Government George Is An Elected Official & Proudly Serves On The Van Nuys Neighborhood Council

Answer: Crime prevention cannot be achieved by the police alone. Together professional law enforcement officers must work hand-in-hand with the public to fight crime and neighborhood disorder throughout our communities. As such, we depend heavily on your assistance in reporting crimes to the police. The following hotline numbers are provided for your use and convenience.
TEXT-A-TIP — To provide anonymous tips, text CRIMES (274637) on your cell phone and begin the message with the letters LAPD.  You may submit an anonymous tip anytime, anywhere, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, by phone 800-222-TIPS (800-222-8477).

Question: Dear Government George, do you know about the Registrar’s Office?

Answer:  The Los Angeles County Registrar’s Office is responsible for the registration of voters, maintenance of voter files, conduct of federal, state, local and special elections and the verification of initiative, referendum and recall petitions. Each year the office participates in approximately 200 elections for schools, cities and special districts. There are approximately 4.1 million registered voters, and 5 thousand voting precincts established for countywide elections.  The Registrar’s Office is in constant need of citizens willing to work at the precinct polling places on election day.

George Thomas

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Question:

Dear Government George, what do you know about parking meters?

Answer:

The Los Angeles Department of Transportation operates approximately 40,000 metered parking spaces for public use. Parking meters encourage turnover, allowing more people access to high-demand parking spaces. Throughout the City, LADOT operates approximately 37,000 on-street metered spaces in 71 Parking Meter Zones and an additional 3,000 spaces in 60 off-street lots and garages. Parking meters are generally located in retail areas, where they encourage the turnover of vehicles in high-demand parking spaces, thus creating more available parking for customers. Parking meters also help fight traffic congestion and pollution when their rates match parking demands. When parking rates are underpriced, spaces are almost always full, and drivers spend a long time hunting for a nearby space, adding to travel times, congestion and pollution. LADOT is currently evaluating meter rates and hours of operation City-wide to ensure that parking meters are effective and best serve their communities. The Department strives to maintain all parking meters in excellent working order, but faces the growing challenges of vandalism and aging meters. Please report a malfunctioning parking meter immediately when you observe one by calling the Meter Hotline at (877) 215-3958. Inoperable meters can also be reported online. If you believe you received a parking citation at a malfunctioning parking meter and would like to contest the citation, please call the Parking Violations Bureau at (866) 561-9742

George Thomas

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Question:

Dear Government George, how do I get a Social Security card?

Answer:

To protect your personal information and prevent identity theft, the Social Security Administration (SSA) cannot issue Social Security Numbers (SSN) or cards online. For more information, please contact the SSA at 1.800.772.1213. TTY users may call 1.800.325.0778. Please view the information on the documents you will need to apply along with information on how to apply for a SSN or card. All documents must be either originals or copies certified by the issuing agency. Social Security cannot accept photocopies or notarized copies of documents. If you are a noncitizen living in the United States, you also may need a SSN.

If you are temporarily in the United States to work, please see Foreign Workers and SSNs. In order to claim a dependent on your tax return your child needs an SSN. The easiest time to do this is when you give information for your child’s birth certificate. If you do not yet have proof of your child’s citizenship, special rules apply for foreign-born adopted children that allow Social Security to assign a number based on documentation issued by the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) upon the child’s arrival in the U.S.

George Thomas

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Question:

Dear Government George, where is the money spent that is borrowed from the public and who decides where it goes?

Answer:

The Bureau of Public Debt is responsible for accounting for and reporting the debt in accordance with statutory direction. The Bureau does not have any public policy decision-making authority. Visit the Financial Management Service web site for more information. Information about the “Budget of theUnited States” is available at the Government Printing Office web site. The deficit is the fiscal year difference between what the United States Government (Government) takes in from taxes and other revenues, called receipts, and the amount of money the Government spends, called outlays. The items included in the deficit are considered either on-budget or off-budget. You can think of the total debt as accumulated deficits plus accumulated off-budget surpluses. The on-budget deficits require the U.S. Treasury to borrow money to raise cash needed to keep the Government operating. We borrow the money by selling securities like Treasury bills, notes, bonds and savings bonds to the public. The Treasury securities issued to the public and to the Government Trust Funds (Intragovernmental Holdings) then become part of the total debt. For information about the deficit,

daryl

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Question:

Dear Government George, how do I register to vote?

Answer:

To register to vote, you must pick up a voter registration form at your county elections office, library, or U.S. Post Office. It is important that your voter registration form be filled out completely and be postmarked or hand-delivered to your county elections office at least 15 days before the election. If you are enrolled in California’s Confidential Address Program, Safe At Home, please do not attempt to register to vote using this site.

To register to vote, contact the Safe At Home program toll free at (877) 322-5227 or by email at safeathome@sos.ca.gov. To register to vote in California, you must be: * A United States citizen, * A resident of California, * 18 years of age or older on Election Day, * Not in prison or on parole for a felony conviction (for more information on the rights of people who have been incarcerated, please see the Secretary of State’s Voting Guide for Currently or Formerly Incarcerated Californians).

George Thomas

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Question:

Dear Government George, do you know anything about gang injunctions?

Answer:

There are currently 37 active injunctions in the city involving 57 gangs. A gang injunction is a restraining order against a group. It is a civil suit that seeks a court order declaring the gang’s public behavior a nuisance and asking for special rules directed toward it’s activity. Injunctions can address the neighborhood’s gang problem before it reaches the level of felony crime activity.

Gang injunctions have a clearly demonstrable positive affect on the neighborhood area covered. Some have had a remarkable effect. In smaller areas, gang nuisance activity can be permanently removed. In larger areas, with gangs entrenched for years, the gang’s hold on the area can be reduced and maintained with a small team of law enforcement officers. Anecdotal evidence is fully supportive; residents continue to ask for the period of peace a gang injunction can provide.

George Thomas

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Question:

Dear Government George, is it true LA had the first police-woman?

Answer:

It is true, in 1909,Los Angelessocial worker Alice Stebbins Wells petitioned Mayor George Alexander and the City Council, requesting that an ordinance providing for a Los Angeles Policewoman be adopted. Not only was the measure passed, but onSeptember 12, 1910, Mrs. Wells was appointed as the nation’s first female policewoman with arrest powers.

Many California cities had employed women as “matrons” or “workers” since 1890. These employees specialized in the care of female prisoners, and worked in the City and County prisons and other penal institutions. On the first day of her appointment, Mrs. Wells was furnished with a Gamewell (a telephone call box) key, a book of rules, a first aid book, and a “policeman’s badge.”

In those days, an officer was privileged to enjoy free trolley car rides while going to and from work, but when Mrs. Wells displayed her badge, the conductor accused her of misusing her husband’s identity. This was remedied by presenting her with “Policewoman’s Badge Number One.” Mrs. Wells was assigned to work with Officer Leo W. Marden, the Department’s first juvenile officer. Subsequent to her appointment, the following order was issued: “No young girl can be questioned by a male officer. Such work is delegated solely to policewomen, who, by their womanly sympathy and intuition, are able to gain the confidence of their younger sisters.”

daryl

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Question:

Dear Government George, where would I go to view vital records?

Answer:

The Department of Registrar-Recorder/County Clerk is located at12400 Imperial HighwayinNorwalk. The following will provide you with the procedure for viewing vital records. Certificates and indexes of birth, death and marriage records not exempt from public inspections may be examined at the Office of the Registrar-Recorder/County Clerk between8 a.m.and4:30 p.m., Monday through Friday, except holidays.

In addition to certificates on file, there are indexes of birth, death and marriages available for public inspection as follows: Births prior to 1905 and from 1964 to the present; Deaths from 1877 to the present; and Marriages from 1852 to the present. Records of confidential marriages performed pursuant to Family Code Section 500 are not available for public review. Certificates and indexes may be examined at no charge unless a deputy is requested search and/or retrieve more than five records.

Random searches of the indexes or the certificates are not allowed. An application is required for each record searched. Information sufficient to identify the requested record must be provided. If you are requesting a copy of a birth record of a child who has been adopted or had a legal name change, your written request should be sent to the State Department of Health Services, Office of Vital Records – M.S. 5103, PO Box 997410, Sacramento, CA 95899-7410, the telephone number is (916) 445-2684 . There is a $14 charge for each copy requested payable by check or money order to the office of Vital Records.

daryl

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Question:

Dear Government George, do you know anything about Birth Certificates and where one goes to obtain one?

Answer:

Well, pursuant to California Health and Safety Code Section 103526 only specific individuals are allowed to receive an Authorized Certified Copy of a birth, death or marriage record. An Authorized Certified Copy of a birth record is required to obtain a driver’s license, passport, social security card and other services related to an individual’s identity. Please see below for list of authorized individuals.

Those who are not authorized may receive an Informational Certified Copy with the words “Informatinal, not a Valid Document to Establish Identity” imprinted across the face of the copy. Informational copies are not available same day. They will be mailed within 15 working days.

Individuals permitted to receive an Authorized Certified Copy :

* The registrant or a parent or legal guardian of the registrant

* A party entitled to receive the record as a result of a court order, or an attorney or a licensed adoption agency seeking the birth record in order to comply with the requirements of Section 3140 or 7603 of the Family Code

* A member of a law enforcement agency or a representative of another governmental agency, as provided by law, who is conducting official business

* A child, grandparent, grandchild, sibling, spouse or domestic partner of the registrant

* An attorney representing the registrant or the registrant’s estate, or any person or agency empowered by statute or appointed by a court to act on behalf of the registrant or the registrant estate Records are available for births occurring in Los Angeles County since 1866.

An Authorized or Informational certified copy of a birth record will be provided for an $19 fee per copy. The fee is nonrefundable; a “No Record Statement” will be issued if the record is not found. To request copies please submit an Application for Birth Record (for mail only). You must also submit a notarized Certificate of Identity . Include a pre-addressed stamped envelope with your request. (Check out www.lavote.net for more info)

George Thomas

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