Gift to Autry from Los Angeles Taxpayers: $27.5 million
As Red Spot reported, the Southwest Museum won the initial skirmish yesterday when the Board of Referred Powers voted to delay a final vote on the Autry expansion.What wasn't reported is that there were not just two sides to the issue, but three sides who needed to be heard in the room yesterday: 1. the Autry political machine, 2. the Friends of the Southwest Museum, and 3. parks' and taxpayers' advocates. When the dust cleared, the advocates were completely shut out of the conversation.
For the past five years, the Friends of the Southwest Museum have heavily courted the parks' and taxpayers' advocates for this fight. In the end, they stood aside while the Board of Referred Powers completely ignored the welfare of the one resource who could force the Autry's hand in their favor: the eleven acres of prime park land in Griffith Park owned by the taxpayers of Los Angeles.
The Autry expansion project as presented to councilmembers Hahn, Reyes, Parks, Rosendahl and Cardenas involves a significant construct on prime Griffith Park land. With a rent of just $1 per year, the Autry has benefitted from the location since '87 in many ways, one of which is property rentals for private events. In recent years, this practice has escalated.
In financial documents, the Autry itself reports the value of the rent that it should be paying annually to the Department of Recreation and Parks as a $550,000 annual "donation". That's a massive taxpayer "donation" equivalent to $27.5 million over the life of the lease in today's market.
As yesterday's board meeting ended, what was on the table in exchange for keeping the SW Museum a viable, healthy museum amounted to handing the Autry everything they wanted:
A final EIR without any of the significant mitigation measures called for by neighborhood councils, advocates, and City code.
A $1/yr lease equivalent to a $27.5 million taxpayer donation.
All variances including a building height twice what is allowed in the zone, excessive signage and sign heights, and an underground parking structure.
With the advocates out of the conversation, no one mentioned that bundling all of these items together for one vote is, if not illegal, then at least highly unethical.
Now the morning after, parks' and taxpayers' advocates must be feeling a lot like Zuma Dogg -- used, discarded and left homeless on the streets of park-poor Los Angeles.
Labels: 2009-2010 City Budget, Autry Museum, Friends of the Southwest Museum, griffith park, taxpayers
Posted by Petra Fried in the City @ 7/01/2009 01:12:00 AM
10 Comments:
Here they go again. The city council is spending money when they have none.
That shows their intelligence.
The Griffith Park advocates could have asked for time to speak at yesterday's hearing on the Autry expansion. It would have been better if all of the problems with the Autry deal had been aired.
The Board of Referred Power did not seem to understand that beyond inserting lease agreement protections for the Southwest Museum, there are huge policy problems with approving Autry's poorly designed crap building.
Variances of all sorts requested and an arrogant proposal to take the building higher in total violation of the zoning code. And there are huge problems with Autry leasing its facility to suck revenue up but NO accountability to the City for using its land to do it. The Southwest Museum Coalition got time to speak because it asked for it from the Chair of the Committee. If this comes back to the Board, we need to get all the stakeholder groups to weigh in on all the problems.
Isnt it "Quid Pro Quo"? Autry get 11 acres and the supporters of the musuem get a musuem that is restored, opened,operating daily, using the southwest musuem displays for the next 50 years?
I don't remember voting for a $27.5 million taxpayer quid pro quo. Pretty sure I'd vote HELL NO too.
The Autry gets a nearly billion dollar native american collection and the land and buildings of the SW Museum for free. That's more than enough larceny.
I was not able to speak yesterday but in my notes I was going to mention Griffith Park. I
Joined your cause and I feel is imperative to protect the Griffith Park.
Our focus yesterday was on the Southwest Museum but we must not forget the impact Griffith Park will have with the expansion that Autry is asking for. Every one needs to wake up to the fact that this land is PARKLAND an open space NOT for commercial private use. Colonel Griffith entrusted Griffith Park to the City to keep it as a natural space for the people of Los Angeles. The Board of Referred Powers in 1986 not only FAILED to protect Griffith Park the people’s park but gave it to Autry on a Silver Platter for one dollar a year for 50 years. If the City gives the Autry the permit to triple the size of their museum it will be for PERPETUITY and I repeat PERPETUITY. Where is all the effort that thousands of Angelinos put to turn Griffith Park into a National Monument if for Councilmember Tom Labonge is business as usual. TOM LABONGE SUPPORTS THE TRIPLE EXPANSION OF THE AUTRY. Renee Weisser read his message. TOM LABONGE SUPPORTS THE COMERCIALIZATION OF GRIFFITH PARK can you understand that the most important thing to him is to support his friends.
9:27, in all sincerity I thank you. The deck was seriously stacked at that hearing. The Board did not want to discuss Griffith Park at all for some very political reason.
This is the political reson:
TOM LABONGE SUPPORTS THE TRIPLE EXPANSION OF THE AUTRY. Renee Weisser read his message. TOM LABONGE SUPPORTS THE COMERCIALIZATION OF GRIFFITH PARK we need to understand that the most important thing to him is to support his friends. I AM FOR ZERO EXPANSION of the Autry. It would solve both of ours problems. The Griffith Park National Monument group needs to activate again.
Southwest Society: Charles Lummis created the original Southwest Society to RAISE FUNDS for the Southwest Museum. This new Southwest Society has not raised a penny in almost two years. It was formed behind closed doors and their agenda is Autry’s agenda. This group is used politically representing the voice of the community. Yesterday at the Board of Referred Powers the TRUE VOICES of the community spoke.
There needs to be a place at the table for the Griffith Park advocates. Actually, the carefully considered position of the Greater Griffith Park Neighborhood Council is doable by Council if they have the backbone to stand up to Autry and George Millstein from Latham. God! He was an arrogant ass at the end of yesterday's meeting.
All the people there yesterday sent a strong message to the Council: Don't cross us on these Griffith Park preservation issues or we will screw you back.
Now is the time to turn up the heat on Tom LaBonge. If that A-hole got all those letters and emails last week and STILL sent Renee Weitzer to the Board of Referred Powers to unconditionally SUPPORT the Autry's expansion -- something is wrong with the man.
Jackie Autry is ONE SELFISH BITCH.
She successfully lobbied the City Council in 1987 to approve a $1 a year lease of the people's park for 50 years. That lease is already a multi-million dollar giveaway from the taxpayers of this City to her.
Then in 2003, the struggling Southwest Museum Board is convinced to GIVE the assets of that Museum to the Autry for free. All the Southwest Museum Board asked for was this: that the Southwest Museum continue to operate as a distinct institution within the protection of the Autry. Autry readily agreed.
Then, Autry announced that ALL the fundraising will be focused on expanding the museum building in Griffith Park. About a year later she announced that Autry will seek approvals for a SINGLE building in Griffith Park and that all of the Southwest's collection will be moved into her new building.
Then she begins a campaign to exaggerate issues with the Southwest Museum building. She has tried to build a case for the idea that the collection was in imminent danger of destruction.
Since announcing she wanted to move all of the Southwest Museum into her building on our land, she has stubbornly refused to entertain a legally enforceable condition of growth in Griffith Park that assures the National Register of Historic Places, Southwest Museum, will continue to be used to exhibit its collections. Many historians and cultural experts agree that the building was specifically designed to exhibit this collection -- that the building is part of the collection.
But Jackie Autry, like the most selfish and self-centered scheming Regina in The Little Foxes, is still trying to figure out how she can "off" the Southwest Museum so she can get her moneygrubbing banker fingers on the Southwest's collection.
She and whole management of the Autry Museum need a major attitude alignment.
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