protestors disrupt vista hermosa park ceremony
Controversy continues to plague the school formerly known as Belmont High.
This Saturday, an opening ceremony for tree planting activities at the mostly-completed Vista Hermosa Park was interrupted by the arrival of activists who claim the local community was excluded from the decision making process behind the development of the 14-acre recreation center.
Comprised mostly of women and children, the small group accused the Los Angeles Unified School District and the City of Los Angeles of manipulating facts to build on the toxic site, and then giving the land away to the Santa Monica Mountains Conservancy (SMMC).
“You sold us out!” cried one protester. “You threw people off this land and now you’re giving it away to the Santa Monica Conservancy. You talk about low-income housing, and then you threw out low income people!”
Another protester quizzed L.A. Councilman Ed Reyes (present to emcee the event) on why the local community was not being prioritized, since it was their children who would be attending the school.
Reyes’s response was terse. “The fact that we’re spending close to $13 million for our community reflects our concerns for our kids,” he quipped. “What I love about this country is freedom of speech. We will continue speaking to each other.”
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-new 14-acre downtown park taking shape
-Vista Hermosa Park Construction Photo Set
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6 comments
To Protestors:
We need more parks. Get a job.
Couldn’t agree more.
Is this park actually open now? If not, is an opening day set?
I’m really looking forward to Vista Hermosa Park, especially after seeing the plans. But I’m a bit worried that there didn’t seem to be very much outreach to local residents, at least for Saturday’s event. Which could indicate a lack of outreach to the community overall.
Is there a local stakeholder group that LAUSD and SMMC have been working with throughout this development process? It would certainly alleviate a lot of people’s concerns.
Um, there’s still a Belmont High. Kids have been going to school there for years. It’s a few blocks to the west, thank you.
You probably meant “Belmont Learning Center,” which changed its name to “Vista Hermosa Learning Center” which recently changed its name yet again to “Edward Roybal Learning Center.”
The park will open in July, and there actually was a lot of outreach to the local community for this event, including big signs along the fencing and fliers dropped at every home for blocks around. It is too bad more people didn’t show up, but you can’t blame lack of outreach for that. I was there, and the protestors (2 or 3 adults and some kids who looked embarrassed) were ridiculous. Reyes tried to address their issues, but each time he did, another wild accusation (eg, something was shouted about money being given to child molestors) was tossed at him. They did their best to ruin a happy day for this community, and then they grabbed free coffee, snacks, and gifts, and sat there while the rest of us helped plant trees. Apparently some people were displaced from this land 20 years ago (but not any of these protestors), and if true that is unfortunate. Eminent domain happens and I can’t say if in this case it was right or wrong. But it is done, and here we are in 2008. This park will be a jewel of Los Angeles and the local community, and I appreciate everyone who made it happen. And I’m sure these protestors will enjoy it as much as everyone else.
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