In February 2023, Karmina Lopez joined the team as our new Technical Assistance Program (TAP) Grants Officer. As the TAP Grants Officer, she will be assisting the TAP Coordinator by  helping TAP-eligible cities access funding and resources to create and maintain high-quality and creative parks and open spaces for park-poor communities. Welcome, Karmina!

TAP launched a new initiative called the Brown Bag Lunch Series, where park planning and development experts share their experiences and the latest trends and best practices in the industry. The first Brown Bag Lunch was held on April 12, 2023, with Chester Kano, the Chief of the Development Division, Planning & Development Agency, at the Los Angeles County Department of Parks and Recreation (DPR). Mr. Kano has over a decade of public project experience and a background in designing and constructing buildings across the western United States, Hawaii, and Japan. He manages a team of architects, landscape architects, designers, project managers, and construction managers working on improving the department's extensive network of parks, cultural facilities, and more.

Mr. Kano shared the work of Los Angeles County's parks, including an overview of their projects and funding methods, with examples of current and recent projects. He also briefly discussed their past and present partners, such as the Conservation Corps and LA Neighborhood Land Trust. The presentation highlighted their approach to projects, considering community benefit, programmatic and operational impacts, and ongoing budget impacts.

The Brown Bag Lunch Series will be held quarterly. Take advantage of this fantastic opportunity to learn more about park planning and development! RPOSD will announce upcoming Brown Bag Lunches via our email blasts and social media posts.

On April 19, 2023, the Citizens Oversight Advisory Board for Measure A hosted their second meeting of the year. The in-person element of this quarterly meeting was resumed while retaining the ability for virtual attendance by the public that was introduced during the pandemic. The meeting began at 6:00 p.m. and all the items on the agenda were discussed. The District Administrator had the opportunity to provide the latest developments on several important issues to the Board, including the positive follow-up report released by the Auditor-Controller and progress on an upcoming solicitation to upgrade our Grants Management System (GMS). Minutes from the meeting will be available on the Advisory Board webpage upon Board approval. The next meeting will take place in July; exact date, time, and location to be determined.   

What used to be a parking lot at Pioneer High School is now an impressive aquatic center for residents in the unincorporated community of West Whittier. The center boasts two swimming pools, a 50-meter Olympic-sized swimming pool and a 25-meter swimming pool, and a new facility with locker rooms, restrooms, and classrooms. Proposition A granted $5.5 million to DPR towards this project, and it is a much needed resource for West Whittier and the Los Nietos neighborhood that previously lacked a public swimming pool. Now, residents don’t have to travel outside the community to enjoy the benefits of swimming and aquatic activities, especially in the upcoming summer months. This new resource opened in late October 2022, and we encourage everyone in the area to come and check out the new aquatic center and experience its many amenities firsthand.

"There I was, in my warm and fluffy bed, having just laid down my head for my mid-morning, post playtime nap, when my dreams of a lazy Saturday were arrested by my humans who strapped a harness on me and dragged me to some place called Barrel Springs Trail in some place they call Palmdale. Well, there weren’t any barrels and there weren’t any springs but there sure was a lot of stuff to sniff and there were squirrels and birds and butterflies, and I wonder if the squirrels here are friends with the squirrels back home - they aren’t mean like the ones back home. And there were other dogs with their humans, and they were nice too. I had a lot of fun. My humans brought a lot of water which is good because it can get really hot here. If your human takes you, make sure they bring a lot of water too. All in all, I give Barrels Springs Trail four paws out of four, but I’d still rather be in my bed.”

- Translated and submitted by human dad, Ioan.