You know it's an important story when you see the names of James Acevedo, Richard Alarcon, developer Mark Siffin (he with a dark past) in the same article with $200 million project and Community Redevelopment Agency and the headline says: "Questions surround Panorama City mall, condos.''
Questions about this plan for the old Montgomery Ward site came up Saturday at the Saving L.A. Project's Town Hall meeting when activists learned that once again the community was being left in the dark while special interests were buying "access" at City Hall.
Let's start with Siffin whose career was outlined in a terrific story Wednesday by reporter Connie Llanos in the Daily News.
Here's a "58-year-old businessman from Indiana whose record includes a failure to finish a previous big project in the Los Angeles area and a conviction for drug dealing in his 20s."
His name ...but no charges were filed and he's had success with projects elsewhere in the country.
Siffin told Llanos he "didn't act mature in my younger days." His lawyer noted he hasn't actually been convicted of anything in 35 years.
Then, there's Acevedo, the man who fancies himself as "Mr. Big" of the Valley who has built a political machine around Alarcon, Councilman Tony Cardenas and state leigslators Alex Padilla and Felipe Fuentes and profited handsomely along the way.
He's a City Hall political insider who has has served -- amazingly -- on the Harbor Commission and Board of Zoning Appeals -- but his track record on developments he runs is less than illustrious.
Questions about this plan for the old Montgomery Ward site came up Saturday at the Saving L.A. Project's Town Hall meeting when activists learned that once again the community was being left in the dark while special interests were buying "access" at City Hall.
Let's start with Siffin whose career was outlined in a terrific story Wednesday by reporter Connie Llanos in the Daily News.
Here's a "58-year-old businessman from Indiana whose record includes a failure to finish a previous big project in the Los Angeles area and a conviction for drug dealing in his 20s."
His name ...but no charges were filed and he's had success with projects elsewhere in the country.
But eight years ago, he ran into sharp opposition in West Hollywood over a 660,000-square-foot mixed-use development with a luxury hotel, two office buildings and upscale restaurants and shops with Vegas-style billboards. Residents objected to both his plans and his tactics, and pulled out before the project was complete, Llanos reported
Siffin was convicted in 1973 of possession of heroin with intent to sell and was twice indicted but not tried in the 1980s for buying a gun as a convicted felon and drug conspiracy In 2000, old DEA reports surfaced before the Nevada Supreme Court that Siffin was suspected of being a "major cocaine trafficker" in the 1970s -- information that led to a murder conviction of another man being overturned because authorities had withheld it.Siffin told Llanos he "didn't act mature in my younger days." His lawyer noted he hasn't actually been convicted of anything in 35 years.
Then, there's Acevedo, the man who fancies himself as "Mr. Big" of the Valley who has built a political machine around Alarcon, Councilman Tony Cardenas and state leigslators Alex Padilla and Felipe Fuentes and profited handsomely along the way.
He's a City Hall political insider who has has served -- amazingly -- on the Harbor Commission and Board of Zoning Appeals -- but his track record on developments he runs is less than illustrious.
Llanos reports he came in behind schedule and over budget on publicly funded affordable-housing projects in the Valley in the late 1990s and failed to finish two affordable-housing projects in the Northeast Valley. Later, he had to pay $2.8 million for a city loan and the city foreclosed on the second property.
That's why Acevedo says he took over the Montgomery Ward property three years ago and was led to Siffin by Rick Taylor of Dakota Communications, whose tactics for Home Depot and now on the Expo Line have unintentionally energized community opposition.
When Llanos first spoke with Alarcon, he was enthusiastic:"This project can have a tremendous impact not only on Panorama City but, when you link it to the Pacoima Plaza project, the impact is huge on the psychology of the people of the Northeast Valley."
Later, when confronted with the information about Siffin, Alarcon said he was unaware of it and denied his support had nothing to do with with Acevedo, who ran his first City Council and state Senate campaigns.
His position now is he will wait for the community's approval before supporting the project.
From what came up at the SLAP meeting and what Llanos reports that day could be a long time coming given their track record.
"If these guys start a project in Panorama City but don't finish it, a project that is supposed to overcome blight can become blighted itself," said Tom Hogen-Esch, a political science professor at California State University, Northridge.
Ron Kaye
This is only one example of the backroom dealings of the CRA in Los Angeles. Now is the time to lift the rock and shed the light of day on the CRA and all those who have and are becoming wealthy on the backs of the tax payers and the poor. It is time to end the Blighted City addiction these folks have come to be addicted to.
David Hernandez
Alarcon and Acevedo again... just swell.
These scumbags never go away, do they?
Who said this was a CRA or other government funded project. The DN article said tha CRA had been contacted and said that no government funds are involved. If they start the project, which they said they still intend to do, and it is not "completed", they lose and Panorama City stays the same, blighted. There is no hint of any improper activity here by Mr. Alarcon, or anyone else.
Fred Whitebook
Panorama City Neighborhood Council, VP, Board Member
The Montgomery Ward was recommended to LAUSD as a facility that could be made into a vocational school facility by apast I am not sure current president of Van Nuys NC. About the same time as the attempted take over of LAUSD by Mayor V. When Mayor V was presenting at LA Valley college and you were Master of Ceremonies. He and I were directed to Cortines at that meeting where we suggested that the area was surrounded by apartments and gangs and to create vocational ( Now CTE, career technical education) training would be a valuable use and help create job skills for underemployed kids from the community. We never heard from Cortines after getting him contact info, and for sure not after he became the Assistant Superintendent. The official party line is LAUSD will create "college prepared and career ready" students. They will do this by pushing for breaking all high schools into small learning centers in state CTE Themed areas and tieing shop (vocational) teachers with the primary abstract subjects like math/algebra, science, english and history. They talk to projectized assignments where the primary abstract and home room teachers meet with shop/vocational/CTE and make mutually supporting assigments that draw students into looking into career fields at a basic level.
The Governor in OCt about 3 years ago came down and announced a move to emphasize vocational education, and mixing more high school kids into occupational centers. Unions seem to have control of much of vocational training and get paid well to set up training centers. BUt at the same time the governor signed into law a law that will have 90% of monies that had previously been used for adult retraining to be canged within 5 years to covering high schools and reducing retraining for adults to 10%. At the same time he said it would be paid for by federal funding. But, about the same time President Bush appeared to have pulled funding to states for Perkins or vocational ed.
Great slight of hand tell the public they will finally get training for their kids, in schools but not neccesarily high schools, pull out training money for retraining, and tell the public cal won't budget to cover it feds will, but then the feds pull thier support.
I could have this 100% wrong, but Dr Patrick Ainsworth at the state level is in charge of it all. Ask him to clarify. BUt be careful as he will be defending his turf.
I Lived in the Valley for 15 years and I want to know when they are going to start this project. Because when I passed the old abandod Montgomery
Ward their wasn't a boldozer or a machine that can destroied on buildings how can this person coulnd't start this Project until we are almost in December and were still in 2009 and sopost they were going to completed in the fall of next year but they are not doing anything. so I hope this project will finish as soon as posible thank you for reading this comment sencirly Rolando
G'day. I'm having trouble with your blog. I can't see the pictures. Is everyone having this problem? I have been having trouble with my notebook lately, so I'm not sure if its my Internet connection or if its your website. Thanks!