Monday, June 29, 2015

L.A. Politicians Get Sued When they Favor Concrete over New Parks for L.A

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE, MONDAY JUNE 29, 2015

FOR QUESTIONS, call or text REX FRANKEL, president of the plaintiff, Friends of L.A. Clean Connected Creek to Peak Parks: 310-738-0861, or email at rexfrankel@yahoo.com



LAWSUIT FILED BY PARKLAND ADVOCATES: L.A. COUNTY SUPERVISORS APPROVE SECRET $20 BILLION NO-NEW-PARKS TAX HIKE WHICH BREAKS LONG-STANDING PARKLAND CREATION PROMISES AND WILL INSTEAD TURN EXISTING PARKS INTO CONSTRUCTION ZONES FOR MANY YEARS TO COME


The Friends of L.A. Clean Connected Creek to Peak Parks filed a lawsuit seeking to overturn L.A.'s most powerful politicians' very quiet approval of the master plan to “soak” the taxpayers and enrich engineering firms and concrete pourers as part of L.A's largest public works project.

The goals of the project are good; cleaning up the pollution and crud that flows down our rivers and creeks with every rain storm which then lands on our public beaches. This is being done in order to finally comply with the USA's Clean Water Act. However, the means chosen by our politicians to accomplish it, so far, “suck”.

Rather than give the public a choice between the bad/very expensive and the good/less expensive way to clean up water pollution and health code violations at our local beaches and creek swimming holes, Los Angeles County's Board of Supervisors on May 27th decided to endorse the bad approach and to make it virtually impossible for concerned citizens to protest this bad choice before their local political boards and city councils. Already, the L.A. City public works department, representing 40% of the land area and population of the County, has plugged its own no new parks plan into the County plan and has done it in a way to prevent public input and protest.

This lawsuit filed on Friday June 26th seeks to prevent the squeezing of the public out of the decision-making for this MASSIVE project, and to require full and meaningful informing of the public about the costs and impacts and alternatives to the politicians' favored plans.

What we have termed the “Creek to Peak” plan is the clean up and conversion of concreted creeks throughout Los Angeles County into restored park greenways with trails and bike paths which will connect L.A.'s existing ring of parks that surround our developed metropolis to our communities. This greenway plan has had many names through the years, starting first with the Olmstead Plan, https://www.flickr.com/photos/cityprojectca/sets/72157601130687757/
also the Mountains to the Sea plan and the Emerald Necklace.


READ THE PETITION FOR WRIT OF MANDAMUS, FILED WITH THE L.A. COUNTY COURT 6/27/2015



HOW PROMISES OF MORE PARKLAND PURCHASES WERE MADE TO THE VOTERS AND TAXPAYERS OF LOS ANGELES AS PART OF THE CLEAN WATER ACT COMPLIANCE PLAN


WHAT A NATURAL RIVER AND CREEK RETORATION PLAN WOULD LOOK LIKE AND HOW IT CONNECTS TOGETHER L.A.'S EXISTING PUBLIC PARKS SYSTEM:


THE TWO COMPETING PLANS TO CLEAN UP L.A.'S RIVERS, CREEKS AND BEACHES:


L.A. COUNTY ENGINEERING DEPARTMENT STUDY: COST COMPARISON OF NATURAL VS. INDUSTRIAL PLANS TO CLEAN UP L.A'S WATER POLLUTION PROBLEMS ( hint: natural costs half as much!!!):


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