Issue 72
JUNE/JULY
2020
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SERVING OUR COMMUNITY SINCE 2008
Publisher/Editor/Reporter Dianne V. Lawrence
A
s I was wrapping up the magazine and getting ready to go to press, the protests erupted. I had to make a decision - do I cut some of our articles and write about what’s going on? But everywhere I turned people were writing about it, talking about it, featuring it in magazines, every advertiser was giving their heartfelt and sincere support. What could I add that already hadn't been said? I was thinking about the whole thing and this is what came to me...
Layout & Design/Executive Ad Sales
Dianne V. Lawrence CONTRIBUTORS
BUT...it is only the beginning of the slow accumulation of the power of the newly freed. Despite powerful push back from those who have much to lose by the gained success, power and respect for all who have been oppressed by greed, arrogance and self entitlement, evolution cannot be stopped, only slowed down. The genie of freedom is out of the bottle. The fight is on and if you look at history, despite horrors and atrocities visited upon the powerless, freedom and justice eventually emerges stronger than ever. Despite our growing sense of dread and hopelessness I do believe something good lies on the other side of all of this chaos. Covid-19 continues to haunt our life. Opening up our culture is like a brave experiment. Will there be an uptick? We share the stories of how three people have negotiated this combination social experiment and tool for survival social distancing and isolation. So sit back, make a strong cup of Joe, enjoy some take-out from your favorite local food source and take a little stroll around your/our community.
CHELSEE LOWE STAYIN' ALIVE STAYIN' AT HOME.
RENEE MONTGOMERY STAYIN' ALIVE STAYIN' AT HOME. RAPOSA FARMHOUSE
GAVIN GLYNN STAYIN' ALIVE STAYIN' AT HOME.
COVID-19 TESTING
If the history of humanity equaled one hour, the right to equality and freedom for slaves, women, LGBQT people and minorities, happened two seconds ago. Even nature and animals and children, hapless victims of the enemies of humanity - poverty and ignorance and greed - are being helped by thousands of people who recognize their value and right to dignified treatment and who fight to protect them. Within the last two feet of the hundreds of thousands of miles humanity has walked, a country founded on racism, and imperialism and the Divine Right of white privileged males and unfortunately for them also on Democratic ideals, have elected a black president and created economic, cultural and political opportunity for these recently embraced members of the human family.
CHIN THAMMASAENGSRI
CONTENTS 3
STAYIN ALIVE, STAYIN AT HOME
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HOLLY MITCHELL, RUN-OFF INTERVIEW
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PICO DESTINATION UPDATE
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CROP SWAP'S GARDEN GROWS
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UPDATE: CITY LAWSUIT AGAINST THE FAA
10 CRENSHAW COMMUNITY GARDEN AT RISK 11 HISTORIC ARCHITECTURE - RAPOSA DAIRY FARM UPDATE 12 COVID-19 TESTING REPORT 15 MARVIN SNELL APOLOGY Photo on cover of Crop Swap by Jeff Minton Courtesy of Simple Magazine
STAYIN' ALIVE, STAYIN' AT HOME A Family of Adults Join with Neighbors to Survive Alone, Together. GAVIN GLYNN
P
andemically speaking, my household of four adults and four fur babies are learning how to get to know each other all over again.
great suggestions circulating on Facebook, e.g., mounting a Zoom discussion of modernist painter Stuart Davis followed by a student "collage response," or designing Automata STEAM projects. Museum educators proffered further ideas for Digital Art Engagement. And art supply houses jumped into action with their own recommended
Three of my adult children, who are currently living at home, are finally behaving the way I wanted them to
course content, e.g., mixed media koi webinars or natural ink making. My online curriculum, on the other hand, was showing Continued on Pg. 12
A Young Family Adapts CHELSEE LOWE
O
n December 4, 2019, our second daughter "Lottie" was born, and with her came a sort of self-imposed quarantine. I stayed home that month, resting and taking
behave as teenagers - clearly communicating their feelings, respecting other's opinions, helping out when they see something which needs to be done...without having to be asked. Continued on Pg. 18
Teaching Art Online RENEE MONTGOMERY
“How is this going to work?� students and
administrators questioned how the normally hands-on art class could be conducted online during the stay-at-home quarantine. My 85 high school art students were to finish out the school year via distance learning. But as all the nation's school systems moved online, art curriculum ideas began to swirl around within the vast teacher community, like Vincent's "Starry Night" swirled around. We had101
the baby out only for pediatrician appointments and a Christmas Eve lunch with friends. My husband took a few weeks off work, a few family members came to meet the Continued on Pg.20
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INTERVIEW WITH HOLLY MITCHELL IN RUNOFF FOR SUPERVISOR OF OUR 2ND DISTRICT Part 1 of 3
D. V. LAWRENCE
When The Neighborhood News heard through the grapevine that Ms. Mitchell was a fan of the magazine, we felt comfortable in approaching her for an interview, which she graciously accepted. We found her measured, thoughtful and deeply informed about District 2’s pressing issues, as well as enthusiastic, sincere and friendly in her participation. WHY YOU AND NOT HERB? The Neighborhood News: Why do you think with all his connections, his money, his endorsements, his position, Herb Wesson couldn’t 50% of the vote? Your vote count was hot on his heels and forced him into a runoff. Holly Mitchell: Well, first of all, thank you very much for engaging with me in this race. I appreciate that. I have said from the very beginning I am not running against anyone. I’m running for a seat, and for me that’s what I fundamentally believe.
H
erb Wesson knew his 13-year reign as Councilmember for District 10 and City Council President (eight years) was coming to an end but he was not ready to give up the ladder of power yet. Mayor or Supervisor? Wesson chose Supervisor (the seat Mark Ridley-Thomas is terming out of) when he realized it gave him more power and freedom than Mayor. Only problem? Real competition. He was up against two women with experience and grit, Holly Mitchell, a member of the California State Senate and Chair of the Senate Budget committee, and Jan Perry, who successfully represented the 9th district of the Los Angeles City Council from 2001 to 2013 and helped usher in the development of downtown L.A. into a world-class city. She was also President Pro Tempore of the Los Angeles City Council. Apparently accumulated years of City Council power, support, backers and huge infusions of campaign cash,couldn’t get Councilman Wesson past the 50% finish line during the primaries. He received 29.9% of the votes (90,597) with Ms. Mitchell breathing down his neck at 29%, just 2,683 votes behind, forcing them into a runoff this November. It probably helped that the L.A. Times endorsed Holly over Herb, claiming, “he had a backroom style better suited to an earlier decade” (read too old school) while praising Ms. Mitchell, claiming, “Her background and experience have put her in the best position to carry on the county’s work in improving justice and human services.”
There were seven of us in the race, and I think the voters in the Second District deserve and should have a competitive race. It shouldn’t be a slam-dunk for anyone. People really want to probe and ask tough questions like, “Why you?” I think people are engaged and are really paying attention and they expressed through their votes, their interests in a variety of different characteristics that all of us as candidates have got. RUNNING FOR SUPERVISOR TNN: What motivated you to run for this seat? HM: I made the decision to run because of what my professional experience and my life experience brings to the table, which I believe is particularly relevant now, not only for the Board of Supervisors but for the second supervisorial seat specifically. The way I have organized my entire professional career, not just my elected career, is resonating with the voters and particularly now. I proudly represent the 30th Senate District today, and nearly a million Californians. Parts of the Second Supervisorial District is contained within my senatorial district. So, talking to residents in this community is not new and something I’ve done for years. When we talk about issues like gentrification, the unhoused, and health disparities that are displayed in the Second Supervisorial District, the root issue is that people are really afraid of all the rapid changes and want genuine leadership. MANAGING THE BUDGET TNN:
From 2017 to present, you’ve overseen the Continued on Pg. 14
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PEDESTRIAN "BEG BUTTONS" HAVE BEEN DISABLED At every crosswalk on Pico in our neighborhood, you now don't have to touch the yellow button to get the walk sign before you cross the street. The walk sign is activated automatically with every green light. This temporary change means there's one less thing we have to touch in public. It also got us thinking that this change should be made permanent to make Pico even more walkable. What do you think? TRAFFIC LIGHTS HAVE BEEN UNSYNCHRONIZED You may have heard that speeding has increased around the city as car traffic has decreased. Speeding makes our streets more dangerous for pedestrians. To combat dangerous driving, the city has temporarily removed the synchronization from the timing of the traffic signals so that drivers are less likely to see several green lights in a row. This means drivers have to stop more often and have fewer chances to pick up speed over the course of a long stretch of street. PICO IS GREAT FOR SOCIALLY DISTANCED WALKING Tired of walking into the street when you pass your neighbors on the sidewalk? The sidewalks on Pico are 15 feet wide. Take a socially distanced walk on our Great Street! We'll see you out there. MORE DETAILS ON THE BIG STREETSCAPE PROJECT RE: the $1.9 million Destination: Pico streetscape project that we announced last month.

To recap: On the five blocks of Pico between Burnside and Curson, the sidewalks and curb ramps will be completely rebuilt from scratch to include landscaped parkways. The parkways will be planted with low-growing, drought-tolerant plants, watered with drip irrigation, and maintained with regular weeding and trash removal. Some of you have asked: why is this only happening on five blocks of Pico? We hear you - we also want to see the entire length of Pico in our neighborhood improved! The stretch between Burnside and Curson is the project area in the Great Streets Challenge grant that we won from the Continued on Pg. 10
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JUNE/JULY 2020
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HOMEGROWN WEST ADAMS CROP SWAP LA IS BLOSSOMING! D.V. LAWRENCE
L
ast year TNN featured local residents who were responding to the healthy food scarcity in many parts of our community with projects that helped get fruits and vegetables on community tables. One of the food heroes we featured was Jamiah Hargins and the beginning of his West Adams Crop Swap program.
Photo by Jeff Minton courtesy of Simple Magazine
The program allowed local backyard gardeners to come together to share their abundant produce with each other and their neighbors. In 2018 they created the volunteer run West Adams Crop Swap, Crop Swap LA, inviting gardeners across Los Angeles to bring their extra veggies, fruits, herbs, and valuable homemade items to trade whatever they wish. The abundance was enormous, and they got to thinking about ways to form infrastructures to help grow the project.
In the first year, 2018, over 100 gardeners gathered in Jamiah's backyard to support the movement, and now they hold the crop swaps at the Seeds of Carver Community Garden the first Saturday of the month. During the Covid-19 pandemic, they have delivered over a ton of fruit and CSA boxes to seniors, single parents, veterans and people in need.
Advisory Board as a Good Food Champion. Most exciting is the recent announcement that they are finalists in the LA2050 Grant Challenge in the LIVE category. They propose to create a residential garden district in the community by selecting 15 homes on residential streets to install professional gardens and rainwater harvesting systems on their front yards, back yards, and available rooftops. They will train and hire a green team of gardeners to become a fleet of hyper-localized specialists, rotated between gardening trades, and paired in groups to learn from each other. For their participation, residents would receive a crop share as a part of the arrangement. This project will serve as a model for creating jobs, food and a resilient society. There are 25 finalists and everyone will receive a grant but the amount will depend on which project gets the most votes and that will depend on You! Starting MONDAY, JULY 13 2020 and ending MONDAY, JULY 20, 2020, you dear reader can vote for this project at
https://challenge.la2050.org/vote/ • • • • • • • • • •
First place winners will receive $100,000 Second place winners will receive $50,000 Third place winners will receive $25,000 Fourth place winners will receive $15,000 Fifth place winners will receive $10,000 Members of the public may vote once per goal category for a total of five votes. Voters must be at least 14 years old and a US resident. To participate in the My LA2050 Grants Challenge, voters must sign in with their mobile phone, email address, or Facebook account. Voters signing in by phone will receive an SMS text message with a confirmation code to enter. Voters signing in by email will be sent an email message with a confirmation link to press.
VOTE for our very own homegrown Food Heroes!
There is nothing more powerful than an idea whose time has come, and Crop Swap began to gain attention in all the right places. Jamiah was featured in Time magazine as one of 27 people “bridging divides across America.” He received a plaque of recognition from Mayor Garcetti's Green New Deal Neighborhood Council Toolkit
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Update: L.A.'S Lawsuit Against the FAA D.V. LAWRENCE RECAP: Los Angeles residents organized and joined the nation wide outcry against the implementation of the change in incoming flight paths called NextGen. This change created a superhighway of single lane flights over residents from Malibu, Santa Monica, Culver City and Los Angeles. The flights from the north and west flew towards downtown LA where they would turn and join incoming flights from the east to land at LAX. Planes cut a path over once quiet neighborhoods every 3 - 5 minutes throughout the day at nerve wracking altitudes of between 3,000 and 5,000 feet. The city officials rallied in response to citizen outrage, and eventually the City Attorney got involved with a lawsuit against the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), the architects of NextGen. The FAA responded to the inital accusation by the City that the FAA didn't do a legally required, 2020 environmental review, by claiming it was just a little mistake. They offered to correct it by doing one now for the record to avoid all the expenses involved if the court should proceed against them with the lawsuit. The following is the City's attorney's response to the FAA:
in fact the agency’s formal documented decision under NEPA. To provide that support, FAA does not offer a statement from Cass, who purportedly prepared the notes. Instead, FAA seeks to supplement the record with the declaration of Ryan Weller (Weller Declaration) in which Weller describes what he believes are the meaning of Cass’s personal notes prepared sometime in 2017. Unfortunately for FAA, the record contains no evidence to support FAA’s contention that the notes are its NEPA decision document, and the Weller Declaration is a remarkable display of agency gumption and post-hoc rationale. Weller admits that he and his colleagues—though responsible for conducting the Case: 19-71581, 06/05/2020, ID: 11712781, DktEntry: 54, Page 3 of 24 3 environmental review of the Arrival Routes—did not know Cass had prepared personal notes in an Excel sheet and did not know whether any review of the Arrival Routes had been conducted. Weller has no firsthand knowledge of the notes, their content, or their meaning. Nothing in the record supports Weller’s speculative retelling of what he thinks Cass might have done or should have done to comply with NEPA. Weller, notably, does not assert that Cass’s notes were reviewed by anyone else at the agency, including the unidentified official responsible for the Arrival Routes decision. The Court must confine its review of an agency’s decision to the administrative record in existence at the time of the decision, not a new record made exclusively to justify the agency action for the reviewing court. Therefore, the Court should deny FAA’s cross-motion to supplement the record with FAA’s inadmissible, post-hoc rationalization."
"FAA documents show that an FAA environmental specialist, Ryan Weller, and his staff concluded in 2018 that FAA did not conduct an environmental review prior to its decision to adopt three flight procedures for aircraft arriving at Los Angeles International Airport (the Arrival Routes). Weller and his staff memorialized that conclusion in a memorandum to FAA headquarters, just weeks before Weller drafted and released a document to Los Angeles that FAA described (Case: 19-71581, 06/05/2020, ID: 11712781, DktEntry: 54, Page 2 of 24 2) as a “confirmation” of a supposed earlier environmental decision pursuant to the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), (42 U.S.C. §§ 4321 et seq.) Los Angeles presented the memorandum and other agency documents to FAA counsel in December 2019 and requested that they be added to the administrative record. FAA declined. Since that time, FAA has delayed this proceeding in an effort to devise an explanation for its decision to approve the Arrival Routes without first conducting an environmental review, and to justify its “confirmation” of an environmental review that never existed. Now, FAA contends that the personal notes of a former employee, Janelle Cass—that do not appear to have been released to the City prior to the commencement of this litigation—are
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DEVELOPER THREATENS BELOVED CRENSHAW COMMUNITY GARDEN
Y
D. ODER
ou may have passed Crenshaw Community Garden at 1423 Crenshaw, on the west side between Pico and Venice. Established in 1979, Crenshaw CG is one of the oldest community gardens in Los Angeles.
A green oasis in a dense urban neighborhood, the garden boasts 36 plots and 50 gardeners, many of them seniors who share seeds and vegetables with each other and with
their families, friends, and churches. People from South Korea, Bangladesh, Latin America, Europe, and all over the United States learn about each other's culinary traditions. The garden is one of the “third places” (not home or work) where people meet face-to-face in a spirit of harmony. It also has a ripple effect in the community as neighbors often come by to ask about gardening at home, or to enjoy the sight of nature in bloom as birds, bees, and butterflies visit. In our Mediterranean climate, gardeners can grow broccoli, cabbage and peas throughout the winter, along with the traditional trio of tomatoes, corn and squash in the summer. On the street, drought-tolerant Western
Redbud trees flush pink in the spring, and provide shade for pedestrians throughout the year. Continued on Pg. 19
PICO DESTINATION Cont. from Pg. 7
Mayor's Office back in 2017. At the time, the Mayor's Office asked us to limit the project area so that the funds available would have the highest impact. We have been focused on bringing the grant to fruition and making these five blocks the best they can be so they can serve as a prototype for the
rest of Pico (and we can figure out what works and what doesn't). We'll have to identify more funding to expand the
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project - let us know if you're interested in helping! PACKARD ST. AND SATURN ST. ARE BEING OPENED FOR PEOPLE Two streets parallel to Pico in our neighborhood will officially become part of the Slow Streets LA program! • Packard St. between Orange Grove Ave. and Dunsmuir • Saturn St. between Orange Grove Ave. and Dunsmuir These local streets will be opened for people to walk, run, exercise, and play. People in cars will be allowed to drive and park there to access homes and local businesses. Emergency vehicles, deliveries, garbage trucks, and other essential vehicles will still be allowed. We asked the city to slow these streets so people in our neighborhood could have a safer way to get outside and maintain social distancing. Many of our neighbors live Continued on Pg. 15
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A Dairy Farm in Jefferson Park RENEE MONTGOMERY
it. In 2005, the Farmhouse property was nuisance abated by the city and was then auctioned at Probate Court as a part of a conservatorship of an elderly incapacitated owner. It was filled waist-high with debris. The two described the complicated detective and decisionmaking process of trying to restore the integrity of the
Originally Published Issue #29 April/May 2013
D
UPDATED
airy farmhouse and Jefferson Park – not two phrases often heard together. However, tucked away in the crowded neighborhood along Arlington south of Adams Boulevard is a remnant
farmhouse, which had been modified by Starr over time and had undergone several successive changes through different owners including being split into a duplex. They had to combine the need to discreetly upgrade the site for modern living with central air and heat, kitchen, and bath amenities with historic preservation guidelines. These issues of historic home restoration were further compounded by the permitting process; the property had already been granted landmark status (L.A. Historical Cultural Monument No. 865) so every step was closely of L.A.’s agricultural past - the Starr Farmhouse, a Victorian cottage built from 1887 to 1888. Currently owned by historic preservationist/real estate broker David Raposa, the small house at 2801 S. Arlington Avenue originally served as residence and office to the Starr family’s dairy, stretching out twenty acres to the southwest. Joseph Starr, who had decided to establish a dairy in Southern California following the success of a similar venture in Ventura, built the Farmhouse in 1887 just outside the L.A. city boundaries - intending to capitalize on the burgeoning Angeleno population of the late 19th century. The “Starr/ Estrella” dairy was entirely relocated by 1907 to make way for residential tracts and with all the property gradually selling off since that time, the Farmhouse now sits on a small city lot surrounded by early-20th-century bungalows. However, TNN readers can now witness the exceptional, original farmhouse due to its loving restoration by Raposa with the help of local architectural historian Laura Meyers.
regulated by the federal Secretary of Interior Rehabilitation Standards and California Historical Building Codes. “Peeling back layers” is how Raposa described the long process. Continued on Pg.15
Investing enormous resources and expertise since 2008, Raposa and Meyers have converted a neighborhood eyesore into a gleaming historical treasure. “What a wreck” is how Raposa described the property as he acquired
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GETTING A COVID 19 TEST
TEACHING ART Cont. from Pg. 3
funny Youtube videos as the basis of instruction. How could I go wrong with popular YouTuber "SSSniperwolf," 2019 Gamer of the Year with her 20 million subscribers. This Kim Kardashian-look-alike was so much more compelling than my description of trompe l'oeil art effects. In her popular reaction video version of these effects: "How pencils do 'dat?“ she squealed, “This is like level 100 spot-the-fake game . . . I'm freakin' out!" SSSniperwolf described art drawings so realistic they tricked passersbys. Hey, I would resort to anything relevant to capture my rambunctious students’ attention and keep them logging into classwork. In this era of contagious virus, contagious viral was the prescription.
A
CHIN THAMMASAENGSRI
s we move into month number three of the COVID-19 “Safer-at Home” order, there is some movement which will allow us more freedom on all fronts especially business & commerce. With that said, the threat COVID-19 poses are far from over. In fact, if we fail to keep up social distancing protocols, cleanliness measures, and withdrawing from public life if illness is suspected, we could launch a whole “second wave” which could hit us even worse.
Here are some initial hiccups teaching art remotely: a) The academically over-achieving students expressed their usual temerity when given broad-based freedom. When asked simply to "Draw something potato-y like Van Gogh,” they had their 101 questions. “Is it okay if I use colored pencil? “ and “How is the potato to look?” they probed for the Single Right Answer so famous in Western education. b) Online art history assignments really put students' cutand-paste skills to the test (and not the Elmer's glue kind of cut and paste). For instance, when asked to describe the Mona Lisa in their own words, they generated strangely worded composite answers like: "‘Mona’ is the colloquial version of the Italian word meaning ‘Madam' or "with background detail depicting mostly inanimate subjects, typically commonplace objects" or "expression is feeling in the belief of a character" or "she looks constipated." Wikipedia meets wha’?? c) Unfortunately certain students used this loose period of instruction to go AWOL. My secret aspiration to be a truant officer came to life as I began calling parents at home. In one case the student yelled out in the background before the phone went dead: “Doesn't she know I'm a high school drop-out?! ” [click] This boy's angsty-teen expression is just what the art class is missing. I will continue to pursue him, a Banksy-in-the-making. In general students rose to the occasion of online art instruction. Emerging from the ether arose their true interests. Some experimented on their own with computerassisted design, others created fantasy dolls. There were janky unicorns as well as a “thermal” Eocene-era horse. Liam (“The Disruptor”) known for his chronic uncontrollable classroom behavior, excelled for the first Continued on Pg. 20
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Over this three-month period, testing efforts have gone from very limited which required that any person seeking a test to, at minimum, show symptoms of the illness to a “testing-for-all/no strings attached” directive. In fact, the city of Los Angeles has led the way in opening this testing up by breaking with convention and announcing that residents from all areas of L.A. County could come to our city to get the test. This drew the chagrin of the L.A. County Department of Public Health and some others, but L.A. stuck to its guns and stayed the course. For those seeking to get a test, keep in mind that PRIORITY is still given to those who report they are exhibiting symptoms of COVID-19. Additionally, “Front Line Personnel” such as doctors, nurses, firefighters, and EMTs are also given a priority as they are necessary workers in the area of emergency services. For the rest of us, all you need to do is go to the L.A. City website located at www. lacity.org. At the top of the home page, you will see button connecting you to the option “Free COVID-19 Testing for L.A. County Residents.” Press that button and you will be taken to a page named “Free COVID-19 Testing.”
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It is important that you MAKE AN APPOINTMENT for testing. NO ONE without an appointment will be tested. The appointment process is actually very easy and, in some cases, you may even get the test on the same day. On this same page, you can look at the numerous testing site locations and choose the one that works for you. Most of us are familiar with the testing site located at Dodger Stadium. We’ve seen the images of folks driving up in their cars, getting the mouth swab, and driving off. It’s that easy. Did you know that other centers are classified as “walk up centers?” Yes, there are locations where you can park your car, leap off the bus, or climb out of your Uber and walk into an office where you will be swabbed and released. Again, it’s that easy. To follow is a short list of locations where you can get a COVID-19 Test. Cedars Sinai Medical Center Drive Thru 8730 Alden Avenue L.A. 90059 Dodger Stadium Drive Thru 1101 Scott Avenue Los Angeles 90012 Crenshaw Christian Center Drive Thru 7901 Vermont Avenue Los Angeles 90044
TO ADVERTISE OR SUBMIT IDEAS
Contact us at: 323.871.8580 info@theneighborhoodnews.net
Los Angeles County – Crenshaw Office Walk-Up 3606 West Exposition Boulevard Los Angeles 90016 Exposition Park Drive Thru 3986 South Hoover Street Los Angeles 90037 St. John’s Well Child & Family Center Walk-Up 4251 Crenshaw Boulevard Los Angeles 90008 Take advantage of this free testing. However, we repeat, nothing replaces preventive measures such as social distancing, cleanliness measures, and staying home if you suspect you are sick. If we follow this process, we can definitely slow the spread of this potentially deadly virus.
Che ck o u t o u r We bsi te !
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HOLLY MITCHELL RUNOFF Cont. from Pg. 6
adoption of three consecutive state budgets, totaling nearly $250 billion each. Do you think the county is spending its money efficiently overall and what about our district, what would you change? HM: I have to say in all fairness, you don’t know what you don’t know until you have the opportunity to be in the seat and see the numbers and understand it in a meaningful, in-depth way. I don’t think it’s fair for me to express an opinion about the budget when I’m not in the position to be able to roll up my sleeves and really see it. I feel very strongly about that. I chaired the budget subcommittee that oversees the largest proportion of the budget, health and human services, which allowed me to roll up my sleeves and understand the inner workings of those programs. This was a real benefit when I became budget chair. So I think it’s easy for candidates to say what the sitting people aren’t doing and I don’t think that’s fair. Nor am I going to say the county is broken, because the county every day provides critical life-sustaining services to county residents from mental health to public health to probation to our kids in foster care to our county court. But could it be done more efficiently? Of course, every operation could operate more efficiently. And I think that’s a matter of being in there, understanding, bringing my lens to the table. TNN: What about your experience will benefit the position of Supervisor? HM: Chairing the budget committee allowed me to be very comfortable with large numbers. I also learned that the main thing is the main thing and to avoid getting caught up in what we affectionately call in budget land, “budget dust.” I had to make sure that as a leader in that sphere, I stayed the course, established a vision based on core values and created a culture in which we would talk about budget issues and develop budget strategies that reflect our core values as Californians. As Supervisor I want to make sure we have a county budget that reflects our core values as county residents. And that means what we prioritize and what we fund. CHILD AND FAMILY SERVICES TNN: You have also been a champion for child and family services. Do you have some thoughts and feelings about things that you would like to bring to child and family services in this district?
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HM: Oh, without a doubt. I definitely have a vision and plan about how to make sure we are providing appropriate services to L.A. County families who are at risk. Our foster care numbers are down and yet a disproportionate number of the kids in the county’s foster care system come from the Second District. We have to look at that. Is it economic? Is it lack of support services? We have to figure out why a disproportionate number of the unhoused in L.A. County are from the Second District. We have to figure out why the people who live in the Second District have health disparities that far outnumber people in other areas of the county. So, as we talk about funding and program implementation, it’s also an issue of equity. Are we providing appropriate services to the people who live in the Second District to meet their chronic health, foster care and chronic homeless challenges? CITY AND COUNTY WORKING TOGETHER TNN: Does the city plan and the county plan to address homelessness come together? HM: I am so proud to be a policymaker in California today because, yeah, historically that may not have been the case. But with the passage of H and HHH, [one initiative is to build, the other initiative is to fund the service] L.A. City and L.A. County have come together, in my opinion, in a historic way. They are here in Sacramento, partnering together, and bringing a very aggressive budget proposal asking for additional dollars from the state to continue the work they’re doing. Phil Ansell, Director of the County of Los Angeles Homeless Initiative, and Mayor Garcetti have been to Sacramento twice this year with the big 13 city mayors who’ve come together to talk about the investment they’re looking for from the state to help them in their cities. And so, I got to tell you, the city and the county are truly working hand in hand and coming up to Sacramento together as a unit to say, “These are our needs for LA City and County, and this is how you can help us.” And so, it’s a wonderful thing. It makes me proud. TNN: And how’s that going? HM: It’s going well. The governor has one idea about how he wants to do funding for the unhoused and the state budget. This coalition of the city and county is up in Sacramento walking the halls, educating members of the L.A. County delegation about ways in which a state investment could best be used for the residents of L.A. County. Part 2 of the interview will appear in the Aug/Sept issue. To read the full interview go to www.theneighborhoodnews.net
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APOLOGY TO MARVIN SNELL! and correction
M
D.V. LAWRENCE
ea culpa! In the Feb/Mar 2020 issue, my description of and opinion piece about the Candidates Forum at the FAME church contained a foolish error regarding Melvin Snell’s participation in this and previous elections. I broke one of Grace Yoo Marvin Snell my own cardinal rules make sure the info is accurate. Instead I spoke off the cuff and, like a famous national politician who regularly speaks off the cuff, I got the facts wrong. I said he had dropped out of this and two previous races, hadn’t raised any funds and I couldn’t understand why he bothered to run. Mr. Snell contacted me and corrected the information. He was very sweet about it and I quickly offered to correct the info and apologize. To wit: I said he ran in the past two elections and dropped out. In fact, he only ran in one election in 2015 and did not drop out but was a write-in candidate. Write-ins do not appear on the ballot but people can write in and cast a vote for them. I also claimed he didn’t raise any funds. This was based on the report from the Government Ethics website that tracks funding for candidates and at the time of writing the piece, it indicated Mr. Snell had not raised any funds. But Mr. Snell corrected and said he had raised funds. I indicated he had missed the FAME forum, but he informed me that he had attended The Ethiopian Democratic Party and Holman Church Candidate's forum and was unable to attend FAME because of a sickness in his immediate family. Once again sincere apologies and we promise to do better!
Covid 19 Cont. from Pg. 10
in homes that lack outdoor space, and the closest park is a mile away. Please wear your mask on our slow streets, and practice safe social distancing. The street is for active uses, not gatherings. Think of it like the beach - you're allowed to move around, but don't put a blanket down and hang out. TELL US HOW SLOW STREETS WORK FOR YOU We want to know what you think about the slow streets in our neighborhood. How are you using them? What do you like about them? What do you dislike? What would you change? We'll be sending out a survey in the coming weeks, but in the meantime, please email us your feedback at info@destinationpico.org. FARMHOUSE Cont. from Pg. 11
The house had been designed from 1887 to 1888 by prominent architect Joseph Newton Preston, also responsible for the original L.A. High School and County Courthouse. Raposa and Meyers surmise Preston agreed to do the modest farmhouse as a favor since both men were originally from Austin, Texas. The Victorian cottage would have housed Starr’s wife and seven young children but also shows signs of its original dual-purpose as a working farmhouse. A separate exterior door to a front parlor probably indicates this room was used as a business office. At one point, the house was expanded by the Starrs by simply pulling up a ranch “outbuilding” against the original house footprint, per 1890 tax records. The single-thickness construction of the walls and stall-like imprints in the paint surface may indicate this add-on had served as a stable previously. Such organic architectural developments are typical of farm constructions where sheds and other outbuildings are often enclosed or upgraded over time to become more formal dwellings. For example, what would have been a barn and later the ranch hands’ bunkhouse still exists on the property immediately behind the Starr Farmhouse. Despite extensive research, Raposa and Meyers, unable to find any Starr family heirs, could not uncover much written or photographic documentation of the original house or farm. One exception is a former dairy employee's granddaughter, who came to visit one day to recount her grandfather's experience working for the dairy. The Raposa/Meyer restoration includes many exacting features. A later 1920s wrap-around porch was restored Continued on Pg. 17
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FARMHOUSE Cont. from Pg. 15
to the original 1887 porch. Period paint colors were investigated. Molding and doors were custom-milled to match original detail – using Paramount Studios’ set carpenters on occasion. Original kerosene lamps were retrofitted for electricity and door/window hardware matched. A 1912 stove from the factory where Raposa’s grandfather worked was also integrated.
Laura Myers
David Raposa
Derek Japha
After the restoration was completed, Raposa and Meyers won two prestigious preservation awards – one from the Los Angeles Conservancy and the other from the City of Los Angeles Office of Historic Resources.
GAVIN Cont. from Pg. 3
But the first week was rough. We were all so anxious we isolated ourselves even further in our own rooms with our weapons of brain mass destruction: a smart tv, laptop and cellphones. We would only see each other either virtually on Zoom or at the dinner hour. Almost every utterance began with “What do you think is gonna happen when….” I tried to find the colloidal silver lining within the Mayor's “secure in place” ordinance by finally catching up on my household chores, paying lingering bills and writing the great American novel...by Thursday. I jumped into both ortho boots and mowed the lawn, changed every burned out bulb with a clean & green bulb provided by the overpriced DWP, washed the doggy beds and floor rugs for fleas, hung up clocks and mirrors sitting just 5 feet below where they were to be hung one day. However, I could not muster up one word for a novel much less a slant on the novel corona virus. Just for laughs I googled “what do writers do in a writer’s slump” and lo' and behold there were hundreds of hits. I clicked on novelist Henry Miller’s writing routine…a specific schedule every day of breakfast, painting, writing for two hours no matter what and then go outdoors. I whipped up gourmet breakfasts followed by architectural coloring books, then took the fur babies out for long over extended walks, with a mask. But still, ideas weren’t happening anywhere in my life. I checked-in with my local editor (or my local water boarding torturer for high journalistic standards) of this very news magazine and she made the point that being still puts us through the typical stripping away layers of distracting mundane-ness and deeply embedded anxieties, but by week three my fingers would be raging across my keyboard. Week three arrived just like the #33 bus, right on time and fresh ideas began to ferment, foment and fragment into other ideas.
Pyrex. I was grateful (so were my kids) to have something to do, to give away and to get rid of the Pyrex hoards. My neighbors unfortunately returned all my containers empty but with lovely "so tasty" on thank you post-its. Then I started to receive porch pastries, cakes, and pies over the next few weeks and I of course returned the flavors, in my containers. What an antithesis to the West Adams porch package pirates! Then at exactly 8 pm we all join on our front porches with pots and pans to bang out a "joyful noise" for our essential workers and frontliners…eight weeks non-stop thus far. Memorial day weekend we hosted our own driveway BBQs for our households. The block chair hosted a DJ on the corner with the Hot Box food truck for burgers fake and real. The cook/truck driver squawked out our house addresses for solitary pick-ups. A local caterer heard about our doings and she baked up cookies in loot bags and laid them at our front stoops. We also had a competition of yard decorations and the neighbors went cray-cray so much that our Senior Lead Officer drove down 7th Avenue honking her horn to send her praises for community involvement. There were Tiki totem poles, crepe paper bushes, red & blue balloons along with silver stars, miniature flags, a wading pool, wine picnics and at our home we decorated out ginormous pine tree with 72 white lights one for each of the nurses who died in the first wave of the pandemic. The U.S. Surgeon General says to go outside and see each other and wave to each other because we need to see we are surviving the storm, get some vitamin D sunshine for pulmonary strength and not die from isolation but thrive from it unlike many elderly in long term care. In our dinner table heart to hearts, my family all agreed it is likely we will eventually get the Covid 2019 virus. Hopefully, when it is reduced to a weaker flu strain ten years from now. The Hong Kong Flu of 1968 is now the common strain, Influenza A, still hanging around, four decades later.
I replaced coloring with baking which I'd always hated. I don't like baby sitting the oven because something could burn in as little as 30 seconds. But I followed the directions of long held recipes I'd found during the my stay-at-home purging of shelves and drawers. I stuck to the drill and followed each volume to exactness and set the timer on the commercial oven and walked away with confidence. I realize now, I was Covid baking. Keeping anxiety at bay by following the rules closely for desired results…like living longer. I gave my confections away to my neighbors, using sterilized containers from recently excavated hoardings of
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GARDEN Cont. from Pg. 10
But now the garden is at serious risk of being destroyed. The new owner of the lot to the south, 1433-37 Crenshaw (which currently houses a 30-foot Craftsman house) is planning to build a 67-foot-tall, 30-unit, six-story apartment building which is 22 feet higher than the original zoning, It is not only grossly out of scale with the local architecture, but it would block out the sun, making the garden no longer viable.
Additionally, it would have 30 apartments, with only three (10%) for low-income residents. Of the apartments, 28 would be 3-bedroom, and only two would be low income, 2-bedroom. The proposal also includes a 21% reduction in the required open space. Per code, the proposed building is only 10 feet from the garden's south lot line, and has front and rear setbacks of only 15 feet from the lot lines. Until recently, the zoning law only allowed a five-story building with setbacks. Although the garden would be impacted, and plots moved around, a five-story apartment building would allow the garden to continue. But when the voters passed Measure JJJ in 2016 requiring the Department of City Planning to create a program to incentivize the construction of affordable housing near transit, the planners created what they call “Transit Oriented Community” (TOC) incentives that allow buildings with 10% affordable units to be bigger and wider, and closer to the property line. So allowing three out of 30 apartments to become “low income” has given the developers the power to invade the culture and community. By the way, the term “Transit Oriented Community” does not mean that the buildings that receive these incentives must serve tenants who use public transportation. The name refers only to the location of a building: within half a mile of a rail line or major bus line. Gardeners need at least 6 hours of sun a day for
gardening to be worthwhile. The more sun, the better. (Only a very few garden plants like shade.) The gardeners believe they can survive with the lesser shade from a 45foot building if they move some garden elements around. Unfortunately, Los Angeles has no law or ordinance that protects existing gardens from excessive shade. Crenshaw Boulevard is low-rise, with all buildings three stories or under. The proposed six-story building is in the middle of the block. If you are concerned about the future of the Crenshaw corridor, pay attention. Now is the time to say something. CALL TO ACTION If you want to help keep Crenshaw CG alive, there are two things you can do. send an email to: vince.bertoni@lacity.org, faisal.roble@lacity.org, kyle.winston@lacity.org. In the "Subject" line, put “Regarding File DIR-2019-1006-TOC, ENV-2019-1007EAF.” 1 - Tell them your connection to the neighborhood and say why you support Crenshaw Community Garden. 2 - Tell them that you disapprove the TOC incentives for the 1433-37 Crenshaw Blvd. property and do not approve the set back, the reduction of open space, and the 22' additional height of the building.” Contact info: Vincent P. Bertoni, AICP Director of City Planning 200 N. Spring Street, Room #525 Los Angeles, CA 90012 Also, please contact the Mid-City Neighborhood Council at info@mincla.org. (They are on hiatus for COVID-19.) Tell them you are a neighbor, and you want Crenshaw Community Garden to continue, and that the 1433-37 Crenshaw Blvd development should be scaled back to 45 feet with no TOC incentives. To be put on the mailing list for the MINC board meeting and/or any hearings at City Hall about the development, email ccg1423@vfemail.net. Also see Crenshawcommunitygarden.wordpress.com. We’ll update that website as things develop.
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CHELSEE Cont. from Pg. 3
baby, and 2019 ended peacefully and without much fanfare. I felt stronger by mid-January. I helped more in the kitchen. I took on some of the school pick-up and drop-off duties for our oldest daughter, Olivia, who’s a first grader this year. I was cruelly reminded of the fact that many newborns, Lottie included, utterly dislike the car. Lottie would wail as we drove along San Vicente Boulevard, her disdain piercing the air and my ear-drums. I fretted over my eventual return to work as a teacher. Going back would mean more driving with the baby, plus the added stress of transitioning her to a day care. Little did we know, the world had other plans. The coronavirus had arrived in a cloak of invisibility and its arms out wide. On March 13, schools across Los Angeles announced closures. Olivia started learning from home the following Monday. Teaching would look different for me, too. I had two more weeks of parental leave. Then I would deliver instruction remotely — no easy feat when the majority of our lower-elementary program revolves around social-emotional learning and play. We kept things light and positive in our conversations at home those first weeks of quarantine. We told Olivia (and ourselves) to see the good in the situation. Olivia took school closure as happy news. She could sleep in, spend more time with her parents and baby sister, and arrange her home-school day how she wanted. My husband and I aimed to enjoy the slower pace, too. We cooked more, we gathered a pile of books we had long wanted to read, and we ordered new board games to play as a family. But there was an ever-present sense of disbelief. Surely we’d all be out and about by the end of April, we thought. Surely we’d have things under control enough for the kids to end their school year on campus, we thought. It was the coronavirus numbers out of New York that made me realize we were wrong. With so many ill in the eastern state, especially in it’s dense urban areas, I saw Los Angeles as a close mirror. We needed to practice caution in abundance. We needed to stay home. It was the first time in awhile that I felt grateful for having been in a car so much, rather than wading through massive crowds to access public transit. We curse the slow slog that is L.A. traffic, but it seems to me that our vehicles acted as a shield of sorts in the months leading up to quarantine.
students, handing the baby off to my husband when live classes were in session. Right away I felt pulled in many directions though I was standing in one place. One minute I am teaching, the next I’m nursing the baby. One hour I’m in a planning meeting with colleagues on Zoom, and after that I’m tossing laundry into the washing machine. By 5 pm every day, a new kind of exhaustion has set in. We continue to make conscious choices to lighten our load. When cooking another meal at home sounds unbearable, for example, we call Mizlala on Adams Boulevard and order their killer chicken schwarma plate. We splurge on fresh sourdough bread from Republique weekly, so that delicious toast and fried eggs can be our morning regimen. We go for walks and scooter rides. As local libraries remain closed, we order new and used books via mail for Olivia — she’s taken a deep dive into the world of kids’ graphic novels (a newfound passion that makes her mother proud). If anyone needs to borrow the entire Dog Man series, we’ve got it. But our we-can-do-this attitude has diminished a bit more with each passing week. As of this story, Olivia has done lessons from her desk, her bed, or our dining room for 10 weeks. She has yet to physically see a friend from school, other than from the road at a “birthday parade” or on FaceTime. My heart aches for her to have actual playdates and not virtual ones. Lottie won’t remember any of this, but Olivia might. And in general I worry about the social and emotional health of young people, who learn and grow so much from interacting with peers. I remind myself often that we won’t be here forever. Masked beach days have arrived, and we’ll take them. L.A. County trails are back open, and we need them. Summer is almost here, and we’ll take it. We hope our neighbors are doing okay, one day at a time. TEACHING ART Cont. from Pg. 12
time with the “potato project.” Liam devised a detailed 3-D hospital diorama with a masked Mr. Potato as A Covid-19 patient behind A plastic partition and PPE covered nurses. Sick, Liam! And as for the student who had insisted all school year on only drawing winged reptiles for every assignment landscape, perspective, impressionist assignments — during this online instruction period, she submitted winged reptiles. Way to go winged reptile grrrl! Stay strong!
Eventually we heard that the rest of the school year would happen at home. We had no choice but to accept what came with that news. Olivia started attending Zoom classes from her bedroom. I started leading Zoom meetings with my
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The Neighborhood News Community Covid-19 Restricted Distribution Sites We are adding various liquor stores within our boundaries to make up for the places that are shut during this crisis. Too many to identify here. WEST WASHINGTON BLVD. 2 FOR 1 PIZZA S.W. corner of Western ANGELINA PIZZA N.W. corner of Western LIQUOR STORE corner of Gramercy W. of Arlington SURFAS corner of 3rd Ave. West of Arlington COPY CENTER 3313 W. Washington Blvd NATRILIART 3426 W. Washington Blvd. and 5th WELLINGTON SQ. FARMERS MRKT (Sunday 9-1, just west of Crenshaw) LA LIQUOR Washington and West View FISH MARKET Washington and Rimpau CHEF D' CREOLE KITCHEN 4641 W. Washington
Stay Safe It isn't over
VENICE WORLD HARVEST FOOD BANK Venice and Arlington RALPHS Midtown Shopping SAN VICENTE LIQUOR STORE (San Vicente/La Brea) YUMMY ( (San Vicente/Hauser) PICO PAPA CRISTO (Normandie and Pico) GRAIN CAFE (Pico one blk east of Crenshaw) PASTA SISTERS (Pico/Arlington) TOM'S BURGERS (Pico/West Blvd) OKI DOG (Pico/Mullen, across from Lowes) SKY TACO (Pico/Dunsmuir) ALFREDO PIZZA (Pico/Hauser) CHOCOLAT CAFE (Pico/Hauser) CJ’s RESTAURANT 5501 W. Pico (Carmona, e. of Hauser) POWER PLANT (5671 Pico/Spaulding) CHARLIES FISH (Next to Power Plant) PAPER OR PLASTIC 5772 W. Pico (Ogden/e. of Fairfax) VONS (Pico/Fairfax) ADAMS ORANGE SUSHI 1/2 blk e. of Normandy in corner mall SUPER 98 CENT MARKET s.w. corner of Western/Adams LOS ANAYAS 4651 W. Adams and West Blvd. HONEY BEES 4715 W. Adams FISH MARKET n. side of Adams at Rimpau VEES CAFÉ 5418 W Adams Blvd (w. of La Brea) DELICIOUS PIZZA 5419 W. Adams JEFFERSON LOUISIANA FRIED Jefferson and Arlington s.w. corner
Wondering what your Neighborhood Council is up to? PICO NC www.piconc.com, United Neighborhoods NC www.unnc.org Olympic Park NC www.opnc.org Mid City NC www.mincla.or West Adams NC On Facebook Koreatown NC. wcknc.org
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POLICE DIVISIONS WILSHIRE DIVISION 4861 W. Venice (e. of La Brea)
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