THE EAGLE
ROCK ASSOCIATION
The Best Investment You Can Make in Your Neighborhood
March 18, 2004
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Now more than ever,
please support your residents association --
more than 1,000 members strong, and growing every day!
Please encourage
interested friends and neighbors to send their email addresses
to us at e.letter@TERA90041.org so we
can keep them informed, too.
This week:
President’s Message(item #1)
Health care for all at Town Hall!(Item
#4)
Park it at Saturday’s ERCPR meeting(Item
#6)
Table of Contents:
1. PRESIDENT'S MESSAGE
2. CONCERNED ABOUT PARKING IN EAGLE ROCK? ATTEND THE ERCPR PUBLIC
MEETING — MARCH 20
3. TERA'S ECLECTIC EAGLE ROCK HOME TOUR -- TWO DOWN, TWO TO GO!
4. MAGIC AND MYSTERY AT THE EAGLE ROCK LIBRARY -- TODAY, MARCH 18
5. UNIVERSAL HEALTH CARE FOR ALL CALIFORNIANS IS THE TOPIC AT TOWN
HALL — TODAY, MARCH 18
6. EVERYTHING YOU EVER WANTED TO KNOW ABOUT CUBAN CONTEMPORARY ART -- TODAY, MARCH 18
7 DENISE UYEHARA REVISITS JAPANESE INTERNMENT CAMPS IN "BIG
HEAD" AT OXY — MARCH 24
8. COMING TO A POLLING PLACE NEAR YOU: NEIGHBORHOOD COUNCIL
ELECTIONS — MARCH 27
9. TAKING BACK YOUR BACK: A YOGA ESSENCE CLASS IN BACK CARE — MARCH 27
10. “LIFE THROUGH MY EYES”: THE POETRY OF EAGLE ROCK YOUTH —
MARCH 27
11. SUPPORT YOUR TOWN -- IT'S GOOD BUSINESS!
12. WE'VE GOT MAIL
13. THE LAST WORD — KATHRYN ANASTOS
1. PRESIDENT'S
MESSAGE
Parking in Eagle Rock's business district -- It's everyone's business!
This Saturday, the Eagle Rock Community Preservation and Revitalization
(ERCPR) Corporation will present the results of the parking study at the
20th Century Women's Club from 2:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m. Please make every
effort to be there. Complete details are in item #2 below.
I sit as Vice President of ERCPR as well as TERA President, and will be
presenting the results of the parking study. Valley Economic
Development Corporation (VEDC) spent a great deal of time contemplating
solutions to one of Eagle Rock's most pressing issues.
TERA members answered many of the questionnaires for the parking study itself.
We will discuss ways to address the need for more parking on the
Boulevards with Senator Jack Scott and Councilmember Antonio
Villaraigosa.
Your input is crucial to developing solutions that work for us all. I
hope to see you there!
Walgreens update: Councilman Villaraigosa announced yesterday
that Rich Development will meet with the Eagle Rock focus group next week.
At this private meeting, the new plans for Walgreens and the buildings
along Colorado and Eagle Rock Boulevards will be unveiled.
TERA remains vigilant about ensuring good design and enforcing the condition
that no certificate of occupancy will be issued for Walgreens until both of the
outer buildings are finished. I will present more details as soon as I
learn them.
Thank you all for your letters to Councilman Villaraigosa! It has helped
keep the pressure on to make the Walgreens development worthy of Eagle Rock's
high standards.
-- Hilary Norton Orozco, TERA President
2. CONCERNED ABOUT PARKING IN EAGLE ROCK? COME TO THE ERCPR
PUBLIC MEETING — MARCH 20
The Eagle Rock Community Preservation and Revitalization Corporation (ERCPR)
will host a community meeting to update and inform the public on the Storefront
Improvement Program (Facade Program), and the recently finished Commercial
District Parking Study. Both of these programs were made possible by
a state grant of $300,000 to ERCPR through State Senator Jack Scott's
office. The Senator will be present for this meeting, as will Assemblymember
Carol Liu. Councilman Antonio Villaraigosa will also be in attendance
to address issues of the parking study.
Don’t miss this vital meeting! Refreshments provided courtesy of the Eagle
Rock Neighborhood Council.
For more information, please contact EPCPR President Linda Allen, (323)
257-6898.
3. TERA'S ECLECTIC EAGLE ROCK HOME TOUR -- TWO DOWN, TWO TO GO!
TERA member Pauline Mauro has kindly offered to serve as our Eclectic
Eagle Rock Home Tour ‘04 promotion coordinator. Way to go, Pauline!
Our Home Tour committee still needs:
Please remember that you will not need to do anything other than one
specific job (unless you want to do more), making it easier and more fun
for everyone. Also, you may work with a partner to handle any of the
above duties. Our Home Tour committee is open to all TERA members
interested in furthering TERA's goals and making Eagle Rock an even better
place to live. If you'd like to help out but are not already a TERA
member, we'd be happy to sign you up at the next meeting. It's the best
investment you can make in your neighborhood, not to mention the best deal ($20
per individual or $25 per household)!
On a personal note, I have worked on this committee since our very first Home
Tour in 2000, and it's always been a lot of fun and very gratifying. I've
been able to meet and work with terrific, dedicated people. Also, a great
bonus for our committee members, as well as our volunteers, is a free pass to
the tour and the always fabulous (!) post-tour party.
Most importantly, the tour does GREAT things for our town! Just look at
the wonderful changes to our commercial district we have all enjoyed during
these past few years. Our Home Tour has had much to do with these
positive changes. I'm very proud of the many things TERA has accomplished
since its inception in 1986.
Our next Home Tour meeting will take place Monday,
April 12.
Details of upcoming meetings will be sent out in our e.letter in the
coming weeks. Please help us make this Home Tour the best one yet!
Please contact me at artburn@earthlink.net
if you are interested in helping with any of the above jobs. Thanks so
much!
-- Joanne Turner, President Emeritus, The Eagle Rock Association
(TERA)
4. MAGIC AND MYSTERY AT THE EAGLE ROCK LIBRARY -- TODAY, MARCH 18
On Thursday, March 18, the Eagle
Rock Branch Library welcomes master magician Tony Daniels, who
returns to our library to present his beguiling show,”Magical Tales.”
For more information, call Kent Brinkmeyer at the Eagle Rock
Branch Library (323) 258-8079.
-- Mary Wynton, Eagle Rock Library, Children's Librarian
5. UNIVERSAL HEALTH CARE FOR ALL CALIFORNIANS IS THE TOPIC AT TOWN
HALL — TODAY, MARCH 18
From Councilmember Antonio R. Villaraigosa comes this invitation to a Town
Hall Meeting convened to seek solutions to California’s mounting health care
crisis:
“I am writing to invite you to participate in a televised town hall sponsored
by Council District 14 and the non-profit and non-partisan Foundation for
Taxpayer and Consumer Rights. The town hall meeting will discuss
California’s ailing health care system and potential solutions to our common
problems.
“There is a growing commonality of concerns about the escalating costs in the
health insurance system and the crisis for uninsured and underinsured
Californians. The town hall will explore, from different perspectives, common
problems with, and common solutions to the current health care crisis.
“The goal of the town hall is to continue to forge a consensus on strategies
for a cost-effective universal health care policy.
“Prescription drug bulk purchasing and health care purchasing pools are two
such strategies to be discussed which could provide cost savings in existing
state, county and city health care expenditures that can be then applied to
increasing access to care.
“Bill Rosendahl will moderate the event on Thursday, March 18 at Los Angeles
City Hall, 200 North Spring Street, in the Council Chamber. The event
will begin promptly at 5:00 p.m. and end 6:30 p.m. All guests are asked
to arrive no later then 4:30 pm.
“The town hall will involve government officials, nurses, doctors, hospital
representatives, patients, consumers, health plans, business owners, and health
care advocates. L.A. CityView 35 will televise the town hall. Other
members of the media will be invited to attend and report on the town hall
deliberations.
“This town hall is one in a series of events held across the state by the
California Health Consensus Project. Videos and transcripts of past
events may be viewed at http://www.CalHealthConsensus.org
“Please RSVP to Jerry Flanagan of the Foundation for Taxpayer and Consumer
Rights at (415) 633-1320 or Jerry@consumerwatchdog.org as soon as possible.
We look forward to your participation.”
-- Antonio R. Villaraigosa, 14th District Councilmember
6. EVERYTHING YOU EVER WANTED TO KNOW ABOUT CUBAN CONTEMPORARY ART
-- TODAY, MARCH 18
In conjunction with the exhibit,
"Ruben Rodriguez: Erotic Art From Cuba", the Avenue 50
Studio will host a panel discussion with art historian Shifra M. Goldman,
PhD, and Adolfo V. Nodal, author of Memoria: Cuban Art of the
20th Century. Mr. Nodal will have books available for sale.
Shifra M. Goldman has a PhD in art history from UCLA, with a specialization in
modern Latin America. She is a Research Associate with the Latin American
Center, UCLA and has taught at California State University, Los Angeles and
UCLA. Dr. Goldman is currently working on her fourth book about modern
Latin American art. Adolph V. Nodal emigrated to the U.S. from Cuba in
1957. He held the position of General Manager of the City of Los Angeles
Cultural Affairs Department from 1988-2001.
"Rubén Rodríguez-Erotic Art from Cuba/Arte Erótica de Cuba" runs
from February 21 through March 14, 2004 and is free to the public.
Avenue 50's hours are Tuesday through Thursday, 10:00 a.m. to noon, and
Saturday and Sunday, 10:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m.
7. DENISE UYEHARA REVISITS JAPANESE INTERNMENT CAMPS IN "BIG
HEAD" AT OXY — MARCH 24
On March 24, Performance artist Denise Uyehara will stage "Big
Head," an interdisciplinary presentation that revisits the
treatment of Japanese-Americans during World War II. "Big
Head" links the U.S. government's incarceration of
Japanese-Americans during World War II with treatment of those perceived as the
"enemy" now, including Arab-Americans, Muslims and South
Asian-Americans. The Los Angeles Times judged the production
"mesmerizing ... a coup de theatre. Uyehara, a virtual conflation of
Laurie Anderson and Miyoshi Umeki, here addresses imperiled democracy in the
present war-shrouded landscape."
"Big Head" premiered at Highways Performance Space, and
has been presented for the Mark Taper Forum's Asian Theater Workshop Reading
Series, as well as Bryn Mawr College. It will be performed this fall
at the Japanese American National Museum.
Uyehara also is a writer and playwright whose work has been presented across
the United States, and in Finland, Japan, Canada and China. The recipient of
numerous awards, Uyehara recently received a fellowship from the Asian
Cultural Council and a grant from the California Civil Liberties Public
Education Program. For more information on the artist, visit
http://www.deniseuyehara.com.
Uyehara's Occidental appearance comes in conjunction with Women's Herstory
Month and is being sponsored by the college's Intercultural Community
Center. The program is free and open to the public. Occidental is located
at 1600 Campus Road in the Eagle Rock section of Los Angeles. For directions
and a campus map, visit http://www.oxy.edu/welcome/.
8. COMING TO A POLLING PLACE NEAR YOU: NEIGHBORHOOD COUNCIL
ELECTIONS — MARCH 27
It's election season again in Eagle Rock! The Eagle Rock Neighborhood
Council will be filling the seats of directors who were elected for a
one-year term last year. The following is a list of the open positions
and the registered candidates running for those seats:
Youth:
Jacob Stevens
Faith-Based
Organizations: Dipa Gupta, Thelma Quindipan
Business:
Juan Dimacali, Krista Neumann
Civic
Organizations: Alfredo Bernardo, Everett Sarabia
Sub-District
2: Lilia de Jesus, Carlos Montez, Jessica Wethington McLean
Sub-District
5: Jeffrey Samudio
Sub-District
7: Norma Gonzales
Sub-District
8: Dante Banta, Irene Daniel
For more information, contact Bill Markis, Election Committee Chair, at
District8@EagleRockCouncil.org or Dahlila Soleto at
President@EagleRockCouncil.org, or by phone at (323) 257-6381.
9. TAKING BACK YOUR BACK: A YOGA ESSENCE CLASS IN BACK CARE — MARCH
27
From the folks at Yoga Essence comes word of an upcoming course for anyone
who suffers from a pain in the back:
If you or someone you know suffers from back pain, please check out the
Back Care Course coming up March 27th at Yoga Essence Studio. You will come out
of the class with a simple practice you can do at home to combat your back
issues. This class is great for anyone who doesn't want to go to an
ongoing class but needs some insight into dealing with their back issues.
Do you know someone like that?
Barbara Paulsen Fazio will be teaching this 4 week course for those with back
problems. This course is for those who want to learn to safely stretch
and strengthen the muscles that stabilize and support the spine with yoga
asanas, breath awareness and relaxation. Learn the 8 Steps to Wellness,
which include biomechanics/re-education and yoga breathing. Class will
meet over four Saturdays, from 2:00 -3:30 p.m. The cost is $80.00 and the
space is limited, so please sign up in advance. Call (323) 550-8182, or
email krista@yogaessence.net.
10. “LIFE THROUGH MY EYES”: THE POETRY OF EAGLE ROCK YOUTH —
MARCH 27
The Center for the Arts, Eagle Rock proudly presents:
On March 27, the Center for the Arts, Eagle Rock, will present "Life
Through My Eyes," a tantalizing spoken word extravaganza, directed and
hosted by local poet and City of Los Angeles Artist in Residence Lisa Marie
Sandoval. "Life Through My Eyes" will feature readings by
Sandoval as well as readings by the youthful participants of the poet’s now
ongoing Thursday afternoon Youth Poetry Workshop. The Center for the Arts
is located at 2225 Colorado Boulevard, Los Angeles, one block west of
Eagle Rock Boulevard.
Admission to the show is free, and music and refreshments will be served.
For more information, please call (323) 226-1617 or e-mail poetryarts@truevine.net.
11. SUPPORT YOUR TOWN
-- IT'S GOOD BUSINESS!
We've already begun planning our annual Home Tour, and we'd like to invite
our local businesses to advertise with us once again. Supporting this
wonderful event, held in October 2004, will directly affect your business by
bringing many new people into our area to view our most interesting homes and
gardens. You want them to be aware of you when they are choosing where to
go and what to do here. You also want to let your regular customers and
all Eagle Rockers know you support community improvement activities.
As always, our Home Tour will be well promoted, both locally and nationally.
This always ensures a well-attended event. Last year we attracted
800 attendees and hope to top 1,000 this year. As ad space is limited and
there is a high demand for ad space, we have increased the prices for this
year's tour.
RATES
One-eighth page (2-1/4"
high x 3-1/8" wide) $ 75.00
One-quarter page (5-1/8"
high x 3-1/8" wide) $125.00
One-half page (5-1/8" high
x 6-1/2" wide) $250.00
Full page (10-1/2" high x
6-1/2" wide) $500.00
Approximate available ad spaces are two (2) full-page ads or four (4) extra
half-page ads; two (2) half-page ads; 13 quarter-page ads; and 14 eighth-page
ads.
All artwork must be camera-ready, including crop marks, and submitted along
with your payment NO LATER THAN FRIDAY, AUGUST 20, 2004. If your artwork
and payment are submitted after the deadline, your ad will not be included in
our Home Tour brochure. There absolutely will be NO EXCEPTIONS. We
are informing you very early in the year to allow you plenty of time to get
your ad and payment to us.
Please send your artwork and payment to:
Ms. Maedale Gongora
1250 Hill Drive
Eagle Rock, CA 90041-1648
maegongora@aol.com
(323) 255-1267
Please make your check payable to TERA.
Space is limited, so reserve your placement now!
THANK YOU!! -- The Eclectic Eagle Rock Home Tour Committee
12. WE'VE GOT MAIL
We got lots of response to City Council Field Deputy Michael Cathey’s
letter on the status of the Walgreens development (President’s Message,
March 11, 2004 e.letter), including the following...
”The best I can surmise from the letter your printed last week from
Michael Cathey of Councilmember Villaraigosa's office, regarding the status of
the Walgreen's development, is basically this: Villaraigosa has done nothing
regarding the Walgreen's issue, an issue he surely recognizes as very important
to the Eagle Rock community. The building is going in as it was
originally designed, and Eagle Rock appears to be once again ‘stiffed’ by the
very councilman elected to help rectify this.
“It's easy to boycott Walgreen's -- I'll never step foot in there. But
what to do about a councilman who has his sights set on posts much higher than
the one he currently holds?”
-- Stephanie Diaz, Eagle Rock
“In regards to Walgreens, is anybody aware that they are in the process of
putting up that cinder block structure? From the last couple of TERA tera
e.letters, I was given the impression that there would be no activity until a
rendering was drawn and approved by the community. Does anybody know
what's going on?”
-- Christopher Lee, Eagle Rock
See Hilary Norton Orozco’s President’s Message above (item #1,) for the
latest news about the Walgreens development. Before we leave this topic,
Joanne Turner sent the following commentary on the long running Walgreens
saga. During her long tenure as TERA President, Joanne was, of course, at the
forefront of efforts to bring the Walgreens development into compliance with
local land use laws.
”Over a year ago, I received an
e.mail message from a long-time community member whom I consider my friend.
This person expressed a deep disappointment in a couple of items I wrote
for our weekly e.letter right after the Planning and Land Use Management
(PLUM) Committee of the Los Angeles City Council voted unanimously to approve
the terribly misguided Walgreens project. I wrote about how this vote,
astoundingly, was predated by the issuance a few hours before of a press
release announcing the unanimous decision of PLUM (say what?), which, it
so happens, was a direct violation of the Brown Act. This project is a
major development debacle that clearly does not comply with the law and will
scar our town center well into the future in more ways than one. Since
the City Council generally tends to support any position put forth by one of
its members, and the vote was lumped in with two other matters as if it had
little importance, the Council mindlessly and unanimously (except for Eric
Garcetti, the only one with the courage to vote no) voted to approve it three
days later.
“In our e.letter I took then-Councilmember Pacheco to task for facilitating
this great miscarriage of justice, which I had every right to do. He was
elected to represent me and was paid by my tax dollars. He was
accountable to the public he served, including TERA members and all District 14
residents who live in Northeast Los Angeles, and his actions regarding this
issue will detrimentally alter the town so many of us, as volunteers, have
worked so hard to improve. My friend strongly suggested that my anger at
Mr. Pacheco and this situation was more about my alleged need for ‘control,’
that ‘winning’ was, for me, more important than Walgreens, and that I and my
organization were unwilling to ‘compromise.’ With all due respect, my
friend couldn't have been more wrong.
“My rage is well justified, and it has absolutely nothing to do with ‘control.’
It has everything to do with respecting and adhering to the backbone of
our democratic society, which is the law. And, when it comes to the law,
there isn't such a thing as ‘compromise.’ Either something is legal, or it's
not. There is no in-between. This Walgreens proposal was railroaded
through, completely outside of the mandated public process, by an inept Los
Angeles City Planning Department with the help of the City Attorney's office
and our former Council member. Our city committed a monumental error, and
instead of taking responsibility for it and appropriately solving it early on,
the city took step after calculated step, over more than 18 months, and
systematically forced a bad and unlawful project onto the Eagle Rock community
in order to cover its own sorry behind.
“Speaking to the issue of ‘compromise,’ TERA had asked the Walgreens
representatives and developers well over two years ago to please work directly
with the community to design a project that would be acceptable to all
stakeholders and comply with the Colorado Boulevard Specific Plan, whether that
effort involved saving the existing building (a very popular notion) or not.
Walgreens never even tried; they were the ones who refused to compromise,
or even come to the table, not TERA, as my friend mistakenly suggested.
The developers only pretended to be concerned, while clearly crossing
their fingers behind their backs. Walgreens wanted what it wanted, an
ocean of highly visible asphalt, and with a few laughable tweaks in the end and
with the full support of Mr. Pacheco, they got it -- a plan that doesn't meet
the letter or intent of the law, and one that will visually crumble our center
of town by destroying the historic and appropriate streetscape, but it fits the
company's ‘marketing strategy.’ And our city, our former Councilmember in
particular, helped them do it.
“Wrong as it is, our government absolutely will not police itself, and it
necessitates organizations like TERA to hold our officials' feet to the fire
and force them to do their jobs the way they should. It is a very dismal
situation indeed -- no one should have to work this hard to ensure that our
laws are followed and our rights guaranteed. After so many months of
clearly having the law on our side, to have to witness its complete circumvention
by those charged with protecting that same law and assuring the public trust is
absolutely horrifying. The way this issue has been handled by the city is
nothing less than scandalous. All people in Eagle Rock ought to band
together and demand that our city straighten up, because therein truly lies the
problem.
“With the huge number of community members throughout Eagle Rock and Northeast
Los Angeles who have been gravely concerned about this project from the start
and are now fit to be tied by its outrageous conclusion, it is obvious that
Walgreens has done an exceptional job of thoroughly infuriating the same people
the company hopes to win over as customers. It has to be one of the
dumbest public relations moves I've ever seen.
“Currently, the Walgreens developers, Rich Development, is dancing around their
so-called commitment to redesigning the facade of Building C that will face
Colorado Boulevard. They keep putting off meeting with the focus group
appointed by current Councilmember Antonio Villaraigosa, while in the meantime
the main Walgreens building is being erected. The one good thing the PLUM
Committee voted to approve was that the main building could not receive a
certificate of occupancy until Buildings B and C were constructed. But, how can
we be sure the city will follow through on its commitment? If Walgreens
is so anxious to move in, why are the developers waiting regarding Building C?
Or, is this just another attempt by the city to violate its own rules?
If the developers and the city think this community has forgotten this
travesty and has given up, they're very, very wrong.”
-- Joanne Turner, President Emeritus, The Eagle Rock Association (TERA)
* * *
”Thanks for
your excellent newsletter. I submit a correction here, though. In
your update on the Van de Kamps bakery, you identify the building that will
serve as the future home of the LACC Northeast satellite campus as being in
Atwater Village. Actually, the historic Van de Kamps bakery structure is
firmly in Glassell Park. More importantly though, it belongs to everyone,
including Atwater Village. Thankfully, folks like Andrew Garsten have
been advocating to save and refurbish the building for many years, an effort
that we all support wholeheartedly.”
-- Mitch O'Farrell, Field Deputy, Council District 13, Silver Lake
We welcome your comments,
complaints and/or compliments on the e.letter or any other topic of interest to
greater Eagle Rock. Please address your message to e.letter@TERA90041.org, and include your full
name, along with your city, neighborhood or professional affiliation.
Opinions expressed in the e.letter's "We've Got Mail" section
do not necessarily reflect the views of The Eagle Rock Association (TERA), the
e.letter editor, or The Eagle Rock Association Board of Directors, who reserve
the right to publish letters or other materials submitted to the e.letter at
their sole discretion. Letters or other material chosen for publication
may be edited for style, clarity and brevity. Please let us know if you do
not wish to have your comments appear in the e.letter.
13. THE LAST
WORD — LANDESMAN & WOLF
“Spring this year has got me feeling like a horse that never left the
post.
I lie in my room, staring up at the ceiling
Say, spring can really hang you up the most.
“Love seemed sure around the new year.
Now it's April, love is just a ghost.
Spring arrived on time.
Tell me, what became of you, dear?
Spring can really hang you up the most.”
From “Spring Can Really Hang You Up the Most,”
Lyrics by Frances Landesman, Music by Thomas J. Wolf
Distributed weekly via
email and as a regular feature on various internet discussion groups, the TERA
e.letter is read by well over 2000 readers with an interest in Eagle Rock and
Northeast Los Angeles. Please encourage interested friends to send their
full name and email address to us at e.letter@TERA90041.org
so we can keep them informed, too.
If you have changed your email address or would like to be removed from this
list, send us an email to e.letter@TERA90041.org
with the word(s) "remove" or "address change" in the
subject box, as appropriate.
If you have a press release, letter of comment, question or other notice that
you feel might be of interest to the Eagle Rock community, send it to e.letter@TERA90041.org. Your announcement -- in the form of an
email text message, (no attachments, please) -- must be in our hands by noon on
Monday to be considered for inclusion in that week's issue.
TERA -- The Eagle Rock Association -- YOUR COMMUNITY IN ACTION -- http://www.TERA90041.org --
P. O. Box 41453, Eagle Rock, CA 90041 -- (323) 259-TERA -- a 501(c)(3)
nonprofit public benefit corporation
The TERA e.letter
The Eagle Rock Association (TERA)
Vince Waldron, editor
e.letter@TERA90041.org