Re “A Ridley-Thomas Victory on Crenshaw Light Rail”
Damien Goodmon, leader of a burgeoning Crenshaw neighborhood movement fighting a powerful downtown adversary for light rail equality with the rest of Los Angeles, was in a precarious position after yesterday morning’s Metro Board vote.
The political face of their cause, County Supervisor Mark Ridley-Thomas, was calling the lightning fast vote a clear victory — Metro members gave final approval to nearly all elements of the 8.5-mile Crenshaw-to-LAX line, and ground is to be broken as soon as late next year.
But Mr. Goodmon was not feeling like a winner. His group did not get what it wanted.
The long-awaited showcase vote that Mr. Goodmon and his followers had been prepping themselves for all summer, unexpectedly was reduced in drama, if not importance, to consent calendar status. The vote is up or down, no discussion.
Mr. Goodmon had brought dozens of Crenshaw residents to One Gateway Plaza to complain to the 13-member board that the projected light rail line through their neighborhood will be missing two crucial fixtures that other neighborhoods take for granted:
• The middle-mile of the route through the commercial heart of the culturally rich African American Crenshaw business district should be underground, as the preceding and following mile, mainly for safety purposes,
• And historically significant Leimert Park Village should have a station.
“It was a bittersweet day,” Mr. Goodmon said. “The reality is the document is flawed. As a result of that flaw, we don’t have a tunnel from 49th Street to 60th, and we don’t have a station at Leimert Park Village.”
Technically, or conditionally, Mr. Goodmon is correct. The board agreed to build a Leimert Park station only if the project comes in under bid.
“I would say then it is very much in limbo,” Mr. Goodmon said. “The Metro Board should make a firm commitment toward building a station.
“A lot of work still is to be done.
“Right now (the Thursday setbacks in the Metro vote) are having a devastating impact on the (Crenshaw) business community.”
Returning to his “bittersweet” description, Mr. Goodmon said the sweet part was a willingness to invest $1.7 billion in the Crenshaw community.”
It is outweighed, Mr. Goodmon said, by what their side lost.
“The Crenshaw Boulevard corridor finally is getting a rail system, and it finally will be connected.
“But the manner in which it is being done — the negative impact on the business community — overwhelms the potential benefits.”
(To be continued)
