Our very special guest speaker is Wendy Greuel. She is President Pro Tempore of the Los Angeles City Council and represents the Second District in the Northeast San Fernando Valley. She was sworn into office on April 4, 2002.
A life-long resident of the San Fernando Valley, Wendy has worked tirelessly to be an independent voice fighting for the Valley’s fair share of city resources. Her leadership is inspired by her strong belief that a more responsive government, greater citizen participation, and empowered neighborhoods will improve the quality of life for all residents and create safer communities, a strong local economy and a brighter future for our children.
Wendy believes in doing what is practical, not political, to get the job done and is focused on reforms that make the city more efficient and accountable.
Wendy understands that few problems impact the quality of life in Los Angeles more than traffic. Wendy believes people deserve to spend more time with their families, volunteering at schools and running their businesses than sitting in traffic.
As the new Chair of the City’s Transportation Committee, she has already banned road construction during rush hour, created anti-gridlock zones, which reduces traffic during rush hour, and lobbied Sacramento to ensure construction and completion of a North-bound 405 carpool lane. Wendy is determined to get the city’s fair share of transportation dollars from Washington DC and Sacramento; identify funding sources to synchronize all of the city’s traffic lights and install left-hand turn signals at our most congested intersections; ensure that the city uses federally earmarked funds efficiently; and improve coordination between the city’s Planning, Housing, and Transportation departments.
Throughout her career, Wendy has developed a record of accomplishments by solving problems, addressing neighborhood needs and delivering basic city services.
During her last term, Wendy developed the Stolen Vehicle Recovery program, under which parking enforcement officers to have stolen vehicles towed, instead of the LAPD. DOT officers have towed more than 2,000 vehicles which has allowed LAPD officers 2,000 additional hours to respond to more serious crimes. She also created the Office of Public Safety which consolidated the city’s many security forces into one safety unit to better serve our neighborhoods and save money. Wendy also created the 50/50 Sidewalk Program, which has increased the mileage of sidewalks fixed in her district by 20% without spending additional taxpayer dollars.
Since she took office, Wendy has made a priority of fighting to preserve precious remaining open space throughout the San Fernando Valley. She created the sixth largest park in the City of Los Angeles by purchasing 230 acres South of La Tuna Canyon. The Councilwoman also secured passage of the Scenic Preservation Corridor Plan, purchased a passive park adjacent to Big Tujunga wash, fought to permanently preserve 750 acres of open space and prevent any further development in the Verdugo Mountains.
A responsive government also means removing the influence of money in politics, which is why she has worked diligently to ban fundraising and independent expenditures by city commissioners on behalf of politicians and elected officials. As a member of the Audits and Government Efficiency Committee, Wendy has saved taxpayers millions of dollars by cutting wasteful government spending and identifying fraud and corruption in city government.
As a member of the City’s Budget Committee, Wendy is working to make Los Angeles more business friendly. She led the fight to restructure the city’s archaic business tax system to spur economic development and create jobs for Los Angeles’ working families. Her reforms eliminated the business tax for over 60% of the city’s small businesses and made the tax system more equitable with neighboring jurisdictions. These reforms have saved Los Angeles businesses nearly $100 million since their inception.
Wendy’s first experiences with public service began early as Student Body President at Kennedy High School, an internship in Councilman Joel Wachs’ office and an internship in the Office of Mayor Tom Bradley. She continued her commitment to public service while a student at University of California, Los Angeles.
Wendy has a unique combination of government, business and community leadership experience. Upon graduation Wendy learned how to make things work for people at City Hall in the office of Mayor Bradley, where she was the mayor’s liaison to the City Council, City Departments and the community on public policy issues including child care, the homeless, the elderly, and health issues. She was instrumental in the creation of LA’s BEST, the nationally recognized after school program now serving school children in the Second District and throughout the city.
Wendy also understands how to work with Washington and Sacramento to provide resources for, and deliver services to, the Second District. From 1993 to 1997, Wendy worked in the administration of President Bill Clinton. She served with Cabinet Secretary Henry Cisneros as the Field Operations Officer for Southern California for the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) where she championed projects offering opportunities for homeownership, job creation, economic development, and social services for the less fortunate. She was instrumental in coordinating HUD’s 1994 Northridge earthquake emergency response and recovery programs.
In 1997, Wendy joined the Corporate Affairs Department of DreamWorks SKG where she worked on the company’s government and community affairs. She coordinated DreamWorks’ legislative and governmental activities at the local, state and national levels. Her extensive experience enhanced the company’s commitment to be a community partner and a good corporate citizen.
Wendy is Chair of the City Council’s Transportation Committee; Vice-Chair of the Budget Committee; Member of the Audits and Government Efficiency, Jobs Business Growth and Tax Reform, and Energy and the Environment Committees.
She is married to Dean Schramm and has a five-year old son, Thomas.
Check out the list of registered attendees to see who’s coming!
Laryn Nolan will be the speaker at our next meeting! She will be presenting on wellness and the importance of getting the nutrients we need from the fruits and vegetables to help us with our health and skin. Laryn will also talk about her charity work with special needs children. She is a mother of 3; her youngest is a 12-year-old son who has had 44 surgeries and has special needs, so Laryn is very familiar with the cause and very passionate about charity and volunteering and health and wellness. One of her dreams is to create an overnight camp through the United Cerebral Palsy.
Patti is the daughter of Ronald and Nancy Reagan, but has made a name for herself as the author of 8 published books, including The Long Goodbye — a memoir about losing her father to Alzheimer’s — and the most recent The Lives Our Mothers Leave Us (Prominent Women Discuss the Complex, Humorous, and Ultimately Loving Relationships They Have with Their Mothers.) She has also written for numerous magazines and several newspapers and had a Hallmark movie produced a couple of years ago, titled Sacrifices of the Heart.