Have You Heard This Before?
The scene has been enacted so many times on the stage that is City Hall. The victimized business/property owner is blocking the path of the supposedly evolving Expo light rail project. Owner accuses City Hall of callousness, careless and even reneging on its obligation to find a replacement location. City Hall says it has been trying to help the embattled entrepreneur for months in some cases, for years in others. They further claim the picky-picky owner has rejected perfectly fine sites. Owner gives one of two responses. Either he denies making a rejection or says that the properties would not have been suitable if they had been the last sites on earth. Who is telling the truth? Who is an outsider to believe? Is it possible both parties are treating the truth like a ball of clay? In the end, it does not matter. What matters is saving The Jungle. Unless he believes in miracles, Mr. Saez probably realizes he is a goner in Culver City he just does not know the date.
Who Could Be Against It?
Saving The Jungle cannot, or should not, be a neutral issue for the community. How many gems exist in a city of 40,000 people? Does one have so many friends it does not matter if one pal walks in front of an onrushing car? Does a father have so many children that losing one wont hurt? Does Culver City have so many nurseries that daily perform good deeds across the community that losing one wont matter since there still is one nursery left? This is a moral issue, and this is a philosophical issue. It is beginning to smell, however, like a political issue. Unless the dozen or so persons who testified at last nights City Council meeting were fibbing to the extent of claiming the earth is flat, Mr. Saez and his family represent an aesthetic, commercial and spiritual pearl that we should dive to the floor of the ocean to salvage. No such will, no such attitude was evident in Council Chambers.
Postscript
Councilmember Steve Rose is the President of the Chamber of Commerce. Where is Chamber of Commerce-driven community pride, Culver City? Does pride matter? Did community pride sneak out of town three years ago, the day Police Chief Ted Cooke retired? If it didnt, where should a resident look for it? Has City Hall already been eliminated as a likely repository? Excuse me, I am going to check out Holy Cross and Hillside.
