VAN NUYS, CA — The Van Nuys Neighborhood Council is pleased to announce the involvement of Los Angeles City Attorney Mike Feuer in the “Homelessness & Mental Illness” Summit this December. The Van Nuys Neighborhood Council is hosting this Special Council Meeting on Wednesday, December 17th, 2014 at 6:30 pm to address homelessness in the San Fernando Valley and throughout Los Angeles.

“It is a significant and exceptional opportunity to work alongside Los Angeles City Attorney Mike Feuer and his office on this important issue. The City Attorney’s office writes every municipal law, advises the City Council, Mayor and all city departments and commissions, including neighborhood councils. I look forward to addressing and proposing new ideas and approaches to this continuing matter facing our society, and to working with the City Attorney’s office for months and years to come,” said George Christopher Thomas, President of the Van Nuys Neighborhood Council.

Los Angeles City Attorney Mike Feuer has long been one of California’s leading lawyers and lawmakers. He has brought a collaborative, problem-solving focus to the City Attorney’s office, emphasizing quality of life improvements in L.A.’s neighborhoods. Already Feuer is expanding the Neighborhood Prosecutor Program, leading efforts to prevent gun violence, developing innovative approaches to gang violence, domestic abuse and school safety, and aggressively pursuing environmental justice and other efforts to protect vulnerable Angelenos.

Feuer previously served as the Majority Policy Leader of the California Assembly and Chair of the Assembly’s Judiciary Committee, writing many of California’s most important public safety, children’s health, transportation, consumer protection and environmental laws. Feuer jointly-authored the Homeowners’ Bill of Rights and the Iran Contracting Act. He wrote the Crime Gun Identification Act and the Sargent Shriver Civil Counsel Act, as well as the nation’s most comprehensive law to remove cancer-causing chemicals from consumer products, the law requiring insurance companies to insure children with pre-existing conditions, the law authorizing L.A. County’s transformative transportation initiative, Measure R, and much more.

As a Los Angeles City Council member, Feuer chaired the Budget and Finance Committee, delivering on-time, balanced budgets, fighting successfully for anti-gang and after-school programs, jobs for disadvantaged youth and meals for indigent seniors. Feuer wrote some of America’s toughest laws to curb gun violence, initiated L.A.’s 3-1-1 non-emergency services system and spearheaded ethics and business tax reforms.

A champion for senior citizens, Feuer served as Executive Director of Bet Tzedek Legal Services, one of the nation’s leading public interest law firms. Under Mike’s leadership, Bet Tzedek helped more than 50,000 indigent, primarily elderly or disabled clients on crucial cases involving nursing home abuse, consumer fraud, access to health care, housing, Holocaust restitution and more. The Los Angeles Daily Journal wrote that Feuer turned Bet Tzedek into a “national success story.”

The recipient of dozens of awards for his achievements for seniors, children, environmental protection, gun violence prevention, access to justice, transportation improvements, civil rights, education reform and more, Feuer has taught at the UCLA School of Law and the UCLA School of Public Affairs. He practiced law at two prominent firms, Hufstedler, Miller, Carlson & Beardsley and Morrison & Foerster, and was a commentator on NPR member station KPCC. He began his career as a judicial clerk for California Supreme Court Justice Joseph Grodin.

Feuer is a Phi Beta Kappa, magna cum laude graduate of Harvard College and a cum laude graduate of Harvard Law School. He and his wife, Gail Ruderman Feuer, have been married for thirty years and have two children, Aaron and Danielle.

“It is a great honor and privilege to work alongside all of the high profile speakers we have scheduled for the summit this December. Each one brings an interesting and unique perspective to addressing homelessness in the San Fernando Valley. This is a major issue in Van Nuys, as well as throughout the Valley and Southern California. This summit is a perfect opportunity to come together with community leaders in our area, and really tackle this terrible problem head-on,” said George Christopher Thomas, President of the Van Nuys Neighborhood Council.

A list of confirmed speakers include but are not limited to: Don LeStrange, Van Nuys LAPD Volunteer and Community Police Advisory Board (CPAB) Homeless Committee Chair. Representatives from the Office of Councilwoman Nury Martinez (CD6). Anthony Gonzales from the Village Family Center in North Hollywood. Ryan Bell from Community Outreach for PATH in Los Angeles. Representatives from the San Fernando Valley Rescue Mission. Representatives from the National Coalition For The Homeless. Representatives from the Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority. Representatives from the Weingart Center Association. Representatives from the Homeless Health Care Los Angeles. Representatives from the Los Angeles Regional Food Bank. And representatives from the Los Angeles Coalition to End Hunger & Homelessness.

The Van Nuys Neighborhood Council meets at 6262 Van Nuys Boulevard and the Summit will take place in the Council Chambers starting at 6:30 pm. If your Neighborhood Council or organization would like to co-host this summit with the VNNC, please email Council President George Thomas at george.thomas@vnnc.org. For more information please visit www.vnnc.org. The Van Nuys Neighborhood Council is the largest Neighborhood Council in the San Fernando Valley, and the second largest of all 95 Neighborhood Council’s in Los Angeles. (http://www.vannuyscpab.org/)

All media and the general public are invited to attend. Please email any questions or comments to george.thomas@vnnc.org.

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