South Central Los Angeles (CA) June 14th 2006 Mayoral insiders who were trying to save Mayor Villaraigosa's political future on June 13th ( the 9/11 of the South Central Farmers) by attempting a last ditch effort to negotiate a deal with Horowitz have begun to leak backroom information. Just like the Sheriff's department poked holes on the water container barricade in front of the Black Walnut Tree, where the South Central Farmers' made a last ditch for self-defense, several of these individuals have come forth and are providing critical information.

Horowitz chose to abandon the negotiation table not because he really cares much about politics but rather because Jan Perry, Council District 9 Council woman, hung a bigger carrot in front of him. What could possibly entice Horowitz to bust a nut? How about another back room “sweetheart deal”. This one located at Slauson and Central. This property had been earmarked by Jan Perry to Pay off the late Juanita Tate of Concerned Citizens of South Central, who help to get her elected. But now that Juanita is getting recycled, Jan Perry has no particular allegiance to her freckled son Mark Williams who represents Concerned Citizens of South Central Los Angeles. Mr. Mark Williams on occasion has been referred by city officials as the Cryp Thug of Poverty Pimping.

What evidence is there for such a turn of events? Well, when the SCFs’ encampment begun Mr. Williams and his lawyer, Roberto Garcia, the Soccer Loving Guatemalan, waited more than two hours to meet with Tezozomoc and Rufina Juarez, representatives of the SCFs’. There were private discussions where it was announced that Jan Perry had betrayed CCSCLA. Williams was going to make an attempted to align himself to try to turn on Jan Perry and to try to take over the SCFs himself.

Clearly, we see why Mr. Williams was out on Tuesday trying to hijack the media to serve himself and his endangered crib (south central). Jan Perry has chosen to sacrifice CCSCLA and align herself with Mr. Horowitz. By forcing Horowitz to execute the eviction she could exact blood on the South Central Farmers who have single handedly out organized her, out performed her and will end her political future. In doing so Jan Perry re-asserts herself as the ultimate real estate broker in South Central Los Angeles.

They say that you can not teach an old dog a new trick. This seems to be the case with this canine. The original deal cut in 2003 was done by Jan Perry to give Horowitz land for 5.1 Million dollars when it was worth over 13.3 in1994. That was a back room deal and this new parcel that Jan Perry has cut for Horowitz is even “sweeter”. Horowitz’s gets to keep the 14 acres at 41st and Alameda and he gets another opportunity to build another shopping mall at Slauson and Central. This would bust anybodies nut.

Can somebody post a photograph of this scumbag so we can see what this capitalist pig looks like?

Where does he live? What does his car look like?

Work Address:
11911 San Vicente Ave. #310
Los Angeles, CA 90049
(310) 440-7878 x24
(310) 440-7877

The above is a satellite photo of the corner.

Is this a credible story? It's sounding like "Chinatown," except not so sexy, and since it's in SCLA, it should probably be called "Chinatown Express."

Here's some text from the ccscla.org site about that planned project. Note that Maxine Waters supported the Farm (and Walters and Riordan are out). Waters is also now "the #1 liberal in LA" since Villaraigosa dropped that mantle.

---------------------------

Commercial/Retail Development

The Slauson/Central Plaza is a 300,000 s.f. shopping center at the corner of Slauson and Central Avenues in South Los Angeles. The Plaza plans to fill a major void in the community that lost 1,600 retail and commercial facilities in the 1992 Civil Disturbance. The construction of the project will also eliminate blight in the community by replacing an abandoned railroad spur, a dilapidated scrap metal yard and vacant lot.

The Plaza will be anchored by a large grocery store and complimented with a: a fast food restaurants, a major video rental chain, computer technology center and other small shops. The Plaza will truly be a public/private partnership combining the resources of local and federal government, private sector investment, as well a community support. The project is strongly supported by Mayor Richard Riordan, Councilwoman Rita Walters, and Congresswoman Maxine Waters. The total development cost for the project will approximately exceed $13 million.

sorry bout that... here's the photo

Farmers Kicked Out of Community Farm in South-Central Los Angeles
Betrayed by Mayor Villaraigosa, Adherents to the Other Campaign On The Other Side, Together with Sympathizing Neighbors, Resist Riot Police and SWAT Attack

By Margarita Salazar
The Other Journalism with the Other Campaign on the Other Side

June 13, 2006

LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA: Members of the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department arrived just before 5 a.m. to evict some 350 families – most of them immigrants from Mexico and Central America – who in the past 15 years have managed to transform an arid and abandoned plot of land into a celebrated and loved collective farm that produces fruits, vegetables, legumes and flowers for the benefit of the community.

The land held by the farmers had been abandoned for decades, but as a result of the popular uprising in 1992, the city government authorized the use of the land by those now evicted (the same year the city burst into flames with the acquittal of policemen for the brutal beating of Rodney King, an African-American).

Tezozomoc, a spokesperson for the farmers, said the aggression shown today would certainly unleash a strong sense of community discontent against the city government.

The government, headed by Antonio Villaraigosa, a politician of Mexican roots, did not keep its word to the farmers and denied them the economic and political support. Villaraigosa chose to award this support instead to the new owner of the property: real estate speculator Ralph Horowitz. Villaraigosa opted impress capital and sacrifice those with whom – when convenient – he shares a common heritage.

Horowitz was the original owner of the property and sold it to Los Angeles at the end of the 1980s for $4.7 million. But in 2003, Horowitz, in a typical sweetheart deal – or “behind closed doors,” as these acts of favoritism are sometimes called – regained 14 acres of the land for $5 million. He is now asking for $16.3 million, a sum the farmers, despite their best efforts along with other civil society groups were not able to collect.

Unofficial sources within the local government claimed that the government would step in with some financial help, but today it seems Villaraigosa did not move a finger to prevent the eviction.

All this, despite the fact that the Annenberg Foundation, a non-profit institution, had promised a contribution of $10 million to begin the buy-back in favor of the 350 families that until early this morning worked the land to produce – prickly pear cactus, greens, chipilín and squash, for example. The farm is a much-needed oasis amid the urban stain of the city, fractured as it is by long highways and concrete overpasses, the richer cousins of those Mexico City’s residents must put up with.

But the so-called “second floors” constructed by the government of Andrés Manuel López Obrador of the Party of the Democratic Revolution for the benefit of the wealthy and the “freeways” that make the city an endless and undecipherable crossword puzzle are not the only parallels.

The Other Journalism confirmed that below and to the left, the farmers of South-Central – adherents and members of the Other Campaign on the Other Side – have joined with their Mexican brothers and sisters south of the border.

“We are all Atenco and South-Central!,” “Villaraigosa, asshoooole (culerooooo)!” were some of the chants that could be heard along the avenues of Alameda, Long Beach, 40 and 41, the streets that mark the boundaries of the farmers’ cooperative project, a piece of land that political and economic calculations deemed expendable.

Not so, for the hundreds and hundreds of young students, activist, environmentalists and homemakers, just to name some of the diverse sectors of civil society who decided to make that farm, “their farm,” arriving early in the morning to protest the abuse of power through peaceful resistance.

Indeed, opposite the high-caliber guns and police batons were guitars, drums and whistles; in front of the high-impact helmets and shields were bandanas and ski masks, Zapatista symbols that are by now imbued with anti-capitalist significance; answering the prominent acronyms of LAPD and SWAT (Los Angeles pioneered the creation of this repressive unit, which is armed to the teeth and is by definition charged with fighting “terrorists”) were “Viva EZLN”, “Save our Farm” and “The people united, will never be defeated!”

Rufina Juárez, one of the most tenacious defenders of the community’s land, said to the Other Journalism that the aggression they were subjected to will not be forgotten. She also had strong words of criticism for Villaraigosa, who over the course of his corporate ladder-climbing, power-hungry career has used his “origins” and “race” as political bargaining chips.

“Mexicans,” she said as tears welled up in her eyes, “have a long tradition of defending our land and we aren’t going to forget this aggression. Those who don’t love their land have no mother, so it’s clear that Villaraigosa has no mother. It would be better if he dropped his name and just went by ‘Tony.’ He doesn’t care about women, kids, nothing.”

Rufina makes these remarks as heavy machinery begin to raze the land parcels that with so much love and patience the farmers manage to make productive. The produce from this land was often given for free to neighborhood families, who are certainly among the most vulnerable of this First World city.

It mattered little to the political establishment that the farmers of South-Central, who were able to spark interest throughout their country and in the world in their own right, had the backing of prominent liberal figures associated with the Democratic Party. That is, stars from the world of entertainment: Joan Baez, Danny Glover, Martin Sheen, Laura Dern, Tom Morello, Willie Nelson, Alicia Silverstone and Daryl Hannah. The last was still high up in a walnut tree with three other people, as of this writing, hoping to stop or at least temporarily block the incursion led by the Sheriff’s office and the LAPD. Hannah, who acted in the movie Blade Runner, a staple of the science-fiction film genre, said she would stay up in the tree as long as possible.

The initial force of the raid was composed of the sheriff’s riot unit, and it arrived in full combat regalia to confront the unarmed farmers and sympathizers. A large part of the perimeter was blocked off for the operation, and police resorted to using train cars to block off intersections, and they also used more than 40 policemen as well as various helicopters.

Inside the farm a hundred people waited, armed with no more than their own conviction; they asked for water from those outside – some 500 protestors, who clamored with authorities over the excessive show of force.

Time and again they indignantly asked: “Why are you destroying the crops?” Some of the evicted women pleaded, “That’s food for our children. What, don’t you have a family?” The only response from a cynical policeman was: “No, I don’t have any children” and “We’re doing this for your own good.”

So far, 39 people opposed to the eviction have been arrested, and the situation remains tense. The police are warning the people to disperse and leave the area, but the diverse group remain firm, declaring: ¡Aquí estamos y no nos vamos! (“Here we are, and we won’t leave”).

Whatever happens in the next few hours will have to be reported by the local, national and international press present. Of course, that is if for once instead of listening to the voices of power, they can listen to the people who are below, who at the end of the day are the ones with their hearts in the right place, which at moments like these, beat in unison: firm and to the left.

1. Call the person you are trying to make a deal with a dirty Jew or part of the Jewish mafia.

2. threaten to ruin his private and businness life. Have phone jam parties with his phone numbers.

3 Call him an evil capitalist even though he let people use the land for free for years.

4. Threaten his family. Most men do not respond well to threats. Threatening his family is is much much better for getting his attention.

Publish his home address on the internet and encourage others to vandalize his property.

Threaten to burn down anything built there.

If you do all of this and the person agrees to deal with you he's a wimp. If he tells you to go pound sand, he is a man of character. He would rather pass on 11 million than do businness with thugs

How does Perry plan on delivering the land? In a quick Google check, it looks like it's privately-owned land using gov't. funds for development.

from LAANE:
Goodyear Tract Industrial Park
Location: Site bounded by 59th St., 62nd St., Slauson Ave. and Avalon Blvd.
Council District: 9th--Jan Perry
Developer: Concerned Citizens of South Central and Regency Realty Group (shopping center only)
Type of Development: 208-acre site; 80,000-100,000 square feet for retail component; other elements undetermined
Subsidies: $15.1 million in grants and loan plus tax incentives
Status: In approvals process

If she pulls it off, it sure looks like selling the project is more than dissing Williams. Improving this intersection seems to have been Juanita Tate's pet project. Selling this out from under Concerned Citizens for private development would be a real slap in the face to Williams, who still bristles because he was compared to Rumsfeld, not just an slight.

The public part of the public-private development at Central and Slauson is hooked up with Delgadillo. Remember, it was Delgadillo who represented the City in court--in support of Horowitz's ownership.

Same old players, seems like, but there's a twist: the City doesn't seem to have a claim to the land that I can find, and I can't figure out how Perry could manage to get the current owners to give it up. What is she offering them?

A quick Google search on Slauson and Central brings up connections with Juanita Tate and Concerned Citizens (now Mark Williams' group) and Delgadillo. Public involvement appears to be through the Community Redevelopment Authority. There's Genesis LA, a city-sponsored non-profit set up by Delgadillo to encourage private investment, the Regency Realty Group, Inc., and the Retail Initiative, Inc., all private players.

http://www.usc.edu/uscnews/stories/657.html
https://www.icsc.org/srch/sct/current/sct0501/page5a.php?region=
http://www.ccscla.org/employment.htm
http://www.calregions.org/news/item.php?id=756
http://www.crala.org/internet-site/Projects/CD9/priorities.cfm
http://www.crala.org/internet-site/Projects/CD9/GoodYearIndustrialTract.cfm
http://citycouncil.cityofla.org/calendar/public/062800.txt
http://crala.org/internet-site/Projects/CD9/SlausonCentralRetailPlaza.cfm

On Delgadillo and Genesis LA:
http://www.smartvoter.org/2001/06/05/ca/la/vote/delgadillo_r/bio.html

Ralph has to represent for the propertied elite sayiing "we can't be taking this shit from a bunch of activists!"

aztlan.net -- well, they're disliked by a lot of activists... kinda makes you wonder why they bother, what with all the gays, non-Mexicans, Jews, whites, and other of their enemies defending this farm. Ralph is old enough to know that discrimination from below doesn't matter as much as discrimination from above. He's from that era when Jews weren't allowed to live in some areas.

Also, was the land taxed? Aren't there tax abatements in redevelopment areas?

Maybe they should have offered to put a liquor store and strip club up on the farm. Then some greedy City person might have felt like defending it.

Let the truth set you free...

So sad to learn and witness the despot leadership caused the eviction of the community garden. The tactics used were uncalled for and tactless with all do respect.

What should have happened is the despot leadership should not have been so self-centered and narcissistic, and instead Rufina Juarez and Tezozomoc should have unified people to support the cause----To Keep the South Central Farm Alive.

Unfortunately, this was not the case and many supporters were alienated from the very beginning when all they wanted to do was help.

It was not about fame and glory... It was about empowering the campesinos (farmers) who live below the poverty level and all they wanted to do is grow food to feed their families.

The public in time will begin to breath and see the truth as the truth unfolds about what really happened.

It was NOT smart to ridicule the Jews and character assassinate your supporters. It was NOT wise to protest the Mayor's home and Horowitz's home. It was NOT humane to hurt those who truly tried to help.

Those who came on board toward the end came with real heartfelt intentions. Yet in time, they too will see and learn what really happened.

May the one above Bless Rufina Juarez and Tezozomoc and help them see what they did wrong.

Did they implant Bush's brain in you? Things aren't about good and evil. There have always been multiple parties, multiple interests, and multiple motivations. It's not like any one party can take the "blame" for what's happened, except maybe Horowitz, who requested the police action (or complied with someone else's request).

People put their differences and ally for the greater good, which is to preserve the farm, and prevent a warehouse.

The Farmers never attacked anyone based on being Jewish, and Horowitz knows it. His claim is based on an article written by Ernesto Cienfuegos for aztlan.net, a notoriously bigoted and Anti-Semitic website.

A search of the aztlan.net site shows one thing very clearly. Of the 3 articles on the subject of the Farm these people have written and posted, not one of them includes so much as a quotation from anyone associated with the Farm.

Horowitz is not a stupid man. He knows this, and is cynically using an article written by a third party that has no association with the Farm to smear the Farmers as Anti-Semitic.

Those who back his claim here are doing just the same.

You can find the articles in question at
http://www.aztlan.net/jewish_mafia_terrorize_campesinos.htm

if he does not want to.

That's funny. Logic is making a case for emotion.

Sure, maybe he didn't want to, just because he was real upset by the supporters.

Because, well, real estate is such an emotional thing. People make these real estate decisions on a whim. Especially on tracts of commercial real estate. Like, yesterday, I was looking for office space, and darn near had an orgasm, cuz the identical tan concrete box-shaped buildings were so sexy and exhilarating. Especially the older ones, with the oil leak stains in the parking lots.

I got the impression he made the offer to sell as a kind of political concession. He'd go along with the situation, make a pile of money, and make points with the City. An $11 million profit over 3 years is a lot of money.

Then, when the money shows up, things change? There's no deal, and the attack on the farm begins. That's suspicious.

It is funny how Jan Perry was not around much.

It's funny, how LAT writer Steve Lopez, who recently put a sympathetic magnifying glass on the homeless situation in downtown, suddenly writes a hitpiece against the SCF, coming off like a conservative.

It seems like there's some "media spin control" going on here.

Search for "Slausen" missplled on this page:

http://sec.edgar-online.com/2003/06/24/0000897069-03-000679/Section6.asp

From the page: "Note 2: Regency is negotiating with an outside investor to participate in Slausen Central, LLC. At this time the extent of
the participation has not been determined."

It's an older doc, but indicates that Regency Realty, the company that is partners with CCSCLA to own the Slauson Central LLC, was talking with an outside investor. I don't see another name on the CRA page describing the project ( at http://www.crala.net/internet-site/Projects/CD9/priorities.cfm ).

Of course, it's not just this proposed Food 4 Less that's slated for redevelopment. The entire tract is called the Goodyear tract, and it's all under redevelopment. That's a lot of land.

www.thehopiway.com/content/messages/fireclan.htm

Keeper of the Fire Clan Tablets

Excerpted from

The Public Statement of the Keeper of the Hopi Fire Clan Tablets, during his Prophetic Mission to the New Mexico State Capital at Santa Fe, December 1990


"...The root cause of the problems that threaten life on earth is the concept of land title acquired and maintained by force. Since modern civilization is based on this concept, it does not hold the key to peace.

Our original Hopi land title is based on permission. We recieved that permission from Maasaw, the guardian of all land and life, who holds it in trust for the creator. Thus it is implemented by the forces that create this universe.
Regardless of differences in culture and tradition, true aboriginal title throughout the world is based on a similar relationship. To usurp aboriginal title by deception and force, then build an empire upon that basis, is to oppose the forces of life, and ensure the eventual destruction of that empire. The United States of America has become such an empire…

But when the Europeans came they forced their religion, culture and language upon our children, which brought great division amoung our people. As a result, today our young people are turning away from this basic law. They no longer understand it. They only understand the White Man's law.

Because they were forced into this situation, there is now hardly anyone fulfilling the sacred instructions and correctly performing the ceremonies essential to the Hopi way of life. There are still leaders from various clans who know of these instructions, which reveal their true purpose in life, but more and more they are turning away. This intrusion by outside forces, and the harmful effect on our function as caretakers of life, is the reason life on Earth is now so disturbed.

Like the Hopi, original native peoples were placed across this continent, and given special instructions by a higher being. Each had special functions by which to hold life in balance, which they were still carrying out when the Europeans arrived. We know these foreigners once had similar spiritual means for promoting life, with which they were supposed to bless the native peoples. But they had apparently misused their power. Most of the native peoples were forcibly stripped of their culture, language and religious ceremonies, depriving them of their function as caretakers. Those that remain face imminent cultural extinction. Clearly these foreigners are not here to help, but to destroy everything the original people have left, and in doing so, destroy this world. The only hope for humanity lies in restoring true land title, which is inseparable from our function as caretakers of life…

But as the Purification foretold in our tradition materializes, they too will get kicked around. They will find themselves disrespected everywhere, just as they have disrespected others, and their power will collapse. Soon they will see how little power and authority they really have…
Land title based on such deceit and coercion is theft from the very forces that gave us life. Since most of modern civilization is based on such false entitlement, it can only destroy itself. The severe problems that face not only humanity, but every form of life on Earth, serve to warn that the time of destruction is at hand…

We can no longer escape. We must trace this situation to its root cause. This is why I act now to call world attention to the true nature of aboriginal land title, which alone holds the key to world peace. Hopi land title is based on our agreement with the Creator, the true owner of the land, through our meeting with Maasaw, to serve as its caretakers. This requires genuine knowledge of the pattern through which people can live together in peace without relying on the use of force. This way of life can continue forever.

So for the sake of the indigenous nations that remain with us today, and all people who are moved to correct their ways and restore that harmony which can enable life in this world to continue, I have come to Santa Fe, the first European capital established on our land, to urge that those documents that might reveal the true nature of our title to this land be investigated and revealed, and to place our knowledge of the Way of Peace at your service.
We hope that what we are asking will be brought about soon, and that those who sincerely wish to resolve this great crisis will make use of our knowledge. "

That the land belongs to those that cultivate it and tame it to benefit peoples lives?

Americans have done that.

So of course the jewish card was played. Horowitz tries to turn himself into a sympathetic character rather than the money hungry capitalist that he is, ensuring that he can die with fat clogged arteries because of all the fat food he eats and kids in south central will be deprived once again of fresh food. alas, look at all the players in the game and send them happy cards come the holidays. while they're gorging their fat faces, remind them of those who are hungry.

Nobody at the farm ever offered to buy the property. An offer to buy is not "give it to us, we'll get someone to try to pay you later".

They did not raise the money. The Annenberg foundation publically stated that were interested in making a partial offer. They did not make an offer by their own admission which like any other real estate offer would have been made with a cash deposit and a contract to buy, no different than when you buy a house.

Annenberg technically does not buy property. They get someone else to buy it. They are sort of middle man that would broker the deal. Like the Mexican farmers, they were not interested in buying it themselves they were interested in someone else buying it for them. The 11 million that they claimed to have were nothing more than promises to help out. They are not even IOUs. An IOU is enforcable.

http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-condemn14jun14,1,3281452.story



From the Los Angeles Times
U.S. Targets L.A.'s Seizure of Property
A federal watchdog agency is scrutinizing the city's condemnation of some businesses.
By Patrick McGreevy
Times Staff Writer

June 14, 2006

Investigators from a federal watchdog agency are coming to Los Angeles to meet with a group of business owners who allege that the city redevelopment agency has abused its eminent domain powers by forcing out their thriving enterprises to make way for other businesses.




Robert Blue, the owner of Bernard Luggage Co. in Hollywood, said Tuesday that he was approached by a representative of the Government Accountability Office, a nonpartisan investigative and research arm of Congress, which is studying eminent domain practices nationwide.

The local business owners said they planned to highlight at least three examples of what they considered to be inappropriate government condemnation, including the ouster of about 30 small businesses in Hollywood, including Blue's, to make way for a $400-million project that includes a luxury hotel, apartments and condominiums. They also cited the forced sale of a furniture manufacturing site in South Los Angeles that is now proposed to be sold to a competing furniture maker, and the use of eminent domain to take a property from one shopping center developer to sell to another, also in South Los Angeles.

"Eminent domain" refers to the authority of government to take private property for public use or benefit, such as to build schools or to help revive blighted neighborhoods with commercial development.

The Supreme Court recently created a firestorm by ruling that a government could take even non-blighted property for commercial development. Some members of Congress, who are calling for revising eminent-domain laws, have asked for the federal study.

Blue, one of the most vocal critics of the Hollywood project, has sued the Los Angeles Community Redevelopment Agency, which condemned the property that holds his 60-year-old business at the intersection of Hollywood Boulevard and Vine Street.

Blue and others learned about the federal study in a letter from Julie E. Trinder, an analyst with the accountability office.

The letter and a list of questions indicates that the report will be a broad look at the use of the controversial redevelopment powers in Los Angeles and elsewhere.

"Our objectives are to describe the purposes for which eminent domain has been used, the process states and localities use to invoke eminent domain, and the impact on communities from projects where eminent domain was used," Trinder wrote.

Accountability office representatives plan to visit at least five cities, including New York City, as part of its examination, which is due by Nov. 1, said Bill Shear, a spokesman for the federal agency. In Los Angeles, the federal officials will talk to Community Redevelopment Agency officials and community groups, he said.

Cecilia Estolano, chief executive of the redevelopment agency, said Los Angeles has strong safeguards to ensure that the power is not abused.

"The bottom line is eminent domain is rarely used, but it is an important tool for revitalizing communities. It is a tool of last resort," Estolano said.

Trinder provided the L.A. businesses with a list of questions her team wants answered in the meeting, scheduled for July 10. Among them:

"Can you provide examples of property or land acquired by the city's use of eminent domain that remained unused or were used for purposes other than those stated by the city when proceeding with the condemnation?"

To that question, Blue said the businesses would raise the example of Vaughan Benz, a furniture manufacturer that was forced by the city to sell its South Los Angeles property to make way for an animal shelter, only to see the city propose instead to sell the site to a competing furniture maker.

The displaced firm had successfully operated for more than 20 years before the city used eminent domain to force the sale of the South Western Avenue site.

"They told us it was for one thing when it was for another," said Scott Vaughan, co-owner of the firm, on Tuesday. "It was definitely an abuse."

Also planning to talk to the federal authorities are representatives of M&A Gabaee, a development firm that was planning to build, without government subsidies, a shopping center at the corner of Slauson and Central avenues, also in South Los Angeles.

However, the Community Redevelopment Agency is spending at least $17 million to force the sale of the property so it can be developed with a shopping center by a builder with political ties to City Hall.
Last Updated ( Saturday, 17 June 2006 )

>Also planning to talk to the federal authorities are representatives of M&A Gabaee, a development firm that was planning to build, without government subsidies, a shopping center at the corner of Slauson and Central avenues, also in South Los Angeles.

>However, the Community Redevelopment Agency is spending at least $17 million to force the sale of the property so it can be developed with a shopping center by a builder with political ties to City Hall.

Just need some clarification. Is the "builder with political ties" Central Slauson, LLC (Concerned Citizens of South Central Los Angeles and Regency Realty Group, Inc)?

I know almost nothing about this deal, but it looks like RRG of Florida hooked up with CCSCLA to form a company. The clout of CCSCLA was used to ED some property and preempt competition from an essentially identical privately funded project.

If this is the case, how, and why, did this LLC form? Who set it up? Who contacted whom? Who was motivated to bring the two together, and why?

That's funny!

They had the pleges for the money from some big players. They had some other money from unnamed sources. The cause is large enough that these organizations see a LOT of value in affiliating with the Farm. Annenberg has a media school at USC, which is nearby, and this would help expand its influence. The TPL probably sees LA as an "important" city. It's the next Manhattan. This project would raise its profile.

Foundations are, in a way, "paying" for the years of good works at the Farm, to be associated with a project that's not only "good" but could be the source of some research projects, and a way to interact with the community via ongoing projects. It's not that different from buying a building at a university or donating to a school.

The Farm was probaby attacked because the money was good. If it was fake, he could have said, "well, this is just funny money; I need cash." The attack changed the nature of the relationship, potentially improving Horowitz' position. They were hoping for a violent confrontation, to make it look like the activists were violent people. The most visible violence, however, was when the police invaded and then mowed down the crops.

I don't quite understand why the racist Jew hating post on Jun. 17 at 1:44 AM wasn't hidden and yet the post I made complaining about it was. What gives? Is it legitimate to equate "money hungry capitalist" with "Jew" on this site? Is it OK to malign someone by claiming said person "played the Jewish card"?

Well I guess it's OK that you think it was funny, googlie

"They had the pleges for the money from some big players. They had some other money from unnamed sources"

Yeah that and 3 bucks gets you coffee at Starbucks. Theres an old legal dictum about real estate offers. "Put up or shut up."

You expect Horowitz to seriously consider an offer from an unnamed source?

The farm was never ever attacked. It did get a bunch of trespassers removed from it who thought chaining themselves to concrete blocks would acomplish something. Make that "stupid trespassers"

Everybody was given weeks to simply walk away. Indymedia published breathless updates every few hours about how the police were coming.

Under California law anything growing in the land is automatically the property of the land owner. Believe it or not, Horowitz could legally send the farmers a bill for crops removed by the farmers. So the plowed crop is a total non-issue.

It is Horowitz. He is the one that pitted Jan Perry against Villaraigosa. It appears that this is the piece of land that Jan Perry sweetened the pot.

This is what motivated CCSCLA to try to make an alliance with the South Central Farmers. Because Jan took their land away and has offered it to Horowitz.

error

I'm still confused. If the land belonged to Slauson Central LLP, which was complsed of CCSCLA and Regency Realty, how could it be taken away by Jan Perry? Does she have special powers because the land was taken via ED? Was SC LLP only contracted by the City to run the operation?

(If so, another piece of the puzzle falls into place.)

I don't blame you. Trying to analyze a half baked conspiracy theory tends to get confusing

So, B do you know if CCSLA than was kicked out of the deal when Horowitz was added, or is Horowitz the private partner mentioned in the article you last posted? Trying to understand how this deal worked out. If Williams was disgruntled the day of the siezure of the farm, it sounds like to me he was betrayed and is probably no more a part of the deal. When was Horowitz offered the new sweetheart deal? Thanks for your research. I hope your sources are still talking. I would really like to learn more about it, and hope that the corruption that sounds like is going on will get good coverage.

The way revitalization money works, you need a public and a private partner. The City confiscated the land from M&A Gabaee, which was going to develop the land privately but, of course, that would mean that our City Moms and Pops couldn't spread the gov't. wealth around to their friends. The Community Redevelopment Authority accepted an application from CCSC and Regency for private-public partnership development, CCSC legitimizing the fed and state $$$, Regency putting up a Food4Less to anchor the thing.

Looks like Regency has pulled out--it's not listed as a development site on their website--leaving CCSC needing a private partner . . . you can take it from there. Even if Regency is still in, they're only in for the shopping center. There are acres and acres left for development, that CCSC doesn't have a private partner for.

So far, $15.1 million in grants and loans are on the table for a developer to pick up.

http://www.laane.org/ad/newdevelopment.html#goodyear

In a last ditch effort, Jan Perry was able to negotiate a computer lab for CCSCLA. This pacified them. Jan Perry re-deployed them to the eviction site to try to steal the cameras from the SCF's leadership. They knew that they could easily pick on Rufina Juarez and that was enough to create controversy. So, it was reported in the LA Times the next day. We are dealing with ghetto tactics.

Site Name: Lancer Industrial Site
Location: 41st & Alameda (Alameda Corridor)
Council District: CD9 - Walters
Project Description: 14-acre industrial site. Community garden and food bank currently in
operation.
Developer: not yet selected
Site Owner: Harbor Dept.
Leading City Agencies: MOED/CRA
Public Investment: $1.5 million EDA grant applied for by MOED
Zones: CRA redevelopment area, State Enterprise Zone, Federal Empowerment Zone
City Tax Free Zone
Job Projections: 200

Here is the info on the Slauson and Central Site
Site Name: Goodyear Tract Industrial Park
Location: Bounded by 59th, 62nd, Slauson Ave. and Avalon Blvd.
Council District: CD9 - Walters
Project Description: 208-acre, 281 parcel site. Largest contiguous industrial site in LA. 120
businesses currently in operation. Redevelopment of site includes landscaping, security fencing
and retail shopping center.
Developer: not yet selected
Site Owner: 209 property owners
Leading City Agencies: CRA, Council Office, MOED
Public Investment: $1.7 million BEDI grant, $10.4 million Section 108 loan, $3 million EDA grant
Zones: State Enterprise Zone, Federal Empowerment Zone, City Tax Free Zone
Job Projections: 1000

Perry is losing her base and she knows it. Exposing her ties to Horowitz could bring her down.

To put our attention on revenge is wrong. If fails to think long range and to see the whole picture.

Put your sites on taking back the Farm, not on defeatist strategies of revenge. Taking back the Farm is hard. Revenge is easy, and most of all, "revenge" is an Admission of Defeat.

But.

This is not over.

We need to define victory and plan for it.

That means consolidating, caring for and growing the community, just like we would tend a garden, including taking care of our spiritual needs and growth.

It means:

Caring for the land and the plants and trees as best we can from outside.

Developing an economic strategy.

Developing a political strategy.

Expanding the culture of the Farm into new venues, engaging more people.

Doing education out in the world.

Rallying more allies.

Fundraising.

Media work.

Dialog.

And, finally, IF we lose, finding alternatives for farming and community - looking for new places - not revenge.

Community green space should be considered a right. It's environmental and economic justice.