Pondering Reductions
The Agency will be contemplating two crucial zoning changes height and density that may eventually shrink the rebuild of South Sepulveda.
First, though, the Agency Chair talked about the wider picture.
We need to go back and begin again with the charette process for South Sepulveda, said Mr. Malsin. We need neighborhood meetings where people talk about what they want their community to look like.
A charette would provide an open exchange with the city to understand the tools that are available to make that exchange happen.
Close Observer
Tuned in to the sentiments of residents, Mr. Malsin was a very interested bystander last Wednesday when a powerful coalition of unhappy residents of adjacent Sunkist Park helped to at least temporarily sideline the proposed 12 1/2-acre rebuild of South Sepulevda.
Too tall and too dense with condos, they successfully protested.
Not exactly coincidentally, a centerpiece of tonights Redevelopment Agency meeting at City Hall will be a discussion of the citys present controversial building height (56 feet) and condo density (65 housing units per acre)ordinances.
Speaking of Momentum
To say it differently, the residents of Sunkist Park may win the lottery twice within one week.
First, they succeeded in tabling the South Sepulveda rebuild. This evening, they may start to corner one of their ultimate wishes, gaining momentum for eventually modifying two regulations that have been the target of their anger.
Double Victory?
If the outspoken citizens achieve both of these monumental objectives, City Hall observers say their success will be attributable to an aggressive, but intensely focused, professionally disciplined protest campaign.
They have aimed and fired, said one City Hall veteran. Many citizens groups are known for firing, then aiming.
Off-Stage
Mr. Malsin, the second-year City Councilman, has worked arduously behind the scenes for the past 14 months not a crowded venue carving a long-vacant niche as a kind of studious, quiet Mr. Fix-It.
There is something wonkish and bullish about young Mr. Malsin that is serving him well.
Strategy Clicking
These esoteric qualities have allowed him to score with impact on a City Council and a Redevelopment Agency where he is surrounded by people with far more experience.
He has operated with a caution, a restraint not often associated with politicians so new to City Hall.
Thinking It Out
His first year was marked with selective criticism, well-spaced for added effectiveness.
Here are Mr. Malsins reflections on the much-disputed South Sepulveda plan.
It was a poorly thought-out process, he said. It was not constructed in a way that got people to believe that they had a voice in what was going to happen.
Change in Procedure
Having been an elected official for just a little more than a year, Mr. Malsin says he does not know why the City Hall people behind South Sepulveda did not attempt to engage the neighborhood the way City Hall built momentum for earlier successful redevelopment projects.
For South Sepulveda, he recalled that there were two community workshops, and then the dialogue broke off.
Accumulating Trust
There is only one way we are going to be able to earn back the trust of the community, Mr. Malsin said.
That is to go back to the neighborhood meetings process that worked well before around the city. That is the only way. And I dont mean invite only Sunkist Park. Invite the whole community.
