A Tale of Stagnant Water

Driving past the intersection of Centinela and Alvern now, you would never know the headache and distress that the residents of Alvern Circle suffered through for nearly a year. When I began working in the Council Office in August the phone calls from many residents of the Westchester community started coming in.

"There’s stagnant water on Alvern and Centinela," they said. "Stop putting that ugly asphalt over the puddle of water," they demanded. "It takes me 10 minutes to cross over the lagoon that the water has created," they complained.

The phone calls were overwhelming and the situation wasn't getting fixed. Residents were angry and the Bureau of Street Maintenance said that all they could do is patch up the stagnant water that had eroded the asphalt with more asphalt. They contended that the Special Projects Division had to address the situation. The Special Projects Division said that they would add it to their backlog and get to it as soon as possible, but couldn't guarantee a timeframe for the project. After weeks of my pleading with both divisions, Theresa Tracy, Superintendent for Street Maintenance, offered a solution. She removed the cross gutter and put in a new splash apron made of concrete, not asphalt.

Needless to say, once the intersection was fixed, the calls began coming in. "Thank you for fixing it," they said. "It takes 1 minute to drive through the intersection," they stated. "The neighbors are so happy because the intersection looks beautiful," they shout.

Now my next obstacle is getting the same remedy on the corner of 87th and Emerson in Westchester and Harbor and Bryan in Venice.

Special thanks to Theresa Tracy from the Bureau of Street Services, Street Maintenance Division and all her crew members that made this possible. Residents of Alvern Circle and Council District 11 are very grateful for all their hard work.

-Nancy Aguilar, Constituent Advocate