Developing priorities: Margarita De Escontrias, East Valley Regional Administrator for the L.A. Community Redevelopment Agency, faces the task of completing several high-profile projects while making sure her organization stays close to the community as it goes about its work.Throughout her many stops in her career, Margarita De Escontrias has maintained one consistent vision: to make her community a better place. A native Angeleno, she began her career as an intern at the Riverside office for Catholic Charities, while attending the University of California, Riverside The University of California, Riverside, commonly known as UCR or UC Riverside, is a public research university and one of ten campuses of the University of California system. . Upon graduation, she began working full-time for the organization in various capacities including a field worker, a community outreach staffer and the executive director of a pro bono Short for pro bono publico [Latin, For the public good]. The designation given to the free legal work done by an attorney for indigent clients and religious, charitable, and other nonprofit entities. legal aid program for indigent indigent 1) n. a person so poor and needy that he/she cannot provide the necessities of life (food, clothing, decent shelter) for himself/herself. 2) n. one without sufficient income to afford a lawyer for defense in a criminal case. clients. Then in 1985, De Escontrias decided to make the transition into public sector work, taking a post at the Riverside Economic Development Agency, where she again rose through the ranks during the 15 years she spent at the organization. Finally in 2000, she opted to return home, taking a position as the Los Angeles Los Angeles (lôs ăn`jələs, lŏs, ăn`jəlēz'), city (1990 pop. 3,485,398), seat of Los Angeles co., S Calif.; inc. 1850. Community Redevelopment Agency; Housing Manager. Then in May of 2004, she was assigned to the CRA's East Valley Division to manage and oversee housing development in the area. But her biggest break yet came in August of this year, when David Riccitiello, who had headed the CRA's efforts in the East Valley, was reassigned to the downtown region, and De Escontrias took his place. Currently, she is in charge of the CRA's work in the East ValleyS three main sectors: Laurel Canyon Boulevard Laurel Canyon Boulevard is a major street in the city of Los Angeles, California. It starts off at Polk Street in Sylmar in the northern San Fernando Valley near the junction of the San Diego (Interstate 405) and the Golden State Freeways (Interstate 5). , North Hollywood and Pacoima/Panorama City. Under her watch, she is spearheading the development of major projects at the Valley Plaza Shopping Center shopping center, a concentration of retail, service, and entertainment enterprises designed to serve the surrounding region. The modern shopping center differs from its antecedents—bazaars and marketplaces—in that the shops are usually amalgamated into , the NoHo Commons, the Florentine Apartments, the Metro Mixed-Use Project, the Pacoima Center Retail project, the Pacoima Town Center and rehabilitation of an office tower in Panorama City that has been vacant since the Northridge Earthquake The Northridge earthquake occurred on January 17, 1994 at 4:31 AM Pacific Standard Time in the city of Los Angeles, California. The earthquake had a "strong" moment magnitude of 6. . Question: Specifically, what is the status of the ongoing projects in the Valley, including NoHo Commons, the Valley Plaza Shopping Center and the Panorama Tower. Answer: The Panorama Tower is in need of rehab and we'd like to work with the owner in an owner participation role to either rehab the existing structure to use as a residential, mixed use development, rehab it into strictly residential use or demolish the building and construct a brand new mixed-use development Mixed-use development refers to the practice of allowing more than one type of use in a building or set of buildings. In planning zone terms, this can mean some combination of residential, commercial, industrial, office, institutional, or other land uses. on site. In fact, we're meeting with the property owner this coming week to further those discussions. Valley Plaza is our biggest project on Laurel Canyon Laurel Canyon can refer to several things:
NoHo Commons is still on schedule and I look at it every day outside my window. We're currently entering phase three, which will be a retail component which is still in negotiation. Q: In the past, the city of L.A. and the CRA See Community Reinvestment Act. have been criticized for being too much of a bloated bureaucracy and for not doing enough to work with the community? Do you believe that progress has been made in making the organization more active in the community? A: Our regional approach now allows us to be pro-active and to encourage investment. We provide a cadre of local experienced staff at the regional level to investors, developers, corporations and small businesses and to provide technical assistance and resources. I don't think that criticism has merit any longer. The regional approach really addresses bringing that local bureaucracy out into the neighborhood and we've been building our relationships with the neighborhood councils Neighborhood councils are governmental or non-governmental bodies composed of local people who handle neighborhood problems. They can be found in many cities throughout the world. , the coordinating councils and other members of the community. Q: What are your priorities at the moment in your position? A: We need to continue to focus on mixed-use developments that provide local shopping and resources and entertainment. We also need to provide affordable as well as market rate housing. I'm also trying to preserve our older neighborhoods on Laurel Canyon, North Hollywood. Right now, Pacoima has a tremendous amount of overcrowding overcrowding overcrowding of animal accommodation. Many countries now publish codes of practice which define what the appropriate volumetric allowances should be for each species of animal when they are housed indoors. Breaches of these codes is overcrowding. and certainly a priority is to develop new affordable units in that area. We're also trying to fill four vacant positions for two assistant project managers and two project mangers and have been operating with a limited staff and resources right now. I'm also very focused on our nine priority projects right. Those are probably my top priority. Q: When Economic Alliance President and CEO (1) (Chief Executive Officer) The highest individual in command of an organization. Typically the president of the company, the CEO reports to the Chairman of the Board. Bruce Ackerman Bruce Arnold Ackerman (born August 19, 1943) is a famous constitutional law scholar in the United States. He is a Sterling Professor at Yale Law School and one of the most frequently cited legal academics in the country. Biography Ackerman received his B. was recently named to the board of the CRA, he said that the organization should target smaller areas and specific buildings. His logic was that it's difficult to get projects in motion when a large area is targeted. Do you agree? A: I absolutely agree with him. There are certain communities that require a more neighborhood approach and there are areas in North Hollywood where we're embarking on a neighborhood improvement strategy to improve sidewalks, streets, curbs, gutters and lighting. Our neighborhoods definitely require investment and by focusing on the smaller projects we can help preserve and enhance them. Q: What is your vision for the future of the Valley? How do you want it to look? What would you like your legacy to be? A: Our community is known as the Valley of the Stars and I want to make our community diverse and offer a wide range of amenities in terms of arts, entertainment, shopping, dining and public open spaces for our children. I want to continue to preserve all the natural beauty that exists because I want it to have a distinct sense of identity. Snapshot Margarita De Escontrias Title: Regional Administrator of the East Valley Organization: CRA Los Angeles Born: October 1953, Los Angeles Education: B.A. music and Chicano studies Chicano studies is an academic discipline. Like most branches of Ethnic studies, it incorporates aspects of various other disciplines, including history, sociology, psychology, and literary and textual analyses from the academic studies of the English and Spanish languages. , M.A., music, University of California, Riverside. Career Turning Point: When I shifted from the non-profit sector to the public sector in 1985. Most Admired People: Cesar Chavez Hobbies: Music and performing Personal: Married, one daughter |
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