Fourth of July Celebrations in Council District 14

I had a great time with the community the past two weekends at El Sereno Recreation Center and at Hollenbeck Park in Boyle Heights at our Fourth of July Concert and Firework shows. In El Sereno, my two girls had a heck of a time running around playing with balloons. And my four-month-old son, Simon, was cracking up when my wife had him bouncing up and down to the music. It was nice to kick off my shoes and relax with my family along with so many other parents and their children. The music was fantastic and the food was excellent. By the time the fireworks began around 9 p.m., there were more than 1,800 people there. Our newly paved parking lot next door that my office was responsible for completing was full! The fireworks were fantastic. We were all “oohing’ and “ahhing” the whole time. I heard afterward that one man and his wife told my staff that he had lived in El Sereno for more than 20 years and had never seen anything so nice. We’ll, we look forward to an even better show next year!

At the Boyle Heights show on July 5, I joined about 4,000 people for the second annual fireworks show. This year’s show was even better than the year before, featuring about two dozen community booths, great food and—most importantly—a safe, family atmosphere. I remember attending firework shows as a kid in the same neighborhood and I was proud to bring this great tradition back to Boyle Heights last year. What I liked most was seeing young kids running with joy at the sight of the fireworks. It reminded me of myself as a young kid enjoying these public events. I need to publicly thank my entire staff, who all helped make both shows such a success.

Another event that I greatly enjoyed was the flag raising and Fourth of July re-enactment of the first Independence Day celebrated in Los Angeles at the Fort Moore Memorial in downtown. The re-enactment was awesome, and I even had the chance to fire a couple of cannons down Hill Street. Obviously no one was hurt! I want to thank the Fort Moore Committee for putting such great effort in keeping our city’s history alive.