Results tagged “Autry National Center” from Ron Kaye L.A.

In a dramatic last-minute shift, Councilman Jose Huizar proposed a "prenuptial agreement" that would require the Autry National Center to renovate the Southwest Museum in Mt. Washington and operate it as a living museum as part of its lease agreement with the city for its planned expansion in Griffith Park.

It wasn't clear that Huizar's Solomon-like "splitting the baby" proposal fully pleased either of the warring parties.

The Autry took over the Southwest and its vast collection of artifacts of the Old West in 2003 at a time when the city's oldest museum was in disrepair and had suffered years of mismanagement  It has spent $7 million on repairs to the century-old facility and promised to restore it but refused to enter into a binding agreement.

Eastside activists have waged an intense campaign to block the Autry's 79,,000 square-foot expansion that would more than double the size of its Griffith Park museum and demanded that the Southwest be fully restored  and operated as the main site for display of the collection of 250,000 artifacts.

On Tuesday afternoon before an overflow crowd in the City Council chambers, the years-long fight came to a head before the five-member Board of Referred Powers.

"While I believe that the Autry is acting in good faith when it says it is committed to renovating the Southwest Museum, I think the community deserves to have a binding commitment in writing to ensure that they and future generations enjoy one of Los Angeles most treasured
cultural institutions," said Huizar, who represents the area.

The board -- Janice Hahn, Ed Reyes, Bernard Parks, Bill Rosendahl and Tony Cardenas -- gave Huizar four weeks to negotiate the agreement with a firm timeline for the Southwest's
reopening.

Here's a report from the meeting by OurLA.org writer Chris Rowe, a West Hills Neighborhood Council member:

At the start of the meeting, it was announced that Councilmember Huizar wanted to speak first. And the feeling from the "Friends of the Southwest" was one of fear. Would this Councilmember ask his colleagues to support the Autry.

 

In a surprise to everyone present (Friends of the Southwest), and the mood was one of disbelief, Huizar spoke about a document signed by the Autry that promised to protect both museums. He stated that he wanted a " Prenuptial Agreement" -- a very finely crafted document that was airtight that would protect the Southwest Museum and its contents from being taken by the Autry for the purposes of creating the grander "Autry National Center" at Griffith Park.

 

The Autry's representatives stated that this hearing had only to do with the EIR for the Autry  - and nothing to do with the Southwest Museum. They believe that what the future of the Autry is will have no negative impact on the Southwest Museum at all.

 

Brenda Levin, the architect for the expansion of the Autry gave a beautiful presentation of the renderings of the future museum in Griffith Park. Levin spoke about how this beautiful modern museum of glass would blend with the landscape and incorporate the most modern of designs that fit the concept of "Green Building". As she spoke about how this glass structure was more natural -- I was thinking: "How much more natural can you be than the adobe of the Southwest?"

 

VICA's president Stuart Waldman and many friends of the Autry spoke in favor of the expansion at the Griffith Park site.

 

Native Americans -- including Rudy Ortega Jr. of the Tataviam tribe -- favored the Autry. At least five representatives from different Native American groups said the Autry would be a place where more small children would learn about their Native American cultures and the history of these people and the missions in the area.

 

Daniel Wright of the Friends of the Southwest spoke about the need to protect the Southwest Collection -- to keep it at the Southwest intact. He said Levin had created a rendering of an expansion of the Southwest on its current site prior to being hired to design the expanded  Autry. A great deal of fuss had been made about the many projects that Llevin had designed throughout the City.

It's hard to believe that the City of Los Angeles has designated 900 places for preservation as cultural-historical monuments and it's taken this long and this much effort from so many to get the city's greatest asset, Griffith Park, within reach of that status.

In a hearing room packed with 150 or so community activists, the Cultural Heritage Commission voted 4-1 to approve monument status for the park, setting the stage for the City Council to act on their decision.

The key moment came at the outset when Councilman Tom LaBonge, who represents the park area and is it's No. 1 cheerleader, ended doubts about where he stands with unequivocal support for the commission staff report which found nearly all of the park contributed to its cultural-historical significance.

LaBonge talked about his love affair with the park and his daily hikes, and how Babe Ruth found out he was traded from the Red Sox to Yankees while playing golf at Harding and how his idol Walt Disney dreamed up Disneyland watching kids playing on the park's merry-go-round.

The crowd loved it and cheered him for his support, and for dispelling the notion that he harbored a dream of creating a different kind of "Disneyland" in the thousands of acres of wilderness in Griffith Park.

In all, 58 community members signed up to speak and they got their chance after representatives of the Autry National Center and the lobbyist firm Latham & Watkins accused them of having "misunderstood" or worse "misstated" the Autry's position on the park proposal.

They were all for approving monument status for the park as long as it fully excluded the Autry.

The Autry, the zoo, Toyon Landfill were among the parts of the park that city planning staff determined were not elements of the historical nature that justified granting special protections.

The Autry, which pays $1 a year lease for its 12 acres and wants to expand dramatically on the 10 unused acres, is the most contentious issue and its continuing dismissal of community opposition only fans the passions of their opponents.

The sore spot has less to do with Griffith Park but its willingness to commit to maintaining the Southwest Museum in the Mt. Washington/Highland Park area as a living museum of western and Indian culture. Long mismanaged, the Southwest -- with a collection of art and artifacts far more valuable than the Autry's -- was taken over several years with a promise it would be restored and maintained.

The Autry, once seen as a savior, now faces intense community opposition and the Cultural Heritage Commission spent a lot of time talking what it's role could be since it is included in the overall monument area but not a "character defining" element of the history.

The issue of the Autry and similar elements was left vague and the staff was directed to develop a policy that would let the commission intervene if any development might negatively impact the park's character.

In the end, community activists came away pleased that they had gotten as much as they could have hoped for and started gearing up for the dealing with the City Council.

A lot was learned by the activists who came to Saturday's Town Hall meeting of the Saving L.A. Project and we identified two immediate opportunities to let City Hall know that people across the city care deeply about preserving our heritage in Graffith Park and the Southwest Museum and we are willing to fight for a future that preserves our quality of life.
 
That after all is what L.A. is really about. There's no place on earth where the living is as good for so many as right here but at the rate and in the direction we're going that won't be true much longer.

That's what I've been hearing from people all over Los Angeles, people who are trying to do something to reverse the course we're on. I don't know if anybody else would put it into to the words I use but I believe with all my heart that the people I've met from east, west, south and north L.A. rich, poor and in between, share a strong commitment to change.

Toward that end, we seized on two coming opportunities for political action -- so get involved yourself, spread the word to others, make a difference, let City Hall know what you believe, that you care enough to do something about it.

ACTION ALERT 1: Contrary to the way the Department of Water and Power treated the public in the past. the utility's Board of Commission on Tuesday will consider creating a Ratepayer's Advocate -- a independent expert paid by the DWP who's mission is to keep the public informed about what's going on and to protect the public's interest.

After a strong presentation by longtime DWP activist Jack Humphreville, SLAP called
on community activists of every type in every part of the city to speak up  We urge you to join us at the board meeting at the DWP at 1:30 p.m. Tuesday (Oct. 7) at 111 N. Hill St., 15th floor. There's free parking at the DWP.

If you can't get there, send an email to DWP General Manager David Nahai at david.nahai@ladwp.com as well as to the five board members at forescee1@cfrc.net, patsaouras@earthlink.net, wallyknox@earthlink.net, lkalpert@AlpertBarr.com, edithramirez@quinnemanuel.com.

Among the other important issues on the agenda are how to pay for the unbudgeted 5.9 percent raises just given to DWP workers, whether another water rate hike should be imposed in January and the subsidy to LAUSD.

Action Alert 2: A large turnout of activists is planned for the City Council chamber on Wednesday Oct. 15 at 10 a.m. to speak during public comment of the importance of protecting Graffith Park from development and preserving the city's oldest museum, the Southwest Museum in Mt. Washington

City officials are in the process of deciding whether Griffith Park should be granted cultural/historical status which would make any future development efforts subject to an open and complete public process. That would go a long way to preserving the park as open space and the city treasure it is.

The commitment made by the Autry National Center when it took over the Southwest Museum was to restore it as a living museum. The community has been fighting ever since to get the Autry to leave up to its commitment and guarantee the Southwest will be restored and have sufficient funding to stage important exhibits.

Besides questions about the Autry's intent is the issue of its proposed expansion in Griffith Park and the $1 a year it pays the city for use of the public land.

Many other issues were discussed and it was reported that significant strides have been made in getting non-profit status for the Saving L.A. Project, establishing an organizational structure and launching the webside ourla.org as a citywide news, information and community center for all of Los Angeles

Heinrich Keifer agreed to be acting president, Nina Royal acting secretary and Tom Carter acting treasurer to help give us some structure while we create a board and leadership team for our loosely-knit coalition and obtain IRS approval for the non-profit corporation that has been certified by the Secretary of State.

Thanks to the generosity of the the Progressive Democrats who created westcoastpress.com as a potential online newspaper for the region, we now have a terrific website for ourla.org, the online community network to link up Neighborhood Councils, residents groups, service clubs and activist groups of various interests and political perspectives.

Several community activists turned out today for public comment before the City Council to make the case that the Autry National Museum has reneged on its commitment to keep the Southwest Museum functioning as a living museum.

The Southwest is a treasure of the Mt. Washington-Highland Park area that was allowed to fall into decay by the city's leadership -- something that never would have happened if it was located downtown or on the Westside.

With impetus from the Gene Autry's widow Jackie, the Griffith Park institution moved in and took over the Southwest with false claims about its assets and false promises to restore the city's oldest museum. Instead, the Autry has looted the Southwest of its $1 billion collection and intends to expand in Griffith Park while turning the Southwest over to the L.A. Community College District which proposes spending $12 million from the bond issue on the November ballot to turn it into classrooms.

The Saving L.A. Project voted to support Friends of the Southwest Museum on Saturday and  activists who participated in the Town Hall meeting spoke to the City Council today.

Lucille Saunders discusses LaBrea-Willoughby Coalition's infrastructure lawsuit

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Editor's Note: The Saving L.A. Project will hold another Town Hall meeting on Saturday Oct. 4 at the Charo Community Development Center at 4301 E. Valley Blvd. in the El Sereno neighborhood. The time will be announced soon.

 
 
During a town hall meeting Saturday in East L.A., Saving L.A. Project (SLAP) members voted to take positions on eight hot topic issues and is now looking for volunteers to mobilize the community activists across the city to help make a difference: 

SLAP OPPOSES THE TAKEOVER OF THE SOUTHWEST MUSEUM BY THE AUTRY NATIONAL CENTER

City Hall is rushing to shut off public debate and close the deal to loot the Southwest Museum of its valuable collection and turn this historic facility -- the city's oldest museum -- into community college classrooms using bond money from the November ballot measure put up by the LACCD.The Autry National Center in Griffith Park is lookiing to rebuild and expand its lackluster museum dramatically and has cut a back room deals with LACCD to get $12 million to convert the Southwest into class space -- an action that will rob the Mt. Washiington-Highland Park area of its most notable landmark. The deal betrays the commitment made by Jackie Autry, widow of the western movie star Gene Autry, to maintain the Southwest as a museum.

Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa has broken his promise to protect the Southwest as a museum. Councilman Jose Huizar has done nothing to stand up for his constituents. Councilman Tom LaBonge has spearheaded the Autry's campaign which has spent large sums of money to get heavyweight lobbying support from City Hall insiders Bill Delvac and George Mihlsten of Latham & Watkins and PR man Steve Sugerman, the admitted felon. Please contact Heinrich Keifer <hkeifer101@sbcglobal.net> who is helping to put together a team that will drum up support from community groups, conduct email and phone campaigns and develop other strategies to force the Autry to live up to its commitments. 

SLAP  OPPOSES THE  LOS ANGELES COMMUNITY COLLEGE DISTRICT BOND ISSUE

Because of the LACCD's complicity in this back room deal, instigated by Community College Board member Mona Field, SLAP also decided to oppose the $3.5 billion bond issue, the district's third in recent years. 
 
SLAP  SUPPORTS THE CULTURAL HISTORICAL DISIGNATION OF GRIFFITH PARK

Kris Sabo won the full support of SLAP for a motion to support the efforts of Save Griffith Park and the heirs of Griffith Jenkins Griffith who donated the land for L.A.'s "Central Park" to get the city to declare the park a cultural-historical preservation zone which will give it badly needed protections from the city's intention to turn it into an amusement park and tourist trap. Councilmember LaBonge also took heavy criticism from SLAP activists for his role in pushing for other developments in Griffith Park even as he postures as its guardian. Contact ksabo@wildwildwest.org who will help coordinate with other groups. 
 
SLAP JOINS  THE LA BREA-WILLOUGHBY COALITION  

Headed by Lucille Saunders, the lawsuit  is aimed at forcing the city to carry out required studies of traffic and other infrastructure needs before approving new developments. Every neighborhood in the city is being negatively impacted by developments approved in ignorance -- the city hasn't made these required studies for a decade. Lucille Saunders  laid out the issues involved in the lawsuit and won support Saturday from the L.A. Neighborhood Council Coalition as well as SLAP. More than a dozen community groups have now joined the suit and the support of as many as possible will help strengthen the campaign to bring sanity and good information to the city's future development. Forms to join as Plaintiff's for the lawsuite are on the website.  They must be completed and faxed the September 11.   Contact Lucille Saunders and the website  at labreacoalition@gmail.com