Garden Church

insuring anything less than $5,000 in value,” Riley said. “The individual items … none of them were worth that amount, and it was kind of happenstance that the generator was present at the time.”

Riley said the thieves cut through the fence, and sliced through the padlock that was on the shed where the generator was held.

“They took, I guess wire-cutters, something, and they snipped along the chain-link fence, kind of vertically, and then rolled it back,” Riley said.

Rothe said that since the padlock did not work, the church would be instituting a higher level of security in the garden, including security lights and a security camera.

“We’re seeking funding to rebuild this fence with a wooden fence,” Roethe said. “But having said that, we understand that the place is not defensible. If somebody is really serious about breaking in here, they will break in, so we’ve had to institute a policy where we will no longer be keeping anything of value onsite, locked up or not.”

Riley said the thieves came with a plan. In the past, people have stolen things from the garden, but they were always less valuable things.

“It always seems more like a crime of opportunity,” Riley said. “This is the first one that’s felt much more like it was planned and intentional.”

When the thieves came to the property, they made a large mess while looking through the property, knocking several things to the ground, on a night when it was pouring rain. Linda O-Brien-Rothe, lead gardener of Feed and Be Fed, said that the thieves put up an EZ UP tent to protect themselves from the rain, and then left it behind.

“It’s hours and hours of volunteer work to clean it up,” Riley said. “It’s a nuisance for sure. And then it’s just sad, because … we don’t see

Cordero said the theme of his speech would be “our environmental social responsibility, our sustainable development,” and he went on to say, “I would like to thank our passionate environmental justice groups for their advocacy on climate change.”

“In contrast,” Hricko noted that “Gene Seroka’s focus was on the ups and downs of the Port of LA’s cargo volumes — which he spoke about for a full nine minutes before he first mentioned a need for ‘decarbonization of the maritime industry’ and ‘reducing emissions’ in his address.”

“What a stark contrast in statements,” homeowner activist Janet Gunter noted.

“Director Cordero offered a passionate and comprehensive pledge on behalf of the POLB to reduce deadly port emissions as a first priority. He also described POLB’s fierce dedication to the promotion of zero-emissions technology sooner rather than later,” Gunter said. “Meanwhile, Seroka focused his energy on remaining competitive and improving the supply chain while periodically mentioning improving ‘sustainability’ without discussing the chronic issue of the port’s deadly air emissions upon the local community. Cordero made a very poignant statement in his address stating the following: ‘While other ports offer incentives for cargo, we offer customers incentives for environmental performance.’”

Indeed, Cordero said, “Last year, during the months we were experiencing record shipment, I said cargo volume is not the sole metric of success for the Port of Long Beach. Rather, how we serve our customers, contribute to our local community, mitigate the impacts to our neighborhoods, and serve our labor force, these are important metrics for the Port of Long Beach. And, ladies and gentlemen, given our success and ourselves as an obvious target, right? We try to do good in the community. Generally, people like us.”

The church did not have a sound system prior to the pandemic, and Riley said she planned on going without it for a while. However, a volunteer from the church was able to cobble together a sound system with his own equipment. Riley said it’s possible the equipment will be returned, and said that one police officer she spoke to was kind of optimistic. One church member has been looking in pawnshops around the area.

Det. Donald Blue of the Los Angeles Police Department said the likelihood of the equipment being returned depends on what information the church has about the items.

“If the stolen property is serial numbered and they have that, and we can figure out where it was pawned at, and there are a few places that will accept those kinds of things, then we can get it back,” Blue said.

Even if they don’t have the serial number, if the police are able to find a suspect, they can go to pawn shops and ask the shops if they’ve bought anything from the suspect, Blue said.

“But in lieu of that, even if the property is found at a location and we have no serial number and no suspect, I would not be able to confiscate or have that property returned because I can’t definitively determine if it was the property of the victim,” Blue said.

Rothe said that he does not have the serial numbers for the equipment.

Riley said that while they are raising funds to replace the equipment, she would prefer to use funding for the church’s ministry.

“We have church outside,” Riley said. “It’s in a garden, it’s a garden and it’s a church, what we grow is food that goes back out into the community.”

The church averages about 25 people every Sunday.

“We’re unsettled by having people on the property after hours, and with mal intent,” Riley said. “But we are praying for the thieves.”