Flores Upbeat on Wilmington

Los Angeles Councilwoman Joan Milke Flores used her second annual “State of the City” address Thursday to deliver an upbeat message of change to neighborhood and business leaders in Wilmington, a community that for years has been struggling to overcome pollution, blight and the deterioration of its downtown business district.

Flores also announced that “the chances are very good” that when the council restructures its standing committees in July, she will head a new committee that oversees the city’s three independent departments: the Harbor Department, Airport Department and Department of Water and Power.

Her speech included an update on the city’s efforts to revitalize the downtown business district and bring jobs to Wilmington. Touching on issues that have long been of concern to community leaders, the councilwoman promised to continue pressing for improvements in street sweeping, added traffic patrols and better cooperation from the Los Angeles Harbor Department.

Comparing Wilmington to the Soviet Union--which she recently visited on a paid city just as is true in the Soviet Union, each step is leading us closer to the point where we want to be--in a revitalized community, with a better quality of life.”