City Council renames downtown LA park for Skid Row activist Page

The Los Angeles City Council voted Wednesday to rename Gladys Park in the Skid Row area for General Jeff Page, an activist and hip-hop artist who became known as the “mayor of Skid Row” before he died last October.

The City Council’s vote comes after Councilman Kevin de León introduced a motion on Feb. 23 to rename the park for Page.

“General Jeff’s commitment to Skid Row was second to none, and the city should recognize his selfless dedication by renaming Gladys Park in his honor,” de León wrote in his motion, which instructed the Board of Recreation and Parks Commissioners to rename the park, at 808 E. Sixth St., to General Jeff Page Park.

According to the motion, Page arrived in Skid Row in 2006 wanting to help the community, and while he didn’t know anyone at the time, he got involved in the neighborhood by attending community meetings. He started his own organization called Issues and Solutions after learning about specific problems plaguing the area but not hearing any resolutions.

“General Jeff began to advocate for Gladys Park, with the idea that green spaces were an important component of a healthy community. Working alongside the community, `Issues and Solutions’ was able to replace the broken park benches, fix the cracked surface on the basketball court, upgrade the drinking fountain and get increased cleaning from the Department of Recreation and Parks,” the motion stated.

Page, originally from South Los Angeles, was a pioneer of the West Coast hip-hop scene in the 1980s and ’90s. After becoming an organizer in Skid Row, he served on the Downtown Los Angeles Neighborhood Council and was part of the effort to create the Skid Row Neighborhood Council.

Page died at age 56 on Oct. 13 after suffering a stroke and heart problems, the Los Angeles Times reported.

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