THE GREEN PARTY OF CALIFORNIA
www.cagreens.org
GREEN PARTY OF LOS ANGELES COUNTY
www.cagreens.org/lacounty
Thursday, May 18th, 2006
Contact:
- Mike Feinstein, Green Party County Co-coordinator mfeinstein@feinstein.org, 310-392-8450
- Sara Amir, Green Party County Co-coordinator saraamir@earthlink.net, 818-968-7362
cagreens.org/lacounty/2006-05/gplac_preserve_the_farm.html
LOS ANGELES -- With the May 22nd deadline looming to save the South Central Farm from destruction, the
Green Party of Los Angeles County (GPLAC) today re-affirmed its call for the City of Los Angeles to
act to preserve the Farm.
“We call upon the Mayor and City Council to allocate funds necessary to
preserve the land for urban agriculture and community use” said GPLAC
co-coordinator Mike Feinstein, a former Mayor of Santa Monica.
“Doing so would not only keep the social justice promise made to the
community in 1992, when it was given the land to farm after the urban uprising, but standing by now while the farm is destroyed would actually
conflict with the Open Space and Conservation Element of the Los Angeles
General Plan," he said.
The introduction to the Open Space and Conservation Element states that
“economic, social, and ecological imperatives require that Los Angeles
take full advantage of all existing open space elements in the City."
It goes on (under Objective 6.4 “Community Stability”) to specifically
name South Central Los Angeles as an area in need of more parks and open
space -- especially spaces that “contribute positively to the stability
and identity of the communities and neighborhoods in which they are located” -- and references how such spaces can establish "economic
stability" and “pride of place” in neighborhoods, all of which has
already been achieved at the South Central Farm.
The downtown 14-acre plot – located at Alameda and 41st St. – has been
sustaining 360 families by providing healthy fruits, vegetables and medicinal plants supplementing their household budgets since 1994.
“Allowing this living example of ecological sustainability and community
self-reliance to be destroyed now would be ‘penny wise and pound foolish’”, added Feinstein.
The GPLAC has made the effort to save the Farm a major priority for the
last six months and will be participating in the "Save the Farm" demonstration this Friday (May 19) at 9 a.m. at Pico and Figueroa,
before going into Los Angeles City Hall to speak to the City Council during public comment.
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THE GREEN PARTY OF CALIFORNIA
www.cagreens.org
Thursday, May 18, 2006
Contact: Rebecca Gonzalez-Tobias 310.916-8888 or
Cres Vellucci 916.996-9170
South Central Farm largest in U.S., but soon
slated to be razed, paved over
LOS ANGELES -- Green Party of California
activists - including 2006 gubernatorial candidate Peter Miguel Camejo,
Lt. Governor candidate Donna Warren and Los Angeles congressional
candidate Byron DeLear - expressed their full support today for
community farmers here trying to save the nation's largest urban farm
from being razed.
The downtown 14 acre plot - located at Alameda and
41st St. - has been sustaining 360 families by providing healthy
fruits, vegetables and medicinal plants since 1994 supplementing their
household budgets. Now, the developer can forcibly remove the farmers
May 24 if they do not vacate the farm.
Camejo, Warren and DeLear implored Los Angeles
Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa - target of a rally at a public appearance
Friday at 9 a.m. at Pico and Figueroa - to "Save the Farm"
from inbound bulldozers. Villaraigosa will also be picketed at the LA
City Council later.
The Greens had harsh words for Villaraigosa and
criticized a 2003 "sweetheart deal" made - in secret - that
allowed the city to sell the farm to commercial real estate developer
Ralph Horowitz at a substantially devalued amount: less than half the
price the property sold nearly a decade earlier.
"This is a beautiful model of the kinds of
things we need to start seeing in America," said Camejo. "If
the mayor is as Green as he says he is, he wouldn't think twice about
saving the farm. Antonio Villaraigosa 20 years ago would have been
there with these farmers fighting for them and standing up for
them," added Camejo (www.votecamejo.com).
Green Congressional candidate Byron DeLear
(28th District, San Fernando) added:. "This farm is a national
treasure that needs to be preserved and protected. Mr. Villaraigosa,
this is your chance to step up and show yourself to be the vanguard
leader our fellow citizens know you to be. Do not let these folks lose
their garden," said DeLear (www.delearforcongress.org).
"Shame on Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa for
reneging on a campaign promise to keep 350 poor families on a
well-tended 14-acre urban farm in the middle of South L.A.'s gritty
industrial belt," said Warren, a South Central native.
"It is immoral to displace people growing
food to feed themselves in order to make way for a Wal-Mart
warehouse," said Los Angeles Green Linda Piera-Avila. Other
notable Greens supporting the largely Latino community which benefits
from the city farm, include president of the Mexican American
Political Association Nativo Lopez, Rebecca Gonzalez-Tobias and Eugene
Hernandez.
For more information:
www.SouthCentralFarmers.com
History of the South Central Farm:
http://newstandardnews.net/content/index.cfm/items/3028
