Councilman Jose Huizar's $750,000 Sewer Blowout

"April 18, 2001 Memo on Railroad Right a Way at Hazard Park"

Hazard Park Wetlands

Council District 14's Hazard Park Sewer Blowout

If anyone needed an example of the fail leadership of CD 14 Councilman Jose Huizar, and there are many, then observed this sewage line failure at Hazard Park in Boyle Heights.

For years, Hazard Park users have had to put up with an broken sewage line that feed untreated stormwater from Zonal Ave. Within the last 10 years, community activists such as Alex Man and Northeast Trees had pursue public dollars to repair the sewage line. This project would be one of the main conponants in restoring the Hazard Park Wetlands, which has been a decades-long crusade of Alex Man and his "Friends of the Hazard Park Wetland" organization.

A restored wetlands would be utilized to filter the storm runoff that has flowed into the area for years untreated.

Within the recent years, Northeast Trees secured $750,000 in Prop O money to repair the storm drain and was seeking annother $5-7 million to complete the wetlands restoration project.

But in a meeting with this blogger over the summer, Councilman Huizar, with staffers Paul Habib and Jesse Leon present, stated that the issue over the title to the ownership of the railroad easement that the city had granted to the defunct Pacific Electric Railway (ie. Red Car Trolley Line in early 20th Century), was unsolved, in his words.Thus the $750,000 set aside to mitigate the sewage issue at Hazard Park would have to be use elsewhere.

But Councilman Huizar was ignorant of the work of former Councilman Nick Pacheco, who had worked with the City Attorney Office to resolve the issue on the onwership of the railroad right of way, in 2002.,as reported in the Los Angeles Times.

And Councilman Nick Pacheco, who represents the area, reiterated what he told Man, Molina and Farnsworth at a City Hall meeting: "I have agreed with their position to recapture our land from other entities--from the Army and from the railroad." But he stopped short of saying the Army property should eventually become soccer fields.

Meanwhile, the councilman said, the city is proceeding with paperwork to reclaim the railroad land. After that is completed, the effort of formally recognizing and protecting the Hazard wetland can begin.
All this is good news for wetland supporters......... so we thought then.

This is highlighted in a April 18, 2001 memo to Recreation and Parks Commission, which the City Attorney, stated that the Union Pacific Railroad had "abandon" the easement, thus the land reverted back to city onwership.

But some eight years later, Councilman Huizar has stated that the restore Hazard Park Wetlands is an "long term goal" but the Biotech Corridor of the Adelante Redevolpment Area, which Hazard Park was place in, is moving forward.

Makes you wonder what true ultimate restoration is in store for Hazard Park??

Your thoughts........

Scott Johnson in CD 14

** PM Update, the $750,000 earmarked for Hazard Park was utilize by Northeast Trees for its watershed project at Garvanza Park.