Corporate Geniuses Discover There Is Life on Planet Venice
By Jim
Smith
Even after the evictions and the
illegal bulldozing, corporate landlord AIMCO still hasn’t gotten its way
with redeveloping Lincoln Place apartments. Like fleas on an elephant, Venetians
- including evicted tenants - have countered AIMCO’s long-held desire to
destroy nearly 700 affordable garden apartments and replace them with high-cost
condominiums.
Sometime in the last few months,
AIMCO’s corporate headquarters in Denver, Colorado made the astounding
discovery that those fleas were really living, breathing people who don’t
want their seaside community overrun with more condos, more traffic, and who
like having community-minded seniors, disabled and other long-time and
low-income neighbors.
AIMCO’s
corporate ethos apparently takes Venice’s home, sweet home, attitude as a
challenge. And so it was that AIMCO (Apartment Investment and Management
Company) hired Tim Beaudin to be its executive vice president in charge of
development. Mr. Beaudin reports directly to Mr. Terry Considine, AIMCO’s
chief executive officer. And reporting directly to Mr. Beaudin is his old
friend, Charles McPhee, who is in charge of winning the hearts and minds of
Venetians. Tim and Charlie got to know each other well when they worked for
Catellus Development Corporation where Mr. Beaudin was also an executive vice
president.
Catellus is well known to
Beachhead readers and environmentalists who engaged in the community opposition
to the development of the West Bluffs in Westchester/Playa del Rey that overlook
the Ballona Wetlands. Catellus was successful in building mansion houses on top
of the up-to-then pristine
bluffs.
AIMCO’s leader Terry
Considine must have believed that Beaudin and McPhee would “hit the ground
running” since they were coming over from the largest commercial landlord,
Catellus (now called ProLogis), to the largest residential landlord in the
country. AIMCO is the nation’s largest owner and operator of apartments,
totaling about 240,000 units. Lincoln Place once had around 900 apartments, but
due to some early morning bulldozing (before the courts opened) its been reduced
to 696 apartments on 39 acres behind the Ralphs market at Lincoln and
California.
McPhee went to work
creating a team to walk among us, buy us lunch and otherwise persuade the good
citizens of Venice to forget the evictions and the depopulation of the largest
single source of rent-controlled housing in our city. In the last couple of
months, AIMCO representatives have focused on community “leaders”
who have in the past supported Playa Vista and other development projects,
and/or have been associated with some Democratic Party office holders, including
Jane Harman and the late Mike
Gordon.
Reporting directly to McPhee is
Sandra Lloyd-Jones, who formerly worked for Gordon and was Debra Bowen’s
campaign manager during her successful run for California Secretary of State.
Instead of going to work for Bowen, Lloyd-Jones became associated with the MWW
Lobbying Group, which has been retained by AIMCO. Among MWW’s other
clients is the Dubai Aerospace Enterprise on whose behalf the MWW Group is
lobbying to reform rules on foreign investment in the U.S.
Another of MWW’s clients is
McDonalds. If MWW could improve McDonalds image, perhaps there is hope for
AIMCO. This is how MWW approached that difficult job: “Faced with
declining sales and intense media scrutiny stemming from obesity lawsuits,
McDonald’s needed a PR program that would counter negative publicity and
support sales of its core menu items. MWW Group created McDonald’s Real
Life Choices, a proprietary branded initiative to showcase the McDonald’s
menu and educate consumers on how to enjoy the food they love without
compromising their diets.” For AIMCO, MWW simply has to convince Venetians
that Real Life means enjoying the traffic and forgetting the
evictions.
Others on the AIMCO payroll
include Psomas, a land development corporation; Latham & Watkins, perhaps
the most influential law firm in Los Angeles; EDAW, a San Francisco design firm;
Alan Kasdan, a developer; Katherine Spitz, a landscape architect; Bruce Judd, a
historic architect; Pat Gibbson, a traffic engineer; and Susan Cloke, a
community outreach strategist.
Cloke
is well known in Santa Monica as a one-time progressive who long ago threw in
with the developers. Her work for AIMCO was noted by Santa Monicans for Renters
Rights (SMRR) during the last election when Cloke unsuccessfully ran for city
council. SMRR opposed her candidacy, stating that she “worked as a
lobbyist for a real estate company in Venice attempting to evict hundreds of
families in affordable rental housing to make way for high income condos.”
Cloke denied the allegation.
In
addition to paid staff, AIMCO is apparently seeking volunteer advocates in
Venice. Lloyd-Jones and McPhee have held meetings and had lunch with quite a few
Venetians. The following list of people who have had conversations with AIMCO
has been collaborated by at least two sources. However, it should not be
supposed that all of the following are on the AIMCO bandwagon. The partial list
includes: Mike Bonin, chief of staff for Councilmember Bill Rosendahl and former
staff member for Jane Harman and Ruth Galanter; Mark Saltzburg, former president
of the West L.A. Democratic Club and a campaign worker for Jane Harman during
last year’s primary election: David and Sandy Moring, East Venice
homeowners; Alex Rosales, president of the Venice Chamber of Commerce, Challis
MacPherson, PV Jobs and the Venice Neighborhood Council’s Land Use Chair;
David Buchanan, Tenacity Media; and Carol Tantau, Abbot Kinney District
Association.
“Let’s do
lunch at Hal’s” brought out still more Venetians to hear from AIMCO.
They included: Ana Petrova, member of the Rose Ave. Working Group (RAWG);
husband and wife Rick Feibusch and Carolyn Ward, RAWG and (he) Venice Watchdawg;
Richard Myers, Venice Neighborhood Council; Steve Freedman, community activist;
Marta Evry, Venice Forum; Stan Mohammed, Venice 2000; and David Ewing and Laura
Silagi, Venice Community Coalition. Their hosts were AIMCO’s Charles
McPhee and Sandra Lloyd-Jones. Not everyone was there to support AIMCO. Some
came out of curiosity or to give AIMCO unsolicited advice on how to win over the
community.
AIMCO’s pitch in all
its meetings has NOT been to apologize for the mass evictions. Nor has it been
to invite the evictees to return. Nor has it been to fill all 696 apartments
with low income Venetians, some of whom are living on the street. Nor has it
been to promise to be a model corporate
landlord.
Of course, not all of the
evictees can return to Lincoln Place. The 96-year-old who was paid to leave her
apartment of 30 years has died. So has the severely disabled man who took some
money to go away. Also unable to return is the man who found no home after
eviction and died on the street. Who knows whether losing their homes
contributed to their deaths. We do know, in general, that such psychological
trauma can have physical effects.
So
far, AIMCO has been a bit vague about its future plans. Both Lloyd-Jones and
McPhee have said they envision a mix of apartments (rent controlled?) and
condos. They’ve talked about starting over with a new Environmental Impact
Report (EIR). They’ve mentioned that they will also buy off - ah, hire -
local people to help (architects, get your resumes ready!).
While some people may pick up a few
bucks helping AIMCO, the negative impact of a high-end megadevelopment on the
rest of us seems to be off their radar scope. Sheila Bernard, president of the
Lincoln Place Tenant Association, says she will tell AIMCO - if they ever invite
her to lunch - that they are putting the cart before the horse. “Whether
people rent or own in the Lincoln Blvd. area, they should know that we
won’t have a good community unless there is a comprehensive plan that
incorporates both transit and development,” says Bernard.
“Development has to accommodate transit, not the other way around.
AIMCO should not be permitted to go forward
until there is a comprehensive plan that can appropriately constrain
them.” Hopefully, Bernard’s words will be echoed by those who are
chosen to meet with McPhee and
Lloyd-Jones.
If you’re feeling
hurt about not be invited, McPhee says there will be more community meetings.
They may even set up a community advisory committee. Heck, let’s have some
town halls paid for by AIMCO! And while we’re at it, let’s buy half
the people of Venice to fight the other half? Anything’s possible when the
billionaires get together, and they want a piece of your town.
Posted: Fri - June 1, 2007 at 09:16 PM