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CAMPUS LIFE
Los Angeles Collegian - Wednesday, May 4, 2022
L.A. Metro Listening Session Gives Voice to Community BY EDWARD LOCKE
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os Angeles Metro presented a community listening session inside Da Vinci Hall Gallery and the adjacent courtyard on the first floor at L.A. City College to gauge public opinion on its plan to build the Vermont Transit Corridor Project on April 30, 2022. Metro is currently conducting a pre-environmental community engagement program for the project, which will serve the urgent needs of the low-income multicultural communities in Central Los Angeles. It will provide high-quality rapid transit. Metro has partnered with community-based groups to organize four listening sessions that began in April and continue through May. Metro sessions feature animated, three-dimensional and panoramic videos on the new transit system and the civic communities
and educational institutions it will connect. Participants at listening sessions register and wear a headset to watch the video. Hollywood, Silver Lake, Echo Park, Koreatown, West Adams, Crenshaw, Florence and Hyde Park areas are part of the multi-year, $425 million expansion plan. Buses will pass Los Angeles City College, the Central Los Angeles Area High School # 9 for the Visual and Performing Arts, the University of Southern California and many others. The corridor will extend between Hollywood Boulevard and 120th Street. “Vermont Transit Corridor is one of the projects to be funded by Measure M; and we are looking for investment in public transportation,” said Director of Metro Community Relations Lilian De Loza-Gutierrez. “Vermont Corridor is among the most used bus routes to serve from north to south in the Metro system and is one of the most important
throughout the L.A. County with the greatest number of people who use it … it runs about 14 miles.” The project could improve connections to the Metro B, C, D, and E subways and light rail lines. Short and long-term options are being considered for this corridor, including improved bus service, Bus Rapid Transit, Light Rail Transit, and Heavy Rail Transit. The 142 participants received gifts from Metro like plastic drinking cups, “I Love Metro” buttons, notebooks, keychains and food, including a box of tacos with beef, chicken or pork and a beverage. They voted on their choice for how Metro should proceed. Residents voted on five different choices proposed by Metro. Sixty-four residents chose the option that offered immediate bus improvements, added new express buses that only stop at major streets and plans for future light rail construction.
PHOTO BY CHRISTIAN CHAVEZ Collegian reporter Edward Locke experiences the virtual reality headset that provides the viewer with an entire map of the Red Line and its destinations on April 30, 2022. Metro will continue to host meetings to introduce riders to their plans to expand by 2028.
Mayoral Race Presents Mixed Bag for City Students
Front-runners offer opposing approaches to crime and homelessness, reflecting city divide. BY MATTHEW RODRIGUEZ
Homelessness and public safety are among the most pressing issues for Angelenos that are setting the tone ahead of the June 7 primary election when voters decide who will lead America’s second-largest city. Karen Bass, a progressive congresswoman, and billionaire real estate developer Rick Caruso have emerged as front-runner candidates with differing perceptions of Los Angeles and its governance. Still, according to a recent poll conducted by UC Berkely Institute of Governmental Studies, co-sponsored by the Los Angeles Times, about 40% of voters skew younger or people of color remain undecided. L.A City College has always reflected the diverse backgrounds and ideologies of its students. In this respect, students are aware of the high stakes of certain elections but are also at the end of their rope. Laura Chavez rides the Metro Red Line from North Hollywood to her job downtown and to her classes on
campus at L.A City. She described the ride as acutely stressful. “The hyper-awareness is hell for my anxiety,” Chavez said. “The subways are full of homeless people who are clearly mentally ill and do look for problems with other passengers and at night, forget about it.” Chavez says that although she considers herself progressive, “enough is enough.” She favors billionaire candidate Rick Caruso for his interest in using police force to remove unhoused people from the streets and into service and treatment programs. Also in Caruso’s favor is Christian Guzman, who is attracted to Caruso’s tough policy approach to homelessness and crime. “We need something altogether different,” Guzman said. “It’s obvious now that the same approach over and over is only making it worse.” Caruso’s approach to homelessness and crime involves hiring 1,000 additional police officers for the Los Angeles Police Department. Caruso’s administration would authorize
use of force if a homeless person refused services. Some students remain optimistic that change can come from working within the system. Part-time student Henry Flores studies Spanish. He says will vote for the most experienced candidate. “Karen Bass is the most qualified person to become mayor,” Flores said, “She has a proven record of success and is the most experienced candidate.” Flores favors the holistic approach proposed by Karen Bass that aims at preventing people from becoming homeless in the first place. “It’s never going to stop until the issues are addressed at the source,” Flores said. Bass’s emergency action on homelessness includes declaring homelessness a state of emergency. It aims to provide mental health and addiction services to 15,000 relocated people by the end of her first year. It does not, however, include use of police force to clear encampments.
A sticking point in Bass’ proposal puts her at odds with progressives like L.A City college freshman Myra Gutierrez. “It’s disingenuous,” said Gutierrez about Bass’ proposal to hire 200 additional police officers at the LAPD along with teams of community intervention specialists. They would accompany police officers into the field who have received enhanced officer training to mitigate interactions between police and civilians. “Every dollar spent on police is a dollar that’s not available for social services,” said Gutierrez Still, some are altogether tired of the same empty rhetoric by Los Angeles Democrats. Jose Escalante, an English major at L.A. City, is disillusioned. “I’m not sure who to vote for anymore because it’s more of the same while things get worse,” Escalante said. “Politicians haven’t been lifting a finger to do anything in this city, election after election, and you see it everywhere. What have they been doing this entire time?”
Attendees Gravitate to Earth Day Festivities
T PHOTO BY LOUIS WHITE Youngsters gravitate toward Earth Day festivities with LACC President Mary Gallagher and Children’s Hospital L.A. staff in the New Community Garden on April 22, 2022.
BY EDWARD LOCKE
he 52nd anniversary of Earth Day drew a crowd to the LACC New Community Garden to celebrate and raise awareness about the importance of the environment at a celebration hosted by Children’s Hospital L.A. (CHLA) and L.A. City College on April 22, 2022. “Sustainability, Climate Change and Our Environment,” was the theme for the event that attracted about 400 people to the north side of campus. Professor Gayle Stafsky, director of dietetics demonstrated how to prepare healthy vegetarian dishes with herbs. She offered tasty food to attendees and drinks with small bites using garden ingredients prepared by LACC dietetic students. Attendees received small plants in plastic pots inside tents and snack bars and free food boxes from Subway. There were displays of amazing Earth Day art posters created by students from Visual and Media Arts that addressed topics of climate change and sustainability. A tour of the campus New Community Garden revealed a space where LACC students planted vegetables and fruits, and art students donated and displayed ceramic works that decorated the field and planters. LACC has celebrated Earth Day since 2005. This year’s event honored the contributions of Ron Finley, the “gangsta” gardener. Finley is a social activist, environmentalist and humanist. He founded the Ron Finley Project (https://ronfinley.com/), aimed at “teaching communities how to transform
food deserts into food sanctuaries and teaching individuals how to regenerate their lands into creative business models.” “What my garden intends is to show people that we can design beautiful places and do beautiful things for beautiful people … nothing is more magical, nothing is more precious, and nothing is more valuable than this,” Finley said. He cites the spirit of “gangsta” or “projecting strength on one’s own terms: hip, cool, innovative, revolutionary, resolute, vital, the cutting edge.” As “a rebel with a green thumb,” Finley started his project in 2010. He saw often-neglected dirt patches next to the streets and envisioned a new resource for food production. He planted some vegetables on his neighborhood parkways in 2010, and soon after, the City of L.A. cited him for gardening without a permit. He started a petition with fellow green activists and demanded the right to garden and grow food in his neighborhood. He fought back and won. It started his horticulture revolution. He grew up in South-Central Los Angeles’ “food prison” or “food desert,” and he is familiar with the area’s lack of healthy fresh produce. Finley knew what it was like to drive 45 minutes just to get a fresh tomato. The vegetables and fruits grown in Finley’s garden have been distributed to neighbors free of charge for years. “Ron has a few core individuals who help manage the garden alongside him,” said Miranda Akkari, executive assistant to Finley. The variety of fruits and vegetables in Finley’s garden is always evolving, according to his assistant.
