South Central Farmers Message To LA Daily Blog Readers

WE WON! KEY VICTORY FOR THE FARM! THANK YOU!
(http://www.latimes.com/news/printedition/california/la-me-farm26-2008aug26,0,4541681.story)

Dear All;

The South Central Farmers have won a key victory in our fight to restore the Land.

It buys us essential time to move forward, to advance and consolidate our efforts in other key arenas – and you made it happen!

Hundreds of you sent letters and emails and signed petitions to the City Planning Department demanding an environmental impact report on plans by Ralph Horowitz to build a mega warehouse on the Farm land, after planners had tried to waive the required report. The sheer volume of letters caused the Planning board to reconsider the waiver, even before a scathing commentary to City Planners from the Air Quality Management District was weighed. The planners had been called on the carpet, both by the community and by the authority most responsible for oversight of air quality in a four county area of Southern California.

In the meantime, The Los Angeles Times ran a report exposing sweatshop manufacturer Forever 21 as the corporation involved with Horowitz in developing the Farm site, and exposing contributions of $1.3 million by Forever 21 to Mayor Villaraigosa’s campaign and certain of his pet projects, and on that basis, and on the basis of our knowledge of a number of very shady and suspicious dealings regarding the land and the transfer of its ownership (including a missing 8 million dollars)the Farmers have issued a call to State Attorney General Jerry Brown for an investigation of the mayor, city attorney and city council members Jan Perry and Nick Pacheco, who have also received “contributions” from Forever 21.

Today we discovered a clipping of the L.A. Times story in the files at City Planning, and we were informed by them that Horowitz has decided not to contest the required environmental impact report further. This gives us a lot of needed time to get the investigation underway and to launch other efforts now being planned to restore the Farm as a beautiful farm, to protect the land, the air and the water table, and to spare area residents from the immense health risks that the mega-warehouse would expose them to.

NOW: PLEASE WRITE TO ATTORNEY GENERAL BROWN IN SUPPORT OF OUR CALL FOR AN INVESTIGATION. This is the next key link in our plan to restore the Farm, and your support can be decisive. (See below!)


Thanks,

South Central Farm Support Committee

In 2003, Mayor James Hahn and City Council members, including Councilmember Antonio Villaraigosa, approved a transfer of the land at 41st and Alameda from the Los Angeles Harbor directly to developer Ralph Horowitz for the construction of a trucking distribution center for clothing manufacturer and retailer Forever 21, in a deal brokered by City Attorney Rockard Delgadillo. As the Los Angeles Times reported ("Forever 21 Development on South Central Farm Site Is Protested") on August 18, 2008, Mr. Villariagosa has accepted $1.3M from Forever 21 for his mayoral campaign and for projects that advance his political agenda. Public records show at least three other City Council members, Nick Pacheco, José Huizar, and Jan Perry, have also received monies from Forever 21 during and since 2004. City Council records show that Ms. Perry's approval was key to finalizing the sale to Mr. Horowitz. Further, according to the article, Forever 21 threatened City officials that it would remove its operations from the City if it did not obtain use of this site.
You may have also seen the article that came out on Rocky Delgadillo, “Criminal probe begun on L.A. city attorney”. Not too long ago Jose Huizar was fined by the City Ethics Commission, “L.A. Councilman Huizar fined by ethics panel”. Additionally, in last weeks LA Weekly Jan Perry was accused hanging the taxes payers with Millions in wasted development on the Grand Ave Project, “Grand Avenue Drenched in Misdirection”. From all of this it seems that LA is drowning in corruption.
Suggestions of fraud, misuse of public funds and lands, and public officials' machinations to the benefit of private parties pervade the story of the sale and ultimate destruction of the South Central Farm. The City's questionable transactions around South Central Farm point to a pattern of manipulating both public and private land ownership and distributing public development funds for political gain. The Farm was beloved by thousands of supporters across Los Angeles, the State of California, and the world. If this treasure was lost to us because of graft and greed, the residents of this City, the State, and the world need to know, and we implore you to tell us.
What can you do?
Help us by encouraging Attorney General Jerry Brown by doing an ethic investigation of LA City Officials involved in the “pay to play” development deals. Press on the image or follow the link.http://www.southcentralfarmers.com/index.php?option=com_philaform&form_id=8&Itemid =1
Join us August 25, 2008 at 7 pm at SCF community center for an organizing meeting to begin boycotting Forever 21, demanding Justice from the City of Los Angeles, and demanding the restoration of the SCF Farm. Location: 1702 E. 41st St, Los Angeles, CA 90058 phone 800 249-5240, Directions http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&hl=en&geocode=&q=1702+E+41st+St,+Los+Angeles,+ CA+90058&sll=34.085972,-118.371791&sspn=0.008601,0.012639&ie=UTF8&ll=34.00 9643,-118.242953&spn=0.008609,0.012639&t=h&z=16&iwloc=addr
There will be a movie screening of the The Garden where you can witness corruption first hand by Rocky Delgadillo, Jan Perry, and Villaraigosa. Please join us for the one week run of The Garden, winner of the Sterling award for best U.S. feature at Silverdocs, at Laemmle Fallbrook 7, West Hills, CA. Thank you for your support."We award this film for its tenacity in storytelling in the face of injustice, and the filmmaker's singular vision in bringing a gripping, dramatic, and important story to the public eye. THE GARDEN has raw emotion, visceral energy, and nail-biting twists and turns. It unravels a complex and layered tale of the destruction of America's largest urban farm that must not be forgotten."The Silverdocs Sterling US Feature JuryThe GardenA Film by Scott Hamilton KennedyLaemmle Fallbrook 76731 Fallbrook Ave, West Hills, CA 91307818 340 8710free parking 8:00pm and 10:00 pm, dailyFriday, August 22-Thursday August 28, 2008***Q/A with filmmaker and other members of the film after both screenings on 8/22 and 8/23*** View the trailer: http://www.thegardenmovie.com/trailer
If you are heading to the DNC you will have an opportunity to see it there.The Garden will also be screening on Wednesday 8/27 as part of the Democratic National Convention in Denver Colorado as part of the THE SEACHANGE IDEAS FORUM At the STARZ GREEN ROOMplease check their website for further information and updates: http://www.seachangecom.com/

On October 15th, 2008 There will be a screening of The Garden at the Schindler house, located at 835 North Kings Road West Hollywood, CA 90069,p: 213-453-6449, starting at 6:30 pm.