Rudderless Steering Committee Meeting

The Rudderless Steering Committee of R Neighborhoods held a productive meeting on Thursday September 13, 2007.

The discussions were lively and several issues have been added to the increasing tasks the committee members and other members of R Neighborhoods Are 1 can become very active in.

240 more names were collected on the R1 petitions and brought to the meeting for inclusion into the data base.

Signature gathering is still a very important issues for R Neighborhoods Are 1. Some of the focus has moved from local markets, where so many great shoppers have already signed the R1 petitions, to other venues. You may see R1 petition gatherers outside local schools where parents pick up their kids, and who have their families at stake from the over development planned by Bob Bisno.

We continue to strongly welcome folks who visit www.rneighborhoodsare1.org and download petitions, then take them to their local areas and collect signatures. You may also start seeing R1 petition gatherers at supermarkets in Harbor City and Lomita, in the coming weeks.

The Rudderless Steering Committee is recommending that you DO NOT vote for Mark Waronek in the upcoming November Lomita City Council election. Any of the other three candidates would be a much better improvement than having Mark serve another term.

If you think or feel that "nothing is going on right now with Ponte Vista", you are incorrect. Right now, representatives from Bob's organization are working with the L.A. City Planning Department and the Department of Transportation to find ways to get whatever Bob wants, through the planners.

The Rudderless Steering Committee (RSC) has been working on issues revolving the current discussions between Ponte Vista's developer and the various agencies in the L.A. City government.

There will be a letter-writing campaigned shortly to demand several things from the Planning Department and the Department of Transportation so that everyone will be well informed as the days and weeks pass by.

We will be asking folks to write letters, in their own words, demanding that all hearings, public comment meetings, Planning Department public meetings, and Planning Commission meetings be held locally. That is a benefit for all of us and demonstrates that supporters and opponents of Bob's outrageous plans must have meetings held locally.

There must be a completely new environmental report accomplished. So many of the issues in the first DEIR, such as traffic, student population, infrastructure, and issues relating directly to the human condition were not done anywhere near appropriate, in the first DEIR.

Information regarding all public documents must be made readily and easily available to those who wish to monitor the progress or lack of progress, throughout all the processes.

We should all demand and better timeline from the Planning Department, as to the progress of the development's plans and when we can expect to learn the important facts and findings that taxpayers pay for.

I hope there is a sample letter I can post on this site in about a week and a half, to give everyone a chance to see what areas they may wish to use in their own letters. We will also post addresses of folks who should receive the letter.

On the organization's Web site, listed above is an address. The RSC is announcing at this point that a legal defense fund is being started to ensure that the 11,000+ folks who have already signed the R1 petition and those who do so in the future can have better grounds to stand on, no matter what Bob tries to do.

Hiring an attorney is not inexpensive. We have been offered pro-bono legal counsel already and have utilized the knowledge of several attorneys already. But we must have a defense fund established to pay for the "big guns" who will represent our interests.

Of course, we also need continuing donations to provide the necessary materials for future mailings and items we can't pay for simply out of the pockets of the RSC members. Many members of the Rudderless Steering Committee have already donated hundreds of dollars to the cause out of their own pockets. We have one RSC member who has donated money in the thousands of dollars arena. We still need every one's financial support.

Your Rudderless Steering Committee continues to strongly demand that the current zoning of the Ponte Vista site, remain with its current zoning. We have been backed up by Councilwoman Janice Hahn's endorsement for keeping the current zoning structure and her Community Advisory Committee has also recommended to her that the number of units be equivalent to what R1 zoning allows for.

We hope to find a resolution being proposed to the Central San Pedro Neighborhood Council, stating that they oppose Bob's current plans for Ponte Vista gets passed, to deal with the ongoing confusion the first resolution brought.

There may be a chance that folks who signed the R1 petition may get a call from us attempting to clear up any issue with the information provided on the R1 petition. Many folks signed their names in two spots and we have found some information hard to read. Folks have been updating the data base, but there are many addresses and names that can't be updated.

Information is power and we all need to keep the information lines open and flowing. Everyone is encouraged to comment, question, and help in the fight to now allow this weapon of mass development coming into OUR community.

The RSC was informed that Seaport Homes was able to change from a purchase-condominium development to a rental project due to the developer's ability to finance the project without getting into too much debt. According to a reliable source in L.A. City government, the folks downtown were not all that surprised when the switch-a-roo took place.

The next RSC meeting is scheduled in two week's time. If you have any issues you feel should be brought up to the committee, please leave a comment or Email me directly at the address on the top of this blog. It seems that I will be able to use crutches to get to the meeting.

Thank you and be well.