The Mop & Bucket

FBCSP Workshop #2; What Happens When the Specific Plan Fails?

2012-03-13T10:30:00.000-07:00

Abby Diamond and Dean Sherer presenting case studies of Specific Plan failures at Monday night's workshop.

Specific Plan Workshop #2 is Monday Night

2012-03-11T19:58:00.006-07:00

One More Plug, because it matters.

On Monday night, the Foothill Blvd Corridor Specific Plan Workshops Committee presents Workshop #2 "What's Wrong With Foothill Blvd (and how do we fix it)". This workshop will examine the failures of our current woefully outdated Specific Plan and discuss how even minor adjustments to the current language and terms used in the plan could make a world of difference in improving the Sunland-Tujunga community. The presentations at this workshop will be made by 3 people that are very knowledgeable and have years of experience in dealing with the Specific Plan; Abby Diamond, a co-founder of the STA, Dean Sherer, a LUC and a STA member, and Tomi Lyn Bowling, the chairperson of the LUC .
Another new development that brings even greater significance to these workshops, and why your participation is vital; LA City Planning has recently applied for a $1 million dollar grant from the state of California to specifically be used to update the Community Plans of Sunland-Tujunga, Pacoima, and Sun Valley. We're not certain as to how our Specific Plan may play into all this if the grant is approved, but there is talk that the city would like to integrate Specific Plans with Community Plans. If this were to happen, these workshops could become a valuable tool to guiding the update of the Community Plan.
We hope to see you on Monday Night at 7pm at North Valley City Hall for what will certainly be a highly informative event!

Protest Rally Against Chinatown WalMart

2012-03-10T11:13:00.001-08:00

Jesus Sauceda is a warehouse worker who supplies to Walmart. He said he makes $8.50/hr as a part-time worker and currently receives food stamps and relies on Medi-Cal.

The proposed Walmart in Chinatown drew a protest rally on Thursday. The rally was held at the Department of Public Social Services office, a welfare office that serves downtown Los Angeles.

From the Huffington Post;

"This is my Medi-Cal card. I would like to thank my fellow citizens of California for providing benefits that my employer won't," Walmart employee Greg Fletcher said at the rally, which was held at the welfare office that serves downtown Los Angeles.

Cesar Michel, a welfare worker at the Department of Public Social Services office, the site of the rally, said that he and his co-workers were "terrified" when they heard Walmart was coming to Chinatown.
"We know and have seen that Walmart has encouraged its employees to apply for welfare and Medi-Cal at some of our offices," he said. "Yet Los Angeles can’t afford the cost of more Walmart jobs. With huge budget cuts and reductions in staff in the past few years and more likely to come, we already are stretched thin at DPSS."

The proposed Walmart in Chinatown would be 1/5 the size of the average Walmart and is a new model designed to fit in dense urban areas.

Samoa Project Presentation Update

2012-03-08T20:43:00.002-08:00

UPDATE: The development team for the Samoa Project sent us an email earlier today cancelling Monday night's presentation at North Valley City Hall. They said they need more time to prepare, in fact they need "10 or so days". Okay. We'll be waiting. The Samoa Sub-Committee will still meet at 5:30 on Monday, March 12th and the Specific Plan Workshop will still begin at 7pm. See you there!

Specific Plan Workshop #2

2012-03-07T22:44:00.011-08:00

On Monday, March 12th at 7 pm at North Valley City Hall, the STNC along with the STA and the Sunland-Tujunga Chamber of Commerce present Workshop #2 in an ongoing series of workshops designed to explore our Specific Plan and look for ways to improve it. This workshop will examine particular instances where the Specific Plan has failed the community and will feature presentations by Abby Diamond (STA C0-Founder), Dean Sherer (STA/LUC), and Tomi Lyn Bowling (STNC VP, LUC Chair). Case studies ranging from Home Depot to Classic Collision to the Soccer Field on Tujunga Cyn Blvd will be discussed. We invite all to attend what will definitely be an enlightening and informative event!

News You Can Use, S-T

2012-03-06T22:05:00.012-08:00

The Samoan Islands; not to be confused with the Samoa Project

This coming Monday night (March 12th) is a very important evening for the S-T community. At 5:30pm at North Valley City Hall in Tujunga, the developers of the proposed SB1818 Samoa Project will be making a presentation before the Samoa Sub-Committee to present their plans for a scaled down project. The purpose of this meeting is to see if a compromise can be met between the community and the developer. If anyone wants to make this a discussion about the evils of SB1818 projects, transit corridors, gang injunctions, or whatever else that cannot be realistically negotiated at this meeting, please don't waste everyone's time. The only question is; What changes can the developer make to this project (parking, number of units, aesthetics) that could possibly make the Samoa Project acceptable to the community? Any arguments outside of the parameter of that question are certainly important, but not relevant in a situation where a compromise is being explored based purely on the size and scope of the project. If the proposed reduction in the size of the project is not acceptable to the community or if the developer is vague and evasive, then we look forward to our hearings before the Planning Commissions.

Following the Samoa Committee meeting, the Foothill Blvd Corridor Specific Plan Workshop #2 will begin at 7pm. This workshop will focus on the problems and failures of our current Specific Plan and will be led by Abby Diamond and Dean Sherer, two people from our community that understand the problems with our current plan better than anyone. There will be case studies of when the Specific Plan has failed the community, including Home Depot, and the Industrial Propane Station that almost opened at the former Coffee Stop.

Brock Ba'Jer has returned! She's tan and rested, free from the shackles of the Sky is Falling Gang, and she's already writing about our community with a fresh perspective!! Welcome home, Ms. Ashmore!

Public Service Announcement; Neither Target or Walmart are interested in opening a store in Sunland-Tujunga. Don't let recent "surveys" being conducted mislead you to believe that there is even a remote interest by these corporations in opening a store here. And no, Home Depot is not going to try again to open at the former K-Mart site either. However, there is a very exciting project in the works that will be coming to Foothill Blvd in the Sunland area, and an announcement by the developers is expected very soon!

Bam! Goes the Wrecking Ball

2012-03-05T23:06:00.002-08:00

Well that was quick! Goodbye old Bonner's building!

The LA Times states the obvious; There's no way 15 City Council members can adequately represent a city of 4 million people. The 15 number was established early in the last century and was designed so that each council member represented about 35,000 constituents. Today, each council member represents around a quarter of a million people. We need more representation and smaller districts, or it's never going to work.

The STA, along with several community leaders, met with the developers of the proposed Samoa Project on Monday afternoon to discuss their new scaled -down proposal. The meeting was cordial and productive, and we appreciate the developers taking the time to meet with us. They are working on specific reductions in both the number of units, the height of the building, and attempting to provide 2 parking spots per unit, among other things. We are hoping to see an actual site plan and rendering of this "new and improved" project in the coming days. The developers are now setting up meetings to present before the Samoa Committee, the LUC, and the STNC . Our special thanks to Councilman Paul Krekorian and his Planning Director, Karo Torossian, for coordinating and facilitating this meeting.

Another Day, Another Case of Abuse by WalMart

2012-03-05T11:34:00.002-08:00

Jorge Soto, Victim of Walmart Abuse.

Another day, another case of Walmart abusing workers. This time, it's underpaid warehouse workers in the Inland Empire.
From the Whittier Daily News;"The Mexican-born Soto, 47, said in a sworn court statement that his supervisors forced him, when he was the lead member of his crew, to severely understate workers' hours. He said the purpose was to cover up the widespread practice of paying well below the legal minimum, which is $8 an hour in California.
As Soto explained in an interview, "they wanted to wash their hands of it through me," adding that workers sometimes received as little as $3 or $4 an hour".

Walmart has a long history of demanding extremely low prices from their suppliers and sub-contractors. The practice has driven many manufacturers overseas and in this case it appears that a sub-contractor was literally stealing from their employees in order to keep their contract with Walmart.

News, Notes and Goodbye to an Old Friend

2012-03-04T20:26:00.004-08:00

Goodbye to the Original Bonner's building...

The old Bonner's building at 6477 Foothill is about to face the wrecking ball. Permits have been pulled to demolish every structure on the property. Local neighbors will be pleased, as the site has been operating as an illegal auto repair facility in recent years. Due to the efforts by the STNC, several California regulatory agencies, and (believe it or not), the LA Dept of Building & Safety, the illegal auto shops were shut down and now comes the wrecking ball. No word on what will be going in at this location, but we'll keep our hopes up.

Months ago, local blogger Terre Ashmore walked away from her Brock Bajer blog while she dealt with some personal challenges. Her blog has sat silent for some time, but that may be about to change. Terre began her blog as a big critic of the STA and our efforts to improve the Specific Plan, but, over time, she began to see that "The Sky is Falling Gang" was yanking her chain and just using her to promote their fear-mongering. We look forward to her renewed efforts at writing about this wonderful & fascinating community.

We want to say goodbye to an old friend. After 7 years of loyal and devoted service, the No2HomeDepot.com website is no more. Home Depot was stopped from invading our community in early 2009, and we left the web site up as a historical record and reference source for all to view since that time. The site continued to have numerous visits even up until today. Our #1 visitor over the last 3 years? The Home Depot Corporation themselves. Maybe we were being utilized in some sort of training class for Home Depot real estate directors? Who knows. The site got our community national and even international attention, and was integral to our defeat of this Goliath who thought they could just have their way with Sunland-Tujunga.
Goodbye old friend, thanks for the memories!

New Template at the Mop & Bucket

2012-03-04T10:04:00.002-08:00

This is a test.

I'm testing out a different template here at the M&B. This one allows you to change how the blog appears in your browser by choosing an option on the upper left. I prefer the Magazine format, but the other options are appealing as well. Play around with it and send me any feedback. Thanks~Joe

What's Wrong With Foothill Blvd?

2012-03-03T10:53:00.001-08:00

Workshop #2 is next Monday, March 12th! This workshop will be hosted by Abby Diamond and Dean Sherer and will take a serious look at the problems with our current Specific Plan and the Foothill Blvd in general. This is the one you don't want to miss!