Four years ago, I contacted management of Center for Inquiry, the quaint building that was located at the corner of Hollywood Boulevard and Berendo Street, across from Barnsdall Park in Los Feliz, and asked about their theater rental rates. "They're tearing this place down!" said the guy who answered the phone. "Forget it!" And tear it down, they did. However, only a bare, neglected patch of land was left in its place. In recent months, this formerly sedate and upscale residential L.A. neighborhood has seen tents and squalor take root all around this corner, and gangs have moved in.
There may be some homeless in those tents, but neighbors posting on Next Door have increasingly reported a terrifying situation in which taxpaying, law abiding families are now confronted with gangs who have set up headquarters under cover of the tents, and now stoke residents' fears with gunfire, threats, burglaries, tagging...and now a gang war over turf.
Desireh "Des" Sedaghat is running for a seat on the Los Feliz Neighborhood Council (LFNC) for District "B" on the "SAFETY FOR ALL" platform. The following interview delves into her motivations and her goals.
The fact that these residents' pleas with law enforcement and city officials has so far gotten them nowhere could mean that criminals will see this inaction as a Green Light to spread out and continue harming innocent citizens in a wider radius of Los Feliz.
This year, the only way to vote for candidates on LFNC is by requesting a ballot from the City Clerk, and mailing your filled out ballot by Tuesday, April 6. You'll find Ms. Sedaghat's name at the bottom of the list of candidates under the heading "District B") and she's listed as "Des" (not Desireh).
INTERVIEW WITH DES SEDAGHAT
What is your background and experience that you feel
qualifies you for this position on the LFNC?
I grew up in the middle of a war
torn country. My family and I fled to the US because we had been oppressed and
our lives endangered due to our religion. Furthermore, my parents couldn't bear
raising two daughters in a country where we had less rights just for being
girls and not boys.
Ever since I arrived in the US at 8 years old, I have never
had a day where I took for granted the sense of community, freedom and safety
that this country had provided us. I have lived in LA since I was 9, and have
lived in Los Feliz for 8 years and love the diversity and community that exists
here.
However, for over a year, I have seen firsthand the
community be torn apart and threatened due to crime, gangs, violence, sales of
drugs & vandalism. I dedicated the last 1+ year of my life to doing
anything and everything I can to help restore safety for all in our community.
I have dealt with the Mayor's office, CD4, LFNC, LFIA, LAPD, LAHSA, PATH as
well as countless neighbors in an effort to help.
As an elected
official on the LFNC, I will have more direct access and opportunity to make a
positive difference in our community and will be an ear for anyone in need in
the neighborhood.
I am also a founding member of the Berendo/Lyman/Rodney
Safety AdHoc Committee. I've attended every LFNC meeting that I can and am also
a member of the Public/Health & Safety and Homelessness Committees.
What, if anything, have you personally experienced as a
threat to your safety since these "homeless encampments" have had an
influx of gang activity?
First of all, I'd like to address one thing in this
question: This is not a homelessness issue - it's a safety issue. I am very
compassionate and have reached out to CD4 regarding the true unhoused
individuals I see nearby on Hollywood Boulevard. The Berendo encampment is a gang
encampment. Nothing more, nothing less.
My car tires were stabbed on 2 different occasions when
members of the Berendo encampment saw me speaking to the LAPD. My home has been
vandalized on 2 different occasions with gang tagging. I was followed on foot
while walking down Hollywood Blvd to pick up Thai food and had to call my
husband for a ride home.
Gunshots were fired at the Berendo Encampment right
outside my living room window on January 27 -- it was a gang-related shooting over
a stolen Mercedes Benz.
My neighbor had a knife pulled on him.
My 9 year old
niece witnessed an assault.
We have had members of the encampment ring our doorbell and pretend they're beheading us by running their finger across
their neck. And they have gestured with their hand that they're going to
shoot us.
Need I say more?
How do you know for certain the violence, home
invasions, and drug selling are attributable to gangs who have "moved
in."
For anyone doubting what's really going on, I urge you to
get in touch with Senior Lead Officer Leo Rey at LAPD Northeast, SLO Lenny
Davis & and Neighborhood Prosecutor Gabby Taylor.
What would you say
is the biggest frustration the surrounding neighborhood of Berendo and
Hollywood Blvd. has faced and still faces?
The biggest frustration is getting help from the Los Angeles City Council, District 4 (CD4) office. They are well aware of the
situation and are proactively choosing outreach as the only solution to this
problem. Well, I think outreach is great and I'm glad they are taking steps in
helping our unhoused neighbors, however, in the specific case of the LML
encampment on Berendo, outreach has been doing and will continue to do zero
good.
The neighbors have also been demanding a meeting with Councilwoman Raman
for MONTHS. She lives just a few minutes away in Silver Lake, and yet she's too busy
to face us and hear our traumas firsthand, but somehow has the time to go to
the Echo Park Closure protest which isn't even in her District. Frustrating
doesn't even scratch the surface.
What specific actions toward resolving
this situation would you take if elected? And what would you anticipate as the
greatest challenges?
The greatest challenge will be to have the city care enough
to keep all residents safe -- not the housed at the cost of the unhoused and
vice versa. Safety shouldn't be an either/or.
I will also try my hardest to hold the owners of the empty
lot of Berendo/Hollywood responsible for their negligence in keeping the lot
unsecure.