Katherine & Caroline Squires (sisters) made the trek to Downtown LA yesterday to fight the first phase of Newhall Ranch, Landmark Village. Katherine and I once went on a tour of the Santa Clara river valley (I wrote about it way back in 2006) and she’s a neat lady, very sharp, and quite passionate about preserving the environment. After reading her account about how she and others who were treated, imagine how you’d feel if you were at the Hall of Administration yesterday:
We just got back from the Los Angeles County board meeting in downtown. We were there for the hearing on the proposed Newhall Ranch’s ‘Landmark Village’ development project along the Santa Clara River. Having spoke at other government meetings in the past we knew going into it that the odds were stacked against us and we would not receive much support from our elected leaders…we just didn’t know that it was going to go down as one of the worst experiences we have ever had with our county government. We thought it was common knowledge that a public hearing is scheduled in order to have our elected leaders hear the public and consider their input, allowing citizens this ONE opportunity to speak their mind…but here is the reality:
We dropped what we needed to do today (work, etc.) to drive almost 2 hours to downtown through stop-and-go morning traffic (insert eye roll here). When we arrived we were informed that the 9:30 a.m. meeting would actually start an hour and a half late. Naturally, you could understand how delighted we were to have risen so early to be there on time.
While we waited patiently for our turn to speak, we had the pleasure of watching the Board Members be awarded praise for their great deeds in the community. They accepted compliments and kudos from a variety of individuals and delayed the meeting for another half hour while they patted themselves on the back.
We were in for a shock once the hearing actually began. The first thing Mayor Antonovich (this is what he insists on being called) proclaimed was that each speaker would have just 60 seconds to give their comments…instead of the usual 3 minutes. We both questioned why Antonovich had not warned us sooner about this major setback. He declared that he was enforcing this rule because there were so many people commenting. However, in reality, it wasn’t a ridiculous number of people who wanted to speak.
We all had to quickly re-draft our remarks while we were hustled to the podium to speak. We all came prepared with 3 minute presentations. The fact we were given such an insignificant amount of time to speak with virtually no warning seemed to be a deliberate ploy to undermine the public commentary. We could not listen to our fellow speakers because we were quickly racing to change our comments. This was very unfair…especially when the first people speaking, those in favor of the project, were given unlimited time.
As the members of the public spoke to the Board we were accorded very little respect. While concerned citizens poured their hearts out, Antonovich chowed down on snacks, had multiple side-bar conversations with his assistant, and at one point even left the room while someone was speaking! He didn’t excuse himself first, rather he just stood up and left. The person speaking didn’t know whether to continue or not, as it was unclear if anyone was even in charge of the meeting at that point. The speaker questioned whether or not the meeting could even proceed legally, seeing as how there were only 2 of the 5 Board Members in the room. The speaker was told to continue!
The behavior of the other Board Members was no better. One of them appeared to be flirting with two young ladies at his side. The other Board Members drifted in and out of the room while people were speaking or slouched in their chairs looking indifferent and bored. It was embarrassing to witness such unprofessionalism and frustrating that they demonstrated such inappropriate behavior. Could you imagine if your workplace followed such an example? Antonovich failed to demonstrate any respect for the process. We wanted to say something to him regarding the inherent contempt for the citizens evident in this situation however, that would have wasted precious speaking time! It takes longer to microwave a hot pocket than we were given time to speak!
The silver lining was that a plethora of environmental organizations were there to combat all the developers (the people in suits) that were in the room: Heal the Bay, The Audubon Society, Sierra Club, SCOPE, Friends of the Santa Clara River, Center for Biological Diversity, and numerous concerned citizens. They gave very detailed comments as to the problems associated with this project. We were impressed with their ability to quickly revamp their comments and give their evidence with grace and professionalism in such a hostile setting. The Landmark Village project has lasting and detrimental consequences for our valley and our neighboring cities and it deserved more than an hour of the Board Members’ time.
We ask you, who gets up at the crack of dawn, takes off work, coordinates rides, writes comments, drives through hours of traffic, pays for parking, and gets ready to speak in front of a crowd (most people would rather have a root canal), only to have their speaking time cut down to 60 seconds and then be given no response and even worse…a lack of respect by our government leaders who are supposed to reflect the voice of the people?!
We do and so did the other speakers! We did it and will continue to fight because it is the right thing to do…it would just be reassuring if our elected leaders would do the right thing as well.
-Katherine and Caroline
“The Squires Sisters”
With a response like that from elected officials, is it any wonder activists resort to the Courts? That’s why I’m never sympathetic when some local water official complains in the media that lawsuits are expensive and hard to deal with. Without access to the courts, these activists -who spend their free time reading EIRs and studying the land- would literally have no way to get their legitimate concerns heard. The system in LA County has always been stacked against them and it continues to this day.
Also, isn’t ironic that after 24 years of City hood, the Council is beginning to resemble the Supervisors, at least on some issues?
Comments (18)