The Latest from Lincoln Place


By Sheila Bernard

On May 31 at the Los Angeles City Council, there was good news and bad news.
The bad news is that Bill Rosendahl’s motion to record the conditions of the Lincoln Place tract map lost by a vote of 5 to 8.


And now for the good news.

• The seven-minute film about Lincoln Place, produced by Laura Silagi and David “Preacher” Ewing with footage from Erin Grayson, music by Spike Marlin, and editing assistance by Laura Burns, had a strong impact on the Council and provided backdrop for the three hours of testimony and discussion of the Lincoln Place situation.

• Bill had the support of four of his colleagues, in spite of the fact that the City Attorney’s office had done its best to scare the council with threats of liability for the City and for the councilmembers personally.
• Ed Reyes, chair of the Planning and Land Use Management (PLUM) Committee, did not vote for the motion; however, he expressed strong interest in hearing what mechanisms did exist with which the City could enforce the conditions.

• The Council heard testimony from LPTA’s CEQA attorney, John Murdock, who informed the Council that according to the appellate court, the City is bound to enforce the conditions of the tract map whether the conditions are recorded or not.

• The evictions at Lincoln Place are on hold. When notified by John Murdock that LPTA would be going into court to request an injunction against the evictions, and when told the basic content of the lawsuit, AIMCO asked Murdock to hold off on filing suit, in return for AIMCO not starting eviction proceedings without providing Murdock with ten days’ notice, which is plenty of time for him to file the lawsuit and seek an injunction.

• While AIMCO’s reason for requesting the additional time may have had to do with their redoubled efforts to entice tenants out of Lincoln Place by offering low-cost apartments in other AIMCO properties as part of their “enhanced relocation package,” and while AIMCO can possibly accommodate a few of our most vulnerable tenants, many of the remaining tenants do not want to lose their community or their familiar surroundings, and will stay to fight the evictions if and when they are filed.

• The City and the media seem to have finally awakened to the fact that the problems we face at Lincoln Place are citywide problems which cry out for legislative and policy solutions.

•Councilman Rosendahl continues to support the effort to save Lincoln Place, and has said to the LA Times that this battle is not over until it is over.

Sheila Bernard is president of the Lincoln Place Tenants Association.

Posted: Thu - June 1, 2006 at 06:55 PM          


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