2007 CSWA Awards Luncheon

2007 CSWA Awards Luncheon. Annual California Social Welfare Archives awards luncheon, Town and Gown (665 Exposition Boulevard), University of Southern California, 2007 October 30. Introductions by Ralph Fertig. Eric Garcetti received the George D. Nickel Award for Outstanding Volunteer Service. Los Angeles City Council President Eric Garcetti was unanimously elected as council president in December 2005. Elected to the Los Angeles City Council in 2001, he became one of the youngest city council members in the city's history. Garcetti chairs the Rules and Elections Committee; serves as vice chair of the Energy and the Environment Committee; and sits on the Housing, Community and Economic Development Committee. He is also the vice chair of the Ad Hoc River Committee and the Ad Hoc Homelessness Committee and serves on the Ad Hoc Stadium Committee. An effective local problem-solver and a strong advocate on citywide and national issues, he led the effort to fund the nation's largest Affordable Housing Trust Fund; oversaw the economic and cultural revitalization of Hollywood; wrote and championed Proposition O to clean up our local water; won passage of a plan that eliminated the city's business tax for 60% of all businesses; and helped bring thousands of new high-wage jobs to Los Angeles. He tackled neighborhoods' most intractable problems, doubling the number parks, ensuring the availability of an after-school program in every school in the district and reducing graffiti. Recognized with dozens of awards, including the John F. Kennedy New Frontier Award for Americans under 40 who are changing their communities with a commitment to public service; the Green Cross Millennium Award from former President Mikhail Gorbachev for environmental leadership; a "Tiger Award" from the Valley Industry and Commerce Association for his work on business tax reform; the New Democrate of the Week recognition from the Democratic Leadership Council for his work on safety in commercial office buildings and security officers' working conditions; and the first Olson Award from Human Rights Watch for his human rights activism, Garcetti offers the city "refreshing idealism."