that accompany homelessness. Since her election, Perry has worked aggressively to begin rebuilding the Central City East Community. In the last two years, Perry increased Public Works Services in Central City East. She revitalized and brought forward the Downtown Community Court Project, created 84 emergency shelter beds with services at SRO Housing for the service resistant homeless, and added an outreach component for the people who live and sleep on the streets.
Perry was an early advocate for leveraging Housing Trust Fund dollars with Prop 46 to create housing for the very poor who are homeless or in danger of becoming homeless. This includes permanent, supportive housing for persons with special needs. She has seen first-hand the success that people have found through this type of assistance. In the Ninth District, there is over 3,000 housing units for this population with more coming on line. Perry will continue to encourage the City and County to develop housing with supportive services, as this is the model for housing that truly assists the chronically homeless mentally ill, substance abuse population.
In 2003, Councilwoman Perry effectively lobbied both the members of the Los Angeles City Council and County Board of Supervisors to provide more funding to keep the 2,000 bed, emergency shelter system that currently operates from December to mid March open year-round. This unprecedented effort has allowed for an additional 250,000 bed nights with services for the homeless. She has established a goal to create a permanent source of funding for the homeless that will bring the City and County of Los Angeles closer than ever to meeting the need for service.
Public Safety
Perry aggressively continues to tackle the tough issue of public safety in the Ninth District. To this end, she developed and passed a motion that would confiscate vehicles used in drug transactions in an effort to arm police officers with another tool to fight crime. Additionally, she has taken the lead in addressing issues of violence and violent crime in the district. In 2003, Perry stood strong in her support of a motion to fund additional police officers. She emphasized the need for a stronger deployment of LAPD personnel and resources to areas like the Ninth District where violent crime statistics spoke of a greater need. Perry continues to remain vocal about this need, fighting for greater resources and support in South Los Angeles.
Increased community involvement in fighting crime remains a pivotal part of Perry�s strategy. Hand-in-hand with Community Police Advisory Boards, community police stations, other elected officials, and the community at large, Perry has hosted and participated in number of community forums, empowerment meetings, and community marches in a group effort to stop the violence. Through the use of reward motions and public information, she continues to work in a collaborative effort with the community and the LAPD to bring justice to the victims of violent crime.
Economic Development
Economic development in all parts of the Ninth District continues to be an important issue for Perry. Increased mix-use and affordable income housing, job opportunities, and business development are part of her vision for the Ninth District. Perry took the lead in supporting two new community redevelopment plans in Downtown Los Angeles while ensuring that they both included a significant percentage of affordable housing. Additionally, she created the Furniture and Decorative Arts District, Gallery Row, and helped sponsor economic development workshops like youth job fairs and housing seminars for the district. Currently, she is working with the Electrical Workers Union to link them with area youth in an apprenticeship program. She also has developed a partnership between LA Trade Tech College and Pueblo Del Rio to provide GSD classes and other educational opportunities.
Perry continues to support the development and maintenance of quality jobs throughout the Ninth District. In the past year, she has stood side-by-side union leaders and security workers demanding better training and benefits for security workers in the major buildings throughout downtown. In July of 2003, Perry took the initiative to ensure that the jobs and rights of local hotel workers at the Downtown Hyatt were protected under the City's Service Contractor Worker Retention Ordinance when the property was sold. She continues to be supportive of the rights and benefits of workers, encouraging the use of local workforce and workforce development in her district.
Awards and Affiliations
For Perry, public service extends beyond the walls of City Hall. She has served on the boards of many community and business organizations including: the Community Financial Resources Center, Los Angeles Education Partnership, and at the Metro Region of the National Women�s Political Caucus, Santa Monica Mountains Conservancy, the William O. Douglas Outdoor Classroom, the Jennessee Center Vocational Education Committee, League of Women Voters, Angels Flight Railway Foundation, and the Jewish Community Relations Committee of the Jewish Federation Council. Additionally, she has held leadership positions on the boards of the African-American/Jewish Leadership Connection (1997), Coro Foundation (1997), Hollywood Community Housing Corporation (1990-1993), the Japanese American National Museum (Currently), and the Black-Korean Alliance (1992).
Previous Experiences
The Ninth District became an integral part of Perry�s life even before her election to the City Council. During the five years she spent as Chief of Staff for the Ninth District, she became intimately involved with the concerns of the community. Determined to address the lack of open space for children to run and play, Perry, along with the Santa Monica Mountains Conservancy, developed an indigenous outdoor park with outdoor classrooms where children and their families could learn and appreciate California�s environment, native plants, and species. Perry�s additional council experience includes working as a Legislative Deputy for the 10th District and Senior Planning Deputy for the 13th District.
Perry developed programs to meet the immediate needs of the community. She created a city program to help liquor store owners convert their stores for better uses, helped restore dilapidated housing, and led a consortium of Asian-American and African-American bankers, encouraging investments after the 1992 civil unrest.
In July 1998, Los Angeles Mayor Richard Riordan appointed Perry to be the Executive Director of the Census 2000 Outreach Project for the City of Los Angeles. Perry directed the census effort in the nation�s most complex and culturally diverse city. The mission of the Census 2000 Outreach Project was to maximize the population count in Los Angeles, ensuring that the City of Los Angeles receives its fair share of state and federal funding for social services for the next ten years.
Background
Jan Perry has a long history in public service. Raised in the Midwest, she learned the importance of public service from her parents. Both her mother and father served as council members, and then mayors of their township. Following in their footsteps, Perry was elected to the Los Angeles City Council on July 5, 2001 with one of the largest margins of victory�57% to 43%.
Perry made Los Angeles her home in 1974 and attended the University of Southern California earning a Bachelors Degree in Journalism, Cum Laude. She received her B.A. in 1977, followed by a Masters in Public Administration in 1981. In addition, she earned a Certificate in Litigation from the University of California, Los Angeles Extension in 1979.
Source: Los Angeles City Council
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