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Wednesday, July 29, 2009

Southwest Museum Update: "Autry Stonewalling on Negotiations"

"Another Broken Treaty by the Autry ?? "
One month ago tomorrow, hundreds turned out at City Hall for the Board of Referred Powers hearing on the proposed Autry National Center Expansion at Griffith Park.
Whether you were Pro Autry, Pro Southwest Museum, or an advocate of preserving Open Space. Mostly all agree that a cooling off period with discussions involving the pertinent parties was in the best interest of the city.
That is unless you are the Autry National Center, who is balking at negotiating in good faith via this announcement from Councilman Jose Huizar which is posted at the "Friends of the Southwest Museum" Website.
“I have been acting in good faith to bring agreement and/or compromise to the issue at hand. However, I do not believe that the Autry has taken seriously the Board of Referred Power’s instructions to work out with me options for a legally binding document. The Autry Center has essentially threatened to abandon its expansion project at Griffith Park altogether if I continue to pursue with them any document which legally binds them to its commitments made to me and to the City of Los Angeles.”

Thus with the Autry's "drawing of their line of defiance in the dirt of free public land", the upcoming meeting of the Board of Referred Powers, regarding the Autry Expansion Plans, has been postpone.

Councilman Jose Huizar will draw some rare praise from this blogger for his sudden burst of leadership in this matter, but let not forget that 2011/ re election time, is fast approaching for Councilman Huizar.

But for Councilman Huizar, many in the know within CD-14 will not easily forget the multitude of favors made to the likes of the "Southwest Society" that right now is seen as an worthless entity.

Your thoughts..........................

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19 Comments:

Anonymous Anonymous said:

Christ am I tired of this subject. It's a bunch of dusty relics. If they're in this museum or that museum, does it really matter so long as people can see them?

We haven't been a cowboy society in about 180 years. This is really a dead subject. Normally I go by this anytime I see this subject on the blogs. But this time I had to get it off of my chest.

July 29, 2009 9:02 PM  

Anonymous Anonymous said:

Ditto 9:02 PM. Too much other much more important stuff these days.

July 29, 2009 9:25 PM  

Anonymous Anonymous said:

Spoken like a true history buff and museum fan.

However, you can see that this topic DOES matter to many, and especially to the Autry National Museum and their building plans in the Griffith Park zone that is supposed to be left in a more or less NATURAL state according to the terms Col. Griffith provided in the transfer.


The Autry is as commercial as any developer and local history, including the SW Museum matters not one bit to them, other than being an obstacle to their plan for expansion.

July 29, 2009 9:55 PM  

Anonymous Anonymous said:

Lily Burke would be alive today if DA Steve Cooley had not changed the way California's 3 Strikes law is enforced.

According to the LA Times, here is the list of the Charles Samuel's convictions:

1978: Misdemeanor grand theft in San Bernardino County.

1981: Misdemeanor petty theft in San Bernardino.

1985: Misdemeanor providing false information to a peace office in San Bernardino.

1985: Misdemeanor under the influence of a controlled substance in San Bernardino.

1986: Misdemeanor under the influence of a controlled substance in San Bernardino.

1987: Felony home invasion robbery, felony burglary, unlawful taking of vehicle in San Bernardino. STRIKE 1

1997: Felony burglary in San Bernardino. STRIKE 2
(Note the 10 year lack of crimes while he was in prison)

2003: Misdemeanor driving on a suspended license in Los Angeles County.

2006: Felony petty theft with prior theft in Los Angeles. STRIKE 3

If the Los Angeles DA was enforcing the 3 Strikes Law in the same way as almost every other county, Samuel would have been sentenced to 25 years to life in prison because he is a recidivist.

So on Friday, July 24, 2009 when 17 year old Lily Burke went to run some errands for her mother, she would NOT have been kidnapped, she would NOT have been killed, because Samuel would have been in prison, starting the 3rd year of his 25 to life sentence.

I think it's time the DA stopped being soft on 3rd Strikes.

July 29, 2009 10:16 PM  

Anonymous Anonymous said:

9:02 p.m. = Steve Sugerman, Autry PR flak in the house or an illiterate inside the Mayor's office.

Um, and by the way, the collection is not "a bunch of dusty relics." It is one of the most important collections of early California history -- important for scholarly research and for helping tell interesting stories of California.

That is why the Autry wants to sever it from its rightful place in Los Angeles history -- the National Register of Historic Places building. Autry wants those "dusty relics" to build an audience for just a building with Jackie Autry's name on it.

July 29, 2009 10:30 PM  

Anonymous Anonymous said:

The Southwest Society has become one monumental political headache for the Mayor and Councilmember Huizar.

I remember that the Mayor/Autry claimed the Southwest Society would be a Blue Ribbon committee to raise the funds to rehabilitate the Southwest Museum. Then, when the group went nearly two years without raising any money, Autry began publishing its programming as "sponsored by" the Southwest Society so it would seem they were actually doing something. That was bullshit too.

The Southwest Society exists make it seem like Autry will deliver something in the future that saves the Southwest campus without a legally enforceable commitment required as a condition of expansion in Griffith Park.

Back when Huizar placed his trust in Autry managers and Board members, he was happy to have a list of political hangers-on sign up to boost the public impression that the Autry would in fact deliver on its promises to him.

But it sounds like Huizar's meeting with the Autry Board caused him to realize they "ain't never nohow gonna actually deliver on the promises he thought he got from them in 2007."

I was at the Board of Referred Powers hearing and this is consistent with the angry message delivered by Autry lobbyist/attorney George Millstein at the end of the hearing. He said Autry would not agree to an enforceable condition to protect the Southwest Museum. He kept saying the Autry project is separate from the Southwest Museum. This is a lie. The Friends of the Southwest Museum pointed out at the hearing that the Autry's 2005 press release said that the expansion would be sought in Griffith Park for the very purpose of moving the Southwest Museum inside the Autry building.

So now the Mayor and Huizar are hanging out there having made the mistake of backing Autry and wanting to believe Autry's lies. If the Mayor and Huizar move back again to fully support the overwhelming outcry to preserve the Southwest's site, then poor Suzanne Lummis, Jenny Krusoe, Eliot Sekular, Linda Dishman, and Carol Rumble-Jacques look like fools for joining in the fake Southwest Society.

I am now rooting for Huizar to be a real leader on this issue but he is going to have to call a press conference with his Southwest Society buds and declare "Oh, my God! We were deceived by the Autry!" Then they can lock arms with the Friends of the Southwest Museum Coalition -- the real voice of the community -- and work together to assure the future of the Southwest Museum.

July 29, 2009 11:00 PM  

Anonymous Anonymous said:

10:16pm Check your facts. The crime you identify as "STRIKE 2" is not a strike. It looks like Samuel was sentenced appropriately for his 2006 crime - petty theft with a prior, because he went to prison.

Cooley's policy on 3rd Strikes is widely recognized as being fair and proportional. You comment highlights the danger of being uninformed and the danger of formulating policy based on a single incident, however tragic it may be.

July 30, 2009 6:11 AM  

Blogger Petra Fried in the City said:

Hm. How many of these posts including 9:02 and 10:30 is really our 5150 Troll talking to herself?

Most of 'em. In fact most of the comments on this blog are the same person.

You couldn't stop yourself. You can't stop. This is how you spend most of your time each and every day. Does that suggest anything to you?

July 30, 2009 6:58 AM  

Anonymous Anonymous said:

Check the new Griffith Park blog.

http://www.griffithparkwayist.com

Still no one is speaking on behalf of the park itself! And what about the taxpayers?

George Mihlsten, John Gray et all are real scumbags. They threatened Huizar, asking him if he wanted to be responsible for causing the loss of both the Autry and the SWM. My feeling is "Lose the Autry? If only!"

July 30, 2009 7:08 AM  

Anonymous Anonymous said:

Huizar formed Southwest Society after the so-called Friends of the Southwest Museum leaders had so totally alienated themselves from Huizar, the Autry and anyone else in a position to do something that Huizar had no credible, respected support.

Once upon a time the Friends of the Southwest Museum might have earned some respect from the organizatins which signed onto it, but now with radical crazies working as its voicebox, it's led by people who wouldn't know a strategy if it slapped them in the face. In order to actual get anything done, Huizar had to distance himself from the Dan and Nicole craziness or else no one would take him seriously, either (and if you think the Friends of the Southwest Museum is, at this point, anything but a huge joke, you are very mistaken).

By being associated with them after their ridiculous antics, Huizar would have been marginalized and sidelined like the crazies who were protesting, picketing and blasting him, John Gray, Autry and everyone else, and who can't see the forest for the trees and never wuold have gotten anywhere.

But by forming the Southwest Society and putting people on it who are actually respected, respectful and know how things work in this town, he was able to get the Autry to agree to things that were necessary -- and were very similar to what the Friends of the Southwest Museum wanted all along -- because when presented in a reasonable way, without threats and ridiculous pickets and protests and angry blogs, then all the sudden like magic, the Autry was willing to listen and agree.

Then after they agreed, publicly, Huizar smartly backed down the heat and letting the Autry move forward with what it wants to do and get past the point of no return (during the whole time you dum dums have been whining that Huizar's not doing anything and blah blah blah -- again, clueless to long-term negotiation strategy) Huizar is now asking for the things that have already been publicly promised by the Autry (and already partiall delivered), to simply be put in writing and the Autry is too far down their own path, which also includes millions and millions of dollars in work on the Southwest Museum renovation, to refuse.

They may balk and each side might have to budge a bit here and there, but it will be a good ending because Huizar played this one smart. You can be absolutely certain if the leaders of the Friends of the Southwest Museum had gotten their way, things would have unfolded very differently, and worse, for the Southwest Museum.

July 30, 2009 8:20 AM  

Anonymous Anonymous said:

Sorry Petrafied, but I totally agree with 9:02. This subject is beyond dead and nobody wants to read illegible updates about a dead subject by a functional illiterate.

July 30, 2009 8:39 AM  

Blogger Petra Fried in the City said:

Then stop reading, 8:39. Easy as that.

I for one find the $27.5 million "gift" from taxpayers to the Autry very, very interesting.

July 30, 2009 8:50 AM  

Anonymous Anonymous said:

10:16 Be careful

The old way would have put Alatorre in jail for life.

ohhhhhh

It's fat AAAAlbert

July 30, 2009 9:17 AM  

Anonymous Anonymous said:

Touche Petra. The idiots on council just voted to loan $30 mmil to Cirque de Soiel and each ticket $100 to see it. Dumbos!!! Hey Red Spot you'll love this huge meeting taking place at Roosevelt, August 5th, Monday at 5:30pm with all the Mecha, radical non profits. They want federal stimulus money for Boyle Heights and Huizar and Antonio want Boyle Heights to become TJ and help the illegals. Not one organizon is mainly English speaking. Raul Estrada you know the corrupt relative of Antonio is non profit hosting. Where is the media on this? Boyle Heights already receives over $1 BILLION for non profits. It should be a red flag when Homeboy is listed on the flyer as well as Inner City STruggle, Homies Unidos and more.

July 30, 2009 9:17 AM  

Anonymous Anonymous said:

Huizar seems to have become a genuine leader on this. Whether he was part of the Southwest Society before, or only taken in by them, he finally saw the trick. If you read this letter from John Gray, Autry's intentions from the beginning are now totally exposed, and the Friends were correct from the start.

July 30, 2009 12:00 PM  

Anonymous Anonymous said:

John Grays recent letter can be found here:

http://www.friendsofthesouthwestmuseum.com/AutryLtrRes090715.html

July 30, 2009 12:02 PM  

Blogger Red Spot in CD 14 said:

Loot and steal and may I ask where is the leadership from the Mayor on this ??

July 30, 2009 12:29 PM  

Anonymous Anonymous said:

Really happy to hear that the Councilman is taking a leadership role in this. My family and I loved to go to the Southwest museum many years ago. It was small and “relic like” but it gave my brothers and I moment to imagine what life was like so many years ago. I would hate to see it disappear. But I would also like to see it be more available and not so closed off. The Autry needs to sign that agreement and become part of the community already. What can we do to help with the efforts?

July 30, 2009 12:54 PM  

Anonymous Anonymous said:

12:54
right rick coca (cd14 communications deputy), huizze is taking a leadership role my @$$. that boy wouldnt know what leadership is if it slapped him on his bald head. good attempt at spin...

now go crawl back up your mommy "cuba libre" dress.

July 30, 2009 10:39 PM  

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