The Board of Public Works welcomed two additional Neighborhood Council Cleans Streets Heroes today to learn about their work in the community as well as recognize them for the partnership to help meet the city’s goals to clean our streets, sidewalks, and alleys. Wilmington Neighborhood Council Board Member Diana Medel and Pico Union Neighborhood Council Board Member Jesus Bañuelos were introduced to the board by Board of Neighborhood Commissioners President Len Shaffer, Commissioner Josh LaFarga, and EmpowerLA General Manager Grayce Liu.
Born in Mexico City and raised in Wilmington California, Diana Medel is a 20 year-old community activist and current board member of the Wilmington Neighborhood Council. Seeking the American Dream, her mother brought Diana to California at the young age of 8 years old. Through opportunities in high school, Diana began to take a leadership role on campus and throughout her community. She began as vice president of her learning academy, president of a Relay for Life team, and got involved with the unique experience of mentoring middle school girls. Diana is a relatively new board member on the Wilmington Neighborhood Council, works at a non-profit called South Bay Center for Community Development, is the I Heart Wilmington outreach coordinator, and gets involved in annual neighborhood clean-ups, information fairs, town halls, and other civic activities. Diana works very closely with Councilman Joe Buscaino and his staff on a regular basis and on a variety of issues and events that make a positive impact in the community. Her passion is to empower community members to make significant changes in their neighborhood. She continues to pursue her education at Los Angeles Harbor College and aspires to obtain her Master’s degree in communications. For more information about the Wilmington Neighborhood Council go to www.WilmingtonNeighborhoodCouncil.com.
You can learn more about Diana’s efforts by watching this video.
Born in Fresnillo, Zacatecaz, Mexico, Jesus Bañuelos has been a resident of the Pico Union community for 35 years, is an active parishioner at the Saint Thomas the Apostle Catholic Church, a board member on the Pico Union Neighborhood Council, and a volunteer with the Olympic Police Station. Jesus is very well known in the community and has an exceptional relationship with Councilman Gil Cedillo and his staff because of his activism, friendly and welcoming demeanor. He annually gets involved with cleanups, movies festivals, National Night Out events, and other civic activities. Jesus’ contributions to his community go beyond his neighborhood including helping coordinate community events that have helped Angelenos get their driver’s licenses, get access to better housing, and get their citizenship. Jesus is married to Zoila Bañuelos, also a community activist, and is father to three sons including Jesus, Oswaldo, and Sergio. Jesus strongly believes in continuously inviting residents to become part of community organizations where they can work to better the community; to be active and to work together for the community. For more information about Pico Union Neighborhood Council go to www.PicoUnionNC.org.
Check out Jesus’ video to learn more.
Congratulations to Diana and Jesus for engaging the community and leveraging the many resources available to improve the quality of life of their neighborhoods.
On April 23, 2015, Mayor Eric Garcetti issued Executive Directive No. 8 titled the “Clean Streets Initiative” which aims to improve the livability and cleanliness of the City of Los Angeles by targeting the removal of litter and debris from city streets, sidewalks, alleys, and other public spaces. ED No. 8 specifically directs the Bureau of Sanitation and the Department of Neighborhood Empowerment (EmpowerLA) to work together to engage Neighborhood Councils as partners to work towards the CSI mission.
In partnership with other city agencies, EmpowerLA has made available tools and resources to engage Neighborhood Councils with the Clean Streets Initiative including assisting the Bureau of Sanitation in connecting with Neighborhood Councils, encouraging all NCs to appoint a Public Works Liaison, selecting Clean Streets Heroes from different parts of L.A., providing NCs a platform to share their Clean Streets stories, informing NCs of opportunities to weigh in on relevant public works-related legislation, and connecting them with neighborhood cleanup resources.
For more information on how you can get involved with Clean Streets please visit your Neighborhood Council website, bpw.lacity.org, or www.EmpowerLA.org.
