Details of Tujunga Golf Course Developer Lawsuit Emerge

Idyllic day at Verdugo Hills Golf Course, Photo by Joseph Mailander

Our friend Joseph Mailander visited Sunland-Tujunga Friday, did some digging and unearthed some details on the lawsuit that Snowball West Investments, owners of the Verdugo Hills Golf Course in Tujunga, has filed against the City of Los Angeles over it's designation of a small piece of the property as a "historic landmark."

You may remember that last fall, Alarcon presented to the Sunland-Tujunga Neighborhood Council a strategy to block development of 229 homes on the site, by declaring the property, which was used during World War II as a detention camp for Japanese-Americans and others, a "historic landmark."

This was at the height of Alarcon's campaign for the State Assembly; a race he later lost.

At some point during the process for historic designation, the stated intent of the effort changed; not to block development, but to provide some historic mitigation to the Japanese community, and acquire some sort of recognition and memorial at the site.  As Sunland-Tujunga Neighborhood Council board member Krystee Clark told the Glendale News-Press, "Well, it's not really about the golf course," she said. "It's about making sure the area is preserved in a way that satisfies the Japanese American community."

The following is courtesy of Joseph Mailander:

The suit that the owners of the Verdugo Hills Golf Course have brought against the City of Los Angeles is mostly pointed at Alarcon's actions in his final days as a Council Member. 

It notes how Alarcon introduced the motion to designate the site as a Japanese monument on October 12, 2012..."25 days before the General Election and without notice to Snowball."
It references an LA Times report noting that Alarcon had hoped to "save the Verdugo Hills Golf Course from residential development by adding it to the list of historic and cultural monuments"--something Alarcon's office and others were denying when they found later that this might constitute deprivation of due process. 

It alleges that Alarcon refused to talk about the designation with Snowball. [BTW, it notes how the community within the development is to be privately gated.] It claims that Alarcon in bringing the motion to Council on June 21, surprised the developer, because the PLUM Committee had asked for a working Committee to work on a solution 60 days subsequent to June 11, 2013--but brought the matter before Council before his term ended, a scant ten days later. 

It alleges that in Alarcon's "rush to prevent, delay, and impact" the Project, "no research was conducted, no reports or maps were consulted, and no findings were made to determine the boundaries of the detention station or exactly where the use was previously located on the property. It alleges the box drawn around the oaks was "nearly arbitrary." 

It suggests Alarcon's motivation was originally to please voters in running for his Assembly race, which he did not win. 

It requests a jury trial and names the sum of $20 million as compensatory damages.

Keep Development Off Historic Tujunga Site

The Tuna Canyon Detention Station in Tujunga (now site of the Verdugo Hills Golf Course) was an important site in local World War II history, where "enemy aliens" of Japanese, Italian and German ancestry were kept at the height of the war, prior to being "processed" and sent to other more permanent camps. 

Developers now seek to turn the idyllic spot located at the base of a heavily traveled canyon pass into a massive residential development. This project would not only have a serious negative environmental impact on the local community but disgrace the memory of the horrible history of that site. 

On Thursday, April 18, the Cultural Heritage Commission will discuss whether or not Tuna Canyon Detention Station should be granted Historic-Cultural Monument status.

A city staff report has recommended AGAINST the Historic-Cultural Monument designation. You can help by attending the meeting and/or sending your comments to the Commission in support of the Historic-Cultural Monument status for Tuna Canyon Detention Station.

CULTURAL HERITAGE COMMISSION
10:00 A.M., THURSDAY, APRIL 18, 2013
200 North Spring Street
City Hall, Room 1010
Los Angeles, CA 90012

Share your comments with the Cultural Heritage Committee:

Richard Barron, President
Cultural Heritage Commission
City of Los Angeles
200 North Spring Street
Los Angeles, CA 90012

Subject Line: "Historic-Cultural Monument Application for Site of the Tuna Canyon Detention Station"

Email comments to: edgar.garcia@lacity.org
Please also copy the Council Office: gerald.gubatan@lacity.org

Please let us know if you plan to attend the meeting: info@savethegolfcourse.org.

If you will be driving to the meeting and would like parking access be sure to include the make/color of your car, license plate information, and your phone number.

Assemblyman Felipe Fuentes gives "Monetary Thanks" to CD 2 Council Candidate, err, Assemblyman Paul Krekorian

"A simple act of professional appreciation?? Yeah Right!!"

Paul Krekorian Campaign Consultant Eric Hacopian has undertaken another "political campaign black ops" with support of Connected Attorney Stephen Kaufman.

According to the Los Angeles Times, Assemblyman "Felipe Fuentes-Handel" has picked the most particular time to offer a "$15,000 financial thanks" to fellow Assemblyman Paul Krekorian for his support during the recent budget process in Sacramento, some details from the Times story.

Using $15,000 from his state campaign committee, Fuentes bought television time in the San Fernando Valley for an ad praising the work of Krekorian, a Los Angeles Democrat, during the recent budget debate in Sacramento. The ad does not mention Krekorian’s bid for the council seat vacated by City Controller Wendy Greuel but thanks Krekorian for “protecting Valley families and local jobs during this budget crisis.” Krekorian’s campaign consultant, Eric

Hacopian, said his client was not aware of the ad until voters began calling his office to say they had seen it. One of Krekorian’s opponents, Christine Essel, issued a news release accusing Krekorian of attempting to skirt campaign finance rules, and her campaign questioned why the ad had not been filed with the city Ethics Commission.

Stephen J. Kaufman, a lawyer for Fuentes, said the assemblyman merely wanted to thank Krekorian for his role during the budget negotiations. “These ads are not being done with respect to the CD 2 race. They do not mention Assemblyman Krekorian’s candidacy and they do not reference the City Council election in any way,” Kaufman said. The ads, he continued, “do not urge the viewers to do anything, let alone urge voters to make a decision one way or the other with respect to the election.”

One can only shake their heads and observe the result of one of Hacopian's better "Black Ops" in support of a candidate.

And for you Sierra Club members, your endorsement means what to Krekorian considering Fuentes past "commitment" to preserving Sunland-Tujunga's last piece of open space, the Verdugo Hills Golf Course.

The Fuentes association may not be helpful to Krekorian with some voters in the northern reaches of the district. Fuentes wrote a proposal, which was ultimately shelved, that would have allowed MWH Development Corp. to build 229 homes on the Verdugo Hills Golf Course despite the objections of neighborhood activists and Los Angeles city officials.

Politics as usual.

These comments from the LA Times story.

** used to be the appearance of impropriety was cause for dismissal, Fuentes and Krikorian shoud resign immediatly
Posted by: simi chuy September 17, 2009 at 08:59 AM

** What a crock? He just happens to run tv ads "thanking" the only member of the State Assembly who has an election in one week? Apparently, no other member of the Assembly deserved such thanks? What did Krekorian do that was so special and worthy of thanks in the worst budget crisis in the history of California?

Does anyone really buy this garbage? How stupid does Krekorian and Fuentes think we are?
Maybe I'm going out on a limb here, but could it be do to the fact that the City's laws won't allow contributions that large, so Fuentes found a way around the law to donate $15,000.

Is there any wonder why Sacramento politicians are held in such low esteem? Shameless. I can see why he sent his lawyer to do all the talking for him. You know the old saying, "Keep your friends close and your lawyers closer."
Posted by: Lawrence M. Smalley September 17, 2009 at 09:32 AM

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