Keep in mind that over 200 people, many of them elderly immigrants not well-versed in their rights, were thrown out of their homes, and the passion of L.A. County Superior Court Judge John Torribio in his tentative 9A opinion is not surprising. The draft is dated from May, and it was finalized on Friday, July 18.
In response to the LAUSD's arguments that they did do adequate prep work before they started seizing houses, Judge T mixed a metaphor or two, but his disgust for the LAUSD's conduct is clear.
Los Angeles Unified School District is ordered to fully comply with the requirements of the California Environmental Quality Act by preparing an EIR [environmental impact review] for the Central Region Elementary School #14 project [aka Site 9A]. ... LAUSD is restrained from any actions in furtherance of the project unless an EIR has been properly prepared, publicly circulated, and approved.
Some snippets:
The court finds that purchasing the property [Site 9A] ... was made at the District's peril. ... That shoal has risen and the District ship has hit it.
The court will not address the sham EIR [that the LAUSD prepared after already having thrown people out of their homes]. ... The court's conclusion is based on an examination of the EIR to see what if any analysis was actually done. ... The record [of the prep work LAUSD did before it went High Noon on Echo Park] is essentially empty of analysis.
The purposes of the [9A] project are muddled to say the least.... The court finds that the EIR is inadequate and that the District acted in bad faith....
Looking forward, Christine Peters who led the Right Site Coalition along with Andrew Garsten and many other volunteers, called for new uses for the blighted 3 acres that used to be residential:
Peters said:
Let's fight as a community now to see something great happen at "Site
9A". Let's restore affordable housing, develop a multi use building
with a continuation school/and or senior center on the site of the
demolished La Fonda and Lopez Tires. Let's pay tribute to our former
neighbors who egregiously lost their homes of many years.
Andrew Garsten commented:
We did this for all the other communities out there that have been rough ridden by local politicians, developers, and yes, LAUSD. If we need to, we must take these battles to court so that the wrongdoing can be stopped, and illuminated for everyone to see.
Early this afternoon, I drove down to Mohawk Street to see the empty houses, which are surrounded by curtained chainlink, the sites overlayed with grafitti, the houses empty for years now. Where the pleasant La Fonda restaurant used to be is no more than a graffiti mound. It used to be a regular corner of the neighborhood, with homes and businesses. And then it changed.
